Showing posts with label Van Saar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Van Saar. Show all posts

Friday 24 March 2023

Underhive Shenanigans!

Van Saar Unleashed!

I had my first game of Necromunda a few weeks ago, giving me the chance to try out my newly minted Van Saar gang!  As anticipated, I made a few tactical blunders which got my gangers horribly mauled - it turns out that letting a Nacht Ghul armed with horrific eviscerating claws near your ranged gang is... a mistake!

I took a few pictures that I took while we played - it was great to finally have time to put some of the painted terrain to use!

The gangs prepare themselves for a skirmish in an industrial sector

My friend's Delaque gang (also painted by me!) staring down their yellow clad rivals...

The sneaky Delaque leader skirted the yellow tower in attempt to flank my gang

Even though I managed to take the Delaque leader down before he could cause havoc, the infiltrating Nacht Ghul charged into my Augmek gunslinger turning him into dog meat in short order!

I will probably tweak the gang again before we start a full campaign as it was clear that I needed a faster team member to finish off downed enemies - I see a Neotek on a grav cutter in the gang's future...  I might even be working on a backup gang with a penchant for large insects of the non-mechanical variety!

Chem Storage Tower

I wanted to make sure that we had some larger terrain pieces for our games so I built this rather large Chem Storage Tower with multiple levels.  I can't wait to see some snipers hiding on the upper reaches!
I made sure each level has enough room for a few miniatures so that they can be easily placed around the structure.  I numbered each platform and painted them different colours for a bit of variety!

You can just see the posters and decals I added to the tower to bring it inline with my other terrain pieces

I deliberately made this structure rusty and slimy - it's in the middle of an industrial chemical plant so it's bound to get mucky!

Zarl's Bionics Emporium

Given that gangs take a lot of injuries and need surgery and augmetic replacements, I decided that I could make a terrain piece to represent a rogue doc clinic.  I wanted it to have a shiny showroom at the front showing off all the lovely bionic replacements available for purchase, coupled with a seedy looking back-alley surgical chop-shop round the back for the actual surgery!

I've printed this ad sign and will be mounting it on a billboard advertising the shop!

The lovely shiny shop-front!

Some top quality bionic limbs on their display plinths

Only the finest replacement limbs!

Can't decide which leg to replace? Why not get rid of both and trade them in for a whole new undercarriage with spinal interface!

If you've got more money than you know what to do with, you can even get a full head swap!

The rear of the shop is obscured with curtains for... modesty.

Welcome to the place where all the magic happens!

I tried to keep the colours in the rear of the shop to a 'medical' pallette of pastel greens, blues, whites and yellow

The operating table is actually a large crate from the underhive market kit with some leather straps added for the patient's 'safety'

Fixing up gangers is a messy business. I deliberately placed a panel with a drainage hatch next to the table so that any 'unwanted fluids' can be washed away!

A mop and bucket, a second bucket filled with 'spare parts' and a table with medical instruments decorate this pokey little dive! 

I liked playing with the contrast in the two areas of the same shop - You can see into the chop shop through the door panel - I suspect Zarl probably likes to take payment before allowing access to this area!

WIP images

I took pictures while developing these little vignettes as I like to look back at how the paint changes the feel of the finished piece!

The same view minus the paint - looks a lot less menacing and characterful in grey!

I've been deliberately limiting the footprint of these buildings to make sure the board isn't overwhelmed - I plan to build a full boulevard of little shops like the fuel depot and bar

Even though this is a self contained mini diorama, I do intend to convert and paint a rogue doc for Zarl to accompany the Emporium

I thoroughly enjoy making themed terrain features like this and have plans for several more! 

Getting the semi-transparent plastic curtain rail to work was definitely the most challenging part of the whole build!

Krank's Mech Shop

Necromunda has a number of mechanical marvels which all need some TLC at some point.  Enter Krank with his Mech shop!  Word has it that you can even buy fully restored Ambots from this cheeky Squat junker!

The Mech shop has two components - a junk pile and a repair shop with a huge industrial loader under construction

Mech parts and spares can be seen all over the shop

Only the finest scrap parts for sale!

The 'workshop' element of the building is on the top floor where the loader is being repaired

The upper level has a second bay for mech repairs but this is currently covered with tools! 

The lift platform at the back is the only way up to the workshop level

The shop front makes for some handy cover in a pinch!

You can see Krank's not too fussy about tidiness in his workshop!

The loader mech is the focal point of the shop - an advert and a deterrent all in one!

WIP Images

The Mech workshop was tricky to build as the enormous mech suit takes up a lot of space - as mentioned earlier, I wanted to try and keep the shop footprints small so I opted to create a second floor where Krank can work on his mechanical wonders away from any light-fingered gangers!

I made this rack of scrap to show that this is a trader not just a junker, but as you can see, some parts are more valued than others!

I was keen to make the loader look like a work in progress so added hanging wires and 'bodged' armour panels here and there to make it look less like the majestic Astartes dreadnought it started out as...

Krank happily attending to his customer's needs!

Having the shop and the scrap pile in two parts gives me some options when using it in a game

The little bay at the front has a raised platform so that Krank can look his patrons in the eye as he rips them off gives them a great deal!

Krank's personal lift - clearly a mechanical genius won't be using stairs!

Zone Mortalis Wall Sections

Finally, I finished painting the Zone Mortalis walls that came in the Necromunda starter set.  I was really pleased with the overall colour scheme and particularly the pipework on the top.  They're really nice to work with and would highly recommend the kit!

The walls from above - just look at all of those lovely pipes!  I just couldn't resist painting them all...

I didn't weather these wall sections too heavily as I wanted them to retain their vibrant blue colour 

I kept the heavy weathering to features like this rusty old water tank!

I tried out some object source lighting with the yellow lights and purple tube lights - I was quite pleased with the results!

The kit comes with some nice little details such as the computer terminal on this wall section

Even the large flat surfaces can be fun to look at when you dot them with flyers and posters!

I hope you've enjoyed a little foray into my collection of Necromunda terrain - hopefully I'll be posting some more updates soon!

Wednesday 22 February 2023

Returning to the Underhive!

Need some noice rich promefium guvna?  I gots just wotcha need...

It's been a while since I worked on anything other than the Imperator, so I was pretty glad to find some time over the weekend to actually work on something truly 'miniature' again!

I've been promising some friends that I'll finish my Necromunda gang and scenery so that we can have a few games and maybe even start that campaign I've wanted to play for ages!

Well, that time is now!!  I picked up my teeny tiny brushes again and have finished not only 6 of my Van Saar gang members, but a whole terrain piece along with some NPCs to go with it!

The fuelling station

Pretty much all gangs will need some fuel sooner or later, so after years of squirrelling away oil cans and drums, I finally got round to making this terrain piece - I was really keen to make some NPCs to go with it in the same way as I did for the bar.  Read on to see what I came up with...

The fuelling station consist of a main tower, a large generator and some fuel pumps.

The tower itself is relatively basic with a deliberately rag-tag feel to it so that it fits in with my other Necromunda terrain

Just like with the terrain I've already made, I used a combination of bright industrial colours

I love adding little extra parts for character like this plunger pump from the 1st edition ork battlewagon!

A worker hauling his fuel cannisters around the yard.  Note the flyers and tools dotted around to make it feel more real

The fuel pumps - someone's been a little careless....

At the top of the tower is the owner's private area.  With bottles of grog and his own private 'sun chair' to relax in, he's living the good life!

The owner himself is a metal character I picked up from Heresy miniatures.  He's reminiscent of Riddick from the Pitch Black movie...

At the side of the tower is a stack of oil drums - I painted them different colours to show just how haphazard things are in this scavenger's paradise!

This is a self contained scenery piece so it's pretty easy to transport.

I'm really happy with how the fuelling station turned out - I think it'll be great for battling over with our gangs!!

I like the rickety sun chair and drinks table in the corner - I think they describe the owner pretty well!

The fuelling station Dramtis Personae

Every important business in the underhive needs security and the fuelling station has it in the form of some monstrous guard dogs!

The dogs are pretty huge and scary - exactly the right deterrent for any light fingered ganer...

I went with a mottled skin pattern to emulate the hell hounds from the original Ghost busters movie which I believe Heresy Miniatures were inspired by when they produced the miniatures

This lowly worker take fire safety with a pinch of salt...

The two happy staffers fit right in with the scenery piece!
I have two more guard dogs to finish painting - these are the older metal versions which are slightly smaller than the resin hound I've already finished

They are the goodest of boys
Van Saar gang

Well, I have finished painting 6 of the 8 members I need for my starting gang.  It's taken me a while to get them finished as I chose a really tricky colour scheme and I keep getting distracted by other things!  I'm glad I knuckled down and got these gangers done - just two more to go and I'll be game ready!

The yellow and black armour puts me in mind of angry bees!






Sneaky gangers close in for some free oil...


My starting gang will consist of the following members:

Prime 130
Plasma gun 100
Las pistol 5
Mesh armour 15
Augmek         110
Plasma pistol         50
Las pistol 5
Flak armour 10
Augmek         110
Lasgun         10
Flak armour 10
Tek specialist         65
Grav gun         120
Las pistol 5
Flak armour 10
Tek         65
Lasgun         10
Tek         65
Lasgun         10
Subtek         35
Las pistol 5
Las pistol 5
Subtek         35
Las pistol 5
Las pistol 5
Total Credits         995