Unserious warband thought

[mcjomar]

Okay, so on my way to work this idea popped into my head, and I want to get it down before it vanishes.
It's not a serious warband idea at all, and should be treated as a joke (unless you think it's possible to make it into a worthwhile choice).

Cookies for figuring out the reference.


First:

Inquisitor Eoin Schreiber
WS 69
BS 47
S 42
T 51
I 72
Sg 83
Wp 79
Ld 66
Nv 75

Right handed

Abilities:
Leader
True Grit
Furious Assault
Heroic

Powers:
Regeneration
Fireball

Gear:
Plasma Pistol
Sword
Stubber
Refractor Field

Model:
Van Yastobal, with his pistol swapped, and a holstered stubber added.
Not sure if it needs a headswap - maybe have to borrow from another range.



Scummer Sarah Bloodworth
WS 65
BS 42
S 46
T 48
I 71
Sg 53
Wp 64
Ld 58
Nv 86

Left Handed

Abilities:
Quickload
True Grit
Furious Assault
Heroic

Powers:
Regeneration
Psychic Shriek
Gaze of Death

Gear:
Plasma Pistol
Sword
Autopistol
Refractor Field

Model: Barbaretta with the pistol arm, swap pistol out, and trade left hand for a sword hand.


Techpriest Varian Raut
WS 62
BS 43
S 41
T 44
I 67
Sg 89
Wp 61
Ld 52
Nv 63

Left Handed

Abilities:
True Grit
Rock Steady Aim


Powers:
Regeneration
Machine Empathy

Gear:
Plasma Pistol
Axe
Laspistol
Refractor Field

Model: Gruss, trade right hand pistol out, and replace left hand/arm with suitable sword hand (borrow from a space marine perhaps?)



Hunter Victoria Grendel
WS 68
BS 46
S 41
T 42
I 63
Sg 36
Wp 59
Ld 46
Nv 65

Right Handed

Abilities:
True Grit
Furious Assault
First Strike
Acrobatic

Powers:
Regeneration
Blood Boil
Teleportation


Gear:
Plasma Pistol
Sword
Handbow
Refractor Field

Model: not sure, but I'm thinking convert one of the blade sisters, maybe have the two pistols holstered, one on each hip? Might deserve a headswap to use the daemon huntress head (I really like that head).


Rogue Bartlet Grollen
WS 68
BS 46
S 41
T 42
I 63
Sg 36
Wp 59
Ld 46
Nv 65

Right Handed

Abilities:
True Grit
Fast Draw
Feint

Powers:
Regeneration
Enforce Will
Embolden

Gear:
Plasma Pistol
Sword
Hand Flamer
Refractor Field

Model: slick devlan, trade one hand for a sword, and other pistol out for the obvious, replace on hip holster with a belt-hanging hand flamer.


Psyker Leara Andross
WS 39
BS 63
S 31
T 32
I 73
Sg 51
Wp 89
Ld 43
Nv 79

Right handed

Abilities:
Nerves of Steel (Completely Loopy)

Powers:
Fireball
Gaze of Death
Blood Boil
Storm of Lightning
Psychic Shriek
Puppet Master
Teleportation

Gear:
Dagger
Refractor Field

Possibly the Orechiel model, but I'd have to sand off the sword from the cloak, strap a dagger onto her hip, and replace the pistol hand with an open one (or I could give her a small force staff or something?)


Background is something I'll get back to, but there's no way to actually justify this warband - the sheer amount of plasma means they'd probably never be allowed on a board for starters. Not to mention the fact that all of them have psychic powers (even the techpriest).

It's a reference to a book series (which was good) and a movie (which is apparently bad but thankfully I never saw).
I could easily make the lot by grabbing the models off ebay (they're available on there for (mostly) reasonable prices, all things considered), but I'd never have a serious reason to use or play them (much like my Lara Croft 54mm Inquisitor model, sadly).
However, as a thought exercise it seemed amusing enough, so I figured I'd write it up for perusal.
Hopefully I've at least killed off their ballistic skills enough for it to make sense though. Or as much sense as a joke like this ever could anyway.

Thoughts?


EDIT: a thought of my own - in the reference material, this group would usually end up having to split up into groups of 1, 2 at most.
So that would possibly balance the characters back towards some semblance of playability. But not really because yikes.

[Lord Borak]

Why do they all have refractor fields and regenerate?  Refractor fields aren't usually things you buy in bulk.

[mcjomar]

That's part of the terrible reference to the fiction source.

However, RE: Regenerate if I was to actually try to justify it (note: there is no justification, this is a terrible warband, and should never be fielded as is under any circumstances) I'd suggest some sort of corrupting mimetic virus (see the Dr Who episode "The Doctor Dances" and the one immediately before ("Are you my mummy?")) which has granted them regenerative powers, meaning they can never die, but (I'm guessing) live in a lot of pain (they can't take any sort of painkiller), and can't use bionics (the techpriest is slowly losing every bionic implant he ever has as they are forced out of his regenerating body, meaning he's probably in even more pain than the others - unless it's even more corrupting for him, as per some sort of necron-related nanovirus).

It would basically mean they can regenerate from anything (even things you probably shouldn't), live in perpetual horrific unending pain, and are probably slowly going insane, while being forced to throw themselves into completely nightmarish scenarios as part of their duty, that result in even more pain - cue the vicious circle (hmm, that would make for an interesting conclave, cult, or warband name).

In regards the refractor fields, that's just part of the reference, along with the swords and plasma pistols. I don't think there's any possible justification for that whatsoever.



EDIT: lets circle right back and torture them some more - what if it's a corrupted Dark Mechanicus daemonic nanophage virus? That not only rewrites their DNA, but is also forcing random psychic mutation upon them, along with the regeneration (to keep them alive and suffering) and insanity (and pain, don't forget the unending pain). And let's keep going shall we? What if it messes with their equipment too, making it unreliable, repairing and unrepairing itself at random, and meaning no techpriest will ever want to go near them to fix things.
Variable strength plasmaguns and forcefields that fluctuate at random, going from wildly effective, to completely pitiful, forcing them to try and scrounge or steal new equipment where possible (which inevitably becomes contaminated also) - it'll make it even worse if they want to travel somewhere, unless the daemonic influence within the nanovirus is also somehow self-aware enough to become dormant when close to discovery by others, and on top of that tortured them unendingly during warp travel, gellar field or no, but clears up the moment a medicae takes a look.


And let's take another step - the virus will affect technology, but not primitive stuff. Bows, swords, etc.
So lumps of wood and metal are fine.
Projectile weapons are close to safe but become risky actions or they explode (the virus messes with the ammo causing misfires, nofires, dummy shots, and exploding shells/cartridges), as per plasmagun rules.
Lasweapons are this but worse, and the same is true for any high technology weapon.
Shields fluctuate wildly, and powered armour of any sort is an impossibility.
Bionics will barely function at the crudest of levels (poor techpriest) and any other technological gear (auspexes, etc) will be unreliable at best.
Rebreathers might work (it keeps them alive in certain circumstances).

Primitive tech only, really, or the psychic powers (come at the risk of making things even worse every time).

On the other hand, poisons would have reduced effect I guess. Ditto gases. Although the healing process = pain.

That said, plasma weapons are already pretty risky.
What if plasma and flame based damage is the only kind of permanent damage they can take? Maybe the virus can be shut down or permanently destroyed by it? What if the magnetic fields of plasma weapons (which are poorly understood at best) repulse the virus?


Also - They're pretty much a target for everyone.
Monodominants will see them as targets for cleansing.
Amalathians will see them as destabilising elements.
Thorians might see them as being possible candidates, or targets for experimentation (draw blood, inject it into others, what happens RE: the virus?).
Recongregators might see them as tools,
Isstvanians would see them in much the same way as thorians would, albeit for different reasons.
Not sure on Horusians.

Everyone will want a piece of them if they discover the secret.

And how could they find a cure for it? Does one even exist?


On that note - if the magnetic fields around plasma weapons might repulse the virus somehow, what if they start seeking out similar powerful power sources to either keep the virus at bay, or attempt to outright destroy it somehow - possibly this is their objective?
What then happens when they do encounter such powersources?
reactors, gellar field generators, starship fusion reactors, plasma generators, necron arc sources. What about the webway?
Would the virus infect the technology, possibly corrupting it, or even causing it to explode? or would the virus be wiped out by it?
Ditto gellar fields - would it cause it collapse? Or would a suitable gellar field damage the virus? What experiments would they pursue in an effort to cure the virus?

What would happen if they did cure the virus? Are they still the same people are so much regeneration? Is their spirit still tied to their body, or is it now tied to the virus? How would they find out? (see above blood experiments?).
And if the virus is removed from their bodies will their bodies remain the same, be cured? or will they fall to pieces? is the virus the only thing holding them together?

[greenstuff_gav]

Hungergames perhaps?

Also, 54mm Lara Croft? Pics please

[mcjomar]

Can't, sadly.
But I'll give you a parts list of roughly how I did it.

Calidus assassin body, legs, and arms (I was inspired by another 'clavers use of that model, so I've used it as a source for three models, including Lara).
Jena's head.
Calidus braided ponytail.
Two stubber hands, on right (from lucretia) one left (I had to sculpt this using an existing hand as the base, and a whole stubber including grip so I had something to wrap fingers around. I'm still not entirely satisfied).
Shotgun from Barbaretta (cut off the stock so it looks like the one from the original Tomb Raider).
Backpack sculpted over the powerpack on the back of the calidus torso.
GS over the body armour, and smooth out the legs using a file so she's wearing shorts instead of trousers. Borrow a couple holsters, probably from slick devlan. You'll have to straighten those legs, but that's pretty easy.
You'll likely have to GS some of the boots to make them look normal.
Rip off most of Jena's hair, and GS the replacement, and pin the braided ponytail into the back of the head so you can GS a scrunchie around it.

And I think that's pretty much it as a recipe. I keep forgetting to paint her, and again she's currently stored at my parents rather than with me, hence the lack of a pic (I'll get one, don't worry). There may be a little more to it than that (oh yeah, you'll have to file the arms to smooth them off as well, which is painful when the calidus gun and sword are so inbuilt into that part of the sculpt). But I think that's about it.
Ponytail is a bit stiff, but I'm scared that if I try to bend it properly, I'll just break something.