This weekend I finished painting my Imperial Navy officer & pilot for 'Inquisimunda' (Warhammer 40,000 skirmish/adventure games using the Necromunda rules). I've always imagined Imperial Navy officers as very prim & proper, looking down their patrician noses at the uncouth 'ground pounders' of the Imperial Guard, especially given the staggering scale & power of space vessels in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Likewise for the pilots of the Imperial Navy, I see them as a bit elitist. So I've gone with a formal-dress-whites-with-plenty-of-gold-trim look for this Imperial officer, to match the chirogeon that I painted a while back; whilst the downed pilot has an RAF-like uniform. I imagine that the officer is likely a second-tier bridge officer, or perhaps aide to a captain or even admiral, whilst the unfortunate pilot has had his fighter or shuttle shot down. I was undecided about whether to introduce another colour to the palette by having blood on the bandages, so I have left it off for now. I imagine his arm & side of his head to have been burned escaping the wreckage.
Both the officer & the pilot are from the old Games Workshop 'Colonel Schaeffer's Last Chancers' (penal legion) collection - nicknamed 'Hero' & 'Driver' respectively. I think the backstory for 'Hero' was that he refused an order from his superior that would have seen his whole platoon wiped-out in a pointless suicidal charge (so he was sent to the penal legion, for redemption &/or death); whilst the fluff for 'Driver' was that he was a gifted driver/pilot, but had a penchant for joyriding, & after stealing & crashing a planetary governor's recreational vehicle, he was court-martialed. Anyway, I picked-up a few of the 'Last Chancers' minis years ago because I liked the look of them - they are very characterful, & should be great for Inquisimunda scenarios. The chirogeon meanwhile, is an EM4 'ganger' figure. He stands-up nicely at 28mm next to the other officer, although the pilot is particularly tall individual (with massive feet!) Still, it's within natural human variance - especially given the vast diversity of planetary environments within the sprawling Imperium.
The pilot is equipped with a bolt pistol, gladius, & grenade; the chirogeon has a needle pistol & medi-pack; the officer boasts a laspistol, lasgun, & katana! (perhaps a last stand against boarders?) This project allows me to collect a little bit of everything in the Warhammer 40K universe, without the incredible expense of the ever-increasing prices :-s
These look stunning, what a great range of miniatures.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michael, I'm most pleased with the pilot - I really like the pose, & all the details - breathing mask, headphones, bandages, torn flightsuit etc.
DeleteAwesome! Beautifully done, and an excellent choice of minis!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Mordian.
DeleteGreat use of old minis! Navy needs more love at GW methinks.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely - there's been a couple of official Navy miniatures, but it'd be great to see more. I suppose armsmen, ratings, & officers are pretty easy to use Imperial Guard figures for, but some more specific figures would be great.
Deletethat dual wielder guy isn't going down without a fight
ReplyDeletealso there are some great ways to mitigate price increases by looking to our brethren in the East ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip, tacobat!
DeleteLovely colour choices!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Barks. For once I'm 100% satisfied with the outcome, & not considering repainting elements :-s
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