Building an Army for Earth vs the Invaders!

Last week I officially announced my next miniatures wargame ruleset, Earth vs the Invaders: Asymmetric Atomic Age Scifi Wargaming. You can check out the Beta Quickstart guide at my discord.

Earth is a miniature agnostic game so you can use whatever miniatures you want to represent the various factions. They've been kept open-ended enough that there's a lot of room for creativity. And while the Human Forces faction is depicted as being from 1950's America (to fit the game's cinematic inspiration), there's nothing to stop you from throwing invaders at a more modern or WWI era military.

Earth is also unique in its central Reinforcements system, which is a key part of each of the game's scenarios and allows both players to respond to a dynamic battlefield by bringing in the right unit at the right time. For this reason, it's helpful to have a "sideboard" of units to give you some more flexibility during the game. However there's no need to go crazy at the start and order five copies of every single unit (although we're all wargamers so who am I kidding). The purpose of this article is to help you get your armies started for the release of Earth later this year (don't quote me).

The game was designed with 15mm figures in mind since many of the Invader models could conceivably be massive at 28mm. Some scenarios also involve a terrain component that could get expensive at 28mm. However, mechanically there shouldn't be anything stopping you from playing at 28mm, as long as you can clearly tell which direction a unit is facing for the purpose of movement and making attacks. In this article I'll stick with 15mm options; if you do testing in another scale please let the community know on Discord!

Each faction's units are broken down by their level. In Earth, for most scenarios, Level 1 units can be deployed at the start of the game whereas Level 2 and 3 units usually can only be brought in on turns 2 and 3 respectively. The points cost of units increases along with its Level as well, so you will generally not need a ton of Level 3 units in your back pocket.

In most 1 on 1 games of Earth, you will deploy 72 points worth of units throughout the game. So after listing units and discussing manufacturers, I will give a sample "list" of a bit over 72 points to get you started.

No miniatures manufacturers are sponsoring this content or even know I'm writing about them. These companies are just what I have collected myself and can recommend.

Human Forces

Human Forces are essential to every game of Earth vs the Invaders as they are the brave men and women who go toe to toe with the worst baddies the universe can throw at Anytown, USA. Thankfully there are a ton of options out there for this faction since the equipment used by 1950's National Guard (or at least in 50's scifi movies!) is WWII era technology.

Units

• Level 1*
  • Hillbillies
  • Rural Police Squad
• Level 2
  • Troop Truck
  • Commander
  • Rifle Team
  • Jeep with Machine Gun
  • Machine Gun Team
  • Flamethrower Team
  • Bazooka Team
• Level 3
  • HAZMAT Troopers
  • Truck with Dr. Macguffin's Invention
  • Tank

*Note about Level 1 Earth Forces: In some scenarios the Human player is allowed to start the game with Level 2 units, so they're not strictly necessary to start playing. So if you've already got a 15mm WWII army you can get going right away. Hillbillies and Police are a lot of fun to see on the table though and are also dirt cheap to bring in!

Battlefront Miniatures and their Flames of War line is just about a one-stop shop for this faction. One "Rifle Company" box will provide enough Commanders, Rifle Teams, Machine Gun Teams, and Bazooka Teams for large 2-on-2 games of Earth.

For one off vehicles, I suggest checking Etsy. There are some sellers there who do resin vehicles you can buy individually. Flamethrower teams are another item I had to get 3D printed.

For the non-army units like Hillbillies, Police, and Hazmat troopers, take a look at Khurasan or Rebel Minis.

Sample Starting Force:
4 units of Police
2 Troop Trucks
1 Commander
4 Rifle Teams
1 Jeep
1 Machine Gun
1 Flamethrower
1 Bazooka
1 Tank

Total Points: 98

Giant Insects

From the radioactive desert they emerge - gargantuan insects of nightmarish proportions! Giant Insects are a great opportunity to raid the toy section of the dollar store. They have the least amount of unit types in the game and are generally the most elite, fielding only a few monsters at a time.

Units

• Level 1
  
  • Giant Worker
    
• Level 2
  
  • Giant Flyer
    
  • Giant Spitter
    
• Level 3
  
  • Giant Soldier
    

As stated before, toys are going to be your best bet for this. The best ants I have found are from Archie McPhee and I use the red ants from this box as Spitters.

For Flyers and Soldiers, I have "liberated" a plastic wasp and some giant rhinoceros beetles from my daughter's toy box. Check your $ or £ stores.

Sample Starting Force:
5 Workers
2 Flyers
2 Spitters
1 Soldier

Total Points:86

Flying Saucers

Strange meteor-like objects streak across the night skies, only to descend as colossal metallic discs of eerily geometric design! The Saucers and the various weird travelers within are a great excuse to collect some very cool minis. Scout Saucers are a staple, and any infantry reinforcements must be deployed out of the Scouts.

Units

• Level 1
  • Scout Saucer
• Level 2
  • Saucer Infantry Commander
  • Saucer Infantry
  • Mechanoids (robotic or power armored melee aliens)
• Level 3
  • War Saucer
  • Tripod

You have a lot of options for this faction, and my first stops would be Khurasan and Alternative Armies who both have expansive 15mm scifi ranges.

Khurasan's Itu'a Swarms, I'd multibase the little guys

Adorable Alternative Armies greys from my own collection

Sample Starting Force
3 Scout Saucers
1 Saucer Commander
4 Saucer Infantry
1 Mechanoids
1 War Saucer

Total Points: 87

The Culture

Displaying a insatiable, virus-like drive to consume all organic matter, a mysterious bio-mass rapidly assimilates any unlucky vegetation or creature it engulfs. The Culture is based on a number of tropes like The Blob, Body Snatchers, and a couple more. I've done the least playtesting with them so far, so they are the most likely to have changes before the launch of the game! They'd make a great project for the sculptors and kitbashers out there since they're so, well, weird.

Units

• The Controller
  • The Controller is a unit that you start with for free and it acts as a moving deployment point for your other units. By itself it is harmless but you can power it up over time, transforming it slowly into one of the most destructive units in the game. I conceive of The Controller as a big hovering brain type thing but you can be creative here.
• Level 1
  • Large Blob, which when killed becomes two--
    
  • Small Blob(s)
• Level 2
  • Mind Melter (does not attack, mind controls other units)
  • Replacements (pod people, body snatched humans)
• Level 3
  • Giant Amoeba

Giant Amoeba from The Angry Red Planet

As far as miniatures go, this one's a scratch builder's dream. Go crazy with Green Stuff. The 15mm manufacturers listed in Flying Saucers should also have some weird stuff that could work here too--in particular I'll probably use Rebel Mini's zombies as the Replacements.

Sample Starting Force:
5 Large Blobs
2 Mind Melters
2 Replacements
1 Giant Amoeba

Total Points: 84

As always, check out the Beta rules and let me know if you have questions in the Small Batch Discord.