Spotlight on: Colony-15 line history

Welcome to the inaugural posting of "Spotlight On"!  For this first posting I thought I'd give a brief rundown on the background of our Colony-15 miniatures line and cover a little bit about how it came to be.

I've always been a big reader.  As I grew up, my uncle kept me well supplied with old novels from the 50's onward.  A lot of pulp sci-fi, adventure, as well as a good dose of fantasy.  Doc Savage, Lensmen, Little Fuzzy... the list is extremely long.  We also had a friend of the family that was a writer, with westerns being his preferred genre, though he wrote about more than just Cowboys and Indians!  Eventually I turned to the harder stuff, and by that I mean books like the Dune series, Ringworld, Hammer's Slammers and The Fleet.  I also was playing the heck out of the Traveller RPG and D&D.  But, I've always had a soft-spot for those old adventures.

When the opportunity to open Darkest Star Games came along I knew I wanted a line of miniatures that brought back the flavors of my childhood readings, and that was a bit less "hard" sci-fi than the Dark Star line.  I had just reread Space Viking by H. Beam Piper for the uptinth time and it all clicked.  I didn't want this new 'verse to be set inside any previously developed background, so I was off and creating!

The figures for Colony-15 are in essence a distillation of my old reads: The Magravate Militia are not the "minute man" force their name suggests, but more of a post Civil War US Cavalry analog.  They not only respond to trouble in their troop's territories but also conduct long range patrols and maintain contact between the far flung settlements on the high plains
The Zonii could almost be considered Native American tribesmen, the planets first settlers "gone native" both spiritually and through genetic tinkering to survive in the original much more hostile environment.
And then there's the Star Marauders.  Part viking, part bandido, all ruthless.  A combination of many of the classic bad guy tropes from the old paperbacks.

Being as this figure line was meant to be something of a sci-fan sort of shindig I commissioned Bob Naismith to sculpt up some retro-ish figures in a throw-back sculpting style.  He's not only been around for a while, but he is one of the few people out there able to sculpt in more than just his own style.  He really gave the initial figures that "classic" feel without having to resort to time travel or necromancy.

Slowly but surly the Colony-15 line is being expanded, never you fear!  In the works we have native fauna (mostly dangerous), civilian vehicles and farm equipment, and assault craft and conveyances for the Star Marauders so they can do their looting, burning, and chicken stealing! 

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned!