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Meet the Krodox! We've seen a couple of these hunchbacked space reptilians before. Superficially crocodilian, they are a remarkable case of evolutionary convergence. It appears they are remote descendants of Earth's labyrinthodont amphibians; while it can't be proven, the time period makes it likely the Second Martian Empire spread Carboniferous Earth life onto other planets during their colonial expansion. It's not easy to imagine how ambush predators evolved to fill a primate-like niche in the muggy mangrove swamps of their homeworld, and even harder to deduce how the knuckle-dragging scaly brutes developed intelligence and a society, let alone advanced technology. But here we are! Khurasan's 15-mm Garn make excellent juveniles and young adults. These are little fellows! I added some hunchbacks to their necks with Green Stuff. Living as they do on a metals-poor, mud-rich world interlaced with deltas and fjords, the Krodox have developed ceramics and hydraulics to a remarkable degree. Their psychology is hard for humans and uplifted apes to understand; patience followed by sudden action is a survival instinct for them in the way curiosity is for us. (Krodox are sought-after astrogation lookouts for this reason; they simply don't get bored with waiting the way we do.) Meditative contemplation and furious application during times of opportunity is how they developed hydraulic computers to the level of Wisdom Engines while we were still swinging in trees--and also why they were relying on those same Wisdom Engines while we developed spaceflight. Their society is a semi-feudal gigantocracy: Krodox respect Bigness as superior access to meat and therefore as right to rule. But dissatisfied subjects will overthrow a greedy ruler if the ruler lets their constituents go hungry. The election process is somewhere between democracy and a pro wrestling championship, and the recall process (as with many criminal convictions) involves ritual cannibalism. It's not a perfect system by a long shot, but natural and political selection means their supply chain logistics are second to none. Speaking of Krodox jurisprudence, grievous bodily harm and mayhem are seen as regrettable misdemeanors, but denying someone food or access to running water is a Very Serious Crime Indeed. Being found guilty of mislabeling or adulterating foodstuffs, though, is the worst possible transgression, a Crime Against Krodoxianity. While there is no Krodox Emperor or Pope (no one is huge enough to command THAT much respect), all the clans and tribes acknowledge the authority of the Truth Tasters. The society is somewhere between the EPA, the FDA, the FBI, the UN, and the Inquisition. Being armor-plated half-ton monsters with jaws like bear traps, the Krodox might be expected to be ferocious fighters--and this is true on the individual level. They make fantastic mercenaries and shock troopers. Their instinctive deference to hugeness and hunger/risk/reward calculus means they never did get the hang of organized warfare, though. Hostilities can only persist if two generals are of similar bulk and can feed their troops; and if the odds of death seem greater than the odds of a full belly, a Krodox will desert. It is...difficult to beat a Krodox into submission without impairing their usefulness as a soldier. This disorganization and stubbornness is why the Krodox world has been conquered by stellar empire after empire, and abandoned again and again as local prelates, satraps, and bureaucrats wind up getting devoured, sometimes ritually and sometimes just on impulse. Oddly enough, they get along just fine with the frail, pencil-necked intellectual Martians, sharing a great reverence for and obsession with canals. The flowing river is the core concept of Krodox philosophy, religion, medicine, and economics, and no one knows canals and aqueducts like the architects of Mars. (They also enjoy the steaming estuaries and giant beasts of Venus, and maintain a small colony/resort near the south pole, where the temperatures and invasive mold spores are manageable.) They don't think much of Earth culture, with the exception of opera, as bellowing while brandishing weapons resonates deeply in their culture. The current Earth Ambassador to the Krodox (after the regrettable devourment of several human Diplomatic Corps members) is a 600-pound uplifted gorilla. He has secured several trade deals and is a beloved celebrity.

They do NOT come in peace. They choose violence, as is the wasp's way. Wasps with jetpacks and guns. Nightmarish. Truly remarkable sculpts from Khurasan (whose customer service is deserving of praise!) in their 15mm sci-fi line. The basic trooper is big for a 15mm humanoid, and about on par with a small 25mm scale human. The drones are about the size of a 32mm humanoid and the Hive Queen is a towering colossus. The troops are all one-piece casts, which is remarkable given their spindly limbs. I enjoyed grading the colors from citron up in the airbrush. Here are some flying troops, on flight stands from another set of space minis: Ground troops: More infantry, this time standing up: Note that one of them, and one of the fliers, has a telescope! The beefy Drones, each dual-wielding and equipped with artillery. Notice that these do not have stingers, unlike the others--a nice touch of verisimilitude there. And the formidable Hive Queen, a colossal tyrant. (Unlike most of the others, she comes in many pieces.) She is here to turn the enemy into incubating chambers for grubs, post-mortem if the enemy is lucky. Who is the enemy? She's not picky, Space wasps. Not even once.

More 15-mm goodness, this time 15mm in size. These are just little guys! I couldn't resist the singular eye and writhing tentacles. I haven't decided yet what role they should play, but they are very alien aliens. More angles of the three: I feel like they have some kinship with the three-eyed ASSIMILATOR from Antediluvian, though, and wanted a color scheme to suggest it. They are probably, like my other cycloptic aliens, remote phylogenetic relatives of the Illyrians. Just weird little guys!

In the 15mm Worlds in My Head, the sidereal wars between The First Ones and the Silmn rage on unabated...