First Ex-Patriots Done!

I finished up the first 12 Ex-Patriot pirates.  I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out and this also gets me closer to doing some coalition pirate raids.  I purchased a small robot toy today to serve as a battle suit for this crew.  I need to get a few more pirate mechs and battle suits together so I can start using them as a force.   Pirates will play an important role in my next campaign.

More Solar Empires Pirates. The Ex-patriots!

Here is a WIP shot of some new Pirates for my Solar Empires setting.  These guys are former Jovian Imperial Troopers who went renegade during the last System War.  To distinguish them from other Imperial troops I have painted a crude X on their right shoulders and helmets.  Hopefully I will have them done soon.

"The Battle of 5041 Theotes" a No Limits battle report from the Solar Empires

 October 4th 3033, 5041 Theotes, Jupiter Trojans, Greek Camp.  A small force of Blood Born and Scrap Dog Pirates ran into a patrol of Star Guard Mercenaries in a small mining outpost on 5041 Theotes.

 The pirates outnumbered the small mercenary patrol but the Star Guard troopers were heavily armored and well equipped.  As the pirate infiltrators advanced one was shot down by a mercenary sniper.

 The pirates begin their advance while the mercenary forces tried to find better ground.  Another pirate infiltrator was shot down by the mercenary sniper and two were gunned down by the Star Guard medic.

 The main body of the pirate force moved through the settlement while the mercenaries were distracted by their squad of "Duct Rats".

 The pirates continue to advance but they are met by a hail of gunfire from the mercenaries killing several of their numbers.

 The Blood Born Raiders break and run back behind a building they have taken cover on after loosing three of their squad members.

 The "Duct Rat" Mate kills the mercenary medic at the same time that one of the Scrap Dog Raiders kills a member of Alpha squad.

 The Pirate forces fight on but they can do little in the face of the Star Guards superior position and fire power.

The Blood Born Raider squad is finally whipped out by Beta squad.  The Scrap Dogs continue to fire at Alpha squad but none of their shots manage to penetrate the mercenaries thick armor.  

Without any remaining targets the last "Duct Rat" ducks back behind the cover of a large junk pile.  Down to 6 out of the 17 pirates they started the battle with the pirates decide that it is time to run.  The mercenaries fulfill their contract to protect the mining operation suffering just two casualties.

Notes:  This is a small 500 point battle I ran with my daughter who played the Star Guard mercenaries while I played the pirates.  We tried to keep it very basic for her first game.  This game represents one of the many skirmishes fought between pirate raiders and mercenaries in the Solar Empires.

6 Month Challenge: More Scrap Dog Raiders in progress!

Well I didn't make a lot of progress on the 6 month challenge this week.  I've been spending most of my hobby time working on some campaign rules for my next Solar Empires, No Limits campaign.  I did manage to work a bit on another unit of Scrap Dog Raiders but I still have quite a bit to do on them.

6 Month Challenge: Ghost Legion Pirates!

Well I finally finished the first few squads of my Ghost Legion pirate crew for the Solar Empires setting.  These are all Reaper IMEF and NOVA troopers because this pirate force split off from the Star Guard mercenary company.

On the Paint Table: Space Pirates and Wasteland Vehicles

 I've been working on some projects this week.  My Ghost Legion Dogs (veterans) are about 75% finished.  They will all have white hair which is why they all have grey hair now.

 I'm also working on some Raiders (regular troopers) for the Ghost Legion based on Reaper N.O.V.A. troopers from their Chronoscope line.  The Ghost Legion are former mercenaries from the Star Guard mercenary company.  They operate more like a military unit that most other space pirates.

Finally here is a WIP shot of the painting I'm doing for the wasteland vehicles I have been working on my my Dystopia post apocalyptic ptoject.  Hopefully I'll have these guy finished and on the table soon.

More Space Pirates: Ghost Legion Dogs and Bulldog AFV

 I'm working on some more pirates for the Solar Empires setting.  These are Ghost Legion "Dogs" (veteran pirates troopers).  The Ghost Legion are a newer pirate band who were part of the Star Guards mercenary company but turned to piracy after the "4 Vesta Incident" of 3028.  As such they still use a lot of former Star Guard equipment and weapons.  I've converted these guys from Reaper IMEF troopers with some Games Workshop heads from various Warhammer Fantasy sets.

This is a Bulldog Rover Armored Fighting Vehicle.  These antique transports were designed hundreds of years ago by the Terran Federation when they controlled the moons and planets in most of the outer solar system.  The Bulldogs were designed for long term missions over any terrain in hostile environments.  They are completely environmentally sealed and use a fusion engine that can operate for years without refueling.
Ironically designed to defend early settlements against space pirates they are now commonly used by pirate bands.

This vehicle is a Matchbox "On A Mission" toy called the "Battle Blaster".  Even though it is very large I thought it worked fairly well as a heavy rover.    

Scrap Dog Raiders Finished!

I finished up the first squad of Scrap Dog raiders today.  I'm really happy with the way they turned out.  The bases are similar to my Bloodborn pirates which is good because I play to combine my pirate crews together to make a bigger army for larger games.
I've got another 14 of these guys to paint and a light mech for the force as well so I better get on it.  I also created a No Limits army list this week for my pirate forces so hopefully we will see a pirate army in the field soon.    

Scrap Dog Raiders almost finished.

Just wanted to post these guys again.  I'm almost finished with this squad.  Just basing and a few details to go.

Scrap Dogs on the paint table.

I've got the Scrap Dogs on the paint table today and they are coming along fairly well.  I decided to use quite a bit a drybrushing on their clothing and equipment along with a dark wash which I think is giving them a dark and gritty feel.  The wash is a little shiny at the moment but I plan to coat these guys with Testors Dulcote so I'm sure that won't be a problem on the finished minis.  I've still got to highlight the skin tones as well as add metallics, final details, and bases but these guys are going quickly so I might have all 20 done pretty quickly.

More Scrap Dogs with bases.

I'm working on some more pirates for my Solar Empires setting.  These are more of the Scrap Dogs pirate band which I have shown before.  They are of course made from Warhammer 40k Chaos Cultist.  I've tried to convert them quite a bit because there are only five poses to work withe.
I thought I would show the way I am doing the bases.  Just some random scraps of granny grating and zip ties and other odds and ends to give the impression of a scrap pile.  This was a simple and cheap solution to doing bases for these guys that I thought would look good for them.  The bases are similar to what I have done for my other pirate band "The Blood Born" but I plan to make these even more heavily rusted when I paint them up.
I now have 20 Scrap Dog raiders which I plan to use as the core of this small force.  I plan to add some scouts and some heavier miss matched veterans as well and light vehicles and a few mechs.  

The Scrap Dogs! A space pirate band for Solar Empires

I've got about 20 of these Games Workshop Chaos Cultuist for Warhammer 40,000 which I picked up to used as a pirate band.  The only problem is that they only come in five poses so I'm doing some conversion to add some variety.
These guys will be called "The Scrap Dogs" and will be from the Asteroid Belt.  I've got a mech I'm working on for them as well.  I'm trying to make them look like scavengers which I think the cultist are pretty suited for.  The only problem is that I got the first group together and base coated before I figured out what I am doing with them and I intend to add some scrap piles to their bases.  I think I can just work around the painted ones and either hand paint the junk piles on their bases or hit them with another coat of spray paint.