A fine fellow on Instagram with the handle @golgothaprime who has not only a lovely set up of 15mm science fiction miniatures and terrain but also a talent for fiction too. By kind permission on the news site we present the second collected short fictions and pictures of his collection which features miniatures from the 15mm Ion Age Range and the 15mm HOF Science Fiction Range. You can see previous blog articles HERE and HERE.

Every tale is presented with its pictures and if you have any questions do ask us on sales@alternative-armies.com. Enjoy the tales of future adventure!

Vladimir Henin Larkonnen

Even in the darkest places, United Government bases can be found: far underground the burning surface of Dandelo II, at the ocean floor under the ice layers of Farson IV, on huge asteroids in the Delgado Cluster.

The more sophisticated bases employ circadian daylight systems which creates an artificial day-night cycle, other bases exists in perpetual night. Whether this is due to the need of having personnel working during all hours, the lack of proper equipment, or as a safety measure, if the lights might go out unplanned, in these "night cities", lights are set low, with the exception of neon signs that light up the entertainment districts. These bases tend to attract "night-dwellers" who prefer to lurk in the darkness.

In the asteroid mining base of Vi Castis, local security has their eyes on one of those night-dwellers. Rumours surround this agitator, some claim that he has come to liberate the workers from the yoke of megacorp domination, others say that he's of aristocratic descent, trying to gather troops to reclaim a spice mining contract that was 'stolen from his family'. Either way, he moves in the shadows, gathers support; a saboteur that won't hesitate to resort to violence. The workers (and local security) knows him only as 'Henin', but his true name is Vladimir, heir to the Baron of the House Larkonnen…

Miniature from HOF144 SFA Female Troopers

Rumi

Long before the advent of AI, humans named autonomous programs that performed tasks without direct user interaction as Daemons. Time and time again, a cycle has repeated itself; first, the Daemons have been recognized for their use for humanity, but as they go rogue (which unfortunately seems to happen sooner or later), they become the enemy and need to be destroyed and outlawed. As time goes by, people forget, and someone else rediscovers the usefulness of Daemons, starting a new cycle...

In the years after World War X, the most catastrophic war on Earth (pre galactic expansion), the sudden rise of psi-mutants led to the creation of the Psycho-kinetic Outlier Programme (P-KOP), an autonomous Daemon that tracked psionics and, if they were identified as a threat, dispatched HK-droids to eliminate them. Legacy code from this programme can be found in bots, droids and AI systems across the galaxy. Sometimes, glitches activate it, leading to rampaging automata trying to kill anyone with psionic tendencies.

The Huntrix bounty hunter guild is famous for their reliability, but perhaps even more for their special operatives with psionic powers, who are taught to summon gleaming white psycho-kinetic weapons from thin air. One such operatives, codename Rumi, has been dispatched to Skeleton's Reach on a mission from the local Psionics guild. An unknown entity has been 'infecting' droids and bots with something that awakens the dormant legacy code in them. Rumi is to identify and bring in the affected droids for a code purge. If the infection has progressed too far, she has to deactivate them (preferably without destroying them), but as a P-KOP Daemon Hunter, Rumi is authorized to use lethal force, if needed...

Miniatures are Ion Age Grima and Cyber Hound.

Standard Bot

During humanity's first expanse into the universe, the HK-series droids were common on the colony ships' transport manifests. Originally created to keep people out of (and mutants inside) the forbidden zones, they excel at hunting, killing and patrolling perimeters. Unfortunately, they weren't suited for being in civilized environments, where random acts of violence are frowned upon. Their tendency to revert to standard orders (hunt/kill) lead to the creation of the Standard Bot.

Commissioned by the United Government, the Standard Bot was designed to work in both civilan and military roles. With standardized parts, anyone anywhere should be able to repair them with a modicum of skill. Most important was the upgrade to an advanced personality core. Instead of just following simple orders, the Standard Bot had a simulated consciousness with dynamic motivations and a sense of 'self'. If a Standard Bot by any reason was rebooted (EMP blast, blunt force trauma, cascading failure, etc.), it wouldn't restart with murderous intent, but instead try to get a hold of the situation while the personality core restarted.

These design choices has made it a lot safer to be near a Standard Bot, but there are drawbacks. Some employ snipers with high powered rifles, taking the Standard Bots' heads clean off, so that a new head (loyal to them) can be installed. Others employ slicers or hackers to make cut-out chips, which can be used on EMP:ed bots to override their positronic brains, creating robo-zombies. Even with these drawbacks, the Standard Bot is the standard bot in most systems, being used by security companies like NeoDyne Security, United Government military, AesCorp Asteroid Mining Company, and diverse groups of adventurers…

Lifter

Before the advent of stealth technology, camouflage was the best way of hiding from your opponent. Being able to blend with the surroundings give you an advantage, whether you want to strike from an ambush or slip away undetected. In United Government Space, camouflage will mainly be found on low-tech worlds, where the availability of stealth technology is limited, or as a backup when concealment is important, but EMP weapons or magnetic storms might interfere with the stealth units.

On the Galactic Fringe, where armoured vehicles are few and far between, it is common to use highly visible vehicle paintjobs. Like creatures resorting to aposematism, the owners of the vehicles signal that they are dangerous and best to leave alone. Since heavy weaponry is quite uncommon on the Galactic Fringe, there is no need to camouflage yourself. If you were to meet another vehicle (or a mech), they will often have sensors and suites to detect you anyway (via heat, magnetism, brainwaves, or residual electro-magnetic traces).

The vehicle pictured is a surplus Red Adder Combat Lifter, aquired from the Ultima Riven 144th Armoured Fists, used by the Falcone's Reach's Citizens Brigade. Falcone's Reach has lately been terrorized by aggressive, masked ruffians who have abducted and murdered community members. The Citizens Brigade has finally managed to drive them off from Falcone's Reach, but they have still been sighted in the surrounding forests. The pictured unit works together with scouts to track and take down the last of the icy terrorists...

On the more high-tech battlefields, stealth technology and electronic warfare can make things interesting. You might have stealth generators, but the enemy has anomaly detectors, so you deploy anomaly generators, but they counter with energy spike probes, which you counter with nano-cloud bursts, and in all the chaos, your soldiers need to know what to target (and what not to target), so you start to use colourful uniforms and brightly painted vehicles to avoid confusion and friendly fire...

Miniatures are HOF159 Human Thrall Troops

Converted Acquisition

A fragment of text from old Terra states: "That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die". In some ways it describes the state of life and death millennia after it was written. Tech Archeologists have awakened species thought dead, not once but several times. The Swarm was almost eradicated, with a few eggs hidden away on desolate moons and frozen asteroids, until humans unleashed them on the galaxy again. The Osazelwe Halls of the Dead was thought to be a planet-wide mausoleum filled with statues of an extinct race. All it needed was a curious explorer to activate the dormant reactors, to re-awaken the 'statues' from their aeon-long hibernation...

On the most advanced human worlds, death is more or less optional. At least if you have money. Cryo-therapy, cellular rejuvenation, cloned bodies with mind transfer from the old body... as long as you avoid accidents and violent crime, you can almost live forever. There is just the problem with the human mind not being built for living perpetually, turning the eldest detached, evil, or just plain weird.

Sometimes, death is just the beginning. The Precursors can trap the essence of their dying in crystals known as Soul Shards, which can live on in android bodies or computer systems. The Lazarus Virus can (in controlled processes) be used to rejuvenate cells, but will uncontrolled turn anyone infected into a living dead, a zombie. The nightmarish cyborg race known as the Converted replenish their ranks by installing cybernetic control circuitry in other species. They prefer using live captives, since they retain certain skills and functionality, but the implants can be used to revive corpses as well. While not as advanced, the corpse-soldiers can be enhanced with bolted-in weaponry, being used as cannon fodder to grind down the opposition. Pictured above is a group of Converted Infiltrators, former human soldiers turned into cybernetic thralls...

Precusor

They were travelling between the stars when humanity was still living in caves. They have seen the rise and fall of numerous civilizations. With lifespans longer than most sentient species, and high intelligence to match it, most Precursors seem to live lives differing from the average galactic citizen. After having spent a couple of centuries adventuring, the typical Precursor prefer to retire to a calmer life. They are the spry pensioners of the galaxy.

Miniatures are Zidhe from the HOF Range.

The aging population of the Precursors split into several sub-groups: some just want to enjoy themselves and take it easy. They move to Paradise Planets, where they live in sync with nature, or they go on the Precursor Space Arks, massive ships cruising through the galaxy, where they can learn crafts like "bonesinging", and always find someone to play "Temanaw Anuitere" with.

If that doesn't suit them, the more vivacious elder Precursors can delve into other fields. Some start to collect ancient artifacts, while others go "xenos-watching" (like birdwatching, but with sentient species). Last, but not least, it is quite common for elder Precursors to start volunteering. It can take many forms, some decide to help adventurers on their quests, some go for xenos conservation, trying to save species from extermination. Some do the opposite, scouring the galaxy for signs of the Swarm, sending Precursor War Parties to eradicate them, with extreme prejudice...

The 15mm miniature dreams of Golgothaprime II...

Cold Blood and Cold Steel a free scenario for Patrol Angis

Thank you and what is to come in May 2026?