Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Topic started by: Warboss Nick on March 13, 2021, 01:55:26 PM
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New project for Gamma Wolves using DUST mercenary and axis miniatures. The arms of the frames are interchangeable and I also modified two 40k laser canons to fit onto the mechs.
Three medium mechs, four light mechs, an objective and a lone infantry model:
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Playing them as Ronin seems most fitting. And I’m already on my way for more miniatures than I need for Gamma Wolves (which I consider a good thing).
Black Wolf One: FLAMINGO
The DUST mercenary Pink Flamingo model. Magda on foot can be seen in the group shot above. After clear coat the flamer under the cabin will added. As already mentioned the Lay-out can be changed by switching arms).
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Black Wolf Two: TINBOX
DUST mercenary wrecker with a switch of pilots. The pilot is probably my favourite of the lot but did not come out that well on the photo. I also added a little stowage. I have a second wrecker still to be done that will feature an open cabin.
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Black Wolf Four: DUMDUM
A DUST mercenary meatgrinder. The AT guns can be exchanged for more MMGs and one of the pilots for a mortar (which only really makes sense for DUST). The gunner is from the wrecker above. Again with added stowage.
There is also one of the DUST axis heavy grenadiers that I use as light frames for Gamma Wolves. Two of them got female heads from Brother Vinni that might be a bit on the small side but look rather nice.
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They look awesome!
How they will survive the toxic setting outside of a sealed and self-contained environment is a separate question. :D
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Rule of cool! That is how! lol
Great models and nice painting.
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In this case, rule of drool.
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They look awesome!
How they will survive the toxic setting outside of a sealed and self-contained environment is a separate question. :D
They survive the same way the dinosaurs survived, by confining their operations to a huge South American plateau in the Amazon basin.
It's fine until Ash Barker says its not canon.
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LOL guys, of course I wasn’t being serious. Everyone is free to model as they wish, modify or replace the setting elements as they wish, and all this customizability is a feature rather than a flaw.
But for those readers unfamiliar with Gamma Wolves, it is true that as part of the game mechanics and setting, frames are environmentally sealed as a general rule. The seal can be broken in the course of taking damage, exposing pilots to the so-called “Soup” — an environment so potently toxic that the pilot immediately starts taking wounds as a result.
UNLESS, of course, they happen to be an engineered transhuman from the Burg. Those guys have been crafted to withstand the toxicity of the Soup at the expense of, perhaps, a normal human lifespan. This also doesn’t affect Tiamat frames, as they are pilotless (in the sense of being run by an AI).
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They look awesome!
How they will survive the toxic setting outside of a sealed and self-contained environment is a separate question. :D
Joke, get it, but if he's playing them as Ronin there's no reason they couldn't all originally have been from the Burg, and therefore geneered v2.0 humans that can stroll around in the post-apoc hellscape without batting an eye. Mechanically I suppose they'd still be Ronin without that perk, but you could probably swap the Ronin "have unlimited Aces" rule for "Humanity 2.0" while still using the Ronin force limits and not harm game balance any.
Burg's special rule is by far the most useless in the whole book anyway. Swapping it on to other factions isn't going to make anyone call cheese.
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I don’t think swapping the special rules would hurt game balance; the faction rules seem less geared toward balance and more to inspiring players when building a force.
On that note, the thing about Burg’s list is the limited lifespan thing comes up as a limit of Rookie and Veteran pilots that is exceeded on both counts by the Ronin list — so there’s another potential opportunity for fleshing out the unit background.
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I don’t think swapping the special rules would hurt game balance; the faction rules seem less geared toward balance and more to inspiring players when building a force.
On that note, the thing about Burg’s list is the limited lifespan thing comes up as a limit of Rookie and Veteran pilots that is exceeded on both counts by the Ronin list — so there’s another potential opportunity for fleshing out the unit background.
Maybe they went Ronin when a Freeport offered them a means of life-extension? Still being relatively young might also explain why they aren't a force with the usual 2-3 aces a Ronin crew has.
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Good stuff, like the name ;)
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Thanks guys, glad you like them and so many of you know Gamma Wolves!
As to how they survive I’ll go with rule of cool. Or it’s a region that is not so toxic. Or the crew chief simply doesn’t care 8)
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Makes me want to look at some Dust minis......
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Thanks guys, glad you like them and so many of you know Gamma Wolves!
Out of curiosity, have you managed to find a way to put more than three frames on the table as Ronin and still have their "extra aces" perk mean anything? Seems like they're always stuck at three to me. Admittedly, the norm is only four, and there's only one faction that can get to six (North Star all-rookie force, and then their perk does nothing) so Ronin aren't really badly outnumbered.
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Rich, I think that is on purpose. They would even be hard pressed to field three in campaign games without the exception for pilots as long as there are no more than three frames.
What’s more you will probably rather start with five pilots in a campaign.
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Here (https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=129668.msg1643040#msg1643040) is my Ronin list, with two aces.
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Rich, I think that is on purpose. They would even be hard pressed to field three in campaign games without the exception for pilots as long as there are no more than three frames.
What’s more you will probably rather start with five pilots in a campaign.
Sure, it's not likely an accident, just a quirk. You could get to four starting frames if you stuck to one ace, but that kind of defeats the purpose of being Ronin. Campaign-wise, they need to think carefully about what backup pilots you bring to cover losses and injuries while still staying as close to 12 points as you can, and without having to go back to base for replacements. Five does seem likely - 2 vets and a rookie with two of them aces in the "starting lineup" and probably a trained another rookie with one ace in the fallbacks. Not really many other options for a starting mix other than maybe leaving out an ace somewhere.
Which ones you make aces is the real question in campaign. Vets will be absolute murder but take a long time to earn advances, while rookie aces aren't so hot but grow fast if they survive. Trained ace is usually good in other crews (whatever you advance will be at 3+ so immediate access to its best skill on your first advance) but it doesn't fit great with vet aces.
Here is my Ronin list, with two aces.
Unless I'm reading something wrong, that's 13 points worth of pilots there. Planning on a veteran ace to make 18 in campaign or something?
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Unless I'm reading something wrong, that's 13 points worth of pilots there.
My bad, the Vet should also be trained.
EDIT: Oh, the Ronin list is 2+ veteran ... the list was illegal anyway. WELL, looks like a rule I will be breaking lol. My background for that list is that the survivors of a Bloschev/North-Star skirmish defected together.
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EDIT: Oh, the Ronin list is 2+ veteran ... the list was illegal anyway. WELL, looks like a rule I will be breaking lol. My background for that list is that the survivors of a Bloschev/North-Star skirmish defected together.
Yeah, it's the 2+ vet requirement that has me struggling with builds. You really can't get more than two aces in a 12 point force, although three or even four in a campaign roster isn't impossible. They're pretty limited by RAW, although that's true of most factions. Better than the Ghosts, who aren't really doing anything in a campaign except choosing their frame weights and fielding four trained pilots every single fight.
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I like how “little” things make a difference in how factions play and force you to make choices.
The way my group understands the campaign rules your base crew must meet faction requirements. For mission requirements must be met while pilot requirements not. So ronin might play campaign games with less than two vets, e.g. due to injuries or casualties.
That said my plan is to go with four medium and two light frames (as long as I don’t have a model for a heavy). For pilots I’ll go into the wastelands with a Veteran Ace, a Veteran, a Trained Ace, a Rookie Ace and a normal Rookie. That gives me three aces and enough pilots with room for improvement.