Cap’n Ed’s ’Mech Hangar
  • Hanger Bay (Home)
  • Show Room
  • Hangar Crew
  • Cap’n’s Log
    • Cap’n’s Log Wenski-dex
  • Tool Kit
  • HPG Uplink (Links)
  • Comlink (Contact)

Cap’n’s Log

Tutorials, Works in Progress, Product Reviews, and More!
Index

Throw Back Thursday: Painting Bad Guys

6/8/2017

1 Comment

 
Welcome to Throw Back Thursday where I examine things from painting days long past. 

This week, I'm spending some time musing about one of my favorite pieces--a Broadsword Legion Atlas and reflecting on how this miniature came to be. Sometimes, the plans we have for our lives aren't the paths we take.
Picture

Painting the Bad Guys of the Battletech Universe

Wade into any forum or stand at the side of a table for long enough and you'll find someone shouting "The Blakists only have all of man's best interests in mind," claims that "Katherine was the rightful heir and superior statesman!" or still think that the Smoke Jags were really only trying to reestablish the Star League to make everything better. It's easy enough to claim that roles of "good guy" and "bad guy" are all relative to which side of the map you're throwing dice from or based on what faction swag you're wearing. There are, however, woven carefully into the fiction clear "good guys" and "bad guys," beginning with Amaris and the fall of the Star League to the Combine and Confederation throughout much of the Succession Wars. There are even two entire era's of play that explicitly name the bad guys. Neither the "Clan Invasion" nor the "Word of Blake Jihad" give much room for explaining away who the villain is in this space opera we all love.

But sometimes, it can be fun to paint and play the bad guys.

Having a force of villains is just as much about--if not much more than--having an Op For to play. There is something liberating about playing the antagonist. Sometimes,  it is the feeling of being the underdog and riles a fight in the spirit. Other times, it's the freedom that comes from being able to move and operate outside the constricting and contradictory conventions of "fair play" and "civilized war." Exactly like every kid loves Darth Vader, being the bad guy gives players a sense of freedom of self and domination over others.
Picture
Another bad guy Atlas--in Shadow Division colors.
How did we get to that point, however? Like this Atlas, the stories aren't often quite as black and white as the print in our fiction. This Boradsword Legion piece actually began as an integral part of a DCMS mini-diorama. Initially built and assembled to serve The Dragon, this mini never received those colors. But, like they always do, things changed. As new minis came and went, it sat in a case, cleaned and assembled waiting to be put to the field.

When the chance finally came, this Atlas took on the shiny metal of the Broadsword legion with ease. No longer did the stifling and constricting colors of DCMS regiments tell it what color to be, how to stand, what it could and couldn't have for nose art. It had all the space to display properly and proudly all the large sized insignia and art it could handle. No longer was it reaching down to help a fallen comrade--now, it towered above its victims with contempt-full eyes. It became an unstoppable wall of steel.

Despite all of that, I still see what was planned for it once. I see what no one else would. In my head, I still see how the pieces fit together--the Atlas with his outstretched hand to save his fellow 'Mechwarrior. The steadfast resolve to hold the line for his lance mates still flashes, from time to time, as I remember what could have been but never was.

And maybe that is another part of why we like to paint bad guys. Sometimes, we too feel misunderstood. We sympathize with their plight of lost potential. Maybe, if we play these pieces, we can help tell their side of the story and, in doing so, come to better understand ourselves.

​Or, maybe we just want to watch the world burn.

Hangar Crew Supporters

  • Donald Butler, 'Mechwarrior, February 2017
  • Ben Boutwell, 'Mechwarrior, February 2017
  • Anon, 'Mechwarrior+, February 2017
  • Tinothy Berens, 'Mechwarrior, February 2017
Want to become a Hanger Crew Supporter? Check out my page at Patreon to learn more about how you can help support future projects and tutorials and get nifty salvage in return!​
1 Comment

    Cap'n Ed

    Tutorials and Projects

    Archives

    January 2018
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016

    Categories

    All
    40K
    AC/5 Medium Laser Cartel
    Adrian Gideon
    AFFS
    Airbrushing
    Alpha Strike
    Apexel Lenses
    Apollo
    Arcturan Guards
    Artists
    Assault Lance
    Assembly
    Atlas
    Battle Foam
    Battlemaster
    Battletech
    Battletech Alpha Strike
    Battletech Box Set
    Battletech Painting And Customs
    Bitz
    Broadsword Legion
    BV Traders
    C3
    Camo
    Camospecs
    Camospecs Online
    Capellan Confederation
    Catalyst Game Labs
    Chipping
    Christmas Exchange
    Cicada
    Clan Invasion
    Command Lance
    Community
    Competition
    Cover Art
    Crockett
    Crucis Lancers
    Daishi
    Dak
    Dave Fanjoy
    Davion Brigade Of Guards
    DCMS
    Decals
    Dervish
    Diorama
    Dire Worlf
    Donegal Guards
    Draconis Combine
    Fast Assault Lance
    FedCom Civil War
    Fire Lance
    Force Building
    Fox's Teeth
    Free Worlds League
    Gamer Badges
    Gencon
    Grasshopper
    Griffin
    Hauptman Fanjoy
    Hermes II
    Highlander
    Home Brew Rules
    Horde Lance
    House Rules
    Iron Wind Metals
    JBM Press
    Jenner
    Joe Frazier
    Kintaro
    Kurita
    Lance
    Lance Pack
    Last Painter Standing
    Lenses
    Long Live!
    LosTech
    Lyran
    Magister Of Canopus
    Marauder
    Marian Hegemony
    Master Gunz
    Mercenary
    Miniature Photography
    Missile Boat
    Missile Box
    Missile Pod
    Mod Mondays
    Mods
    Night Stalkers
    Nyx
    Omni
    Omni Parts
    Panther
    Patch
    Photography
    Pics
    Primitive
    Product Review
    Recon Lance
    Resources
    Savage Coyote
    Scrapyard
    Shadow Hawk
    Sniper
    Sounguru
    Stinger
    Storage
    Store
    Succession Wars
    Sword Of Light
    Taurian
    #tbt
    Terran Hegemony
    Throwback Thursday
    Thunderbolt
    Tool Kit
    Trebuchet
    Unboxing
    Unit Build
    Uziel
    Variant
    Victor
    Warhammer
    Warhammer 40000
    Warhammer 40K
    Weathering
    WIP
    Wolf's Dragoons
    Word Of Blake Jihad
    Word Of Blake Omni
    Wraith
    WYSIWYG

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Hanger Bay (Home)
  • Show Room
  • Hangar Crew
  • Cap’n’s Log
    • Cap’n’s Log Wenski-dex
  • Tool Kit
  • HPG Uplink (Links)
  • Comlink (Contact)