Tuesday 1 September 2015

Confrontation hunters

Gibbons (left) and Bronson (right), 2 underhive hunters.
On today's menu I'm advising you a couple of confrontation hunters who have been saved from the limbos of abandon like most of my late models. It's kind of funny to find in a quite misknown game and model range as confrontation to find models that are even more misknown !
Those familiar with confrontation (brief history HERE) will know names like Bratts, scavvies, ash waste nomads, techs and all. If you've been on this blog before you might also have seen rarer gangs like the venators or Helmawr gangers.
Well today's gang is one of hunters but it is not a gang that was specifically described in confrontation's rule or background.

A quick look at the gang chart will tell you that the closest entry you could think of would probably be  the clan gangs (which represent a third of all gangs) although they could also be an undercity (read underhive) gang I suppose but I suspect their uniform to be too classy for mere underhivers. As a matter of fact, those were (briefly) sold in blisters with "underhive gangers" on them.

Gang determination chart taken from White Dwarf
Those models are really peculiar in that they seem to carry 2 opposing features being a sort of colonialist uniform with bone trophies on top that could echo tribal practices. The name "hunter" seems to be the explanation of the trophies and you can suspect those are a bunch of psychos hunting anything in the underhive for sport and trophies (and maybe a couple of bounties here and there to make hands meet I suppose).
The description seems to be close to what the spyrers were in Necromunda a few years later but the style is so far away...

The confrontation sketches publisehd in WD do offer some help though :


Concept sketch by John Blanche published in White Dwarf
The hunters seem to be in the middle class of gang cults and the (not easy to read) description by John Blanche states that some do wear trophies.

Bronson and Gibbons are a couple of hunters who like to enjoy the simple joys of life. It is often easy to just snap under the pressure that life in the underhive represents. Every day is a struggle for survival, to make your own place in the hierarchy of gangs, to escape the threats of bounty hunters, mutants, authorities, radiations, mutations and whatever.
No Bronson and Gibbons really do not care about all those. Instead, they just hunt. Ever saw a shark or a lion worrying ? Neither have they. Their whole philosophy relies on being on top of the food chain in the underhive. Being on top means everyone's under and that makes things reaaaaally easier to apprehend, that means everything's yours to take. They do share the same view with a bunch of other hunters but their little number means they can share the cake without stepping on each other's toes. 
Their life is just one of murders for sport (you have to train hard to stay the top dog) or for fun. The occasional raping and pillaging will usually be extra to end a good day and the  bounties will usually come right for you to pick...
What a wonderful world it is when you're on top of the world... as long as you can stay on top... 


Painting wise... what can I say... in all honesty, these guys were totally not as fun as I expected and you can sense that in how little funky they look and how I didn't even try to funkify them with checkers or free hands... Don't know, the sculpts were just not what I wanted to paint or maybe it's me being moody but they are quite demanding. The leader has some extreme details in some places and some super rough parts on others, really disturbing. I wasn't sure how to paint the bone armour on the one with rifle and it ended up looking very messy despite my attempts at cleaning things a bit...
Anyway the initial idea was to have them quite clean to represent a sort of parody of huters going on safaris but with he grotesque trophies on top hence my rather clean scheme in light blue and white.
I'll leave them aside for a while and might come back to add that jazz they lack right now but I need to let things settle a little with them.

Collection wise, two other models were meant to accompany these guys (you'll understand with the comments above that I'm not particularly eager to get these other 2). You can notice they are also sporting a chin beard, bone parts in place of an armour and the same kind of trousers. (all pictures taken from the CCM wiki)


And just because I can't get away from them for too long, here's a bunch of Venators I kitbashed recently. They still need a lot of putty work and one of them will be rebuilt to echo John Blanche's sketch but I like the look of them and the heads I sculpted are after all not that bad...


Oh and just because... you know, some music's always good to have and it sort of have a link... sort of ...

21 comments:

  1. I still very much love the mix of new and old in your warbands. About the models, I didn't even knew of them. I find the one on the left (with no helmet) more interesting than its counterpart which with is bone armour and skull design is too over the top for me.
    Still your simple and efficient paintjob suits them perfectly.

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    1. Well they were not catalogued, sold for a very brief period mainly in the US and there is no painted example in WD tha tI can think of so it's no wonder why you didn't know them !
      the one on the left uses some of the recent skitari arms and generally speaking, teh sculpt is finer on that one than on teh guy with shotgun. I quite like the idea of the skull helmet but I agree th ebones and all make it a bit werid and it lacks that little something.

      Cheers !

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  2. They dont look bad at all JB, although I can absolutely relate to the artistic "canvas slashing" that can go on after a particularly compromised painting project.

    I hope that you will look back on them at a future date and realise that they are actually pretty good.

    Incidentally, I wouldnt bother going back to add checks etc if I were you, use that energy to get stuck into something else: the hunters are absolutely fine as they are.

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    1. Well I did leave the door open to some later additions but knowing myself, this is very unlikely ^^. I'm pretty sure coming back on them to "fix" the problems would only result in more frustration really so as you say, I'll just go on something else. They'll be OK at TT distance and that's what matters most I believe.

      Thanks Paul ;)

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  3. I quite like the guy with the skitarii arms. And while they're not spectacular, they are more than serviceable. I can see, though, why you might not be super keen to get stuck into the other two!

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    1. Cheers, the sculpts are really super fine, almost like resin ones in some places while others are too raw and I have to say I'm no good with either of those !
      Those will surely find a way to a tabletop at some point so bit worry here

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  4. I think they look very nice; great work!

    Warburton

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  5. Hey man, you did a good job there as far as I'm conncerned - I didn't even know these models existed, so it's great that you've brought them to light (and to life!). Sure, the sculpts are a bit conflicted - smart trousers and bony bone suit? They're trying to be two things at once I think. It would've been much better if the sculptor just went with the whole lord o' bones vibe whole heartedly, but that's hardly your fault. Be pleased mate - and thanks for sharing :-)

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    1. I get what you mean and I agree, abit of both but not the best of both really. They're fun though and some have proven more able to paint them recently. Done is goos in my book ^^

      Thanks a lot !

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  6. I think your paint obs on these guys are more than serviceable, although I certainly understand not wanting to take the paint too far due to lack of interest.

    Maybe the other guys need to be used for something else, and let these two be the sole members of the "gang".

    And of course I am interested in the Venators... those sculpted heads look great, and I am looking forward to seeing them painted up.

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    1. I don't think there will be other guys, those models don't come by that frequently so it's quite unlikely i'll get any by luck alone ^^.
      I'm quite satisfied by the venators so far and their masks seems OK for the time being, maybe the priming will reveal teh full extent of the horror but it seems they're cool for now ;)

      Thanks a lot !

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  7. Those bone corslets look legit. I'm off to Walmart to see if they have any in my size. ;)

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    1. Doesn't fit everyone but it sure does give a man some panache !

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    2. I will be sure to take some pics if I can find one that fits. LOL

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  8. Nice figures JB. I find the problem with painting uncommon figures is the lack of comparative references - you have to make your own painting choices without any steer from other colour schemes (good or bad).

    I like the blue and bone. The red beards really lift the overall look, and they're perfect as a pair of gunslingers for hire!

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    1. I think you're right, they can be a pir of gunslingers and hence live without being as characterful as others...
      Not haveing any painted example isn't really a problem, I'd even say it's quite a relief to know you can't be compared to anything done ! Now I get the feeling of "blank page" one could have though but I find it fun. That's partly the appeal of those confrontation models for me actually !

      Cheers ;)

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  9. It's a simple colour scheme but a very effective one. Nice work!

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  10. "occasional raping" - that got published in White Dwarf?! Jesus.

    Cracking figures though.

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