Weekender XLBS: Star Wars – Taking Toys To The Tabletop
March 4, 2018 by warzan
For some website features, you will need a FREE account and for some others, you will need to join the Cult of Games.
Or if you have already joined the Cult of Games Log in now
What difference will having a FREE account make?
Setting up a Free account with OnTableTop unlocks a load of additional features and content (see below). You can then get involved with our Tabletop Gaming community, we are very helpful and keen to hear what you have to say. So Join Us Now!
Free Account Includes
- Creating your own project blogs.
- Rating and reviewing games using our innovative system.
- Commenting and ability to upvote.
- Posting in the forums.
- Unlocking of Achivments and collectin hobby xp
- Ability to add places like clubs and stores to our gaming database.
- Follow games, recommend games, use wishlist and mark what games you own.
- You will be able to add friends to your account.
What's the Cult of Games?
Once you have made a free account you can support the community by joing the Cult of Games. Joining the Cult allows you to use even more parts of the site and access to extra content. Check out some of the extra features below.
Cult of Games Membership Includes
- Reduced ads, for a better browsing experience (feature can be turned on or off in your profile).
- Access to The Cult of Games XLBS Sunday Show.
- Extra hobby videos about painting, terrain building etc.
- Exclusive interviews with the best game designers etc.
- Behind the scenes studio VLogs.
- Access to our live stream archives.
- Early access to our event tickets.
- Access to the CoG Greenroom.
- Access to the CoG Chamber of Commerce.
- Access the CoG Bazarr Trading Forum.
- Create and Edit Records for Games, Companies and Professionals.
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
![Warcradle Studios Reveal TINY New 10mm Festive Marker! [Updated]](https://images.beastsofwar.com/2025/11/christmas-kyle-main-600-338.jpg)
Happy Sunday to all
Happy Sunday Mate 🙂
Hoping you Guy’s all got home OK that’s some mental weather we are getting in Ayrshire as well cars getting stuck in drifts in the town and everything.
Fussing over a little bit of snow, we got 8 inches Friday. .. but we might be better geared for it 😉
As I watch – Add some plasticard pieces to the sides adding detail 🙂
Of the melinu\ium falcon I mean 🙂
Or take after the “real” one and add any leftover model bits – even combine the two
This may well be something we’ll have a go at, time to pick up some cheap tank kits I think
Happy sunday
I hope the force is strong in you today mate lol
Happy Sunday!
Happy Sunday!
Wouldn’t they paint the AT AT’s to match the terrain they would be fighting in Or would that not be proper in a pulp scifi space opera game?
You would think so wouldn’t you, but yeah we may have to defer to the pulpiness to keep it recognisable 🙂
like early war germans, everything in factory grey
Constantine fans – he is appears in episodes 9 and 10 of the current season (3) of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow tv show.
I think he will appear later this season
He also appeared in season 4 episode 5 of the Arrow tv series.
@warzan The BBC series mentioned is superb You can get it on Amazon
Happy Sunday all! 🙂 Another great show!
@oriskany. I dont know if you watch it but this weeks Big Bang Theory has Sheldon playing the SPI game Campaign for North Africa
Happy Sunday!!
A number of Kenner MFs on eBay – most seem to be missing the cockpit cover!…
… and for some reason the number 0f bids on the good ones are about to go up!
Makes me think… Is the connurtations behind ‘MF’ another reason for the Millennium Falcon’s name?
I assumed the name was a sci-fi take on ‘Maltese Falcon’.
If ‘Millenium’ follows 1999, the Falcon – which begins with the letter ‘f’ is a bird which follows Eagle – which begins with an ‘e’.
On a completely different tack, did anyone watch the new BBC Civilisations series episode 1 that started this week? There was a lot of ‘artefact porn’ in this episode, including a number of figurines and depictions through early history. Wait until you see the first known depiction of a fight scene on a small brooch/buckle; it could have been drawn yesterday as artwork for a new game. Episode 1 is still in very early history (i.e up to 500 BCE) but this will only get more relevant to historical settings we recognise as the series progresses.
Yeah I watched it. The fight scene buckle/ring was amazing
@warzan here is some pages that might help
AT-AT
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/All_Terrain_Armored_Transport
Sandcrawler
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sandcrawler
Vaders Fist – 501st
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/501st_Legion
Happy Sunday everyone!
A quick question for you ‘teckies’ out there: why can’t I chromecast this content from my android phone to the TV? I can with the Saturday’s show!
Thanks in advance and apologies for my technical ignorance!
I presume certain broadcasters is BBC,you tube, Netflix etc have agreements with Google about casting stuff through the Chromecast. That’s probably all wrong but its my very limited understanding on tech stuff. I do know that’s my Android devices has a cast screen button in the settings that allows me to cast what is on the screen on my device to the TV and have used it xlbs before
Saturdays’ Weekender is hosted on You Tube.
Sundays’ XLBS is elsewhere, probably due to the need for it to be behind a paywall – to stop none Backstagers from being to watch it.
Sunday weekender is hosted on vimeo which allows more privacy controls including where the video can be played. To keep it backstager the video will likely be set to play on this page only.
FWIW I can open the page on safari on my iphone and airplay the video to apple tv. Would a similar option exist for android?
You could paint the elite AT-AT in the inferno squad markings from the new battle front game.
Any pic of that handy?
https://twitter.com/InfernoSquadYT/status/905536620467769346
Happy Sunday everyone, hope all is well.
@warzan the history of the tattooine sand crawlers is briefly explored in the knights of the old republic game (KOTOR).
They are mining vehicles that roam around hoovering up what little mineral resources are on tattooine. The tusken raider (sand people) keep attacking them for encroaching on their territory and eventually the mining guild decide they’ve had enough and pack up shop leaving all their gear. The Jawas then recover the vehicles and use them in their nomadic lifestyle as mobile fortresses.
Any possibility they come in different sizes?
I honestly don’t know. Ive only ever read/played/seen about one sizes and only on tattooine.
it is possible that this vehicle was bespoke made for that mining guild. a lot of equipment seems to be made like that in the Star Wars universe. Lando had a weird walking miner made for one scorching hot planet (the heat of the sun would destroy it so it continually walked on the night side) in the thrawn trilogy books by Timothy Zahn, in Star Wars rebels we have just seen another type of mining vehicle that kind of looks like a sand crawler except it floats and laser scorches the ground.
at the end of the day if you can make some plausible, believable back story for it then it could exist. the purists might kick up a fuss (and I count myself somewhat of a purist) but at the end of the day the whole lot is all made up and shot full of holes anyway, just make it plausible and you’ll be fine.
No, they did not.
Get a copy of the “Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know” book. They reference the Sandcrawlers.
Basically they were used in the mines of Tatooine. Once mining was no longer viable, the Jawa’s acquired them. There were no different size of version according to the reference material.
If john is going to be scratch building one you should see whats scale for the shuttle launcher crawler you can get for the drive tracks @warzan
there are multiple classes of crawler you could say yours is the Survey-class crawler which is the smaller version of the Digger-crawler the jawas have.
@warzan ^ also link http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Survey-class_crawler
See? Dune spice miners.
The spice must flow!
Snow day here in Wrexham and there’s a weekender and XLBS to watch wheres my brew thanks guys. happy Sunday everyone
Lol enjoy the Brew @terrenone!
@warzan Might be worth getting one of your minions sorry colleagues to nip down to Belfast and the Old Toy Box in Smithfield market to seeing they have anything
Happy Sunday all 😀 .
Sandcrawlers were originally used as mining vehicles and aquired by Jawa’s after it was found that they weren’t necessary for mining on Tatooine.
Happy Sunday all.
Happy Sunday!
As said before the BBC LotR Drama is brilliant!
What a Tanker, all this Hate! Nemesis Wars with U-Boats in the Fabled Stars around the Batman Realms is trying to deplete my Hellboy fund. Stop it!
Happy Sunday first time I’ve watched the whole show in one sitting on a Sunday in ages.
Great Show guys! Really liked the Star Wars toy discussion.
I’m looking at the Star Wars Models out there. @warzan I saw a 1:53 scale AT AT model that I’m looking at have you guys thought of checking those out? About a $150.
Kind of expensive but I’m thinking about giving it a shot!
Love Ben’s work on LOTR using alternate models. I’ve used Perry Miniatures Foot Knights to make my axemen of losarnach they look pretty good and the scale is spot on.
Nice way to spend the morning today. Nice and quiet. Painting away on my LOTR Battle Company Warbands! Will post some pics on WAYPN soon Ben! Rivendale/Rohan/Durin’s Folk/Gondor/Lothlorien and Haradhrim. Last two are almost done.
According to my Star wars encyclopedia a Sandcrawler is nearly 20 meters high and can house an entire clan of Jawas numbering up to several hundred individuals. Inside is a maze of living quarters and junk workshops.As already mentioned they were abandoned by miners and scavenged by the jawas.
When I saw the Sandcrawler, I immediately thought that would be awesome for an old school Squat 40k army.
Happy Sunday folks!
Happy Sunday!!! Whete can we get the Beasts Of Ear gear?
Wow big fingers small phone. Sorry for the typos.
STAR WARS and kenner, a match made in heaven. i have the kenner Falcon but the only way your getting it is over my dead twitching corpse. when i had a clear out a few years ago the only things i kept were the Middle earth roleplaying game and my STAR WARS kenner collection. my cousin got the Lego sand crawler last year. it’s scaled for Lego and it’s still huge. the cross section books look amazing, don’t own them myself but would love to. on the subject of STAR WARS action figures they have recently gone back to retro kenner style packaging with the movie screen shots as backing ,they look amazing. absolutely loving all the STAR WARS content of late.
like wise the Tolkien focus Ben has brought of late has really tickled my fancy. i remember hearing the BBC audios on the radio. i then owned the tapes, several of which got chewed over time so i have the CDs these days. like the movies they are abridged but have far more content than the movies. totally worth it for the incredible rendition of the lay of gilgalad, gives me goose bumps still.
sorry for teasing john with the awkward question. i didn’t expect an answer i just thought it would make you smile seeing john get an awkward question while live. 🙂 hugs and kisses for Warren whose a boss most awesome.
the painting by the community was brilliant. get gorilla with a brush’s stream on front page.
While I agree the Sand Crawler is maybe 25% too small, to be honest I would be perfectly happy using it, because if you take Luke off his base he would be able to walk under the vehicle easily and the vehicle interior is approximately three levels tall, which is about right according to my memory of Jedi Academy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDd7s1B78Kg
..while I dare say the version in Battlefront is actually smaller, with perhaps a little bit more ground clearance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvJHAeABb3U
As for other vehicles, I would try and track down a Code 3 Republic Gunship – it’s bigger than the Revell kit and the closest you will get in terms of an appropriate scale and in the absence of U-Wings I can absolutely see the rebellion using them as landing craft for their capital ships.
Scale and Star Wars has always been a mess. There are sites that show that while something appeared as one size here it was a different size someplace else. As tabletop play piece IMHO, it does not matter to much. If someone wanted a challenge, start with this free STL file (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1267019) and scale and then print it and once complete prime it and add the detail that you want. Ultimately that is the only way you will get the right size. The one Warren has is too small and the Lego one is too large. To get the right size you will need to do it yourself. There are plenty of schematic picture which you can use to kitbash the detail.
Great show, The sand crawl reminds me of a early version of the at-ats as the middle of the at-at body is similar.
Me too lol it’s exactly what I was thinking when I saw it 🙂
Great show guys. Allow me to get slightly off topic. I am sinking deeply into American War of independence wargaming and I can’t find away out of the quicksand. I get into a battle and discover the British are strong, so the Colonials need more militia, so off to the hobby table. Then the colonials are too strong, so Hessian Grenadiers are the trick, and off to the hobby table. Would not Native allies also be cool? Off to the hobby table. Now need more Colonials, you get the idea. When will this stop? Is there a life line I can reach to? As a game would I actually grab on, or go down into the moras happily? Thoughts? Prayers? Snarky comments?
@oriskany we have a man who needs your help here mate!!!
probably mentioned already but the walkers on Scarif were bigger than the AT-AT’s on Hoth.
Have you any links to reference on this mate?
@warzan,
This looks promising, Star Wars turbo tank
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hasbro-Star-Wars-22-Clone-Turbo-Tank-with-Working-Electronics/122986164755?hash=item1ca28bf213:g:R9kAAOSwMGhakg2V
Any of the current Bandai 1/48 scale kits should work. I think they have snow speeders, AT-STs and X-Wings in that scale. One of the problems with the interior dimensions of the Falcon is that there is not enough room for the top and bottom gunner stations. The exterior of the Falcon is too shallow for the ladder tube and two gun stations to be stacked in the middle.
For the sane crawler, have you considered at least 3D printing the exterior to get you started?
Body: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/jovSN3SVEee-star-wars-sand-crawler-body-only
Tracks: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/iLBHIpGAIxK
Regarding Façade Games, you should really look at a review all three of their games in the Dark Cities Collection
Volume 1: Tortuga 1667. Tortuga was recently nominated as the best party game of 2017 by Board Game Geek! Here you are Pirates and you are boarding ships to hoard gold however similar to Deadwood, you may betray others to steal their gold for yourself to win.
Volume 2: Salem 1692: Here you play a social deduction game. You must weed out the witches or the witches may turn others into witches. You play the game and it the end you may find out that you all have been turned into witches or the town folk have found them and executed the witches.
Volume 3: Is Deadwood as Ben explained.
They are all small travel game that play fast and under 30min. They will be adding more the Dark Cities collection and I believe the next one is going to be set in London.
Anyway, it seems like some great games to review.
A great WE XLBS love the new star wars work you’re doing. The new figures you’ve all being doing look brilliant. The deadwood game sounds like a great fun game.
I ordered some miniatures from Hero Forge a couple of years ago and they were pretty good. They’re not the greatest miniatures ever and the details can be a little blocky and the plastic is a little grainy (or at least it was two years ago, it could have improved since). However you balance that against the ability to basically produce whatever miniature you like and it’s still a fantastic service, if a little pricy.
Here’s the two I made
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fYd_coedbl6URUE1Q-UXZMqEH7PFdRGC/view?usp=drivesdk
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IjZZ02bPRzGoCY8TUFmT9_VMIhRR2p9s/view?usp=drivesdk
From the photos they look pretty good.
While SLA printing which is what they use has become better and the resins have as well, no idea if they are keeping up with the technology.
We are still in the area where resin gives fine detail but can be fragile but durability is getting better as they find the right chemical combo of solution and UV light frequency. Plastics live PVC are still difficult and do not give the same detail as injection molding.
FDM has improved but still not at the level where you can get the same quality as SLA at least for hobby printers.
They’re OK is the best assessment I can give them at the moment. However I think some of the weaknesses are actually due to the 3D modelling rather than the printer. I think because the program needs to be so modular in order to give you the amount of creativity that it gives you it might not be feasible to produce higher detailed components and still allow you to combine them all together. Or maybe because it’s a web app it can’t handle higher resolution items and still run over the Internet. I am fairly sure 3D printing can do much higher detail than you get from Hero Forge.
For a one off character here and there I don’t mind paying the money. But I always search around existing ranges like Dark Sword or Reaper to see if I can get anything that fits my needs. I use Hero Forge as a last resort because of the cost. For the money you pay ($25 per model I think it cost me) I would normally expect a higher quality miniature.
That said, building one and getting it created is still an incredibly fun experience and I wouldn’t ever consider talking people out of it. There’s something cool about the uniqueness of the miniatures, the knowledge that you have a virtual one of a kind model.
In the single player computer rpg Star Wars; the Old Republic, the sandcrawlers were brought by Tantooine by Void corp. And NPC says Voidcorp will leave soon and wonders if the Jawas will “find a use for the Sandcrawlers.”
The Old Republic is set at least a millennium before the original trilogy.
Czerka Corp 😉
Did the Sunday Star Wars Live Stream happen?
Currently there isn’t an entry on the BoW website and nothing in the You Tube channel.
Cheers.
Can you play Twitch:
I tried to post a link to BoW on Twitch and it didn’t work. Just go to Twitch.com and search Beasts of War.
Thanks for that I found it –
https://www.twitch.tv/beastsofwar
Great show guys!
Great Weekender!
Others have commented on the origin of the Sand Crawlers on Tatooine, so I’ll simply add: Just go ahead and use it! Why not? It could easily be a smaller version of the Sand Crawler.Just because we haven’t seen one, doesn’t mean they don’t exist!
While you’re looking at other things to put on the table that are “recognisably Star Wars” have a look at:
https://miniaturescenery.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=114
Why would you do that to me?
that ship looks amazing
I saw that golden button coming when the gorilla started painting his Colette minis. Really amazing work.
As for the sand crawler, wouldn’t it be easier to build one to scale than to find one? Just raid some WWII tank tracks for a start. I’m sure you guys have plenty of skill to create a weirdly angled box to go on top of it.
God bless you, Sam, for referencing Red Dwarf!
Great show as always…..I literally drooled my breakfast cereal down my t-shirt looking at those golden button winners. Great work.
Ok (cracking my Star-Wars-Knowledge-Knuckles):
As other have said. Just use the Sandcrawler. There are different kinds of them. Actually the one in Hope is one of the smaller ones if memory servers well, but who is to say, that there aren’t even smaller Sand Crawlers than that one. And remembering the discussion how the h… 10 Space Marines are supposed to fit in a Rhino, it will do fine.
The Elite ATATs are more a thing about better weaponry and elite pilots and stuff. Similar like Rogue Squadron or the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing. The uparmoured ones (with the extra armour on the neck and the ankles) were more like a command variant used for VIPs. So more likely to be used by Vader. But it’s Vader and if he decides to commandeer an Elite ATAT to use as a transport for him and his guard I guess nobody will stand in his way. Beside Admiral Ozzel of course and we know what happened to him. So again: just go for it.
Lastly I can say: it’s Star Wars. I read so many contradicting things in novels, source books, etc., you can always argue that in a “certain condition” on a “special planet nobody has ever heard of before” that thing would have happened. So: just go for it!
@warzan i found this picture of the making of a new hope. you can see there that a guy standing next to the tracks for scale.
I think you could absolutely use the crawler as a smaller variant though i would probably alter it somehow or add some gribleys and parts to make it obvious that it is another similiar but smaller vehicle
I found a good legion compatible Awing video on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxsB9eUATvE By the youtuber Starrapter. The Last Jedi Awing snap together kit appears to be in scale and comes with lights and sound and is an wasy build. While not The old Awing it fits in the close enough category.
Oh forgot it also has the benefit of currently being in stores and comes with pilot.
Great video as ever, hope the guys made it home safe!
I agree with what a lot of people are saying with the Sandcrawler, there is plenty of scope to say it’s plausible.
Old EU had a classified canon system (the T, G, C, etc…) if you wanted to work out what was “fact” in a given scenario. Some old E.U. has been specifically classified as canon by the single story group, and the rest Legends. The FFG RPG has a nice optional stance on Legends, which is to say it is exactly what it says. Everything in EU is a legend, and characters might have heard those legends, and they may or may not be true. It gives a lot of freedom for you to keep what you liked from EU and ditch what you don’t like in your game.
Ultimately it’s about having fun and doing what feels right, if the people you are playing with don’t mind, fill your boots 🙂
Also, remember to shout the following on a regular basis whilst working on the Sandcrawler
Utini!
Ben, You may want to consider using Gripping Beasts Dark Age Warriors / Archers / Calvary as Dundlings.
They look similar to the scruffy Dundlings in the LoTR. The Calvary’s headgear fit in well with the Late Roman Calvary you want to use as Riders of Rohan.
I believe the feral people who helped King Theoden find a short cut to Minas Tirith would better fit the FrostGrave Barbarians.
Granted this is just my opinion. It’s your science fiction fantasy reality adventure.
@warzan makes ‘being a dad’ awesome! Twinky awaaaaaay!
We got a lot of snow here in the Prairies, shovel shovel… lots of good exercise! Keep safe.