"Who wants 15mm Grav/Rocket Belt Drop Troopers?" Topic

As you may have noticed, 15mm Sci-Fi miniatures gaming has really taken off in the last year, or two, with a huge increase in the number of figures and vehicles available for game play.

Sadly though, the future's Drop Troopers/Jump Troopers have been missing in action up until now, but that may be changing soon (yes, I know 15mm.co.uk have a small range of them, but they really aren't what I am looking for).

My theory is that the fighting hasn't been critical enough to warrant their use on the battlefield, but that is soon to change. They are expensive to field in any army, but are worth it due to their far superior mobility, e.g. 120 MPH/200KPH speed compared with about 5 MPH for normal ground troops on foot.

Jon, of Ground Zero Games (GZG) has kindly responded to my request to consider producing a range, or two of Grav or Rocket-belted troops, if there is enough interest from the general public. Therefore, if you would like to see these produced, send him a note to let him know.

See the following link for inspiration on what they might look like, when deployed on patrol in a large city:

picture

In more open terrain, they will tend to hug the ground, and to fly at tree-top level, in order to avoid detection and enemy defensive fire.

Up for consideration first are the UNSC and New Israeli troops, which are both in battle armor. I would also like to see the Light and Heavy Vacc Suit troops produced as well with backpacks, in addition to the NSL troopers.

I have also suggested separate backpacks to be produced in order to permit virtually any troopers to take flight, if desired.

I prefer at least a minimum of four poses, if possible, in flight mode, to a pack. Say two different poses with blaster/plasma rifles at the ready, searching while on patrol; one with it shouldered as if firing at a target; and one with an anti-tank weapon/bazooka/anti-fighter rocket launcher for integral squad support and defense (say one figure out of an eight pack).

E-mail Jon, if you would like to see these put into production soon, at the following address:

jon@gzg.com

See here for more discussions on vulnerability to enemy fire, and tactics to avoid that, while in flight:

TMP link

Interestingly the use of grav/rocket infantry in the future was discussed on CT-Striker Yahoo Group. The argument was put forward if I remember correctly, that grav belted armoured infantry would be the primary type of combat infantry in the far future (Traveller TL11 or so) and given their mobility – combat would represent almost a dogfight where positional warfare was no longer relevant.

Of course the discussion didn't end there – but I found it an interesting alternative.

But off-world on asteroids and suchlike I don't see why this type of combat would not be commonplace.

If the figs are well designed – I'd go for them!

Cheers
Mark

I think if they do get done, it might be nice to see a couple of options. I would like to see the hi-end grav versions as well as a lower end thruster pack sort more akin to the Jump Troops from battletech. This would allow different tech forces to enjoy these troops.

-Eli

I agree.

Rocket Belts for some, and more high tech Grav Belts for others.

Are these SS drop troopers? And are they for Mid-War (tm) or Late-War (tm)?

Are these SS drop troopers? And are they for Mid-War (tm) or Late-War (tm)?

*shakes fist* Not even MORE stuff before Early-War!

No, they are slower than that, e.g. about 120 MPH/200 KPH.

The SS, or Super-Sonic troopers are ultra-high tech.

There's an old SF short tale from ANALOG about grav-pack troops, who run into something that even their sophisticated tech may not be able to handle – " . . . Not A Prison Make" by Joseph P Martino, back when that worthy magazine gave time to military themed stories in which the army personnel were not universally mindless thugs as is the case now more often than not. (Reprinted in the colletcion "Space Soldiers edited by Greenberg and Drake. )

I would tend to think of a grav-drive being a backpack sort of affair about the size of a parachute pack, just because too samll a unit smacks of magic talismans . . . Or in a more real-world approach, the hover packs worn by the troops in Vernor Vinge's story "Bookworm, Run!" ( Which was cyberpunk before cyberpunk wirters were *born*) that use outboard motor sized fusion reactors to superheat air as a lifting thrust. We'll ignore the IR signature for a moment . . . :)

IR issues have been solved by the latest wave-cancelling technology currently being tested.

It is believed, if it can be scaled up properly, that the tech can even save skyscrapers during earthquakes, by nullifying the waves given off by them.

I think that claim may be a little over the top, but then again, 100 years ago, supersonic flight, and flying to the moon would have been thought of as magical claims too.

So, negating the signature given off by a few hundred, or thousand degrees of heat should be mere child's play, by comparison.

I imagine that skeet shooting will be a popular civil defense training program….

"Grav trooper at 2 o'clock!"

"Pull!"

I liked the B-tech jump troops tactics. They functioned more like helicopters using pop-up using man-portable missiles and ambush tactics with their packs being mainly used for fast movement between cover and ambush sites…

…or maybe that's how we used them.

-Eli

Renegade Legion infantry (first-line stuff, anyway) was exclusively grav-mobile. Great set of games.

I could think of three types I would be interested in. As mentioned above, NI type light troops with grav belts that allowed quick repositioning and jumping obstacles (essentially movement enhancement), or UNSC heavy troops with heavier gear allowing low-level flight (or landing from high altitudes). A third type would be sci-fantasy "rocket assault" troops that use jump packs to get in close at high speeds to avoid defensive fire, and are armed with short-range heavy weapons or even melee weapons (maybe worn as secondaries). I'm not sure which GZG faction would field those … maybe the NSL?

Hi!

It would be great to see some rocket troops released, especially like those described in the Starship Troopers book!

Otherwise it would also bee good to see some light scout types with jetpacks to act as a rapid deployment team too!

Ah! One of my favorite Bryan Gibson pics.

Count me in for 15mm Jump Troops. At least a platoon's worth.

Strike From Space!
Keith F.