These are expected to come out on December the 1st, hopefully the site will also be running by then!

http://www.battlegrouphelios.com

I like it, would fit well in the Battle fleet Gothic universe as a cruiser or battleship depending on its size. With some tweeks could probably fit in Firestorm armada as well.

They look like potential cruiser stand-ins to me!

Are these resin or plastic?

bLooks like a cease and desist waiting to happen lol

Looks spiffy, now hit me up with the price!

Those look awesome, i needs the precioucz!

 BrookM wrote:
Are these resin or plastic?

They look like resin.

Also:



As for GW legal, sod 'em. GW didn't want money from BFG players any more, they don't get to piss and moan when someone steps in to fill the niche they abandoned - there are differences in the design, and you could easily argue that any commonalities are inevitable; GW don't own "space ship with gothic architecture aesthetic", they own the specific designs of Imperial Navy ships that they produced.

chaos0xomega wrote:
bLooks like a cease and desist waiting to happen lol

Hardly.

Those look fantastic, by the way!

It looks good. I like how they've gone with a wedge-shaped profile with the stepped weapons batteries.

I assume you also saw this WIP:


http://www.resinaddict.com/blog/2014/11/wip-helian-frigate-6/

This has definitely grabbed my attention after trying to trawl eBay for gothic bits and bobs

Buy 'em quickly.

Is there a game to go along with this - or are they 'just' for BFG use?

Only the other day I was looking for BFG stand-ins. These should be perfect!

Impressive. I quite like them.

 Yodhrin wrote:


As for GW legal, sod 'em. GW didn't want money from BFG players any more, they don't get to piss and moan when someone steps in to fill the niche they abandoned - there are differences in the design, and you could easily argue that any commonalities are inevitable; GW don't own "space ship with gothic architecture aesthetic", they own the specific designs of Imperial Navy ships that they produced.

The imperial ships in BFG had a pretty unique aesthetic which these are pretty blatantly and obviously taking from. Moreover the way this kit is designed is identical to the manner in which BFG Imperial Cruisers were constructed. Neither of these things are inevitable, and GW has IP rights to more than just the specific designs of the ships they produced. I'm not going to get into an argument over the finer points of IP law with an anon on the internet but suffice it to say that these guys are treading dangerous water.

Pshh, I doubt GW will fancy risking more legal shenanigans this soon after the close of the Chapterhouse Studios case! Besides, the design, while similar to BFG still seems pretty generic sci fi to me.

Looks very cool, are these designed / created by you Malika? I am impressed!

chaos0xomega wrote:

 Yodhrin wrote:


As for GW legal, sod 'em. GW didn't want money from BFG players any more, they don't get to piss and moan when someone steps in to fill the niche they abandoned - there are differences in the design, and you could easily argue that any commonalities are inevitable; GW don't own "space ship with gothic architecture aesthetic", they own the specific designs of Imperial Navy ships that they produced.

The imperial ships in BFG had a pretty unique aesthetic which these are pretty blatantly and obviously taking from. Moreover the way this kit is designed is identical to the manner in which BFG Imperial Cruisers were constructed. Neither of these things are inevitable, and GW has IP rights to more than just the specific designs of the ships they produced. I'm not going to get into an argument over the finer points of IP law with an anon on the internet but suffice it to say that these guys are treading dangerous water.

GrimDarkBits has been able to sell his BFG-like designs just fine for quite a while now. I doubt GW would really have any strong grounds to step in here.

But please, lets not turn this thread into a debate on GW's IP policies and such. Perhaps there could be another more general thread about that elsewhere?

Niccce.

And hand-sculpted too? Or is that WIP a prototype print or something?

These look fantastic!

Congratulations on getting these cast! I've been following your blog in the p&m section for a while now and was wondering what was taking you so long

Care to run us through what is in each kit? and what you will have available?

Makes me think I should really get my own site up and running.

The cruisers are digitally sculpted and 3d printed. The escort is CNC'ed and sculpted, so more 'analog'.

If the price isn't too bad, I will be all over this like short on a dachshund.

Very interested.

I always boggles me why other manufacturers, like Spartan, don't adopt GW's brilliant modular weapon batteries. It's such an easy way to have one model make a dozen different classes.

 Malika2 wrote:


But please, lets not turn this thread into a debate on GW's IP policies and such. Perhaps there could be another more general thread about that elsewhere?

That's a great idea!

If someone wants to open up a thread about that - maybe in Dakka Discussions?

Otherwise - on topic in here please.

Thanks!

Awesome! Very excited to see these bad boys!

Any plans for more... less orderly and mean ships?

Very nice. And, surprisingly, appear to be made by the same person that made the Voss prow bits and frigates I purchased not long ago.

As much as I love my BFG ships, I think the prow designs on these are quite a bit better. If they are not too pricey, I would definitely get them.

I asked Mangozac about the price, this is what he had to say:

I just recently completed costing so guess it doesn't hurt to tell you guys ahead of time. The Dreadnought and Firedrake kits will be AU$36.00 each. That price includes a pair of each of the three weapons module types, plus extra turrets for the hull mounting points.

So it's little bit less than €25 ($31) for a complete cruiser with additional weapon modules and turrets. That's quite decent for something that's not produced in China!

 Malika2 wrote:
I asked Mangozac about the price, this is what he had to say:

I just recently completed costing so guess it doesn't hurt to tell you guys ahead of time. The Dreadnought and Firedrake kits will be AU$36.00 each. That price includes a pair of each of the three weapons module types, plus extra turrets for the hull mounting points.

So it's little bit less than €25 ($31) for a complete cruiser with additional weapon modules and turrets. That's quite decent for something that's not produced in China!

Let's not forget the shipping + 21% VAT + €13,50 postnl admin fee. Those are going to be some damn expensive ships, still way cheaper to go and get second hand BFG...

Long live Dutch tax laws!

Cergorach wrote:

 Malika2 wrote:
I asked Mangozac about the price, this is what he had to say:

I just recently completed costing so guess it doesn't hurt to tell you guys ahead of time. The Dreadnought and Firedrake kits will be AU$36.00 each. That price includes a pair of each of the three weapons module types, plus extra turrets for the hull mounting points.

So it's little bit less than €25 ($31) for a complete cruiser with additional weapon modules and turrets. That's quite decent for something that's not produced in China!

Let's not forget the shipping + 21% VAT + €13,50 postnl admin fee. Those are going to be some damn expensive ships, still way cheaper to go and get second hand BFG...

Ugh, I order from within the EU so often now I keep forgetting about the customs buggers, same problem in UK - 20% VAT & £5+ "handling fee" if your package gets tagged at the border; frankly the worst thing about it is it's completely random, some packages pass through without a peep, others you wait for days or weeks past the expected delivery until Royal Mail can be bothered to drop off the "we're holding your package to ransom" card.

Well i am outside the union and maybe there will be a bundle discount.

 Jehan-reznor wrote:
Well i am outside the union and maybe there will be a bundle discount.

Yes, that would make a lot of sense for them to offer!

Great looking ships.

We need to get these ship designs to Proxiemodels stat!

Official announcement!

Hi Folks,

After many months in the making we're excited to announce that Battlegroup Helios is now live. Battlegroup Helios is our new range of fine scale, highly detailed, boutique quality models for use in starship-level space combat wargames. Our first cruiser sized models, the Dreadnought and Firedrake are now available for purchase and we're working hard on expanding the range shortly with both smaller and larger ship designs (in addition to new fleet styles in the future). We're only a small operation so initial stocks will be limited, but we are doing our best to produce more models for you guys.

Check out the site at http://www.battlegrouphelios.com

Well I ordered a Firedrake, because this deserves support, but ye gods dat shipping charge. I was planning to make a second order when the frigates became available, but I think I'll have to hold off until either they get a UK stockist or the range expands enough that a large order will make the shipping justifiable.

 Yodhrin wrote:
Well I ordered a Firedrake, because this deserves support, but ye gods dat shipping charge. I was planning to make a second order when the frigates became available, but I think I'll have to hold off until either they get a UK stockist or the range expands enough that a large order will make the shipping justifiable.

How much is the shipping cost?

Did I miss a scale pic somewhere?

I just don't think I can go $30 for a cruiser, battleship size- yes.

They do look great though.

chaos0xomega wrote:
bLooks like a cease and desist waiting to happen lol

I would like to point out that GW used forum posts like this as evidence in the GW v CHS litigation. Not that it should have been allowed by the judge, but even so, I personally think it would be polite to make an effort to be somewhat circumspect with comments like this.

Of course, you can say whatever you like (subject to the forum rules), but I think such comments are better made via PM, generally speaking.

 Jehan-reznor wrote:

 Yodhrin wrote:
Well I ordered a Firedrake, because this deserves support, but ye gods dat shipping charge. I was planning to make a second order when the frigates became available, but I think I'll have to hold off until either they get a UK stockist or the range expands enough that a large order will make the shipping justifiable.

How much is the shipping cost?

$18AUD, half the cost of one cruiser. That's to the UK.

Like I say, I can swallow that as a one-off, because we need some readily-available gothic space ships and so I want to support the company, and because it will make the perfect flagship for my Rogue Trader, but I can't justify it again for the escorts when they come out. Frankly I'd have waited until the escorts to do the whole order, but given they're a small startup waiting could mean they run out of stock and take ages to get more, or if everyone waited they could go out of business.

Hi folks,

I'm Vaaish over with BGH (normally I'm a mini painter rather than PR, but I wanted to at least chime in here)

we're really sorry about the shipping charges but it's one of the areas we don't have much control over. I'm working to get the site updated to help clear up some of the questions that we've received about package contents, currency and shipping.

The problem we're running into is that international shipping is expensive almost everywhere. I'm based in the US and shipping from here to the UK or EU comes in at nearly $20 US. It's not much consolation now, but hopefully we'll be able to get some regional outlets or other shops to carry the line to reduce shipping charges.

In the mean time, if you guys want to batch orders, we offer free shipping on orders over AU$200.

That site might do some improvements to the actual store:
#1 actual pictures of the models (components, so folks know what to expect)
#2 Some indication on how big the ships are with each entry
#3 If your promoting shipping for $5, you might specify to which locations (is it's only within the AU, say so)

Hah you beat me to posting.

Update:
We are offering an introductory $5 flat rate shipping for all orders until 12.09.2014 if you buy two or more ships. So get your orders in before 11:59pm EST December 9, 2014 to take advantage of the special rate!

1. Actual pics are on the way but require me to update the site a bit to get them implemented. I'm also painting the models for the site so I'm splitting my time. Hoping to have some painted pics by the end of the week.

2. If you go to the product detail view, we've got complete specs on the size of the ships and the pieces in the kit.

3. The flat rate shipping is global so any orders get the shipping promo so long as they order two or more ships.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

I don't want to sound rude, but I get the impression our UK friends are used to low shipping costs from overseas. Here in Australia it's pretty normal to pay AU$18 or more to get a package delivered from overseas. We are passing on the standard shipping costs at or under what Australia post charges us, and that doesn't account for the packaging materials or time taking orders to the post office.

 Yodhrin wrote:
Like I say, I can swallow that as a one-off, because we need some readily-available gothic space ships and so I want to support the company, and because it will make the perfect flagship for my Rogue Trader, but I can't justify it again for the escorts when they come out. Frankly I'd have waited until the escorts to do the whole order, but given they're a small startup waiting could mean they run out of stock and take ages to get more, or if everyone waited they could go out of business.

I understand your concerns and appreciate the feedback. Hopefully our $5 (to anywhere) shipping option will help get someone like yourself started!
I don't want to make any promises but hopefully I can get the escorts completed and in production over the Christmas break. Since I'm doing all of the casting myself and I have a day job there's no need to feel nervous about missing out. I've been making resin model kits for years

 Mangozac wrote:
Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

I don't want to sound rude, but I get the impression our UK friends are used to low shipping costs from overseas. Here in Australia it's pretty normal to pay AU$18 or more to get a package delivered from overseas. We are passing on the standard shipping costs at or under what Australia post charges us, and that doesn't account for the packaging materials or time taking orders to the post office.

 Yodhrin wrote:
Like I say, I can swallow that as a one-off, because we need some readily-available gothic space ships and so I want to support the company, and because it will make the perfect flagship for my Rogue Trader, but I can't justify it again for the escorts when they come out. Frankly I'd have waited until the escorts to do the whole order, but given they're a small startup waiting could mean they run out of stock and take ages to get more, or if everyone waited they could go out of business.

I understand your concerns and appreciate the feedback. Hopefully our $5 (to anywhere) shipping option will help get someone like yourself started!
I don't want to make any promises but hopefully I can get the escorts completed and in production over the Christmas break. Since I'm doing all of the casting myself and I have a day job there's no need to feel nervous about missing out. I've been making resin model kits for years

I completely understand that it costs what it costs, it was just feedback. Sadly the offer doesn't really help me, since you already have my order and my money(I literally put it in when I first saw that the store was up, I've been anticipating these)

EDIT: Oh, have you considered contracting someone like Zealot or Zinge to produce and/or distribute your range to UK/EU customers? I've no idea if they'd be interested of course, my only relationship with them is as a customer, but it might be a solution.

 Yodhrin wrote:

I completely understand that it costs what it costs, it was just feedback. Sadly the offer doesn't really help me, since you already have my order and my money(I literally put it in when I first saw that the store was up, I've been anticipating these)

Fair enough, we do appreciate the feedback

Ooops, sorry I didn't notice the username! If you wanted to take advantage of the postage offer just reply to the order confirmation email and we can amend the order as necessary. Either way, thanks for your order!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Yodhrin wrote:
EDIT: Oh, have you considered contracting someone like Zealot or Zinge to produce and/or distribute your range to UK/EU customers? I've no idea if they'd be interested of course, my only relationship with them is as a customer, but it might be a solution.

Not really. At this stage we're just keeping it a small, in-house operation, since it's the most efficient way for recouping our investment in this. More importantly, it gives us direct control of the casting quality, which is if paramount importance with these boutique models. Trust me, the level of detail in these models is nothing short of mind blowing. Vaaish has done a stunning job on both the design and the 3D model and in my (admittedly biased) opinion there's nothing on the market that even comes close to the level of detail we have achieved

Cergorach wrote:
That site might do some improvements to the actual store:
#1 actual pictures of the models (components, so folks know what to expect)
#2 Some indication on how big the ships are with each entry
#3 If your promoting shipping for $5, you might specify to which locations (is it's only within the AU, say so)

What he said and it would be nice if you buy more ships, you get a discount, or when you add more different ships in the future, a boxed set.

 Jehan-reznor wrote:
it would be nice if you buy more ships, you get a discount, or when you add more different ships in the future, a boxed set.

Well if you buy $200 worth of ships shipping is free, so that's a discount

Once we have the range filled out some more I'm sure we will make fleet package deals available.

weeble1000 wrote:

chaos0xomega wrote:
bLooks like a cease and desist waiting to happen lol

I would like to point out that GW used forum posts like this as evidence in the GW v CHS litigation. Not that it should have been allowed by the judge, but even so, I personally think it would be polite to make an effort to be somewhat circumspect with comments like this.

Of course, you can say whatever you like (subject to the forum rules), but I think such comments are better made via PM, generally speaking.

Weeble, that's an excellent point, and I for one really really wish people would just leave the issue alone.

GW's legal team are big enough (and ugly enough, in their approach) to look after GW's IP without "help" from us.

If you look at Shapeways and what is available there...

One shop got a request from GW to remove 40k alike bits but the ships were no problem. And those ships looked more GW then Helios.

By the way, I just saw this over at Tactical Command:

Got my Firedrake this morning, luckily they must have been on a teabreak when it came through customs so there was no extortion attempt by Royal Mail 14 days from order to arrival in UK from Oz isn't bad at all.

The model itself is lovely; all the detail is sharp, not a single air bubble, you can barely even tell where the mould split is(there was literally a 3mm long line on the ventral spine, and it was gone with one scrape of the knife). At first I thought there was a blemish on the prow, but it's perfectly smooth to the touch so just much be a slight discolouration of the resin. It comes with four of each insert, so you can go all launch bays, all turrets, all gun batteries, or any combination.

All in all, I only have two regrets; now I want to buy more of the range, and the rest of it isn't available yet

Pictures or it didn't happen!

Hey Guys, I've been a bit swamped recently and haven't had a chance to catch up here (or much of anywhere for that matter).

YodHrin: Glad you like it, can't wait to see it painted!

To update everyone, I finished painting up the first Helian Firedrake just in time for Christmas. Hope you like it! Merry Christmas everyone!

Nice Paintjob, loving the design!

Wow, that paint job is amazing! Very nicely done.

Hmm, I'm gonna sit in the corner and be in awe for a while if that's ok with you?

These are all looking fantastic! Might just persuade me tio get back on with my BFG projects!

Are you actually looking for international stockists? I would be interested in becoming one if you were, via Great White Miniatures.

Very nice stuff, personally I'm going to hold off until the range is expanded a bit and/or there's a stockist in the UK (or at least EU), but I've definitely got you guys bookmarked for future reference.

Thanks guys!

@Lavuran: I don't think we are looking for a stockist quite yet, but thanks for asking. I'm sure we'll need one eventually.

@professionalAmateur: we're working to expand the range and we're hoping to have some smaller frigates up soon. There's some progress shots on our Facebook page if you are interested.

Wow! That is some great work!! I see they have two ships available now.

@Vaaish: By the way, what's the link to your Facebook page?

@Malika: Here's the link to the FB page: https://www.facebook.com/battlegroupHelios

By the way, Horizon took some pictures comparing the Battlegroup Helios ships to some other stuff out there: link.

Wow, seeing the side-by-side pics, I actually prefer these to the old BFG ships! And, imo, they are different enough to set them apart - much less "gothic", even with some similar aesthetics. It's clear they're "inspired by", but I think they've made them they're own and I would choose these over Imperial BFG ships any day (which never really appealed to me, while these do somewhat).

What I would really love to see if a whole range of ships, of course, but even just having two (variants on the same chassis) with another on the way is enough to tempt me! If you can make a full fleet of this "faction" I very well may succumb as I know that Wehrkind has been itching to play some games using the old BFG ruleset, and I loved it the few times I tried it.

Well, Mangozac is working on a Frigate, so that's a start. Here a sketch by the way:


There was also mention of a potential Battleship, but I think Vaaish and Mangozac could tell you more on that.

I ditto the 'WOW' statements from others.
Unfortunately it's not a system I'm in to but good luck.
Amazing paint jobs like this can only help.

BFG is not that hard to get into, besides, combined with 40k (for campaigns), it could really add another layer to your games.

Thanks guys! We are planning on doing a whole range for the Helian ships, but it will take a bit to get models designed and in production.

Right now we're focusing on expanding the range so it supports a full fleet. So first up is the Frigate and we've been talking about doing a destroyer next.

This is brilliant stuff!

I don't play at all, just paint, but I'd be keen for a Battleship in this style, just to paint up as a display model.

Will there also be variants of the Frigate, kinda like what you did with the Cruiser?

Very nice paint job indeed! It really makes your ship pop, even though the color scheme is very neutral.

Great job!

 Malika2 wrote:
BFG is not that hard to get into, besides, combined with 40k (for campaigns), it could really add another layer to your games.

Very true. My group uses BFG and Epic in just that way. Uncharted Seas and Warmaster are also great ways to expand on Warhammer games.

Will there also be variants of the Frigate, kinda like what you did with the Cruiser?

There will be two variants of the frigate. One with a prow cannon and one like in the sketch earlier in the thread.

These are spectacular. Will look amazing facing off Against my wintersforge space bugs. I'd like to take advantage of the free post over $200 but I don't need 6 cruisers at this stage, only 5. Any indication when the frigates will be ready?

Soon?

Right now the hull is into final detailing and the standard prow is mostly done. After that we need to do the gun prow and build up stock for release.

Hopefully by the end of February.

Thanks for the updates, Vaaish

Recently sold some BFG stuff that went for an absolutely disgusting amount of money. And by that I mean way more than they were really worth!

Judging by that, think there is definitely a market for this kind of stuff as the game still has a following - and the ships look great in their own right!

Very interested in picking a few of these up.

Whilst I do have a BFG Imperial Navy force, I'd missed the opportunity to buy the rogue trader ships and on reflection, I think I might like these a good deal better!

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Very interested in picking a few of these up.

Whilst I do have a BFG Imperial Navy force, I'd missed the opportunity to buy the rogue trader ships and on reflection, I think I might like these a good deal better!

Exactly what I'll be using mine for, a Rogue Trader vessel. I'll be integrating the Helios designs into my 40K headcanon as pre-Imperial vessels of the Saturnyne Polity(no, I don't know why FW had to swap the I for a Y either ), so I can use them both for 40K and Heresy-era fleets.

I really love the GW Imperial ship designs and I'm still going to try and scrape together the rest of the ones I want, but all the new options coming onto the market right now are brilliant, first time BFG players have been spoiled for choice in years

Looking forward to the frigates! I may just order a few ships once there is a little more selection, they are too beautiful to resist...

I never really liked any ships I saw in this scale until I saw these.

The design on that ship is truly fantastic.

 Yodhrin wrote:

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Very interested in picking a few of these up.

Whilst I do have a BFG Imperial Navy force, I'd missed the opportunity to buy the rogue trader ships and on reflection, I think I might like these a good deal better!

Exactly what I'll be using mine for, a Rogue Trader vessel. I'll be integrating the Helios designs into my 40K headcanon as pre-Imperial vessels of the Saturnyne Polity(no, I don't know why FW had to swap the I for a Y either ), so I can use them both for 40K and Heresy-era fleets.

I really love the GW Imperial ship designs and I'm still going to try and scrape together the rest of the ones I want, but all the new options coming onto the market right now are brilliant, first time BFG players have been spoiled for choice in years

Saturnine stuff? Very curious to see what you'll be doing with that!

These are (Battle) cruisers any plans on battleship size ships? And any plans of different design the ships.

Like these?

 Malika2 wrote:

 Yodhrin wrote:

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Very interested in picking a few of these up.

Whilst I do have a BFG Imperial Navy force, I'd missed the opportunity to buy the rogue trader ships and on reflection, I think I might like these a good deal better!

Exactly what I'll be using mine for, a Rogue Trader vessel. I'll be integrating the Helios designs into my 40K headcanon as pre-Imperial vessels of the Saturnyne Polity(no, I don't know why FW had to swap the I for a Y either ), so I can use them both for 40K and Heresy-era fleets.

I really love the GW Imperial ship designs and I'm still going to try and scrape together the rest of the ones I want, but all the new options coming onto the market right now are brilliant, first time BFG players have been spoiled for choice in years

Saturnine stuff? Very curious to see what you'll be doing with that!

Probably not a huge amount tbh, it's just fluff right now; I wrote the RT up as having a pre-Imperial grand cruiser, so the Saturnyne aspect in the latest FW HH book seemed like it fit in well. Plus it gives me an excuse to buy lots and lots of Helios ships if I ever get round to running a Heresy-era BFG campaign

These are (Battle) cruisers any plans on battleship size ships? And any plans of different design the ships.

There are plans to do a battleship, but it's a ways off. Right now we are focusing on getting the line expanded so there's enough available to build a fleet using Helian ships.

After that we plan to get an adversarial fleet built. Once we have that done we'll hit the Battleships.

The thing is, most folks will just buy a single battleship for a fleet and it's the single biggest model to design and build making it the most expensive for us to do with the least return.

Man, I really need to get better a ship design! Would really love to design something that would fit your line. Oh well, practice makes perfect I guess.

Just found this on Facebook:

Hi BGH fans! From Zac's workbench we're excited to share a final sneak peak of the Helian Frigate master model prior to final priming and then moulding. If all goes to plan they will be available for order from the Battlegroup Helios website in early February. Next up we will begin work on the Assault Frigate variant.

Outstanding! I love the aesthetic. Just ordered 4 cruisers so you've got a buyer here for a few frigates too.

These are getting me really excited about playing a certain space ship game again. Thanks Zac and Vaaish!

Nice, looking forward to seeing it painted!

Some people mentioned that they were unable to see the picture, does this one work?

Yes it does! (But not the one in your post directly above it)

Man that looks sweet! I'm actually getting a BFG demo game next week... will be hard to resist these if they make a full fleet.

soon as you lot get "not orks" im in, its that simple

Lovely ships - very tempted at the moment despite the price /shipping

don't believe Mr morden, never trust a thing he says... he is surrounded by shadows!!!

 Formosa wrote:
don't believe Mr morden, never trust a thing he says... he is surrounded by shadows!!!

Hey no you have me all wrong.....What do you Want?

I am sure my associates and I can help make it happen.................."

Little update from Vaaish:

Hey folks!

I wanted to let you know that the site was down briefly last night for some upgrades and maintenance. Mostly upgrading software, fixing some bugs in the layout, finally tracking down the carousel bug that prevented it from autostarting, tweaks to the typography, and adding in some functionality for additional product images.

Not much to see at the moment, but I did add in the painted shots on the Firedrake. There will be more updates in the near future as we finish up painting the dreadnought and prep for the launch of the frigate to get more shots of the actual models up rather than renders.

Let me know if any bugs crop up.

Look what popped up on Facebook:

First resin cast of the Helian Frigate. More will be made which will then be used as production masters to make the production moulds from. It won't be long now until we add them to the BGH store!

Very nice, I wouldn't mind getting a few of those, the "hanger" mid way down the left looks a little rough.

Just been assembling my first four firedrakes to use as ad mech cruisers, so definitely need 5 frigates to bring the fleet to 1200 points.

Am very much excite.

Looks great wonder if next one will be a Battleship?

@OneManNoodles: I think that's just flash or something from the casting process on the first few casts while we figure out the best way to mould the model. You can see the hanger is much cleaner up in the master model shots earlier in the thread.

@Jehan: Sorry, but the battleship is a long way off. :( The next two things out will be the Assault Frigate (frigate hull with a gun prow) and the Helian Corvette.

 Inquisitor Earl wrote:
Just been assembling my first four firedrakes to use as ad mech cruisers, so definitely need 5 frigates to bring the fleet to 1200 points.

Am very much excite.

Pictures or it didn't happen!

Looks promicing... (!)

You could start a Kickstarter, Then everyone expects delays

@jehan: LOL. I think I'd rather avoid kickstarter then One of the reasons why the BB is a long way off is it's probably going to be the most expensive ship to produce and provide the fewest sales since most folks will only ever get one of them. The main reason is that a lot of folks want to see more of the range available so they can build an entire fleet using BGH stuff so we are trying to fill out the smaller ships that folks need to do that as quickly as we can.

I know it's a low one on your priorities list, but I'd love to see how you'd do some fighters, bombers, and boarding craft.

A little update from us. I finished painting the Helian Dreadnought and got it photographed today. These shots are now up at www.battelgrouphelios.com and we'll be updating the products to use shots of the models instead of the CG renders soon. Hope you like it!

Vaaish wrote:
@jehan: LOL. I think I'd rather avoid kickstarter then One of the reasons why the BB is a long way off is it's probably going to be the most expensive ship to produce and provide the fewest sales since most folks will only ever get one of them. The main reason is that a lot of folks want to see more of the range available so they can build an entire fleet using BGH stuff so we are trying to fill out the smaller ships that folks need to do that as quickly as we can.

Hm, i see, one way to solve that is to make the cruisers more modular, instead of just a separate prow, you could make the engine section also separate, so you could exchange the engine, middle or prow for bigger or different parts to create a battle cruiser or battleship that way.

Would be a great way to create ships from different fleets or just personalized ships.

Great paint job by the way.

@Jehan: Thanks! We do have plans to use the hull as a base for a larger grand cruiser size ship. Basically the idea is to create a full length module that fills both of the module slots and covers the spacer between them to add the bulk and then create a new prow to go with it.

I don't think we could really do a separate engine section at this stage. It's too integrated with the model to allow it to be removed.

Is theblock on the front of the hull and rear of the prow supposed to line up as in the photo here:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/90/623950.page#7493919

if so, it makes the prow look very low-slung

Vaaish, it looks like youve assembled yours like mine with the top of the prow in line with the top of the hull. I had a bit of difficulty lining them up square in all directions. had to break the prow off and reposition a few times.

Yeah, it's always a bit difficult to make sure the prow is true. I think mine are angling down ever so slightly.

The short answer is, no. The block on the hull side is supposed to get clipped off where it meets the sloping braces from from the forward turret emplacement.

The block on the prow side is supposed to give you a good flat surface to pin.

If you don't trim that block the prow will sit off from the rest of the ship about 2mm to far. We've since adjusted the masters so this is more clear.

The top deck of the prow should be in line with the top deck on the hull like how you see in my pics.

Any plans to make Space-Egyptian Croissant ships?

Cryptek of Awesome wrote:
Any plans to make Space-Egyptian Croissant ships?

Can't speak for Battlegroup Helios, but did you see these on Shapeways?

 Malika2 wrote:

I'll take two squadrons of three of them sweet escort frigates!

How modula are the frigates, are we going to see variants of them?

@Cryptek: We haven't planned that far out yet. Right now we just have a bunch of random thoughts on potential alien races but nothing concrete.

@Tamereth: The frigate hulls are two pieces. One for the back of the ship and one for the prow. We did it that way so we could do a cannon prow variant using the same hull. In fact, that's the next ship coming out of the yards.

Looking sweet! have some big expenditures soon but after that i want to buy some of these.

Quick update for everyone. We'll be launching the Helian Escort Frigate and Helian Weapons Pack this coming Tuesday, 3.3.2015.

Wooooooohoooooooo!!!


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Vaaish wrote:
Quick update for everyone. We'll be launching the Helian Escort Frigate and Helian Weapons Pack this coming Tuesday, 3.3.2015.

AWESOME!!

Hey folks! Just an update to let you know the Helian Frigates and Helian Weapon Pack are now available for purchase on our brand new store page. Head on over and check it out!

Helian Weapons Pack

Helian capital ships use modular weapons to allow the limited number of hulls in the fleet to quickly adapt to changing battlefield requirements. Contains resin parts for two of each capital class weapons module type.
EACH KIT INCLUDES:

2x Cannon deck modules
2x Hanger deck modules
2x Beam cannon deck modules
4x Beam cannon turrets

KIT DIMENSIONS:

Weapons module: 18mm wide x 9mm tall

http://www.battlegrouphelios.com/index.php/9-helian/12-helian-weapons-pack

Helian Escort Frigate

Helian Escort Frigates are used as transports for important diplomats and as quick reaction squadrons to screen larger Helian ships in combat. Contains three multi-part resin Helian Escort Frigates.
EACH KIT INCLUDES:

3x Hull
3x Standard prow
9x Beam cannon turrets
3x 32mm diameter mounting stand

KIT DIMENSIONS:

Hull, assembled: 51mm long x 20mm wide x 19mm tall

http://www.battlegrouphelios.com/index.php/9-helian/10-helian-escort

Looking realy nice!

Very pretty. And closer in cost to what I'd expect than the Cruisers. Currently building up my admech through a third party but might consider replacing my Imperials with these at some point.

Ordered a dreadnought and 6 escort-frigates!

Awesome! Thanks Sikil!

Just curious, but did the new order confirmation email come through with any issues? I was up till 3am last night trying to make sure it rendered properly

Vaaish wrote:
Awesome! Thanks Sikil!

Just curious, but did the new order confirmation email come through with any issues? I was up till 3am last night trying to make sure it rendered properly

Got 3x emails, one for account creation, one from PayPal for transaction and one order confirmation. Didn't check if it had errors, but all seemed well when archived it...

Cool. Thanks! The first two I don't really have much control over, but the order confirmation is what I've been working to shore up this pass so they are a bit more reputable than the plain text ones we launched with

Another excellent looking release! I am loving the non-decorative prows, it means that we can decorate it however we want. In my case I am tempted to get some to make a Thousand Sons Space Marine fleet just for fun.

Any idea what the next model will be? Some even smaller ships would be good to fill out a full fleet of these guys...

@Cain: Thanks! Next up we'll be doing a cannon prow version of the Escort Frigate called the Assault Frigate. After that we're doing a smaller ship called a Helian Corvette which will probably be the rough equivalent of an IN Cobra in BFG if you are wondering about size.

Vaaish wrote:
@Cain: Thanks! Next up we'll be doing a cannon prow version of the Escort Frigate called the Assault Frigate. After that we're doing a smaller ship called a Helian Corvette which will probably be the rough equivalent of an IN Cobra in BFG if you are wondering about size.

Speaking of the Cobra, I should have four of them lil' suckers in a drawer somewhere... They where my favorite BFG-ship design back in the day.

But the BgH ships thus far are IMO more awesome-looking and I personally can't wait to get my Dread and frigs on the painting table!

But the BgH ships thus far are IMO more awesome-looking and I personally can't wait to get my Dread and frigs on the painting table!

Thanks! and I can't wait to see what you do with the ships! There's a lot of them in the wild but I've seen only a few pics of partially painted ones so far. :(

Vaaish wrote:

But the BgH ships thus far are IMO more awesome-looking and I personally can't wait to get my Dread and frigs on the painting table!

Thanks! and I can't wait to see what you do with the ships! There's a lot of them in the wild but I've seen only a few pics of partially painted ones so far. :(

I will start on them as soon as they arrive!

Awesome, cant wait to see what you do with them!

Package has arrived, will assemble later today or tomorrow!

Pictures or it didn't happen!

Will there be any bits kits? I would be interested in buying a bunch of the gun decks if they happen to fit on BFG cruisers.

(Although I won't be placing an order for a long time thanks to the KS money drain.)

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Will there be any bits kits? I would be interested in buying a bunch of the gun decks if they happen to fit on BFG cruisers.

(Although I won't be placing an order for a long time thanks to the KS money drain.)

You mean like these?

 Malika2 wrote:

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Will there be any bits kits? I would be interested in buying a bunch of the gun decks if they happen to fit on BFG cruisers.

(Although I won't be placing an order for a long time thanks to the KS money drain.)

You mean like these?

Yes. Just like those. Will you be selling any?







(I don't know how I forgot about that since I now remember staring hungrily at that page for long minutes.)

Aren't now already being sold by Battlegroup Helios?

Those weapon packs are available. They've been rather popular additions to dread and firedrake purchases.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

 Malika2 wrote:

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Will there be any bits kits? I would be interested in buying a bunch of the gun decks if they happen to fit on BFG cruisers.

(Although I won't be placing an order for a long time thanks to the KS money drain.)

You mean like these?

Yes. Just like those. Will you be selling any?


(I don't know how I forgot about that since I now remember staring hungrily at that page for long minutes.)

I wonder what the 10$ and add to cart means?

Super nice! I know what I'm getting when I start up a BFG fleet to go with my DA. Heck I'd get them even if not starting up a BFG fleet... space ships ftw!

@djphranq: Thanks! Hopefully you will be starting up that fleet soon. I love seeing what folks do with the models.

Update: Even though it's not next on our release schedule, I should have the production sketches for the Helian Corvette done by the end of next week.

[edit] nevermind!

The gundecks are perfect match to the old BFG ones, just more EPIC-looking!

Hey Everyone, Today I've got a little treat for you all: The production art for the Helian Corvette. This guy is really going to be quite tiny clocking in about half the size of the frigate. Hopw you all like it!

Lovely will it be about the size of a cobra?

Yep, it'll be similar in size to a cobra.

Just found this on Facebook. Make of it what you will...

Is that an Okudagram?

Turret sprue incoming brace for impact

So excited for the corvette! Ive been on the fence so far. But with a corvette i will have no choice but to place an order from your forge world. Its free shipping after 200 right....

@bob: I'm not sure what you mean by that? The pic is just the first steps of getting things scaled and set up to build the CAD model of the corvette, nothing too special

@Twoshoeevans: We're glad you're excited about the corvette. I'm pretty fond of the look myself, and I'm quite looking forward to having them out! You're correct, we offer free shipping on orders over 200AU.

Ooh, will the Corvette be done before the end of next month?

It looks properly swift.

VAAish, I just meant the picture had a funny resemblance to the diagrams one sees in Star Trek. The minis look great, and I hope to put together an order after I get some holiday money.

@stormwell: I don't think it'll be quire ready by then. I'm hoping to have the corvette cad model build by tomorrow night but even if we sent it off to print right then we'd still need to produce packaging, molds, and build up stock before it goes live.

@bob ah. I was curious. I hadn't head that term before

Once these guys get released I may just have to order myself a mini little fleet!

so it sounds like in the next few months we can expect the corvette. That's a great turn around time! Really looking forward to ordering a squadron or two. We will see if I gave the self control not to order the rest before.

Any plans for anything larger? Any spoilers for us in the coming years?

@cain: I hope you do! despite doing the designs, I've been pleased with the resulting models

@twoshoes: Well we do have plans for a battleship and we've been tossing around thoughts to make some add in modules to turn the dread into something a bit larger.

Closer to now though we've got the Assault version of the frigate and we'll be working on an adversarial fleet later this year.


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A bit of an update. Right now I'm through with primary modeling. We'll check the model and probably do another pass to make sure everything looks good before sending it off to printing. Not quite there, but we are getting close!

Any update on the corvette?

From their facebook
Progress! We've received the prints for the corvettes today and they look great. There some support from the printing process to clean before we start casting them, but we're one step closer to production!
Battlegroup Helios's photo.

@twoshoes:

A little progress. We just got in the prints that Jehan posted. It took a bit for shipping where not much happened. Now that we have them there's a bit of cleanup to do to remove some of the leftover support material before we can start casting them.

They look fantastic, great job! I look forward to ordering a squadron!

I think I will have to get some

Have you considered something like Forge Ships - given that both Astartes and Mechanicus use them - might be quite a cool model and something to be a great centrepiece for a fleet. I have the old GW fleet Auxiliaries but stuff like this might be popular - what do people think?

Has anyone done any suggested stats for BFG yet? Would you want someone to?

@morden: we don't have plans for anything outside of combat ships right now. After these the big goal is the terran fleet.

Battlegroup Helios is awesome! They are located in Australia and the Helian Dreadnought's are really great! Made of resin they are sturdy. I did not opt for the prow that is on the model but put one on made by Resin Addict (who also are the makers of this ship). The price is decent being in the $30-$35 dollar range. If anyone has looked at the prices on ebay for older BFG models you would know this is a real bargain. They ship fast and---well I have been very satisfied with them.


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Just another possibility for those looking for BFG 'proxies'---Zeus Shipyards makes an awesome set of light cruisers, frigates, and destroyers. Shapeway has some very good bits to customize your vessels or to buy entire vessels for that matter. Check em out when you get the chance!

Progress on my acquired Helios ships, will also add some stripes like the scratch built one.



Battlefleet gothic ship in the front with battlefleet Helios weapon bays

@lordseamus: Thanks We'ere glad you like the models! I'd be curious to see what they look like with different prows if you could post pics.

@Jehan: Very cool! I like seeing what other people do with the models. I don't think I've seen any BFG ships with our weapons modules on there. Thanks for posting!

@Vaaish--I will be a repeat customer! I will post some pictures soon. I have been remodeling the house and working on my fleet in my spare time...which is rare. I will try to get a pic up by this weekend though!

@Vaaish, Thanks, i have magnetized the ships so i can configurate the ships the way i want

@Jehan-reznor--your fleet is awesome looking. I meant to mention that earlier!

@lordseamus: Looking forward to seeing them!

From their Facebook page

Oh man! Why won't they just take my money! I need these.

Beautiful Fleet!

And did you see this?

I did--am anxiously awaiting seeing the finished product.

What! Explain the prow! Any update on the casting process?

The prow is a WIP shot of the upcoming Helian Assault Frigate. It'll be the same basic kit as the Escort Frigates, but with a cannon prow similar to the Firedrake.

As for casting, we had a couple of issues relating to how the printed material interacted with the curing of the silicone rubber for the molds but that's since been resolved and it's full steam ahead.

Right now we're waiting for the packaging inserts to get back from the printer and I'm getting some back end stuff set up on the website so it shouldn't be long till the corvettes launch.

Glad to hear your doing well with the new product. It's great to see a new and exciting source of capital ships!

Hey folks, just wanted to let you know the Corvette is now available!

Awesome!

http://www.battlegrouphelios.com/index.php/9-helian/13-helian-escort-corvette

Going to have to order some!

What gets me is, everyone complains (including me) about the cost of GW models, then rush out and buy something that's almost exactly the same price.

Don't get me wrong, I really like these models, but I prefer the eldritch look of the BFG ships.

Hey NoPoet,

It's really comparing apples to oranges. For instance, when I was collecting my IN fleet about 6 years ago, the Dauntless was around $15 USD. By the time GW stopped selling BFG it was up to around $25. Exact same model, just nearly double the cost. It's not so much the cost of the models that gets folks, it's that the cost is constantly going up without any obvious cause.

With BGH we're doing our best to set realistic prices based on our production and packaging costs, but even so it'll be quite some time before we recoup design and printing costs. Thankfully BGH is a side project for us so we can afford to front the costs involved.

 NoPoet wrote:
What gets me is, everyone complains (including me) about the cost of GW models, then rush out and buy something that's almost exactly the same price.

Don't get me wrong, I really like these models, but I prefer the eldritch look of the BFG ships.

GW are a large company mass-producing models in plastic in-house based on designs created by salaried employees(meaning they have low costs for both development and manufacturing). People are right and entirely justified in complaining when the resulting models cost as much or more than miniatures being produced by small startups and garage companies in labour-intensive resin.

GW don't make those lovely eldritch BFG ships any more, fans of that game weren't worth their time & energy apparently, and I'm far happier seeing my money go to a small company who evidently have a love for the "genre" than I am pouring it down the ebay drain trying to jigsaw together enough "OOP collectible" models .

Totally agree with Yodhrin!

 NoPoet wrote:
What gets me is, everyone complains (including me) about the cost of GW models, then rush out and buy something that's almost exactly the same price.

Don't get me wrong, I really like these models, but I prefer the eldritch look of the BFG ships.

Great point Nopoet, except i rather spend money on a guy in his garage that keeps a system alive that is dumped by GW than a company that can make the same ships for a tenth of the price and still asks a bloated price.
But you have to thank GW thanks due their pricing policy all these small companies are beating GW at their own game!.

What's next in the pipeline or docks?

With exception to some I have seen on Shapeways---most of the 'proxie' vessels I have seen have been rather reasonable. Including shipping.

What's next in the pipeline or docks?

Next up is for Zac to finish out the assault frigate. Then we'll be taking a bit of a holiday until this fall to recharge before starting in on the art for the terrans.

That will probably be a CL, 2 frigate types, and a smaller ship.

Holiday! How dare you!

What is a CL?

A sorry, old abbreviation. CL = Light Cruiser.

Ah thanks, i was hoping on some battleships, maybe in the future.

Thought some of you might dig this: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/653537.page

Ah thanks, i was hoping on some battleships, maybe in the future.

We are planning to do them, but it'll be after the terrans have a similar range to the helians.

$20 for 3 ships, nice! I will be picking some of these up just as soon as I have the pennies.

Can we expect the Terran vessels to somewhat resemble the old space marine ships?

I do think the marine ships are cool... with modifications, but we draw inspiration from a wide range of sources. There's a few general thoughts we have for the look of the Terrans right now.

The race has a similar tech base as the Helians, but different applications. Where Helians are ornate, Terrans are utilitarian. While Helians focus on big ships, Terrans field more smaller vessels.

Expect the aesthetic to have echoes of the Helians but have much less ribbing and far more armor plating.

Vaaish wrote:

Ah thanks, i was hoping on some battleships, maybe in the future.

We are planning to do them, but it'll be after the terrans have a similar range to the helians.

Any hints on how the Terrans will differ from the Helians?

It's a bit early in the process to say anything for sure, but think if you stripped a helian ship down to the frame and plated armor over it and added some battleship style turrets and put a hanger in the prow, you probably wouldn't be off to a bad start.

Vaaish wrote:
I do think the marine ships are cool... with modifications, but we draw inspiration from a wide range of sources. There's a few general thoughts we have for the look of the Terrans right now.

The race has a similar tech base as the Helians, but different applications. Where Helians are ornate, Terrans are utilitarian. While Helians focus on big ships, Terrans field more smaller vessels.

Expect the aesthetic to have echoes of the Helians but have much less ribbing and far more armor plating.

Why hallo thar, my new Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator fleet

Yeah that description sounds pretty epic!

I posted this to the BGH Facebook page a few minutes ago, but we've seen a fairly sizable number of requests for fleet packs and I'm trying to figure out what combination of ships would be most useful if we put a pack together.

I'm thinking we'd potentially do three options. A Starter fleet, booster pack, and full fleet pack. Any thoughts on what you'd find most useful in those packs?

Well Depends on which price range you want to go,

Booster packs only corvettes and frigates?

Starter fleet one ship, two corvette sets and one Frigate set
or 2 ships and one corvette set and one frigate set?

Full fleet? 3 shops, 3 frigates (sets) and 3 corvette (sets).

It also depends on game playing style, some people play with ship heavy or escort heavy fleets.

Starter set--then fleet set. (?)

Would a starter set "royal sampler" work? By which I mean a set that includes one battleship, one cruiser (or one squad?), and one squad of each type of escort.

I admit, I'm looking more for a good diversity of ships to paint rather than a good fleet for gaming.

BobtheInquisitor has a good idea there. That would be a good sample/starter set.

I don't think we want to do booster packs since that can easily be covered by the single products on the site.

It's not hard for us to experiment with packs since they don't really require any special packaging, just the shot for the product on the website but we do want to at least put something together that is worth getting.

I think the goal would be to do a starter fleet that gives you a good range of ships and can be expanded without folks feeling like they wasted money on ships that aren't useful.

Past that probably a full fleet kit in either capital heavy or frigate/corvette heavy.

Here's a bit of an update to show you the frigates with a coat of paint on them. I'll be getting these photographed and put up on the site later today.

Very Battlefleet Gothic.

I'm holding out for Dropfleet

The painting on those looks fantastic, Vaaish!

Flashman - These are definitely intended for BFG, no harm no foul there, imo. It's hard for me though since I only know 1 or 2 folks who play it, and obviously it's hard to get fleets for the other factions (rather than these which I assume would count as Imperials). But these do look marvelous and if I was a regular BFG player I'd have sprung for them in a heartbeat.

@RiTides: Thanks! We are planning to expand the line with a second fleet this fall That might make it a bit easier to collect some fleets in the near future.

Oh man, now That is intriguing! I could totally see myself buying a "2 player starter" if you were to offer two factions . I hope the second fleet is not just "evil imperials" but something more interesting... any hints on that?

Yeah, We ran a poll on our facebook page between Terrans and Stygians and Terrans won out. They're going to be smaller ships, but more heavily armored and packing some big guns. Much more utilitarian in look than the Helians despite having similar tech bases.

The mythos so far is that the helians are a science faction exiled from Earth because of a failed experiment using our Sun that ended up devastating the planet. The Helians venerate the star reactors they developed from the experiments which is why their ships are more like shrines. Earth used most of their remaining resources to rebuild the planet so they can't afford to build many massive ships like the Helians and instead use more smaller ones.

@Vaaish--awesome paint job--especially the engines!!!

But what are these Stygians then? Aliens?

Stygians are more rebels than aliens but they will have more alien looking ships.

Vaaish wrote:
Stygians are more rebels than aliens but they will have more alien looking ships.

Will they be smooth like the left one or more spikey like the middle one? Ignore the one on the right

At this stage I couldn't tell you. We've bounced around some thoughts about smooth, spiky, asymmetrical but none of that has really solidified to much of anything yet.

Like all our stuff, we'll be posting early concept art for the community to look over before we actually produce the models so if folks hate what we do with them you'll probably see some changes based on community feedback.

They are quite a ways off though. We plan to do the Terrans next and then a battleship size craft for both Helian and Terran before Stygians.

I am not sure on going completely different than what people know, the Helios ships a re slightly different than the one we know, maybe the terrans should similar but different than than this?

Yes please!

The plans for the terrans aren't really headed toward what you posted up there at all and a lot of folks use the Helians as proxies for that already. It's not really different enough to be considered a new fleet.

We've been talking a lot about split prows, smaller ships, heavy armor, and big guns for the Terrans. It's just we haven't quite worked up the art for them yet while we are finishing out the Helians.

I would definitely want to see something more different than that... open to seeing what others' opinions are as you want to do what sells best, but were your facebook fans into the idea of a different look for Terrans?

Certainly, it would be good visually for the range, and beautiful things (as long as there is a solid use for them) should sell!

We polled only the general distinctions between Terrans and Stygians but Terrans should work well as marine proxies if you want. We'll see how folks respond to the concept art this fall and go from there.

Looking forward to seeing the doodles!

Yeah--would love to see the concept art!

@Aegisgrim--I have bought some of Battlegroup Helios ships and they do nothing but compliment your fleet---absolutely beautiful models!!!

Concept art is a ways off for Terrans. The plan right now is to finish getting the Helian studio fleet painted up (3 corvettes and 3 Assault Frigates left) before taking a bit of a break to recharge before we start in on Terrans near the end of August or September.

Dredging up this since we're getting start on the next round of models for BGH. This time working on the upcoming Terran Fleet for BGH and I thought I'd share our progress with you. This is the top down view of the Terran Bulwark class cruiser. The Terrans rely on smaller, more heavily armored and utilitarian ships than the Helians do. This guy will be approximately 6cm long making it about half the length of a Helian Dreadnought. Let us know what you think!

I'm thinking I would like a fleet of them!

Intriguing, seems like you guys are moving more into your own aesthetic rather than going for "non-Space Marine" ships. Very curious to see where this will go!

@Malika: This is just the direct top view of the ship which really shows all the armor plates. We're still going to have skeletal ribbing underneath that will poke up through the gaps in the armor and be more visible on the sides. The goal is to have the Terrans and Helian tech base be similar enough that you can see a connection but still different to the point of being easy to distinguish.

Think more like the FW strike cruiser vs the regular one or the IN ships.

They kind of look like hi-tech Tau Space marine ships

An Update on their Facebook!

Full design released

Would that be a strike cruiser-sized ship or an escort? I like the design a lot, but it's lines might be a little too clean, the surfaces too sparse, to properly fit the scale of a cruiser. A little more bridge might sell it. I really want to see what it looks like 'in the flesh'.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Would that be a strike cruiser-sized ship or an escort? I like the design a lot, but it's lines might be a little too clean, the surfaces too sparse, to properly fit the scale of a cruiser. A little more bridge might sell it. I really want to see what it looks like 'in the flesh'.

This was written on the FB page

t's been a long time coming, but I've got a big update for everyone today: We've finished up the concept art for the Terran Bulwark Cruiser! This one doesn't have the fins showing you can see on the top view to make it easier to build the CG version for printing.

And i made that comment also it looks to smooth, more like a tau then a human design.

So, a Dornian Heresy Ultramarine escort ship circa 40,000?

Hey guys,

This isn't an escort sized ship, it's actually more the size of a strike cruiser so about half the length of a Helian Dreadnought. That makes it pretty small and areas that look really empty are quite a bit smaller than they might seem in the sketch.

I've also found that it's not that useful to add a lot of fine detail to these sketchs. Most of the time we end up reworking the fine detail as we go anyway and "cleaner" outlines are easier to reference. TL/DR: These will be as detailed as the Helians, but they are intentionally based on the Monitor and take ques from Romanesque architecture making them less embellished than the more high Gothic of the Helians.

Thanks for the reply, one question though will it have interchangeable weapon bays like the Helian cruisers? From looking at the design it looks difficult to implement.


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Another facebook post looks like the new cruiser will be in the light cruiser class

Man oh man, you guys do not disappoint!

Looking good guys!

We hadn't planned on having interchangable side modules for this one. We may still end up building it that way for casting purposes though. One idea that was floated was to have a forward bridge detail bit that plugs into the forward turret mount to add some variety. Still not sure about if it'll happen though.

Vaaish wrote:
We hadn't planned on having interchangable side modules for this one. We may still end up building it that way for casting purposes though. One idea that was floated was to have a forward bridge detail bit that plugs into the forward turret mount to add some variety. Still not sure about if it'll happen though.

You could cast the sections seperately, with interchangeable modules

Glad to hear about the detail and the size. Looking forward to see actual sculpts.

The actual sculpts are still probably a ways out. I think we're going to try to do a full fleet launch this time instead of staggered, partly just because concept art is easier to work into our schedules at the moment

Aha, so also Battleships and escorts? Would like to know in what way you want to differentiate the adversary fleet

At this stage, cruiser and the escorts. The plan would be to have Terrans and Helians out and then see about doing the battleships for both. Battleships are a huge project, both in terms of time and coin.

In fluff terms, Terrans and Helians are adversaries but not necessarily "evil". We've got some thoughts on Stygians, but nothing fleshed out to the point of sharing quite yet.

Ooooh!

Although we've been getting hammered by real life commitments, Zac has snuck in a little time to work on the Helian Assault Frigate some more. It's almost there!

This thread has been quiet for too long:

Those are some nice looking ships!

I might just be that I’ve been playing BFG:Leviathan on my iPad, but I’ve been thinking about some good old fashioned space combat lately. This look like they would scratch the itch of any fans of the genre.

When will they be released?

They ever going to get anything in stock again?

Ever?

Expect a restock in the coming weeks.

Hey Folks,

Out caster was out on a well deserved holiday for the past few weeks, but he's back now and we're hoping to start restocking this weekend.

Thanks, I was wondering!

I'm happy to report that we've restocked the site, thanks for your patience!

They pack much back.


Beautiful looking ships.

http://www.battlegrouphelios.com/index.php/9-helian/11-helian-escort-assault

Battlegroup Helios got interviewed over at Chilvers Industries:

http://chilversindustries.com/2016/10/12/battlegroup-helios-interview/

No update in 4 months? anything in the pipeline?

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

News.

The small but beautiful range of gothic starships from the battlegroup helios range formerly available from our friends down south have been purchased by vanguard miniatures and will be in store very soon. The models will remain under the battlegroup helios label and all the other ships from vanguard will port over to this label as well and I hope to continue to expand both the hellian fleet and the other faction fleets over time.

I must thank Aaron and Zac for the opportunity to own these wonderful ships appreciated guys, and i'd like to wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

Statement from Aaron and Zac from Battlegroup Helios:

Hey folks,
As you've probably noticed it's been quiet around here lately. Both Zac and I have seen our lives get busier over the last year and it's left us with dramatically less time to devote to BGH. The result is the development of the Terrans have stalled and restocking has been intermittent. That's not really fair to all of you who've supported us and so we've decided that it was time for us to pass the BGH torch. For the past month we've been working with John at Vanguard and starting today, Battlegroup Helios will become part of the Vanguard Miniatures family. We trust you'll give him the same support you've give us. Check them out at http://vanguardminiatures.co.uk/
Thanks and see you among the stars!
Aaron and Zac