Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

To escape the anomaly that consumed the Amarathian, the crew get the Canterbury warp engines running (Barely) and emergency warp away. When they come out, they are somewhere totally different- best guess by the star charts, a dead system known as Cressid. With nowhere else to go, and desperate for supplies and safe harbor, they send two shuttles down to investigate.

On arrival they discover a recently abandoned Tau outpost, with no signs of the former inhabitants. They encounter a pack of Kroot hiding in caves nearby, who explain something "unmade" the Tau and that the "Sky is death". Attempting to leave in one of the shuttles, a glaring beam of green light shoots it down! Best guess: Cressid is a Necron Tomb World, and the Tau scouts woke it up.

A new threat arrives, a scout ship, on fire plunging towards the surface, pursued by a Deathwatch Thunderhawk. It crashes, and Tau scout forces crawl from the wreckage, only to be engaged by the Deathwatch...



The Kroot join in the fight to protect their arriving allies.


The crew race to the crash site, and find themselves in the middle of a fight between the newly arrived Tau, the surviving Kroot, and the relentless Deathwatch Marines...


Casualties rise on all sides until the ground shakes violently, and a gaping rent in the earth swallows everyone...





Automatically Appended Next Post:
The survivors find themselves in a sinister alien corridor at the bottom of the collapse- a ribbed, metallic shaft, incredibly ancient, seemingly organic and machine both. Two Deathwatch Marines, two Tau, and the Canterbury Crew face off threateningly until the Priest Jeremiah and the Tau Tu'Staque convince everyone that there is a greater threat than all of them, and they must work together to have any hope of survival.

Splitting into two groups, they explore the tunnel in both directions, but skittering sounds can be heard in the darkness ahead...


Arriving in a massive chamber, Jeremiah and the Marines are soon ambushed by awakened Necrons! Only the ferocious firepower of the Marines can keep them at bay...


Deeper in the complex, More Necrons awaken and prepare to eliminate those who disturb their slumber.


The uneasy alliance locates the chamber containing the Laser Tower, fight their way to it, and ride it as it rises up out of the ground to shoot down the escaping Thunderhawk. The two fire at each other, destroying each other! The survivors can now escape in their remaining shuttle, as the Marines and Tau sacrifice themselves to ensure their escape. It is now the burden of the survivors to warn everyone of the new threat in the Jericho Reach...




Automatically Appended Next Post:
MAKING THE NECRONS

Just a few more shots of the Necrons and Terrain- I wanted to update the aesthetic, and was inspired by H.R. Giger's Biomechanoid style.

Here's some minis conversions, using guitar string wire for tubes, various skull heads, and alternative weapon mixes. To make the Immortal more horrific, I went for a melee build, and used arms and legs from Genestealers to get that Giger look.




Here's some painted shots. I primed with Bronze, and used lots of dark brown and red washes.




As to terrain, I made the tunnels out of 3" Corrugated drainpipe. I cut one side open, used floor shims to make the floor plates, and used furniture end caps, wire sheathing, and plastic skull rings to decorate the walls. The ends of the tubes are finished with tentacle sections from the old Matrix Sentinel toy.


Using a mix of old and new terrain, I managed this ensemble to represent the underground tomb. I'm sure we'll be seeing Necrons again as a threat for the campaign, so it's nice to have a head start on the models!



Be safe out there, fellow voidfarers.

=I=

Best.
Blog.
Ever.

Adopt me? I want to live in your house!

I will gladly be KK's younger adopted brother.

So glad to see you continuing your projects, Sean.

What did you make that Thunderhawk out of?

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
What did you make that Thunderhawk out of?

IIRC he did it YEARS ago, like late 90s when his site first started. Scratch build, the aquillas on the side are 40k themed belt buckles...

Thanks folks! Yeah, my Thunderhawk is an old project, you can read about it more here: http://ironhands.com/thawk.htm

Our next stop was to get some desperately needed Crew for the Canterbury. The closest candidate is the Feudal World of Cressid. If any world could survive being cut off from the Imperium, it would be a feudal world. Things there were still pretty grim though- the ruling class were witch hunters, so our Navigator and Xenos crewmembers needed to be very careful there!



The Xenos relied on stealth (and the city sewers) to get around unnoticed.


The Preacher however took the bold approach and headed directly to the governor's fortress prison... only to be imprisoned for heresy!



Those who weren't imprisoned managed to stage a prison break, only to discover the other prisoners were indeed Heretics- and worse!


After exterminating the heretics, the crew managed to convince the Governor that they could detect heresy with their Cybercrow (but actually by the Navigator's psychic augury). After assisting the Governor in a pogrom of purges and executions killing thousands, those that remained were ideal candidates to join the crew of the Canterbury...

=I=

Next order of business, repairing the Canterbury, which has taken grievous damage over the ages (and most recently from the Necrons). The crew discover a little known knight-turned-forge world, Inferro IX, and investigate. The world seems hostile though, and only impressive piloting skills keeps the Canterbury from being captured by tractor rays. The planet broadcasts nothing but noise, and deadly scrap code hidden in the noise. But is there another signal, hidden even deeper? A cry for help, in an obsolete Mechanicus code- perhaps someone on the world has not descended into Tech-Heresy..

The crew decide to rescue the Loyalist survivors, their best shot at being able to maintain the Archeotech of the Canterbury.


The crew set out, searching the endless sprawl of mazelike industrial decay searching for the loyalist survivors and fending off attacks from scrap servitors, and worse.


The crew finally find the loyalists, a band of Skitarii led by a Techmarine who drive off the Hereteks and lead the crew to their hidden lair in the bowels of the machinery. There they enlist the crew's help reactivating an ancient Warhound Titan, in the hopes it will provide enough cover fire for their escape...


The Hereteks unleash Daemon Engines to try to stop them, and the metal canyons echo with the roar of Plasma and Blood...


The Skitarii and Crew make a mad dash for the Shuttle, but a Scrap Beast ambushes from below! Gargshokka attacks, destroying the gantries and plunging the Scrap Beast into the depths below. Only with everyone's combined efforts do they all make it into the shuttle...


=I=

That is an amazing table!

Looking at is like playing an old I Spy book.

What'd you use to build the really tall walls at the back?

Hey there Mythos,

Yeah, those walls are just big flat pieces of Fiberboard, with lots of cardboard squares glued on, plus some plastic ring bits and some composite leveling shims to add detail. I primed them with various shades of grey, and did a thorough weathering job on them with different shades of brown and rust. They're incredibly useful, I've used them for large features in all of my campaigns (Votoms, Gamma World, Gundam, and now Rogue Trader). You can see one of their earliest appearances at the bottom of this Votoms campaign log: http://ironhands.com/v2camp09.htm

Up next, finally getting around to building more ships... this time for the Orks!

Starting small, here's a Raider that I made from some funny parts, mainly a Quake action figure torso, a Mechwarrior vehicle figure, and a Rocket Bike type deal from Skylanders, plus loads of detail bits and weapons from various models (mostly Ork). I liked this style so much I ended up making three different versions, more on that later.


At the other end of the spectrum, this Heavy Cruiser came together in true Orky fashion- I just kept adding engines and guns until there wasn't room for any more!




This is the "Braaghdsidez" side- I just kept adding more cannons, only Gork knows why.


This side has guns too though, so don't think you can be sneaky gitz:


Painted pics coming soon!

=I=

Awesome updates. Those boards are fabulous!

Old Skool Armorcast Daemon Engines? Nice.

And is that a Griffon Heavy Mortar sticking out of the front of that Ork ship?

Yeah, finally found a use for that Griffon Mortar

OK, the crew follow coordinates into the Slinnar Drift looking for Orks to recruit, and end up getting ambushed!


They somehow evade the Drilla ship, which drills THROUGH an asteroid and destroys it, circling slowly for another pass. Meanwhile, Gargshokka and TuStaque sneak aboard the ork Raida, looking for the Boss so they can establish dominance in the Ork Fleet.



TuStaque's stealth attacks, combined with the Navigator's mental attacks, weaken the Boss, allowing Gargshokka to defeat him and become the new Boss!


At some point the crew will encounter even more Orks, and good news, we're ready with the models






Until then, keep a good watch...

=I=

So there's more Xenos ships in the works, pics coming soon, but I wanted to revisit one of my older Imperial ships... this one in particular:


I never really liked the giant slab of gothic wall stuck on top, so I removed it, and replaced it with some nifty turrets made from electrical connectors and bases. I snuck a few more guns on the side somewhere too. Result:







We've reclassified our ships recently, so the "Divine Retribution" is now a BATTLESHIP in our campaign. Well, it hasn't shown up YET, thankfully, but boy, when it does.... yikes.

=I=

Crazy-awesome. I wish there was a group local to me who did this sort of thing.

BRAVO!

--Brian

Incredible skills.

That ship reminds me ofPuff The Magic Dragon, the Vietnam era gunship.

Thanks all!

Yeah Theophony, it certainly has a lot of guns

Up next, an ancient evil stirs in the cold depths of the eastern fringe...





Continuing the "biomechanoid" aesthetic I strived for with my latest Necron Minis, this ship is clearly influenced by Giger (and even includes bits of an Alien playset toy). Here's some in-process shots- you can see I made a last minute change to the engines. With this aesthetic established, more Necron ships are on the way!





=I=

Very Blanch-ian! Delightful!

Really gorgeous necron ship, the giger vibe is uncanny !

Cheers, fellow Voidfarers!

Next on our crew's agenda, locating the elusive TAU fleet and attempting an alliance. An advance fleet was indeed found...










Unfortunately, the Tau are discovered while under attack from the crew's OTHER new ally, the ORKS, and have to intercede for the greater good...




The Cruisers are built mostly out of parts from a Robotix toy kit, embellished with various toy and model parts, including bits of AT-43 Karman models since I had a bunch from a sale.




The LIght Cruiser is a mix of more Robotix parts, and a Micromachines Republic Cruiser which I rearranged in an attempt to disguise its origin. Painting it orange helped too.





Safe Travels,

=I=

Amazing Tau ships! The Star Wars ship is hidden quite nicely.

What are those little turrets/tanks in the front of the two cruisers?

Thanks all! The turret vehicles are Wizkids Mechwarrior Glory fire support tanks. I got a bunch of the MW stuff cheap at some point, it’s handy for stuff like my Gundam games to have some vehicles / infantry at that scale.



Up next: An ancient legend finally revealed. The Iron Jager is the battleship awarded to Orlando Ramirez alongside his warrant of trade, last seen heading into the Hadex Anomaly for reasons unknown…







This ship is a converted Space Battleship Yamato toy. I added broadsides and replaced the conspicuous Wave Motion Gun front end with something a bit more gothic. Other details were added and the whole thing painted grey. The players encounter this ship when they venture into the Hadex Anomaly for a “family reunion”…

Here's a shot of all the Imperial ships together.


Safe travels, and keep one eye on the Navigator, he's been acting strange lately...

=I=

GOSH THAT SHIP LOOKS FAMILIAR, BUT I CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON IT.

Mayhaps it is the motion of the warp waves which confused my addled mind.

--Brian

Nice job on that Yamato!

Haha, yeah, thanks folks- the original toy does most of the work.

Here's a shot of some of the FX we used for the Hadex Anomaly game in which it appeared, including color lights, smoke machine, and lightning sound and light FX.

Sorry for the delay in transmissions, hard to get anything out of the Dark Imperium, but we're back!

In the Hadex Anomaly, the crew meet the captain of the Iron Jager- Orlando Ramirez himself! He returned to the Hadex Anomaly to be with his lost wife (and mother of John Ramirez). Jeremiah reveals his true heritage as the bastard son of Orlando, and John decides to stay with his parents, sacrificing himself to create an escape route for the Canterbury... Now in possession of the Warrant of Trade, Jeremiah takes on the legacy of the Ramirez Rogue Traders...

Meanwhile, the Tau fleet, relocating to the Feudal World liberated earlier by the Canterbury, reports deadly raid attacks in their system. The Alliance investigates, hoping to find the Drucharii spoken of in the prophecy, but when they arrive, they discover AeldarCorsairs- the very ones that Iyandriel estranged when he first set out to find the Canterbury.



The Allies must protect the Tau frigates and broker a truce with the Aeldari Raiders. How do they do it? Gargshokka and Iyandriel lead a boarding action on the Aeldari Light Cruiser, of course!



Iyandriel shares the prophecy with the captain of the Corsairs, who begrudgingly agree the necessary course of action is to share the fate of the Allied fleet and somehow stop the Necrons and Tyranids dooming the Jericho Reach...

Here's more shots of the Baharroth, and a scale shot with the Aeldar Battleship.






And WIP shots of the build. This one went together surprisingly quick!




=I=

Loving all those ships mate, stunning work. Going to have to steal some of those ideas!

What do you use for lighting your pics? I find it amazingly difficult to get any sort of decent pics of my little ships.

Loved looking through your blog really amazed at some of the work you've created itd be amazing to play one of your RPGs.

I love this thread so much, so glad I discovered you all those years ago... Not to make us feel old or anything!!

All the creativity and use of bits with these ships is brilliant, must be great fun gaming with your group.