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Author Topic: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 240203: Why 15mm gaming is best  (Read 140686 times)

Offline Ockman

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  • Posts: 1798
Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 181214: Skyez Lectrix, former rebel pilot
« Reply #330 on: December 17, 2018, 09:49:14 PM »
Am quite enjoying your thread.  Only recently discovered it.

Hey, thanks!

There's a bit to read here, and there's more to come.

I've had an explosion in productivity (comparing only to myself), but in a little bit more than a month, I have finished painting 13 miniatures. And I have only written stories for four of them yet...

Offline Ockman

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 181223: The Archivist
« Reply #331 on: December 23, 2018, 07:04:39 AM »
The Archivist by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

There's a lot to be found in a galaxy where civilizations have been able to travel among the stars for untold millennia. Failed colonies, abandoned facilities, the remnants of extinct civilizations, detritus of war, drifting space hulks, lost technology and treasures... In a galaxy like that, adventurer/treasure hunter/tech archaeologist is truly a viable career option.

The galaxy is vast, though, and one needs direction to be able to find anything at all. That's where the others come in. Some call them Finders, others Searchers or Researchers. They could have been adventurers, but they either lack skill (hacking ancient computer systems, slicing locks or perhaps defusing dangerous security systems) or will (to enter facilities filled with unknown pathogens, to go up against ancient security bots or just an inclination against heavy lifting).

Following rumours, scouring old archives, translating alien texts, putting evidence together and scouting possible sites, Finders do all of this to create maps that they sell to intrepid adventurers. Sometimes they ask for credits, other times for a share of the treasures found and other times still they ask for data-slates or memory units, material that might lead to new finds and new maps...

With the end of the second Expansion, with FTL travel effectively eradicated, the colony and research facilities on Golgotha Prime were entirely cut off from contact with the rest of the galaxy. Whatever happened in the system between then and the rediscovery during the third Expansion, millennia later, is unknown. But the first explorers during the third Expansion found the system void of life. Golgotha Prime showed signs of civil war and every single data system showed signs of corruption.

The most prominent Finder on Golgotha Prime is a person shrouded in mystery, known only by his alias "the Archivist". Some say he's working in the colony's administration, others that he has found an uncorrupted data archive deep underground. In any which way, if you have questions about Golgotha Prime, he's the one to ask. He's got maps of hidden entrances to abandoned underground labs, of unexplored alien ruins and even the plans of NeoDyne Security headquarters. It could all be yours, if you're ready to pay the price...


The Archivist on the go by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

The Archivist, back by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

The Archivist (and the Crimson Reavers) by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

I tried to go with bold colours at first (purple jacket and turqoise pants), but that looked weird. So I went with a more subdued colour scheme and got something that reminded me of Doctor Henry Jones Jr. (without the hat and whip).

Offline Kitsune

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 706
    • Mosquito on the Tenth Floor
Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 181223: The Archivist
« Reply #332 on: December 28, 2018, 01:18:00 AM »
Nicely done, but.......a candle in an archive? Someone tries bringing a candle into my archive and they’ll get removed from the building rather quickly!  lol

Offline Ockman

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 181223: The Archivist
« Reply #333 on: December 28, 2018, 08:59:26 AM »
Nicely done, but.......a candle in an archive? Someone tries bringing a candle into my archive and they’ll get removed from the building rather quickly!  lol

Haha, I see what you mean.

He's holding a set of plans and just above them is a triangular zipper painted in an unfortunate NMM gold. It looks better in real life, but still a bit too much like a candle with a burning flame... Perhaps I should return to it and paint it grey?

Offline Ockman

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  • Posts: 1798
Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 181230: The Mayor, Mira Mendez
« Reply #334 on: December 30, 2018, 10:43:38 PM »
The Mayor by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

Not every colonization attempt succeeds, but the reasons of failure are diverse.
Sometimes it's caused by a hostile biosphere: untreatable disease, predatory plants or creatures, limited ability to grow plants suitable for human (or alien) consumtion, leading to famine.
Sometimes it's caused by natural catastrophes: quakes, EMP storms, wildfires, floods or solar flares.
Other times it's caused by violence: pirate raids, civil war, hostile aliens not affiliated with the United Government, or other groups wanting the colony for themselves.

The Mayor of Darkness Falls, Mira Mendez, is a serial colonist. Her parents were colony planners and Mira's early life was spent on several newly established colonies, only for as long as it took for the colonies to become self-sustainable. After a pirate raid, Mira became orphaned at fifteen, but that didn't keep her from continuing in her parents' footsteps. She has been integral to the success of many colonization attempts, but she has also survived a couple of colony failures (on Lotus' Landing, she lost her wife and youngest son as a labour of mega-moles descended on the colony).

Darkness Falls will be Mira Mendez last colony. Not because her age (even if her hair has turned grey and she's not as spry as before), but because she finds Golgotha Prime so enticing. A fully colonized world lost, though no one really knows how or why. A continent ("the Darkness") where local conditions disables Global Positioning Systems and distorts most means of communications (often shortening the range). A growing colony settlement, surrounded by Illuminum deposits, ancient ruins and abandoned facilities, coveted by hostile megacorps, pirate scum and tech cults.
In Mira's eyes, Darkness Falls will never become self-sustainable. It will always require her special set of skills...

Offline Mason

  • Elder God
  • Posts: 21222
  • Eternal Butterfly!
    • Blind Beggar Miniatures
Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 181230: The Mayor, Mira Mendez
« Reply #335 on: December 31, 2018, 04:55:29 PM »
Nice work on that little lass, she looks great.
 :-*


Offline Metternich

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2559
Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 181230: The Mayor, Mira Mendez
« Reply #336 on: January 01, 2019, 04:28:58 PM »
Your backstories are particularly interesting.

Offline Jagannath

  • Mastermind
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    • Blades and Blasters
Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 181230: The Mayor, Mira Mendez
« Reply #337 on: January 01, 2019, 06:18:33 PM »
Great backstory here, love the failed serial-coloniser idea. Lovely mini too - one of my favourites in that range.

Offline Ockman

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  • Posts: 1798
Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 181230: The Mayor, Mira Mendez
« Reply #338 on: January 01, 2019, 10:03:33 PM »
Nice work on that little lass, she looks great.
 :-*

Thanks, Mason! I'm quite happy with her, myself!

Your backstories are particularly interesting.

Thanks, Metternich!

I try to give a bit of information about the universe, a bit about the character and some information about my campaign world, Golgotha Prime.

Great backstory here, love the failed serial-coloniser idea. Lovely mini too - one of my favourites in that range.

Thanks, Jagannath!

Mira's mostly successful in her work with colony start-up, but of course there has been failures.

Golgotha Prime is nothing like Mahorca II, all volcanoes, magma seas and drifting continents. Still, she got that one self-sustainable in about 18 standard months...

It's a great mini, now I'm waiting for my Christmas gift from myself - another GZG order.

Offline Ockman

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1798
Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190108: Skylark Patrol Flyer (built)
« Reply #339 on: January 08, 2019, 08:08:31 PM »
Skylark Patrol Flyer by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

Oh, how I adore the Ion Age's vehicles!

I still haven't painted any of them, though, since I'm afraid to not do them proper justice. I'm thinking about painting my Skylark, but would like some inspiration.

So please, post pictures of painted Skylarks!

(also: I'm thinking about painting the flyer concrete grey (grey+khaki) with some goldbrown/yellow panels - but what colour should I use on window slits?)

Offline Oldben1

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1148
    • My Terrain Projects
Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190108: Skylark Patrol Flyer (built)
« Reply #340 on: January 08, 2019, 08:18:25 PM »
Oh yeh . . .

Offline Ockman

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  • Posts: 1798
Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190111: Steiner & Krüger Sicherheit
« Reply #341 on: January 11, 2019, 11:27:30 AM »
Steiner & Krüger by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

Law and order is a complicated matter in a galaxy-spanning union. The Basic Laws (no slavery, no genocide, no tax evasion) are applicable in all of United Government space, but each sector has their own set of laws. How well these laws are followed varies from planet to planet. Well developed planets will usually have well developed laws and proper law enforcement, while less developed planets might still have solid laws, but limited means to enforce them. Sometimes, especially on the galactic fringe, the colonies might be more or less lawless. That's where private security firms thrive...

Security firms (or forces) come in many flavours, from the no-ethics, brutal guns-for-hire (NeoDyne Security) to the altruistic, minimum-deadly-force do-gooders (the α-Team).
Steiner & Krüger Sicherheit places itself somewhere inbetween the extremes; they have no qualms about using deadly force, as long as it's for a cause they can support (self-defense, freeing wrongfully imprisoned persons, retaking stolen property, to name some) and as long as they get compensated.

The firm was started as a bodyguard service by ex-special forces veterans Paul Steiner and Max Krüger, but over the years the firm (and its scope of business) has grown. Today, the firm permanently employs a handful of "security specialists" and has an extensive network of dependable freelancers if numbers are needed.
Krüger does the preparing, gathering intel and making plans, while Steiner takes charge during the missions, coordinating the teams and calling for fire missions with his communicator.

Business is booming, ever since Steiner & Krüger Sicherheit relocated to Golgotha Prime. They have finally aquired a (slightly used) patrol flyer and soon they might have to expand again. On the lawless fringe, private security firms thrive...


Steiner by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

Krüger by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

Steiner, Krüger and client Mira Mendez by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

Offline Oldben1

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190111: Steiner & Krüger Sicherheit
« Reply #342 on: January 11, 2019, 03:41:45 PM »
I love all the backstory.  It feels a lot like the Firefly universe!

Offline Ockman

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  • Posts: 1798
Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190111: Steiner & Krüger Sicherheit
« Reply #343 on: January 11, 2019, 07:14:06 PM »
I love all the backstory.  It feels a lot like the Firefly universe!

Thanks, Michael!

I haven't seen Firefly, but I've heard a lot of people like it. I just want a versatile setting where I can create interconnected plots. I want Golgotha Prime to have some urban centers, where law actually means something (but still might be hard to enforce), while also having loads of smaller settlements where law is the gun in one's hand...

Offline Metternich

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2559
Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190111: Steiner & Krüger Sicherheit
« Reply #344 on: January 11, 2019, 08:52:43 PM »
Great looking figures, wonderful backstory.  Please keep 'em coming !   

 

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