Interstellar Pigs

Silt pigs of Kwiell
15mm scale

 

The Ikwen of Kwiell were first assumed to be, like Terran hunter-gatherers, a stone-age society.  But the first scientists to discreetly observe them were shocked to discover they possessed a wide variety of metal tools and ornaments, without any apparent mining activity.  It turned out the answer to this riddle was their domestication of "silt pigs", a species of humble grazing creatures.

Silt pigs eat vegetation, but a major part of their diet is a constant earthworm-like processing of rich mud, ingested through their extensible snout.  Mud passes through their elaborate gut, emerging as silty casings.  But periodically, the pigs expel a dense, dark-colored stool the Ikwen call the "fire pellet".  This stool contains a high concentration of bio-accumulated metal oxides.  The Ikwen smelt these in small forges to produce substantial quantities of copper, tin, and iron.  

These silt pigs have been grazing on soil rich in copper, hence the greenish hue of their dorsal spines.  Their tender carries a bioluminescent staff, and waves a coloured cloth to signal back to their village.

The silt pigs and their tender are from Loud Ninja Games via Alternative Armies.

An Ikwen herder, with their signature bioluminescent staff, checks
on silt pigs grazing in an estuary near a large fungal dome.

Upcycled tribal terrain

So at work, we recently started receiving solvent bottles in paper fiber packing, replacing styrofoam.  Huge environmental improvement aside, this immediately gave me ideas.  I knew that something could be done with them.

I trimmed the top couple of inches off the "lid" piece:

... and voila!


Ikwen hogans
15 mm scale

Ikwen warriors confront corporate mercenaries on the home front.

Forest Ikwen often live in large huts or hogans, made from pulped and enzymatically-cemented plant material over a frame of megafauna endoskeletons or branches.  As the Ikwen come into conflict with offworld resource-seekers, their hogans often conceal entrances to escape tunnel networks and caches of weaponry.

Also just painted:


Wrecked Adder armored car
15 mm scale

Despite being cheap, fast, and agile, "Adder" combat vehicles are extremely vulnerable to virtually any mid-heavy weapons, from portable railguns to spider mines.

This mangled heap makes for a nice objective or knock-out marker, or just some interesting cover for squishy infantry.  From The Ion Age.