Last Day of our Birthday Month all offers end Monday 1st September

Our Birthday month celebration ends on Monday 1st September.  This little blog post has two pieces of information to put across.  Firstly a great big thank you for making this the most enjoyable month of The Ion Age's short life thus far and secondly to remind you that all the offers we have made for this month end on the 1st September about noon GMT.

As far as our offers go if you place an order between now and when the month ends (the new free miniature appears and the offers are removed on our site) you will get the following.  IMP12 Starvaulter Instructor free in all orders and 10% of your order value in our choice of extra FREE Ion Age codes included automatically.  We also have an offer on The Havelock Battlesuit of 10% off as well.  You can also see the brand new Geo Shelters and the Corbal Deployable Hardpoint too as well as the Year One Collection and the Vehicle Conversion Pack. There is also Mad Mecha Guy's excellent Skylark article which we will feature in September as we simply did not get to it this month.

So until Monday when a new monthly free miniature appears I take my leave.

Thanks for all your support in this wonderful month and as always thanks for reading.

GBS

IAF064 Adder Vehicle 15mm Conversion Pack Released!

We at the Ion Age are starting to get into vehicles in a big way with some released and more to come but today we release the re-mastered 15mm Vehicle Conversion Pack which is filled with useful pieces in white metal. Pieces for adding to or changing your Adder Combat Cars and Adder Combat Lifters along with most other Human vehicles and even your infantry too. Build terrain or vignettes too. Or just personalise a scenic base or wreaked vehicle. With sixteen different pieces and the option of purchasing them as single bits there is a lot you can do to your 15mm scale science fiction vehicles with this code. This set was originally in the HOF Range at 15mm.co.uk but has been given over to us at the Ion Age along with the vehicles from that venerable range.

IAF064 Adder Vehicle 15mm Conversion Pack

15mm Scale white metal parts for our Adder Vehicles. These will fit on all Adder series vehicles which are wheeled, lifter and so on. They can also be used on other vehicles and items such as the equipment rolls will fit on our Muster and Retained Knight miniatures. Great for personalising your forces and for making terrain markers or other scratch building projects. Offered in a set pack of sixteen pieces (one of each piece) or three packs and save 10% or as single items as shown in the image below which you can click on to enlarge.  HERE.

Price per pack is 4.00GBP with single items ranging from 0.25GBP to 1.00GBP based on size. Use the drop down list on the web page to make your selection.

10% Off Havelock Battlesuits and Freebies in Orders – Last Few Days!

This week we put up a great blog post showing Sam Croes own take on his Havelock Battlesuit for the Marcher Barony of Castella. Its well worth a read and since its our birthday month we have taken 10% off all of the Havelock Battlesuit types. This means also that if you select the 'buy three get 10% off' option you will actually get 20% off. Excellent eh. This offer lasts until the end of the month as does our month long offer of 10% of your order value in our choice of freebies from the range automatically placed in your order. So save on the Havelock and get something additional free!

Information Burst

Our birthday month is almost over now with only a few days to go. What does this mean? Well there are only a few days to get the IMP12 Starvaulter Instructor free in every order before it is retired from free. It means the Havelock offer and the freebies offer will run out at the same time at month's end. Its been a manic month with a lot of releases such as the Year One Collection, the Geo Shelters and The Corbal Deployable Hardpoint. We have actually given away some really impressive free items with a few orders so large that they got Block Houses, Landing Pads and Hab Domes free. So if you want in now is the time before we go back to normal. Free miniature, extra free goodies AND by placing an order with us you sign up for an account and earn points on all purchases which can be used later for discounts, special items and more. See you in September!

Thanks for Reading.

GBS

Havelock Battlesuit of Castella and Offer

This is Sam Croes prototype Havelock Battlesuit painted up in the colours of his own Marcher Baron force; Castella.  Castella is a small one star system Barony allied loosely to Prydia and an enemy of both Canlaster and Yordan.  There is one inhabitable planet in the system ruled over by the great aged Baroness Maud who takes to the field in a suit of highly customised Desteria powered armour.  Castellan knights are well trained and have seen action in many campaigns and recently a fabricators right was given to Castella to make its own battlesuits on Prydian patterns.  You can see an example of this above.  You will see more of Castella in coming months as it is the force that Sam intends to make his own in our battles!

Back in 2012 when the discussions about The Ion Age becoming a reality there was a lot of work done on concepts for the Prydian Precinct.  Some of these concepts have become white metal and resin reality and some more of them will become so in times to come.  But the Havelock Battlesuit that you are all familiar with is actually the second version of the design.  The first version which features in the top image is not very different but among the differences is the lack of the smooth mounting point for the top Anda Missile Pod which we added later and minor modifications on joints and plating.  There are very few of the first version and Sam Croes decided to claim them for himself!

As it is our birthday month we have decided to make a 10% off offer on the IAF020 Havelock Battlesuit all five variants.  Just add to cart if you like the look of this brawler that supports Muster formations in the field. Discount is already applied.  Oh, and that also applies to the 'buy three save 10%' bundle which is now actually 20% off!  This offer runs to months end.

Lastly remember that since its our birthday month as well as the monthly free miniature in all orders (IMP12 Starvaulter Instructor) you also get some free items from our range worth about 10% of your order value too.  You sign up for an account with our website and you gain Reward Points on all purchases which you can use later for discounts and more!  Excellent.

Thanks for Reading.

GBS

IAF064 Geo Shelters range Released!

As the Prydian civil war rumbled and then began to roar its way across the Prydian Precinct there started to emerge a need for more structures. While the Seorc Compono Guild (SCG) revolutionised rapid settlement construction with the Habitation Dome Riser System (HDRS) the hugely successful 'Hab Domes' were still time consuming to ship across the core systems and beyond and also to assemble once at their destination. Added to that the twin arising demands for structures suitable for friendly atmospheres (non lethal) at a lower cost and the increasing numbers of war disposed and the pioneers of SEORC put their minds to the challenge. Ubiquitous Rubbacrete and Golglass were too heavy and expensive (titanium alloy being at a premium) and there was no need for towers and landing pads this time.

The solution lay in the Kabeatan research station on New Glastonbury. At the northern pole this station sat atop a deep dig into the ice. The workers, fabricators and seekers who resided there did so in a little used SEORC design; the Geo Shelter. The Geo Shelters were made of a thin titanium alloy skeleton with a dense carbon weave fabric stretched over it. Resistant to cold but simple and durable these structures were used as Accommodation and as Storage was well as for Laboratories with purpose made components added to them to suit their functions. There was even a Defender version armed with a Moth 88 Rotary cannon in a turret mount a defence against roving packs of Darga which ranged across the tundra. These SEORC Geo Shelters fitted the bill and a massive fabrication plant was founded.

While lacking the more permanent facilities of Hab Domes the SEORC Geo Shelters were shipped out in their millions all across the Precinct and used by patrolling troops of all sides in the conflict as well as by researchers. But the biggest beneficiaries of the SEORC Geo Shelters were the normal people who had lost everything in a war that was seemingly ever lasting. Anywhere you travel in space you will see these structures in all their variety.

Quincy Portent, SGC New Glastonbury, 4330IC

Now released the SEORC Geo Shelters! These are brand new 15mm scale resin buildings. Useful in many different settings from our own space opera to near future, post apocalypse, arctic survival, refugee camps and temporary command stations during zombie outbreaks plus many more each of our new domes is about 50mm wide and 30mm tall. Go HERE for our Terrain Page.

 

Here are the five different types of Geo Shelters:

IAF064A Habitation Geo Shelter

This is the standard habitation structure. A one piece high quality resin model with a lot of external detailing. You can purchase one or choose to purchase three with a 10% automatic discount. Price 5.00GBP per pack.

IAF064B Storage Geo Shelter

A structure used for food or medical or ammo storage. A one piece high quality resin model with a lot of external detailing. You can purchase one or choose to purchase three with a 10% automatic discount. Price 5.00GBP per pack.

IAF064C Laboratory Geo Shelter

Carrying out tests or other research or special tasks. A one piece high quality resin model with a lot of external detailing. You can purchase one or choose to purchase three with a 10% automatic discount. Price 5.00GBP per pack.

IAF064D Defender Geo Shelter

If someone wants your settlement protect it! A three piece high quality resin and white metal model with a lot of external detailing. You can purchase one or choose to purchase three with a 10% automatic discount. Price 5.00GBP per pack.

IAF064E Smashed Geo Shelter

Sometimes bad things happen. A one piece high quality resin model which is approx 60mm wide and 30mm tall with a lot of external detailing. You can purchase one or choose to purchase three with a 10% automatic discount. Price 5.00GBP per pack.

Here are a couple of scale images of a typical Geo Shelter.  All these images and more are on the website in each product page.

With IAF015 Hab Dome

With Human Betrayer (16mm tall)

Go HERE for all of our Terrain Range.

We would like to thank everyone who took us up on the Early Supporter Offers over the last two weeks on these great new models. All orders are in the mail as of now. One of the greatest thrills of the promo period was Sam Croes (designer of the Geo Shelters, Hab Dome and Corbal Depoloyable Hardpoint) writing an article on painting up the Geo Shelters for the Red Planet for Mars. You can read it HERE and its really good.

Information Burst

We are now at the two thirds point of our birthday month and its a great month for us and for all of you from the look of it too. Thanks for all your emails of encouragement and asking just what is next. No clues from me but lets just say next week will have to revving your Adder engines and then in September we are getting our wheels on. The ESO is over and a small mountain of Geo Shelters is now on its way around the world and the Corbal offer is at an end too. I have been pleasantly surprised at the uptake on the Corbal kit but it does seem to have struck a note with those look for something a little more space opera than usual. We are getting nice feedback on the current free miniature IMP12 Starvaulter Instructor which has a week or so left before being take off free in all orders status. There is also just over a week left on our birthday freebie offer of roughly ten percent of product value in our choice of miniatures and terrain being put in your order. Lastly we had a nice surprise when the good lady of one of our customers put up her pyrographic picture of the cover of Patrol Angis burned into a wooden dice box! See that on our blog. Finally remember that by placing an order with us you sign up for an account and earn points on all purchases which can be used later for discounts, special items and more.

Thanks for Reading.

GBS

Last Chance on Offers Geo Shelter Bundles and Corbal Hardpoint!

The early supporter offers and the week long release offer end at 12 noon GMT on Thursday 21^st August at The Ion Age. Its been a great two week run and things really took over with the release offer on the Corbal last week. As I have also said every order placed automatically gets the monthly free miniature (IMP12 Starvaulter Instructor) and as its our birthday month an extra random ten percent of our products put in the package too. So if you are keen now is the time. 

Here are the top offers which run out tomorrow:

IAF064 Geo Shelters. Bundle of Five Different Structures with a 20% Saving off release price.

HERE

IAF041 Corbal Deployable Hardpoint. In this release week there is 10% off the normal price. 

HERE 

You can visit the full pages of offers HERE. For more details and go to these blog posts for more information HERE and HERE. There is also an excellent article on putting the Geo Shelters on Mars by Sam Croes which you can see HERE.

IAF064D Defender Geo Shelter on Mars!

Here are a couple of pictures of the work that is ongoing here which has even roped me in. We will be starting really early in the morning and at this time all orders will be shipping out on Thursday as promised world wide. Freebies packed thus far range from a single Retained Knight to whole packs of Nox Troopers all the way up to Hab Domes and Block Houses for those who were most taken with this event.

A photo of the part of the long lines of Geo's ready for packing up

A photo of the rows of parts of Corbals for packing.  Our most complex code so far

Thanks for Reading.

GBS

Mistress Shani burns for The Ion Age

Sometimes art takes many forms and today I got to see an example of Pyrography which is, to us lay folk, the art of burning images into wood.  An ancient and worthy form of art in my opinion.  Now to the matter in hand hot as it is!

Shani wife of Mark and a fan of The Ion Age made her loving husband a unique present of a dice box as seen in the image above.  It was fashioned to match the cover of the coming Patrol Angis rulebook which you can see below.  I think Shani did an excellent job of it.  You can see the original post HERE.

This is now the third vision of the book cover as there is also the promotional miniature of this scene which can be had free with points from purchases online with us.  Its HERE and you can see it below.

I think the Mark's dice will now be blessed by the Princess Cyon to bring him luck in all science fiction battles to come in miniature form.  Lovely stuff and my pleasure to show you all it here.

Thanks for Reading.

GBS

'Get your Ass to Mars' Sam Croes paints up the SEORC Geo-Shelters

Setting up your lab on Mars!

The Ion Age lead designer Sam Croes has painted up a second set of the brand new SEORC Geo Shelters to go along with the ones shown on our website.  While we normally go with an assumption that every planet in the Prydian Precinct is rather earth like and has clouds, green grass and sunlight like our own world that is not always the case.  We are working on a 'Red Planet' terrain board which will feature in future posts here but we could not resist putting together some terrain to put on the board and that terrain was the Geo Shelters.

A fairly straight forward paint scheme using the natural surface of the Geo Shelters to aid in the painting. After cleaning off the resin castings (all one piece except for the IAF064D Defender with the turret) they were undercoated with a spray grey primer and allowed to dry.  We used only our own Pebeo Studio Acrylics for the work.  A base coat of Cadmium Orange followed by choosing which of the flat panels and hatch details where going to be painted white.  These areas were left as they were while the orange of the rest of the structure was built up with a second application.  Titanium White was carefully applied to the selected for white areas.  All of the parts of the structures which were to be industrial metal were given a coat of Paines Grey and the port holes were put in with a light blue.  With the basic coats done the weathering followed with a wash of Raw Sienna Ink before highlights were placed onto the glass and lights.  Once dry Sam Croes applied some transfers from our collection to make each Geo Shelter distinctive.  All in all there were a couple of hours work involved and it would be easy to do more structures at the same time.    

Here are pictures of the five different structures on the chilly and vacuous surface of our 'Mars' though this planet is still to have a name for us: 

IAF063A Habitation Geo Shelter in Martian Red

IAF064B Storage Geo Shelter in Martian Red

IAF064C Laboratory Geo Shelter in Martian Red

IAF064D Defender Geo Shelter in Martian Red

IAF064E Smashed Geo Shelter in Martian Red

Here are front and back pictures of the set of five red planet colour schemes on a plain backdrop at a larger size for you to look at in detail: 

Front View of IAF064 codes in Martian Red

Rear View

We hope that you have enjoyed these pictures and remember you can see the standard colour scheme on the links below.

There are only a few days left on the current Early Supporter Offers on The Ion Age.  The SEORC Geo Shelters will be on general release from Thursday 21st August 2014.  Until then go HERE to see the offers and if you want more details then go HERE for our blog post on these structures.  You can save 10% to 25% and get one free depending on what you choose.  As its our birthday month you will also get IMP12 Starvaulter Instructor (worth 0.60GBP) free in every order and freebies too selected by us to about ten percent of your order value before postage.

Thanks for Reading.

GBS

IAF041 Corbal Deployable Hardpoint Released!

“Is that beacon active?”

9mm rounds whined and zipped over the heads of the seven remaining members of 4^th Squad. They were pinned down along with the remaining Muster from 1^st and 2^nd platoons. It was getting hot here and there was no way that battalion was going to get Skylark support out here in time the Yordist's had set up several Espaten portable weapon platforms which would act as anti-air batteries. The only option left to the Prydian's was to call to the sky and in fact right up into local space for assistance from their fellows crewing the ships in orbit above Grenoble II.

“Signal locked and pinging arrival in ninety seconds. The Cassillis Beauford is in low orbit and has confirmed Corbal drop on our beacon”

Help was on its way. That was a relief but it was going to be tight. The big titanium alloy box containing the beacon was pulsing with a dull red light. Reassuring and terrifying at the same time. Every beacon got only one use. Why? Well they marked the exact spot where the incoming Corbal Tower would impact and deploy. Perhaps the enemy had gotten wind of the beacon or picked up its signal as the incoming fire intensified. Even with their helmets pressed into the churned soil it was only a matter of time until they were shot or roasted alive.

“Keep your heads down and lets make pace over to the right there. Pretty soon this beacon is going to be white hot and our Yordist friends will be in the towers shadow.”

Getting to their knees and firing bursts in the direction of the Yordists they began to move. It was going to be close.

378^th Regiment Prydian Army, Grenoble II, Lysander region, IC4329

IAF041 Corbal in battle!

Now released and with a 10% off offer upon it to mark our birthday month for the next seven days is the IAF041 Corbal Deployable Hardpoint. A resin with white metal 15mm scale science fiction wargaming kit. It's more than a drop pod; but its not a drop ship. Its pretty unique. Its a tower than comes down from orbit or from high altitude to make a real impression on the enemy. On a column of fire it digs a crater into the ground and then settles atop it. In this static position its weapons offer cover to nearby allies and secures the immediate area. There it remains for the duration as a hard point of fortified resistance. The Corbal dominates the field!

IAF041 Front View

IAF041 Rear View

Here is the information about this code and also the options for purchase since some of its components are available for purchase as singles and of course if you purchase three kits you get another 10% off automatically (which means this week its actually 20% off!):

TheIAF041 Corbal Deployable Hardpoint contains a resin main body which is highly detailed along with an underside piece and top piece of a turret with two weapon mounts (which fit any of our vehicle weapons for the Adder for example) there is also an engine pod for under the main body and a large crater into which the corbal can be snugly sat as it is custom made (but it also works as terrain in its own right). There are also two rail guns for the main turret mounts and four ball mounted automatic weapons for ports in the main body all in white metal. It is an easy model to assemble and its quite durable too. 

Corbal Crater

Corbal Engine Pod

Assembled it stands a mighty 90mm tall from the bottom of the crater to the top of the turret. It is 80mm wide at its widest point across the crater and the body of the Corbal is about 40mm wide.

IAF041 with Retained Noblesse (17mm tall) for scale

IAF041 Corbal Deployable Hardpoint Kit 15.00GBP

IAF041A Corbal Crater 4.00GBP

IAF041B Set of Four Ball Mount Angis Rifles 2.00GBP

IAF041C Corbal Engine Pod 3.00GBP

Go HERE for the Corbal page with all options on our website.

If you would like to read a Sneak Peek posting on our blog about the Corbal which has more information and images then go HERE.

Corbal Deployable Hardpoints are controlled by the Fortress arm of the Muster of the Prydian Army or the Marcher Barons. It has a crew of two who are typically also in charge of the infantry carried by the tower. Sitting in tight harnesses there are spaces for eight infantry which means a whole squad can be transported of ten soldiers. Some Corbals are dropped into battle and then specialised Muster act in tandem with them in the ensuing fight. Others carry normal Muster or even Retained Knights. The placing of even one Corbal can readily affect the process of a conflict in progress.

This model will play a part in Patrol Angis in the second title of the series 'Khanate Returned' in which the Shia Khan Empire will be covered in all its evil glory but also additional rules for structures and weaponised structures among other things. All building on the core book which I will be talking about in the next few weeks.

One Week to Go on Geo Shelter Offers!

Early Supporter Offers and this time we are going for an expansion on the most excellent Ion Age terrain range with the SEORC Geo Shelters. We had a sneak peek posting on these structures. We have a series of offers for you. Single purchase or small or bigger bundles as these are terrain items. Choose what you want from our website and you can get free items saving 5.00GBP or 15% off release price. A chance to assemble a settlement and save before release. The offers run until 21st August 2014.

The SEORC Geo Shelters are brand new 15mm scale resin buildings. Useful in many different settings from our own space opera to near future, post apocalypse, arctic survival, refugee camps and temporary command stations during zombie outbreaks plus many more. Go HERE.

Information Burst

We are now at the mid point of our birthday month and what an event its turning out to be. A rock solid month so far and it keeps getting better but now this is the high point for those wishing to place one order with us for maximum fun and value. Why is this? Well the Corbal is now out and released with an offer on it for one week. We are at the half way point with a week to go on the Early Support Offers and Bundles on the SEORC Geo Shelters. You get a free IMP12Starvaulter Instructor in every order worth 0.60GBP and you can get all of the previous monthly miniatures in the Year One Collection too. Lastly we are putting freebies into all orders to roughly ten percent of product value too. Just imagine...supporter offers, release discounts, free miniature, extra free goodies AND by placing an order with us you sign up for an account and earn points on all purchases which can be used later for discounts, special items and more. By the Princess that is some amount of awesome!

Thanks for Reading.

GBS

From Birth to Now a Round Up of Our First Year!

 The birthday month of the Ion Age continues today with a look at our first year and also an announcement about our new direct presence on Facebook. But before all of that I would like to thank everyone who has already taken advantage of the Year One Collection, the SEORC GeoShelter early supporter offers, the free miniatures in all orders IMP12 Starvaulter Instructor and getting freebies in every order too for the month.

Its been a magic first year for us at The Ion Age and my idea for a space opera setting has been proved to be a success. So much so that we have released more miniatures than we originally intended and our website and blog have attracted many thousands of visits per month. I would like to tell you just what we have achieved and also what we have sadly not managed to get done in our first year. While we placed our 28mm range up onto the brand new website allowing long term players of Firefight to once more get a hold of their favourite miniatures our focus has been on the 15mm scale. We began with about twenty miniatures from the HOF range at 15mm.co.uk which formed our first three IAF codes and from there we really, really grew!

The main focus of the 15mm Ion Age range has been the Prydian Army in our first year. That is the Human troops of the Prydian Precinct which can be Army or forces of the Marcher Barons depending on the uniform colours. Across the last twelve months we have gone from three codes and twenty different miniatures for Retained Knights and Muster to a lot more. We now have a total of fifty poses of Retained Knight across six codes. We have a total of twenty five Muster across four codes along with a bike code for the Muster too. We created the first Desteria Knights in 15mm scale and created three codes for them totalling twelve poses. We have two character packs with a total of four poses and three limited edition codes totalling six poses. We added two types of Battlesuit as well the Havelock with its five variants and the Duxis with its eight variants as well as a pilot and drone pack. We entered into the realm on resin with new vehicles including the Skylark Patrol Flyer and five variants of the Adder Combat Car and five variants of the Adder Combat Lifter. There are also now conversion packs with a total of seventeen different heads, packs and weapons to choose from. This means a total of 102 different poses in the Prydian Army as of today (counting multi-option codes as one code only).

We have also been developing the Shia Khan Empire in 15mm scale and this time from scratch, from nothing at all. We have three codes of Legionaries totalling twenty four different poses. We have two codes of Legion Pioneers totalling sixteen different poses. Recently we created two packs totalling ten poses of the fearsome Nox power armoured troops and a modular pack of five hulking Warlord poses too. Though we had planned to do the Maligs (Space Goblins) in year two we were hit with so many requests to scale them down from 28mm that we did so for April and Salute 2014 season. Five codes totalling thirty two poses and a ball tank along with a special miniature in the platoon value pack called 'Senga'. In a year from zero there are now 89 poses. All of this for our still to come rule system.

Lastly we started a modest terrain and structure range with what has become the now famous IAF015 Hab Dome. This we expected to do modestly but this creation took off in such a way that we brought forward our plans and released five different top mounts for the Hab Dome along with a Tower Module and a Landing Pad too. Our latest expansion for the terrain line was the Block House meaning a small settlement is now possible. There are also two single pieces of terrain the Fabricator Spire and the Skylark Cradle. This month we have five SEORC Geo Shelters on offer too.

There are other things to be said too. We began a small range of Art Prints of our artwork and we stocked the great Pebeo paints and inks range. In fact there has been only one dark spot in this glowing year and its come from me. Our planned release of the Patrol Angis rules system, play tested over the festive period, has been postponed. The rules will still happen as will follow ups but something things don't go to plan and its all on me.

Why say it this way? Is it all gloating and showing off? No. Its not. I want to make a point. We are serious about this venture and about its future. We will become the biggest 15mm science fiction brand in the world with your help.

The Ion Age is on Facebook!

As of today The Ion Age is on Facebook with its own page. This is an expansion of our website and blog presence and its a place where I will be putting all the news, releases, offers, specials, articles, fiction and more. Indeed if you are on Facebook you can comment and show us your Ion Age collection. So have a look by clicking on the link and if we are of interest please hit the 'like' button. I might even run some competitions once its all purring away nicely. Go HERE.

Thanks for Reading and roll on Thursday for the mighty Corbal Tower being released!.

GBS