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.

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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.

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.

Captain Vok of the PCP Starship Drowsy Wombat reqs a New Scamp-About

When news hit that Captain Vok had req'ed a new Scamp-About, the media net went into overdrive.
Headlines like "Captain Vok wrecks a new scouting vessel within days of his latest court marshal trial, which he only escaped punishment from by the oddest of technicalities".

"Leave it to Coyote News to muck up my good name again," growled Vok

"Don't blame me," spurted Bvill, "I told them we'd req'ed for a new scamper, not my fault they assumed I meant wrecked."

Vyoop bubbled to herself.

"They were right about the odd technicality though." began Bvill.  "I mean.. Admiralty Prosecutor Nyai did have a great aunt who was accidentally killed by your grandfather.  Some kind of farming.. accident?"

Vok shot Bvill a look that said 'shut it'.

"Well, no matter.  I'm cleared for duty again and we'll have a new scamper soon, ready for our next long range mission.  I can't wait to get out among the stars again!"

Vyoop bubbled again.

"And the Admiralty can't wait for you to go too." smirked Bvill.

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

I've tried to resist Kickstarters lately, with my recent increased expenses and knowing that I have enough All Quiet On the Martian Front arriving about the end of the year to require a dedicated UPS truck just for me.

But then I saw Bombshell Miniatures new 'Scout Ship'.  Well, one small Kickstarter won't hurt right?

Seriously, this thing is soo very cool.  And the aesthetic is ideal for the Crew of the Pangalactic Confederation of Planets starship Drowsy Wombat.  Captain Vok and his crew will be very pleased.

The crew are a collection of pulpy sci-fi that I was using for Empire of the Dead last year.
You can refresh your memory or find them for the first time, begining here: Captain Vok & Crew.
I also made a new search tag for them, 'PCP'.

So let's see what the Scout Ship Kickstarter looks like.
It only has less than 4 days left by the way. It's a quick-run, and the stretch goals are nice, so jump in soon!

Made to be in scale with typical 28mm miniatures, this is a pretty big ship!

The parts: 

That's a big resin kit :)

Check out the possible extras:

If you're not in the market for a big ship you can also join in for $15 for a crew duo, and then get more minis as add-ons. The Robot Team was previously only available as part of a display set.  They did have a brief sale not long ago where you could buy some of them separately, and I did. They are great robots, very fun, and on the kickstarter, a bit cheaper than they were on sale even. 

The 'alien menace' set by the way, would be great for people into 15mm sci-fi, since they are smaller than man-size creatures. 

Some great stuff for the brave crew of the Drowsy Wombat ! 

And spying 'Neema', Vok might have just found a love interest.  Granted, he's known for dating outside his species almost exclusively.  There was that embarrassing incident on Tangon IV with what turned out to be the equivalent of the inhabitants' coat-rack.. with some species it can be hard to tell between a person and an inanimate object. So maybe it's time he found a woman closer to his own species. 

Doctor Who: Fashionable Fellow & Final Shots of the Project

Here are the final pieces along with the finished clear bases for the Doctor Who project.

The Doctor has always been a fashionable fellow, if a bit eccentric and odd about it.. which to my mind increases rather than diminishes this characteristic. But given that I grew up on the 4th Doctor, with his great big goofy scarf, which is also a useful tool second only to his screwdriver, I do find it a bit odd that the latest Doctors traded that scarf in for ties.  Even if the 11th's claim that 'bow ties are cool' is correct, which strikes me more as opinion than fact, the 10th's preference for neck ties seems odd to me when I think about it.

The only piece of fashion more ridiculous and life-threatening than the neck-tie is the high heeled shoe.
It's as if someone said "you know what would set off this suit nicely? A noose around my neck!"
Throwing yourself into dangerous situations, when people and things mean you harm, there are often big machines with whirling parts and toothy gears, a neck-tie seems like a fashion statement that's out to get you killed and one would think, even one who could reincarnate, that it's just not worth the risk.

But if he insists on ties, let's check them out...

The Doctor's outfit is inspired by the picture below.  In this outfit he does wear red converse, so again i have to wonder, if he's willing to opt for comfort with his shoes.. why the tie? Obviously, as a person who never wears ties I'm struggling with the concept. Moving on... 

Again showing a taste for cool suits and comfy old sneakers, this time he has his dirty old white ones. 

The striped suit was fun to paint. 

Same Amy, Doctor having changed his body almost as often as his suits, now looking a bit different. 

He needed to turn around to better see his jacket pattern. 

The bases are an interesting option.  Selecting clear disks so that the terrain environment can be seen through them, so you don't drag around a patch of dirt on a space ship, or a slice of city street in a forest. 

All for now, but might be more in the future..

Oh if only someone made some really nice Silurian soldiers in their current look:

 Yeah, I'd be buying those. 

U.N.I.T. Troopers: Doctor Who Project Continued

Next up for the Doctor Who Project: U.N.I.T. Troopers.
In their more modern look of black with red beret.

They'll be transferred to clear plastic disk bases at the end of the project.

I really enjoyed painting these because they're Copplestone Castings minis, which are always a joy to paint.
The minis were selected by the client, and I think he made a great choice: these minis make very good UNIT troops.  Always nice to have a chance to paint Copplestone minis.

In Doctor Who, U.N.I.T. is a modern united nations special forces that have the daunting task of keeping the planet safe from alien invasions and such when the Doctor can't be there.

I always wondered about the red berets.  I know it's historical, going back to WWII British Paratroopers.. maybe earlier? But it does seem to be begging to receive a head-shot.  I think I'd forget mine at home.
Still, it looks cool.

Speaking of Doctor Who... if you see this on the day I publish it, August 16th, 2013, check out Shirt Woot.
There is a pretty fun Doctor Who related shirt.  Their shirts are always cheaper on the first day they put them up (one a day) and costs a bit more after that first 24 hours.. though if they don't sell well enough that first day they're not offered after it. The shirt image:

Can see it here: Don't Blink

Back to U.N.I.T. ...

Here's an amusing recruitment video for U.N.I.T., from 1993 (so none of the more modern stuff).. some of the effects and creatures are pretty funny.  I love the fear of the stegosaurus that  slowly rounds the corner...

Like being afraid of a cow.  Granted, a cow with foot long spikes on it's tail.. but stay calm & away and you should be fine. Not like it's going to come running to eat you.  ;)

Enjoy!