What should I work on next?

17 April 2012

"L" is for...

LIZARDMAN


Chameleon Skink, from DeviantArt

    Lizardmen. The most common denizens of Venus (although the Parrotmen are a close second), and hordes of them live in tribal units and warbands across the steaming jungle surface of the entire planet. There are literally dozens of different sorts, of varying sizes and colors. Some are crested, others are not. Some tower over the average man, some are the size of a healthy child. All are perfectly acclimated to their jungle planet's hot, humid lowland rainforests. They move silently through the underbrush and kill with neither warning nor compassion.

Salamander archers, 15mm, from Khurasan

   Germany has managed to befriend a few tribes of lizardmen who were in the vicinity of the German colony of Venusstaadt. These natives have been trained in the use of firearms, and organized into units of askaris or schutzetruppe to bolster the military strength of the German Empire on Venus. They have the added advantage of being able to travel through areas no human could survive.

GW Skink 'askari' conversion, 28mm

   Some of the larger tribes have very complex social structures, with the priests and temple guardians of the sacred spawning ponds at the very top of the heap, and the lowly slaves at the bottom. Their technology is crude, but effective nonetheless, and they can be trained to operate more complex machinery as well.

Martian Empires Lizardman Temple Guard, 18mm, by Black Hat
   Lizardmen come in a variety of sizes, one of the largest varieties (known in my VSF universe as a Kroc) is seen below. It seems that for the most part, the larger the lizardman, the less intelligent they usually are. Krocs have been known to trade for weapons and ornamentation with their smaller cousins. They have also been known to prey upon them for food.

GW Kroxigor, 28mm

   Some of the more advanced tribes have mastered their larger distant kin, the dinosaurs of Venus. Pictured below, you can see a tribe of blue-skinned lizardmen borne into battle atop a huge Stegadon. Other varieties have domesticated (at least partially) the pterosaurs as flying mounts, and other (mainly herbivorous) varieties as beasts of burden, much as the European colonists have done.


GW Lizardmen Stegadon, 28mm, all rights reserved, used w/o permission.

   The lizardmen make Venus a dangerous and exotic locale for adventure. Victorian Science Fiction would be a much less colorful place without them.

7 comments:

Elderac said...

I was surprised to see tomorrow's letter posted early.

Have you looked at/considered the lizardman in the RAFM Space 1889 line? It seems to me like it would be a less expensive alternative to GW figures and comes with a variety of weapons.

Mark

J Womack, Esq. said...

Yeah, I screwed up and posted it early. So you get tomorrow's today. I guess that means no soup for tomorrow, but such is life.

I have seen a few of the RAFM lizardmen in photos, but do not have any. Most of my GW ones are from eBay, though I did get some plastics many years ago when I bought the WFB box set that included them and Brettonians. 1996?

I have several dozen Khurasan 15mm ones, and will be buying some of the Martian Empires figures too, because they are so sweet. This is the real reason there are so many species of lizardmen - too many good toys out there.

PatG said...

More for other readers - The RAFM (rafm.com) lizards are in both the Space 1889 Lizard infantry and the Fantasy Reptiliad lines. Six 25mm metal Reptiliad figures for $9 Canadian. Or $1.50 per figure for open handed Lizard infantry with separate muskets and rifles. Other goodies too like war newts and turtles with howdahs.

Tony said...

L - Lizardmen.

Possibly the best post so far.

Tony

J Womack, Esq. said...

Tony: Thanks! Definitely the best artwork, but then, I 'borrowed' from a good source.

Pat: I knew that RAFM still made them, but didn't realize they were the same as the Reptiliads. I guess it makes sense. I need to get some plastic breechloading rifles to convert a few plastic skinks to askaris.

Elderac said...

What is your source of plastic rifles? I found some nice metal ones at Empress miniatures (I believe).

Mark

J Womack, Esq. said...

I haven't got one (a source, that is). I suppose if someone had some spare bits from the Warlord (I think it is) Zulus or British that would do the trick.