Friday 3 August 2018

"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...

18 comments:

  1. Just love that group shot of the Boromites, brilliant job. it must be a relief to see them finished?

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    1. Thanks Michael. Its a great relief to see them finished, and now I can just add a couple of models here and there to build upon them :-)

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  2. A slog but we'll worth it with the force looking so good together in the group shot.

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    1. Cheers Simon. They do look good on the tabletop, even if I say so myself. Of course, I need to do some reinforcements next ;-)

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  3. Wow has it really been fifteen months ! great to see the 500 point force finished Simon, hopefully the freeborn will be a lot quicker with less models to paint

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    1. Thanks Dave. What a slog, eh? But I'm desperately trying to go back and finish old projects as well as start new ones too!! The Freeborn will just give me a handful of minis so I can field two opposing forces so as to learn the "BtGoA" rules etc.

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  4. Finally the boromites are done! What a relief for you. I’d get them on the table toot sweet!

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    1. Cheers Andy. I'm certainly hoping to do so soon :-)

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  5. Congratulations on getting your Boromites ready for the table Simon, and those Freeborn look interesting - here's hoping you get them painted up in quick time and into action for some 'rules testing' :-)

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    1. Thanks Greg. That's the plan, anyway... ;-)

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  6. I can only imagine how relieved you must be to get those Boromites finished. The Freeborns look interesting.

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    1. Cheers Bryan. I'm very pleased to have finished such a long-winded project - so much for thinking they'd only take a couple of months :-)

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  7. Well the Boromites look really good as a group, though I'm surprised you want to add another 250points to them, I would have thought you would have been glad to see the back of painting them! You are a glutton for punishment Simon! :-)

    Cheer Roger.

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    1. LOL Roger. It should be a lot easier just adding a couple of minis here and there, than the slog which brought about the core of my force. I always like to strike whilst the iron is hot too, and enthusiasm for a project is strong.

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  8. It's been a long time coming since that first Boromite (that I was ineasy about) until now with this force that I think look superb and well remmebr the anguish you had painting all the tiny details on them.
    They have been well-worth all your efforts, they look superb.

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    1. Thanks very much indeed, Joe, very much appreciated. Thank goodness they’re done, although I do have plans to add a few more units to the force over time. Looking forward to getting the Boromites on the tabletop and finally getting in a game or two of “Beyond The Gates Of Antares” :-)

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  9. Glad to see your Boromites completed Simon! Congrats!

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    1. Cheers Dai. Very much appreciated my friend :-)

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