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Here are all the Halo: Ground Command Pics. There are a lot, be warned!


Preamble:
Did someone say Halo? Well, strictly speaking no, no one did. Actually, even generally speaking they did not. I'm sitting - alone, in my office and not speaking. BUT, I did think the word Halo like someone had said it, so I should probably rephrase that start part, which I will below. UNLESS you actually did say Halo, you know, right before you entered this thread; in which case I just blew your damn mind.

Alright, so remember, you didn't read that above part or this part explaining, we're just two newcomers to this thread looking to find out some goss from Spartan Games, got it? Cool, cool.

Did someone internally think the word Halo, but not literally speaking say the word???

Option A - You did: Well then, you've certainly come to the right place!
Option B - You didn't: I don’t really know what to say. You come into a Halo thread, and are not hyped for Halo? It's in the description man, did you misclick? Either way, your lack of enthusiasm is both noted and unappreciated. We don't need that kinda negativity here. I suggest you watch this and come back when you're ready. You don't need to rush this, I'm here for you, we can get through this together.



Okay, now with that out of the way I want to again apologise for my absence this last little bit, I have had real world things that needed attention, but I am back in all my majestic (Or should I say Crimson, geddit? Spartan Ops? Still no?) glory.

This post has a lot of fantastic stuff from Spartan Games to juggle. It has to both welcome new people and update veterans, with so much content, control + c the following phrase:
HURRY_UP_AND_GET_TO_THE_GOOD_PART
then use that phrase to control + f and skip through the glossary sections. I'm really sorry for the formatting of all this, it's a tough thing giving this a nice layout when I'm pretty useless at formatting at the best of times, but I promise I'm doing my best!

- Intro
- Glossary <--- you are here
- Halo: Ground Command - What is it?
- Halo: Ground Command - coming/recent releases
- Halo: Ground Command - what do we know about the rules
- Halo: Ground Command - older but still perdy pics of figures from Salute

- Halo: Fleet Battles - What is it?
- Halo: Fleet Battles - coming/recent releases



Welcome Spartans (and curses to any Covenant listening in on this comms channel), Halo Fleet Battles is out! I've read the rules, played the game and am happy to answer any questions/put up any photos that may be had, due to work circumstances, I had to go to rural Australia for a bit, so apologise for the lack of updates. The models are crisp, the rules tight. I am truly excited by this game - which in turn, only makes me more excited for the soon to be released Halo Ground Command (GC).

Halo: Ground Command - What is it?
HURRY_UP_AND_GET_TO_THE_GOOD_PART
Halo: Ground Command is a 1:100 miniature game (that's 15mm for people like me who use the metric system- compared to 40K's 28mm, for reference) that focuses on getting the fast paced, high action environment of the legendary FPS onto the tabletop. People purchasing Fleet Battles have voiced concern over having to buy 'groups' of models, instead of individual figures (such as the Massives like the Punic and CAS), however, Spartan Derek has confirmed that models such as the Scorpion tank will be coming in stand alone boxes, so you can highly individualise your forces.

What forces can we expect to see? Well at this point we have a great deal of info indicating that the Flood and Forerunners will be making eventual appearances, however, there is nothing overtly saying they're coming anytime in the next 6 months - they're more of a down the line deal. As for the Covenant and UNSC, we really are being spoilt rotten: Phantoms, Pelicans, SCARABS, Marines, ODSTs, every type of Spartan, Warthogs, Grizzlies, Scorpions, Wraiths, Ghosts, Banshees, Falcons, Hornets, Marines, Grunts, ODSTs, Jackals, Elites, Brutes, ODSTs (I'm a little excited for the ODSTs, you might be able to tell), Halo Wars Units specialist units, EVERYTHING is coming. #thehypeisreal

I will expand this section a little more soon, I have a lot to get updated!

Box art revealed, along with the rulebook (big thanks to Tallgiraffe):







Halo: Ground Command - coming releases
HURRY_UP_AND_GET_TO_THE_GOOD_PART
Yes, that's right, the fast pace 1/100 scale Halo miniature game is shipping July 27th, that's only a few short sleeps away folks! Not only is the base set up for grabs, but also scale models of the Pelican and Phantom; let's have a look at those bad boys.







Yes you PeliCAN:



DUN DUN DUNNN DUNN DUNNN (for those of you that don't know DUNNNN Music, that was an excerpt of the Phantom of the Opera):


Magical.

What about the actual boxed contents I hear me pretending to be you ask?
I'm glad you asked, here are some pretty, pretty pictures and a description from Spartan Games


• Full colour Halo: Ground Command Rulebook
• Statistics Sheets (detailing UNSC and Covenant forces)
• 20 x Custom Halo Dice, 6 x Halo Order Dice and 4 x Normal D6
• 40 x Game Tokens (Damage, Activation and Cooldown)
• Shadow Templates - UNSC Pelican 
and Covenant Phantom Dropships
• Quick Reference Sheet
• 2 x Commander Cards
• Halo Scenery - Bunkers and Scatter Terrain
• UNSC 1,250 Point Battle Group
• Covenant 1,250 Point Battle Group

And here's an in depth breakdown of the forces

UNSC Battle Group



Covenant Battle Group



Random pics


Halo: Ground Command - what do we know about the rules (coming soon)
HURRY_UP_AND_GET_TO_THE_GOOD_PART


Halo: Ground Command - older but still perdy pics of figures from Salute

HURRY_UP_AND_GET_TO_THE_GOOD_PART
Some older pics, updated with some light hearted thoughts


TLR - Halo: Ground Combat rocks






Halo: Fleet Battles - What is it?

HURRY_UP_AND_GET_TO_THE_GOOD_PART
Halo: Fleet Battles (FB) is a 1 : 20, 000 scale miniature game set in your favourite scifi universe. Models and rules are made by Spartan Games in both plastic and resin (to clarify, I'm now talking exclusively about the models here - not the rules. Be a little weird if they were made out of either of those materials) depending on whether the ship falls under the core or specialist category.

This is just my perception, but I believe that the game offers a great deal of tactical flexibility. In it, the various bases (which are called elements) are made up of select types of ships that can group together, or stand alone. Sometimes that will mean all frigates/corvettes, other times that might mean frigate escorts for huge warships and battlecruisers; some elements may be a solo ship with no others on it, other ships may take up multiple elements! Individually, these elements are powerful, but when formed up into battle groups they become really mean. Battle groups are functional units of elements(which must maintain a coherency of 6 inches to remain a whole battle group), and are both pre-specified before games and alterable during combat. Being in a battle group enhances the fighting ability of units, but at certain minor trade-offs that are far exceeded by the advantages. After casualties, battle groups start to lose efficacy, and as such there are orders issued by the fleet commander that allow 2 dwindling battle groups to form up into a stronger one.


Units are activated turn by turn, and the rules seem to capture a great deal. In particular, I am impressed with the terminology, which is all quite accurate, and adds a sense of immersion. Instead of shooting at the enemy, you make firing solutions that target elements of opponents battle groups (sounds cool, not so?). Loving the damage mechanics, anyway, if you have any questions ask away!



This is an elaborate overview of the rules as a preamble to the following video, where there is a game



This is the game that was spoken about in the previous video





Halo: Fleet Battles - coming/recent releases (coming this weekend)

HURRY_UP_AND_GET_TO_THE_GOOD_PART

Ooooh yes! The reveal can't come soon enough. 28mm Halo minis would bankrupt me! 28mm Halo minis in hard plastic (which I believe the ships are, so these might be) would get me happily seeing what kind of trade-in value I can get on my soul!


In a perfect world, we get the fleet game, a 28mm skirmish and a 15mm Mass Battle, and I win the lottery so I can afford all 3!

This IP is enough to make drop 30k and WM/H, if the rules are good and the minis are HIPS.

I'd be more excited if it wasn't Spartan Games. They make nice models, some of them are even great models, but their rules-writing is terrible and I predict the second edition of rules within a year of the first print.

I was burned so badly on Dystopian Wars that even though I want to like it, I'll be waiting a good long time before giving this a shot.

I'm a bit concerned about the multiple scale issues,

I've yet to come across a game that started intending to support gaming in multiple scales actually manage to carry it through in the long term

either the system does not handle them all well, or they run out of steam trying to release the same minis in multiple scales and all but one are fairly swiftly dropped,

but no doubt we'll hear more of their plans at salute

I imagine it'll be like their Firestorm games - fleet at one scale, 10mm mass combat then a 10 model a side spec-ops game.

Paradigm wrote:Ooooh yes! The reveal can't come soon enough. 28mm Halo minis would bankrupt me! 28mm Halo minis in hard plastic (which I believe the ships are, so these might be) would get me happily seeing what kind of trade-in value I can get on my soul!


In a perfect world, we get the fleet game, a 28mm skirmish and a 15mm Mass Battle, and I win the lottery so I can afford all 3!

I'm pretty much accepting I'll be living off unflavoured noodles when this comes out. It's actually why I put a bit of a stall on my Halo IG, I was worried I'd spend ages making pretty cool models, only to have these come out the next month and trump all of mine into an oblivion of obscurity. I have, however, decided I don't care and that worst case I end up with a unique looking force. I'm going to go for broke on this one! Really want to see it succeed!

primalexile wrote:This IP is enough to make drop 30k and WM/H, if the rules are good and the minis are HIPS.

I really hope they nail the miniatures primarily, if the rules are bad I'll proxy, if the minis are bad I'll cry. That being sad, I do very much hope the rules are good as well, of course.

sourclams wrote:I'd be more excited if it wasn't Spartan Games. They make nice models, some of them are even great models, but their rules-writing is terrible and I predict the second edition of rules within a year of the first print.

I was burned so badly on Dystopian Wars that even though I want to like it, I'll be waiting a good long time before giving this a shot.

Well that is just disheartening. I'm going to really hope that because this is such a big IP, Microsoft will maybe keep an eye on this and watch over their miniature baby. Then again, I have seen how Microsoft treats some of their babies...

OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:I'm a bit concerned about the multiple scale issues,

I've yet to come across a game that started intending to support gaming in multiple scales actually manage to carry it through in the long term

either the system does not handle them all well, or they run out of steam trying to release the same minis in multiple scales and all but one are fairly swiftly dropped,

but no doubt we'll hear more of their plans at salute

It does seem odd, my guess is, as Caylentor suggest, that the scales will be for similarly themed but distinctly different games. I'm hoping for a Halo Wars style one and a Halo 28mm skirmish. Then, of course, my hope is to gather enough skirmish models to the point where I can use them to play a scaled up 15mm game. A bloke can dream, right?

caylentor wrote:I imagine it'll be like their Firestorm games - fleet at one scale, 10mm mass combat then a 10 model a side spec-ops game.

I'm excited by this prospect but really nervous that a 10 model per side game will lead to massively inflated costs for the 28mm models. Ideally, I would like them priced competitively so that I can splurge and procure a huge army of them. If the rules aren't that great, I'd happily consider using them as Epirians in Dakka's MEdge (which, if you haven't checked out yet, I thoroughly recommend!)

They don't have a teabagging mini I will be disappointed.

I truly want to convert up a model of a Spartan sitting at a table that has been erected above a fallen Elite, steeping his tea in a teacup.

You can tell I'm going places in life.

I'm cautiously optimistic about this, but I want to see the sculpts and the material.

Added some pictures of the Halo Fleets models to first post. As you can see, they are in Hard Plastic, I feel confident in saying that this means it is highly, highly, highly likely that HGC will be in Hard Plastic as well.

Plastic Halo minis? You have my attention.

Appreciate the shout

Multiple scales seem interesting, It was kind of a given when you take into account Spartan's history of spanning multiple scales with their other games, it'll be interesting to see what scale they're demoing at Salute

 Piston Honda wrote:
They don't have a teabagging mini I will be disappointed.

I doubt that they will.. but it's the easiest conversion ever if they have a squatting model and a separate casualty one.

Interested in this for the models, less so the ruleset.

Brother SRM wrote:Plastic Halo minis? You have my attention.

Kinda how I felt, so excited about Salute

Charax wrote:Appreciate the shout

Multiple scales seem interesting, It was kind of a given when you take into account Spartan's history of spanning multiple scales with their other games, it'll be interesting to see what scale they're demoing at Salute

From what I can gather, it might well be both on display! If not, I hope it's the 28mm version. As for the shout out, no problemo, it was your discovery after all!

warboss wrote:

 Piston Honda wrote:
They don't have a teabagging mini I will be disappointed.

I doubt that they will.. but it's the easiest conversion ever if they have a squatting model and a separate casualty one.

Maybe they'll even suggestively place them next to one another on a sprue

willb2064 wrote:Interested in this for the models, less so the ruleset.

I've not really got any experience with Spartan Games, but I hear good things about Firestorm Armada. This makes me reasonably confident in their Fleet game, but does not really push me either way for their ground game. I think with solid mini's the rest will hopefully fall into place. For me at least, having a good game is a boon, but not a necessity. I've got Deadzone, Infinity, 40k and soon MEdge if I need to.




On a separate note, the Office of Naval Intelligence wants this event highly covered by surveillance teams. Are there any UNSC resources that are going to be at Salute that can undertake reconnaissance and report back here for a formal debrief?

Updated with potential (but far from certain) possibility of a Halo bust. Perhaps a Commander Keyes or a Cole bust? I'm genuinely hoping that this isn't another random Spartan bust and is Halo related!

Maybe a Cortana. I wouldn't mind.

Excited for this

Cortana, eh? I think I'd rather an Admiral of sorts!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Updated with Halo Fleets info pending mod decision about whether or not to combine the threads for Halo: Fleet Battles and Halo: Ground Combat Game

I can also confirm that Microsoft has been working incredibly closely with Spartan Games. Again, the big reveal is going to be at Salute within the next week. Apparently, not only are Microsoft and Spartan Games working together, they're working together cooperatively!

I like Spartan Games and love some of their game systems.
I loved Dystopian Wars from day 1 and the fact that they streamlined the rules was a good thing, not a bad thing (unless you liked using the broken units).
On the level of DW, FA and US their type of ruleset works. It's different from what we see in for instance Epic or BFG, but it works.

But i am a bit worried in regard to a skirmish game system too. Dystopian Legions, their first skirmish game ruleset, is also based on many of the same principles of the other games and it is based on units, not models and that is different, it does kind of work but to me it does not feel right.

In a skirmish game i want the individual model to matter.
At least as in 40k, preferably as in Inquisitor or Infinity.

But all that aside: i will buy anything that is a HALO miniature! :-)

49 hard plastic ships in the box? That's a pretty impressive count. Obviously it all depends on pricing, but if this is well priced and has enough to play just in the box, then it might just jump any kind of queue I have!

Of course, if they reveal either of the other systems at Salute, there may be some tough choices ahead... 28mm is the one I want most, but I currently don't have a fleet game or a small scale Mass Battle, so if the value is there I could easily go for those.


@ORicK: to be honest, both Infinity and Deadzone would be pretty easy to mod for Halo if the Spartan rules aren't up to scratch. If they can make the minis, there are plenty of appropriate rulesets out there.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Wayland Games pre-order is go!
http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/halo-fleet-battles/23406-halo-fleet-battles-the-fall-of-reach?utm_source=Wayland+Games+Ltd+List&utm_campaign=f294141266-21_04_15_Salute_Halo&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_78b62ac9ee-f294141266-312762133

RRP: £80
Wayland price: £64

Not bad at all. Now we just need pictures of all these spaceships to drool over!

If you want some more decent pics of the plastic ships you can find some here on Meeples and Miniature's site from their visit to Spartan Games
https://meeples.wordpress.com/2015/03/15/visiting-spartan-games/

They look gorgeous to be honest, I was really surprised with the tiny subtle detail they manage to get out of those UNSC ships for their size.

I am really really tempted to grab this, 49 ships was a lot more than I was expecting to see and the UNSC aesthetic is to die for. Also the rules, I get some people seem to hate on Spartan Game rules but I don't get it. I absolutely love FSA and PF, if you hate the exploding dice mechanic that is fine, personal taste but the rules are solid even with that.

Yes you can get potentially crazy lucky and roll streaks of 6s, but honestly if you're going to base your opinion on the ruleset simply because there is a potentially, massively unlikely statistical situation that rolling 3 dice could lead to you getting the 21 hits you needed to kill target X off, then perhaps dice game overall aren't for you..?

Also lots of people tend to say "I didn't like their rules for DW/FSA V1 when it came out" as their arguement for bad rules. You do realise been some time since that now right..? And from what I gather of DWs (don't play it, can't speak for it) they improved massively on it, and FSA is certainly a great game, as is Planetfall now that only came out last year in October.

If you want to have a look at some Spartan Game rules and go ahead and download them for FREE from their website and give it a try. I enjoy FSA and PF a lot more than I ever enjoyed 40k and Fantasy and the rules are solid as well as the factions being great balance wise and I don't have any doubts that Halo Fleet Battles game will be just as good.

OK, sold!

They look fantastic, and the larger Covenant ship looks to be a pretty darn big piece of plastic!

49 ships? That has to be a typo unless they're counting tiny fighters that go 3-6 on a single base as individual ships.

@Paradigm: i agree. another system is always an option.

Infinity is an option for me if the new edition fixed the activation holes, but i have not read it yet.

The HALO fleets both look superb, a no-brainer for me, even if only for the models.
Most fleet games can be played with other miniatures anyway, which is why i have fleets from Babylon 5, BFG and Firestorm Armada and i can play any system with any of them.

I AM wondering how we get to 49 models though... that is A LOT...

I'm with you Paradigm, this is going to be amazing!

ORicK wrote:

But all that aside: i will buy anything that is a HALO miniature! :-)

If we can support this idea just for this, I think the rest will fall into place. Firestorm Armada is reportedly quite a fun and balanced game to play

GenRifDrake wrote:If you want some more decent pics of the plastic ships you can find some here on Meeples and Miniature's site from their visit to Spartan Games
https://meeples.wordpress.com/2015/03/15/visiting-spartan-games/

They look gorgeous to be honest, I was really surprised with the tiny subtle detail they manage to get out of those UNSC ships for their size.

I am really really tempted to grab this, 49 ships was a lot more than I was expecting to see and the UNSC aesthetic is to die for. Also the rules, I get some people seem to hate on Spartan Game rules but I don't get it. I absolutely love FSA and PF, if you hate the exploding dice mechanic that is fine, personal taste but the rules are solid even with that.

If you want to have a look at some Spartan Game rules and go ahead and download them for FREE from their website and give it a try. I enjoy FSA and PF a lot more than I ever enjoyed 40k and Fantasy and the rules are solid as well as the factions being great balance wise and I don't have any doubts that Halo Fleet Battles game will be just as good.

You sound like you've got a lot of experience with Spartan Games and are very happy, this is nice to hear, because really I'm already sold on this. So very, very sold. I also didn't know they had free rules, so cheers once again! I will add those pictures to the main post and credit you.

warboss wrote:49 ships? That has to be a typo unless they're counting tiny fighters that go 3-6 on a single base as individual ships.

This does seem like a good deal, time will tell whether that is the case. Either way, it is a very promising game. 49 is also 7 squared, and seven is of quite some importance in Halo

ORicK wrote:@Paradigm: i agree. another system is always an option.

Infinity is an option for me if the new edition fixed the activation holes, but i have not read it yet.

The HALO fleets both look superb, a no-brainer for me, even if only for the models.
Most fleet games can be played with other miniatures anyway, which is why i have fleets from Babylon 5, BFG and Firestorm Armada and i can play any system with any of them.

I AM wondering how we get to 49 models though... that is A LOT...

Too true! Deadzone Halo like Paradigm suggested sounds brilliant!

And don't get me wrong: i expect a good fleet battle system from Spartan/Microsoft, i know they can do that.

i would also prefer a good 28mm system from Spartan/Microsoft and not having to use something else.
I am a "the more systems, the more fun" guy.
Combined with "the more miniatures, the more fun" of course... ;-)

I too have and love Dystopian Wars (in the top 3 of my favourite games ever), Firestorm Armada is good too and Dystopian Legions is IMO not bad, just not what i hoped it would be, so i have quite the Spartan collection already.

Pics of the busts!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Does anyone know what I did wrong? Hahaha That is the right file, wrong display. *sigh*


Automatically Appended Next Post:
ORick, I know what you mean. It would be so nice to have minis and rules just convalesce, it does heaps for the immersion

I'm in! That is all.

If you go to the page with the pics of them, right click and hit 'copy Image URL', then use the IMG tags in the Post Reply window, they should come up.