Re-inventing Squats Concept Art

[Easy E]

Greetings,

As many of you no doubt know, there is a lively discussion going on in the Background Forum about re-imagining the Squats into 40K. It's generally been agreed that the old Space Dwarf as Hells Angels needed to be abandoned and a new direction created. I ask YOU, the artists of Warseer to help in this process.

Here is a link to the Background discussion:
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46402

Without further ado, here are some of my chicken scratchs to help get the ball rolling.

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/639...sca1lk5.th.png

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/627...sca2gg6.th.png

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/9688/clanca3nc3.th.png

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/8...nca4fa1.th.png

I'm no artist, but C&C welcome. Which ones do you think work best for the new Squats (BTW we have decided to call the neo-squats Varingr)

[Zedric]

I especially like the third one, with the helmed trooper. It looks comparatively easily convertable from guardsmen, but suitably more advanced than imperial tech. That's really how the Squats ought to have been all along. I also like the "braided" mustache on the floating head in the second drawing. That's how I picture a "future dwarf."

Plus, they don't look dissimilar from the Grymn, which bodes well for my evil plan.

[Destecado]

I think it all depends on the environement that you find the Varingr in what they will be wearing. Sorry no picture at this time, but here are a couple of ideas.

The basic "uniform" of the Varingr would probably consist of coverall utilities or some kind of one piece jump suit. Its light comfortable and easily customizable. It serves just as easily for doing work as it does for going to war. Over the top can be added a combat harness (combat webbing), knee and elbow pads or forearm (bracers) and calve guards. Actually something similar to the look of the colonial marines from Aliens might work.

Underneath the utilities or in space (on board ship), the Varingr might wear a form fitting garment that looks similar to a wet suit or body stocking. Though similar in look, its function and the material it is made out of are not the same. The garment regulates body temperature, it is also covered in microscopic fibers that can be activated. These hairs are reminiscent of the hairs on the pads on a gecko's. This allows them to adhere to surfaces, which helps if artificial gravity is lost or shut off (usually when repairs to said vessel are being conducted). It also allows maintenance crews to reach and affect repairs in area or at angles that would be dangerous in normal circumstances.

[Voronwe[MQ]]

Segmented neck armour, if one are able to apply it subtle enough, might be given a try.

[Acolyte of Bli'l'ab]

I like Destecado's jumpsuit idea the best personally, I'd also take inspiration from Dr Who's Sontarans too :

http://nzdwfc.tetrap.com/archive/tsv22/g/sont1.jpg

something like that might work for them, and make them look more "evolved" human. The Sontarans are a clone-race too, that could also explain how the squat race survived, genetic engineering and cloning. Just an idea anyway

[Chiron]

the jumpsuit description puts me in mind of the Van Saars clothing, body suit with useful bits and pieces on it

[Destecado]

I like Destecado's jumpsuit idea the best personally, I'd also take inspiration from Dr Who's Sontarans too

The link didn’t work, but I’m familiar with the Sontarans. I’m a little leery of the upside down fruit bowl helmets with eye slits…at least for ground forces. Something like that might work for vac-suits. Rather than being solid metal like the Sontarans, it could instead be made of made of a polarize plastic material. Although it appears opaque on the outside, It is transparent on the inside. This increases the Varingr’s field of vision while suited up.

This helmet rather than being a separate part from the rest of the suit is one piece with the upper torso of the suit. Actually, this could be one type of suit used. Instead of being set on top of the shoulders, it is set slightly forward and is slightly oversized. This gives the suit a bit of a hunchbacked look, but offers the best field of vision. The one piece construction would save on materials. It also eliminates the difficulty one might experience trying to turn the helmet to look at something to the right or left. With the neck free of the retaining collar that would be necessary in most suits (to lock the helmet to the rest of the suit) the wear has an easier time of turning the next from side to side.

For normal ground units, I was picturing something that looked a little like this:

http://www.japanese-armor.com/images...cts/ah2314.jpg

I think we definitely need to get away from the horned helms and typical dwarfish look. A modern update of this helmet would provide good protection for the head and neck. The face mask, rather than being an integral part of the helmet is a separate piece. I have always hated the Space Marine helmets, where they take off the entire helmet leaving the head exposed. This style would allow the Varingr to remove the face mask without sacrificing the total protection of the helmet. Different attachments would include a respirator, visual augmentation or just a really scary face.

the jumpsuit description puts me in mind of the Van Saars clothing, body suit with useful bits and pieces on it

Similar to the Van Saar, yes, but that is just the base part. There will of course be finer clothes within Varingr society, these are just their "work" coths. The addition of an armored carapace covering the torso, and arm, elbow, knee and calf guards will make it look very different.

[Hellebore]

For normal ground units, I was picturing something that looked a little like this:

http://www.japanese-armor.com/images...cts/ah2314.jpg

I think we definitely need to get away from the horned helms and typical dwarfish look. A modern update of this helmet would provide good protection for the head and neck. The face mask, rather than being an integral part of the helmet is a separate piece. I have always hated the Space Marine helmets, where they take off the entire helmet leaving the head exposed. This style would allow the Varingr to remove the face mask without sacrificing the total protection of the helmet. Different attachments would include a respirator, visual augmentation or just a really scary face.



Similar to the Van Saar, yes, but that is just the base part. There will of course be finer clothes within Varingr society, these are just their "work" coths. The addition of an armored carapace covering the torso, and arm, elbow, knee and calf guards will make it look very different.

In order to get away from typical dwarfen archetypes I have been doing exactly this, combining japanese and nordic stylings, especially for the names.

Hellebore

[Easy E]

For normal ground units, I was picturing something that looked a little like this:

http://www.japanese-armor.com/images...cts/ah2314.jpg

I think we definitely need to get away from the horned helms and typical dwarfish look. A modern update of this helmet would provide good protection for the head and neck. The face mask, rather than being an integral part of the helmet is a separate piece. I have always hated the Space Marine helmets, where they take off the entire helmet leaving the head exposed. This style would allow the Varingr to remove the face mask without sacrificing the total protection of the helmet. Different attachments would include a respirator, visual augmentation or just a really scary face.

That was the idea I was trying to simulate with these helmet patterns:
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/3...nca5si5.th.png

I actaully see the front face plate as lifting up similar to the sterotypical knights helmet, it's just that my drawing skills could not do it justice.

A note on horns. Many people seem to want to get away from this look. I see it having a place in more elite/honorary units such as the Hearthguard (Highguard) units where a bit of flash is needed to accentuate the wearers rank. Even Samurai helmets (Like the one sited above) would make use of horns, cresecents, and other design elements for the higher ranks.

Edit: Some others were also hinting at a more steeampunk feel for the Varingr. Any ideas on what that would look like?

[Lockjaw]

Just kind of quickly drew this last night

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...el/varingr.jpg

Kind of went with a japanese style helmet, with ancestor faces on it.

Added the searchlight on the shoulderpad because I was watching 5th elemetn and saw the cops in the movie. and searchlights would make sense in tunnels i guess

[Voronwe[MQ]]

It would indeed make a lot of sense, though I'd make the searchlight a bit more discrete or with 'face-shields'.

[Acolyte of Bli'l'ab]

The link didn’t work, but I’m familiar with the Sontarans. I’m a little leery of the upside down fruit bowl helmets with eye slits…at least for ground forces. Something like that might work for vac-suits. Rather than being solid metal like the Sontarans, it could instead be made of made of a polarize plastic material. Although it appears opaque on the outside, It is transparent on the inside. This increases the Varingr’s field of vision while suited up.

Yeah, the upside-down fruit bowel helmets wouldnt work, but their basic jumpsuit type costume would. Mix it with a helmet style of what you said below and perhaps add tubes on the VAC-suit, and it would look pretty good I think.

For normal ground units, I was picturing something that looked a little like this:

http://www.japanese-armor.com/images...cts/ah2314.jpg

I like that look, it could definitly be modified to look more sci-fi and I think it would well for NGU's. Best idea for the Varingr yet IMO. It would look unique enough which is what it needs, as alot of peoples ideas look too much like short-imperial guard and I think the Varingr should be more unique in their look. Good work.

[Easy E]

@Destecado- Good post. A lot of it should go into the Death of the Squats thread also. It seems like your take has the Varingr are a bit like Eldar exodites. They chose to leave Terra and her sphere of influence before the STC, instead of being colonies sponsored by Terra. That would put a different spin on their technology for sure and completely justifies a new look.

When I approached re-imagining the Squats, I was looking to take what was existing, modify it to more current fluff, expand on it logically, remove silliness, and go forward. It seems many people just want to scrap what was and start from fresh. That's where some of the idea friction comes from.

As far as the warrior nature of the Varingr, their history (again using Squat history as a basic framework) would lead me to believe they became militaristic to survive. Not as much as their society revolves around warfare, but it is a very important and relevant influence.

@Acoltye- I agree that they should not look like short IG. However, that's the hard part. One aspect I think about is that I will want to create model's in the future. How do I build off what is all ready in the range to get where I want to go?

Here's some more sketches and junk.

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/4...nca7xt8.th.png

I didn't really bother cleaning them up any.

[Destecado]

@Destecado- Good post. A lot of it should go into the Death of the Squats thread also. It seems like your take has the Varingr are a bit like Eldar exodites. They chose to leave Terra and her sphere of influence before the STC, instead of being colonies sponsored by Terra. That would put a different spin on their technology for sure and completely justifies a new look.

I’ll repost it in the “Backgrounds” Forum thread…along with a couple of amendments based on some thoughts I’ve had since originally writing it. I would not say that they are really like the exodites (although I can see where some of the parallels can be made. I think however that they more embody the pioneer spirit of humanity; the rugged individualism. They like any other pioneers finally faced the encroachment of civilization. Rather than succumb to this encroachment, they instead decided to “move on to greener pastures”, where they could again put the “civilized world” behind them.

Please don’t take this to mean that they were not civilized. It was more a rejection of main stream society, that told you what to do, what to be and what to think. It was a rejection of the laws, and restrictions and all the B.S. Those societies need laws and contracts, because they couldn’t trust each others word. They were always trying to get a leg up on each other and stab each other in the back. They also needed police to protect them, because they wouldn’t or couldn’t protect themselves. They traded in their freedom and self sufficiency for security and stability.

When I approached re-imagining the Squats, I was looking to take what was existing, modify it to more current fluff, expand on it logically, remove silliness, and go forward. It seems many people just want to scrap what was and start from fresh. That's where some of the idea friction comes from.

I am not trying to scrap the entire concept. I still want them to be shorter than standard humans. Seriously though, the old fluff was not very good. I am trying to keep the spirit of the squats without making them comical caricatures. I am also trying to find their soul. They can be so much more than just space dwarves.

As far as the warrior nature of the Varingr, their history (again using Squat history as a basic framework) would lead me to believe they became militaristic to survive. Not as much as their society revolves around warfare, but it is a very important and relevant influence.

I totally agree. This is not to say that they might not squabble amongst themselves…after a hard days work, they might blow off some steam by getting into a bar room brawl. They are however not trying to kill each other. Weapons in such brawls are generally frowned upon.

[Voronwe[MQ]]

Japanese and nordic stylings? This is proving very interesting.

[Easy E]

Yes, I agree that they are great models. However, they need to be gothiced up just a tad to fit into 40K in my opinion.

A good example is the stylized helmet designs we have been talking about. Functional, but also with a bit of flair above and beyond the generic sci-fi field.

@Lockjaw- Is the beard that of the troops, since you mentioned the face of the ancestor on the helmet?

I think the searchlight is a great idea. I wanted to do it myself, but my skills failed me. Perhaps if we could integrate it into the armor better? Maybe in the chestplate.

[Gen.Steiner]

Yes, I agree that they are great models. However, they need to be gothiced up just a tad to fit into 40K in my opinion.

Why? The Varingr are, as far as I can tell from the giant thread () essentially pre-Heresy humans.

They wouldn't need the buttresses, gothic arches, or winged helmets.

Surely they would look much more ... I don't know, kind of a human take on the Tau. Not so much anime but classic SF.

Besides - look at the Cadians. How Gothic are they?

[Easy E]

I agree that we don't need buttresses, arches, winged helmets, Scroll work, etc. However, the Varingr have a long artisan tradition. They are practical and pragmatic yes, but they are also proud of themselves, their lineage, and their clans. This would be reflected in the gear that each trooper has to supply on their own. Little details would help distinguish them from their fellows. This reduces the amount of standardization you would see in the army.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Grymm are great models and a wonderful base. I just think the helmets would need to be modified. Personally, I would like my Varingr to be less like short IG and something a bit more unique.

As an aside, the Varingr are more than just pre-heresy humans. They are their own culture now. Perhaps they still think of themselves as the "pure" bred humans while the Imperials are corrupted; but they are still very different from those original colonists in physical form, culture, technology, etc.

[Gen.Steiner]

I liked the idea of personalised colour schemes that was mooted some time back, I think that alone would be enough to distinguish them.

Don't forget, too, that their lack of buttresses etc is also a defining look which can just as easily be a part of their culture as otherwise.

Runes etc can be painted on or added with GS to the Grymn, but to be honest I think the personalised armour and clothing fits really nicely with the Varingr...

[Easy E]

True, and I think the Grymm would be a nice base to work with. I just think their helmets would need to modified and some GS work done.

However, I can't totally concede your point otherwise what would be the point of the thread?

@Lockjaw- Now I see the face of the ancestor. Subtle, but it totally fits the look of the Samurai helmet you were referencing. Nicely done.