Today, I decided that to help keep the blog alive until I can start posting more regularly that I would introduce a regular feature where I post various images of scifi troopers. There are so many cool designs for troopers out there. From video games, to concept art, to movie characters, the artists and designers routinely come up with some really kickass stuff.
Rather than simply do an art dump, however, I will also post commentary on the images that I post, including my own thoughts on what they represent and how I might use them in games. I'd also love to have folks submit their own finds and ideas. Email them to me and I'll post them.
So, here goes!
This trooper is from a series called "Space Vagabonds" by artist `Ukitakumuki. He has quite an extensive Deviantart page and I could practically do this whole series with his art alone. He does a lot of different types of troopers and even does some cool treatments of Star Wars, Terminator, even a Macross-inspired piece.
This trooper really sings to me. Not only is it a nice heavy-armored trooper, it has that air of realism that makes it believable. Though it's obviously some sort of powered armor, it is not a full armor suit. leaving the wearer flexible and free for mobility. I imagine that there are servos or artificial muscles under that fabric which is likely some sort of advanced anti-ballistic weave.
In fact, the artist hasn't left us guessing all that much. If you read the illustration, this is a fully enclosed G-suit with a powered exoskeleton. It has an onboard AI and uses layers of flexible anti-ballistic materials for protection. The illustration also indicates several helmet variants and special manipulator gloves that return some of the fine manipulation to the wearer after putting his hands into the armored gauntlets.
This is really the sort of armor I expect to see in cyberpunk games as well as hard scifi settings like 2300 AD/Traveller 2300. I would love to see mins of these guys in 15mm.
Well, there we go, the first installment of Trooper Thursday.
Enjoy!
-Eli
Posts
I've always been a sucker for power armor! I especially love the stuff from Masamune Shiro's Appleseed.
ReplyDeleteI am also a fan of Shiro's work. I think this armor has a lot in common with Shiro's Ghost in The Shell stuff.
ReplyDeleteI wish minis sculptors would look to Shiro more. There is nearly nothing out there that draws from the technical niftiness of anime and manga and if it does it's all about the school girls and animal characters.
I would too, they'd make good heavy battledress like what you saw in Traveller the New Era for the Coalition.
ReplyDeleteI too have been a sucker for armored sci-fi soldiers ever since I saw Star Wars when I was six. I still can't help picking up a storm trooper, Halo or other armored toy anytime I see one—much to my wife's chagrin.
ReplyDeleteI approve of this new direction!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I've long loved armored heroes, knights, troopers, or Iron Men--they're all riffs on a (very awesome!) theme.
Nice picture - reminds me a bit of GZG's ESU Power Armoured troops, especially the helmet.
ReplyDeleteGreat Idea, and I would buy this mini. Maybe a couple of dozen. Because it would just have to be mine. And that would mean a new scale/genre.
ReplyDeleteHow much do divorces cost these days?
I'd still buy it. OOOOooo shiny!
J,
ReplyDeleteIf they were 15mm it wouldn't be a new scale, just a new genre.