"15mm Space Pirates ... How About Sashes?" Topic

I ordered a bunch of GZG figures and am thinking of making some simple conversions on the duplicates.

How about simple sashes, like the one on this fella here?

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Do you think that easy little change alone should be enough to make a few of the figures look, um, Piratty? Piratey? … Piratical?

Dan

guess it all depends on what you think space pirates would look like. for one i doubt any of them would wear the same things save for maybe having the same tat or a piece of jewelry or symbol stitched into their clothing. To me they would be more ragtag as their piracy would go to things like better weapons, fun loot, drinking, girls, gambling, etc.

clothing would be the last on their list

Might work.

Bandanas on their heads might be better though (more noticeable).

For me, the Rebel Minis, Panagalactic Legion looks rather scruffy, and piratey, since you've got a variety of races, and different weapons.

They'll make a nice, mixed, bounty hunter force as well.

I agree with the above, e.g. just trying to make them a bit scruffy looking, in order to make them look like pirates, e.g. subdued colors, dirty, a wide variety of weapons used, etc.

Traveller used guys with cutlasses, due to concerns about shots penetrating hulls, and special rounds that don't being less effective at putting people and aliens out of the fight.

Have a look at some of the RAFM figs, if you are interested in the above.

Of course, some will want to go the gaudy route as well, for their pirates, e.g. very bright colors, glossy and brightly painted armor, etc.

Law don't go 'round here …

YouTube link

Dan

When I last ran Traveller, ship crews were dressed a little bit like American motorcycle clubs — everybody got jackets, and you got "patched" when you became a full member of the crew.

Pirates wore their own patches, and liked wearing their Traveller-equivalent 1%'er patch. link

"Instead the clubs have their own set of bylaws from which the values of the outlaw biker culture arise"

Bylaws? I thought they were more like "guidelines"!

Ok. So, basically, I'm going to need to do a lot more conversion work than what I was hoping to do (with just the sashes) on a group of GZG armed civilians. They already came with a variety of styles of weapons and wardrobe.

I really didn't think of any sort of "biker" or "road warrior" look.

Dan
TMP link

There is only ONE guy wearing a sash in that photo. Save 'em for the leaders!

Ron

You could add bandannas around their necks,

Good one. That's easy enough! And, done around the collar instead of the top of the heads won't look too cliche Pirate either.

Thanks,

Dan

No not at all, seems to me there were more people wearing bandannas then saches in Firefly

Dan- why not look at some of the various post-apocalyptic ranges for figures? The 'outlaw biker' meme seems to run through many of them.

Of course you could go the whole hog & simply order some 15mm pirates! I'm not sure that the 'Adam Ant' en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Ant look works in space though…..

clothing would be the last on their list

Lacking access to banking facilities (more for legal reasons than access reasons), homesteads they can protect, and large storage spaces, most pirates did and many still do invest in nice clothing (where we get the flamboyant clothing meme for pirates) and jewelry. It was one of the few practical ways they had to preserve wealth.

Along those lines, anything that makes the figs have a more pastiche and less regulated look should help. Sashes, cummerbunds, ascots, and bandannas should do nicely.

So, basically, a tacky/gaudy version of what the wealthy of that time happen to wear, but with weapons and boots? :)

Dan

Yeah, basically. Maybe only top-tier wealthy garb for the ones who can read and write (ostensibly the cap'n (who would be the navigator and one of the few who could navigate), mate, bo's'n, and maybe an odd cabin boy or powder monkey). General hands would be more limited in cash and the ability to preserve the clothing after purchase. Lower-end pirates might only have one really nice piece of clothing/jewelry or none at all …

etoteipi
Yes! Going with three classes of pirates on the same ship! Great idea! Not all pirates have to be filthy pigs with low IQs, like sailing ships of old, just with blasers and jump drive engines.

With a small crew of, say, 20 or so, the class distinction wouldn't be very noticeable, I don't reckon.

Dan

For my all-human crew, I happen to have accumulated a large combination of GZG, Rebel Minis, Khurasan, SLI and RAFM figures … so conversion work was only planned for duplicates.

Anyway, this is the mountain of unpainted lead I have in front of me …

GZG Free Trader Crew and Passengers Packs:
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GZG armed and unarmed civilian colonist packs:
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Civilians/colonists pack A
Civilians/colonists pack B
Young civilians/colonists
Techs and Crew
Colonial Security
Colonial Security (Cops) pack 2
Armed Civilians/Colonists pack A
Armed Civilians/Colonists pack B
Armed Civilians/Colonists pack C

Rebel Minis Widow Mercs:
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Khurasan Spacer Crew:
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Khurasan Citizen Crew (armed and unarmed sets):
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Splintered Light Miniatures Spacer Crew (armed and unarmed packs):
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RAFM Space Pirates and Vixens:
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RAFM Crewmen and Guerillas:
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If additional firepower is needed …

Rebel Minis Titan Scouts:
rebelminis.com/15tisc.html

GZG Ravagers Packs:
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I'm staring at this large pile of unpainted figures and I don't even know where to begin. I know I want to have a well-mixed "freetrader" crew*, but I don't want to include so many that it becomes an army.

Thoughts?

Dan
* I want them to look like they could conduct legitimate transport and salvage missions, but also to smuggle and "privateer".

Paint them all and you'l have enough models to fill any setting with several free trader crews, space port dwellers, etc. Thats basically what I've done.

All?

Ok. I'll close my eyes and reach for the first handful then. :)

Dan

Pretty much my stock list there Dan! Personally I just grabbed half a dozen or so figures that appealed to me & used them as freetraders, a dozen as pirates etc etc.

Well, looks like the crew may end up having to be much smaller than I initially thought:

TMP link

Dan

"I'm staring at this large pile of unpainted figures and I don't even know where to begin. I know I want to have a well-mixed "freetrader" crew*, but I don't want to include so many that it becomes an army."

Your going to need a bigger boat!

Star Trek did it with mustaches and goatees, for their alternate universe personas, not to mention the original Klingons (which were rather piratey), so that should be considered as well.

Oh, and the females were usually sexier, and had bare midriffs, which is a plus too.

there's this auction on Evilbay.

auction

I suspect a low IQ crew is not going very far in thier spaceship. Or for very long, powerplants being what they are.

Oh, and the females were usually sexier, and had bare midriffs, which is a plus

I like the cut of your jib, sirrah!

John T

"I suspect a low IQ crew is not going very far in thier spaceship".

I don't see why not, since they can just farm out, or hire a competent engineer, or astrophysicist, or better yet, just buy the latest robotic spacecraft maintenance model, or steal a ship that does it's own routine servicing and maintenance.

Interesting topic as I've recently wanted to make a force of Boskone Pirates myself. Which means I'd have to make Galactic Patrol marines and a Lensman or two to fight them.
Could also have a dark lensman for the pirates.

I should have brought this up the other day, but I forgot about them.

Have you seen Critical Mass Games mercenaries? No sashes but I lot of random looking and even rough looking groups. Perfect for mercenaries or even pirates.
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Sargonarhes,

For an all-alien mixed force, 3 of those are perfect (MERC1, MERC2 and MERC4:

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Dan

This could be the flag for those alien pirates above:

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Anyway, so you guys really think that Space Piracy is for you???

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Dan

Didn't these guys take over a transport ship and strip it of the cryo tubes?

That counts as piracy, right?

Dan