Latest Posts

Another day on the Warhammer production line.

Those workers should be wearing some protective goggles…

Greetings y’all,

I’m breaking the production order today to maintain the Warhammer theme. This was a late addition to the production order. So, some elements feel a bit rushed. ( Please don’t focus on how that ramp on the right is off perspective. )

Admittedly, I thought Defiance was the chief producer of the Warhammer up until this assignment; very embarrassing. 

Warhammer in the shop!

Greetings everyone,

Today we have the maintenance bay scene from TTBT episode 14. Is this inside a dropship? I think it was the intended setting at the time. Honestly, the mechanics and dimensions of even a Union class dropship have been puzzling to me. Games tend to treat them as a magic box mechs charge in and out of. I have a hard time conceiving of enough space inside to store mechs/parts, maintain, and host the army of support crew needed to run everything. The Argo, from HBS Battletech, makes a lot more sense as a mothership out of which the merc crew operates; using the Leopard purely as transport for missions. ( Let’s not talk about how at the beginning of the game the entire merc crew operates a 6 mech team out of the Leopard alone. )

But, that’s just part of the setting’s Kayfabe we shouldn’t question.

For this piece, I used the MWO Warhammer design. This is probably my favorite of the modern redesigned mechs. But, boy howdy, it has so many random panels jutting from that chest. It makes it very hard to draw without having a detailed 3D model on hand for reference. The great thing about working with CGL is that they will send me their print models for a job. I can throw those into Blender to get a clear view of how they are assembled. I don’t have that luxury when working off of MWO designs. I have to just grab pictures from the internet and try my best. The MWO Hunchback’s torso has driven me to madness several times. 

And do you think I’m doing a decent job illustrating mech internals? Do they look somewhat feasible for a giant robot? I seem to be asked to do stuff like this a lot lately. So, I assume I’m doing an adequate job of it. 

More art soon!

All the best,

-Eldon

Warhammer Assault!

Hello all,

This time we see the CGL Warhammer blazing away at a poor Thunderbolt!

I’ve had the discussion with Tex several times about reconciling the many different versions of a mech. The basic idea we came up with is the ‘local contractors” concept. These chassis see non-stop combat for hundreds of years over thousands of warzones. Logic would assume that there’d be various military contractors vying for maintenance contracts. Thus, a contractor would do refits, restorations, maintenance, and overhauls from parts they could source locally; and this doesn’t take into account battlefield and merc tech fiddling. In this way a Warhammer traveling with a mercenary outfit might look completely different from one used for a planetary garrison. Disregarding a mech of Theseus situation, the Warhammers might have only a few surviving components in common. 

I think this is a tidy excuse for using whatever art we see fit for an episode; and I can play with all the designs. 

More Warhammer coming soon!

-Eldon

Tex Talks Battletech episode 14 is here!

Hello all,

The new episode of Tex Talks Battletech is upon us! This time we have an extensive discussion on arms production efficacy and the venerable Warhammer. It’s a doozy of an episode!

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YsiYNJFyQQ&t=6724s&ab_channel=BlackPantsLegion

Warhammer packs are in development. There are still a few things to wrap up and items to order. You’ll see it, along with a bevy of new items, post on the webshop within the next several. Keep an eye on the blog for when they’re ready.
Shop link here: www.astray3.bigcartel.com

Plenty of art to come!

-Eldon