Fun Stuff > MAKE
Mini Painting!
GarandMarine:
--- Quote ---New sculpts
Creating our first batch of TGG Troopers as been a very enriching experience. And we are now implementing all the lessons we learned with them for the next batch of 25 Command Group Troopers. At the same time, we've been working on a big batch of Heroines and Special Characters. Today, we are showing you the firsts that are completely done, and more are on the way. In fact, many of them only need some polishing before being ready for their close-ups. That's the case, for example, with the Lulus. We are showing you 3 Lulus today, but the other 3 are very close to getting their final approval. You will also find below images of the sculpts for Vera, Volga, Keela, and Natasha.
Finally, here's an update on the Jailbirds and KST Artillery, showing you all the gun mounts.
Multi-part and posability for the Troops
There have been some questions about the posability of the multi-part troops, and about how the parts are split. The best way to answer this is probably to show you an image.
Each trooper is made of one pair of legs, one torso, one head, a right arm (in most cases holding a rifle), and a left arm with its hand posed to accommodate the other (firing) end of the rifle.
We basically tried all possible options many options on how to split and assemble the two hands and the rifle. What was obvious was that if we wanted to preserve the posing and the dynamic attitude of the character, we should have the rifle attached to the right arm. Then, by keeping the left hand attached to the left arm, it gives you a little bit more latitude in positioning the left hand on the rifle. And so, this creates more mix-and-match options.
Each trooper also has access to 2 “packs” of accessories (such as grenades, knives, binoculars) that you can attach to her belt in most cases.
And as previously mentioned, each box of 5 troopers includes additional heads and weapons.
All this will allow for maximum variety in posing and customising your army. Below are a few examples of TGG troopers made by mixing and matching various parts included in the kits.
Heavy IE design
There was some discussion about a couple of design elements on the Iron Empire Heavy Troopers. Namely, some people would have like to see the shoulder pads decorated, for example with some insignia or some sort of modern heraldry. This was a pertinent comment and proposal, but please remember that what you see now is the very beginning of the TGG. There will be more troop types, and more "special" or "customized" versions of some of the basic troops we are releasing through this kickstarter. We are just at the beginning of the TGG adventure and so, obviously, we are starting with the more "common" versions of these soldiers. So rest assured that we have this in mind for the future.
Another thread of comments was about the fact that these heavy troopers do not have visible abdominal armour plating. Well, there are several reasons for this: we wanted to keep them slimmer at the waist to preserve a somewhat more feminine silhouette. And there are also fluff-related reasons: you could compare the Iron Empire Heavies to American football players who have very heavy protection on the top part of their body, because they use their upper body to ram their adversaries, and light protection on the lower body in order to run fast. Actually, the IE Heavies' shoulder armours generate a force field that is used to ram their adversaries or obstacles when they charge. So these troops are used for close combat strikes where shock factor and manoeuvrability are key.
But the last, most valuable reason for us is that we want the TGG to have a pulp feel. We chose to use super big stereotypes like WWII-German-looking-zombies-brought-back-from-the-dead-by-pseudo-Egyptian-magic, and then to add to this several layers of deeper and more mature meaning. For example, we looked at the human side of this kind of world through the tragic destiny of characters such as Nertha. But let's not forget that we want to keep a somewhat B-movie, Tarantino-esque feel to it and so, yes, there will be some crazy stuff, like a baby hippo carrying beer, or a dog smoking cigars, or heavy troopers with light midriff armour. And rest assured that there will also be bigger and heavier armours too :)
A special treat for KST enthusiasts
As we explained in their background details, the Kurgan culture is somewhat schizophrenic. Having to deal with very profound societal and economical changes in a very short time, they are now trying to reconcile the best aspects of their ancient traditions with the amazing potential of their newfound technological genius. While the government hierarchy and the Kurganova family itself has endeavoured to banish the old ways, they have nevertheless kept in place ancient military protocols and institutions that seem somewhat removed from what the bulk of the Kurgan army have become.
The most obvious example of this is the fact that the Old Guard still acts as the Praetorian Army Corps and is in charge, among other things, of the Kurganova family protection.
The Old Guard is made up of Boyars and Berserkers. The Boyars are all descendants of ancient Kurgan noble blood lines. They are elite forces steeped in traditions and arcane protocols. Since they are seen at all formal events as guardians of the Kurganova family, one might make dismiss them as window dressing. One couldn't be more wrong. Think of them as the lictors of Ancient Rome, or the Vatican Swiss Guard.
Now, if the Boyar are the living embodiment of discipline and order, the Berserkers are their exact opposites and the contempt between the two groups is common knowledge. When the Kurgan Civil Wars erupted, when mafia war bands began using their 'were' powers, when the entire population became enmeshed in battle and blood baths, some of the Kurgans became completely possessed by their werewolf form. As their entire society crumbled, a few of the more bloodthirsty combatants began to sense that their world was heading towards complete obliteration, and they turned towards the last remaining bastions of order, mostly represented at that point by the Kurganova family, to offer their help and support in trying to salvage what could be saved of the Kurgan culture and people. Nobody knows what made these crazy creatures suddenly realise what they had become. A legend whispers that the Wolf Mother herself came in their dreams and brought them back to reason. But no one has ever confirmed or denied this. The Berserkers secrets stay with the Berserkers.
Their exact role in the last hours of the Civil War remains obscure, and it is believed that to end the bloodshed, they has to shed much blood... Once the Civil Wars were over, they felt that the blood lust was too strong in them to return to society and that they would never be able to fully control the primal rage that burned inside of them. They could neither be humans as that would have left them without a vital part of them, nor could they be werewolves as in this form, they would only bring chaos and destruction. So they asked the Kurgan scientists for a way to stay forever in-between these 2 states.
And today, with their cybernetic implants and titanium claws and jaws, they may look human, but they are as deadly as the most feral werewolves. Although they may be the black sheep of the Kurgan forces, they are the most dedicated and loyal forces the Kurganovas can have.
Now, we don't have any specific dates in mind for the release of these miniatures. So, why are we showing you this today?
Well, these characters were some of the things we had in mind if the Kickstarter had done even better than it already did. And while, until now, we had not had the opportunity to show them to you, we though it would bring a new light on the KST forces, and might help you envision whether the KST forces are for you or not, and how assembling/picking different types of troops might help you create an army that really suits your persona and tastes.
As you can imagine, in the same vein, the Iron Empire will get more Aegyptian-themed 'stuff' (characters, troops, background, etc.) and the Jailbirds, more crazy Mad-Max/Tank-Girl 'stuff' in the future as well.
--- End quote ---
LeeC:
vostroyans...death korps...cadians... thats what I see...
GarandMarine:
Catachans too, but they aren't in the photos, the Cadians and Vostroyans are in the same army.
LeeC:
yeah was going to incorporate all of them in the Macharius 1st company (old cadians=merican fusiliers, cadians=cadians/donian, death korps= death korps, vostroyans= Byzant Janizars) and I want to incorporate female models too. would like to see some side by side comparisons to see the dimensions (I know they are both 28mm but the dimensions should be interesting).
also started reading angel of fire yesterday. he intro chapter was intense. Also learning about the inner workings of the baneblade. Should get some good inspiration for the Macharius army from this book, only read the intro and the first chapter but Macharius is suppose to make an appearance in the next chapter I think. :-D
Pilchard123:
--- Quote from: LeeC on 14 Nov 2013, 09:23 ---vostroyans...death korps...canadians... thats what I see...
--- End quote ---
I may have misread this.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version