"The Xon Poets Claimed That The Boromites Were Set To Wandering The Stars..."

"...Ever in search of their ancient home and that one day they would return to it."

This 28mm metal Boromite Ganger is produced by "Warlord Games" and forms part of the Nottingham-based company's Boromite Work Gang boxed set for "Beyond The Gates Of Antares"; a "science-fiction tabletop wargame written by 40k author Rick Priestley, that pitches technologically advanced human civilisations into a conflict for the undiscovered systems that lie through the gates." Sold "unassembled and unpainted" this "genetically-engineered" miner is the last of five miniatures I required in order for me to field a 123-point costing Work Gang armed with Mass Compactors and Implosion Grenades, and concludes my fifteen month long project to complete a 500-point Scouting Force.

Originally primed with "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, the extra-terrestrial was shaded with "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and then had some "Vallejo" Black painted over all its weaponry, ammunition packs and hip-flask. The Ganger's metallic areas, including its firearm's nozzle, were subsequently treated to a combination of "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil, whilst its Mass Compactor had its main body slightly corroded with a light touch of "Mig Productions" Extreme Rust Wash.

Boromite 500-Point Scouting Force

The power lighting on the Boromite's weapon was 'picked out' with "Vallejo" Heavy Khaki and "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green, plus his pouch was painted using "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and a splash of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. Lastly, the figure's yellow(ish) armour, his numerous "multi-functional nanite receptor nodes" and cumbersome tool's distortion compensator were all layered with "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre and washed with "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade.

Alongside this particular unit armed with mining tools I have previously painted two five-model squads of (standard) Gang Fighters, all equipped with Mag Guns and Plasma Grenades, as well as an Overseer Squad complete with Spotter Drone, with which to command my Boromite Army. In addition, I've spent some of my force's points supplementing the infantry units with some "Army Options" such as "Block! - The Order Dice drawn from the bag is returned and another random dice is drawn", "Well Prepared - If you take any single re-roll you can add plus one to the value tested against", and "Superior Shard - At the start of the turn you can remove one of your opponent's order Dice from the dice bag. This means your opponent will have to fight without one of his dice this turn."

Freeborn Feral Squad WIPs - The warriors have been re-primed with "Vallejo" Heavy Blue

Despite taking so long to complete this core force, I already aim to expand my Boromites into a 750-point Skirmish Force by adding some support options, such as a Support Team with X-Launcher (which can fire munitions such as Scrambler, Arc, Blur, Scoot, Net and Grip) or a more straightforward Support Team equipped with a Mag Light. Alternatively, I rather like the look of some of the alien miners' mounted units, and believe a three-model strong Rock Rider Squad would attract a lot of attention on the tabletop for fear of their "Rapid Sprint" special ability outflanking an opponent's army.

Beforehand however, I rather fancy exploring another of the factions fighting within Antarean space, in the form of the Freeborn. These great "merchants and travellers" should provide an entirely new set of challenges to the yellow and grey of the Boromites, and a humble Feral Squad requires only six miniatures to be completed before I can field a simple 100-point unit for some rule-set familiarisation fun...