I think I figured the Razor Claw model out. I'm thinking we start with a Praetorian, then do a head swap. I'm actually eyeballing the minimates aliens as a possible model for the head swap and am going to see about getting my hands on one to see how it scales before committing to doing one up.
Alien vs Predator Arcade: Customs Project
Alright, I figured I would
Alright, I figured I would break down what I'm thinking for the models in each case, and I'd love it if anyone interested would chime in and add their two bits. I'll see about trying to stat them up at a later time.
I made several orders (Wanted extra copies of Dutch and Lynn) with their clearance sale, so I've got a lot of stuff coming soon and some of that is going to be used for this.
Arachnoid: Appearance wise, they're very similar to your traditional Xenomorph. As such, I was thinking that I'd get a slip of paper and cut out the little ridge shape then smooth the front portion into the main portion of the head. This would create that same odd dome shape that they have. (Honestly, a simple paintjob done right could capture the look fairly well too if someone wasn't brave enough to try the papercraft.) I'm personally planning to make 5-10 of them using Infants.
https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Arachnoid
Chrysalis: Honestly, this is the one that gives me the most trouble. I think our best bet would be to start with a Royal Guard and try to match the color scheme. The head structure for the Royal Guard is the closest to this variant, and I don't personally have the talent to hand craft the head. I know it won't be a perfect proxy, but it may be passable. If you look at the head on the NECA model, especially from the side, you'll see what I mean by the head structure being similar. The only other possibility I can think of is to somehow make use of a Queen head to the same purpose. I kind of want two of these, but I'm going to hold off on trying to custom something until I feel a little more sure of my plan to make one.
https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Chrysalis
Defender: This will likely be the simplest of all of these to do. My thinking is that the two color head can be done easily with nothing more than paint. But if you wanted to be particularly fancy with it, you could use the papercraft approach like with the Arachnoid. I think I'll be doing a set of five of these.
https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Defender
Razor Claw: This one actually looks like it's going to be easier than I had originally anticipated. My plan is to take a Praetorian and swap out the head. Obviously the Infants are too small from this game, but I'm looking at a couple of possibilities for the swap. Trade heads from an Infant style model, paint it up, and I think we'll have a surprisingly good Razor Claw. I also just watched a playthrough of the game in the last couple of days, and it looks like there's only a single one in the game, so I don't personally see any reason to make more than one for my collection. I'll likely stat it as a Unique model when the time comes.
https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Razor_Claws
Smasher: At first I thought this one might be tricky, but the more I look at it, the more I think just a custom paint job on a Warrior would do just fine for the model. I'm thinking I'd paint of five this way.
https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Smasher
NOTES: I figure that in most cases, the paint modifications done could serve two purposes. The first, to offer additional play options by using them as the above creatures. The second to add a little visual verity to my armies during play even if I choose to use them as their base models.
On a snide note, some of the other things I'm thinking about doing:
-Red Xenomorphs (I was thinking about going up 5 Warriors, 10 Infants, and 5 Stalkers)
-Flying Queen. I think this could be done with a set of Dragon Wings from most any similar scaled model
-Newborn (If I can ever find a model in the right size range.)
-Decon(If I can ever find a model in the right size range.)
-Chestbusters. Should be fairly easy. Roll a little green stuff into a serpent, pose, paint, and play.
-White Hybrids: I'd love to do a small group of these, maybe half a dozen. Unfortunately I don't expect it to happen on the grounds that the customization required is probably going to be beyond my skill level.
-Infectoids: Thinking about doing up a few of these, Should just be a case of finding some soldier zombies in this size range and painting them up.
-Trixie: Though I'll be the first to admit that creating the harness might be difficult. Other than that it's just a drone.
-Raven: This is another one that might be difficult to do. I may end up using a spare Queen as a proxy (The Unicast would likely work well for this.) if I don't think of something better in the meantime.
And I've already done up a small group of Boilers and I have a model for "Grid" the alien from the first AvP movie.
Unfortunately things are
Unfortunately things are usually pretty silent around here. But I admire the amount of thought and effort you are putting into this. This old arcade game is one of the only ones I ever played through til I beat, and I am quite interested in seeing how your project turns out!
Need to find some time to
Need to find some time to work on these, but I'm very excited about being able to field some customs.
Arachnoid
Arachnoid
SP 5
CC/DEF 11/1
RS 10
ST 9
CON 9
WP 12
LD 13
W 1
A 18
Type: Troop, Infantry, Small Base
Coherency: 12"
Deployment Options: Regular, Stalk
Squad Composition 5-15
Equipment: None
Squad Options: This squad may select up to 1 Mutation.
Abilities: Blinding Speed, Fear (0), Leap (6), Perfect Camouflage, Ranger, Swarm
Attacks:
Claws (Same as Infant Claws)
Tail Strike
Points 14
This uses the Infant for base stats then purchases upgrades normally to calculate cost.
Powerful Hind Legs gives Leap. 2pts.
Perfect Camouflage gives the models Stalk and is intended to mimic the way they curl up on the ground and wait for enemies. 1pt.
Scuttlers gives them Ranger which gives them the ability to ignore difficult terrain. 2pts.
I treated gaining "Stalk" and loosing the ability to purchase Facehuggers as a straight trade.
In total, that's 5 points added to the 9pt base Infant.
Thoughts? Comments? Feedback? I haven't had a chance to properly playtest them, so I may make some small tweaks eventually.
So, the topic came up over on the blog about characters from the Alien vs Predator arcade game. A game that is among my favorite games of all time. (I shudder at the fortune in quarters I shoved into that arcade machine as a kid).
The goal here is two fold.
1. To create stats for some of the Aliens, Predators, and Humans who appear in that game.
2. To try to find or create custom models to fit the characters who we create stats for.
Now, that follows here are some notes from our earlier conversations. Posted here partially for reference, and partially in the hopes of sparking a bit of conversation.
My notes:
Arachnoid: Infant with Adrenaline Boost and Powerful Hind Legs mutations. Deployment: Regular, Infultration, Rapid Deployment, Stalk(?)
Chrysalis: Royal Guard core. Not sure what Mutations would be best though. Maybe Hive Collective, Regeneration, and Toughened Exoskeleton? Deployment: Regular, Flank Deployment.
Defender: Warrior core with Armored Plating. Deployment: Regular.
Razor Claws: Evolved Warrior core with Rippers and Bloodthirsty. Deployment: Regular, Flank Attack.
Smasher: Basically just a baby Crusher. I'm thinking Evolved Warrior Core with Armor Plating and/or Regeneration, and Relentless. Deployment: Regular, Flank Attack
And the comments that followed:
Anyways, regarding how you would want to implement AvP Arcade characters those are all brilliant ideas. However, I find that a Stalker core would be most appropriate for the Defender since those are very similar in the Arcade game in terms of class. Low health points, move quickly and can do significant damage up close or attacking in groups.
Not too sure about Arachnoid, I guess Infant or Warrior core would do. To me they are a faster Warrior that jump spam frequently and have high jumps, have about the same stamina and health points as Warriors and Smashers. It went from a regular enemy to a "boss" on the 3rd stage when players are firing their guns while riding on top of the APC. I guess that APC's weapon systems all either ran out of ammo or completely malfunctioned as I found it awkward, but it was meant to be a funny comical Aliens game.
And I haven't forgotten about Jerk Lindo and Jeri the Alien Synthetic LOL
Chrysalis with a Royal Guard or Praetorian core, maybe that'll work. Although Chrysalis is a bit more like a Crusher with it's armored ground roll attack.
Smasher as a very toned down Crushed, that sounds just about right.
How about the Infectoids?
What about the "Mad" Predator(s)?
How would you implement and make those custom miniatures for this game?
And what about the Chest Busters?
I openly admit that it's been quite a while since I played the old AvP arcade game, something that I hope to remedy soon. When I get a chance to play it again, I'm going to try taking some additional notes about enemy behavior and such to hopefully make stating out models a bit easier.
NOTE: I have a lot of little custom projects I'd love to do eventually for this game. If there's no interest in seeing them, then I'll do them on my own. However, if anyone around here would like to see them, then I'll see about sharing what I come up with as I get to these custom models.