[BM24] Battlepack Bundle: Hell on Earth

[Vomarsk]

Remember the Good ol' times, when each wave of battlepacks had two sets that, while each focusing on a faction, were always implied to directly oppose each other?
I thought "Why not go for something like that", so, this entry will be two battlepacks (that can be jusged separately though, just wanted to explain the gimmick.)
Now, without Further ado:

[Vomarsk]

[Legacy Faction] Vanguard of Hell

Hellish invasions usually start with small numbers of possessed minifigs constructing blood nests - demonic shrines made from the corpses of killed minifigs - to serve as a portal to hell.
This battlepack focuses on exactly that: A sort of bridgehead for any demonic invasion.


Minifigs included in this Pack are the most generic, cannon fodder type troops hell has to offer: possessed minifigs. Specifically, it includes 3 Zombiemen (one with a plasma rifle and two with Enforcer Assault rifles) and one former Commando with a Chain Gun.


In the early stages of invading another dimension, the Hellish Forces rely on these small portals. They are constructed in a ritual nvolving piling up the bodies of slayn enemies. Their Corpses form a new entity: the Blood Nest, a link to hell through which more powerful demons can come through to their target dimension.


One of the more commonly seen Demons are the Arachnotrons - clones of the powerful Spider Mastermind that is often behind these invasions. The demon itself is quite vulnerable, but it controls a somewhat resilient, robotic body armed with a plasma rifle, from which it can command nearby lesser demons and possessed.

[Vomarsk]

[New Faction] Doom Marines

Let's face it: Battlepacks with mainly characters or elite units don't have the greatest army building potential. Which makes it important to remember that, while each minifig in this battlepack could essentially be considered a heroic Unit, all of them are technically normal Marines and can be used as such to build up an army of "dudes in green power armor" - essentially, every character in this pack can be seen as a Hero as well as an expendable Marine.
So, let's take a closer look at them. This will focus more on the "Heroic" aspect of each of them, since the "expendable Marine" part boils down to "this green guy is an expendable Marine who can handle guns"


I'll start with the Major because for two reasons:
firstly, she is the only one of the bunch who can't be considered a variant of the others. Major Kira Morgan was sent to a lab on the moon that was taken over by a demonic AI. With all of her Squad taken over or killed by the Demons, it was now up to her to find and exterminate the origin of the Hellish invasion and to take out the demonic AI in control of the lab.
Secondly, she has the most hilarious gun of the group: the holy water pistol. The pistol itself isn't anything special, it's just a normal water pistol. But it has a special relic inside that can turn water into Holy Water, which Demons really don't like being sprayed with.


The Doomguy is probably the closest to a basic Marine in this pack. He isn't enhanced by Godly Powers, he doesn't have holy relics at his disposal, he hasn't spent decades in hell punching Cyberdemons for fun. No, all he has is a dead pet bunny and a grudge. Oh, and a lot of guns, of course. Which is a really painful combination of attributes for whoever his grudge is against.
Of all his weapons, this battlepack only includes the most powerful (because we don't believe that the second-best is enough), the BFG 9000. This Gun is essentially a really big Plasma cannon, firing a bal of Hellfire that liquifies everything in sight. Essentially, it's a giga-shotgun.


The Hellwalker is a Doom Marine that, after living through multiple demonic invasions, decided that he might as well go to hell and stay there to try and keep the demons from leaving their dimension. While stuck there, he found a powerful demonic weapon, the Unmaker. This monstrosity of a Laser rifle draws power from hellish artifacts and, if powered by enough artifacts, can easily cut through even the mightiest of demon within seconds.


Finally, we've got the Slayer. After having spent years fighting through hell, he was given the opportunity to enhance his body with heavenly powers to Rip and Tear through demons even easier. The Slayer, like other Doom Marines, has a wide variety of weapons at his disposal. What sets him apart from the others is the launcher mounted on his armor, which can fire grenades just as well as flames or Acid. He wields a Crucible, a blade forged from the fires of Hell as well as the Doom blade, a spectacularily normal knife.


Enough of the figbarf, let's get to the builds in this battlepack. First, we have a sentry bot. These floating bots come in two variantions: Dakka and Kamikaze. Included in this pack is the Shooting Bot, a sentry equipped with a small machine gun.


Many of the Doom Marines' weapons are powered by refinedhellfire, also known as "Argent". The Battlepack includes one Argent Core Container, which can be used to power whatever you need to power. You want to see what happens when one of the Marines eats it? Will he become more powerful? will he just explode? That's for you and that Marine to figure out.


I apologize. This is probably the most boring part of the battlepack. it's just a wall. nothing fancy about it. Just an energy shield that your marines can hide behind. And considering they'll probably want to jump in and chainsaw the enemy, that's probably not the most useful thing they could envision. But it's there. If you want to take cover, you can.


After that bummer, let's finish this entry with a bang - literally. Because what Doom inspired post would be complete without a bunch of barrels with explosive, toxic waste? Just don't stand to close to it when firing your BFG. Or... at all. Just leave the "standing to close to it" part to your enemies and enjoy the fireworks

[aoffan23]

Vanguard of Hell
Theme: 8
Substance: 7
Story: 10 For pitting it against a thematic rival battlepack.
Photography: 7

Doom Marines
Theme: 8.5
Substance: 7.5
Story: 10 Same as above.
Photography: 7.5 The smooth road makes for better pics.

[Vomarsk]

Greetings, I'll be your proxy-judge for this event.
I've copied over all the entries and sent them to the judges via Discord.
Here's Lunchbox's scores:

Vanguard of Hell
Theme: 9/10
Substance: 8/10
Story: 8/10
Photography: 8/10

Doom Marines
Theme: 8/10
Substance: 9/10
Story: 9/10
Photography: 8/10

[Vomarsk]

Here's Veggey's scores:

Vanguard of Hell
Theme: 6/10
Substance: 6/10
Story: 7/10
Photography: 4/10

Doom Marines
Theme: 8/10
Substance: 7/10
Story: 7/10
Photography: 6/10