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We hope your holidays are going well, and that you are getting all that you want, and very little of what you deserve! ;) After the Skorpios preview we received a couple of emails asking "what's a Battle-armor?" Well, I'll tell you; In the Spec-Sec world Battle-armor is an anthropomorphic armored "suit" that uses a master-slave waldo type control setup, most often augmented with limited direct neural interface for better fine motor control. So, basically... it's a Landmate. Here is a WIP of a 15mm scale Police Battle-armor used in dealing with heavily augmented cyber-psychos, full borgs, urban Drive-armor confrontations, and fighting with other battle-armors. They cannot stand up to the sort of punishment a Skorpios can dish out, nor are they intended for true battlefield use, despite their type designation misnomer. They just cannot carry the armor necessary. But man are they agile...  Please note that the separate "master" arms and "bunny ear" A/V units are tacked on for show, but will be separate pieces. The A/V units will come in versions with the sensors and lenses covered and extended, allowing the end-user to position them up, down, extended, flapping like wings, whatever.
Three poses will be part of the first release. More are planned, of course, as well as other models. Hope you like it!
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"So what you're telling me is that you're disappointed in it's performance?" "Well, yes. Though it was probably because it was being run through a remote control interface that had a very long and convoluted chain connection signal to throw-off would be tracers rather than a direct pilot brain-hack..." "It destroyed six Firsport Police Drive-Armors and three of their Battle-armors, killed twenty two cops and three dozen civilians, as well as completely destroying two buildings and damaging a dozen others before that section from the Special Security Department arrived on-scene. The three hundred million estimate for the destruction doesn't even include the damage to the port itself or the public roads that were tore up during the battle. ...and you're disappointed?" "It wasn't the results we were... I don't want to say 'hoping for'..." "You were trying to start a war. Start a war by hijacking a secret prototype of a foreign nation and setting it loose in a border city, OUR border city, hoping that things would escalate. Why?" "It's what we do in the Department of Intelligence and Exploitation. By the way, pinching the bridge of your nose like that won't really lessen the headache..." "Ok. So what went wrong? Why was the destruction that you sought so light? is the prototype just that bad?" "Oh, no! It has great potential! Once it is fully developed and up-armored the thing will be a beast! It was just that, well... we just happened to pick the one remote control operator that never plays video games..." *************************** The "Skorpios" is a new design paradigm for walker-type cyber armors in the Spec-Sec world. First of all, it's HUGE compared to "conventional" Drive-armors and more anthropomorphic combat-armors, and is a lot taller than current generation battle tanks. But, it is highly maneuverable, able to lift it's body higher or scrunch itself lower to take advantage of terrain features, as well as being able to mount a variety of weapon packages. having the fore and rear body parts being able to move independently insures the best stability and balance of just about any walker out there. As shown it comes standard with rear pod-mounted ATGM launcher and low-recoil auto-loading canon capable of using a wide variety of shell types (including non-lethal rounds) and a air of arm mounted 30mm autocanon reloaded from ports in the side of the fore-body. It remains to be seen how this mech will fair in urban environments, as it's vision to the rear is not the greatest. Also, testing has shown the sides of the driver compartment to be vulnerable and under-armored. Articulated elephant-ear style armored panels have been tested but found to decrees the range of motion for the body sections enough to be put aside, for now.  As a miniature, it is also huge! 3.3cm tall, 7.7cm leg span, and 6.5cm in length from tip of forearm canon to rear of the canon's housing.
The figure next to the Skorpios measures 15mm from bottom of foot to the center of the eye, so you can get a feeling for the scale of this thing. The kit will be 13 pieces (including the weapons), and additional weapons packs will be produced. The model is currently being printed and will be released in January. "Are cybered-up loonies trashing your town? Do you find your squad in need of something powerful, protected, and fully tactical that won't break the budget? Are your Police cruisers just not up to the job of crashing through walls, scampering up stairs and assaulting directly into the hooligans hide out, bringing fear and justice to those that really really really deserve it? You want a little something to put behind the counter that will make punks think twice about trying to rob you, but don't have the space for a Nandayo-Lopez "Scorpion" hexapod combat frame with 90mm low-recoil anti-material canon and dual 30mm AC arms in the garage? "Then you just might want to take a look at the Fuller-Klimpt "Vantage"! It's armored! It's fully tactical! It's cyber-link as standard, and it won't break the bank! "Able to shrug off even heavy-caliber small-arms fire and minor vehicle collisions, the Vantage comes standard with multi-payload riot control grenade launchers on independently swiveling mounts, a 14mm caseless (and governed) hyper-liquid polymer cooled machine gun in each arm, and crowbar-proof dual color warning light and siren bar capable of having your country, department, or security companies preferred color of lights installed! And, using our patented "gecko-grip" special polymer drive balls, you know you'll be able to grip any surface whether you're blasting down the highway in pursuit of those guilty suspects or walking across a dewy meadow. Who needs articulated digit style feet? Not Vantage! And unlike some other Cyber-Drive Armors (>ahem< Brunai Corp. Walrus anyone? >cough cough<) your Vantage has never run amok during testing, hijacked the operators brain and driven into a landing plane at the most inopportune time, nor has the Vantage been sited as a reason for the escalating tension between two countries on the brink of war. When you want the best, get a Lomax "Sentinel". When you want an affordable ad-vantage, get a Vantage!" **** All of that is a very long-winded way to say "hey, check out this little mech for the Spec-Sec line we just sent off to get printed!"  Yep, it's a "tinting" of a grey scale image...
The Vantage is meant to be a budget-friendly alternative to combat type mechs like landmates, for low-impact urban use. Perfect for police forces and security companies, it can shrug off most commonly encountered small arms and packs enough punch to bring down lightly-cybered enemies. But don't expect it to stand up to your average group of Edgerunners! Luckily it's angular construction and utilitarian ruggedness means that damaged body panels and appendages can be easily replaced by even average motorpools without the need for specialty equipment. The Vantage is small. In 15mm miniature terms it's 2.8cm long from nose to tip of exhaust ports, almost 2cm tall, and 2.6cm wide from "toe" to "toe", perfect for use as a 15mm mech, drone, or 28mm bot. We'll tell you more as the release date for the first wave of the Sec-Sec line approaches, but rest assured that there is a LOT in the works!  The next wave of 6mm models for the Dark Star range is well under way, and we thought that you might like a sneak peek at a Venturian vehicle designed to fill two positions: Point Defense and Mobile Artillery!  This sturdy tank will sport either a pair of Multi-Munition Launch Systems (in the Mobile Artillery role) for both target saturation of precision munition delivery, or a pair of heavy beam turrets capable of tracking and engaging targets independently (in the Point Defense role). If it comes over the horizon, it's toast!  |
Darkest Star Games
Established in September of 2012, Darkest Star Games strives to bring you the best in 6mm and 15mm miniatures! Archives
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