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Author Topic: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 240203: Why 15mm gaming is best  (Read 140751 times)

Offline Ockman

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190410: The Age of Isolation
« Reply #390 on: April 10, 2019, 08:56:48 PM »
The Age of Isolation

Everyone has heard of humanity's three expansions: the first, where the human civilization reached new homeworlds using generation ships with CTL-drives; the second, where "the Others" (a secretive alien race) provided warp travel - for a price; the third, where contact and further expansion was re-established after United Government scientists invented FTL-drives.

The second Expansion ended abruptly, warp-drives ceased to function and contact with "the Others" ceased without warning. Still to this day, no-one knows why, but there's a wide range of theories.
Some think "the Others" were content with what the United Government had given them, having no reason to continue supplying warp travel.
Others think that humanity's rapid expansion through the galaxy scared them, and that the growing might of the United Government was becoming a problem.
Others still believe that the enemies of the United Government, exiled alien civilizations driven off during the rapid expansion, found "the Others" and eradicated them.

With the end of the second Expansion, the Age of Isolation begun. Without warp travel, intergalactic communication broke down, as most orders, information and messages was forwarded by skip-drones. The Core Worlds and some of the strategically vital systems were connected with an Ansible network, but the rest had to rely on old-fashioned radio transmissions, with messages taking years, sometimes centuries to arrive. Each system had to fend for itself, and while some flourished, others went under.

As the years of isolation turned to centuries, the surviving worlds and systems developed in diverging ways. A wealth of republics, empires, confederacies, kingdoms, democracies, commonwealths, technocracies and other societies sprung up, all with different strengths and weaknesses. Some regressed to lower technological levels, some retained and expanded on their current tech and some became veritable scientific powerhouses. This explains why there is such a large technological variety on United Government worlds to this day.


Offline Ockman

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190427: Walter Borkman, expert marksman
« Reply #391 on: April 27, 2019, 09:28:51 PM »
Walter Borkman, Goldurian Ghasts' marksman by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

In the Milky Way galaxy alone, there are at least forty billion Earth-sized planets situated in habitable zones. Most of these planets are inhospitable, at least until they are terraformed. There are ice planets, jungle planets, desert planets, magma planets, high gravity planets, low gravity planets, planets teeming with life and planets entirely devoid of life, to name a few different kinds. These planets are prime real estate for a slew of galactic civilizations and alien races, and if they aren't properly defended, they will be contended.

This has spawned a multitude of special forces and armies adapted to extreme conditions: The zero-G troops of the Æther Brigade, heroes after the liberation of Victoria asteroid archipelago; The Ice Warriors of Heorot, fighting on cold and frozen planets across the galaxy; The Lobjat Jungle Fighters, specialized to fight in terrain that (more often than not) is more dangerous than the enemies they are fighting.

Once upon a time Walter Borkman was enlisted in the Royal Goldurian Army, in a commando unit known as the Goldurian Ghasts. Specialized in sabotage missions and assassinations, the Ghasts operates under stealth on occupied worlds.
Legend has it that the Ghasts' marksmen never fires their weapons unless they are absolutely certain that they will hit and kill their intended target. Of course that isn't true. Walter Borkman had a lethal hit ratio of 97.8% - good enough to achieve ace status in any other army, bad enough to get discharged from the Goldurian Ghasts.
To escape the humiliation of being discharged, Walter has relocated far away to the galactic fringe. On Golgotha Prime, he has taken employment with Steiner & Krüger Sicherheit as their master marksman. As he doesn't want to ruin the legend of Ghast marksmen, Walter has become increasingly more cautious not to fire unless he's absolutely certain to hit and kill his intended target. This hesitation to fire is slowly becoming a problem...


Walter Borkman by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

Searching by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

In my (perhaps) upcoming Starport Scum campaign, I chose to make my marksman a bruiser (gaining weapon bonuses to an extent, but no special skills), but then I wrote this bad-ass super sniper. What was I to do?

I gave him low self-esteem and made it very important to him that he must hit and (probably) kill with every shot fired. So when he fires, he rolls his dice and everything else. If he injured the enemy, he actually shot, but if it's a miss or minor damage, Walter never fired (unless he rolls two ones and no success).

Offline Oldben1

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190427: Walter Borkman, expert marksman
« Reply #392 on: April 28, 2019, 12:38:30 AM »
Lovely yellows.  Your terrain is so cool!

Offline Grumbledook

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190427: Walter Borkman, expert marksman
« Reply #393 on: April 28, 2019, 06:15:35 AM »
Great little figure and the fluff is good fun. You’re slowly building yourself a full sized city there!

Offline Ockman

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190427: Walter Borkman, expert marksman
« Reply #394 on: April 28, 2019, 09:26:29 AM »
Lovely yellows.  Your terrain is so cool!

Thanks, mate! I'm obsessed with that yellow. I think I've got to build some new buildings, though. Every photoshoot tends to be pretty similar...

Great little figure and the fluff is good fun. You’re slowly building yourself a full sized city there!

Hey, thanks! I've got enough MDF buildings to fill 60x60cm and enough scratchbuilt buildings to fill a third of that.

Offline Jagannath

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190427: Walter Borkman, expert marksman
« Reply #395 on: April 28, 2019, 09:45:33 AM »
Nice dude - he looks great.

I like that he cares too much about his kill ratio haha!

Your set up is looking great  - it's ace seeing buildings all the way into the background. You're good at height too, I need to do more of that.

Offline Ockman

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190427: Walter Borkman, expert marksman
« Reply #396 on: April 28, 2019, 06:00:45 PM »
Nice dude - he looks great.

I like that he cares too much about his kill ratio haha!

Your set up is looking great  - it's ace seeing buildings all the way into the background. You're good at height too, I need to do more of that.

Hey, thanks friend!

I've built a couple of tall structures with the intent of giving the snipers somewhere to perch. When I'm taking pictures, I'm setting up my entire 60x60 cm city board, placing the minis at the edge closest to the camera having 50 cm or so of city terrain behind them...

Offline Ockman

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190429: Eli Alouette, master aquirer
« Reply #397 on: April 29, 2019, 05:39:22 PM »
Eli Alouette, master aquirer by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

When it comes to war, the majority wants to be as far away as possible from the enemy and hit them with maximum force, employing Sunstorm bombs, Planet Killers or thermonuclear weapons to annihilate the opposition.
If one wants to gain anything from war (except the annihilation of one's enemies), this isn't a viable alternative. One has to move closer to the enemy and use less force to leave anything worthwhile for taking standing. Armies employ artillery, armoured combat vehicles and rifle-toting infantry to achieve victory.
Proper defensive structures won't crack under barrages, so most often one must come closer still. Infantry can flush out and destroy their enemies with hand grenades, flamethrowers, SMG:s, shotguns and even bladed weapons in close quarters combat.
But sometimes one has got to come closer still. When there's a need for information, you've got to return with some enemy fighters alive. That's where profiency in martial arts becomes useful.

The Way of the Adamantium Fist, Fett-Me-Spö, Krakatauan Power-Wrestling ...the list of martial arts can be made long, but the core idea is often the same: go for the enemy's sensory organs to distract and disorient; disarm and take the enemy down by attacking their joints, and finally; hit the enemy's neuro-clusters to incapacitate them. This works for taking out most humanoid bipeds and some other types as well.

Eli Alouette knows how to take down almost anyone in close combat, without causing permanent harm, something she learned once upon a time, back when she was attached to the Cerulian Devils as military police.
The Cerulian Devils is a ferocious military outfit consisting of both human and alien volunteers, famous for fighting hard and - when the fighting is over - partying even harder. For years Eli has honed her martial arts skills on inebriated warriors, she enjoyed most of her work as MP, but in the end she couldn't stand being puked upon.

Nowadays, Eli is employed by Steiner & Krüger Sicherheit as their master acquirer. She's an expert on non-lethal neutralizations and can - as long as she can get close enough - overpower almost any opposition she's up against.


Eli Alouette by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

Eli Alouette on the prowl by Oscar Falk, on Flickr
« Last Edit: April 29, 2019, 05:40:53 PM by Ockman »

Offline Metternich

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190429: Eli Alouette, master aquirer
« Reply #398 on: May 01, 2019, 07:27:32 PM »
Two very nice figures (but is her hair green ?)

Offline Grumbledook

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    • It's a Hobby, not an Addiction!
Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190429: Eli Alouette, master aquirer
« Reply #399 on: May 01, 2019, 08:17:45 PM »
Another brilliant figure and story, i’d love to see a photo with all the city’s population out and about!

Offline Ockman

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190429: Eli Alouette, master aquirer
« Reply #400 on: May 02, 2019, 06:55:41 AM »
Two very nice figures (but is her hair green ?)

Thanks, man! To your question, I have to answer:

In the grim darkness cool neon lights of the far future, there is only war. a lot of cool hair colours!

Another brilliant figure and story, i’d love to see a photo with all the city’s population out and about!

Oh, thank you!

I will have to try to take some pictures with the rest of the population, but I'm not sure how. Since my city is quite small (60 x 60 cm), I find it kind of hard to take good photos where all of it is seen. I'd love to make pictures looking like old battle reports from early 2000's White Dwarf (cut away the background, just retaining the battlefield), but can't use Photoshop.

Still I could take some close-ups where I add some more minis, to make it look more alive.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2019, 05:32:34 PM by Ockman »

Offline Metternich

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Re: [15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 190429: Eli Alouette, master aquirer
« Reply #401 on: May 02, 2019, 09:38:40 PM »
It ain't easy bein' green (or so the song goes).

Offline Ockman

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A.L. Qesterel by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

A.L. Qesterel by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

Multi Purpose Weapons (MPWs) add versatility to a squad and give the individual hero the ability to adapt to whatever dangers they might be facing. They come in many different forms, from the simpler combi-weapon, where one weapon is bolted onto another, to the advanced nanobot-weapons, where nanobots create ammunition best suited for the enemy you're currently facing.

The MultiTech MR-5 is a laser-based MPW designed with versatility in mind. On low energy setting, the weapon will strike a balance between damage output and energy conservation, never leaving the user with a drained power cell in the middle of a firefight.
On high energy setting, the user can either choose automatic mode (higher rate of fire) or power mode (higher damage output). On automatic mode, the MR-5 can be used as a SAW (squad automatic weapon), giving the user an edge against enemy infantry. On power mode, the MR-5 can be used in an anti-vehicle role against lightly armoured combat vehicles, mechs and power-suits. Either way, on high energy setting the user will go through power cells more rapidly.

A.L. Qesterel led an interdiction squad for the Mircado Corporation during the corporate war on Ludbak IV. Although allegiances often shifted during the war, Mircado's main antagonists stayed the same: NeoDyne Security. Armed with MultiTech MR-5s, Qesterel's squad struck against targets of opportunity: resupply transports, troop carriers and patrols. They became feared by NeoDyne troops, which retaliated hard whenever they could.

Then NeoDyne Security bought the entire Mircado Corporation. When the interdiction squads were sent on suicide missions, Qesterel decided that it was time to go AWOL. She snuck onto a transport bound for Golgotha Prime and never looked back. Now, she's working for Steiner & Krüger Sicherheit, adding some heavy firepower to the team.


A.L. Qesterel setting up an ambush by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

A.L. running for the entrance by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

A.L. Qesterel by Oscar Falk, on Flickr
« Last Edit: May 03, 2019, 09:54:56 PM by Ockman »

Offline Ockman

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Steiner & Krüger Sicherheit by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

So I've finally finished a crew!

Here's Steiner & Krüger Sicherheit, at least the core group of specialists. Larger jobs requires additional personnel (in Starport Scum-terms: goons).

Steiner & Krüger Sicherheit by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

Steiner & Krüger Sicherheit by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

In the last picture, I've added my first painted GZG Figure, which was painted in a somewhat similar scheme.

I'm not sure what her role might be, what do you think?

Offline Metternich

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Given that she has the communicator/hand computer, she could be the intelligence specialist, mission coordinator, or commo.

 

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