Cowboys and Rayguns - Dracula's America...IN SPACE!!

There's something innately cool about cowboys. Perhaps it's the swagger or the lawless lifestyle. Perhaps it's the cool hats and low-slung six-shooters. Possibly it's the jangling guitars and tolling bells accompanying the tumbleweed. Or it could be the high octane jail breaks and train robberies.

Needless to say, when Osprey published their Dracula's America ruleset last year, it got lots of folks I know pretty excited. After all, what could be cooler than cowboys plus vampires.

Cowboys plus vampires IN SPACE of course!

It is not a huge leap to transpose the whole game of Dracula's America into a science fiction setting. After all there's precedence for space cowboys - just look at Firefly, 2000AD's Lawless series and, er, Bravestarr. Not to mention that Rogue Trader has a bit of a frontier tinge and Necromunda was pretty much the Wild West too. 

So you have a nice, intuitive, fast and simple set of rules, with a variety of factions available. You have a bunch of people who would like to make some space cowboys and would like to yell 'Varmint!' across a table at each other.

Dracula's America in Space (DAiS) was born.

Olivia Neutron-Bomb - A One-Woman Army



Forward Recon Troopers are elite scout specialists. They are lone operatives, trained for stealth commando missions and surveillance deep behind enemy lines. Olivia Neutron-Bomb is one of the Imperial Army's highly skilled FRTs. Like all FRTs, she is equipped with a heavy automatic pistol, a light back-up pistol and several concealed blades. Her customised support pack is equipped with an auto-grenade dispenser and lightweight auxiliary servo arm alongside the more usual life-support mechanisms, supplies, spare ammunition and medi-pak.

 

Olivia's particular speciality is removal of key enemy individuals - competent officers, clever strategists, charismatic talisman troopers or innovative battlefield engineers. By eliminating such individuals, enemy morale and efficiency is greatly reduced. Olivia's trademark is to decapitate the target and bring back the bloody head as proof of a successfully completed mission.

 

 

 

Shadow War: Armageddon - Completed Kill Team



This Wednesday evening sees the start of my gaming group's Shadow War: Armageddon campaign. With that in mind I've finished the 9 models required for my starting Kill Team, with an additional Guardsmen to bring me up to full strength. And a right dirty-looking crew of scumbags they are too!

 



Kill Team Quinspirios Alpha - the 'Ripperjacks'

Shadow War: Armageddon - New Recruits

With just over a week to go to the start of a new Shadow War: Armageddon campaign, it's high time I got the remaining figures painted up. Over the last week I've painted an additional 3 Guardsmen, bringing my total to 8. I need to paint one more (the flamer) to have my starting Kill Team ready, and I plan a 10th member shortly afterwards.

 

Kill Team Alpha-Curzon deploy from their insertion point.

Shadow War: Armageddon - Ratling Sniper (by Kev Adams)

A short-statured ratling sniper draws bead on a renegade noble.

 

Nearly two years ago, I attended the excellent Bring Out Your Lead event, hosted at Foundry. One of the many attractions was to have Kev Adams sculpt a new face on a model in exchange for a charitable donation. I was wholly underprepared, but managed to find an Imperial Guard ratling. I tasked Kev with sculpting my face on the wee little chap. I am 6' 4" (193cm), so a diminutive ratling seemed rather ludicrous and therefore highly appropriate!