Q2 Skirmish Escher Gangers Part 2
More Escher gangers! After these, only one more batch to go! Truthfully these lovely ladies were finished days ago but weather and circumstance conspired to prevent me from varnishing them.
A ganger and a heavy, probably won’t be used due to the toxic nature of the Eschers, but who doesn’t love a Heavy Stubber?
Finally I have some complete Wyld Runners! Rizzi and Symissa are the standard ones for the gang, with the bows and a converted scope added to make them actually usable. Null is a necessity. The Escher card deck can add a free Wyld Runner with throwing knives and a whip, and also some…
Phelynx! The color schemes seem… odd though… and those names…
Oh yes, of course! The theme of Razor and the Scumettes is Maniac Mansion!
Dave
Bernard
Syd
and last but not least (best in fact) Michael!
Yes, the boys are back in town. I haven’t had an opportunity to use the boy’s names due to the exclusivity of ladies in Escher gangs. It seems fitting for them to be pets.
You might also notice the lack of Jeff. Screw Jeff. He can’t even beat the game.
Next: A Trukk that has been stripped and repainted, plus a review of stripping methods for various liquids and goos that remove paint!
2nd Quarter Skirmish Painting Challenge pt 1 – Escher Champions, Little Sisters, and Chymist
For the 2nd Quarter Painting Challenge at AFK, you must paint a full skirmishing force. Although I have several models in my Necromunda Escher Gang painted, I have many, MANY more that are not. I decided to finish up this gang for the competition, though the actual number of models is quite large.
To ease organization and make it so each of the three months had roughly the same commitment, I split the models into three groups. This is group 1.
Wendy and Sandy already have painted models. However, in the Necromunda Campaign that I ran, each had an alternate loadout for weaponry. Wendy used this meltagun to one-shot an Ambot. Sandy only used the gas projector once sadly. Their needle rifles were more effective against all but the largest targets.
I never got a second Death Maiden, which is probably good because my previous Death Maiden literally killed anything she touched. This alternate loadout should be similarly lethal at range.
Oh these poor girls. Baiting charges, being bullet magnets, and lugging treasure. They deserved to be painted at least.
Coral is a Clan Chymist converted from the Wyld Runner box set. At the time, no Clan Chymist model was commercially available. I do not regret building her, however, because I an not a fan of the mechanics of the Shivver, and the Chymist and Shivver come together. She’ll hopefully never see combat but technically you need a miniature for her or else she automatically leaves the gang if you suffer a raid on your gang’s base.
The paint for these is a simple Contrast blend over Wraithbone with a few extra details like metal. I made the weapons pink and the boots black for gang colors, but everything else is a 90’s style neon frenzy.
Next: Ork Deffkilla Wartrike!
Necromunda Campaign Finale – The Crucible
In the finale of our narrative campaign, the gangs are keyed into a bounty against invading Orks! Smelling a fortune to be made for whoever kills the Warboss, the gangs ambush the Orks as they try to establish a camp!
Gangs got victory points for slaying Orks. The Fighting was rough until Petra’s Ash Waste gangers shot the Warboss in the back with a missile!
Suddenly, the Gang Leaders were swallowed with white light! They were teleported to an arena!
Last one standing wins!
The fighting was fast and fierce, and the last two opponents were both limping around with flesh wounds!
Finally, Syn Decote, leader of the Field Testers, was triumphant!
***
Syn Decote wrapped his cloak around his wounds. Only his armoured undersuit had saved him from being blown apart by the Palanite Captain’s lucky bolt rounds. He slammed a painkiller and took a deep breath.
A white column of light appeared in the center of the arena. With no other options, Syn readied his plasma pistol and stepped into the light.
He appeared before the Eldar Farseer that had helped the gangers before, when they had been ambushed by the Imperial Fists. Beside him were the other two Eldar with the slim meltaguns and the fire motif on their armour. Syn narrowed his eyes, but didn’t flinch.
“Greetings, champion of Man.” the Farseer said. “I am Yrthrian Mardawn, Farseer of the Aeldari. Long have I searched for one as you. I beg you, before you leave, hear my plea. I offer a lifetime of glory, luxury, and freedom.”
Syn figured that this alien could have slagged him at any time. He could have also set him rot in that sealed off room. Despite the drills from childhood about how aliens were scum, Syn decided to give the weirdo in the tall hat a chance.
“I’ll listen.” he spat.
The Farseer motioned to the Fire Dragons: “Leave us.” Even behind their tall helmets, Syn could sense thet were confused. They left after a moment, with Syn face to face with the Farseer. He removed his tall helmet, revealing pale skin, delicate features, and pointed ears. He spoke.
“Before I ask of your skills in combat, I must explain why I have searched for you so long. The Aeldari live on ships known as Craftworlds. My Craftworld, Saim-Hann, is ruled by the most dominant family. Many years ago, I received a vision of the future. In this vision, the galaxy was rent in two and the Great Enemy you know as Chaos tore the Human Imperium apart. The Craftworlds of the Aeldari were not spared this wrath. However, under the leadership of my family, Craftworld Saim-Hann survived, and aided the humans to hold back the night.
“My family was not in a position of leadership. Therefore, I challenged the ruling family. It was decided that in ten years’ time, we would choose a champion, and these champions would duel. The winner would bring glory to the family that chose them, and that family would rule.
“I scryed the future once again, and saw this place, this Hive. Within it, I knew I would find a champion capable of the victory I needed. I searched for years, ultimately deciding on the Human known as Bull Gorg. I spirited him away from the Human authorities that hunted him, and they presumed him dead. He accompanied me to Saim-Hann. However, something happened that no one foresaw:
“Bull Gorg and the champion of the opposing family slew each other at the exact same moment. No victor could be decided. So, both families agreed to another competition in ten more years.
“This time, however, I did not search at random. I contacted Rangers who ply the webways to manipulate events. I gave aid to House Ty and fueled their ambitions for dominance. I worked with the Human Inquisitor Von Styr, pitting him against his enemies. I gave false leads to the Astartes, who came in search of their fallen brethren, only to find you. Finally, I used all the resources at my disposal to re-direct an Ork WAAAAGH, but to weaken it so that it could not destroy this place.
“All this, I have done, to turn this Hive into a crucible. To burn away the impurities and find perfection. I believe you are the champion I need to save my world.
“For your services, I will extricate you from this hellish place. I will shower you with riches, and allow you to live on my Craftworld, or on any other planet in the galaxy, barring those belonging to the Exodites. I will even pledge my Craftworld to defend your Imperium from the coming darkness.
“For this, I require you fight for me. It will not be easy. But I believe you are destined to prevail.
“What say you, Champion of man?”
Syn was in awe. This guy had so much power, and all he wanted was a fight?
Syn could fight a guy. He did it all the time.
“You got a deal.” he said, holstering his pistol and extending his hand. The Eldar looked at the hand as if it were a rat three days dead, but then seemed to steel himself and shook Syn’s hand.
“Then, you shall come with us. It is a weeklong trek in the Ash Wastes to the Webway Portal.”
“Whatever.” Syn said.
It was the last word he would speak aloud on Necromunda. He was alright with that.
Lasgun Girls and Khimerix
Finished some more painting! Here’s some gangers with Lasguns for Razor and the Scumettes!
Jennifer (the one with purple hair) is named after the only female dev for Maniac Mansion. The others (and all other gangers) are named with an automatic online Escher name generator.
Next, the fearsome (and expensive) Khimerix!
Named Weird Ed, he looks nothing like his Maniac Mansion counterpart.
Next: Alternate weapon loadouts for Wendy and Sandy, plus Juves! Also coming up, a major blowout Necromunda narrative event!
Big Necromunda Update
It’s been a while since I’ve updated due to the hectic life of a Necromunda Arbitrator. Here’s a huge dump of awesome stuff!
First, I finished Wendy and Sandy, my Champion and Specialist, with Needle Rifles.
Wendy and Sandy are, as previous characters, based on characters from Maniac Mansion:
Next, the second of the major narrative events happened for my Necromunda Campaign: Diamonds in the Sump! The leaders of the player gangs and their trusted seconds were ambushed by an Inquisitor who was an enemy of the Inquisitor that hired them for the first event! Luckily, Kal Jerico himself was there to provide an opening. The leader of the Field Testers, Syn Ducote (Van Saar) fragged the Inquisitor and made his escape! The rest of the gangs ran down a huge hallway from the Inquisitor’s private Enforcer Squad!
Finally, a shipment came in from Forge World, and I have a pair of brand new Phyrr Cats to add to battles for Razor and the Scumettes!
Next: more Necromunda including the next narrative event which will prove to be a shocker!
Edna, former nurse, current Death Maiden for Razor and the Scumettes
Edna is armed with two Stiletto Swords, and with her poison blood and a Chem Synth, she can put even the beefiest combatant on the ground.
Edna is based on Nurse Edna from Maniac Mansion:
Next, more Eschers!
Necromunda Downtime Multiplayer Game and Squad Batarian, IVth squad, VIIth Company of the Imperial Fists
This weekend was a blast! Five players (not including myself) participated in a narrative six way multiplayer battle! An Inquisitor bullied the gangs into attacking an underground prison compound. Here was the board setup:
Each player got one of the 5 tiles on the top of this picture, and their goal was to kill a specific model and open the doors in the cells at the bottom. Things began cordially, and then Dan’s Cawdor smoked one of Josh’s Goliath’s with a Krak Grenade arrow and it went downhill from there. Petra’s ash waste bug monster rampages through the halls, killing at will. Zach’s Palanite Enforcers went up the right side, smashing as they went.
All through this, odd things happened. The “Traitors” that the gangs were supposedly fighting had oddly accurate weaponry, and Matt’s gang leader, an unsanctioned psyker, found himself trying to undo warpcraft from somewhere! Further, the target was eliminated by his own plasma pistol exploding and Dan’s Cherub found something interesting on the body…
Finally, after two gangs bottled and most fighters were down, the cells were opened, to find the prisoners executed! Oh well, three players got special inquisitorial sanctions for not bottling.
After this, I managed to finish the special antagonists I’ve been working on: Squad Batarian, IVth Squad, VIIth Company of the Imperial Fists, stationed in the Necromunda Fortress Monastery.
In truth they’ve been done for a while, but I was waiting on decals. No regular Space Marine sets have black tactical arrows! I had to special order two sheets of Imperial Fist ones.
As you can see above, I did two decals, one over the other. I also added some nifty battle damage and tried to get poses to be as dynamic as I could without repeating.
Marines were sprayed Wraithbone, coated Iyanden Yellow Contrast, and then brought up with yellow and highlighted light yellow. Reds are Blood Angels Contrast. Metals are Boltgun washed with Nuln Oil. I did the bases with black spray, Boltgun, and rust pigment, stippled in places with orange. Cursive names were freehand.
Soon: more gangers and more Necromunda goodness!
Necromunda Campaign
I’ve been silent because I haven’t had a lot to share, and my site got hacked. (so much for the new servers!) However, I’m breaking silence to show off the leader of my new Necromunda gang: Razor and the Scumettes!
Yes, Razor is based on the punk rock character from Maniac Mansion. The whole gang is themed that way!
Next: more gangers! This site may also be moved to squarespace if I can’t stop it from being hacked!
On my plate 9/26/14: Distracted Edition
Things are not going great, but it’s high time for me to stop letting life get in the way and do some hardcore hobby action! All three of my readers demand it! Well, truth be told, they’ve been a bit silent, but I can feel it in their hearts. My hobby bones are rumbling.
Bones rumble, don’t they?
Battlefleet Gothic Tau – As my Tau player dropped out during our campaign I sort of lost interest in painting this fleet. However it’s about 1/3 done and I want to finish it so it should be my primary goal. Other projects should jump in. Status: 3 more capital ships, a large selection of escorts, and some defences left to do. I also have to pick a scheme for the Nicassar. Perhaps earth tones? Or go super extravagant with gold?
Azure Flames – I need to finish my Grav Sternguard. Next, a 5 man non-jump-pack assault squad with 2 flamers. Finally, I need to make some new sergeants with power swords. I have been getting MURDERED in challenges with Power Fists. I also need Centurions, a Hunter/Stalker, and a Stormraven.
Orks – MORE LADZ! I also need to buy some Fighta-bommaz and perhaps some new Big Gunz.
Battlefleet Gothic Eldar – I purchased a pre-painted Eldar fleet, but it had no light cruisers. I won one of each light cruiser in an auction and I need to strip them and try to match the paint scheme of my new fleet.
Battlefleet Gothic Necrons – I need a paint scheme and I need to get painting. They are the last thing for Gothic. Until I buy a new fleet NO BAD BOZEMAN!
Blood Bowl Orcs – I need to make four Cheerleader goblins, and then paint them as well as my four Assistant Coach goblins and the team coach, Warboss Grimfang da Lotz.
Epic Orks – Gotta finish that 3000pt teaching list.
Epic Eldar – Gotta make a 3000 pt teaching list and build it and paint it as the Yme-Loc craftworld (gray and orange with white details)
Epic Lost and the Damned – 3000pt teaching list and paint it.
Necromunda – Paint my Escher gang, Razor and the Scumettes.
Epic Space Marines – Finish painting a whole chapter so I can say “I have painted a whole chapter of Space Marines.”
Space Hulk – Wait for an ebay auction for the new mission book and rulebook, and the new tiles. Also “acquire” the expansions. *looks innocent*
A Funeral for Specialist Games
Specialist Games has been unsupported for a while now. If you’re unfamiliar with me and my site, just look to the upper right. I’m a huge cheerleader for Specialist Games. I shed a tear when they stopped selling, but at least they kept the rules online for free. It was a nice nod to the past.
The new Games Workshop website puts an end to that. No more specialist. Pour out a ’40 for them; they’re gone for good.
That’s not to say they’re DEAD. You can still find the files online in several places. I am considering building a Specialist Shrine right here on Four Strands Hobby just to make the files available to myself and others.
If you play specialist, KEEP IT ALIVE. Share it. Lend armies or fleets to friends. Our friends are not gone so long as we remember them.