Voytek the 40K Bear

Well, my Vostroyans have a cool looking command squad, the models are great, but I needed something a bit different to shake it up a bit.

I have done other "counts as" models for this army and I always liked the idea of Nork Deddog as the Commander's bodyguard.

I Remembered a cool WWII story of a Polish artillery group that had a real 6 foot tall 500 pound Syrian Brown bear mascot that walked upright and also went to war and even helped out by carrying heavy stuff.


During the Battle of Monte Casino;

Voytek, who all this time had been watching his comrades frantically loading heavy boxes of ammunition, came over to the trucks, stood on his hind legs in front of the supervising officer and stretched out his paws toward him. It was as if he was saying: I can do this. Let me help you . The officer handed the animal the heavy box and watched in wonder as Voytek loaded it effortlessly onto the truck. Backwards and forwards he continued, time and time again, carrying heavy shells, artillery boxes and food sacks from truck to truck, from one waiting man to another, effortlessly. The deafening noise of the explosions and gunfire did not seem to worry him. Each artillery box held four 23 lbs live shells; some even weighed more than a hundred. He never dropped a single one. And still he went on repeatedly, all day and every day until the monastery was finally taken.

So I had to have a Voytek for my Vostroyans, and I wanted a GW bear model, and wouldn't you know it, they just came out with one for the Fantasy Empire army, and after removing some of the unneeded stuff, this is what he looks like.



I am unsure how to deal with his ripper gun stats, I guess I could just have a gun slung on his back but I was trying to think of a cooler way to represent the ripper gun ranged attacks, like boulder throwing or a cyber growl attack or something. Anyone have any ideas?

John

Comments

  1. maby a voystroyan handeler with gun? thatd be cool ? possibly he could stand on a crushed ripper gun (it IS on the model)

    ReplyDelete
  2. make a awesome sort of funny looking model by giving him a heavy bolter and then have the ammo chain slung around his stomach like you in all action movies

    d6gaming.tumblr.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Neat idea. You can get large guns cast in resin from people like maxmini.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's an awesome concept. Out-of-the-box ideas like this are what make this hobby fun.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  5. In tribute to the story, give him an open box of shells. When he "shoots", he's throwing autocannon rounds or something.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think the idea of a regimental mascot like that is awesome!

    I also think that Sonsoftaurus idea is beyond cool. I can see a bear chucking munitions at the enemy. Very cool.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Very cool idea! I like it even more cause I'm Polish and I'm even working in the Edinburgh Zoo where Voytek lived after war.
    Maybe he should hold a gun but some king like ripped from something, like from vehicle etc.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Personally, I'd go with a handler with a gun of some sort, as the idea of a bear throwing bullets is, to me, kinda dumb.

    Maybe a ratling with a oversized cannon or something?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous post here, but i couldnt help but see this and think shoulder mounted gun?
    the model is probably finished by now but it's maybe something to think about if you decide to change it, you could rig the gun up on his shoulder or perhaps his paw? with the ammo belts around him like an earlier post said.

    just some thoughts on the matter, hope it helps :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment