Thursday 12 October 2017

Alternative Armies Sci-Fi Figures 02

Following on from my last post here are some more of the Ganesha Games 28mm scale sci-fi figures produced by Alternative Armies. These four figures come from set PSY01 Psi Paladins. I guess the most obvious association with figures looking like these is with the Jedi Knights from Star Wars, and there is no reason why you couldn't use them in a Star Wars game. But for me, the reason why I bought them was to use them as Star Knights in the N.E.W. role-playing game.
In N.E.W. Star Knights are an elite order of warriors who are respected throughout the galaxy. They rarely use ranged weapons, preferring to engage their enemies with their laser swords. They also possess psionic powers, which makes them very similar to the Jedi Knights, albeit more openly accepted by society. Once again, I have taken the optional rules from N.E.W. to denote the types of laser swords they wield, with the colours being highly significant.
At the far left is a novice warrior who wields a blue laser sword. Blue is the standard laser sword colour and is the one described in the N.E.W. rulebook (see p.92). Technically, laser swords are not lasers; they are made of plasma contained in a magnetic field.
The female armed with twin green laser swords is slightly more proficient. If blue laser swords are classed as basic rank 1 weapons, then green laser swords are slightly better and are classed as rank 2. They represent peace and defence and are often used for deflecting energy blasts.
Moving up the ranks, yellow laser swords are classed as rank 3 and they are focused on melee defence, used by guardians throughout the centuries. The size of this figure's head suggests he is an android, which certainly could be possible, despite the fact that androids are non-psionic. Playing a non-psionic star knight would be an interesting challenge. Or conversely, perhaps he does possess psionic powers, making him unique amongst androids.
Finally, at the far right is the ultimate star knight, armed with a rare rank 5 purple laser sword. This weapon is a potent mix of offence and defence. His oriental look makes me think of him as a futuristic samurai. Certainly, he is a character to be respected.
Red laser swords, which I mentioned in my last post are classed as rank 4. The rarest of all laser swords are the black ones (rank 6), mainly (although not exclusively) used by those who have succumbed to the dark side of the Force. They cause damage which cannot be healed except by psionic (or magical) means.
There was an excellent article about laser swords published in EONS, the online magazine for WOIN a while back. I'd post a link to it but you have to be a subscriber to read it. Most of the info I have presented here came from that article.
These figures are all very beautifully sculpted with exquisite detailing. The hands holding the laser swords are separate castings and have to be glued in place. They cost £3.00 each and are available from here - https://www.alternative-armies.com/collections/ganesha-games-scifi/products/psy01-psi-paladins
I have yet to name any of these characters or work out their stats. I have already created one star knight character for my The Ace of Spades Campaign and she is a female Venetian. I'll show her in a later post. 

16 comments:

  1. You're up early. These look very nice once painted and will make very good characters.

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    1. Thanks, Phil. I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep so I spent an hour on my computer and posted this. That did the trick! I slept well afterwards.

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  2. Nice additions Bryan, interesting they rank the ability by the colour of the sword

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    1. Thanks, Dave. It is an interesting concept to denote rank by the colouring of the swords. I like it.

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  3. I do like how you have painted the swords. Not sure I would have a rank ability by swords colour but a very interesting idea, I would have perhaps gone by hue, but we are all different and your ideas are as good as mine or anyone else.. All in all 4 super additions.

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    1. Thank you kindly, Clint. It wasn't my idea to denote rank ability by the colour of the swords. That was down to the author of the article. But it was one that fascinated me, so I adopted it for my own campaign.

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  4. They look excellent Bryan, and for some reason, pictured as a quartet as you've done in the top picture, they look like ready to either take on a horde of space zombies ("Zombicide") or tackle one of the many challenges found within the OASIS ("Ready Player One").

    I love all the detail of the different coloured laser (plasma) swords. There's clearly been a lot of thought placed upon this game system and its universe. Good stuff.

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    1. Thanks for the nice comments, Simon. Hmm, "Zombicide" set in space is a game I'd love to play.

      Once you delve into "N.E.W." you find a wealth of information and great ideas. It is very much like "GURPS" in that respect and is why I love it so much. The rulebook only shows you so much but actually there is a ton of material out there to use with it. The article on laser swords was just one such gem.

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    2. I think its very clear from your postings here and on "Vampifan's WOIN Blog" that your currently thoroughly enjoying a universe whose richness of character and depth is only matched by your contagious enthusiasm for it. I'm loving these postings and learning loads about a system/universe I knew nothing about, so please keep it up :-)

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    3. That is so kind of you to say, Simon, and is greatly appreciated. You'll be pleased to know that my next post on my WOIN blog will be a starship combat tutorial, which I hope you (and others) find most informative. Not since the release of GURPS 4th edition in 2004 has a RPG gripped me as much as N.E.W. has.

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  5. I like these Bryan - lovely job!
    Not only do they LOOK great, they're perfect examples of the beauty of an "open" game system :-)
    So many of the new games released 'lock in' to the "official" mini's, when sci-fi and fantasy should really give you free choices like this.

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    1. I really couldn't agree with you more, Greg. I was just thinking that they'd make great gladiators in the "Death Match" game.

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  6. Nice work Bryan. Interesting background and cracking paintjobs on them all. I like these a lot. Some of the Hasslefree sci fi family would fit in nicely with these.

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    1. Thanks, Simon. I know exactly what you mean about the Hasslefree sci-fi family figures. They'd be a good match.

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  7. That's some really interesting information you've posted up, Bryan. Cheers for that. Also, thanks for showing the figures better than on the webstore, as I've been interested in that two-sword female figure for a while now.

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    1. You're most welcome, Roy. The pics on the webstore are a tad small, so I'm happy to show them larger here. You have to admire anyone who wields two laser swords!

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