Friday 22 January 2010

Nuclear Renaissance Forces: The Nomads

Hi!

Heres the latest article on the factions that inhabit the Wastelands, this time the Nomads:

The Nomads are an enigmatic group, if a group they can be called, an odd mix of tribal family groups and technically adept raiders.

Whilst they have no real centralised leadership the rovers of the wastes seem to share some obscure unspoken bond of brotherhood and will band together when the need arises. Common folk tend to eye them with suspicion and even a degree of superstition.

It is commonly held that it is bad luck to cross the shadow of a Nomad. Their aura of mystique is largely down to the seclusion in which they live. When they do deign to venture into a bone-yard or settlement (for purposes other than theft) they do so in virtual silence. The only times they will tend to communicate with a townsman is to barter or request services. How the Nomads survive whilst meandering about the wastes is something of a mystery, but their lives are certainly Spartan ones, meaning nomads tend to be lithe, wiry figures, better suited to acts of stealth and light fingered acquisition of goods than open warfare.

However if crossed the Nomads are a baleful force. They will emerge from the dust of the wasteland without warning,. Striking at a target with a mix of feral brutality and eerie precision, usually favouring long ranged weapons, then melt back into the unknown from whence they came.

One of the leading Nomad characters is Hareward. A man of orration, his rousing speeches bind the rag tag Nomads into a society of great importance. He teaches those who will follow him how to live well from the dead wastes. He can find food where others cannot, and thats a powerful skill in this age.


Hareward

The nomads are a good raiding option, relying on stealth and long range sniping than close combat. I plan on eventually getting myself some as they kind of remind me of the Sand People from Starwars. Ironclad Miniatures produce a range of Victorian science fiction miniatures called the Sanwar and they make perfect proxies with their ragged cloaks and gasmasks.


Sanwar Warriors

Ive still got the Mutants to cover and Ive been working on getting some painting done so hope to be able to add some pics of my Wolf Clan once they are finished along with some simple terrain pieces which will allow me to get on with some games!

All the best!

8 comments:

  1. Those sanwar figures look like really cool options for the nomads. I feel like some of the chaos warriors from GW's fantasy range might work too, and certainly the renegade imperial guard models from Forge World if your budget can stretch. I'm looking forward to getting my gangs up and running.

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  2. Hi!

    The renegade imperials are indeed a good choice, I just wish they werent so expensive!

    Another option is the Pig Iron Feral miniatures (they produce separate heads for easy conversion which is a real plus) They may be a bit too regularly armed but are another good choice for ragged looking gasmask wearers!

    The old imperial guard Tallarn troops are another possibility, as are the necromunda Ratskins...

    Alas as Im on a bit of a budget I cant afford to buy lots of nice miniatures at the mo so am having to make do with rummaging around my bits box for suitable stuff!

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  3. Well I just checked out Forge World and if you buy a set of torsos and heads it will cost £11 (http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/chaosrenmil.htm) and £1.32 for postage. You'll still need a box of cadians from GW £12 if you pay full price but that's not the most expensive ever. Still, since £24 will get you two figure sets from Curtis and a big vehicle, there is no good comparison.

    I'm having a go at sculpting figures now. It's really hard but hopefully I'll get to the stage that they look alright. Curtis has offered to cast them up if they turn out alright. Any ides you think I should have a go at doing?

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  4. HMM... Im not sure what to suggest but if I were you Id start with something fairly simple. Im actually working on some big sculpts for uni based on the Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll and its a lot more difficult than it looks!

    Personally Id love to see some of the assorted factions getting some new characters, be it goons from the Friendly Panda Chemical Corporation, Wolf Clan braves or Victorian style navvies working for Brunell!

    Best of luck with the sculpting! I shall keep an eye on your blog to see how it goes!

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  5. I'm having some issues getting the sculpting going how I would like it to. The putty can be really tough to work with sometimes and it's a challenge to make it do what you want. On the other hand, at least it lubricates well with water so I don't need any exotic stuff to help.

    I want to help Curtis flesh out the background of the setting with all of the different characters. I think victorian Navvies working for Brunel would be my choice, though I need to up my skills first.

    If you have any thoughts on the sculpts, I'd love to hear them. Anything can help at this stage.

    Pete

    PS: I hope the boxed set comes out on monday. That was Curtis' last estimate so fingers crossed nothing slows it up.

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  6. Tell me about it! I always end up getting it covered in fingerprints or squashing the detail.

    I seem to be having more luck using milliput than greenstuff but thats on a far larger scale model. I want to give Procreate a go but havent got round to purchasing any yet...

    I too hope that the box set comes out soon as I really want to get stuck into my Nuclear Renaissance campaign and at present am having to make do with building scenics and painting my wolf clan (a rather slow process I must admit) I used to be able to paint three 28mm scale miniatures a day but this one has taken me two days on and off.

    In my defence its the first 28mm scale figure Ive painted in over six months and the first sci-fi one of that scale in a couple of years!

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  7. Yep! The fingerprint mark is the bane of my sculpting existence right now. I've not tried anything but procreate so I can't really comment on the differences but I think that my issues are mostly due to inexperience rather than the material having problems.

    I can't wait to get the boxed set either. My gaming buddy has a 4'x 4' table that is kinda small for 40k but I think will be perfect for gang warfare in NR. I'm looking forward to making terrain and the like as well so just waiting on the stuff to come out is tough. Still I have a bunch of other models yet to be painted so I will have to do them first.

    Good work on getting back into painting. I found that I was very slow when I started again but I've both sped up and improved since then.

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  8. I only have access to a 4x4 board so Nuclear Renaissance is perfect (Especially with my very limited budget!)

    Have you thought of trying to sculpt some mutants? It wouldnt matter if the proportions are a bit off as they are supposed to look deformed and weird! It would also give you plenty of practice sculpting figures!

    You can get away with quite a lot if your figure is covered in rags and bandages too and some muties would be good as at present I believe Ramshackle only have a couple of them...

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