Research Daleks

Research (i.e. Engineer) Daleks

I had it in my head that I wanted to make a specific group of Daleks that were dedicated to scientific research. These Daleks would need a different colour scheme to my other Daleks and so I decided to go with white in mimicry of them wearing white lab coats.

These are the Engineering Daleks from Black Tree Miniatures line of Classic Doctor Who.

I used Citadel White to paint them. Unfortunately I don't think that their white paint is the best as you can see from the photo's. Their "white" lab coat ends up looking the same tone as my old lab coat.

Mind you, my white paint tin may be getting a little old. So I will have to try buying a new one and give these fella's a little touch up. Overall, I think the paint scheme works OK and they are easily recognized from the other Daleks on the table. Now, on to the next project!

The Emperor Dalek is finally painted!

So way back in April 2019 I posted about how I made an Emperor Dalek from Terry Nations 1978 Dalek Annual. This Christmas I decided to finally paint the blighter!

Took long enough but its finally done.

Though never making it to screen, this blighter is regarded as part of cannon given that it appeared in a Dalek annual.

And so will appear in a Doctor Who Miniatures Game somewhere down the road.

Given the atrocity that is showing on the BBC these days I thought I would remind you, dear reader, of the proud, long, and true history of real Doctor Who.

DWMG Battle Report - Epilogue, Destiny of the Daleks - FINAL EPISODE

Final Episode

Episode 5 can be found here.

FINAL TURN

CURRENT SITUATION - Things are down to the wire. All the Movellans need to win this scenario is to get just two of their models up the ramp of the Dalek Saucer. But the more Movellans who can make it, the better. If the Movellans can even just get one model on-board they can send a message to their fleet telling them what transpired in regards to Davros.

The Daleks have lost their two guards at the Dalek ship and so are now in a battle against time to prevent it being taken by the Movellans. Who wins the Initiative is now critical to which side will win.

The Daleks are in striking distance of wasting the Movellens...

...but the Movellans are in striking distance of taking over the Dalek ship!

INITIATIVE - The Initiative roll comes up in favour of the Movellans!

Nooooooooooooooooo!

The Movellans still have eleven models on the table. This permits six models to be able to activate during the Movellan Activation of the turn. However, with the Commander (Leader 2) and two Sub-Commanders (Leader 1) an additional four models can be activated this turn. That's all the Movellans near the Saucer! In addition, as Movellans can Run (i.e. use both activation's to move) they can cover a lot of ground.

Unit West, led by the female Sub-Commander activate first. They run for the entrance ramp to the ship and make it up the ramp! That makes two Movellans now on-board the Dalek Saucer.

Safe!

Next the Southern Unit Sub-Commander activates. He and two others of his team then run for the ramp, reaching it and boarding the ship.

Safe also!

Next, the last member of Unit South activates and runs for the entrance ramp. It also makes the ramp and escapes.

Made it!

Next the NW Commander and two of his team also make it to the entrance ramp. They round the destroyed Dalek and charge up the entrance ramp as the sounds of the Saucers engines being fired up fill their ears.

Safe!

The last two Movellans each then activate and run for the entrance ramp as engine thrust begins to stir up dust around them.

Safe as well

Made it!

With that, the last Movellan seals the entrance and retracts the ramp. The Dalek Saucer is now powering up its engines for lift-off.

So long suckers!

As the Dalek Saucer lifts off one lone Movellan sightlessly looks on. Having not activated for nearly the entire game, it was deemed by the Movellan player to have run out of power. Clearly it didn't recharge its power pack before the Movellan ship, with the escaped humans and the captive Davros, left Skaro.

Everybody sing: "All. By. My. Self!"

The Daleks are not impressed.

Bugger!

With the loss of their ship the Black Dalek orders a sweep of the area and then a return to the excavation site base where the original Dalek team found Davros. There they will utilize the Dalek command center to contact their fleet and alert them to their predicament and order a rescue.

In searching the area the Daleks discover the deactivated Movellan. Its memory chips will prove invaluable to the Daleks in discovering just what happened to Davros and the original Dalek team (and may provide for a future encounter between these two adversaries).

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall - this was a fun, fast paced game even though it was played on a larger table. Had the table been 4x4ft there may have been a lot more shooting and the Movellans may have been caught by the Dalek pincer move.

The balance was certainly tipped in the Movellans favour as they were able to run across the table.

In hind-sight, the Dalek player should have put at least one more Dalek at the entrance ramp to their ship. This would have slowed down the Movellans for another turn or two and put them on the defensive in my view.

Odd numbers of models meant that one Movellan and one Dalek during the game got left behind for much of the game. Only the loss of the Silver Daleks meant that the Dalek from the extraction team was able to be activate and catch up somewhat.

That said, having odd numbers added to the tension of the game as models were getting left behind and rather than giving them a chance to catch up, going for the primary goal in order to win the game became more important. It also added to the narrative of the game.

The Doctor Who Miniatures Game is an excellent rules system and plays well whether the Doctor is in the game or not. Highly recommended and still available online through the Wayback Machine web search function.

DWMG Battle Report - Epilogue, Destiny of the Daleks - EPISODE 5

Episode 5

Episode 4 can be found here.

TURN 5

INITIATIVE - The Movellans finally win back the Initiative for the turn.

Movellan Activation

The Unit South Movellan Sub-Commander activates first for the turn. His team now has a clear line of sight to the second Silver Dalek, which is at long range.

Taking the chance, they open fire. Three shots hit the Silver Dalek but is Dalekanium armour deflects two of those shots. The final one however not only hits but penetrates the armour, destroying the Dalek outright.

"We need to take that thing out!"

"FIRE!"

BOOM!

One less Dalek to plague the Galaxy

Another Dalek destroyed! Unit South now jump the obstacle and move towards the entrance ramp.

"Get to the ship!"

The NW Unit of Movellans also see their opportunity and make a run for the entrance ramp, now that the last Silver Dalek is destroyed. Clearing the barricade, they make their move.

"Run for it!"

"Get to the ramp"

The Western Unit Sub-Commander also sees the opportunity and, not wanting to be left behind, makes a run for the entrance ramp sprinting past the Southern Movellan Unit.

Who will win the race to the entrance ramp?

With this, the Movellan turn ends. One lone Movellan remains un-activated back at the ruins. Its battery unit must have run down.

Dalek Activation

The Daleks have lost another model, leaving only five left. They can activate half of the models on the table which means that this turn only three models can activate. The Black Dalek however has the Leader 2 ability permitting it to activate two other models for free. This means that all Daleks get to activate during the Dalek Activation part of the turn.

The Extraction Team Dalek that was separated from its comrades now moves forward to close the gap with the Movellans.

Almost there

The Black Dalek and the rest of the Dalek Extraction Team move forward in "chase" of the Movellens. The Daleks being hindered by only having one Move action per Activation.

The Black Dalek and its team open fire at the closest Movellan in a desperate attempt to take it down. The shots however miss the mark hitting the ground around the Movellan's feet.

"EXTERMINATE, EXTERMINATE"

With that, the turn ends.

One loan Movellan stands motionless at the ruins. Its powered down eyes watch lifelessly as its comrades rush the Dalek Saucer.

DWMG Battle Report - Epilogue, Destiny of the Daleks - EPISODE 4

Episode 4

Episode 3 can be found here.

TURN 4

INITIATIVE - The Daleks retain the Initiative from last turn and move first.

Dalek Activation

Due to the loss of one of the Pilot Dalek's, the Dalek player can now only activate 3 models during their current Activation.

The Silver Dalek spies the Movellans to the NW of its position. The Movellans are at long range and in partial cover but the Dalek is laser equipped negating the long range penalty. The Dalek opens fire with its blaster. Two shots blast out at the Movellan leader. Both shots however hit the obstruction the Movellans are hiding behind.

"EXTERMINATE, EXTERMINATE!!!"

Missed me!

The Black Dalek then activates moving two more Dalek's with it for free. All three Dalek's move forwards to intercept the NW unit of Movellans.

Finally, after being left behind by the Dalek extraction team, the last Dalek also moves forwards to join the rest of its group.

"Approaching enemy. Destroy, destroy, destroy!"

Movellan Activation

The Movellan Unit South Sub-Commander orders his Unit forward at a run (i.e. both activation's being used to make Move actions). Movellan Unit South finally takes up positions behind partial cover near where they destroyed the Silver Dalek.

"Move, move!"

Western Unit Sub-Commander then activates (taking the other Movellan with it) and moves along the barricade to get closer to the Unit South Movellans.

"Fire!"

The Unit West Movellans now have a line of sight to the second Silver Dalek. They open fire but miss the Dalek. However the Dalek now knows its exposed with Movellens behind it.

The NW Unit Movellans see the threat of the approaching Black Dalek and its team coming from the North. They open fire at the Silver Dalek in a desperate attempt to clear their path to the Dalek Saucer. All shots however miss the Silver Dalek, who remains in partial cover from their position. The Movellan blaster fire bouncing harmlessly off the entrance ramp and landing struts of the Dalek ship.

"Shoot before we're trapped"

With that, the Fourth Episode ends. The Movellans are closing in on the Dalek ship entrance ramp but they are also about to be trapped by the Dalek's. Its getting close folks. Stay tuned for the next Episode.