Tanks Aplenty

 Hi!

I've been rather taken with making tiny tanks over the last few days so I thought I'd share some pics!

Copperhead Class Tanks

The Copperhead class tank was created on Farpoint by Vosk Industries having gained the contract for a cheap and reliable tank suited for frontier duty. Unfortunately, due to Baron Vosk's rampant corruption, the project went massively over budget, late and the final result was less than satisfactory to say the least.

Under armoured, with poor speed and manoeuvrability and lacklustre armaments, the Copperhead is better known as the Coprolite by its unwilling crews as it is, quote ''a fossil and a bit shit''. Prone to brewing up when hit, the Copperhead is a very unwelcome addition to frontier garrisons. 

Word has it that von Dorn has personally sent some of his trusted advisors to Vosk Industries to twist arms and get a MK2 that actually lives up to the standards specified and quietly investigate where all the money went.

Copperhead Detail

I really enjoyed making some tracked vehicles and suspect I'll have a few more done over the coming months and ended up getting carried away and made a massive behemoth as well!

Super Heavy Sighted!

Surveillance footage obtained from a drone overpass of Vosk's estates sighted this monstrosity. Dubbed the Annihilator Vosk used much of the money from the Copperhead contract to sink into creating a massive super heavy tank he called the Annihilator.

The vehicle weighs in at well over 150 tonnes and uses all the most modern technologies including a grav propulsion system, composite Adamantium armour and a Plasma cannon so powerful that it can core even the heaviest Imperial vehicle or walker with ease.

The Annihilator Grav Tank

Thus far Vosk has tried to keep the vehicle under wraps but the suspicion is that he plans to use the monster against the forces of von Dorn if he moves against Vosk's estates.

Quite why Vosk decided to paint the thing in such eyewateringly lurid colours is unknown...

Annihilator detail

As with all my vehicles, the tanks are made from a core of EVA foam with thin cardboard, rhinestones and some other bits and bobs and have been great fun to make!

Annihilator detail

Alongside the massive tank, I made some tiny ones too! I envisioned these tiny tanks much like the British Vickers cavalry tanks from WW2. Hopelessly outgunned by the monster but relying on speed and manoeuvrability to keep their two man crews from being blown to atoms, they're handy for frontier forces needing light, fast armoured forces and more suited to colonial actions than facing any serious opposition...

Little and Large

I'm waiting on some more bases from Warbases (excellent company by the way!) so I can get these painted up and ready for action but I thought I'd share some pictures of what the vehicles look like before painting so folks can see some of the construction process.

Vickers class cavalry tanks

Simple shapes and nothing fancy. Its amazing what a coat of paint and some bold highlighting can do for simple sculpts!

I've also got a backwater infantry force awaiting paint but got carried away with all the vehicle manufacturing which will hopefully give me enough to play a game or two once it's finished but until then, All the best!

Making Sense of Projects - Farpoint

 Hi!

While work has been busy, and at times needlessly and inexplicably stressful of late, I thought I'd spend a bit of time looking at my evolving Farpoint setting and try to make some sense of where its going and what I could do with developing...

The Farpoint Sector is located at the north western rim of Imperial space in my own re-imagined Imperium. Chaos and the Warp isn't a thing and instead of being stuck in a technological dark age and beset by foes on all fronts, there is no GRIMDARK in my setting (not that I don't appreciate it but my painting style and figures just don't lend themselves to it). 

Space travel is much more secure these days with the discovery of the Tannhauser Gate, a gigantic space station that opens wormholes between far flung planets that does away with the warp and all the chaotic madness that can be found within. Ships also have FTL drives which will allow for interplanetary travel too but the Tannhauser network is at the core of the system with the core worlds having one in each system and each frontier sector having one located in the sector capitol world.

The Imperium is in a Renaissance of sorts with lost technology and ideas being rediscovered, new and long forgotten planets, clusters and secrets long lost being explored by a new wave of Imperial might. Brave expeditions are being launched out from the core systems and humanity is going back into the dark wilds beyond the frontier!

Similarly, the obsession with the Emperor isn't there, the Golden Throne doesn't have a corpse sat on it on ancient Terra. There is currently an Empress, Lionstone who is a force to be reckoned with and decidedly mercurial and Machiavellian but a generally just ruler.

Instead of the cult of the Emperor (or in this case Empress), the Greek Gods are still worshipped. These iconic manifestations of some of humanity's oldest creeds are very real and as with the gods of old, love to meddle in human affairs. They have their heroes and demi-gods, avatars of faith and all manner of other interesting manifestations can be found in the galaxy at large. It will also give me the excuse to integrate some of the mythological characters, locations and monsters into things.

Imagine Ulysses 31 meets 40k with a bit of British Empire thrown into the mix...

Farpoint itself is a frontier sector and as such, there is lawlessness and opportunity to be found in equal parts. The sectors previous Governor was Baron Alexandr Vosk, a venal and corrupt individual who made himself immensely wealthy by shamelessly taking bribes, theft and essentially running the place like a personal fiefdom. 

Unfortunately for Vosk but fortunately for the rest of the sector, the Empress has got word of his injustices, and the reduced revenues from Imperial tithes has seen her unseat Vosk and replace him with Laars von Dorn, a loyalist and rather incorruptible sort who she's tasked with bringing the sector to heel and profitability.

While Vosk has lost his position, he has enough clout and blackmail amongst the levers of power within the Imperium that by greasing quite a few palms with bribes, he's avoided official sanction and has retreated to his expansive estates to plot and intrigue to dispose of von Dorn and reclaim his lucrative position.

As such there is a secret war taking place across the sector as von Dorn and loyal Imperial units fight shadowy skirmishes with Vosk operatives, criminal organisations and various alien warlords who want to use the upheaval to settle scores or reclaim lost territories.

There's a patchwork of alliances, rivalries and vendettas forming between the assorted lesser houses of the sector with sides being chosen and old grudges being settled. Be it the Longmyres siding with von Dorn or the crimelord Lucius Goldberg supporting Vosk from the shadows.

It's proving to be an interesting mash up of a setting and slightly a somewhat bewildering prospect to try and shape and navigate!

A few years ago I put together some articles on different elements of the reimagined Imperium and I think I need to re-investigate it as well as making some dossiers on my assorted characters and their backgrounds and exploits as it gets a bit confusing (I've at various times called Laars von Dorn and van Dorn for example!).

As such, I think that I'm going to begin by trying to dig into the background and setting to give my characters and factions something to stick to and take a bit of a look at the systems within the sector and begin trying to stitch it all together into a more unified whole.

I've been influenced by all sorts over the years so do expect to see some elements pulled from all over as its my setting and I want to make it a fun experience!

Expect to see all sorts of random posts over the coming months as I try to integrate and flesh out all the elements I've got in my head ranging from the Space Marines being normal humans for the most part, not superhuman psychos, droids and AI being a thing in the Imperium, slightly civilised Orks, resurgent Eldar, sinister cults of the Titans and so much more!

Hopefully I'll have some more stuff to post over the next few days and will keep you updated but in the meantime, All the best!

Imperial Reinforcements and Orkish Scum!

 Hi!

I'd actually finished these guys before I went off on holiday a couple of weeks back but hadn't managed to get any photos of them yet so here we are!

First up, there's a squad of power armoured troopers from a currently unknown unit:

Imperial Power Armour

As per usual with my tiny troops, they're made from a mixture of wooden beads, EVA foam and some plastic rhinestones for detailing. I've also made them a bit bigger than usual with an extra layer of EVA foam to their legs as well as adding little feet to give them some real bulk and heft.

Trooper Squad

I've really enjoyed making the little guys and while they're maybe not Space Marine armour classes, they will be making an appearance in my Imperial Guard force to give me some heavy hitters for an otherwise rather light platoon.

Power Armour Detail

I'll need to add another five to give me a full squad but they'll do for the moment!

Next up, here's the first ten Badmoon Boyz for my Orky army:

Badmoon Orks

I went for very bright colours inkeeping with classic Orkish style and while they're pretty cartoony, I quite like how they turned out too. I need to make a ton more of the little fellows as they're going to be the first opponents for my Imperial forces to clash with while trying to bring some order to the wild frontier of the Farpoint sector!

Orks and Imperials Clash somewhere on the frontier

I've been having a blast with making stuff this year and while I've not had any chance to play games, I've been building towards it with my assorted shenanigans. 

The next stage will be to try and start pulling the disparate elements together into something that will allow me to play skirmish games in tiny troop SD scale and platoon to company level actions using my SD Epic scale stuff. This is going to require some work but I'm finding it a really rewarding ongoing project that seems to be taking on a bit of a life of its own...

Hopefully I'll have more stuff to showcase soon but in the meantime, All the best!

Von Dorn Rapid Reaction Force

 Hi!

It's been a while since I've posted here but I've been pretty constructive but just not getting chance to post progress here.

To remedy this, here's what I've been working on:

von Dorn Rapid Reaction Force

While Inquisitor Fisher is off in pursuit of the Armour of Hathor and Murdoch Foyle, things are hotting up on Farpoint as the new Governor General, Laars von Dorn struggles to bring law and order to the frontier sector, exacerbated by the machinations of his predecessor, Baron Alexandr Vosk.

von Dorn has responded with a show of force and has begun despatching rapid reaction forces made of house troops transported in light armoured vehicles to outlying settlements to try and crush the rapidly spiralling disorder that Vosk has been fermenting.

Stinger class Armoured Car

I've been having so much fun making stuff recently that I decided to have a bash at making some 6mm scale sci-fi and ended up with a slightly understrength Imperial Guard platoon backed up with transports and some light armour.

Bumblebee class APC

The vehicles are made from EVA foam and strips of thin cardboard while the wheels are made from beads. Turrets are made from plastic rhinestones and I'm really pleased with how they've turned out. Yes they're a bit blocky and stylised but on the table, they look absolutely ace, especially emblazoned with the bold yellow and black livery of House von Dorn!

Infantry squad

The Infantry are literally small pieces of EVA foam, glued to some small popsicle sticks with a little piece of EVA foam for guns and a backpack then painted. Again close up, they're pretty simplistic but on the tabletop, they're pretty indistinguishable from other epic scale figures and cost me nothing which is even better!

The Force thus far

I've got a command squad made and will need to add another few APC's and heavy weapons to the mix and have plans for some Sentinels and even a tank squadron to back them up and then I'll be starting on their opposition!

Hopefully I'll be able to get started on some villains for the von Dorns to mix it up with over the coming weeks and I have a similar force in 6mm for black powder nearly finished which I'll be showing soon too but until then, All the best!