Does a Weird WWII ruleset need walkers?

[pixelgeek]

You can't access it without joining the group. Is the photo available somewhere else?

[Neldoreth]

I am all for walkers. Weird War II wouldn't be Weird War II without superscience vehicles! In my rules (a plug-in for the NUTS! rules system) I included walkers and they are a lot of fun playing with. At one point, three squads of Soviet soldiers had to take out a German light walker thanks to the random generation rules in NUTS! Although almost half of the Soviets were gunned down, the heroic Red Army finally blew it up with a grenade and gunned down the crew! It was awesome!

Here is a link to my rules if you need some inspiration:

http://www.blackbirdmedia.org/miniatures/content/articles/WeirdWorldWarII.pdf

Here are some pics of my 28mm walkers (which were inspired by DP9 and Agis' 28mm walker):









I look forward to see what you come up with!

n.

[Agis]

I am all for walkers. Weird War II wouldn't be Weird War II without superscience vehicles! In my rules (a plug-in for the NUTS! rules system) I included walkers and they are a lot of fun playing with. At one point, three squads of Soviet soldiers had to take out a German light walker thanks to the random generation rules in NUTS! Although almost half of the Soviets were gunned down, the heroic Red Army finally blew it up with a grenade and gunned down the crew! It was awesome!

Here is a link to my rules if you need some inspiration:

http://www.blackbirdmedia.org/miniatures/content/articles/WeirdWorldWarII.pdf

Here are some pics of my 28mm walkers (which were inspired by DP9 and Agis' 28mm walker):
snip

I look forward to see what you come up with!
n.

Whoahh, both walkers look very nice :love: , I have to do anther one for my late war Germans...

[KeyanSark]

The cover in your ruleset is really inspiring!! Well done!

I'll have a read this weekend

[pixelgeek]

Very fun cover! If you still have the original scan email it to me and I'll see if I can correct the colour and perhaps remove the UPC code for you.

BTW what mini is that on page 17?

[Neldoreth]

Hey,

Those weird war rules were fun to put together Hey KeyanSark, if oyu would like the NUTS! rules so that those weird war rules make sense, PM me your email and I will email them to you. I have a PDF copy of those rules.

Page 17 has an old Warzone Bahaus Hussar (or something like that) on it. That is what you are talking about right? They make great German Power Armour Troops, especially when you take the time to sculpt helmets:



As for the cover, I don't have the original image, but thanks for the offer!

n.

[fastolfrus]

Not entirely sure about some of the designs.
They look great, but somehow don't seem 1940s. I'm not sure what they should look like though.

[Plynkes]

Nah, they don't do it for me. Games Workshop Space Marines with Jerry helmets on is what I see. Far-future Sci-fi, ham-fistedly dove-tailed with WWII soldiers seems to sum up this genre in my eyes so far.

Nothing I have seen yet seems of the period.


Maybe this whole "Weird War Two" thing just ain't for me.

[KeyanSark]

Nah, they don't do it for me. Games Workshop Space Marines with Jerry helmets on is what I see. Far-future Sci-fi, ham-fistedly dove-tailed with WWII soldiers seems to sum up this genre in my eyes so far.
Nothing I have seen yet seems of the period.

Then you won't like my little invention either... :wink:

[Plynkes]

Actually, I like it quite a lot. It's a great design. It's just I wouldn't use it myself in a game set in the 40s.

I think I would want it to be a far-future setting where the imagery mirrors that of the time of the Nazis, rather than actually set in that time. Maybe the distinction is slight, but that's how I feel.

[fastolfrus]

The only old robot design I'm familiar with is the female one from Metropolis, but that looks more like C3P0 than a military design.
After that it's Robbie the Robot from Forbidden Planet, but again it's not exactly a military design.

Has anyone got a decent bit of sourcework ?

[Neldoreth]

This is getting a bit off topic, but I found these pics from the 1920s story R.U.R. where robots take over the world:



And here is a link to some androids from the past:

http://thenonist.com/index.php/weblog/permalink/more_historical_automata/


n.

[TadPortly]

Just a few thoughts purely representing my own views:

How about a different take on walkers? Even with today's technology we can't produce them, so why not look at what could be done in the 1940s, plus the style of Pulp SF at that time.

Firstly how about making all small and medium scale vehicles remote control? The Germans pioneered cable and radio control and were even researching the use of cameras to help guided missiles. This would give you control ranges and the risk of losing the control vehicle/station/aircraft.

For the biggest walkers make them manned and deal with the crew like either an aircraft or ships crew - control room/bridge, weapons operators, radar operator, comms room etc.

As for styles, it seems transformers/Battle Tech do have an undue influence on the figures available.  Looking back to the 30s and 40s most robot arms and legs looked like flexible metal hose (see Crash Corrigan etc) with pincers for hands.  For a more "modern" feel, you could go for lots of hydralic pistons, gears etc. I would also steer away from veloceraptor stylee legs.

For larger walkers why not have aircraft style glazed turrets for weapons stations, or panzer like ball mounts with a vision slot. Also think big, brutal and industrial rather than delicate.  New technologies tend to be large and functional.