Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Epic 30K Adeptus Mechanicus and a 3D Printer(!)


For a slight change of pace here are the beginnings of a small Mechanicus force for our Epic 30K campaigns.

I've been a big fan of Epic since its first inception as 'Adeptus Titanicus' way back in 1988. The 4th edition of the rules 'Epic: Armageddon' is perhaps the best version, with easy to understand rules providing a quick enjoyable game (though I still feel a little nostalgia for the mental, highly-detailed 2nd edition). 


In the Warhammer 30k/40K universe the Adeptus Mechanicus is a technological organization, often known as the Priesthood of Mars. It holds a monopoly on technological knowledge in the Imperium. Their factory worlds, know as Forge Worlds, turn out the Imperium's most powerful and advanced weaponry and equipment. The organization's adepts, the Tech-priests, are vital in maintaining much of the Imperium's more technologically advanced equipment, particularly the wargear of the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines.  They are a parallel organization to the Imperium of Man, separate yet sympathetic, and even possess their own religion, based around a Machine God an 'Omnisiah'.


Yes, it's all very fun, silly and marvelously baroque. 

My good friend Greg has been doing amazing work with Epic 30K and I thought I'd pitch in with this Mechanicus force.

Riffing on the baroque esthetic, I thought a corresponding red, steel and brass paintjob was in order.
 
Triaros Armoured Conveyors

Thallax Infantry with a Tech-Priest


Usarax close assault Infantry
'Falchion' War Engine



Small but still hefty.

I have a few more of these to finish off and will report when they are done (don't worry, there are definitely some 'larger bits' in the works...).

Also, as a new addition to the hobby room, I recently purchased a 3D printer kit. I've been fascinated by the technology every since it first emerged and with prices finally coming within reach I thought I'd take the plunge.

Yes, that glass was filled and emptied several times during the build...

With about an hour a night, the kit took me a week to assemble. Huge credit for this goes to my friend Byron, who came for a weekend visit and helped me with the final wiring and calibration. (Thanks again Byron!)

I have to say that no matter what the promotional literature and advertising may tell you, the technology is not yet matured for the mainline consumer - not yet. From what I've come to understand from working (wrestling) with mine is that these printers are very fiddly and prone to repeated breakdowns/recalibrations. There are a multitude of things that can go wrong and many of the issues just can't be anticipated. Things happen. BUT with all this being said, when it works it's truly AMAZING. I can't get over the rush of simply 'printing' a 3 dimensional object in my own home. It's just so darned cool.

Anyway, to close the post, here are a few samples of the things that I've printed off since we assembled the machine.

A 1:4800 scale model of Helm's Deep.

1:4800 scale Helm's Deep
A 1:600 model of architect Le Corbusier's 'La Savoye' (now one of France's World Heritage buildings)

Le Corbusier's 'La Savoye'
A few Epic-themed buildings downloaded from 'Thingiverse'.


For the wrecked building below I added a bit of rubble to make it a bit less sterile.

A shattered building for Epic

I'll keep at it and if I can, I'll let you know what I'm up to with the printer from time to time.

Thanks for dropping by folks! I hope to have some new stuff next week so please come over for a visit.

35 comments:

  1. I remember working at a model makers in the early 90's and at the end of the day we would clear a bench and play space marine, which was one of the epic scale games . Home 3d printing that's cool, done a bit through work other stuff is still cheaper and easier in most cases but I guess we'll hit a tipping point and it'll probably be quite soon where it becomes the norm equally interesting /scary!
    Best Iain

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    1. Ah, Space Marine, another wonderful (and sadly quickly abandoned) game. I fondly remember those box sets containing such great amounts of cool bits.

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  2. Lovely stuff old boy, I still have epic stuff around here somewhere from back in the day and those 3D creations are so cool!

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    1. Thanks Fran. I think there are MANY of us guys of a certain, ahem, 'vintage' that are sitting on small caches of Epic stuff. For me is was so much affordable and easy to paint than the 28mm stuff (and the rules were more fun to boot).

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  3. Welcome to the tech age my fellow Luddite.

    My son convinced me that I needed one too. He tells me to keep the mis-prints as a form of abstract sculpture.

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    1. It's a fun piece of equipment but the misprints make me mental.

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  4. Very nice work on both the figures and the 3d buildings Curt! I had some epic a long time ago and it was some neat stuff. I think 3d will eventually be the norm, but I wonder if it will ever be really affordable as I expect designs you want will cost a lot to download. I remember how plastics were touted as making everything super cheap, but I've noticed they continue to get more expensive....

    Christopher

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    1. Thanks Christopher. Actually all these models I downloaded for free from Thingiverse. Its a pretty cool community with some very talented people sharing their work. Nonetheless, I agree with your observation about the plastics...

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  5. Fabulous work on the Epic 30K, loving the colour scheme. I am equally amazed at 3D printing and we have a very similar looking model to yours at school. It is currently gathering dust as it needs recalibrating, but I have been known to sit and watch it for the best part of the day when it is up and running.

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    1. Yes, its mesmerizing to watch. I'm always amazed when I come back from a few hours away to see the progress of the print.

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  6. I'm just waiting for SLA type 3D printers becoming affordable enough for home usage. Then they'd be accurate enough to use on miniatures as well. For terrain etc. where a rougher surface doesn't matter the current ones are great though!

    And great work on the Mechanicus! Are those minis forumware or 3D prints from somewhere like Shapeways?

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    1. You and me both Samuli. I'm very, very tempted with the new Moonray DLP resin printers right now. The resolution that they can produce is amazing.

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  7. Some amazing work on that Epic stuff! You guys really make me want to dabble my toes into yet another project... I'm not really sure on 3D printing becoming a serious game changer on the miniatures market any time soon. My biggest gripe are those ugly printing lines you need to put much too much work into to get rid of.

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    1. Thanks Nick! Yes the filament 3D printers can struggle with print lines but the more advanced SLA/DLP resin printers have pretty amazing resolution (and getting better all the time).

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  8. Well well well...Greg corrupted the both of us! I'm starting my Epic project this winter. Yours are lovely, that deep red works really well at that scale

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    1. Thank Iannick, I look forward to seeing your work soon!

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  9. Brilliant!

    Who makes the models?

    Epic is always the game I wish I had got into....

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    1. Thanks Kym! Epic is one of GWs hidden gems. Though GW does not support it currently, there is word that a new version is in the wings with the working title of 'Adeptus Titanicus: Horus Heresy'. The models shown are not commercially available.

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  10. Always a thrill to see the corruption spreading among friends (pretty sure that is a phrase on a plaque somewhere in Horus' command ship).

    Great work on the figures dude! Epic is a wonderful set of rules - fun, easy to play and well-matched the fluff in the setting. So of course GW did away with them! I look forward to seeing the Mechanicum in action very soon!

    As for the 3D printer, the only true marvel of that technology is that any humans exist who are willing to put up with them. I wish you the best with your projects, and look forward to seeing them on the table!! I think if you smashed the printer to pieces, based them wreckage and painted it black and grey, it

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    1. Thanks for the kind words Greg! I'm looking forward to pitting them against your lads.

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  11. Brilliant stuff Curt! As a long term Epic tragic I am loving your AdMec stuff.
    The new Titanicus version will be very interesting but I am keen to game it with my existing collection of 'true epic scale' minis instead of these newer/larger/more expensive ones!

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    1. Yes, I'm very curious to see what they do with Adeptus Titanicus. It sucks that they feel that they have to increase the scale to 8mm but I look forward to seeing the models.

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  12. Loving the Epic stuff Curt. That deep red is just beautiful and paired with the metallics is spot on.

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    1. Cheers for that Millsy! I was thinking of trying a different colour scheme than what's in the books but the red, bronze and steel just seems so iconic.

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  13. Oooh, I have fond memories of AdMech - a fine choice with some impressive looking armour there. Looking forward to your 3D printing output too

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    1. Thanks Phil! I hope to have some more Mechanicus stuff up soon.

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  14. 3D printing...wow! That's really cool and file swapping is probably the way of the future for our hobby.
    Great looking Epic stuff. Very nice.
    cheers

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    1. Thanks Brendon! (Widespread 3D printing is a ways off yet - the hardware needs to mature and drop in price to be more accessible)

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  15. Just saw this and have to say WOW! I've eyed 3D printing but have been to chicken to take the plunge. What you have there looks great. I bought a bunch of Epic 40K this Summer, but it's languished in the pile since then.

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    1. Cheers Sean! The printer is fun but needs lots of babysitting to keep it happy. I'm now looking at a resin DLP printer but have to see which organ I can do without... ;)

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    2. hello, these are some really awesome models and your painjob is exceptional. Do you know where I can get some of these admech infantry?

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    3. Hi Christopher, thanks for the comment. I'm afraid these models are not available commercially.

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  16. Dear there,

    I am trying to reach you in order to find a way that create epic 40k games in local gaming community. We are a group of gamers in Xi’an, China, the city where the Terra-cotta warriors located, that is to say, we love miniature army since our ancestor emperor thousand years ago, he is may be the most crazy miniature collector in human history, lol. We hope to reach forumware source and so build up our army upon it, we hope to get those fan created 40k models than proxy. I hope you may light our way and lead us to the great gamers’ great community!

    Best wishes
    Levi

    Please write me via liwei627@hotmail.com

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  17. Hey, Curt! Do you have these files by any chance? Can't find those on thingiverse(((

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    1. Hey Egor, the figures were from a fan-based group which is no longer in existence (GW IP Trolls ruined the fun). Sorry!

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Thanks for your comment! As long as you're not a spam droid I'll have it up on the blog soon. :)