The Rodite : Women of Venus Want Our Men : Really? Don't Flatter Yourself

Venus.  
Goddess of Love.  The Evening Star. Planet of Mysteries.

When mankind realized he was not alone in the solar system, it was not a great surprise to discover the planet Venus was populated. It was however a shock to discover that the people of Venus had visited Earth before, and had done so a very long time ago.

Though Venus is our nearest and most similar planetary neighbor, it remains nearly as mysterious as the satellite worlds of the Jovian giants. Obscured by dense clouds and choked with jungles it could take many lifetimes to unveil Venus.

Of the races which inhabit the lush world, the most similar to mankind is the Rodite.
The Rodite (Roa-die-tee) are similar in size and appearance to humanity, and if it were not for the green skin they could pass among us unremarked. They are perhaps more similar to the Barsoomians, those of two arms at any rate, than us however, since like the Barsoomians they are also oviparous, in that they lay eggs to birth their young. An interesting note is that Earth seems unique in the solar system with the propensity for live-births. Does the similarities between the Rodite people and Barsoomians suggest a common ancestry? Or is it simply a matter of coincidental evolutionary development?  We do not know.

There are other significant differences between the Rodites and the Barsoomians and Earthlings both.  The Rodite people are almost entirely female.  Male hatchings are rare with only about one in fifty being male.
Because of this, Rodite society is entirely different than what we have on Earth.  It is a matriarchal society as one would expect, with the smaller male population living their life in what could only be described as a harem structure, where the more powerful leaders in society having one or more males: the greater their position in society, the more males they have.  It is a mark of position to have even one male as the leader of a 'house' may have, and the Alpha Rodite is said to have a thousand men.  As can be readily seen, this arrangement only adds to the problem of decreasing birth rates, as the social conventions and rituals only permit these males to be gifted for mating purposes as tokens of great gratitude and debt from a higher ranked woman to subordinates.  The highly ritualized and rigorous society they possess makes this occurrence rare and undesirable for the highly placed women.

The Rodites have captured the imagination of Earth men, as you can imagine.  Tall tales from returning rocketeers abound regarding rendezvous with beautiful amorous alien women.  The less reputable motion picture companies have begun producing such tales to the silver screen, shown in unmarked movie houses.
But is there any truth to these tales?

It has been discovered that the Rodite have recently recovered from a sort of 'middle ages' where their technology and civilization diminished.  Long ago they had a civilization which dominated their planet and they made ships to explore beyond their world.  They came to Earth nearly three thousand years ago.  The first expedition ship crash-landed off the coast of Greece.  They made contact with the primitive people they found there.

The people of Earth at the time were incapable of understanding the origins of the Rodites, or their nature and named the Goddesses.  The Rodites taught the Greeks much, but much was misunderstood. They pointed out their planet in the sky, and told them this is where their Queen, the Alpha-Rodite ruled supreme.  Over time Alpha Rodite became condensed to Aphrodite, and the emergence of the Goddesses from the sea and the concept of a supreme Goddess beyond their reach in the sky became the distinction between Aphrodite Pandemos and Aphrodite Urania. The Rodite name for their world, Cytheria, also became associated with the Goddess Aphrodite. The Rodite tales of the peoples of the other planets were taken by the Greeks to be tales of the Gods, and became central to their mythology.

How will this reconnection to the peoples of Venus affect the lives of those of Earth?
Considering the formative effect from the first meeting, the changes ahead for Earth could be altering indeed.

..........................

The miniatures I used for the Rodite are the Valkeeri from Hydra Miniatures. Really nice sculpts.  

I decided to paint them with green skin, to give them a more alien-look and make a clear distinction between them and Earthlings.  This will also keep them separate from any Barsoomians, since the only race from Mars with Green Skin are the 4-armed 'Thark' type, all the 'human' types have other skin colors. So green women seemed just right for Venus. 

Gamma Commander Jiniq

This will probably be the last skirmish group for Planets in Peril for awhile.  I have a team of Earth Men and a team of Thurn, but they're still raw metal, so it will be some time before I find time to work on them.  

But there is more to come, never fear!

In the meantime, here are some face-off snaps of the different factions so far: 

Lunar Apes : Earth's first children to make a permanent home in space

Among the Planets in Peril, not only mankind from Earth has taken to space, but also African Apes.

When the nations of Earth began to take their first steps into space, in the late nineteenth century, they would discover they were not the only intelligent race warmed by the Sun.  But before this realization was made, mankind was not even the only race from Earth, for they brought with them, in fact, sent before them, the Great Apes of Africa.

The first rockets to carry apes into space was from a joint Belgian-French program in 1894.  By 1910 the Belgians and French were the first nations to establish a habitat on the Moon.  This was expanded upon and within a few years had living facilities,  growing their own food, and with the discovery of lunar fungus, which excretes water as a bi-product of its photosynthesis, nothing prevented  permanent habitation.

The human engineers and scientists did not adapt as well as the Apes which had accompanied the settlement.  Brought as experiments to test the effects of life on the Moon, the apes stayed for years while the humans rotated on four month shifts.  The Apes proved to be highly trainable as workers, and with their greater physical strength did not suffer to the extent the humans did moving from the near-weightless surface and back to the unreliable and sometimes punishing artificial gravity of the domes. The Apes adjusted readily to the new environment. With each rotation, more Apes were brought to the Moon. The Apes began to teach the newcomer Apes what to do.

By 1914 both Belgium and France abandoned the Lunar Dome project, being swept up in the war which broke out and engulfed Europe back on Earth.  With a limited number of rockets, only the human scientists and crew could be brought back.  Though regrettable, it was assumed the Apes would perish.

But the Apes did not perish.  They thrived.

When contact with the Lunar Domes was re-established, some twenty years later, Earth was shocked to hear transmissions of demands placed for the return of French prisoners by the Nation of Luna.  It was assumed it must be a bad joke, or a publicity stunt of Hollywood from the Americans. But it was the Apes.

Noted physicist Albert Einstein postulated that it was conceivable that the increased radiation which the Moon was exposed to, could have had a mutagenic effect on the structure of the brains of the Apes.  How else to describe what had happened?  For here it was: the Apes were talking and had established themselves as a power on the Moon, and were demanding recognition as an independent nation.

In fact, the Apes had been contacted by the Draniki, a reptilian race from Venus, when the Thurn launched their invasion on Earth while it waged their own Great War.  This fact has been uncovered by Earth, but the details and ramifications remain unknown.

The Apes repaired three damaged rockets left behind by the Belgian and French program, and began making new ones.  Once recognized, begrudgingly, by Earth, the Lunar Apes, in exchange for permission for limited exploration on the Moon for Earth Nations, received in turn landing right in Africa to bring more of their kin to their new home on the Moon.

Relations remain tense, but no more so than say, between the United States, the Soviet Collective and the Prussian Empire.  Diplomatic relations are open and there are even scientific exchanges.  Some of the Apes have even become something of a novelty or celebrity status, and can be seen vacationing in the south of France or on Southern California beaches.

..............................

Another faction completed for small skirmish games in the pulp sci-fi setting Planets in Peril.

I picked up these miniatures quite a time back: couldn't resist them. 

They are from Eureka Miniatures' Boiler Plate Apes line.  There are a handful in spacesuits and I thought they'd be fun for a sci-fi setting.  I added the ape mechanic from Hydra Miniatures to round them out to a team of six.  

I had almost finished painting them when I decided I'd change their weapons.  The miniatures come armed with uzi or m-16.  I decided something more 'ray gun' looking was needed, so I gave them weapons from GW Dark Eldar. 

The three adults: Zera, Joe & Cornelius

Three younger apes: Nikima, Chim, Roddy

The team assembled.

They went to the moon for freedom. 

They came back to Earth to share funky dance moves.

Psylons : Protectors or Predators in Planets in Peril ?

Psylons.

Of all the races which inhabit the multitude of worlds orbiting the Sun, the Psylons may be the least understood by the nations of Earth.  While it is true the Jovian Overlords are the greatest mystery, as no man has ever laid eyes upon one, at least with them it is known they are the Great Threat, and their purpose is clear, so much the greater woe for mankind.  But with the Psylons much remains to be known.  Are they friend or foe?  What are their goals? How do they view themselves? How do they view us? Are they a true 'people' or are they mechanical puppets, their strings being pulled by an unknown power?

These questions can not be answered in full, but there is some information to speculate on.

The Psylons are mechanical beings: robots.  They come in many shapes and sizes, and it is not altogether clear that there are not rival factions within their numbers, as the nations of Earth. If there are factions, or nations, it is not known if this falls along lines of physical differences or if loyalty is determined by some other criteria known only to themselves.

It appears the Psylons inhabit as their home the many asteroids of the asteroid belt.  Rockets have brought back pictures to Earth of what appear to be small cities and spires on asteroids and it is speculated that these are like icebergs, where the majority of the city is underground.  The fact that there is no atmosphere and little gravity would have no bearing on robots, so this speculation has merit.

The peoples of Barsoom, known as Mars by Earth, have a legend that may hold the key to understanding the Psylons.  They tell of a time when there was a fifth rocky planet, beyond Mars, where the asteroid belt is today.  This planet was of comparable size to Earth and was the first Inner Planet to fall to the Jovian Overlords.  This planet, named Thurnoom by the Barsoomians, was home to a race known as the Thurn.

The Thurn fell under the sway of the Jovian Overlords readily, as they had much in common with them, in the way they think and organize their society.  Once dominated by the Jovians, the Thurn in turn invaded Barsoom and began a period of conquest which would subjugate many of the races of Barsoom and wither their growth.  The Thurn were so successful they began to think of themselves as the rightful rulers of the inner planets.  Indeed, they supposed they could separate themselves from the control of the Jovian Overlords and planned to invade the rest of the Inner Planets.

Before the Thurn could turn their attention to the planets closer to the Sun, they needed to defend themselves from the wrath of the Jovians.  On their home planet they began to manufacture robotic armies, to defend Thurnoom against any of the terrestrials from the outer moons the Jovians may unleash. This would divide the solar system, leaving Thurn the undisputed masters of the Inner Planets.  With such a large force the Thurn were confident in their imminent success.  This Hubris was their undoing.

Around the time the Roman Empire was falling, another great empire on the rise was falling as well.
The Great and Terrible War saw the complete destruction of Thurnoom.  The Thurn boast they destroyed their own planet, better to spread defenses to keep the Inner Planets safe, but many believe it was the full might of the Jovians unleashed in anger at the Thurn rebellion.  But still others speculate that it was another rebellion: that of the Psylons who served the Thurn.  It may be that the Psylons were responsible for destroying the planet.  Why? To ensure their own freedom?  To revenge themselves upon their makers? Or perhaps, as some hope, to offer protection for the Inner Planets?  We can not know, and if the Psylons know, they are not saying.

Today, the Thurn are a shadow of their former power.  They are hunted by the races of Barsoom, but remain relatively safe in their strongly defended underground cities.  Their most recent attempt to build a new center of power for themselves, the Tripod Invasion of Earth, was not successful. Some say this successful defense of Earth, with it's rapid progress in technology was due to donations of technology and weapons by the Psylons.  If true, does this mean they are friends to mankind?  Or is there more, unknown, in a grand plan yet to be unveiled? 

Legionaries of the Suzerainty of Phorus

Seems like a long time since my last update.  I've been trying to navigate through a bureaucratic beseigement by Vogons in real life.  But I did find a bit of time to paint some more pleasant aliens, and having emerged through the maze I'll present them to you now.

In the last update I introduced the Suzerainty of Phorus, one of the powers in the Planets in Peril setting.
I now have 15 Phori painted.  These were a lot of fun to paint.

Officers.

In the Suzerainty, tradition and rituals of culture run deep.  

Officers carry ancient forms of ceremonial weapons of office, as well as pistols.

A small group leader gives orders.

They do this a lot.

The group:

(click for larger)

I debated on the color for the rifles, in the end I decided a simple heavy old bronze would carry the feeling of "Serious & unfriendly" for a space opera style setting, without being "evil empire".

A legionary of Phorus faces a Psylon:

I'm sure there is more to come from the Planets in Peril...

Officers of the Suzerainty of Phorus : Conversion W.I.P.

I've been compiling ideas for the timeline and various worlds for Planets in Peril for.. well, years now.
One thing I've always enjoyed about the gaming hobby, in minis wargaming and RPGs before that is 'world building'. Creating a setting is just great fun.  So creating multiple worlds is even more fun.

Eventually I'll organize it and present it.  Quickly speaking, it begins in the early twentieth century and progresses several decades. It is unashamedly inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs, a touch of Wells and who knows what else pulled on my neurons to make a stamp here and there, along with some original ideas I would hope. The nice thing about a Burroughs-concept of the solar system is it is rich, fertile ground for crafting worlds.  If there is a rock out there orbiting the Sun then it's worthy of populating, hard science be damned.

Despite wars and conflicts our inner planets are comparatively safe, because the outer planets are dominated by the Jovian Overlords: shadowy powers who's purpose in using terrestrial races as pawns are unfathomable.  There are many races under their sway already, on the large rocky moons of the Gas Giants.  One of the more formidable powers is the Suzerainty of Phorus, located on Enceladus, orbiting Saturn.

The Suzerainty is an old and byzantine culture, steeped in martial tradition.  Their pride runs deep, many of their citizens do not know that the Jovians are in fact living beings, believing them to be the spirits of dead Suzerains of the past.  Phorusian legions are anything but an uncommon sight in the worlds past the asteroid belt.

Since Suzerainty troops might be numerous foes in some scenarios I picked up three sets of 5-man squads from CP Models. When I saw these minis I loved them instantly.  Quirky and Odd: just my style.  I've always loved prehistoric 'Terror Birds' so the minis of what might be an evolved sentient race of them was something I couldn't resist. I knew I'd want some terrestrial races for the Outer Planets, but hadn't decided what they'd be... but now I have the first one set and starting to decide details on their culture and history, as you see from above.

A set of 5 minis comes with 4 riflemen and a leader, to create more variety I converted the 3 leaders: 1 commander and 2 lesser officers. The commander I just made a helmet and the others I removed the sword and gave them force halberds. And that's that. Here they are:

These three and 12 riflemen make 15 that are primed and ready to start painting.
I'm looking forward to them!  What do you think of them?

And yes, some of these large moons are still pretty small, especially compared to a planet like Earth.

Take the Phorusians' world of Enceladus, seen here to scale:

A small world. but considering it has no oceans, but plenty of ice & lakes beneath the surface, there is still plenty of land for a formidable power to call home.  Considering how much of the Earth was under the power of the island in the picture above, I think the Suzerainty should not be quickly dismissed. 

More to come! 

Pulp Sci-Fi Robot Centurions : Painted Hydra Miniatures Robots

If you've visited here more than a few times you have probably realized that I have some pretty eclectic tastes in miniatures projects.  Sure, there is a lot of Blood Bowl.. I want to get my 24 teams and I am always tempted by a new theme team in Blood Bowl, but I also get tempted by a lot of small projects and often the odd theme or less common game speaks to me the loudest.  Earlier in the year I was doing a lot for my Prehistoric Pulp project, and I will be returning to it.  I've also wanted to get several very small skirmish teams for Pulp Sci-Fi, which my Crew of the Starship Drowsy Wombat can be split into a couple of.

I've had what might be a breakthrough in the idea for the rules for the pulp skirmish games.  The Prehistory & Sci-fi could both work with the same rule set. I'll have to play test it, but if it works and is fun, then it could be a fun system that would allow for about anything to play against anything.  So maybe in the not too-distant future I'll get a chance to test the rules out and can report on that.

In the meantime, here is a team of The Robot Legion. I'm toying with calling them Psylon Centurions.

In the game I'm planning, 4 robots of this size & durability is plenty for a team.

I love the 1950's retro future feel of these miniatures.  They are from Hydra Miniatures.

They are quite tall.  Here is the Robot leader next to my Captain Vok, from Reaper Miniatures.
Granted, the Reaper alien is a bit short compared to a typical human, but you can see the size difference.

I didn't realize how large their minis were until they arrived. More like 32mm than 28mm.  But that makes the robots even more imposing and alien. And when I paint the Valkeeri their larger size will be perfect for the 'Amazons of Venus' style warriors.

And just for fun, here was the inspiration for the robots' color scheme:

Always loved these.

A Rag-tag Fleet: of Quar

There are those who belief that life exists beyond the nations of Earth. That there are tribes of aliens in the inner, and perhaps outer planets. That some of these, the Quar of the moons of Mars, even now, make their way to the great moon of Earth, seeking safety, and to plunder resources for their very survival.

Gaming continues for Empire of the Dead but on the horizon is the next miniatures project: a return to a VSF campaign.This time the location switches from Venus, to nearer Earth's territory: the Moon.  Alfrik has been compiling ideas for the campaign, which will have not only army-scale fighting in 28mm but he's got plans for aeronef (airship) fleet action battles as part of the campaign.  I'm a sucker for anything with ships: spaceships, airships & navies, so this sounds good to me!  Nations of Earth, and my Quar of Phobos,will be staking out claims on the Moon, negotiating, plotting and waging battles.  When will this be?  Not sure exactly, but it's just over the horizon.

-It's continued to be a very very bad week for me, so have had low motivation to do anything for myself, just working on the finishing stages of the Genestealer Cult, but nothing ready to show on it yet, so not a lot of new stuff to share.  So seems a good time to introduce the air-navy of Phobos!

I bought these last year when BrigadeModels UK was having a sale, and I added a couple ships from Shapeways.

(click for larger)

I don't know yet what the campaign will require for number of ships or ship types, but this feels like a good fleet compliment. The majority of the fleet is from the Argentina fleet. I chose them for 2 reasons:
1. British & French fleets,while cool, seem to be pretty popular and I wanted something different.
2. I love the big round shapes incorporated into these ships.  It seems right, considering Quar have big round bellies, or 'puzik' as I tend to call it, having picked up the Russian word since it is far cuter.  but the ships also still have pointed noses,again, just like Quar! Perfect!
Speaking of Russian, the round vessel with 4 guns is a Russian 'aerial battery' which fits in nicely with the round midsections of the Argentinian fleet: just right for Quar.

I added aircraft: some large bombers and fighter squadrons.
I used this basing method once before for space ship fighters, and like it a lot. You get a lot of variety with the individual wire stands.
The carrier model is from Shapeways, and I imagine this is one of the vessels that is space-worthy.
The rest of the fleet is carried or towed by space-haulers to deposit the airfleet into a planet's (or moon's) gravitational field.

Some close-ups: (click for larger)

 I'm afraid I don't remember the name of the shapeways artist or the name of the piece.  But there are a lot of nice items on that site.

The carrier is the flagship, though the one battleship would be pretty significant.

Hopefully this fleet will be battling the verminous humans, who's gluttony is unsatisfied with the most resource-rich planet in the system:  it's time for the other peoples to push them back, contain them and harvest their fair share from the planets and moons of the sun they share in common!

For Phobos!

Inspiration for all rag-tag fleets...enjoy!

Baby Cthulhu Takes a Stroll

Amazing.

Enjoy!

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.

World of the Draniki

Amtor.  Cytheria.  Venus.

Many names. Many myths. Many mysteries.

For those brave enough to penetrate the clouds and traverse the jungles of Venus there await many lifetimes worth of adventures.  Venus is home to many dangers and wonders that the men of Earth are only beginning to unveil.

One of the dominant races of Venus, and one of the least like the men of Earth, is the Draniki.

The Draniki (pronounced with a rolling R "Drrrahh-neekee") are reptilians, possessing intelligence and craft that rivals that of Man with a history and civilization that is far older.  Physically imposing, with an average height of seven feet and the sharp teeth of carnivores, they are however slow to anger and generally lack the cruel pleasure derived from violence which is too common in the worst of men. It would be a mistake to think of them as gentle giants however, for they are formidable hunters and think little of bringing death to outsiders when in doubt of their intentions.

"Of their past I am just beginning to uncover the secrets," stated Professor Nigel Hawthorne, acclaimed historian and anthropologist of Cambridge, "their history,which is backed up by archaeological evidence suggests they have had a similar history as our own, with its risings and falls, though on a far greater scale of time.  If they are to be believed, in their past they have traveled to the Jovian moons, and their ancestors had colonies upon Earth itself.  The last few hundred years they have been reemerging from their last dark age, which was heralded by 'the great death brought upon by the great unnamed.' It is unclear if this refers to a supernatural myth of some kind."

What is known is that the nation of the Draniki is vast, with many cities and a sophisticated culture steeped in rituals. They are a space faring race in their own right, though rarely do they venture beyond Venus. Tensions mount as more and more expeditions from the various nations of Earth encroach upon their borders.  They have had trade in the past with the Phobosians, and have sealed a formal alliance with the Phobosians on expedition to Venus.