Recently I fell into a rabbit hole of 15mm adventure - starting with Burning Sands by
Crom's Anvil. I'll be covering that more when I've got some painted minis!
Anyway, while I was looking around getting all sorts of miniatures for that game I obviously came across inspiration for another project (isn't that always the way?) - there are a fair few really nice 15mm sci-fi ranges out there, and I decided I'd acquire stuff for a similar adventurous game as Burning Sands is providing me in a fantasy world.
So I'm working through prepping miniatures from Alternative Armies, Ral Partha Europe and CP Models but in the meantime I've thrashed out a bit of background for my universe. I thought I'd share the first part of that today!
Continued and accelerating decline in Earth’s ability to sustain life during the 2020s due to climate change resulted in ever more extreme weather – causing drought, famine, flood and fire. This, coupled with exponential population growth leading to increasing wars for the dwindling resources of the planet, caused some to seek a means of escape.
By 2030 the richest individuals of Earth had plotted to leave to head for the nearest star – Proxima Centauri. Giant spaceships called Arks were constructed – the wealthy guaranteed their place, others only permitted because of what they could offer the rich; as much a resource as the hoarded food, fuel and technology.
At least a dozen of these Arks were built and launched – but over the many thousands of years that the journey took several were lost, presumed destroyed. As time passed each Ark formed its own distinct culture, with each becoming known as a House – the descendants of the original individuals formed the Nobles of the House and held absolute power, with the descendants of the workers becoming known as Vassals.
Eventually, many millennia later, eight Arks arrived at the Proxima Centauri system to start a new life – but they quickly found they were not alone on the various planets there; sentient beings from a hundred different worlds could be found there… including humans.
Unlike the humans of the Houses, these humans had no real tie back to Earth – they had been here since the glory days of the Centauran Empire. The Centaurans were great travellers, explorers and scientists and at times during their history had taken humans from Earth to study them – eventually the descendants of these humans became a part of Centauran society, albeit as third-class citizens. As the Centauran Empire eventually declined the humans were given full rights and found their own way – they became known as Freedans.
The eight Houses that survived the trip to Proxima Centauri are:
AFA Union (Arnault-Ferrero-Albrecht) – whilst imperfect, the Union has an egalitarian attitude and makes allies easily with other species and even other Houses.
House Ambani – the Ambani have no specialism – but they are involved in absolutely everything, making them powerful players in the system.
House Bezos – even so many millennia after its founding the Vassals of House Bezos are treated close to slaves.
Zango Dangote – the Dangote maintained their many traditions and customs whilst embracing new technology during their journey to Proxima Centauri.
House Mordashov – certain of their destiny to rule the surviving humans, the Mordashov seek power in the system by any means necessary - they are masters of industrial espionage, cyberwarfare and propaganda.
House Mota-Velasco – masters of industry from mining to fabrication, Mota-Velasco is known for its hard working and hard playing people.
Clan Yanai – titans of design and commerce, even the Vassals of Clan Yanai are wealthy compared to their peers of other Houses.
Clan Zhong – as the Ark moved forwards, the culture of Clan Zhong returned to something resembling the Imperial Court of China.
The lost Houses included Al Saud, Buffet and Windsor – the names of any others are lost to history. Occasionally humans show up claiming to be from one of these lost Houses – they tend to be Freedans seeking some form of notoriety, but who knows if there are some survivors out there?
Following the vast influx of Earth humans from the Arks, and after a lengthy period of several centuries of conflict and assimilation, peace has mostly returned to the Proxima Centauri system - outright war has been avoided for the last 50 years. Of course, skirmishes between species, Houses, corporations, organisations and more are still commonplace, particularly in border areas where tensions often spark over small matters.
