Spleen's Adventures in the New Leyland Colony

[spleenrippa]

Tired of the corporate yoke, and knowing that Morris-Ingram's lawyers would keep their petition for independence with the Interstellar Colonial Authority mired in legal proceedings for decades to come, the residents of the colony of New Leyland issued a declaration of independence. The provisional council wasted little time in making arrests, seizing key infrastructure, and establishing the New Leyland Security Forces. Mercenary advisors had secretly been hired by the wealthiest of New Leyland's residents during the preceding months, and under their guidance the NLSF soon drove the corporate loyalists to holdouts in the outer provinces.

This is a bit of background for a setting I've had brewing for a while. Really, it's a mashup of the Congo crisis and Rhodesia's bush war... But in Space! I'm testing the waters here, but if people are actually interested I'll run a "real time" Bongolesia-style series of reports on my website to cover events as they unfold.

For NLSF troopers, I'm mostly using Dark Fire Design and Skullforge Imperial Army figures, scaled to proper 28mm size and printed on my Saturn 2.

A squad leader points to their objective

A weapon team takes aim with an IAVR

Some of the off-world hires care little for what the NLSF says they have to wear

Repurposed "rapid manufacturers" (3d printers) mean that even small forces can field units such as the Dog Hunter mecha



Several dozen corporate VTOL transports were seized during the takeover. They were quickly painted and put to military use

More to follow!

[darthfozzywig]

Great photos!

[mikedemana]

This sounds like a great idea! I'm a big fan of Africa's wars of insurgency (having written a rules set with essentially that name... ). So, I'm really interested to hear about it.

The minis look great! Great start on this project... 

Mike Demana

[KGatch113]

Absolutely incredible. Love it all. The Lightyear shuttle is fantastic. I have 3 or 4 due to be painted up. Where is the mech from?

Looking forward to more pics and info on your project!

[Elk101]

Those Imperial Army troopers look great, they're perfect. The repainted shuttle looks really good too.

[spleenrippa]

Absolutely incredible. Love it all. The Lightyear shuttle is fantastic. I have 3 or 4 due to be painted up. Where is the mech from?

Looking forward to more pics and info on your project!

Thanks for the kind comments, everyone 

I have no interest in the millions of 40k proxies that are out there, which leaves me spending a lot of time in Blender making my own vehicles. For this mech, I took inspiration from VOTOM's Scopedog and Heavy Gear's Hunter. I rigged the model so I can fit weapons and pose it before exporting the STLs for printing. The torso holds a pilot, and his head is even inside the mech's- just like a Hunter or Scopedog

Here are a few more shots, this time in the lightbox:








 

[OSHIROmodels]

Very cool 

[spleenrippa]

Tossed a dropship in the lightbox while I had it out. I have three of these painted up, Miss Behavin', Bug Stomper, and Natural 20. I cobbled the decals together from various SVGs and printed them.
Mercenary hire Major Scarlett Hawkins runs the 575th Combined Arms Tactical Group, affectionately known as The Lovers, hence the hearts 

[Kourtchatovium104]

Great set of minis and their transport 

[Sgt_T]

Excellent! Really like the dropship.

T

[zemjw]

Yeah, my dropship is still in its box in the loft.

Inspiring paintjob, but way beyond my airbrush skills (I'm hoping that's airbrushed, because if it's hand painted, there's no hope for me )

[spleenrippa]

This sounds like a great idea! I'm a big fan of Africa's wars of insurgency (having written a rules set with essentially that name... ). So, I'm really interested to hear about it.

The minis look great! Great start on this project... 

Mike Demana

I bought your rules a year or two ago. They're great!

[spleenrippa]

The Vesta Pact was signed to counteract the growing power and influence of the Commonwealth. Despite the protests of their mercenary advisors against it, the provisional council of the Republic of New Leyland requested- and received- substantial materiel support from the VP, including an entire Spaceborne Assault Team.
Ostensibly, VP forces landed to provide training and security, but I'm sure some nefarious ulterior motive will reveal itself... 

Like the NLSF, VP troops will be made up of Dark Fire Designs and Skullforge figures. Since the NLSF is getting support from the VP, the Stormtrooper models and other equipment make sense alongside (or against) the Imperial Army figs I'm using for the security forces. I've got a squad painted up so far... Only two dozen to go to make up a platoon. Ugh.
Since they're a thinly veiled not-VDV, I modelled a couple not-BMD variants for them to ride in. I've printed the first vehicle, but haven't started painting. For now, here's a sample from the first squad. My painting isn't fancy by any means, but it's enough that no one should be overly offended to see them on the tabletop. All my friends are 40kids so I have to provide/paint everything non-GW myself and time is valuable, .

[has.been]

All lovely stuff!  Please keep it coming.

[hubbabubba]

All lovely stuff!  Please keep it coming.

What he said.

Really nice camo on those not stormtroopers. The Imperial army figs look great and I love the drop ship scheme.

Very much looking forward to what comes next.