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.

I've been mulling around some ideas for a distinctive Space Marine army for awhile now and have finally hit upon an idea that I think could keep me motivated to build the entire army. Crimson Fist fluff talks about how Captain Cortez fought the entire Kardian Campaign without supplies - a total of six weeks. I liked the idea of a Space Marine army that was having to conserve it's resources, use material looted from its enemies, and going a little native to survive. It got me thinking along the lines of a space western setting - small agrarian towns much like in Firefly/Serenity with an impending Ork horde over the horizon. The image that really got me going was thinking of a dusty SM Landspeeder with a horned animal skull attached to the front of it. The other mental image that's got me motivated is a set of SM Scouts w/ Sniper rifles, but converted to look like they'd gone a little native - camo cloaks looking more like Clint Eastwood-style dusty ponchos, bandanas around faces and necks, at least one with a Stetson-style cowboy hat.

So, here's what I've brainstormed so far for conversions to give this army the style I'm looking for:
- Horned animal skulls decorating the front of a few of the Land Speeders, Rhinos, and Predators
- SM Scouts converted to look a little "Old West"
- Feather charms much like purity seals - hanging from bolter handles, knife hilts, etc.
- A few of the SM's given gunslinger or Western-style rifleman poses
- Instead of dozer blades, some of the Rhinos and Predators would have train-style cow catchers on the front
- Other Rhinos or Predators might have "bull bars" across the front

The main places I've been looking for inspiration for this have been from Firefly/Serenity, Mad Max/Post-Apocalyptic movies, and Gorka Morka. Can anyone recommend any other movies/tv shows I should take a look at for ideas on this? Anyone have any other specific conversion ideas that can give me?

Fluff nuts might take issue, but I support this endeavor 100%, I love it. Then again, I'm biased as the mad max series has had a major influence on my greenskins.

I'm dying to see a landspeeder with a cow skull strapped to the nose. The only thing I can suggest is not delve too far into the hokey wild west "cowboys and indians" elements, but more of a return to simplicity in lifestyle and gear. Firefly danced the line well, incorporating western flavor but still being solidly rooted in science fiction that it didn't feel like a spaghetti western.

For more inspiration I suggest:

Doomsday Mediocre movie, but some great visuals of society devolved. That, and a school bus with radial saw blade launchers. Can't beat that.

Borderlands Haven't had a chance to play this one yet, but similar visual feel to it. The game world is something along the lines of the theme you're shooting for.


Do it! And do keep us posted.

the Space Wolves 13th Company survived thousands of years trapped in the Eye of Terror, scavenging armour and weapons.

So go for it, all you need is a bit of fluff for how long they've been isolated and what kind of non-standard tech they've been looting/buying/borrowing. But please do your opponents a favour and make the models look like what they represent, e.g. a counts-as terminator should have extra-massive armour etc.

Teek wrote:Fluff nuts might take issue, but I support this endeavor 100%, I love it. Then again, I'm biased as the mad max series has had a major influence on my greenskins.

I'm dying to see a landspeeder with a cow skull strapped to the nose. The only thing I can suggest is not delve too far into the hokey wild west "cowboys and indians" elements, but more of a return to simplicity in lifestyle and gear. Firefly danced the line well, incorporating western flavor but still being solidly rooted in science fiction that it didn't feel like a spaghetti western.

Yeah, no, don't worry - I'm not going to tread too far into the "cowboys and indians" territory. My goal is Firefly, not Knights of Cydonia.

Teek wrote:For more inspiration I suggest:

Doomsday Mediocre movie, but some great visuals of society devolved. That, and a school bus with radial saw blade launchers. Can't beat that.

Borderlands Haven't had a chance to play this one yet, but similar visual feel to it. The game world is something along the lines of the theme you're shooting for.


Do it! And do keep us posted.

Mm, yeah, I'd wanted to see Doomsday when it came out and never got around to it. I'll have to check into it. As far as Borderlands goes, that's very much the feel of the environment I'm wanting this army to be in. I'd looked at a bunch of screenshots and some trailers for it yesterday. Thanks for linking to the site, it also had a lot of good stuff - looks like it should be a good game.

Clang wrote:So go for it, all you need is a bit of fluff for how long they've been isolated and what kind of non-standard tech they've been looting/buying/borrowing. But please do your opponents a favour and make the models look like what they represent, e.g. a counts-as terminator should have extra-massive armour etc.

See, that's the thing - that's my biggest dilemma. I've got a very fine line that I'm trying to walk here. The 13th Company is a good example, but even that's more extreme than I'm wanting to go. I'm trying to walk a fine line, because while I want there to be no doubt that this is a loyalist Crimson Fist army, I want it to have some really interesting flavor. I really don't want to have to do any "counts-as" stuff with equipment at all, with the exception of the odd looted Choppa or Shoota that a Marine may be carrying. For awhile, I was thinking of getting an Ork Battlewagon and converting it into a Rhino ala Scriptarius (like so: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/227928.page) and then using the ram plate for a dozer blade on a different Rhino. But the kounta-looted battlewagon is a little farther than I want it to go. The battlewagon ram plate, though? That's a maybe. I don't know - and that's my problem, and why I wanted to ask folks about it here on Dakka.

I don't want this army to be confused for a Chaos Army or a 13th Company Army or an over-armored Digganob Army. I want it to be instantly recognizable as a SM army - just one with some character you don't often see in 40k armies. So, it can't be too Mad Max (that's for the Ork army I'm still simmering on the back burner that would be a good foil for this army.) But I appreciate any and all input on direction for this.

A couple other thoughts I've just had as I think about this army more:
- How can I give the army a feel of the old blue-coated US Army cavalry? Just as in the old westerns, you've got the Cav in their blues and the Cavalry's scouts are either dressed down like the locals or are hired locals. I can do that with my plan for the SM Scouts, but how do I play up the Cavalry feel for the rest of the army? Or should I even go this route? This starts going more into Western land than Mad Max land than I may want to go.
- For vehicle stowage, lots of barrels - for water, fuel, etc. Maybe even some wooden barrels strapped on top of the Rhinos?

If you're going to put a cow skull on the landspeeder, you may as well give it a mismatched paintjob as well (or at least plain primer on several panels).

Check out Fallout 3 and it's "The Pitt" expansion pack. They're really heavy on raiders and scavengers.

Also, I can vouch for Borderlands being a fantastic game.

You could try watching "A Boy and His Dog" - another post apocalyptic film in the desert. I don't remember much from it aside from that atmosphere though.

Here's a trailer for The Pitt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JhDee5jQeo

I'd given some thought to mismatched paint on some of the vehicles as well as some field repairs - metal patches, etc. Nothing as bodged together as Ork "repairs" but something that was obviously done without the purview of the Chapter's tech adepts.

"A Boy and His Dog" - I don't know that one - I'll definitely have to check into that one. Thanks for the link to The Pitt - good thematic content. If I get to the point where I'm making terrain specifically to go along with this army, I'll have a ton of stuff to draw from.

At this point, though, my biggest concern is trying to figure out how to translate the feel of these environments specifically to the Marine's vehicles.

A boy and his dog is a killer movie. You'd get some good terrain ideas from it too. Mmmmm. I'm hungry...

Okay, been thinking more about this army and have another question. I'm getting all the Rhino chassis I need to get it done, but I'm going to wind up being short one AC/HB Predator. I've been inspired by the example of Col. Hammer's "Predator Prowler" below, but I'm not sold on the result. (Don't get me wrong - I think Hammer's execution on the conversion is great - I'm a big fan of his work. I'm just not digging the silhouette of this.) While it appeals to me thematically with my army as it seems to be what the marines could scavenge together to make put together a usable Predator, I'm not actually a big fan on how it ultimately looks.





Anyone have any other ideas on how to make a Predator look like the marines put it together from a few different scavenged vehicles and weapons? I've though about adding an Ork Battlewagon grot turret to replace the standard predator turret, but I'm really wary of how it would look. Any other suggestions?

one thing i might suggest for rhinos especially if you use standard chassis ones, dont put the side doors on, leave them open. also you could leave the tops off and have something similar to the above rhino you posted.

for predators tho, perhaps just changing the color of the turret, having multiple colored plates as a sort of "well put together, but still scavenged" vehicle.

So.....Have you watched 'a boy and his dog' yet?

'Fraid not - been too busy. Haven't been able to watch any of the recommended movies.

I had another idea, though. I've got a spare Leman Russ turret and some IG autocannons. What about putting a LR Exterminator-style turret on a Predator for a little of the mix-and-match look. Something like Garuss Acine did here:

Hey, just saw this over on WIP:



What do folks think about that air scoop on the hood of the Land Speeder? Yay or nay for Mad Maxing out a LS?

A thing about the wolfs trapped in warp. Did they eat daemon meat? And if so does it taste like chicken?

Death By Monkeys wrote:Yay or nay for Mad Maxing out a LS?

Yay to the max.

Definite yes on the scoop.

Also, you should probably have one "centerpiece" model that emphasizes the scavenging of materials: like a tractor-trailer pushing a damaged rhino from behind (welded on) or something of the sort. Also, sandbags make good field-improvised armor and repair. And nothing says "expedient solution" like a few worried-looking unenhanced human pilots here or there.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this. I hope at least one scout-armored trooper or hero will have greying temples, a leg brace, and a double-barreled shotgu... er, bolter.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ooooh, just had another thought: techmarine with welding rig repairing one of the vehicles for a point made in motion.

Go watch "Fist of the North Star"
Its about as post-apocalyptic as they come.

One idea, that would be very hard to do, but would be pretty cool is broken power armor. Like chunks of the armor are missing and the marines have had to improvise to fix the problem.

That, and injured marines. bullet holes in the armor, stab wounds...could be cool.

Savnock wrote:Looking forward to seeing what you do with this. I hope at least one scout-armored trooper or hero will have greying temples, a leg brace, and a double-barreled shotgu... er, bolter.

Interesting thought. I'm not sure how I would execute it for a scout (although I am planning on one of the scouts to have a mohawk and a feather earring), but I am thinking of modeling one of the Land Speeder pilot's heads to look like that - Brother Rockatansky. That also got me thinking about modifying some of the speeders to have roll bars instead of the plate with the vision slit in front of the pilot. Not sure how I would do that on the gunner's side, though. The other thought I had for the speeders would be to have one of the Typhoons with Valk missile pods riveted onto the sides rather than the standard Typhoon missile systems.

extrenm(54) wrote:Go watch "Fist of the North Star"
Its about as post-apocalyptic as they come.

One idea, that would be very hard to do, but would be pretty cool is broken power armor. Like chunks of the armor are missing and the marines have had to improvise to fix the problem.

I've seen the anime version, but haven't seen the live-action. I've thought about doing some patched up power armor. Maybe some improvised shoulder pads, etc. Great idea!

I am a little confused. Is this an army that has been fighting without supplies for 6 weeks, or 6 years?
If the former, I think just being banged up with lots of chipped paint and improvised repairs will do the trick. If the latter, maybe more of the "scratch build" sort of look with cobbled together vehicles.

Alternately, if you are going for a really Firefly, edge of the universe kind of feel, you might try using WH with possible Marine allies, or Marines with WH allies. Storm troopers make nice, light troops, and you could do counts as Sisters as local enforcers with heavier armor. Inquisitors would make nice local bosses or sherrifs with personal body guards.
The SM with allies route would have mostly scouts with 1 or two tac squads with the same decorative theme as above.

Just some ideas. Looking forward to seeing how this goes

Wehrkind wrote:I am a little confused. Is this an army that has been fighting without supplies for 6 weeks, or 6 years?
If the former, I think just being banged up with lots of chipped paint and improvised repairs will do the trick. If the latter, maybe more of the "scratch build" sort of look with cobbled together vehicles.

While I've been considering ideas that would make it look more like they've been fighting without resupply for 6 years, more realistically, I'm thinking that they've been without resupply for a much shorter time than that. In fact, what I've been thinking about lately, is making this army be a snapshot of a Crimson Fist force ~6-9 months after the destruction of their Fortress Monastery - them fighting back the Orks on their homeworld.

Wehrkind wrote:Alternately, if you are going for a really Firefly, edge of the universe kind of feel, you might try using WH with possible Marine allies, or Marines with WH allies. Storm troopers make nice, light troops, and you could do counts as Sisters as local enforcers with heavier armor. Inquisitors would make nice local bosses or sherrifs with personal body guards.
The SM with allies route would have mostly scouts with 1 or two tac squads with the same decorative theme as above.

That's a very interesting take - it would certainly allow me more latitude for really digging into that feel, wouldn't it.

I'm pretty excited because I found something online that I'd been thinking about for awhile - Games Workshop's old Dark Future game! The artwork in this really has a lot of the character that I want to bring to the army, but tempered to be a Space Marine force. You can find Dark Future, along with a bunch of GW's other Out of Print games here: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?community=&catId=cat1290025&categoryId=1100014&aId=5300012.

Adeptus Titanicus or Gorka Morka anyone?

Well, I realize he's not very Mad Max-looking, but I painted my first test model for this army. I don't have a whole lot of experience with extreme highlighting - most of my previous highlighting has been drybrushing, so this was a first for me to give it a go. I realize the lines are not nearly as fine as they should be, but frankly, for tabletop quality, I'm okay with it. And I figure if I do a whole army this way, I'll get plenty of practice and get better with the technique.

I just wanted to post a brief note here pointing folks who had been interested in this thread to my new Crimson Fist thread in the P&M Blogs section here:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/322441.page