Quite a while ago I commented that the RAHKSHI head was perfectly styled for use as a cowling on a motorcycle of some sort. Well, hovercycles are the futuristic cousins of today’s motorcycles, and I got tired of waiting for anyone else to get around to using this idea. I’d also been sitting on an idea for creating a Samurai-based Space theme, and after finding out that some of my initial ideas would be too expensive to pursue, I settled on using robots as the basis for this group (looking back, it’s a perfect blend of ancient and modern Japanese cultures). After building the first of these three, I found myself unable to resist making two more, and thus three distinct factions of Sam-Bot warriors were born.

The evil Bakemono Legion created the Oni to be a highly manouverable cavalry force. Black, red, more black, and trans-neon orange are the color scheme of this faction. Of the three factions, this is the only one that wasn’t determined largely by the color scheme of the associated robot warriors.

The styling of the RAHKSHI head really wanted a lower jaw, and while playing around with ways to accomodate the piece I’d chosen, I realized that I could drop it even lower and fit something else in between, like some BOHROK eye “flames” erupting from its mouth. This MOC provided the basic chasis design for the other two, but there were a number of internal modifications necessary to accomodate exterior differences.

Officially considered a “neutral” force, the Kami Nation is very unpredictable during conflicts, acting with evil-seeming intent as often as they appear to be helping the forces of good. Most often they just keep to themselves, unless directly attacked. Perhaps because of their semi-neutrality, the Kami Nation is the largest of the three factions. Their Tanuki hovercycle provides a good mix of speed and manouverability. Colors primarily used by this faction are blue, light-grey, black accents, and trans-dark blue.

On this one you can more clearly see that the Sam-Bot warriors have katana tucked in behind their seats. I discovered that I could do this with the Oni, and ended up having to scrap a number of ideas for the remaining two designs that would have prevented this from being possible.

Believed to number about the same as the Bakemono Legion, the Fukujin Empire is still very rarely seen unless in direct combat with their sworn enemies. Their Baku is designed purely for speed and power, enabling them to make very swift strikes without warning, and to vanish afterwards before their enemies can respond. White, dark-grey, black accents, and trans-neon green are the basic color scheme of this group, though they do wield mysterious turquoise katana that are believed to be imbued with the essence of jade.