Friday, June 17, 2011

Draniki Scouting Party Sighted


The Draniki arrive! Well, a scouting force of them at any rate.

This is a project over 4 years in the making. I'm such a procrastinator.

How it started:

Long long ago I started making a Lizardmen army for WHFB. I liked the models. But when the saurus get all tightly ranked I didn't like them as much. The minis are very characterful, but when they're all in the same pose, same facing, packed in tight together it just doesn't look like much. I wanted something different.

Fast forward several years finds me revisiting a pulpy-sci fi fluff background I had in mind, I was calling 'Planets in Peril'.  I played 40k long ago, and still keep an eye on what is going on with it, but it isn't a great fit for me: the fluff is a bit too dour and the rules a bit too *cough* simplistic? (Though I love Orks!) But I am addicted to creating armies. I grew up reading Edgar Rice Burroughs, so that explains a lot of what I am drawn to in gaming genres. So I came up with the Planets in Peril background with the intention of having many races that could be represented by easy to obtain miniatures from various companies. The one I was most excited about was the Draniki.

The Draniki weren't called that then, they were just called by their earth-name, "The Lizardmen of Venus". "Draniki" would come later after hearing it and knowing it must be their name. Any phonetic similarity between their word and an earth-language name for a potato-based food is purely coincidental.

I'm a big proponent of 'double dip' miniatures: minis that you can use as more than one army, or in more than one game system. Get more for your effort! So I intended to have the Draniki be usable as a 'counts-as' 40k army of some type: first trying necrons, then later deciding orks would be more likely.

I started building them. What a joy! Freed from the tight confines of ranked square bases, it allowed for angling heads and giving more movement to the miniatures.  I've also made cavalry, shock-troops and komodos (commandos), a couple small fliers and a couple 'tanks'. All in all I have over 120 miniatures to paint. A year later I scraped off the basing material and redid the bases with light texture & small geysers.

4 Years later I finally found some time to begin painting. In my defense I should say that this isn't a showcase-level project. This is a 'fast paint' project, or with the time I have for hobby it would never get done. A mass army like this I'll just be relying on the conversions and overall impression to carry it. The only way I found time to start it was using them as Askari allies for my Quar in the Venus campaign!  Starting a project as a portion of a different one is a great way to make a new project happen.

So, that's more than you ever wanted to know I'm sure, so on to more pictures!


These are Draniki warriors. Or, if I ever play 40k these would count as shoota boyz.

Draniki warriors take a tooth from the first thunder-lord they kill. Many have it mounted in their rifle, making it a formidable weapon in hand to hand fighting.

Here are some with double barreled radium rifles (angle of the picture makes it hard to see, but they are double barreled) These would count as 'big shootas' for orks.

A Draniki alongside a Quar. The Quar are grateful for both the great strength of their allies as well as the knowledge of Venus they can share.

The Draniki so far:

A small start to a big project.



10 comments:

Paul´s Bods said...

!!!! Me like!!! They are superb....keep procrastinating if this is what comes out at the end..nice one
Cheers
Paul

Paul´s Bods said...

You won´t believe this...but the verification word to post the above was "dogednes"..long term determination. Weird!

Dan said...

Great concept, they look awesome.

comstar said...

They work very well... keep it up:-)

Sebastian said...

Very cool, admire the reptilian scheme and the flash of blue war paint is a great attention grabber. :)

- Tael.

Lobo said...

MY GOD HOW FANTASTIC THEY ARE!!!!!
I want to make the same!!!!
I WILL!!!!
thanks for sharing this GREAT idea and conversion!

David Drage said...

Lovely work, an excellent idea for my pulp/steampunk games. I might have to try some of these myself.

As for procrastination. I am a devil for it too. However,it does give you extra time to think over your designs and find new ways of doing things.

Ben Lee said...

Really brilliant stuff. Love it.

I once did a squad of Kroot mixed with Catachan models. Was the most fun I've had with GW stuff.

Alfrik said...

Yes yes yes, but are they house broken??

Laughing Ferret said...

Thanks for all the comments! Much appreciated!

-Thanks Lobo, it'd be nice knowing that Draniki are popping up in Italy!

-very true Ironmammoth. When I made them, it wasbefore the current dark elf cold ones- so my cav are on the latest lizard cold ones. I almost went back and redid them with the new, but in the end I decided I like the bit silly cold ones- something more pulpish about them. Plus from the top they have a nice 'S' curve to them that works well for a sense of movement on round bases. I also have plans for a new unit to make...

Thanks Spacejacker! I'm curious about your krootachan now. The kroot kit is just great- so many useful bits and the guns are a fantastic design. Making these Draniki might be the most fun I've had with GW plastic kits too.

Alfrik: Of course! They excel at breaking houses, or any other defensive structure.

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