zondag 30 oktober 2016

The Void Crows re-emerge

Well, I have the first day of the new job under my belt. It's still just in-house training, and will be for the next couple of weeks, but so far I'm liking it.

But that's not what you're here for, this is (mainly) a wargaming blog after all...
In the days between knowing I got the job and actually starting it, I decided to break out the brushes again. I didn't quite get the minis finished, but hey, that's what weekends are for.
So, what did I paint?
Those who have been following this blog for a longer time, or saw them back when =I=Munda first hit the stage on Dakkadakka, know that I've built a small salvage crew for it, and have been slowly working on expanding it.
Today I finished the last three additions:
Like the rest of crew, they don't have fixed names (yet), but I've been referring to them as "Sassy Girl", "Old Savant" and "Big Brute". If you look closely, you can nicely see the difference in sizes I managed to build into these models; Sassy Girl is just a bit smaller and more slender that the rest of the crew (done by shaving down the waist and shoulders, as well as the arms by a tiny bit), Old Savant is of standard unmodified size, where Big Brute is just a smidge bigger in all directions, thanks to .5mm shims in strategic places. It's not really noticeable on the table, but it does help in giving them the appearance and character I want them to have.
Here's a few more views:
As you can see in the pictures, these three are somewhat less combat-oriented than the original group, with Sassy Girl mainly being armed with a Boarding Gaff and a lumen-wand, with only a pair of throwing knives as a back-up. She's the youngest in the crew, and a bit of a mascot because of that. Her main task is to assist the Old Savant and haul cargo, but she has a fiery temper and a nose for trouble...
Old Savant wears a stubpistol because the rest of the crew forces him to. But being an information addict due to a meme-virus he contacted as a child, for the rest he just carries as much information with him as he can, as well as his favorite auto-quill. As he is an old man, and not of a physical bent, his void-suit has been retrofitted with a brass augmetic frame the crew salvaged a while back. Before he had it, he would need two of the crew to carry him around and prop him up somewhere to oversee salvage operations. His suit is also fitted with a shoulder-mounted Lux-caster. The crew couldn't do without the crotchety old man and his uncanny knack for finding the best pieces of loot.
Big Brute is most heavily armed of this group, carrying a stubpistol, large combat knife as well as his trusty huge crowbar... Like Sassy Girl, he will mainly be hauling salvage, as well as making sure that anything the crew needs loose or open gets that way very quickly!
Except for the Old Savant, they're wearing a lighter pattern of void suit than the rest of the crew as well. The reason is that these figures will be part of the "second wave" of salvagers, coming in after the clearing crew to select and haul the items and parts of the ships to be salvaged. They shouldn't be engaged in front-line combat, but you can never, ever, consider any derelict ship to be "safe".

Here's the crew exploring a derelict ship, with Old Savant pointing out a data-alcove that may still be functional:

And finally a proper look at the crew as it stands now:

What's still in store for this crew? I've got a few extra crewmembers planned or in progress; There will be a duo of lux-servoskulls, to help light their way, a servitor that can be equipped to either assist in hauling cargo or to cut open doors and locks with a plasmacutter. These are all primered and ready for paint. (But they've been in that state for ages, so don't expect this means you'll see them soon!)
I'm also building a small grav-sled to haul larger pieces of loot with.
And finally there are the last three members of the crew: 2 cargo haulers, that are also equipped with slab-shields. They will do dual duty hauling and securing cargo on their slab-shields or pushing forward to clear rooms where there's a bit more opposition... And the captain of the crew (the crewboss with shotcaster and chainsword is in charge of boarding operations, but occasionally the big boss himself will join the crew, if there are especially rich pickings to be found). He will be wearing a more luxury and flamboyant style of void suit.
I'm still not entirely decided on how I want to handle the slab-shields. I want them to be utilitarian, equally useful as a shield and as a sled or gurney to haul cargo on, and disposable, as they will also be used to quickly seal any inadvertent hull breaches the crew encounters, so they also need to look cheap and easily replaced.

There's also a void-suited itinerant Preacher in the works, but he isn't part of the crew proper.
If the new job and the new hobby/passion (woodworking) will leave enough time and energy, I'd really like to keep going on my small 40K narrative warbands, maybe even make an attempt at continuing my Space Hulk terrain. I got a real kick out of seeing all of it in the table again, especially now that enough time has passed that I can look at them with fresh eyes, without remembering the building process and the flaws I knew were there.

See you next time!

11 opmerkingen:

  1. These look great and well done on the first day.

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  2. Nice work on these conversions, they've got a lot of character.
    Where did you get this terrain from? it looks great.

    Me and Bram are planning a 40k 2nd edition revival. I even bought a secondhand starter box at a decent prize. Groups like these are what I loved about the 2nd edition rules, we even used it for playing small scale scenarios on numerous occasions (I remember playing a game with a group of test subjects trying to escape from Fabius Bile's laboratory and another game with some catachans versus a single lictor). Feel free to join in if you're interested.

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    Reacties
    1. Thanks, Wouter.

      The terrain is (the start of) a 3D set of Space Hulk terrain I've been workin on for years now. I haven't got very far yet as each piece needs a fair bit of room and time to build, so I can only work on it occasionally...

      Ooh,I'd like to have another go at 40k 2nd edition. It was my favorite version of the game...

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    2. "Me and Bram are planning a 40k 2nd edition revival."

      I am hideously jealous. I have all the books, just no one local is interested. Either AoS/7th 40k or otherwise.

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    3. We got fed up with 40k after 4th edition and actually stopped playing it shortly after the release. But we both feel it is a bit of a shame as we invested a lot into our armies.
      Also 2nd edition 40k still is one of the best GW games and no one is going to force us to go on with the flow.

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    4. Damn straight brother :D For me it was 3rd edition that killed 40k on the whole. Not being able to have a trooper tactically throw a grenade (but as a group action), was an abstraction too far. So its been skirmish games mostly since.

      If you plan to blog your games, please send me a link to follow! :D

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    5. 3th edition was the beginning of the end, with us having to redesign our entire armies and even be unable to field some parts of it. There was a lot of cursing back then ;-). The 3th edition Chaos book also was one to quickly forget.
      We switched to Warmachine after 4th, until they went the same way GW does. They even mocked the use of plastics in their 1st edition, look at them now.

      I've neglected my blog for some time now, but I will pick it up again. Here's the link:
      http://smallprojectteam.blogspot.be/?m=1

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  3. Man so good to see these guys again and now more fleshed out! I'm working on Void crew based off Jes Goodwins art again - shall preview in a few weeks when the bits arrive :)

    Top stuff!

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    1. Thanks, Seb! I'm looking forward to seeing your crew!

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    2. Cheers! Be a little while, but overall only interested in 40K Naval ideas because of the Void Crows all that time ago :)

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