"2050 A.D.: As the Antarctic Ice Melts . . ." Topic

. . . drilling and mining operations wake up something in the lava tubes and caves that were under the ice. The military moves in . . .

What 28mm human figures would you use for 2050 A.D.?

What do you think they would find? What figures would you recommend for it/them?

Thanks.

CC

I'd probably o with urban mammoth viridian marines, they've got a nice futuristic look without bein OOT, the marines at least
picture

Mining map:

link

CC

Well, by 2050 I think the military could easily wipe out any prehistoric types you might find, so maybe a race of aliens who escaped from their home planet and have been living undisturbed (or who have been dormant)beneath the Earth's crust. Maybe that is where all of the UFOs come from that people claim to see. They are real and living under the Antartic ice cap! It's not my genre, so I can't help with figs, but GW's Kroots make suitably nasty looking aliens at a pretty reasonable price. Copplestone makes some troops obviously dressed for cold weather operations in his "Future Wars" line, as well as guys in NBC suits.

"Well, by 2050 I think the military could easily wipe out any prehistoric types you might find, so maybe a race of aliens who escaped from their home planet and have been living undisturbed (or who have been dormant)beneath the Earth's crust. Maybe that is where all of the UFOs come from that people claim to see. They are real and living under the Antartic ice cap!"

79thPA, I like your thinking!

CC

Marines vs. Shoggoths. It has potential.

SMc.

Lakes under the ice:
link

Mount Erebus:
link
link

CC

More on Mt. Erebus:

link

CC

There's actually a board game (called "Antarctica") that's set after global warming melts all the ice away. Play as one of four global powers/continents in the upcomming struggle…

I am thinking of glacial tunnel fighting between near-future troops and an as-yet-hidden advanced alien race . . .

. . . maybe regugees from Mars from before it lost its atmosphere?

CC

Cacique
You should read James Rollins "Ice Hunt." Great thriller in the artic with all kinds of gaming potential.
John

Ah, you young pups. Does nobody here remember "The Thing"?

The dreaded Ice Warriors from Doctor Who are reawakening, are they? Send in UNIT…

We're talking 100 years after "The Thing" made its appearance. It would still be somewhat of a threat to some of the civilians, but I'm sure the drilling and mining team would be able to blast it to bits before any army guys could even show up.

Isn't the Nazi flying saucer base down there somewhere?

And blasting a shoggoth (or the Thing) to bits just multiplies teh problem. You want flamethrowers…lots of flamethrowers. Or maybe a nuke.

Well 2050 is not that far away !If your looking for alot of figs I'd go with Cadian troopers from GW .You get around 20 figs for $35 USD (yankee $}Or maybe some mobile infantry from mongoose ( Starship Troopers).Eden Studios just released some "greys" that might be interesting for your aliens.Use the greys like masters of some bugs!

The old Heritage "Squids with guns" are back in production…

…specifically, the squids from the Galacta-3 line, now produced by Mudpuppy Games.

In H. P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness" actic explorers run into two types of creatures. If you look at Pictors Studio Call of Cthulhu Page link you can see the Elder Thing. Several of them are found under the ice. Deep in the things' abandoned city the adventurers encounter a Shoggoth, also shown in the photos.

It would probably still be cold enough that for humans you can use artic explorers like Copplestone's Polar adventurers link

Martians, shoggoths, Nazis, Elder things, Ice warriors, the thing…. Jeez it's crowded down there! No wonder the ice melted!

Wasn't there a brit movie about shooting/wounding some sort of 'prehistoric' thing…and it's blood contained 'germs' etc…humans weren't prepared for…so they ended up shooting a 'radioactive isotope' to kill it/the germs/from a roller-coaster…before the lizard thing got 'burnt up'…???

I guess they couldn't kill it fast enough/piece of it would have still contaminated/been 'germ-infested/blood etc…' so they used a rifle grenade to deliver the 'rad round'..and then it burned???

Do we really WANT to go 'messing around' under the ice in Antarctica??? (underice lakes sealed off from our environment for 4 MILLION years???

and what about GREENLAND…it has an ice-sheath 2-4 miles thick??? (and is only 'inhabited' on the edges??? what might be 'burried' under it…?? (besides WWII bombers at 250 feet???)…

Sgt DWW

For 2050 AD, I'd use Pig Iron troopers I think…

link

I have not read this but ran across it when looking for other books.

Sorry, you don't need UNIT for the Ice Warriors – a sun lamp or a box of matches will see them off.

If I were being sensible about CC's question, I'd look at the military of 44 years ago and contrast with the military of today, see what differences there are and look for a futurish range with just those.

The drilling plans for the lakes:
link

Looks deep:
picture

For those looking for gaming inspiration . . .

Kadath?:
link

Antarctica UFOs?:
link
link
ufoarea.com/main_antarctica.html

New Swabia?:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Swabia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_UFOs

CC

They'd find the Predator temple with the Aliens in it.

Unfortunately Antarctica isn't melting like every one thinks. New research data has the tempurature there has dropped over the past 35 years, and the ice has been getting thicker. There goes one of the plot holes for the AvP movie.

So any game idea for Antarctica is still going to have to deal with the snow and the ice. Luckly there aren't any polar bears down there.

Sargonarhes,

I am not really a supporter of the idea that Antarctica is melting (according to the popular global warming theory). However, I think it would be amusing (in a gaming sense) to assume it melted (or half-melted) and there was something beneath.

CC

Well from a gaming point of view ok, although an explaination might be needed.
In the anime Evangelion there was an event called the second impact which melted all the ice on Antacrtica. But things get even worse after that.

But wouldn't aliens landing there and make it their primary base of operation for the invasion of the rest of Earth be an even better scenario? Then on top of ground troops you'd have an excuse to have 6mm battles in hopes of dislodging them from their stronghold.

Let's see what happens when they drill Lake Vostok . . .

TMP link

CC

The aliens from the computer game Arctic Fox, terraforming the planet with cloaked machines. A few advanced vehicles they managed to bring with them from their home planet but have no hope of replacing. Some bio constructs created in test tubes and released on humans as a terror weapon. Advanced alien infantry defending their bases beneath the ice from a multinational task force hell bent on capturing technology.

Make a United Nations task force and use a variety of miniatures from different sources. (Turkistan sends Copplestone Neo Soviets)

A race then? With Russians and Western nations all trying to reach what they think will be a source of technological advantage, only to find something more dangerous?

I like that.

CC

Aha! Finally a use for all the random winter Soviets I picked up in a trade! Thats all I need is another project…thanks guys!! :-)

"Isn't the Nazi flying saucer base down there somewhere"?

No, it is in Argentina, but doesn't get used much, since when powered up, it has an adverse effect on the earth's ozone layer, which is why that hole in the layer keeps re-appearing periodically. They are doing test-flights on it, ozone permitting.

Just wondering . . .

If the Antarctic began to melt and leave just a few large glaciers, would there be a a mass migration of Inuits, Tibetans, Andeans and Lapps to the southern continent.

CC

The ice is up to 2 miles thick. I don't think 45 years is going to shift much of it. Having said that,

picture
link

Have some nice images of the actual land surface of Antarctica. Not as much as you'd think.

Wow. That still makes for an interesting looking island chain!

Thanks.

CC

I wonder if UFO sightings increase when the temperature drops in the northern and southern hemispheres – a clear indication that their homebase must be in Antarctica!!! :)

CC

This is what I am talking about:

"Mount Erebus' ice caves are among the most promising places for undiscovered life in Antarctica. Though they grow or shrink depending on how much heat the volcano emits, inside they maintain a temperature of about 32 degrees. Says McIntosh: 'The caves are wonderful because they're so warm.'"
link

link
link
link
link
link

CC

Hillbillies had better make room: picture

Fancy a vote for pre-historic evolution gone awry?

I vote for 15-30 foot long fast-burrowing crustacea evolved from prehistoric populations trapped below the ice. They have survived on seals, polar bears, and penguins for millenia. Early in their evolution, they developed a physiological process incorporating titanium and iridium into their chitin, thus overcoming the size limits that regulate normal crustacean growth; thus they can not leave the antarctic, where sub-ice meteorites provide the metals they need.

Think of the opportunities: They rise from the sub-ice lakes to tunnel with their "heat glands" and surprise explorers from below with a clatter of bullet-resistant claws… random surfacings, surprise attacks, the rush to solid rock and safety across the ice sheets.

I will have to think about models that would work, but that scenario appeals to me.

Some inspiration:

Mantis shrimp

link

link

Precambrian sea scorpion

link

link

Like these?
TMP link
TMP link
TMP link
TMP link
Just call'em their ice cousins.

I see. Something like this model then, but about 2 inches long?
picture

These seem to be the right size: link

See Ground Zero 28mm figures for cold weather fighters

Yonderboy,

Seems like a lot of the Tyranid carapaces and shells could work for the top of some of those mutant bugs:
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link

What if one were to glue a few of those bits to the top of ready-made toy insects and centipedes?

CC

This is really an alien-looking creature: link

This is neat:

picture

CC