Necromunda "Not-Delaque" Slicks from East Riding Miniatures

As readers know, Conscript Dave has organized a Necromunda campaign that's now in full swing. While I already had a ton of painted Cawdor/Redemptionist gangers, a campaign always provides a nice impetus for a new painting project.

As far as Necromunda factions, I always thought that the Delaques were super cool, what with their trenchcoats, shaved heads and John Lennon glasses. However, when I looked into getting the GW models, I got a bit of a shock... prices have increased quite a bit on that OOP stuff. So I looked around for some alternative models, and found these: the "Slicks" from East Riding Miniatures in the UK. 

ERM actually sell a pack of all 7 variants of Slick for the low price of 7 English pounds. A veritable bargain compared to Delaques from GW that might exceed that amount for a single figure!

The Slicks are cool, but I did do a bit of conversion work to make them my own. For the gangers above, I added extended barrels and flash suppressors to their autoguns.

The juves in the gang are equipped with pistols, of course. The ones provided by ERM are rather weedy and lacking in detail, so I swapped in some more impressive shootin' irons for them as well.

Juves are identified in this gang by the large probational "J" on the backs of their coats. Once they're promoted to full ganger status they'll be entitled to wear the plain black PVC version.

For the "heavy" with flamer, some more extensive conversion was required. Both of his arms were cut off (!) and arms from the GW Astra Militarum heavy flamer model were grafted on. I think it turned out rather well.

This is the base model for the flamer conversion above, which I also use for juves. Again, weapon swaps are done with GW weapons. The fellow on the right is a new recruit to the gang; he joined to seek revenge for the death of his brother (a full-fledged ganger) who was killed by Spyrers in the first campaign game. He carries his late brother's autogun even though he's not able to use it!

I kept the painting very simple for the gang, both because I needed to get them into action in short order and because I'm lazy ;-)



Flesh was painted a bit lighter than my normal mix, with a slight reddish undertone cast achieved with a wash of diluted Chestnut Ink. The PVC trenchcoats have Leadbelcher hardware washed with Nuln Oil, and highlighted with Leadbelcher and Mithril Silver. Weapons are done with Leadbelcher/Nuln Oil as well. Finally the coat and eyepiece lenses are given a generous brushing of GW 'Ardcoat (gloss varnish).

The gang leader, Slick Plashkin (each gang member has some not-so-clever punning name - Slick Derringer, Slick Astley, etc.). He carries a boltgun that he's used to good effect in the first two games.

These guys have been quite fun to play with so far and my only regret is that I didn't buy more - I might need to hire more gangers. Oh well, ERM's still in business and the postage charge wasn't outrageous. They also have some other cool stuff that can bulk out an order...


So many thanks to Dave for providing the impetus for this fun project. It turns out that the boys are doing OK on the tabletop as well so that's always a bonus!

Necromunda League - Necromunda By Night

Last Thursday was a great start to our newly-formed Necromunda league (the League Rules are available here). Barry, MikeA, and Dallas came out with their gangs to fight the first scenario of the narrative campaign, Necromunda by Night. It's mostly based upon a Necromunda scenario pack used at Adepti-Con a few years ago.

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Scenario 1: Total War

Your gang has been tasked by a local miners' guild to eliminate a creature that’s been nesting in one of the newly-abandoned domes. The creature only leaves its lair during lights down and its lair is very well concealed, so it is imperative to kill it before darkness descends.

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Each player chose how many gang members they wish to deploy at the beginning of the game. A Bolt Action order die was placed in a cup for each ganger, using different colours for each side. The players then took it in turn to nominate a specific point on the table and picked out one die from the cup. The picked side then placed a figure on the specified point. This continued until all fighters in the cup were placed. Any fighters not placed at the beginning of the game moved on to their player's table edge during Turn 3.

Lighting conditions were getting worse each turn:

• At the beginning of Turn 2, vision range is reduced to 36”.
• At the beginning of Turn 3, vision range is reduced to 24” and models may claim partial cover if within 1” of a full cover structure or terrain feature.
• At the beginning of Turn 4, vision range is reduced to 16”, models may claim partial cover if within 1” of a full cover structure or terrain feature, models may run and hide, and may not use the Fast Shot, Marksman, or Rapid Fire skills.
• At the beginning of Turn 5, all the above restrictions apply and models count Fumbles as double in HtH combat.
• The dome becomes fully dark at the end of Turn 6 and the game ends.

The objective was for either gang to kill the creature BEFORE THE END OF TURN 6! Whichever gang successfully killed the creature would win.

At the beginning of each player's turn, I rolled a D6 for each friendly fighter on the table. On a roll of 6 (adding +1 if the model is Down) , that model would be the first to encounter the creature. The creature model was placed within 4” of that model, in a random direction (scatter die). On each player's turn before the Shooting phase, it moved towards the closest model and attempt to charge into HtH combat (if target is under 6"). The opposing player made any applicable rolls for the creature.

Instead of using a "monster" figure, I used a model I had never actually used before in a game; a Bretonnian Sorceress that I had painted back in the late 90's!

She had the following profile: M5, WS5, BS0, S4, T4, W2, I6, A2, Ld10
She counted as armed with a Sword and a Massive Club. The creature had a 5+ armor save.
The creature counted as never able to be Pinned, and never suffered from Psychology effects.

I confess that I liked the idea of the creature being monstrous only in its disposition, not its appearance.

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Barry's Cawdor faced off against MikeA's Spyre Hunters first. IIRC, Both sides fielded 5 fighters. The creature was revealed almost immediately by Mike's Spyrers, who were decimated by it and Barry's hot-shooting gang. The Spyrers bottled out, retreating off the table, but the Cawdors took it on the chin from the creature, failing to down it.

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At this point we remembered we had camera phones, and Dallas and I took pictures of our own game.

Dallas and I faced off, his newly painted House Delaque (conversions of figs purchased from East Riding Miniatures)  vs. my own Spyre Hunters. Dallas fielded 7 gangers, while I fielded all 5 fighters. Dallas' leader took the high ground on top of a 3-story building, while the rest were spread out. The Spyrers were mostly by the train or near the restaurants/shops.



First turn I swung a spider-like Malcodon onto an overhead walkway, into close assault with a Delaque armed with a rifle.





The Malcodon made short work of his opponent.



My Orrus took cover behind the dubious protection of a planter.



Other Delques tried to move into position against him, so the Orrus ended up retreating into the wine store to gain cover.



The creature appeared by my other Malcodon. Moving away behind the mag lev train, the Malcodon set up a shot with his webs at the creature, with a Yeld flying down from a flat car in support.



My careful movement was to no avail, as the creature struck down both these Spyrers, plus a Jakara that tried to attack her in the subsequent turn.

Below, the creature stands victorious!



Meanwhile, my remaining Malcodon  was shot and put Out of Action by fire from a Juve and the Delaque leader, sniping from above.



Finishing off three(!) of my Spyre Hunting Party, the creature turned her attention to more of Dallas' Delaques, who couldn't seem to draw a bead on her.



After making a couple of Bottle Tests, my sole remaining fighter, an Orrus, made a desperate charge against a wounded Delaque Juve, putting him Down. That forced a Bottle Test on Dallas, whose leader failed, and thus the disheartened Delaques fled the field!



The creature was too far away to get into contact with my Orrus before the end of Turn 6, so we called the game.

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Suffice to say, no one's gang slew the creature! There is a resulting three-way tie for Campaign Points. Barry, Mike, and Dallas each received 5 Campaign Points for their respective Draws. Barry and Dallas received a bonus Campaign Point each for "Game Hunter" (one of their models made one successful shooting attack at long range this scenario), and Mike got a bonus point for "Expert Tracker" (one of his models revealed the creature on Turn 1). As Arbitrator (player/referee and host), I received no Campaign Points.

By the end of the mini-campaign, the player with the most Campaign Points will receive an unpainted Goliath gang provided by Conscript Kevin. The Nightrider Award (for the best gang painted by one of the other players, awarded at my sole discretion) will be a Hired Gun model that I am in the midst of painting. A WIP shot can be seen below:



It's been fun to play these small-scale games, where every shot and every casualty counts. In the post game phase, one of the Delaques succumbed to his wounds, but was replaced by a Juve. The story is writing itself, as Dallas said the dead Delaque's brother has joined the gang, seeking revenge!

Some of the guys couldn't make it out last week, so there will be a few more folks playing Scenario 1, as well as the rest playing Scenario 2 this week. I look forward to more games in the under-hive!

Necromunda Project

Lately, I've found that the way for me to actually complete a project is to ensure that it is small in scope, and then to stick with it until it's done!

Back in January, after some idle chit-chat amongst the Conscripts, several of us thought it would be great to start up a campaign for Necromunda, that long out-of-print sci-fi skirmish game from Games Workshop (set in the dystopic Warhammer 40K universe). As it turned out, several Conscripts still owned either painted gangs, or owned the parts to make them. I did not, so I went onto eBay and found a gang of 5 pristine (i.e., never cleaned up or painted) 28mm scale, pewter Spyre Hunters.



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SPYRER HUNTER BACKGROUND

The fluff behind the Spyrers is interesting. Within the industrial underhives of a far-future hive city, where the gangs of the ruling houses compete for resources, the upper nobility also commit their own groups of "gangs" to the conflicts for a different purpose. Spyrer hunting parties are composed of the unproven youths of the noble houses, born in the upper levels of the hive. These groups descend into the lower levels to undertake a vow that has been impressed upon them by a sponsor, either to survive unaided in the depths of the undercity for a designated length of time, or to obtain a designated number of kills. They are not permitted to return until their task is complete. In this way the nobles will prove themselves as both ruthless and resourceful, and thus suited for political leadership roles.

Each Spyrer is granted a unique Hunting Rig which has been crafted off-world, using nearly forgotten technologies. A Hunting Rig acts as a suit of armour with built-in weaponry and cybernetic enhancements. It is self-sustaining, providing sustenance to the wearer so that they are not burdened by the requirement of food. It is also self-repairing, so that they do not require regular maintenance.
However the most important feature of the hunting rig is their power boosting system. As the wearer fights and gains experience in combat, the hunting rig will adapt and evolve to suit the wearer by increasing power to certain systems, unlocking previously unavailable abilities and new potential as the hunt continues. The Hunting Rig classes:

• Orrus are characterized by oversize, piston-powered arms containing Bolt Launchers built into the fists. They are also protected from shooting attacks by a force field. 
• Jakara are the lightest and most agile of the Spyrer hunters, equipped with a Mono-molecular edged sword, and a Mirror Shield which can absorb energy-based attacks and fire it back at their enemies. 
• Malcadon are armed with Web Spinnerets designed to immobilize the enemy so they can be torn apart by their vicious claws. They are also equipped with climbing hooks and hydraulic pistons to allow the wearer to reach ambush points. 
• Yeld are equipped with Chameleon armour and razor-edged wings. They are armed with multiple laser tubes built into their gauntlets. Though their wings do allow them to fly, they make for better gliders. 

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MODELING AND PAINTING

I cleaned up the figures with files, including sharpening the Jakara's sword, in the middle below. Most sword blades on 28mm models look like chunks of wooden 2x4. I pinned the figures with brass wire to neat-looking cast resin bases from Dragon Forge.



I started with my usual zenithal highlighting, priming black and airbrushing white downward at  about a 60-degree angle (thanks go to the late Shep Paine for that trick). The faces were initially laid in with Vallejo acrylics, using their great Face Painting Set. The paints provided allow you to do highlights, shadows, and to bring out the colour in the cheeks and lips, for various types of skin tones.





Afterwards, I went back in with artists' oils, to smooth out colour transitions, to punch up highlights and shadows, and to add detail in and around the eyes.



I wanted to keep the paint schemes simple, with only one or two colours noticeable from a distance. Using Citadel washes, I laid in the base colours of the Hunting Rig body armour and weapons, and the hair on the Jakara and Orrus. Details were picked out in various acrylics, followed again by using oils to smooth out transitions and emphasize hot spots or shadows.

I used Vallejo's Non Metallic Metal paint set for the Orrus wrist- and ankle-mounted bolt launchers, on the left below.





I was inspired to paint the pair of Malcadon similar to the Predators from the Aliens v. Predators franchise. Their Hunting Rigs are markedly different from the other Spyrer types. I mounted one on a tilted base to allow the viewer to see its face. I painted  their wrist mounted weapons as claws rather than blades; it goes with the feel of the living amour they wear. Their helmets' green lenses were painted in Conscript Brian's style.



The Malcadon with the closed-face helmet has a couple of trophies hanging from his rig. From the Spyrer rules, I think that I will choose the "Kill X number of opponents" vow for the campaign.



The Yeld is striking. The characterful head has the best sculpting of the five models. Shading the facial implants was a bit tricky. The challenge with the wings was to differentiate them without drawing attention away from the face. The "grey" wings use colours from black, through various greys, to white, The wrist mounted laser tubes also got the Non Metallic Metal treatment. The bases for all figures were glazed with Citadel Devlan Mud. The figures were sealed with Tamiya semi-gloss spray.





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LEGIOCON

This is the table of terrain that I brought to the LegioCon 2016 miniature war games convention, where I ran some Necromunda participation games. As described elsewhere, the buildings all either take apart or are hollow, to allow play inside them. Thanks to Conscript MikeA, Barry, Jeff, Dave, and Cole for playing!





A photo from Friday night at the convention, at the St. James Legion No. 4 (a great, friendly venue!).



Coinciding with LegioCon was the Manitoba Model Soldier Society annual Show and Competition. I entered my Spyrer hunting party in the Wargames category, and managed to win a gold medal and the Best War Game Unit award. I was rather pleased, since the other MMSS members had several beautiful armies and units on display, including some very nice horse and musket era infantry regiments and cavalry squadrons.



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MORE TERRAIN

I have found for both modern and sci-fi skirmish games that you need a fairly high density of terrain for your table. Otherwise, automatic weapons or snipers will dominate play. Many of these new pieces came from Conscript Byron's company, SG2 Creations, who make a variety of MDF terrain, available from his web store, or as custom pieces.

New additions to my urban table include the clip-on helicopter landing pad, a Middle Eastern styled garage, an overhead walkway, some planters (with small trees sourced from a model railroad supplier), and some dumpsters. For the most part, the MDF terrain is assembled with white glue, painted quickly with spray can colours from RONA hardware, and weathered with various acrylics and Vallejo powdered pigments.

When mounted on a 3-story building, the landing pad is almost 5 stories above the ground. The Yeld on the landing below is an alternate pose, painted by Conscript Kevin almost 20 years ago.



The eight new items in the photo below (except for the trees and dirt) all come from SG2.



The garage door opens, and the roof comes off to allow you to place models inside.



I have another unbuilt walkway; I need to build another 3-story building.



The planters provide a lot of cover. I mounted the trees onto two layers of cut out foam core, then added and painted model railroad dirt.



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NEXT STEPS

Necromunda

Some of us still have our original Necromunda rule books. The game is basically 2nd ed. Warhammer 40K, with a more skirmish feel. Overwatch, being pinned by gunfire, various levels of wounding effects, and draconian morale rules allow a quick, fun, game with a surprisingly current feel. Although the game is no longer supported by GW (though that may change in future), there are some third party online resources available. For example, the YakTribe Gaming site has PDFs of various rule books and supplements.

I am looking forward to the start of the Necromunda campaign in April!


Skirmish Wargaming in Mythical Japan

Also, I am finally getting around to painting a war-band to play samurai skirmish games using rules like Ronin (published by Osprey) and Daishō (from The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare).

Next in the painting queue are some Japanese samurai, the Koryu Buntai boxed set from North Star Military Figures, with some Shogunate-era terrain pieces from 4Ground.  The figures are very distinctive. Seven of them are clearly modeled after the titular characters in the movie Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai).

Nine figures, a couple of buildings, some fences, and an ox cart. No problem!