The Crew of the Starship Murphy

This post is respectively dedicated to Russ Morrissey, the author of the N.E.W. rulebook. Here I present the crew of the starship Murphy in 28mm scale form. Those of you not familiar with the N.E.W. rulebook will no doubt be asking who are they and why is this post dedicated to Russ? Well, Russ created the six crew members of the Murphy and included their stats in the N.E.W. rulebook as an example of how to create starting characters or for players to use as their own player characters. They are all rank grade 5 characters ready to start their first adventure in space. This picture below shows the portraits of them that appeared in the rulebook and was a huge help to me in choosing which figures to represent them in miniature form.

And here are the figures I chose to represent them.

At the far left is Sasha Bolotnikov, a reckless human smuggler who loves playing cards. The cigar smoking Sasha is the leader of the group and captain of the Murphy, an old Seeker Class V Scout ship used as a freighter for smuggling and other missions. A Russian smuggler, she spent time in prison on Ganymede after being caught transporting illegal spices. Upon release from prison, she immediately dove right back into her former career. Cool as a cucumber, Sasha is known for her luck at cards. She is armed with a laser pistol. For her figure I used a North Star Renegade figure from their Rogue Stars range - see here - http://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=9108 She comes with another Renegade and the set costs £6.00 for the pair. She is not converted at all. I simply painted on her eyepatch over her right eye.
Next up is Gorrat, an illiterate Ogron star marine who likes to watch sports. If Sasha is the Murphy's heart, Gorrat, the enormous Ogron marine, is its muscle. Nearly 7 feet tall, clad in heavy, somewhat battered battlesuit with exposed circuitry and jury-rigged patches, and carrying his favourite Trans Sun FC33 Antimatter Rifle, Gorrat is always spoiling for a fight. He is slow on the uptake, never learned to read, and relies on the others to do most of his thinking for him. He does, however, somehow absorb a lot of random sports trivia. Gorrat is fundamentally good-natured and has a big heart. The figure of Gorrat also came from the North Star Rogue Stars range and is the large Thug - see here - http://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=9046 He costs £6.00. He came with a small pet which was supposed to sit on his left shoulder. I left it off. I also left off the sword that was supposed to hang on his back. I remodelled his face, added his tusks and a bandanna and I found a suitable rifle for him from my spare parts box. I stuck him on a 30mm diameter slottabase, just to give him an extra bit of height over the others, who were all glued to 25mm diameter MDF bases.
Third in line is Ashonn, a young disfigured Venetian Star Knight who believes in fairy tales. Ashonn was badly disfigured by a training accident when he was younger, which has made him hard to look upon. Ashonn is in love with Earth's culture of fairy tales, and views them as true historical stories from which he can learn. There was never any doubt as to which figure I wanted to use for Ashonn and that was the Hasslefree Miniatures of Mystic Warrior Kev from their range of sci-fi humans - see here - http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=mystic-warrior-kev~hfsf120&category=sci%252dfi-%26%0D%0Aweird-war~sci%252dfi-humans He costs £5.00. With Kev being a bald headed Star Knight, all that I had to do was extend his ears to make them pointed to convert him into a Venetian, which I did with a couple of very small blobs of Milliput. He is armed with a laser sword, which is blue, denoting his starting rank.

Moving on, next in line is Dr. TikTok, an erudite android medic who is fascinated by religion. Not much use in a fight, TikTok is the Murphy's medic and general science officer. Originally a technical on a moisture farm, he decided to pursue an academic education. He is formally educated, but has little experience outside academia. A qualified doctor, and well-educated in various technical disciplines, TikTok is competent but has a cold nature and a tendency to lecture; fortunately this is compensated by his naivete which makes him strangely likeable. TikTok is fascinated by mythology, especially religions. He was another character for whom I knew exactly which figure to use to represent him. He is based on ALF24, the Robot Assistant from Reaper's Chronoscope range - see here - http://miniature-heroes.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=487_501&products_id=24098 He cost £5.22. I have not converted this figure at all - he was perfect as is. TikTok is armed with a phaser pistol.
Second from the right is Holmes, an alcoholic human psychic who collects insects. Holmes never wanted to be a psychic. His talent was discovered by accident when he badly injured another child with an instinctive psi-blast. Viewed as an outsider, he learned quickly to charm his way through awkward situations, and developed into an intuitive, perceptive man with a firm grasp on psychology. Eventually, after obtaining a college degree in linguistics, he gave in and answered his calling, setting up as a commercial telepath. I wish I could tell you who produced this figure but sadly, I can't. He was gifted to me by a fellow blogger, whom I'm no longer in touch with. He is a metal figure that came with an oval integral base. I cut him off that base and glued him to an MDF base instead. If anyone recognises him, please let me know. Holmes is armed with a slugger pistol and a laser knife.
The final figure of this group is Talik, an ambidextrous Felan burglar who plays classical music. When you're looking for Talik, look up. This black leather-clad Felan is at home on precarious ledges, leaping across the width of entire streets, and climbing to gain high vantage points. Talik is a burglar, adept at sneaking and picking locks, although she suffers from a very short attention span and extreme forgetfulness. Finding a good figure match for Talik was a struggle at first, until I remembered a certain figure from my Horrorclix: The Lab set. I had a swap of a Pride Warrior, a female feline fighter who, with a bit of minor conversion work, would be perfect for Talik. I cut off her "Wolverine" claws from her right hand and her katana from her left hand. I added a holster made of Milliput to her right thigh and she was good to go. A very easy conversion. She is armed with a disruptor pistol and her claws could be classed as a weapon by some. Unfortunately, this figure is long out of production.

So, how will they fit in my The Ace of Spades Campaign? They share much in common with Kimberley and co, so they could end up being friends or friendly rivals. I may use them if I have a scenario that is designed for starting characters. At some point in my campaign, Sasha and Kimberley will meet up.