Dungan Swarm
Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:25 pm
I've never seen an all-creature swarm army on the forum, which I found dissatisfying. I decided to make one!
Since MOCPages has had some outages lately, here's a picture from BrickFair (not as much detail, but everyone's in it):
First encountered on Dungus b II, the Dungan Swarm is not intelligent in the same sense as the other star nations; instead, it is driven by a single-minded impulse to reproduce, with a high mutation rate to drive adaptation -- the ultimate invasive species. An individual Dungan is not much of a threat, but when one appears, countless more are sure to follow.
Check out "The Last Stand" for a shot of the Dungans (and the Solar Federation) in action!
Command Units:
No central Dungan intelligence has been discovered. Instead, it seems that Dungan creatures act as nodes in a network, and that this network becomes smarter the more nodes are present. While larger creatures do seem to be more effective at participating in the network, they are not necessary.
This leaves us with the unpleasant conclusion that the Swarm has no single points of failure to destroy; instead, it will have to be exterminated creature by creature.
Core Units:
Dunglet
The Dungan Swarm's general-purpose warrior organism, with no more intellect than a drive to kill anything not part of the Swarm.
Ripper
Somewhat more advanced than Dunglets, Rippers are deployed to reinforce flanks and stiffen formations which would otherwise be vulnerable to heavy firepower.
The body is, admittedly, heavily inspired by the Space Police III K-9 robot.
Spitter
Spitters are an alternate adaptation of the Ripper body, instead equipped with a pair of venom-spitting glands to provide ranged support.
Assault Units:
Sky-Ripper
Sky-Rippers have a knack for appearing at the worst possible time for beleaguered defenders. They swoop from the sky in great packs, ready to tear into unsuspecting prey below.
Sky-Spitter
The Sky-Spitter rains venom from above.
Support Units:
Coming Soon: Guardian, Birthing Mound
Blaster
Blasters are bloated and humorously clumsy on their spindly legs, but their bulging sacs hold several ferociously reactive fluids that will explode at the slightest provocation.
If I were to make a movie about the Dungans, these guys would be the comic relief, stumbling around until they fell over and -- oops! Kaboom!
Warrior
When smaller Dungan organisms aren't enough to crack a target, the Swarm steps up production of the larger organisms. The Warrior is a tough organism, with more speed and weapons than its size would suggest.
In addition to its large claws, a Warrior may have a tail with one of several natural weapons.
The Zapper is the most common of these, with a massive electric organ.
Blasters are fast enough to make an encroaching minefield, but little else. The Lobber's spring-loaded muscle is used to propel them to their destination a little more rapidly.
The Sprayer wields a chemical spray with a caustic cocktail of highly oxidizing agents, stored in separate, highly armored sacs, and sprayed in such a way that the streams do not meet until they are outside the Sprayer. The resultant mixture is toxic and burns on contact with water, silicon sand, most atmospheres, and Solar Federation Space Marines.
Hauler
Massive creatures whose primary purpose is to carry biomass back to the Birthing Mounds, and then carry the resulting new Dungans to the front. They also mount heavy weapons in their tails; this one has a Zapper.
Sky-Hauler
When faced with obstacles which cannot be walked over or flattened, the Dungan Swarm makes use of Sky-Haulers to connect supply lines. They are also used as heavy bombers (carrying Blasters faster than they can normally walk). This Sky-Hauler is equipped with the Sprayer tail-gun.
Specialist Units:
Infiltrator
Infiltrators are essentially walking masses of stem cells, capable of re-shaping themselves to any form. With enough time, they can even learn how to duplicate and replace or control people.
Fleebnork
Once thought to be merely a nuisance of space, genetic analysis has made it clear that certain varieties of Fleebnorks have been adopted by the Dungan Swarm, to act as a sort of “advance guard” to soften up enemy fortifications and forces while a Dungan force is on its way.
Jaw-Jaw
These beings were also thought to be an independent nuisance, and certain strains have also been revealed to be Dungan creatures; however, the Swarm's behavior towards these miserable creatures has been dismissive at best and hostile at worst, and Birthing Mounds have never been observed creating more. It seems that even swarms of all-consuming creatures from beyond known space have some taste.
Coming Soon: Birthing Mound
Fleet Units:
Coming Soon: Star-Ripper, Star-Spitter, Star-Hauler, Star-Hive
Some final notes:
These guys are made based on (mostly) Battle Droid parts -- torsos, arms, vehicle bits, etc.
I tried to keep a common motif of brownish colors, a single eye, and six (or so) appendages (at least, among the larger creatures).
I'm not entirely satisfied with the Hauler; I guess the Swarm has some trial-and-error yet to be done.
I've got several hundred points of these (limited by my lack of Battle Droid bodies and Insectoid wings). Enough for a good-sized skirmish, at least.
Other armies:
- Solar Federation (Good Guys, with an emphasis on mobility, flexibility, and the color blue)
- Ever-Builders (think Blokbots, coming soon)
- Imperium Constructor (Bad Guys, with an emphasis on lots of identical soldiers, big APCs, tanks, and the colors black and red)
- Jovian Alliance (seceding from IC, using stolen IC and loaned SF equipment and hybrids thereof, most likely CAD only for a while)
- Space Pirates (slapdash construction, kind of post-apoc feel)
Since MOCPages has had some outages lately, here's a picture from BrickFair (not as much detail, but everyone's in it):
First encountered on Dungus b II, the Dungan Swarm is not intelligent in the same sense as the other star nations; instead, it is driven by a single-minded impulse to reproduce, with a high mutation rate to drive adaptation -- the ultimate invasive species. An individual Dungan is not much of a threat, but when one appears, countless more are sure to follow.
Check out "The Last Stand" for a shot of the Dungans (and the Solar Federation) in action!
Command Units:
No central Dungan intelligence has been discovered. Instead, it seems that Dungan creatures act as nodes in a network, and that this network becomes smarter the more nodes are present. While larger creatures do seem to be more effective at participating in the network, they are not necessary.
This leaves us with the unpleasant conclusion that the Swarm has no single points of failure to destroy; instead, it will have to be exterminated creature by creature.
Core Units:
Dunglet
The Dungan Swarm's general-purpose warrior organism, with no more intellect than a drive to kill anything not part of the Swarm.
Ripper
Somewhat more advanced than Dunglets, Rippers are deployed to reinforce flanks and stiffen formations which would otherwise be vulnerable to heavy firepower.
The body is, admittedly, heavily inspired by the Space Police III K-9 robot.
Spitter
Spitters are an alternate adaptation of the Ripper body, instead equipped with a pair of venom-spitting glands to provide ranged support.
Assault Units:
Sky-Ripper
Sky-Rippers have a knack for appearing at the worst possible time for beleaguered defenders. They swoop from the sky in great packs, ready to tear into unsuspecting prey below.
Sky-Spitter
The Sky-Spitter rains venom from above.
Support Units:
Coming Soon: Guardian, Birthing Mound
Blaster
Blasters are bloated and humorously clumsy on their spindly legs, but their bulging sacs hold several ferociously reactive fluids that will explode at the slightest provocation.
If I were to make a movie about the Dungans, these guys would be the comic relief, stumbling around until they fell over and -- oops! Kaboom!
Warrior
When smaller Dungan organisms aren't enough to crack a target, the Swarm steps up production of the larger organisms. The Warrior is a tough organism, with more speed and weapons than its size would suggest.
In addition to its large claws, a Warrior may have a tail with one of several natural weapons.
The Zapper is the most common of these, with a massive electric organ.
Blasters are fast enough to make an encroaching minefield, but little else. The Lobber's spring-loaded muscle is used to propel them to their destination a little more rapidly.
The Sprayer wields a chemical spray with a caustic cocktail of highly oxidizing agents, stored in separate, highly armored sacs, and sprayed in such a way that the streams do not meet until they are outside the Sprayer. The resultant mixture is toxic and burns on contact with water, silicon sand, most atmospheres, and Solar Federation Space Marines.
Hauler
Massive creatures whose primary purpose is to carry biomass back to the Birthing Mounds, and then carry the resulting new Dungans to the front. They also mount heavy weapons in their tails; this one has a Zapper.
Sky-Hauler
When faced with obstacles which cannot be walked over or flattened, the Dungan Swarm makes use of Sky-Haulers to connect supply lines. They are also used as heavy bombers (carrying Blasters faster than they can normally walk). This Sky-Hauler is equipped with the Sprayer tail-gun.
Specialist Units:
Infiltrator
Infiltrators are essentially walking masses of stem cells, capable of re-shaping themselves to any form. With enough time, they can even learn how to duplicate and replace or control people.
Fleebnork
Once thought to be merely a nuisance of space, genetic analysis has made it clear that certain varieties of Fleebnorks have been adopted by the Dungan Swarm, to act as a sort of “advance guard” to soften up enemy fortifications and forces while a Dungan force is on its way.
Jaw-Jaw
These beings were also thought to be an independent nuisance, and certain strains have also been revealed to be Dungan creatures; however, the Swarm's behavior towards these miserable creatures has been dismissive at best and hostile at worst, and Birthing Mounds have never been observed creating more. It seems that even swarms of all-consuming creatures from beyond known space have some taste.
Coming Soon: Birthing Mound
Fleet Units:
Coming Soon: Star-Ripper, Star-Spitter, Star-Hauler, Star-Hive
Some final notes:
These guys are made based on (mostly) Battle Droid parts -- torsos, arms, vehicle bits, etc.
I tried to keep a common motif of brownish colors, a single eye, and six (or so) appendages (at least, among the larger creatures).
I'm not entirely satisfied with the Hauler; I guess the Swarm has some trial-and-error yet to be done.
I've got several hundred points of these (limited by my lack of Battle Droid bodies and Insectoid wings). Enough for a good-sized skirmish, at least.
Other armies:
- Solar Federation (Good Guys, with an emphasis on mobility, flexibility, and the color blue)
- Ever-Builders (think Blokbots, coming soon)
- Imperium Constructor (Bad Guys, with an emphasis on lots of identical soldiers, big APCs, tanks, and the colors black and red)
- Jovian Alliance (seceding from IC, using stolen IC and loaned SF equipment and hybrids thereof, most likely CAD only for a while)
- Space Pirates (slapdash construction, kind of post-apoc feel)
