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.

Somewhere, deep within the maelstrom, floats the Vermiculo Noctis. A gigantic spacehulk as ancient as it is huge, and as full of terror as its rusty exterior promises. Here, as the giant mass of space debris slowly orbits some barren planet, in the bends between reality and warpspace, the lost and the damned gather. Rarely out of want, but by chaotic chance or miserable fortune, those who finds itself within will want nothing more than to get out. For the Noctis craves all it can take.

Seeming to suck in wayward vessels, and having done so for aeons, the great spacehulk is a wanton, random thing. Consisting of every form of architecture, mechanic or rock the galaxy of man has ever produced, it is inhabited by the dregs of the civilizations who created its parts. Ever expanding outward as it crumbles inwards on its own gravity, the Noctis seems as if almost seeking new souls to populate its mighty halls, so often does a wayward crew find their ship slamming out of the warp, only to be slowly drawn into the mass of the giant hulk.

Pirates, smuglers, whole armies on their way to the battlefield, burgeoning waaarghs, fleeing heretics, adventures rogue traders, foul xenos or lofty eldar. The Vermicolu Noctis swallows all it can. And should you find yourself there, each and every one is an enemy in the race to get out alive.

This will be a log describing the progress and ideas during a long running, map based campaign set in the deliciously loose but lore driven setting of a drifting space hulk. The games will be loosely based on Necromunda:Underhive and/or Inquisitor, but more importantly, drawing heavy inspiration from the absolutely, indisputably, best and most fun mini-game GW ever released: The 6e. Path To Glory rules from White Dwarf in 2002 (...in other words, everything is random, you can choose basic hand weapons for your crew, but apart from that we roll dice for absolutely everything)

The game itself will start January 2020, but since we are going to need a ton of new minis (that is sorta the whole point), we are starting early. We have few rules miniatureswise except they should be fitting, scaled approximately to GW's 28/32mm heroic scale and that we go for the bits box first. We can buy, but only as a second or third resort.

This is the first warband underway. A band of human corsairs. This will be my gang. I rolled myself a decent, but a bit soft starting lineup, but I think I can make it work.



Some close ups of the WIP heroes. My Captain (free) and a Heretek (I wanted a psyker/sorcerer, but she will help me find better equipment and I desperately need armour, so in that regard, I was pretty lucky).

.

A great chain axe, autopistol and flak armour. Not perfect, so I hope he will only be my stand in until I find a better, more fitting piece of personal protection. His shoulders were my first attempt at sculpting epaulettes. I'm sort of satisfied for now.

He is accompanied by my sole attack beast. That collar needs some shading...



My Heretek pre-green stuff. She holds a heavy stubber and can easily be fitted with extra weapons via her tech-tentacles... I know the skull face looks a bit goofy for now, but I'm quite liking where she is heading. I went rummaging for a classic cloaked tech-priest body in my bitsbox and found this old (Foundry?) model without a head. As I remembered a dramatic illustration of a tech-witch in one of the Rogue Trader RP books, I was sold.



My first two painted henchmen. Since I have more or less just returned to the hobby after a ten year gab, I have set myself the challenge of painting the first few batches of minis for this project with only one, a little too large brush (and a big one for drybrush and bases) in order to try and regain some brush control. I'm going for tabletop standard and I think they turned out ok, although I see a myriad of flaws now that they are blown up in size. I might go back over them with a smaller brush for finer details at some point, but first after I get a lot more miniatures under my belt again.

The one in front is Carl (a reaver, a slightly better henchman).

A former voidsman for an unknown rogue trader (at least according to Carl himself), Carl joined the corsair band by jumping ship during one of the traders more shady deals. According to Carl, his days were numbered among the crew, after his former employer found out he had been sleeping with one too many of her concubines. How much of this is true, no one knows, but Carl's an ok shot, a hard worker and a teller of tall tales, and as such fits in well with the pirate crew.

The beastman, Brraah, was the one who got the whole gang going in my head. I haven't dedicated my warband to chaos (just yet), but if I do, I think (hope) it is rather obvious which panteon I will pick.



Braah's life is an unlucky one. Born a gor into the labor camps in the underhives of Sidon Ultra, Brraah was mass conscripted into the PDF during the Badab Schism as soon as he was old enough. Not particularly fond of army life, he did enjoy seeing more of the world than the production line in which his family slaved. The sermons of the commissars and field preachers was also much more exiting than the automated vox-sermons he was used to. Also, the drugs were better. However, Brraah soon found himself sold off into slavery to Stryxis merchants when his commanding officer needed more weapons for the regular troops. Now, life as a Stryxis slave isn't much different than life as a conscript nor a factory worker in the underhive. However, the Stryxis flesh masters seemed a bit too interested in Brraah's biological composition, so when the Stryxis vessel suddenly crashed into the side of something large and solid, Brraah picked up his chain and ran. In what might have been the first stroke of true luck in the young gor's life, the slavemaster holding the controller to his explosive collar must have perished in the crash, so Brraah kept running. He ran until he ran straight into a patrol of red clad, loud and grim looking humans. Now Brraah is the newest member of the corsair band of the Exploding Star. His second stroke of luck. Finding himself for the first time among people who values strength and cunning more than birth or class, he is learning new truths about the imperium who abandoned him from his new fellows, and is committed to proving himself... and he is more than ready to show his former slave masters, humans and xenos alike, just what he is capable of

WIP Void-scum (basic henchmen). He would be much better off with a spear, but the chain sort of started to tell a story, so he ended up with two hand weapons.

.

"Vat", full name: V.B.anchorhall.300.133.0, is a rather new recruit. Joining the warband weeks before they got caught on The Vermiculo Noctis. Vat is a grown laborer, "born" on some planet he doesn't know the name of, and having worked his whole life in the bowels of a vessel he doesn't know the name, yet alone the class of. Vat knows little and cares less. All he knows is that the Captain's offer of "join me or die" to the assembled slave force after the ship was taken is the single most generous act he has ever seen, or can even imagine. Now he is the captains man, until his last breath. He doesn't know when that will be or how long the expected lifespan of someone like him is, but he does not really care. He is just happy for his good fortune.

WIP Reaver. I wanted some female models in my gang, but have very few fitting miniatures to work from. I think this is an old Warlord miniatures? A cop of some kind. I'm not totally sure I like where she is heading, but she will stand on my work bench for a few days and she will either stick or be changed when some inspiration hits...



I think that is long enough for now - see you later, let me know what you think. Advice and thoughts are much appreciated!

Fun stuff. Sounds like a very entertaining bunch. So far Carl and the Heretek are my favorites. She looks like she could have been a VOID or Warzone model, too. Curious. I look forward to your progress.

This is very promising, looking forward to the next events aboard the Vermicolu Noctis !

thanks guys And yes, I think you are right youwashock, I seem to remember a VOID blister pack in my bin at some point... I might look into it at a later point, she is actually a very fine little mini.

Free range Medusae

So, a LOT of the fun in this campaing is gonna come from random encounters, NPC's and hidden monsters. That means those needs miniature representation too, and that is just enticing Here is a paint ready, free range, non attached Medusae, floating around in the plumbing of the Vermiculo Noctis, looking for prey. It is not exactly the most dangerous enemy to encounter, but it can lead to some funny scenarios and maybe even a new ally, if you are a scrupulous leader and/or willing to risk the morale decrease.



I like having a few unfinished side projects standing by on my working station, so I can grab one when waiting for paint to dry or putty to cure. This one is the first complete sculpt I have done since returning to the hobby. It is in no way perfect, but I put it together in two short waiting sessions and I think it does have a certain character. Let me know what you think



Also, as said we need a lot monsters, so If you have a favorite random deep lore xenos, deamon or mutant in mind, let us know and it will probably end up on one of the encounter lists we need both minor ones and bigger enemies according to map and location level This one came about after finding this illustration in an RPG book. The idea of a free floating brain with an elongated, babyspawning cerebellum and brain sucking tentacles is just priceless.

Oh, and remember not to put your small test bottle of white gesso next to the hand moisturizer you use for GS work

That's adorable. Great little sculpt. Bummer about the gesso.

Thanks youwashock The little brain is painted, but needs better light before I can take a decent picture.

In the mean time, The Vermiculo Noctis, being a place of lost souls in a storm of the lost, is of course filled with the re-animated dead. What dead flesh that isn't devoured stalking the halls for eternity. Zombies are fun, relaxing projects, good for off days and meditative painting There is gonna be a lot of them.

Nice. I like the incorporation of IG parts.

Thanks youwashock

So, the corsairs are coming along nicely, with only two not in painting stages. Time to start the next warband. This one I'm doing for one of the other players.

Stranded Voidsmen of the Imperial Navy

If a hodgepot campaign such as ours can even have one, "meta-game" wise we think of these guys as the starting warband. The all rounders, the vanilla space marines or the Empire of ye old fantasy battle. They come with more starting equipments than most others and do most things relatively well, but are limited in their henchmen selection and might have a hard time incorporating stuff they find along the way to full effectiveness.



He got an admiral (free), a tech adept, and a mix of voidsmen, servitors (lowest henchmen, and a few lower officers. I think he would have been better off with a medic or preacher/commissar, but I had an old scavy ganger lying around that looked suitable for a lower ranking member of the Mechanicum, so that is nice.



A wanted a baroque and aloof look for the admiral, since they are pretty high up in the imperial hierarchy, but also someone who could pack a punch. He has a power saber and carapace. Don't know if he has a firearm yet. I feel the Imperial Navy is a bit overlooked in 40k., both lore-wise and on the table, so it was a nice place to play around. The base is just for ease of sculpting, he will get one fitting a regular sized human at some point. I`m quite pleased with the overall feel (gonna try and paint that horse head as a shoulder swung zebra skin), but man did I miscalculate on his shoulder width He is either broader than a fire truck of squatter than a terminator I'll have to try and fix that. Maybe I can move the arm and epaulet closer to the torso and give the coat sleeves of something. Also, his legs and torso is obviously still in the wip stage.



The start of 3 voidsmen armed with boarding halberds and las pistols. They are pretty dangerous as far as starting henchmen go. I think their bodies are from Troll Forged Miniatures, and they are inspired by what might me my favorite piece of 40k. illustration. (Carl was a prototype). I'm waiting for some plastcard to form their halberds.

Now, I think I need a little help. I have some suitable base miniatures for the lower ranking officers (henchmen with the same statline as the voidsmen, but with more diverse equipment), but I really want to incorporate some female crew members. I could of course cheat and say some of the voidsmen are women, but that feels a little cheap. Also, there is a lot of great illustrations depicting female navy officers to draw inspiration from. (Also and very much this ), do you guys have any suggestions for good miniatures to base some female officers from? Or just good, all round female miniature heads to sculpt from? I'm just very not good at faces...

Let me know what you think

Great helmets on those Voidsmen. Statuesque, I think, has a range of compatible female heads. Bronze Age does male and female sculpting blanks, but then you are in for a lot more sculpting.

We have the first winter storm here in DK today, so here is some random NPCs for random encounters/sprung traps

.

Crazed Tech/Heretek/Deamon engine

Needs a whole new head (botched the paint job), some shading work on the tentacles and maybe a fish tank to go over the top. When I started work on it I was thinking of classic Mignola Hell Boy enemies, and had plans to build a second layer to the body, with the head floating in the middle, but I don't know, I kinda like the head just free floating as is. We will see.

And the medusae shown earlier.

Just a quick snap from my working table tonight, simply because I really enjoy painting them . Inspired by JohnnyHell's Plastic Praetorians. I have 7 more underway in the sculpting stage.

Long lost Praetorian Guards



How long these once brave guardsmen have been caught on the spacehulk, one do not dare to speculate. Out of ammo, they appear to have made do with what resources the Vermiculo Noctis could provide. One should approach them with extreme caution. Loyalist or traitor creed matters not to someone castaway in the warp for years, and they are always looking for new equipment. However, since they must have access to drinkable water and a safe haven, shadowing them might not be a bad idea. Just try not to think about how they manage to stay fed.

This is awesomely brutal and creepy. I love the concept and the models so far. It is great to see a project diving in to explore the background and setting of the 40k universe and not just the standard fare. I love the creativity. The "scavenger Praetorians" is a nice contrast! We see that a lot with orks, but it is fun to see how such a formal, uniformed force would look while surviving in such a place.

Thanks a ton Riddle of Steel. Always nice to be understood by one who knows what is best in life

I did some sloppy late night painting yesterday.

.

Cockatrice

Among the more peculiar denizens of the inner hulk, is a breed of huge, mutated bird like creatures. Named cockatrices by Imperial stowaways due to a resemblance to creatures of ancient legend, they seem to be thriving among the relative safety of the rust rubble and high pressures of the inner hulk. Magos who have encountered them, thinks them descendants of livestock brought to the Vermiculo Noctis ages ago. Now, mutated and dangerous, they seem to hold some power over the warp, being able to hypnotize and stun their pray over wast distances, before closing in and pecking through the flesh of their stunned victims, hearts still beating. Often, their whereabouts are spotted not from a true sighting, but by the presence of sprawled cadavers or re animated victims, slowly walking the halls of the hulk, missing livers and other tasty internal organs".

Found this old Troll Forged Miniatures in my bitsbox and decided to give it some paint. As hinted at earlier, i'm not very satisfied, but since it is just one random encounter creature we will probably never draw, it will do :-). The preacher opposing it is for the Praetorians, but he will need some more work.

I also made this Rogue Psyker. Contrary to the cockatrice, you really don't want to meet this guy before your gang is at a high level.





I just noticed that he needs a bit of extra GS work around the shoulder and a bit other stuff.

.

Not exactly meant for this campaign, but a friend dared me to get something grimdark out of some sprues of Victrix Napoleonics, and these were the result. I quite like them, and already have some plans, but more on that at a later date.

Not sure how I missed this blog. Some really great minis and narrative too. Vat is my favourite so far, loves me a good underdog!

Thanks gobert

Found this old toy I painted up to use as a chaos spawn some 15 years ago. Quite funny. Might come in handy as a random encounter.





Poor little guardsman.