Finding a place for Kremlin's Red Banner MANITOU

A few months back, I picked up an assortment of Kremlin Miniatures' 15mm range. I was very impressed with this range. The photos on the website simply don't do them justice... their size, detail, and posing is as good as anything on the market today. I included them on my catalog of human power armor article, hoping they would get some more attention.

The minis that interested me the most were the MANITOU suits - their versions of Power Armor. The Red Banner MANITOU appared to be man-size suits of power armor with heavy guns and shoulder-mounted mini-missile launchers. I picked up two packs in my initial order. I liked the look of them on the website, but wasn't sure where they would fit in my 15mm forces.

The order arrived pretty quickly - I was very impressed with their service. And once I had these particular figures in my hands... well... their place was pretty obvious.

My favorite 15mm Sci Fi infantry range, even after building new armies on a monthly basis, is still the Titan Marines from Rebel Minis. These great figures immediately became my Conquest Development Center Storm Troopers - the fast-strike military and security force for my game setting's largest corporation. It's the first human army I created in 15mm. I originally added some GZG Cyclops Walkers to be the elite commandos for that army, but the aesthetics have never really worked.

I think I have now found the perfect match for my Storm Troopers.

These really are fantastic figures. Big and bulky compared to typical 15mm infantry, but not so big that you couldn't picture them stomping through a Space Hulk's corridors. But these minis have far more in common with Khurasan's Special Assault Brigade than with Space Marine Terminators... Their blasters seem very high-tech, the missile pods are very Anime-ish, and each has a very detailed jet pack molded onto the back (see picture).

I just need to finish the other five, decide on their base finish (desert sand like my existing CDC forces, or Red Planet blend?), and test them on the tabletop. I see these being useful both in games of FUBAR and in the upcoming second edition of In The Emperor's Name!

Cheers,

Chris

REBS - Robot-Enhanced Battle Squads

A popular discussion topic at TMP and Dropship Horizon recently has been about "incomplete" 15mm figure lines. My argument basically consists of "this is sci-fi; I don't need armies organized like WWII infantry platoons." When Rebel Minis released their Earthforce Droptroopers, it seemed this would be another infantry force without readily-available heavy weapon troopers. So here is my shot at creating a viable army with them using models available today.

Rebel Minis released the CAT 'bots around the same time as the Droptroopers. These were instantly praised for their design. After looking at them and thinking about their possible roles on the battlefield, I had an epiphany - why not put them together with the Droptroopers?

So I present to you my latest army - the REBS: Robot-Enhanced Battle Squads.

I haven't completely written out the fluff yet, but here's the gist of it. At the time of the Osmium Wars, a human army grew tired of soldiers who were "capable with all weapons, but masters of none." While heavy guns, sniper rifles, and missile launchers always have their role on the battlefield, the time spent training on them was detracting from their expertise with their basic battle rifles. Once the CA-T5 AI processor was tested and proven, it was decided that a new type of army unit would be fielded.

Ten-man multi-weapon squads, the standard for over a century, would now be replaced by squads of six riflemen and two support 'bots. Each 'bot was armed with a multi-ammo, multi-role heavy gun that could be used for rapid suppressive fire or for long-range pinpoint shots. One 'bot would also carry a rack of armor-disintegrating missiles, while the other would carry close-support equipment like blast shields or flamethrowers. The 'bots are programmed to respond only to verbal or input commands from their squad members. If their squad is killed, they are programmed to proceed directly to the nearest friendly vehicle or squad for further instructions.

I have my first REBS completed. The 'bots were painted with the exact same technique as the Droptroopers - I'm willing to bed the next two squads won't take more than a few hours to complete. Then I need to make a decision - what will support this force? Normally I choose APCs and then some type of support tanks when I make an army like this. But just to do something different this time, I am entertaining two possibilities:

Option 1) Combine the APC and support tank into a single vehicle. A larger APC with a tank turret, like the Claymore or Lancer from Old Crow, would fit this category well:

Option 2) Play up the "drop troopers" theme by giving each squad a GZG Fan Van VTOL.

Each "Fan Van" would be supported by some type of flying drone, either a GZG UAV Hoverdrone or an RAFM ASD mk II:

So which option should I choose? Option 2 would give me a pretty unique sci-fi army. But I'm not sure how well three VTOLs with flying support drones would work on a 2' x 2' table, and it's a bit more than I'd really like to spend on this army. But there it is - a complete and playable army using only basic riflemen infantry models.

Cheers,

Chris

Rebel Minis Drop Troopers - Review and Paint Test

The heat and humidity we've experienced lately has really stifled my hobby time. Since I haven't been able to use any spray primers or base coats, I decided to try something different. Two years ago, Maff and Mark posted an excellent Halo Spartan tutorial on Dropship Horizon. It is a very straightforward process - two coats of an undiluted Citadel wash over bare metal. I'm not a Halo player, but I do like the look of the troopers.

I picked up a pack of Rebel Minis' Earthforce Droptroopers after seeing Jeff Racel's excellent paint schemes (see here). The minis are excellent - very detailed clamshell armor that require almost no cleanup. The rifle is identical to that found on the Earthforce Infantry and Homeguard minis - these can easily be a specialized unit in an army using other Earthforce minis. But I'm using them as their own force. The Earthforce rifle is great - it can be a near-future variant of something like the FN P90 with a stick magazine, or it could be a blaster rifle from 5000AD forces. The pack contains nothing but rifle-armed troopers - no heavy weapons are available yet. But I have a plan to work around that (probably in my next post).

But once I had the minis in-hand, I realized they could also work as Halo Spartans using the Dropship Horizon tutorial. So here's the test mini:

My version of the paint scheme:

1. File the mini and superglue to a Universal 15mm Figure Base (a US penny)
2. Two coats of Citadel Thraka Green wash. I learned not to apply this too quickly - it tends to pool very at the neck
3. Paint the weapon with Vallejo Heavy Bluegrey
4. Paint the visor with Vallejo Glorious Gold
5. (my only change from the old Dropship Horizon formula) Coat the entire mini with Wonder Wash Black. This much thinner wash brings out details on the weapon, fingers and small joints, and surrounds the visor extremely well.
6. Paint the base with P3 Bloodstone and flock with my Red Planet blend.

I'm knocking out some more infantry to go with this test figure - the first wash is drying right now. I'll post my Heavy Weapon support idea very soon.

UPDATE: The first squad is complete.

Cheers,

Chris

A Ruthless Terrorist Organization...

One thing that we always have plenty of in 15mm Sci-Fi is human infantry with faceshields and helmets.  I'm not complaining... they are all excellent sculpts, and the "hard sci-fi" settings most of us prefer allow for a wide variety of human factions to be fielded.

But where does one find inspiration to paint these different forces?  Noticing my old comic book collection reminded me of a pretty cool source of color and uniform ideas... and here's the first one I picked.  The ubiquitous Cobra Viper has been remade many times by Hasbro over the years, but they keep coming back to the basic blue uniform.

So I figured... why not?  I still have an assortment of Rebel Minis Earthforce Marines waiting to be painted.  I whipped together a quick unit to see how it looked in 15mm.  Here's the outcome:

Works for me!  Another squad of these, some heavy weapons support, and a few vehicles should give me a fun little army.  These would be great as a mercenary regiment, security force, or even something more like their action figure counterparts.

Speaking of vehicles... what to use?  Once again I ransacked my box of old die-cast toys.  I found an interesting old vehicle called the Space Van.  Its angled cockpit and hull shape reminded me quite a bit of the old Cobra Hiss tanks... perfect for this project!  Another Hot Wheels vehicle (an Assault Crawler - very useful even on its own) provided some good tracks to replace the Space Van's plain and undersized wheels.  I think they work pretty well together... now I just need to find a turret and get this thing painted!

Cheers,
Chris

New skirmish game - In The Emperor's Name

Craig Cartmell has just released In The Emperor's Name, his latest (and perhaps his greatest) set of wargaming rules.  They are designed to play small narrative actions that one would find in games like Necromunda, Gorkamorka, Inquisitor, or even Mutants & Death Ray Guns or Savage Worlds.

While the rules and retinue lists are created with the 40k universe in mind, I've been playtesting them for months using 15mm figures.  I've found them to be VERY enjoyable!  I've even tried playing the same scenarios and forces using these rules and then playing Mutants & Death Ray Guns... and I must admit that In The Emperor's Name is a better game (at least for solo play).  I will post some battle reports in the coming weeks... some will be using "counts-as" versions of the retinues in the book, and some will be some "free-form" retinues I made just for my 15mm collection.

Check them out today!  This is one of the best free skirmish games you will ever play.

Chris K.