Core Space - Crew of the Cygnus

Here are the four Traders who make up the crew of the Cygnus.

At the far left is Captain Sondar, a 136 year old Ohma dreamer. He considers the excitement and danger of Trader life to be an adventure, and death but a short inconvenience. His species are pantheists and believe they can never die - a point of conflict with his non- Ohma crew. This belief is so ingrained into the Ohma that they had no concept of religion until they encountered other intelligent species and were dismayed to find there were many different points of view.
Sondar has a  romantic notion of Trading; even the hardships and boring bits are like a thrilling novel to him. He is literally without fear and will dive headlong into any danger for the merest of rewards. His species are generally of a similar vein, but he is considered extreme and no longer a part of polite society. Although gentle and charismatic in nature, other Ohma consider Sondar a rogue and a pirate.

Next up is Chit, a 12 year old Chit'chit'ah alien. As a species, the Chit are much sought after by Traders as jacks of all trades. Bootstrapped into space by a neighbouring species the Chit soon established themselves as reliable, trustworthy and quick learners. Chit has been on the crew of several Trader ships in the last few years. Benign, but large enough to intimidate troublemakers, Chit is nonetheless highly intelligent and enjoys the life of a Trader, making no plans beyond the next few days. He lives in the moment, never afraid to try something new.
Despite his terrestrial age he is a mature adult who has sired many children. The Chit raise their young in large communal broods and have a complex set of sexes and genders, none of which affects Chit's abilities. In their own society Chit employ a form of democracy based on family groups, although they will adopt the beliefs of any society they are in direct contact with so long as it is not considered destructive.

Second from the left is Hunter, a 45 to 55 year old human. Hunter is a man so serious about his business no one knows if "Hunter" is his name or job description! Tough as a face full of broken bottles, Hunter has spent his adult life shooting at people for one reason or another. He spent time as a soldier-for-hire, as a security warden and several years as a bounty hunter. He is good at his job and keeps himself to his himself. If he has any hopes and dreams, he keeps them close to his chest. Despite his reserve he is not a cold-blooded killer and tries to capture his bounties alive. In recent years he has tired of being a bounty hunter and is considering a permanent post on a Trader ship. Currently he is on extended hire to the Cygnus and seems to prefer the company of aliens. He sees straight through Satiene's charms and outright ignores her.

Last up is Satiene Teelac, a 36 year old augmented human. Satiene is an example of how power and privilege can corrupt. As a child she was spoiled, devious and manipulative, and she has become  more so with adulthood. She uses guile, seduction and outright threats to get what she wants, and is a ferocious and unnecessarily cruel fighter.
Her augmentations have thrown the darker elements of her character into a terrible sharp relief. Although not without compassion she secretly considers all life but her own as trivial. She is estranged from her twin brother, Oberon Teelac; both of whom are considered black sheep of a once proud family. her machinations have resulted in her expulsion from her"house", the confederacy aligned to the Teelac dynasty. Eventually her actions will drive her out of the world of the Traders and into the arms of a criminal gang where she will rise quickly to the top.

This is a very eclectic crew of mixed races all of whom have fascinating back stories. I like them a lot.

Core Space - Purge Annihilators & Gatherers

I come to the last of the Purge machines - the deadly Annihilators and Gatherers. These were a Kickstarter add on and I only have one set of them.

The Annihilator has only one function and that is to kill everything living. It doesn't care about collecting biomass or the collateral damage of its cohorts. When it appears there's little point standing your ground, it's a signal in humanoid form to run for your life. Although its function is similar to the Devastator it is like comparing a grenade to a tank. Its firepower is awesome and it's extremely resilient to damage. Both the Gatherers and the Annihilators have shielded cores that can be salvaged by a technician before dissolving.

Gatherers comprise of the Mother and "her" Spiders. The Mother is a large insect-like machine that gathers both the living and dead biomass. She will appear towards the tail end of a conflict but is formidable in her own right with a devastating attack. Her Spiders are knee-high machines with a nasty temperament that are more of a nuisance to a well armed Trader than an outright threat. However, they will mindlessly protect the Mother from assaults and may be the difference between life and death.
It will be rare for these Purge machines to appear in a game of Core Space but when they do they will be a serious threat to the Trader crews and anyone else who is foolish enough to get in their way. As with all the other Purge robots, these could be used in a wide variety of sci-fi games. Note that there are five Spiders in this set but I've only shown two as they are all identical sculpts.

Core Space - Purge Elite

Purge technology is very rare, as destroyed Purge start decaying on deactivation leaving nothing but a puddle of common polymers. A wily Trader, however, may be able to distil a flask of Raw Blue, the energy source of the Purge, or retrieve the shielded core of some of the larger Purge machines.
In this post I'm showcasing three elite Purge machines, the ones that Traders do not want to encounter. All of them are part of the starter boxed set of Core Space.

At the far right are two Devastators. Devastators are built like tanks and just as subtle; their job is to destroy not to capture. The Devastator's arms are high energy beam weapons that can be used as bludgeoning weapons in close combat. As they are nothing but walking weapons Devastators are equipped with the bare essentials - arms without hands, a face with a single large eye. They are monsters in robot form.

Next in line is a Purge Assassin. Assassins are infiltrators, able to target individuals in the heart of enemy territory and remove them. Assassins are semi-autonomous and able to make decisions when away  from the group. They will always target the greatest threat and will attempt to kill any high-ranking or dangerous individuals present. The Assassins resemble an eerie robotic skeleton, and along with their spider like movements are particularly unsettling to humans. Like all Purge machines the Assassins "head"is actually a sense cluster, the brain being housed in the chest cavity.

Finally, is a Live One. The only organic Purge ever encountered, the Live Ones are both commander and scout. They control the other Purge but also double as infiltrators using their holographic tech and intelligence to mingle with other races. Live Ones are intelligent but seemingly no more open to reason than a Harvester. They were born for one job and they do nothing else. They are self-aware and can think and feel but they're no freer than their brethren. The Purge are essentially a slave race with a tragic backstory. Live Ones don't eat or drink but recharge from a socket in their back. The full extent of their cybernetics is unknown as like all Purge they rapidly decay upon death.

These are really cool minis that could certainly fit into other sci-fi settings. Incidentally, I got a second set of them as a Kickstarter stretch goal. They have also been painted.

Core Space - Purge Harvesters

The Purge are a semi-sentient race of humanoid machines whose sole task is to harvest worlds. They have a hive mind, much like insects, and almost no sense of self-preservation. The Purge appeared suddenly from the Barrens, the sterile area surrounding a black hole, and immediately attacked all living beings within their reach. In less than fifty years they have rendered parts of the galaxy uninhabitable and cemented their reputation in the galactic consciousness as monsters.
The Purge aren't evil in any real sense. They are machines, driven to perform their tasks with no free will, but this doesn't stop them from terrifying people the galaxy over. Little is known bout the Purge including their motivations or their drive to catch their victims alive and drag them away screaming to an unknown end... Rumours are rife and this ambiguity has, in part, pushed the galaxy back into a superstitious and fearful age. To humans the Purge provoke the primal fear of being eaten alive.

The Purge Harvesters are the rank and file, the foot soldiers, and often the first (and last) point of contact for anyone encountering the Purge. They have no long range weaponry and always attempt to disable their victims. With no evident fear, Harvesters will stride relentlessly towards their targets and attempt to overwhelm them.

The Core Space boxed set comes with these five figures all in unique poses, which I greatly appreciate. I received a duplicate set of them as a Kickstarter stretch goal, thus giving me ten of them, which is more than enough for most games. They are very slender but you couldn't mistake them for anything else but robots. Sure, they are cannon fodder but I still like them.

Core Space - Criminals

In Core Space the prominent criminal gang is Zed's Crew. Self-styled as a "crew" it is true that occasionally they will hijack a ship and indulge in piracy. However, they don't have the cohesiveness to work as Traders due to their leader's uncaring nature and the subsequent high turnover of gang members.
First in line is Zed, the gang leader. Charismatic and dangerous, Zed spends his time controlling, cajoling and bullying his "family" to do his bidding. Although superficially charming he is an extremely dangerous man with a hair trigger temper and no regard for life at all. He is an endless font of risky get-rich-quick schemes that often end badly for his "crew"; hapless beings conned into an endless cycle of easily replaced hired muscle.
Evangeline is a hired killer with a talent for violence. Once only interested in profit she has been drawn to the chaos of Zed's crew, fascinated and disgusted by Zed's machinations and the unknown folly of his crew. She is a skilled and merciless fighter masking her fury with grace. Emanating a hard exterior she is no longer interested in money, sex or power, only the cold oblivion she finds when killing.
Whatever Chunk started life as he is now just a huge, drug fuelled meat-puppet who does what Zed tells him and questions nothing but his next fix. This unhappy creature is the fusion of both technology and medication at the far end of "experimental". A pet project of Zed's, Chunk is never far from his side and will fly into a berserker rage at the merest nod from his master.

Collectively, the three gangers to the right of the two photos are known by the charming term slumscum - someone who has grown up in a poor neighbourhood, with no education, poor nutrition and dogged by a lifetime of bad decisions. With no real choices left to them they easily fall into the roles of lowlifes and thugs for hire.
From left to right are Hobb, Razor and Milly. Hobb has tried to live a normal life but his anger and selfishness has pushed him further and further away from normal society. Razor is a collection of impulses and drives that seem to bypass the smartest parts of the human brain - he takes what he wants and cares nothing for consequences. Milly has a lifetime of regrets made worse by bitterness and a blind hatred of everyone.

These are a great set of figures, making excellent starport scum or perps. They would fit in well in Mega City One as a perp gang and I have already used some of them in my The Ace of Spades Campaign. Regarding Evangeline, she very much reminds me of Battle Angel Alita as played by Rosa Salazar in the 2017 film of the same name. Definitely a cool character.