Tuesday 10 February 2015

Revamping Leviathan?

Hi!

Well I am on a seriously late shift this evening as I have the thrilling job of running a stocktake but before I head out to do battle with books, I thought I would spend a little time expounding my thoughts on my old Leviathan project and were I would like to take it!

Leviathan

Leviathan originally came out in the early 90s and was a post apocalyptic fantasy game which required lots of large resin warbeasts, engines of destruction and hordes of infantry to play. The setting itself is absolutely fantastic and would later go on to influence the likes of Chronopia but I always felt that Leviathan itself was a game that would have better suited smaller scale skirmishes with warbands clashing over resources in the crumbling ruins and blasted and warped landscapes of Aeroth.
Lesser Goblin Wartower

I did spend quite a lot of time (and money!) collecting and painting my way through some of the resin warbeasts and really enjoyed the experience for the most part but felt that the scale didn't really suit the source material. For example, the Lesser Goblin Wartower above is actually one of the smaller beasts from the game and stands a good 100mm tall without the banners.

How much better would it have been in 15mm scale? Well I experimented with that using a selection of figures I sculpted myself for the Somewhere on the Border series of battles between the Boar Company and a series of foes but using it as a skirmish game with small numbers of troops involved and it worked really very well. In fact, I played more games during this period than I ever did with warhammer or 40k!

The Boar Company!

Necrosaur WIP

It was during this period that I really began expanding the setting and found it evolving away from the original source material into something very different and frankly more satisfyingly different. I found myself thinking about radically re-imagining the setting yet further, could more technology be involved? Could I develop it into more of a science fantasy than just a fantasy game?

But the hankering for a good mass battle was still floating around so I moved down scales again and painted up a few test pieces for 6mm scale, a scale that I believe really suits the idea of massive warbeasts and engines of destruction battling it out and would allow for a far more satisfying scale of conflict.

 Horned Folk Warbands

Dwarven Wargolem

Sadly I never seemed to get going with the project but looking at the pictures again, suspect that there will shortly be an update on them as they look rather good, even if I do say so myself!

But as you can see from the assorted pictures, the style and look of the visuals have evolved quite a bit over the last few years from the rather cartoony fatboy resin of the original, to plate armour and eventually a more futuristic, steampunk industrial finish. Now what if I was to continue with the process?

Looking at the assorted notes, doodles and sculpts I have kicking around, I find myself wanting to push the envelope a bit, what if the worlds technology level gets a bit of a kick forward before The Death (the Elves foolishly breaking the great seal and unleashing wild magic upon the world, causing untold death and destruction) What I find myself looking at is something more akin to Nausicaa, which contains a suitably post apocalyptic landscape inhabited by small settlements where feudal values rubs shoulders with quite high tech levels and big, gribbly monsters to boot!

Nausicaa

By combining lots of different ideas and influences, I find myself hankering to dig out my sculpting materials and see if I can't produce some 15mm scale goodies with inspirations from the likes of Warmachine so each of the factions have access to mechs, warengines and warbeasts as well as good old fashioned infantry. With this in mind, I am going to be doing a fair amount of sketching over the coming few days and see if I can't come up with some more suitably interesting concepts than the more usual fantasy tropes of mountain living Dwarves or savage Orcy boyz. Can I develop something a bit different but still playable? I don't know but I do like the idea of a fantasy version of an Orc gargant or stompa or Elves fielding sleek walkers and Dwarves with chunky mechs bristling with guns...

Who knows, the whole project may go nowhere but at the very least, I do want to try and build a couple of warbands and see if I can't get a game or two in. Handily, I think the assorted scenics I have been putting together will not look too out of place in the sort of game I am aiming for so we shall see how I get on. I must admit that its getting a bit interesting as my concept of an alternative Rogue Trader and Leviathan are beginning to mash together and I suspect that I am going to be posting a few articles on each of the races as I attempt to get the overall look right!

All the best!

3 comments:

  1. Your quite the gun at painting up 15mm minis Space Cow!

    Love seeing these tiny little minis brought to life.

    Cheers.

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  2. I have always liked Nausicaa, and have thought it would make a great base for a wargame or RPG

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  3. Ha ha! Alas I tend to be ambitious but rubbish! Still anything that gets me involved and enjoying my hobby cant be a bad thing!

    All the best!

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