Tuesday 18 April 2017

Unboxing Punkapocalyptic - Black Blood Children (Part Two)

Bad Roll Games recently took their 'Punkapocalyptic' game to Kickstarter in order to fund a new faction called 'Black Blood Children'. Unfortunately for me they also had a 'basically everything we've ever made plus the new stuff' pledge...they gave it the slightly snappier name 'Wasteland Hoarder' but the principle was the same...so now I own four Punkapocalyptic factions...one of which obviously is the aforementioned Black Blood Children...

...so lets start with some background info on the Black Blood Children, then we'll see what's available for them now the Kickstarter has expanded their faction from the single model listed on the website. Given that these are the most detailed models they've released I'm going to split this faction feature into two articles so I can post four views of each model (rather than the 'front and back' I did with the other articles) without drowning you under a hundred picture feature. I'll also mention any issues I encountered during assembly.

Black Blood Children
The most successful cult around the Scrapbridge area is that of the Black Blood, a congregation that gathers in and mantains an oil refinery in almost perfect working condition and has turned it into a heavily armoured and protected settlement. They worship oil with an unsettling reverence bestowed upon them by the strange deity Tex’co. They don’t trade with the clack blood they extract from beneath the ground, as only the cult members are worthy of its blessing. Although they sometimes tried in the past to carry the word of Tex’co to other settlements to get new followers, their politics were not aggresive. That doesn’t mean that they were not fit to fight, as they were well aware that almost any other rival gang would do anything to get their oil and they had to protect it at all costs.

But the attack on their home has changed that. Now they live in constant paranoia and think the rest of the world wants to steal their resources, so they fight anyone anytime and even make “preventive attacks”. And worst of all, they have strange oil-powered machines to use against their enemies, undreamed of by any other faction.
Organization
The Black Blood Children follow a highly strict religious hierarchy.
Always in charge there is a High Priest, who controls and sees everything from their oil refinery; no one outside the walls of this stronghold has ever seen him. Below him there are the Flamekeepers, who inspire great deeds from the cult Warriors with their mere presence and carry the word of Tex’co with them. The Embers are combat-trained brothers and sisters who take the fight to the enemies of the Black Blood, equipped with weapons such as flamethrowers or chainsaws, impossible to see among other factions of the Wasteland. The Sparks serve as scouts, riding their motorbikes like thunder across the Wasteland. The Ashes are the cult base members, who carry the most basic duties and enter the fray only when it is necessary. Those they call Burnts are a completely separate case, die-hard fanatics willing to give their lives for the Black Blood without a second thought.

The 'Printer Friendly' version of the core rules can be downloaded from HERE.
The rules for this particular faction can be downloaded from HERE.

Note - The standard models come with a plain 25mm base and the Spark Bikers come with a plain 40mm base.

Personalities
Cunnilingus Igni
 Not so long ago the Black Blood Children were led by the High Flamekeeper Jeremiah, a quite peaceful guy who only wanted to spread the word of Tex’co across the Wasteland. But during the terrorist attack suffered at their main refinery he lost his life, and the whole cult fell into utter chaos. In that moment the most violent faction among them, led by Cunilingus Igni (which at the moment was kept locked under arrest for his aggresive and radical behavior) took control of the Children. Cunilingus has been the High Flamekeeper since then and has led the Black Blood Children to a holy crusade to wipe out anyone who does not accept Tex’co as their true divinity. He does not hesitate to take personal command during the raids of his children,fighting like a rabid madman.
Unassembled
Here are pictures of both sides of Cunnilingus Igni in his unassembled form
 Assembled
An easy to assemble five piece model. the major part is the main body to which arms, a head and some pipes on the back are added. All parts have decent attachment points.

Momma Nutritora
 Every leader needs a strong right hand, and for the Black Blood Children that would be the place for Momma Nutritora. When Cunnilingus started his revolution to change the peaceful ways of the cult, Momma was the first to rally to his side and preach his radical ideas. Despite many rumors there has never been any affair between them; Momma simply sees him as the chosen of Tex’co to lead them into converting the misguided people of the Wasteland. When she enters the fray Momma takes care that none of her Children runs out of gas, as well as contributing her technical skills to any worthy goal.
Unassembled
Here are pictures of both sides of Momma Nutritora in her unassembled form
Assembled
Just four pieces to this model namely a body, separate arms and a back piece. As with Igni these parts all have adequate attachment points so should give you no assembly issues.

Flamekeepers
The Flamekeepers are the high priests and priestesses of Tex’co, guardians of the knowledge bestowed by the Black Blood. They decipher the ancient hieroglyphics that allow the cult to operate the machinery, know the secrets of their temple-refinery and are the ones who constantly put the faithful to test to prove their devotion. No one would risk to fail before the eyes of a Flamekeeper.
Flamekeepers - Unassembled
Here are pictures of both sides of the Flamekeepers in their unassembled forms.

 Flamekeepers - Assembled
This model predates the Kickstarter and is single piece. I include it here for the sake of completeness.

This model consists of four parts. Despite being thin the 'staff' is surprisingly sturdy and the opposite 'pointing arm' has a good attachment point and a slight indentation that greatly assists with alignment. The only issue with this model is the 'nozzle' on the gas dispenser (you can see it between the models legs) which is a separate piece and very small. Be careful as if that bit lands on a carpeted floor you'll probably never see it again...

Spark Bikers
Thanks to the almighty power of oil, the Children of the Black Blood have more working vehicles than any other faction this side of the Wasteland. Although they usually only use them to go around quickly, Sparks are the scouts of the cult and make good use of agile motorbikes to explore the Wasteland, even using them in combat if need arises.
Spark Bikers - Unassembled
Here are pictures of both sides of the Spark Bikers in their unassembled forms.

Spark Bikers - Assembled
I had some trouble getting this model to match the artwork and render pictures so instead attached the parts whose locations weren't in any way subjective (the arm holding the bike handles particularly) and worked my way from there. There is some play in the connection between the torso and legs so you can get some alteration of pose from that point. Regardless of those minor issues I still like how the model looks and in the end that's what really counts...

This one was easier to put together despite having slightly more parts. There's a very definite indentation in the bike seat which aligns the riders body well in regard to the other bits. A little bending was required to align the arm to which the handle is attached with handlebars but a little bit of tweaking is often needed when working with resin and this was only minor.

The Flaming Piper
Technically I guess this guy should have been in Part one with the Rank and File Black Blood Children but as he has an individual description I decided to give him his own section...plus he has Flamethrower Bagpipes...which is pretty awesome in my opinion...
Unassembled
Here are pictures of both sides of the Flaming Piper in his unassembled form.
Assembled
The model is a fairly easy assembly job with the exception of a piece of connection tubing which is rather small...it does have actual connection points though so isn't as big an issue as I first expected. The rest is pretty straightforward.

If you happen to have missed them you can find the other articles at the links below.
Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

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