Assorted Alien Animals 01

When I ran my Alien Base scenario, I showed a few alien animals that the Npurth had captured. In this post I want to show you a few of my collection of assorted alien animals that I have amassed over the years. In all of the photos, I have included my 28mm scale figure of Vampifan to give you a sense of the animals' sizes.

At the far left is a blaze cat, typically found in the plains. The galaxy's fastest known land animal, the blaze cat is a huge bright red creature that blends in perfectly well with the red grass of its home planet. They normally run at speeds of 60 to 80 mph, and they are the only known land animal to have ever been clocked at running more than 100 mph. They hunt singly or in pairs. Blaze cats are intelligent and use tactics as well as speed in their hunting. They normally leave humans alone, but have been known to set clever ambushes for tracking human hunters. If taken very young, they can be trained, after a fashion. They do not, however, breed in captivity. This figure came from the Grenadier Miniatures Traveller Alien Animals boxed set, now long out of production.

Next up are a pair of male and female dune runners, with the male at the far right, easily identified by having a much longer mane. These are similar to the blaze cat, but are smaller and not as fast, but they can still reach speeds of 80mph. These are mainly found on desert worlds, which is where they get their name from. Their paws are much larger in relation to their size. They have much in common with cheetahs and lions from Earth. I sculpted these two figures many years ago, and I think they were the only animals I ever made.

At the far left is a bloodvark, and as its name suggests, it is a much evolved form of a bloodhound. Bloodvarks have an incredibly developed sense of smell and are often used as domestic pets. They are frequently employed by bounty hunters, detectives and game hunters. This one has a collar on it, so is clearly someone's pet. This was another figure that came from the Traveller Aliens Animals boxed set.

Second from the right is a crested jabberwock. This lizard-like reptile is noted for its brightly coloured crest which it fluffs out when angered and during the mating season to attract a mate. It is a carnivore and is considered dangerous. It has a small curved horn on he tip of its nose, which it uses to gore opponents and its jaws are filled with razor sharp teeth. The crested jabberwock is often found on planets with jungles, plains or forests. This is another Grenadier Miniatures figure from the Alien Animals boxed set.
Also from that boxed set is the bush runner. This is a small but fast paced herbivore that is usually found in large packs. They are prey to the carnivores of their home planet, which is generally the same type of planet that the crested jabberwocks are found on. Bush runners are very timid, and easily scared, but they can usually outrun any creature that chases them, although they are nowhere near as fast as the blaze cats.

Next up is an ambull, which may be familiar to players of Warhammer 40,000, as it first appeared there in the first edition of the rules. More recently, it was mentioned in the Necromunda: Gang War III supplement as the inspiration for the Luther Pattern Excavation Automata known as the Ambot. Thought to have evolved in the endless deserts of McIntyre IX in the Segmentium Solar, the ambull is now common across the galaxy. Humanity attempted to domesticate the brutes with mixed success. Ambulls are natural tunnellers with their powerful limbs ending in diamond-hard claws that enable them to dig through soft rock at a surprising speed. Their eyes see into the infrared spectrum, making impeccable use of even the faintest levels of light, and they are even able to detect heat signatures as a visual stimulus. The transport and trade in ambulls is extremely heavily controlled throughout the galaxy, due to how dangerous they are as hunters and how unsuitable to domestication they have proven, escaping from any form of captivity and wreaking havoc upon human populations in mining colonies the galaxy over. This figure was produced by Citadel Miniatures many years ago and it is also long out of production.

Finally, is the huge grathuedon covered in fur on its lower extremities and protected by thick armour plating elsewhere. Found mainly on plains worlds, the grathuedon is a herbivore but it is noted for its aggressive behaviour if angered. Not unlike the bull or rhinoceros of Earth, it attacks by charging its prey and its abnormally wide mouth that protrudes either side of its head ensures it has a good chance of striking its target. This figure came from the Traveller Alien Animals boxed set.
I'll be showing more assorted alien animals next time.