Thursday 31 March 2011

My New Secondary Heavy

I hereby present to you lovely people:

Bernardus - Heavy.

Bernardus used to earn a living delivering time-sensitive parcels and messages around Slag Creek and the neighbouring settlements on his hand-built motorcycle. Whilst running errands to other towns, Bernardus occasionally needed to defend himself against monsters or outlaws, and developed some skill as a fighter to go alongside his skill on a motorcycle. Preacher Regis convinced him that these skills could be put to better use in the Furies.

This model is pretty heavily kit-bashed. Whilst rummaging around my really old bits, I found an ancient plastic/lead Chaos Space Marine biker. I removed all the decorative lead parts, so it just resembled a slightly battered bike. I filed the knee pads off the legs so they look like normal (if a bit wide) trousers. I attached a spare Cadian torso, to which I attached one of the original biker arms (again, heavily filed down so it doesn't look like power armour) and a weaponless Cadian arm, which received a bolt pistol. A piece of plastic chain was stuck on his back for use in hand-to-hand combat, and finally a Cawdor cloak/hood was sculpted out of model filler, which I find just as easy to work with as green stuff, for half the price.

The rules for including a bike in your gang can be found in an old issue of "Gang War" magazine. Scans can easily be found online. The article in question was called "Get yer motor runnin' ", and it dealt with both biker gangs and giving a bike to a regular heavy of any other gang. These are of course unofficial, so if you wish to use one, you should run it past your gaming group first. In battle, he is going to kick arse at high speed.

Until next time,

Tokes.

My Scenery So Far

Here is some of the scenery I've built and need to paint/finish painting.

First of all - a small pipe stack.
This was my first piece, just to get me started on terrain. It's really simple, but I like it a lot. It can either provide full cover, or a ganger can sit behind one of the hollow ends so as to be in partial cover yet still able to take a few shots. It's just three equal lengths of cardboard tube stuck together, painted with chainmail and orange stippled on to represent rust.

Next - a generic industrial piece, maybe a processing plant.
I really enjoyed making this one. The two main structures were built from tin cans, with wire mesh stuck on top and a ladder stuck on each side. The steps are wire meshed cardboard, supported by two pieces of old sprue, cut to the right length. Each step is the perfect size for a standard round based model. The tall cylinder is made from a kitchen roll tube with a funnel filter attached to the top to represent an exhaust. I linked the taller platform and the exhaust together with a couple of differently sized batteries. The central ganger in the photo is standing next to a small skip, which I made out of corrugated cardboard, and filled with a PVA glue/coarse sand mixture. Same paint job as before. I just need to add a few little details and paint the rubble in the skip.

Sewage piping.
So simple it hurts. See, making effective terrain is easy. This is just effluent (waste) pipe that I picked up for less than two pounds. The only problem is that black spray didn't take to the smooth surface very well. Not to worry though, it has only chipped a bit, and metallic paint should stay a lot better.

Finally - A communications platform.
This one was a touch more complex to make, but that doesn't mean it was hard. The base is a CD. I sawed off the top of a plastic screwcap bottle, covered it, and put a piece of kitchen roll tube through the cover to make the stand. On top of that is an old coaster that I used to use as a palette, with more wire mesh stuck on top. Above that, I found an old piece of curtain rail lying around in the shed, cut it to about a three inch length, then sawed a piece off the top so that another CD could sit on it at a roughly 45 degree angle. Finally, the antenna is a four inch grip-fast nail. Still to do - Stick a wire ladder I've made between the base and platform, then paint it.

What's coming next, I hear you ask? Well, I'm currently in the process of building a generator, two hangars, and a factory-type piece, which will have a large tower and a conveyor belt production line on it, probably made from spare tank track pieces. A post will of course follow when they look at least vaguely presentable.

Tokes.

Tuesday 29 March 2011

My Gang So Far

Having started this blog some time after the initial decision to start my Necromunda gang, a fair amount of work has already been done. This post will detail a fluffy introduction to my gang, along with a few pictures and descriptions of models completed so far.

Without further ado then, I introduce you to my gang - "Preacher Regis' Furies of Slag Creek". Fluff alert!

Slag Creek was once a relatively peaceful settlement, at least as peaceful as a settlement can be in the chaotic and mostly lawless underhive. Hivers lived and made a living there without much need for bearing arms or hiring protection, such was the insignificance of the town. Preacher Regis, a retired gang fighter of House Cawdor, kept the populace happy enough by loosely governing the town from a small Cult of Redemption chapel, which was well attended and received enough donations to keep him warm and well fed.

Approximately two months ago however, things changed. Festus, a resident of Slag Creek, stumbled across a set of tunnels buried on the outskirts of town. Bravely exploring these, he came across a moderately sized archeotech hoard. Heart racing, he ran back home with a few trinkets that would no doubt fetch enough credits to feed him and his wife for months. Festus and his wife discussed the find, and decided to inform Preacher Regis, reasoning that the entire town could benefit from the extra wealth.

Festus set out to inform Regis, who agreed that this superb find could greatly benefit Slag Creek, which in turn would benefit House Cawdor and advance the righteous ways of the Redemption. Vitus, an old friend of Regis' from his fighting days, who had extensive construction and engineering knowledge, was called in to help plan expansion of the town and improvement of its facilities, industry and infrastructure. The trio set to work, selling off the archeotech and using the credits to fund construction crews.

Their work went well, and before the town knew it, new structures were erected, providing opportunities for more profitable work than they had previously known. Factories, water stills, processing plants, farmsteads, generators, communication arrays and more were built, turning Slag Creek into a thriving centre of production and affluence. The entirety of the archeotech hoard emptied to fund this, Slag Creek was now booming.

However, this did not escape the attention of the rival houses and gangs of Hive City. The previously unimportant hole of Slag Creek was now appealing, and plans to wrest control of it were formed. News of these plans reached the ears of Regis, who set about forming a gang himself to protect the town he had worked so hard to build up. Volunteers were called for, and after a short time, enough fighters/credits were found to recruit and equip a reasonable force, ready for the inevitable invasion.


I hope you enjoyed the fluff. Now, I present pictures and descriptions of my gang members completed so far. Sorry that the pictures aren't professional quality, I only have a cheap digital camera at my disposal.

Brencis - Juve.
Brencis is the obligatory juve armed with a stub gun. Whilst I could have converted the model to arm him with something better like a laspistol, I rather like the look of it like this. Also, it provides a good opportunity for more yummy fluff, which you've no doubt realised I'm rather fond of. For instance, The Furies are a very pious gang, and as such could have told Brencis that if he wants to prove himself worthy, all he will be allowed to do so with is a stubber and his faith in the emperor.

Jerolin - Ganger.
Jerolin is a particularly fanatical follower of the Redemptionist cause, and as such carries a hand flamer with which he can appropriately burn any heretics that dare to threaten his home town. This model is meant to represent another juve, and originally came with a knife in his right hand (stage right, picture left), but I took that off with a hacksaw and attached a spare hand flamer instead. On my roster, he's a ganger. He also has a small piece of chain attached to his belt on the back of the model, for use in hand to hand combat.

Zanobi - Ganger.
Zanobi used to work in one of the more dangerous mines that kept Slag Creek going before its transformation. Upon hearing Regis' call for gang volunteers, he jumped at the chance to change his occupation to something more exciting. The model is totally unconverted, armed with a shotgun and a very large sheathed blade on the back that can quite easily represent a sword.

Festus - Ganger.
As the man who discovered the archeotech hoard and put a lot of time and effort into the building up of Slag Creek, Festus was never going sit by idly and allow his hard work to be ruined by opportunistic gangs from other houses. The model is stock, armed with an autogun, and featuring a holster that I've decided is carrying a plasma pistol.

Dominic - Ganger.
Dominic was part of a hunting group before the renovation of Slag Creek, and as such is a practiced shot with his trusty lasgun, a skill which lends itself well to gang warfare. Again, the model is stock.

Nemo - Hired Gun (Scout).
Preacher Regis wanted a scout for his force, reasoning that espionage on the movements of other gangs could be provided, and new territory to fund the gang could be found. However, employing a heathen Ratskin, with their unholy hive spirit beliefs, was out of the question. After some searching, he found Nemo, a prospector reputed to be equal in skill to any Ratskin, and more importantly, pays lip service to the Cult of Redemption. The model is kitbashed, using spare Cadian bits for the body/head, and a shotgun from one of the old plastic Orlock models that came with the original Necromunda boxed set. I decided to paint his trousers red so that whilst obviously being different, he doesn't look completely out of place when on display with the rest of the gang. Rules-wise, he counts as a Ratskin Scout.


That's your lot for now. The next post will be some pictures (mostly work in progress) of scenery I've been making, and after that I will be posting the four or five remaining models as they are finished.

Tokes.

First Entry - Introduction

Welcome to Slag Creek, my new blog detailing my exploits with the game "Necromunda" - a wonderful tabletop wargame by Games Workshop, based around small-scale gang warfare. A couple of months ago, my friend Chris and I were discussing the annoying length of time and money it takes to build an entire army for Warhammer 40,000, and fondly remembering games of Necromunda that we played in our younger days. Overcome by ideas and desire, I put forward the idea of setting up new gangs and starting a campaign, to which Chris was very happy to agree with. Not wanting to waste time or allow this to turn into another "wouldn't this be cool" idea that never actually happens, I immediately went to the GW online store and purchased a gang set, Chris purchased one, and we convinced two other friends to do the same.

This blog will initially detail the assembly and painting of my gang and terrain, and later will include campaign updates/battle reports. Whilst I initially expect it to be read by just my gaming group, I hope any other Necromunda enthusiasts who stumble across it will find some or all of the posts to be entertaining/inspirational.

Tokes.