So a small combination of things stuck my fancy, first of all I've been reading Dune and Foundation and had some tingle for a special flavor of science fiction and matching miniatures.
And with black friday Alternative Armies and their Sci-Fi range Ion Age have had a sale and slowly things have been clicking into place and ideas have formed. It started with a few miniatures I wanted an assorted group for some narrative skirmishes.
First of all I love the power-armours in Ion Age, they are big clunky and wholly resemble the full plate a knigth would wear, but with some extra wires, braces and pistons. They other two sets I decided on was some of their Khanate troopers and "betrayers" that look a lot like militiamen.
So my initial plan was to have these 3 groups sort of represent various levels of influence. I know I wanted the knights to serve as the personal guard and status displays of some local barony, and as a sort of polar opposite to that kind shock and awe warfare, there'd be these interlopers from a neighboring barony or perhaps higher up, someone with a stake in the conflict but not someone with troops directly on the ground, think saboteurs, assassins and propagandists there to rile op the local populace into doing the work for them, while they make sure certain elements are missing or break down at the time they're needed.
And while this could be fully usable within the warhammer 40k universe due to its size and diversity, I feel that I'd rather have something narrowly focused rather than chasing tangents in every direction. And so I began stirring in my pot of ideas and trying to put some words on it, and get some ground-rules set it all.
1. Space Feudalism
This one is straight out of Foundation, but never-the-less one I love. The idea is that a uniting empire is collapsing under its own weight, so now the various houses and baronies start chalking up territory and make bids to power. Its about schemes among the royalties and vassals trickling down into the lives of everyday citizens. As those above them wear fake smiles while having plans within plans.
2. Technological Recession
With he collapse of the larger governing body, many large factories and corporations have fallen with them. So production is more like in the renaissance, where you could find and commission talented craftsmen, people who'd take pride on their work and who'd use personal hallmarks and stamps to signify their influence. Also a part of this 'grounding' of the more fantastical elements, I also want weaponry to mainly be ballistic, and avoid having fancier stuff like warp drives and skimmer vehicles. Likewise I want robotics and cybernetics to be a far-fetched thing, fields that arent feasible to dump resources and times into during these times of conflict. So any robots would be lumbering, rudimentary things used for labour, as opposed to slim streamlined things.
3. Aliens?
I'd again like to avoid having something too fantastical like the Eldar of 40k, so my approach to aliens in this setting is that rather than being frequent other fancy civilisations, they will have been natives at colonized planets, suffering under these new rules and prejudices their self-appointed betters have now opposed upon them, and with man-made weaponry and the plague that is capital, tribes have begun warring and destabilizing. So there may be a few kept in pens here and there as exotic icons of status, or likewise some who have chosen the mercenary life.
And with black friday Alternative Armies and their Sci-Fi range Ion Age have had a sale and slowly things have been clicking into place and ideas have formed. It started with a few miniatures I wanted an assorted group for some narrative skirmishes.
First of all I love the power-armours in Ion Age, they are big clunky and wholly resemble the full plate a knigth would wear, but with some extra wires, braces and pistons. They other two sets I decided on was some of their Khanate troopers and "betrayers" that look a lot like militiamen.
So my initial plan was to have these 3 groups sort of represent various levels of influence. I know I wanted the knights to serve as the personal guard and status displays of some local barony, and as a sort of polar opposite to that kind shock and awe warfare, there'd be these interlopers from a neighboring barony or perhaps higher up, someone with a stake in the conflict but not someone with troops directly on the ground, think saboteurs, assassins and propagandists there to rile op the local populace into doing the work for them, while they make sure certain elements are missing or break down at the time they're needed.
And while this could be fully usable within the warhammer 40k universe due to its size and diversity, I feel that I'd rather have something narrowly focused rather than chasing tangents in every direction. And so I began stirring in my pot of ideas and trying to put some words on it, and get some ground-rules set it all.
1. Space Feudalism
This one is straight out of Foundation, but never-the-less one I love. The idea is that a uniting empire is collapsing under its own weight, so now the various houses and baronies start chalking up territory and make bids to power. Its about schemes among the royalties and vassals trickling down into the lives of everyday citizens. As those above them wear fake smiles while having plans within plans.
2. Technological Recession
With he collapse of the larger governing body, many large factories and corporations have fallen with them. So production is more like in the renaissance, where you could find and commission talented craftsmen, people who'd take pride on their work and who'd use personal hallmarks and stamps to signify their influence. Also a part of this 'grounding' of the more fantastical elements, I also want weaponry to mainly be ballistic, and avoid having fancier stuff like warp drives and skimmer vehicles. Likewise I want robotics and cybernetics to be a far-fetched thing, fields that arent feasible to dump resources and times into during these times of conflict. So any robots would be lumbering, rudimentary things used for labour, as opposed to slim streamlined things.
3. Aliens?
I'd again like to avoid having something too fantastical like the Eldar of 40k, so my approach to aliens in this setting is that rather than being frequent other fancy civilisations, they will have been natives at colonized planets, suffering under these new rules and prejudices their self-appointed betters have now opposed upon them, and with man-made weaponry and the plague that is capital, tribes have begun warring and destabilizing. So there may be a few kept in pens here and there as exotic icons of status, or likewise some who have chosen the mercenary life.
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