Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
RhodericMember
I love how the worldbuilding/fiction and the actual, physical hobby project come together so beautifully. That’s the heart and soul of the hobby. Kudos!
RhodericMemberGiven the relative sparseness of the trees in your photo, the green looks more natural to me. The brown suggests dead leaves “smothering” the grass that would otherwise grow there, which might look better if the areas were more densely forested than that.
Of course, the colour of the playing surface you’ll be placing the felt pieces on top of could also affect the matter at hand.
RhodericMemberA bit off-topic, but I listened to a YouTube reading of M.R. James’ “Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook” a few days back, and those ghouls would be very suitable as the creature from that story. I could certainly see a use for them as daemonic beings and not “just” ghouls. It helps that they look fairly imposing of stature.
RhodericMemberI’ve immediately begun doing my own versions of these. Thanks for the inspiration and the instructions.
RhodericMemberDoes anyone know of any inspirational cyberpunk comics? I know there’s some manga (the works of Masamune Shirow first and foremost), but what about western comics? I’ve Googled it, and some titles have come up, but these include Judge Dredd which suggests to me that some of the recommendations are based on a rather fuzzy definition of cyberpunk.
“High tech and low life”, as they say. The more tropes, the better. I want it to be a genre romp the same way I want swords-and-sorcery, gothic horror or spaghetti westerns to be genre romps. To communicate my idea of “what’s cyberpunk” in this context, I would point to the trailers for Cyberpunk 2077, and the artwork in Reality’s Edge and Cyberpunk Red (much of which can be viewed with a Google image search, as the publishers have been using their respective artwork for promotional purposes). All of these have in common that they harvest ideas from other, more original sources of the genre (a bit of GITS, a bit of Blade Runner, a bit of William Gibson, etc.) and condense them all in a very trope-affirming way. Which to me is a good thing.This! The high-tech low-life aspect is the most defining aspect of the genre. The protagonists aren´t the shining heroes saving the world – they are people on the edge of society striving for survival in an increasingly inhuman world. Some people here, in a way, are living this right now. Again, in a way. This is the “punk” aspect of it.
This reminds me of another cyberpunk TTRPG I bought some years back. I don’t recall its name and I might have lost the PDFs by now, but it was an indie title. Anyway, a central element of the game design was that the player characters are meant to be “taking knocks” constantly. If they’re regularly able to walk away without bloody noses, the whole thing is being GM’ed wrong. This, according to the game designer, is one of the defining aspects of cyberpunk in general. It’s meant to be a rough, hardscrabble life. You have to grit your teeth through the pain or it ain’t cyberpunk. Now, I’m not entirely sure that I agree with this philosophy in its most absolute form, but it’s an interesting one to contemplate, and it does suggest at least something nebulous about the heart and soul of the genre.
Rhoderic, I don´t know if you´ve checked out the various short films that are on YT – some are really good.I’ve seen a few of the DUST ones, including one or two that were cyberpunk-themed. A quick YouTube search for “cyberpunk short” brings up a bunch of other, non-DUST ones. Seems to be a mixed bag, but even the more corny ones have some interesting ideas and inspiration for tabletop gaming. And really, I suspect that most sessions of cyberpunk tabletop gaming would translate into very corny films at best. (“Look at me, I’ve got a trenchcoat and a katana and a pair of sunglasses that go bleep bloop! Aren’t I cool?”) 😀
Thanks for the suggestion.
RhodericMemberThis had me thinking, what is cyberpunk. For me there needs to be at least tech that questions what it is to be human. But many films have this that I would not class as cyberpunk. Terminator, In Time, and 2001 for example? Is it the setting then, or maybe the punk. Does there need to be ‘The Man’ in some form that people are rebelling against, be that the traditional government or corporations? I am not sure.
I might define cyberpunk in different ways in different contexts, but in the context of miniatures/tabletop gaming, it’s mainly just a certain look and a certain mood. “High tech and low life”, as they say. The more tropes, the better. I want it to be a genre romp the same way I want swords-and-sorcery, gothic horror or spaghetti westerns to be genre romps.
To communicate my idea of “what’s cyberpunk” in this context, I would point to the trailers for Cyberpunk 2077, and the artwork in Reality’s Edge and Cyberpunk Red (much of which can be viewed with a Google image search, as the publishers have been using their respective artwork for promotional purposes). All of these have in common that they harvest ideas from other, more original sources of the genre (a bit of GITS, a bit of Blade Runner, a bit of William Gibson, etc.) and condense them all in a very trope-affirming way. Which to me is a good thing.
This might be slightly different, but there is a YouTuber named “Astral Throb” who puts together Synthwave/Chillwave/Darksynthwave music mixes. They are excellent for getting into the Cyberpunk mood. Some are very “this is someone escaping from the Man to avoid cyborg organ harvesting” while others are “this is someone living off in the wilderness, trying to survive in what remains”. I cannot get enough of them. When I play any Starport Scum games I put these on. When painting Sci fi miniatures, I put these on. They are very Bladerunner in my opinion.
Checking it out now. Normally I’m more of a lofi/chillhop/jazzhop person when it comes to YouTube-sourced background music, but said genre is not terribly cyberpunk-conducive.
RhodericMemberUh, I just watched a let´s play of Cloudpunk and this looks really interesting especially from it´s design. Thx for this tip.
I’ve only just now realised that Cloudpunk partially uses voxel-based graphics. That’s made it less interesting to me 😐
RhodericMemberWell, I watched Johnny Mnemonic last night, for the first time since the mid-90s. I generally remembered it being bad, but despite being aware of its terrible reputation I had forgotten just how awful it truly is. I almost feel the urge to start up an “intentionally crap cyberpunk” project in 28mm or 15mm, separate from my other cyberpunk projects, in honour of this piece of cinematic malware that’s now back in my brain
Thanks for the video game tips, everyone. Satellite Reign has come up in discussions here on TWW in the past and I’ve been meaning to check it out. I have the most recent Deus Ex game on console (bought in a digital sale) but I’ve been buying too many old games on sale and they all take a very long time to play through, so I haven’t gotten to that one yet. I really should make time for it soon, because it’ll probably be less exciting to play once Cyberpunk 2077 is out. The other games mentioned in this thread are new to me. Any that are too action-oriented for my tastes (or that require a high-performance PC) I can check out on YouTube or Twitch. It’s mainly the visual/narrative/worldbuilding inspiration I crave, rather than the gameplay itself. Another new cyberpunk indie video game that popped up on my radar just a few days ago is Cloudpunk. This is a non-action-oriented one about city exploration in a flying car, Blade Runner-style.
There’s a season 2 of Altered Carbon?
Yes, and a stand-alone anime film. Where S1 of the series is set on a heavily urbanised, cyberpunk-vibing Earth and only brings up the non-cyberpunk elements of the setting (extinct aliens and the mysterious technology they left behind) in passing, S2 is set on another planet with more of an “outer colony” vibe and focuses more heavily on the legacy of the aliens. It’s still “sorta kinda” cyberpunk, but in a more diluted way. Joel Kinnaman isn’t in it anymore, BTW.
I also got around to watching the anime film last night. On the whole I liked it (despite it being another full-CGI production), but then I’m a long-time anime aficionado and quite inured to the occasional weirdness of the genre. It’s also set on another planet, but even so, unlike S2 of the series, this film feels superlatively cyberpunk. That’s all I wanted from it, really, so I’m content. I don’t even mind that some scenes are shameless Ghost In The Shell rip-offs. Being an anime it doesn’t try very hard to be stylistically consistent with the American live-action series it’s meant to share a universe with, but never mind that – just enjoy it for the tropey genre romp that it is.
Hey Rhoderic, thanks for mentioning Ghost int he Shell, I need to take a look at that.
You’re welcs. Just in case it needs pointing out more directly, the new Netflix series (Ghost In The Shell: SAC_2045) isn’t the first installment in the Stand Alone Complex continuity. There are two previous series and a film (all of which I thoroughly enjoyed) from some 15 years back. Still, any one of these installments can be watched as a stand-alone (go figure) as long as you have a basic knowledge of the classic GITS premise and characters in general.
All this is reminding me that there are a couple of other films and series in the grand, multi-continuity GITS franchise I haven’t watched or finished yet. How many different continuities is it up to by now? I count five or six, and that’s looking only at the films and TV/net/OVA series.
I made a new cyberpunk minis game (“Chrome Hammer”).
Purchased! I’ve not read it yet, but I already appreciate the effort you put in to decorate the ruleset with inspirational “in-world” photos of miniatures and terrain. There are good terrain-building ideas in there.
RhodericMemberI have nothing to show yet but most of the figures and vehicles I’ve gotten so far are from the Darkest Star Spec-Sec range. I’m going for a Japanese-style Ghost in the Shell-inspired setting: quite sleek and “mech-y”, without some of the more zany elements typical of Western-style cyberpunk (so no flying cars, detectives in 1940s noir attire, trenchcoat cyborgs, or katana-swinging “cyber-ronin”, which really is more of a Western conception than a Japanese one). The Spec-Sec figures are perfect for this. At some point I’d like to get some 15mm figures with a more Western cyberpunk vibe as well, but I haven’t settled on which ranges to source them from yet. I do like the Khurasan offerings, though.
For terrain, I’m slowly scratchbuilding a fairly simple set-up of giant pillars, buttresses, pipes and other elements which I mainly imagine as representing the lower, infrastructural parts of a giant artificial island or arcology in Tokyo Bay. This concept shows up sometimes in manga, anime and Japanese videogames. My main source of inspiration is the Babylon Project / The Ark from the Patlabor setting (not cyberpunk, I know, but still a futuristic Tokyo). It helps that I can also use this terrain with many of my other sci-fi projects, even in other scales. I’m also meaning to scratchbuild an underground concrete-and-steel tunnel network which will be similarly multi-purpose in regard to scale and sci-fi settings. An actual 15mm cyberpunk cityscape with streets and buildings is something I do want as well, but that’s a more ambitious project and will have to be on the back-burner for now, especially as I hate using buildings that look undersized which disqualifies many of the offerings on the market.
RhodericMemberThanks for the tip, I just bought an eBook and may buy a few more.
RhodericMemberI’m in awe. I like the realism and attention to detail.
Never thought of studying what ancient apiaries looked like. Great idea!
RhodericMemberSpackle applied with a spatula, sanded down and then coated with several layers of PVA on top? Maybe some vegetation along the shore/bank to cover up spots that are awkward to work with the spatula and sanding paper?
RhodericMemberOh yes. This kind of articles is my sustenance. Thanks for posting!
I kind of hate Polyfiber though. It’s frustratingly water-repellent, and therefore PVA-repellent. Also a bit flimsy when teased out thin enough to look believable as a haze of small branches. If I could reinforce it with a diluted PVA wash I’d be mainlining the stuff in my terrain-building projects, but that’s where the water-repellent problem comes in. In any case, you’ve worked wonders with it!
I like those tree armatures as well. Were they sold by Chinese online vendors, or are they part of the product range of some model railroad terrain company I don’t know about?
RhodericMemberThose are pretty unique looking fences.
That’s an interesting observation to read. Nothing unique about them over here. They’re just what old-timey fences naturally are.
RhodericMemberI have no preference between any of the dead tree formats. All are good. That said, I’ve never owned, read or used any spiral bound ruleset as I’ve simply never come across one. Who makes spiral bound rulesets? Are they even a thing? Are they something very old school?
Most of all I prefer PDF for the practicality, convenience and price. But I’m not immune to the feeling of luxury that comes from a high-production-value rulebook in actual printed form, in my actual hands. It does need to have high production values though (“gloss” and all) or it defeats the purpose of not just getting it in PDF.
RhodericMemberOr turn one into a derelict, to give the post-apocalyptic scenery more character. I agree that they both absolutely work.
RhodericMemberI’d just use a very fine brush to paint little irregular lines of the “underlying” colour showing through on the larger, flatter areas. It would require much finesse and a less-is-more attitude.
RhodericMemberI found a photo of the Heavy Gear Blitz one I was talking about, and another one they did for Jovian Wars. They seem to be about 2-3 feet in diameter. For some reason I seemed to recall the Heavy Gear one being a bit more interesting-looking, with vegetation and an oasis. But no matter, it’s still a nice terrain build.
RhodericMemberDream Pod 9, or someone associated with them, made a nice desert-themed round table for convention Heavy Gear Blitz demo games at one point. I can’t find pictures of it now, but IIRC it wasn’t very big as it was only intended for quick games with a few figures in crowded convention venues.
Generally I think round tables would be no worse than rectangular ones for skirmish games, vehicle/mech combat games and spaceship games, as long as you don’t mind the sub-optimal use of space it entails. For massed combat games, there are obvious downsides.
RhodericMemberSculpting in the larger scales is something I can sort of comprehend in sheer technical terms. Armatures and dollies. Sculpting in layers. Blocking in space underneath loose-fitting fabrics. And so on. But 3mm and 6mm sculpting remains a mystery to me. I don’t understand how you’re able to apply pressure on the putty to create detail without obliterating the whole figure. I’ve considered filing the surface detail off of existing 3mm and 6mm metal figures to use them as armatures, but then there’s the problem of getting the putty on top of the armatures thin enough so the figure doesn’t look like some bloat-zombie dressed for an Antarctic expedition. Filing the armature thinner just makes it flimsier, defeating the purpose of it.
I truly don’t get it. When other people sculpt 3mm and 6mm figures, it’s like black magic to me.
RhodericMemberGreat staging with the background scenery, too. Paints a picture of a fantasy world I’d like to game in.
RhodericMemberNow that’s a ‘Namy-looking ‘Nam!
(…to the best of my knowledge.)
RhodericMemberSounds like you intended for there to be photos with your post?
RhodericMemberI was at a con yesterday, and saw big piles of unassorted sprues offered in the Bring&Buy. Wargaming never felt so unattractive …
Bits for the Bits Box!
To me, rummaging in a bits box is one of the more attractive sides to the hobby 🙂
RhodericMemberNeat! I see them as more useful for scenery than basing, myself. Good for 3mm, too.
RhodericMemberI echo everything Thaddeus said.
It’s reassuring to hear I’m not the only one that has an issue with the Tau in a 40K context. I also felt, from the moment they were released, that they don’t belong in the 40K universe. In my headcanon I prefer to leave them out, or to reimagine them as a less important regional power with somewhat gribblier technology that better suits the overall 40K aesthetic (you know the Badger Games Drantakh figures? I imagine the Tau in a 40K context being more like that). The Kroot are perfectly welcome as they are, though 🙂
Yet I do like the Tau… just in some different universe that’s not 40K. I have my own ideas for other, non-GW figure ranges that the Tau are welcome to share one of my sci-fi universes with, including the Antares Ghar and Virai, the Hasslefree Grymn, the Pig Iron System Troopers and the Mantic Asterians.
But I digress. Great conversion job, there!
RhodericMemberThanks for posting that, I’ve been curious about the GZG “true 25” sci-fi range lately. Between the many different infantry types and the old vehicles that Daemonscape now sells (cheaply!), there’s enough choice and variety for a self-contained project without having to try to mix true 25s with 28-30mm figures from other manufacturers. Doing a 25mm sci-fi project as something separate from 28-30mm one has a certain charm to me.
I really like the way you’re painting them, too.
How was the casting quality? I ask because I’ve had hit-and-miss experiences ordering older products from GZG. Their newer products have always been perfectly fine but some of their older ones that I have were cast with somewhat misaligned moulds, which I presume is a result of said moulds having become worn from use. I’ve never ordered any of their 25mm sci-fi though, and I really hope they’re well-cast enough to be serviceable.
RhodericMemberDSG, was the question about humanoid mechs with plantigrade legs vs von-humanoid mechs with digitigrade legs, or about non-humanoid mechs in both cases?
I agree that non-humanoid mechs with plantigrade legs can look a bit derpy. Sometimes that’s a good thing; sometimes the premise of a setting encourages a certain derpy quality to the mechanical designs and succeeds in turning that into a positive, making the setting more interesting. But in the more standard case, assuming non-humanoid mechs only, digitigrade (and unguligrade) legs win out in plain, obvious coolness.
RhodericMemberBest of luck! I’d love to see this become the start of something great. 15mm plastic infantry (and not just for WW2) is a good space for the hobby industry to grow into, IMO.
RhodericMemberI don’t really go for the Battletech stuff much, I prefer mechs which look like war machines and not some giant robot from Lost In Space. So I suppose more chicken/digitigrade rather than human bipedal type? I think….
Funnily I tend to associate Battletech mainly with chicken walkers. Maybe that’s because most of the humanoid mechs in that setting look so horrendously designed to me that I don’t pay them much attention.
Well, isn’t a digitigrade an animal which walks on its toes? Which means aren’t dogs digitigrade? So I read the question as mechs with two or more.
I just assume a context of bipedal mechs because of the specific mention of chicken walkers.
RhodericMemberI’m all about flitting between different settings with different apriorisms and aesthetics, so I’d rather not choose. That said, various anime/manga/Japanese-video-game settings (or settings inspired by the same) with mainly humanoid mechs have a special place in my heart.
I’m assuming mechs with more than two legs are of no interest in the context of the question being asked. Otherwise, they’re just as cool, too.
RhodericMemberI’m doing the same (dipping my toe in the GW scene that is, not judging anyone). I suspect my “time away” from GW isn’t quite as long as that of many other people in our indie-oriented corner of the hobby scene (it’s “only” been about 15 years for me), but whatevs.
I really like the new Necromunda stuff. 40K Kill Team has caught my eye, too. And I even dig the style of the new Warcry range for the Age of Sigmar setting. So I may get into all three. For skirmish gangs / kill teams / warbands, the GW stuff is affordable enough, and I’d like to see what the new plastics are like given the good things I’ve been hearing about their general design philosophy. I won’t be collecting bigger-than-skirmish forces in 28-32mm scale, though. I’ll get my massed-battle fix through my 15mm, 6-8mm and 3mm projects that emulate the 40K feel using third-party manufacturers like Vanguard and Alternative Armies.
I don’t care much about the rules, either. Or, for that matter, whatever GW tries to insist is official 40K canon nowadays. I’ll just do my own thing, with a setting that, at its core, has always been fun and interesting to me.
I’ve actually been hearing quite a few people saying that GW has turned a corner in the last couple of years. I still take that with a pinch of salt, as there are definitely some aspects of contemporary GW that I detest. But it’s good to feel the positivity of other hobbyists. I also feel inspired by all the grassroots creativity that’s still going on in the 40K and Warhammer scenes. The sheer mass of inspirational projects in some of the FB groups is a major catalyst for me, so much so that I tolerate being an FB user for the sake of it.
EDIT: Edited to better communicate my ambivalent opinion of GW. I’ll never be a true GW fanboy again. I see myself more as an opportunistic looter when it comes to 40K and Warhammer these days.
RhodericMemberNot to go off-topic, but thanks for the Iron Gate Scenery tip.
RhodericMemberI’ve been wondering, what’s the second layer of planks along the prow? Ramming reinforcement?
RhodericMemberDamn, but you know how to make 28mm pulp gaming look attractive.
RhodericMemberInsightful article. I wouldn’t have seen it that way because I don’t take it as a given that several players on the same side can move and act at the same time without tripping each other up. I see it from more of a skirmish and small-unit gaming perspective where vectors are more likely to cross and converge, I suppose.
RhodericMemberI’m more forgiving of crossovers in the core 2000AD franchises than I am in most other franchises. The whole point of 2000AD being, it’s hatstand by design. Helter Skelter indeed.
Yes, yes, I know 2000AD has featured comics that are more restrained, and better for it (like Button Man and, perhaps, The Ballad of Halo Jones, both of which are particularly highly esteemed among connoisseurs of comic books and graphic novels). But I’m talking more about the core franchises that include Judge Dredd, Slaine and Strontium Dog. Sometimes those franchises also take the high road (as with the Judge Dredd story America, similarly esteemed among the connoisseurs), but they take the low road at least as often, and perhaps that’s when they are the most fun.
In case it’s not clear, I’m not one of the connoisseurs myself. 2000AD to me is just a wild and crazy ride through a jungle of thematic anarchy – that’s what makes it appreciable as something different from the norm – so I kind of love the idea of Warped Slaine rampaging through the streets of Mega-City One.
RhodericMemberSea of Thieves for me at the moment, good as a short burst of play with no real consequences for rushing off into battle like a berserker. (plus the water looks way cool)
I have strong feelings about Sea of Thieves. Most of the players who really stick to this game seem to be the ones who have a razor-sharp instinct for PvP. I, meanwhile, seem to be worthless at PvP (empirical evidence bears that out), so when playing SoT I often feel like other people’s useful idiot, sacrificing my time and effort so I can provide convenient sport for the proper, bloodthirsty hunters.
I don’t really agree about the “no real consequences” thing. While it’s true that there’s no having to worry about what level you are relative to enemy players (the only levelling up in the game is for cosmetic purposes and gaining access to new PvE mission types), I still feel that being aggressed against, dominated and humiliated by other players is a form of emotional labour. All too often I walk away from a session of SoT feeling agitated and emotionally off-balance. I don’t need that grief in my life. Additionally, being buffeted by inopportune PvE forces (storms, sea monsters, the undead) while trying to avoid predatory enemy players and get treasure to a safe port is too frequent of a complicating factor.
In particular, I hate playing as a one-player crew. As far as I can tell, the game does nothing to scale the difficulty according to crew size, other than providing an appropriately-sized ship. Strength in numbers is a brutal arithmetic; one-player crews get bullied. Everything in the game, PvP and PvE alike, feels much more dangerous without co-op players. Joining a random, open co-op crew is dysfunctional chaos in its purest form, so not really an option. SoT demands to be played with friends who can communicate and work together effectively. This, then, requires everyone in a crew to be after the same kind of experience from the game, which is far from given. Some people see the game as one big PvP arena and like to focus on the emergent gameplay. Others just want to do story quests and experience the PvE content, especially now that the developers have gradually added a fair bit of such content to what originally felt like a very bare-bones arena kind of game. And of course, everyone in the crew needs to know how to play the game in the first place, which is another thing the universe does not just kindly provide.
All in all, I’m starting to feel that the “perfect” session of SoT is something I can only experience vicariously on YouTube or Twitch (or Mixer?), watching players who have somehow managed to get all the pieces in place. I want to enjoy SoT. I love the general style of it. I love the idea of it. But I get the feeling it just doesn’t like me very much…
But yes, the way they’ve modelled the water surface is impressive. It’s a cartoonish game otherwise (which I also like), but the waves look mesmerisingly real.
RhodericMemberI’ve not read the books, but the TV series of The Expanse doesn’t really fall squarely into the military sci-fi genre for me, even if it does have a fair deal of militarism going on in the background. I have been intending to give the books a go though, even if what has been spoiled to me about the later ones gives me the impression that the story/setting eventually makes some extreme pivots in terms of premise, and that seems a tad freaky to me. As for the TV series, yeah it’s quite good, though IMO the production values have faltered a bit at times (especially with some of the zero-G scenes).
As an aside, since we’re talking about TV series: What reignited my interest in military sci-fi the other day was the “Lucky 13” episode of the Netflix anthology Love, Death + Robots. It’s only about 15 minutes long, and some of the combat is very OTT, but I recommend it to anyone who’s up for a high-production-value, trope-filled genre romp.
RhodericMemberHave you ever played/checked out Ghost Recon Wildlands? Much larger and diverse world than many of the above. Shooting is much less spongy compared to The Division and has several modes of travel. It might be the only game I play consistently, mostly to walk around and play dress up. I fire it up now and again when I need terrain inspiration.
I was going to say I’ve seen gameplay of it, but I realised I was thinking of Ghost Recon Breakpoint. I do know of Wildlands but haven’t experienced any of it. Breakpoint does have some nice-looking environments and interesting near-future military technology, so if Wildlands is much the same, I might check it out. It seems to have gotten better reviews than Breakpoint, anyway.
In any case, I’m no stranger to these multi-biome open-world games. I love the general concept of them, especially because of all the terrain-building inspiration I can absorb. I’m in awe of the work and expertise that must have gone into building the gameworlds, simulating the deep detail of the real world. Part of me is regretting not having gone into video game design. I’d definitely be one of the people making the 3D models of plants, rock formations, structures, furniture and whatnot. Then again I did intend to get into video game design but realised during upper secondary education that I was one of the worst people in my class at programming 😐
-
AuthorPosts