A Rough Future Skirmish Project - Another space gnoll 2/8/18

[Commander Vyper]

Dragonforge is a good guy to buy from so you should have no issues with ordering from the US.

Lovely characterful zeds there, very nice.

The Commander

[Scarper]

Thanks for the kind words, Commander!

Here's a little backstory to give a little more flavour on the world of Caitiff. It's the story of a different Jackal cell to my gang, and has probably one more episode to go before it's concluded. Hope you enjoy it, and I'd love any feedback!

Day 27
So we met some others out in East Crockfall today – traders out carting goods from Lakeside to Roth. Not the route I’d have taken. It all got a wee bit tense at first, warning shots fired, itchy trigger fingers. My boys are all fresh, no idea how to keep their calm yet. Had to pull Corin down, knock him behind some ruins, and Kaylan got to test whether that flak armour he’s so proud of still works. Could have gone bad, but no one dead on either side – don’t think things would have worked out so cleanly if their shots hadn’t swung so wide. Once things got calmed down, once we’d established that we weren’t trying to rob them, and they weren’t setting up an ambush themselves, things got a little friendlier. Kaylan held a grudge, went off and sat by himself, but that’s just his way. I got chatting to their train leader, this enormous Trypto bloke, called himself Boln. Turned out they were with the Kinsmouth Company, taking sea salvaged gear by road – Pretty seasoned, by the sounds of it. We shared some food, traded information, went on our way. Nice to see some friendly faces occasionally. Or, sort of friendly, anyway.
Nothing much else going on. Had to duck underground for a while when the wind picked up, found some pistons in an old growler wreck someone must have been putting back together. Serious contraband, back in the day – can see why they worked in the basement. Tubes are pretty corroded, but no cracks, seal’s still pretty good. Might be worth a few credits once we’re out of the wilds. Found an old waster nest with an ex-family in it, too. They’d been picked pretty clean, but Jorn found an autoclip in the jacket of one of the little ones, a couple of mask filters that looked pretty solid, as well as a few baccsticks. I let her keep them - she’s a good kid, and I’ve got no doubt at all that Mule or Kaylan would have pocketed that gear without a word.

Day 28
Corin bust his mask. Kicked in a barred door and the hinge caught him in the face. It’s just a crack in the visor, might not even have broken the seal, but he’s hive-born, not used to the surface. He’s convinced he’s going to die. Apparently some asshole back in Goreth sold him extra filters by warning him of the ‘airborne runoff’ round here – if it’s who I think it is, we’ll be having a few words next time I’m back that way.
Got everyone on the lookout for a replacement, but I’m almost tempted to give him my own, just to calm him down. Air seems pretty clean today. Tempted, but I won’t. Bloody room was useless anyway – mouldy fashion clothes. Too fragile to wear before they rotted.
We’re in riot country now, near where the Crockfall evac left. One ship. The area immediately around the shuttleport housed six munitorums, four hundred thousand workers. The area of the city they were supposed to be evacuating held nearly fifteen million people. One ship. There are bones lining the roads here – the loyalist grunts didn’t discriminate. Can’t stand these places.
Still, the surface layers of Crockfall caught the rusinate rain when no one was prepared for it. Whatever people owned, it’s still here. And it might be worth finding. We’ll try munitorum B59-C tomorrow – I can’t imagine there’s anything left, but it’s never been picked over by the Jackal cells, so you never know, might be a ticket home for this lot.
Can hear shots tonight. A way off, to the West, but something to bear in mind. Never been out that way myself.

Day 34
Leaving the munitorum tomorrow. I made it clear before we headed in that we were not there to fight, and if anyone else had a claim to it, we stayed quiet and backed the hell out. Lot of these places are pretty sheltered, out of the rain and out of sight. Nice bases for some of the bandit gangs that prey on the caravans out here. This lot are green as hell – we wouldn’t stand a chance against the cutthroats.
Place was open – couple of warning signs around, some of them pretty recent, bit of gang-style graffiti, but nothing too threatening. It was dark inside, not too dark to see, but dark enough that Jorn thought it was a good idea to put her headlamp on. A quick tap, and she had it off again pretty quickly. Good kid, but not the smartest. We stuck close together, weapons drawn. Had to show Mule how to unjam his pistol this morning – apparently he hasn’t cleaned it since we set out. Could have taken his hand off if he’d tried to fire it, especially with his homemade shells. Says he’s used to bigger weapons, but for an ex-enforcer, he sure as hell doesn’t seem to know a whole lot about weapon maintenance. Worth remembering.
Couple of hours sweeping, and we knew that the place was ours.
According to the map, B59-C was ‘a production facility for promethium tanks for use in larger cargo trucks’. No actual promethium, no actual trucks, just the tanks. And there were a lot of them. Lorek said he was hoping some of the production equipment might still have the ‘spirit units’ or some such intact – never really understood all the technobabble, here or with the mech units back in the day. Either way, they’re supposed to be good for driving other gear too, so would have been perfect for fixing some of the purifiers back home. ‘Technoheresy’, he called it. I kind of like the term. Nothing there that hadn’t already been picked over anyway. A few saleable things, though mostly scrap now.
Someone had been here recently – couple of scorched firemarks and a few discarded food cans. We heard the gunfire again today too, still to the West. A little closer now though, seems like. Might be worth making tracks while we can. Mule and Kaylan are on watch tonight, and the rest of us are getting some sleep. We’ll head South in the morning.

Day 38
We found the shaft this evening, looks like an old elevator. It was in the basement of a wrecked hab block on 296th street, covered over by rubble and a large metal grille. Pretty well hidden, really, nothing you would have seen from the surface before the bombs hit. We were only down here because of an acid shower, and even in the same room, we only found it because Jorn almost collapsed the cover. The grille’s got a cog and a skull on it – only other place I’ve seen that is the hydroponics facility I used to guard with the Captain.
I’m pretty excited, to be honest. I’m trying to hide it so as not to get the boys too worked up, but – it goes deep, really deep, and it looks like it hasn’t been disturbed in decades. We’re too far out from the hive for it to be an older dome, and there are no research facilities documented in this area - if we’ve found one, it’s new. Vox contact with home is pretty sketchy from where we are, and it’ll only get worse as we go down. We’ve let Crail know where we are and asked for an extraction if there’s no further contact in a week’s time. No knowing how big this place is, and I’m sure as hell not leaving it til we’ve found whatever’s down there. If it is more of that greenhouse gear, it’ll be the most important find any Jackal cell’s ever made. Might be nothing though. Got to keep myself grounded. I’ve set up a relay here for my logs too. That way, if we’re not back up by the time extraction comes, they’ll know where to find us.
If anyone’s listening to this, personnel include myself; Lorek, our engineer; Mule and Kaylan, ex-enforcers; and Jorn and Corin, seeking citizenship in Pinepoint. We’ve been scavenging Crockfall and the craterside area for a few months now, so we’re all looking forward to you dragging out whatever the hell we’ve found down here and getting our asses home. Get some beers on ice for us!
It’s already dark and it seems like the power’s down, so we’re camping here tonight. I’ve sorted all the ropes, and we’re looking to move out in the morning. 

Day 39
Four stories down, and I don’t like it here. This place is vast – biggest facility I’ve ever seen out in the wastes. I don’t see how it hasn’t been mapped out and picked clean by now. Each floor is at least three times the size of the manufactorum, and around the same height too – Corin dropped a mag a couple hours back, and other than almost getting him shot, the noise it made rang back and forth for a full quarter of an hour. And that’s one storey. 
I’m excited, sure, but there’s no way this place can have gone unnoticed. All we’ve come across so far is storage units, five floors of them. Huge, unmarked containers sealed shut, can’t even find a hinge. Lor tried to pop one with some of that putty he carries around, but it barely dented it, and nearly deafened the rest of us. Shipping labels on some of them are for some site in Trypsane – Kaylan’s convinced it’s in the Burned City. Whatever’s in here, it’s either valuable or dangerous. Either one could get us home. If we can get in, that is.

It’s cold, too. I knew it would be, this far underground, but Throne, is it cold. Three layers of vest, Koan-fleece pullover and my jacket and I’m still shivering like a child. Dark too. With the mist that builds up in the mask, everything’s got kind of a haze to it. Keep seeing shapes in the torchlight. Kaylan’s been griping about it, wants to take his mask off. Says he can’t see properly and it’s fogging up his bionic. I gave him some gentle encouragement to keep it on – we’ve got no idea what the air’s like down here. No sense in risking it over a little discomfort. Corin and Jorn are terrified – Jorn’s hiding it well, but Corin’s the jumpiest I’ve seen him. I took his rifle from him. Didn’t even complain. He knows why. I’m keeping an eye on Jorn – she hates tight spaces, not sure if she’s been underground before. Have to see how she handles.
Lor, on the other hand, is like a little kid for a different reason – convinced himself he’ll be finding old world tech down here, can’t even keep himself from grinning. Crazy bastard’s served 3 jackal terms now. Lived in Pinepoint for years, didn’t even need the assignments. He’s brought home sealed ration crates from submerged PDF convoys, forged trade deals with Hope and Karlath and scavenged parts for the auto-doc from some terrifying gear out in the old penal colony, but he’s still not happy. This shit is what he’s here for. This is why he left the nest. Old man with a tech-bug, ever since he worked on the shuttleport tramways. I’m glad he’s with us, anyway.
The vox-caster’s just picking up static, and I can’t get a message out either. Not a problem, of course, thought we might lose contact for a few days. I think it’s the thickness of the walls – this place is built like a bunker. I hope this log’s still working, anyway, or I’m talking to a box down here. The power’s out too, of course, but this floor’s different from the others. We found what looks like a generator, hooked up to these massive turbines. Lor’s trying to get it running now. We’re staying put for tonight – no sense going further down if you can’t see your hand in front of your face.

Day 40
Couldn’t sleep. This place creaks. Not a gentle one, like the hive, but sudden, sharp. Like shearing metal. Every time it happened, I woke up convinced the place was collapsing on us. The others slept through it. Bastards.
The generator did nothing either. Lor got it going, eventually, once the rest of us had fallen asleep. This screech of grinding metal shocked the life out of me, got all of us up and weapons drawn. He was laughing his ass off, until he noticed I was having trouble controlling my temper. The lights didn’t come on, the turbines didn’t turn, no power to anything. Just this low background hum that lasted maybe thirty seconds, then more silence. No surprises this stuff’s not working like it’s supposed to anymore – looks ancient, might even have been abandoned before the evac.
We moved on this morning. Down around 10 stories now, and there’s nothing bloody here. There’s no light at all apart from the head lamps, just a single line of light from each of us, projecting all the way down to the far wall. A single, unbroken line. Huge, empty warehouses, not even dust and dirt. Not a sound either. Every footstep bounces off the walls and back. I caught Jorn and Lorek whispering, like they don’t want to break the silence – stupid bloody thinking, and I told them so. Caught myself doing it too though.

Kaylan’s worrying me. I don’t like the way he’s talking. Cowardly bastard wants to leave – he acts like he’s just being lazy, “leave it for the footsloggers”, but I can see that he’s bricking it. I know his type; dangerous. Shred morale without a hair on their own head out of place. Worked with a few of them before. I’ve heard rumours too, about why the two of them left the Skew. Mule was an Arbite’s kid. Incompetent, sure, but no Arbite’s little boy gets kicked out for that. Story is that Kaylan was a racketeer – ran chem trades with some buddies of his, arrested his competition, sent them up Quadring way, or on a short walk to the gallows. Can’t work that way for long, not with the Guild interest in chems that they pretend doesn’t exist. Word is, the two of them left in a hail of shrapnel. Feel almost bad for Mule – can’t imagine he even understands what happened to them.

Some more of the sealed crates on the 8th Floor down, but they set Lorek’s counter ticking, so we left it. Leave the radioactive nonsense for the boys with the gear. Starting to wonder if this place is worth the trouble, to be honest. Got a little excited this evening when the vox kicked in with something other than crackle – thought maybe the cavalry had turned up. Sounds like old recordings though, all monotonous voices and heavy static. Turned the damn thing off.


Day 41
The lights are on, which is a nice surprise. No idea what tripped it, but the lamps kicked in without a sound in the whole facility this morning. I was awake when it happened – was pacing around our camp, could have sworn movement had woke me up, near where Kaylan was sleeping. Place is making me jumpy. Even more surreal in the light down here – clean, clinical white, like a med centre. No sand, no damage. Whoever lived here could have moved out yesterday.
Took all day searching, but we’re five floors deeper. Til this floor, we could have been where we fucking started though – more of these thone-damned untouchable containers. These ones are different though – All scorched, peeling paintwork and burnt shipping labels. I’m having a job working out what can possibly have caught fire, but there’s water marks everywhere too – they must have had one hell of a fire response system.
We can see the ground floor through the shaft now, far below, with what looks like it might once have been an elevator. Damn good to have a goal in sight: The boys are getting antsy, and even I was starting to wonder if this bloody place ever ended. I’m considering whether we should be heading up to the surface again – the cavalry should be in tomorrow or the next day, and this place doesn’t feel right. Whatever’s in these crates better be worth dragging them out of here.

Couldn’t sleep again last night – I can’t relax. I think I know what it is now, same sensation I used to get in the field, back in the day. Just as I’m falling asleep, I’ll wake at a noise, but there’s nothing there. It’s nerves, I know, but there’s no way in hell I’m going back to sleep until I’ve checked it out – it only ever happened when the loyalists were posted nearby.
Corin was awake too – I heard the kid mumbling a prayer. He’s terrified, never really been in any situation outside of the safety of a settlement. Cruel to send them out in this state, really, but it’s a choice he made - followed Jorn into it, as far as I understand. We got to talking, as much for my own entertainment as to calm him down. I need something to kill the nightime hours in here. He’s a musical kid, not used to the real world – sang with some others in a bar in Jento; a guitar, some homemade drums, used to sing harmonies. Made good credit, apparently – not good credit, of course, but enough to keep them fed and watered, at least. Not bad for a job that keeps you indoors.
He fell out with one of the others – over a girl? Money? Sounds like he barely knows himself. Left town in a rage, burnt all his bridges, figuring he’d do fine solo. Drinking holes round Lent taught him the hard way that he was just a part of a whole. Must have been even harder to find out that he had no other skills. He bounced place to place for a few months, finally ended up meeting Jorn in Hawthorn’s place in Roth – she let him tag along with her to Pinepoint. Good girl. They’d have eaten him alive out there.

[Scarper]

Sorry for the mini absence - finished my finals a few days ago, and got my results on Friday, so lots of sitting in corners rocking slowly back and forward, first out of fear, and then due to hangover I passed though, and graduate a week today! Still no time to do proper projects as I'm also moving this week, so sorry if I'm dipping in and out. That being said, here's another quick zombie! Pretty simple stuff, but I was trying to get across the idea of a military policeman or something similar. He's got an unnatural arc to his spine, and he's just noticed that juve you were trying to sneak round the back


Luckily he's a leftie.

I also picked up this set of modular plaster terrain from markiemark here on Lead Adventure:

It's a great set, came quickly and was incredibly well packed, so I've got nothing but the highest praise for him, if anyone else is considering a trade There are a fair few more tiles out of shot. It's obviously medieval rather than futuristic, but should still be a lot of fun for skirmish games until I've got a bit more space to make my own proper terrain! Got a chance to try it out today - played a zombie / objective collection game with my friend Mark over a few beers. 100 points each - a scavenger guard squad for me and 6 tooled up marines for him. There were 6 or 7 zombies on the table to start, and 4 objectives, with the zombies cycling back on by one of three randomly allocated entrances when they got put down. We gave them a 3+ invuln to represent their toughness, and a 2D6" move for a bit of a zombie shuffle. Anyone they took down also stood up and attacked the next round, so they were a scary force!

In typical zombie movie style, everything was going great until it all went to hell incredibly quickly. The shamblers didn't seem too much of a threat at first, and both sides swiped 2 of the objectives and put them down with ease. Just as we were discussing maybe upping their difficulty a bit, 4 zombies burst out of a side room and sprinted down one half of my guard team (we decided that it must have been a Red Bull storage compartment), they nommed away while the 2 survivors limped off with their objectives. The sarge was the first to go down - his 'lead from the front' plan didn't go so well. The space marines promptly shot most of the remainder dead as they fled around a corner corridor, stealing the tokens that they were carrying (bastards). A lucky bite then resulted in a couple of zombie marines (seriously tough guys!), and in the end, of the 16 who ventured into the catacombs, it was only the SM sergeant who emerged with all 4 tokens!

It was a lot of fun to play, and the homebrew rules were exciting, even if it did result in a messy end for my side. Was really great to get a game in - it's been so long since I had the time!

[Scarper]

*tumbleweed*   

 Mini update again today - just put together some existing bits for some more junkyard terrain. Hope you like it!



Would love to know what you think! I'll hopefully have an update with more painted figures soon.

[Pil]

They look great! How did you do the garbage bags? Looks like real garbage bag plastic tied into shapes.

[verd]

They look great! How did you do the garbage bags? Looks like real garbage bag plastic tied into shapes.

I'm also interested in how you did that. They look great.

Cheers.

[Scarper]

Thanks a lot, guys! Pil pretty much nailed it - they start out as 2 or 3" squares cut from a regular plastic bin bag. I then make a (very) small pile in the centre of offcuts of plastic sprue, shavings from mouldlines or left over GS, junk I've saved in a little tray while making other things. I then put a little dollop of PVA glue on top of it all - just a small amount, or it'll squeeze out of the bag when you try to close it.  Final step is to tie it shut with twine, and hit that with Devlan mud. With the glue in there, you can squish it into the flattened shapes binbags actually take, and it'll eventually set that way. I saw someone else do something similar online quite a while ago (really wish I could remember who, they deserve the credit!), so it's not the most original idea Hope it's useful to you though - it's a great little technique, and I use it a lot:

[thenickeninja]

I think we're in the same buisness I really love the expressions of those zombies. Very inspirational!

[zizi666]

Cool pieces.
How'd you make the coke bottle on the matress. clear sprue or acrylic rod ?

[Scarper]

@thenickeninja - I was literally just admiring your thread! Thank you so much, that means loads coming from yourself - I'd kill for a board like yours. Maybe some day...

@zizi - Thanks for the kind words! The bottle is actually from a friend of mine on another forum - he casts them in different coloured resin depending on what you're after. You can usually find a few on his ebay store, here.

[zizi666]

The bottle is actually from a friend of mine on another forum - he casts them in different coloured resin depending on what you're after. You can usually find a few on his ebay store, here.

Now that's interesting. Will have to order some. thanks for the link 

[Commander Vyper]

Lovely work

[verd]

Thanks a lot, guys! Pil pretty much nailed it - they start out as 2 or 3" squares cut from a regular plastic bin bag. I then make a (very) small pile in the centre of offcuts of plastic sprue, shavings from mouldlines or left over GS, junk I've saved in a little tray while making other things. I then put a little dollop of PVA glue on top of it all - just a small amount, or it'll squeeze out of the bag when you try to close it.  Final step is to tie it shut with twine, and hit that with Devlan mud. With the glue in there, you can squish it into the flattened shapes binbags actually take, and it'll eventually set that way. I saw someone else do something similar online quite a while ago (really wish I could remember who, they deserve the credit!), so it's not the most original idea Hope it's useful to you though - it's a great little technique, and I use it a lot:

 This is a very useful tip. Thank you.

[Scarper]

@Commander Vyper - Thank you!

@Verd - Glad it's helpful - I've used it a lot 

Been absent for a little while - moving flats and sorting out a change in job. Managed to get a new workstation set up though, and today's update is a finished Sidekick. couldn't get a decent shot of his face for some reason, but I'm pleased with the woodgrain and the neckerchief. Hope you like him, and I'd love any input - it's been a while since I got anything painted...

[Diakon]

Looks great man. Where's the gun from? Love it.