19 replies to this topic

[Bishop Steiner]

So, anyone else notice how, aside from the Annihilator, pretty much all the Wolfs Dragoons' exclusive mechs largely underwhelm, or outright suck?? (Hoplite? Falcon? Hornet and Firefly? Even the Marauder II has laughable firepower for it's weight, and the mighty Annihilator is slow as molasses and has tissue paper for armor)

One of the few exceptions is the IMP. Be it the base 2E model the Dragoons arrived with, or the upgraded 3E, it boasts average speed, heavy armor, good firepower and the heatsinks to use it. It's biggest handicap? FASA artwork. I really believe that, more than anything, kept it from becoming popular. So, it has long been on my to do list, but other mechs always seemed to get in the way. So while I was waiting for the workers to get done today I took advantage of time away from the intrawebz to sketch. And the Death Egg was born.

Tis still early concept sketch, but this is the best time to get input, before one gets too far along, too attached to features.

IMP-3E

not quite finished yet, but getting closer............


Design Notes:
Like the Atlas, the Cockpit resides in one of the mech's "Eyes". The other houses an array of infrared lights, cameras and some of the mech's targeting gear. A primary difference from the Atlas, is that the Cockpit and sensor bay are both fully modular, and so the depending on the production run, the Cockpit might be behind EITHER eye, a measure done to give Imps an extra level of survivability, as a pinpoint shot with a Gauss now only had a 50% chance of taking out the Cockpit and pilot.

TT Quirk: On a critical shot to the head, if one rolls a cockpit hit, roll 1d6. On a roll of 1-3, the shot hit the sensor pod, on a 4-6, the shot hit the cockpit, killing the pilot. Even if the head is destroyed, the pilot has a 50% chance of survival, though the mech will still be rendered destroyed and inoperable.


concept


input, por favor?

Edited by Bishop Steiner, 23 July 2013 - 12:43 PM.

[Terran123rd]

The TRO image is awesome.

This is even more so.

[Hebdomas]

The art for the Imp on Sarna is pretty ugly, yours looks better. Though I'm generally not a fan of clan mech aesthetics to start with.

My only issue is the feet, they don't look big enough to support a moving mech. The back portion could work, but the front seems too short.

[Bishop Steiner]

it's all in the gyro baby

[Agent Cooper]

hey thats pretty cool.

[Soku Yamashita]

Wooooo keep it up bishop!

[ChapeL]

The "X panel" armor plating... it's over used, even in MW:O

Other than that, pretty damn nice ! I might have tried to make the egg more "squat" (rounded top half, angular bottom) but your rendition stays closer to the spirit of the original. Seems weak at the knee for an assault mech however. (Might be due to this being a quick sketch) I might have gone with some thing bulkier ther especially for such a crucial part of the mech. Lastly, have you tried a left arm with a longer barrel ? Not that this one is bad at all... just wondering how it would look.

Great job

[NautilusCommand]

for some reason this is what came to mind when I saw this

[Max OConnor]

Now you are touching on one of my favorite mechs, so I thought you might like to see these images I've collected.
The first one is my effort to take the best parts from other images of the IMP and correct the messed up version from the Wolf's Dragoons source book. I used the right arm from David White's version of the IMP which was very good in my opinion.
I also cleaned up the original art and shifted a few things around to make them more symmetrical. I also extended the left arm laser.


This other image I found online, I do not know the artist's name but I thought it was a great version of the mech.


Here is another great rendition by Kilzig on deviant art I believe.

Edited by maxoconnor, 23 July 2013 - 06:27 AM.

[TheTeacher]

Ahhhhh-hahahahahaha! It did not take long to get this rolling, did it?

Great start!

[Bishop Steiner]

bump fer extra art

[RealHorrorShow]

love your sketches man! They really feel large, imposing and scary. I would love this in game man! I always loved the "walking face" look for this guy. Imagine like 2 of these and an atlas rolling at you!

[Utilyan]

I better start saving up for 22,330,000 C-bills...........

I love "not quite finished" ........the AMS made it feel like its in game already.

It looks fun.

[Der BruzZzler von Wiesndoof]

Bishop Steiner, on 22 July 2013 - 07:38 PM, said:

Excellent!

[Bishop Steiner]

maxoconnor, on 23 July 2013 - 06:24 AM, said:

Now you are touching on one of my favorite mechs, so I thought you might like to see these images I've collected.
The first one is my effort to take the best parts from other images of the IMP and correct the messed up version from the Wolf's Dragoons source book. I used the right arm from David White's version of the IMP which was very good in my opinion.
I also cleaned up the original art and shifted a few things around to make them more symmetrical. I also extended the left arm laser.


This other image I found online, I do not know the artist's name but I thought it was a great version of the mech.


Here is another great rendition by Kilzig on deviant art I believe.

so Max, is 2.0 more your cup o tea?

[Max OConnor]

Bishop Steiner, on 25 July 2013 - 07:26 AM, said:

so Max, is 2.0 more your cup o tea?

Very much so, I like the IMP way more than I ever did the Atlas, you have really made it into a monster worthy of respect.

[Bishop Steiner]

Utilyan, on 23 July 2013 - 12:10 PM, said:

I better start saving up for 22,330,000 C-bills...........

I love "not quite finished" ........the AMS made it feel like its in game already.

It looks fun.

Well, the secret is that really isn't an IMP. PGI decided to add the Urbanmech, and the modelers went with "what felt right" and ended up making it the size of an Atlas.

maxoconnor, on 25 July 2013 - 07:36 AM, said:

Very much so, I like the IMP way more than I ever did the Atlas, you have really made it into a monster worthy of respect.

I always liked it's loadout, just the clown feet, slinky^™ hips and massive left arm cannon (housing a single medium laser) always annoyed me.

[Viper69]

I like your art, but the imp is one of those mechs I really do not like the shape or style of. Good art, bad mech IMO.

[Bishop Steiner]

Viper69, on 25 July 2013 - 07:42 AM, said:

I like your art, but the imp is one of those mechs I really do not like the shape or style of. Good art, bad mech IMO.

agreed. But, to my mind, like the King Crab, as bad as the canon art was, it added a unique feel, so, while it might not have been how i woulda designed it in the first place, it's almost fore fun and challenge to take totally disparate art styles and try to make them work.

[Viper69]

Bishop Steiner, on 25 July 2013 - 08:07 AM, said:

agreed. But, to my mind, like the King Crab, as bad as the canon art was, it added a unique feel, so, while it might not have been how i woulda designed it in the first place, it's almost fore fun and challenge to take totally disparate art styles and try to make them work.

No doubt an admirable feat in deed my friend. I have the art skill of a crosseyed 3rd grader. So I think anything you guys do is a work of art