InfinityMax's Customs - Bloody X Thugs

[InfinityMax]

A few people have asked where they went, so here are my customs. I haven't made any in a while, but I am happy with most of these, and really proud of a few of them.


The Brothers Tor filled a couple ideas I wanted to see. First, I wanted minotaurs. Second, I wanted a viable two-figure squad. I especially like Symbiotic Fraternity, which effectively give the whole unit 3 life. That ability also allows them to stick around long enough to use their killer attack, because they tend to be priority targets.


I made Steelrig Modbot for Doc's equipment contest. I was pretty darned happy to come in second. I have Tinebone around here somewhere, too, but I need to get him uploaded, so you'll have to live with these for now.







This next batch is a bunch of guys you can whip up from the Battleball game. I never played Battleball - I bought it cheap on eBay and made it into two teams of customs.










One quick note - the order runner is not good. When I say I'm happy with most of my customs, this is the one I don't like. He's here for completeness; I've never found the time to fix him.

Next up are the Argonauts, five mercs who fight for whoever pays the best. They are a team, and work best as a coherent group. Each figure has three abilities - an offensive ability, a team-based special, and jump jets (like flying, but not as good).



Paladin is crucial if you want to play Argonauts, because he can get his whole team into position in record time.



Bodybag may not be the best offensive unit, but he is great at prolonging the life of your team.



Shockwave is great against weak squads - get them close and he can string together a lightning blast to nail whole groups at once. Plus he can provide considerable flexibility, removing some of the 'aw dammit' factor from placing turn order markers.



If you're squaring off against tough heroes, Reaper can even the odds. A few well-placed rockets, and those juggernauts could be pushing up daisies.



Another great unit against squads, Firebug has a weaker version of Mimring's fire line, and provides a defense bonus if his partners are close by.



Sentinel is sort of a watchdog on the board. If you have a unit or part of the board you are trying to protect, Sentinel can be posted to keep them from getting too close.



Cain X is the leader of the Bloody X Thugs, a gang of ne'er-do-wells in the dark future.



I have more, but they're not all uploaded yet. If I get to it, I'll get to it.

[LilNewbie]

Awesome, IMax! Thanks for reposting these.

Newb.

[justjohn]

Are the mercenary figures old GW 40k figures? I don't think I've ever seen those sculpts before, and I really like them.

Your customs look great. Glad to see more quality customs filling up this forum.

-jj

[Doustin]

Those Argonauts are great. Are those Warhammer figures? The Brothers Tor is a cool idea too.

[Parduz]

WOW! I have some "argonauts" minis down in some place... (they're not GW... from what game they comes?)

I'm a bit in trouble with the "lightning reflexes" ability, 'cause is the first "off order" ability i see:
when do you switch the order markers? When is the turn of Shockwave or when is the turn of the "trading" Argonaut?
And: if you use a card ability, are this card activated or not? I mean: i activate Shockwave, which deactivate itself switching the order marker... then i can do that a second time... until he have the last marker, so finally he can stay activated.
mmh... maybe i will like to see it as a power of Paladin: as he is the commander, he may switch the orders of two others not activated argonauts....

Anyway, they're all great, thnks IMax

[Doc_Savage]

Thanks for reposting these. I just printed the argonauts out and will play them next time I play...

I have a huge box of these guys. Plastic on sprues, unpainted. From the '80s, I think.

[netherspirit]

Ahhhh the Brothers Tor. Good to see these guys back up here.

[InfinityMax]

I don't remember who makes those Argonaut figures. I bought them online. They're plastic, and they're not WH40K. They come with different guns so you can decorate them however you want, which I obviously did.

I haven't hit any hiccups with the Argonauts since I finished testing them. I have played them many times, and found them to be pretty decent. In a 500 point game, a team of 5 heroes is risky, but they hold their own. I've seen them win, and I've seen them lose.

The jump jets plus Move Out! makes them very fast to deploy, despite a slow move score. They each specialize in something else, so you have lots of options and flexibility. Facing heroes, you can fire Reaper's rockets; facing cheap squads, use Firebug or Shockwave. They're weak against strong squads, though; the knights can cut them to shreds, because of the combination of good armor and numbers. Support the knights with Thorgrim and they're downright deadly against these guys.

As far as the problem with Lightning Reflexes, there is no timing specified because you can use it whenever you want. I usually place a number on him and an X on the one with whom I might swap, so that I can decide at the last minute which one I want to deploy. I haven't had any trouble with it, though my opponents have been known to say, 'you've got ANOTHER special ability?!'

[Miniature Geek]

Those models for the Special Force are from EM4 Miniatures,

Here is the link.
www.em4miniatures.com

Okay, well, for some reason their site won't load for me. So I don't know if the link will work, but those should be under Sci-Fi, Plastic, Unpainted, or it might be in a different order. But stumble around, look for Unpainted Plastic Sci-Fi, and they are a set.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but like I said the link isn't working, and I'm not in the best of moods.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, great Customs Imax, I'd say more but I'm in a ***** mood right now. Not because of your customs or anything.

[skyknight]

Alright Imax, first I am not going to put any how you can improve these customs writings here. Like you said these guys have been around a long time. I will instead tell you what I like. The brothers Tor are probably my favorite. I will most likely try using these guys if I can find a decent custom for them. But I have to tell you I love your order runner, Simple yet incredibly efficient and could almost help swing a game. I like him alot. those Warhammer figs are wonderfully painted as well, very nice all the way around. Thanks for sharing.

[InfinityMax]

The problem, sky, is that you have to put a marker on a nearly useless figure, keep him close to the front lines, and still burn a marker just to let a guy take a turn. In fact, if you don't want to use him, you end up losing two markers. He's nearly useless the way I have him.

I've considered two other options:

1) Instead of attacking with Order Runner, you may attack with any friendly, adjacent figure.

2) Instead of attacking with Order Runner, you may take a turn with any friendly, adjacent figure.

I actually like #2 better - it lets you put all three markers on the runner, and as long as he can reach the guys you want to activate, you just run him up next to the guys you want to move. Massive flexibility, and one hell of an Achilles heel - if someone smokes your order runner, there goes your whole round. Now that's fun.

[InfinityMax]

Parduz PMed me with some really cool ideas for expanding the Argonauts. I'll ask him to repeat them here, because we could be looking at a whole faction of mercenary units. I just need to find figures, since I am not wild about using WH40K.