This is a follow-on to my earlier 6mm army from Plasmablast Games, the Third Federated Rifles. This force, obviously with more advanced technology, is the bane of the Outer Colonies.
After their comprehensive defeat at the Battle of Ceres, the leadership of the Technical Alliance began to fragment, and the many resulting splinter factions could not agree on a proper path forward for the organization. With their attempted coup against the Federal Government obviously at an end, some of these groups chose to fight on hopelessly, dragging out the Second Upheaval with a decade of confused fighting in the Inner Colonies. Other groups chose to flee Federated Space, and the most powerful of these was the Foundationist faction, a radicalized and quasi-religious group that has become a serious menace along the outer edges of the Federated Territories, and has even begun to pose a threat to non-Human civilizations, most notably the Batollic States and the Kreen Confederation.
The Fifth Column is the fighting arm of the Foundationist Movement, equipped with extremely potent arms and armor that is fast, stealthy, and packs a serious punch. Few Outer Colonies have defenses that can withstand even the initial onslaught of a Fifth Column advance, and a sustained siege is a recipe for disaster. Dropping from orbit, the repuslortanks of the Fifth Column are able to deliver potent military force on an interstellar scale; though they have confined themselves to "smash-and-grab" raids so far, Federal analysts theorize that the Movement's rising popularity may lead it to attempt bolder strikes, possibly going as far as seizing undefended colonies for themselves.
Their weapons are not as numerous, at the moment, as those of the Federated Territories, but they are far more advanced. The mainstay of Fifth Column forces is the T-5 Repulsortank, which has the oddly innocuous Federal reporting name "TROUT." Armed with a heavy fixed-wave pulse laser, the T-5 turret also has a series of reflectors that can split the beam to allow it to act as a point-defense and local anti-air weapon. Its hull plating, like that of all Foundationist vehicles, is made up of carbon and molybdenum composites that are non-reflective of most sensor fequencies, making the vehicle very hard to lock on to.
Ancillary to the T-5 is the older but still potent K-1 "KAZAK" light tank, which has been repurposed by the Foundationists for reconnaissance. Armed with a light beam laser and a fusion cannon, it is able to carry on effective combat operations, but it is most useful as a spotter for the Foundationists' artillery batteries.
Though only scattered reports have so far isolated the Foundationists' artillery assets, they are known to make extensive use of long range self-correcting missile barrages, usually fired from mobile MLRS-like batteries. These vehicles have yet to be isolated by Federal Intelligence and so do not currently have a reporting name or designation – identifying them more completely is a high Federal priority.
A new weapon which has been identified, however, is the K-2 "KILGORE," a heavy battle tank that was recently seen in action during the raid on Port Joshua. This weapon is slower than other repulsortanks, but carries an extremely aggressive weapon: a variable-yield fusion cannon larger than any previously thought possible. This weapon, positively lethal at close range, has not yet been found to be answerable by even the heaviest Federal armor.
In spite of their obviously brutal tactics, the Foundationists also seem to be gathering increasing numbers of followers. Whether they are willing or unwilling converts remains an open question, of course; the Technical Alliance was known to be exploring certain methods of "re-education" during their waning years. As a result, their forces are accompanied by large numbers of mechanized infantry that use combined-arms tactics that show an advanced grasp of integrated warfare. Operating in small units called "triads," these forces consist of a P-3M or P-3G "PILGRIM" superheavy MICV, each carrying two fireteams of heavily armed conventional infantry, supported by a fireteam of heavy powered armor. These units move in behind armored forces to exploit breaks in enemy lines, using the resulting chaos to strip target colonies bare of ammunition, equipment, fuel – indeed, any useful resources whatsoever.
And finally, the true proof of Foundationist superiority in weapons, is the A-12 "AVAR" gravship, an anti-gravity VTOL gunship armed with guided missiles, scatter rockets, and a chin-mounted laser cannon. The AVAR is capable of speeds exeeding Mach 2 in bursts of open flight, and represents the pinnacle of Foundationist close air support technology.
The vulnerability of the Outer Colonies to the Foundationist Movement is of great concern to the Federal government, which has begun contracting with numerous Dispute Resolution Organizations to offer protection to outlying settlements. The Federal Military is still recovering from the Second Upheaval, and some fear that sustained violence in the Outer Colonies could lead to renewed hostilities at a time when the Federated Territories would be least able to cope with the problem. At the moment, the DROs, though dismissed by their detractors as "mercenaries," may be the only thing standing between Federal civilization and a Third Upheaval.
As far as the castings are concerned, they are quite good, though obviously made from layered 3D masters – some of the detail is a little blurry, especially on the light tanks. Nevertheless, I felt it added to the overall "stealthy" look, which is panelized and very sleek, overall, and suggested the basic black color scheme I chose. Another point – the turrets on the larger tanks also tend to be end-heavy, and don't naturally sit in the proper position. To correct this, I clipped off the cast-in pins, drilled them all out and glued on a pair of 1/16" Nd magnets to hold the turrets in place. It was a pain to prep all those tanks, but worth it to avoid losing those little turrets.
The colors are all Reaper acrylic. The base is Rust-O-Leum 2X Cover Flat Black. On that is an irregular patch of Midnight Blue and Twilight Blue, lined with Black Wash to bring out the panels, then drybrushed with Snow Shadow. The insignia is hand-painted with a 10x0 brush in Ghost White. The canopies are Deep Red, with a wet-blended shade of Clear Red to build up the glow, and a little Pure White highlight for effect.
All in all, the group makes a very effective and threatening OPFOR for my current Dirtside games. Though the members of my club remain skeptical, due perhaps to a residual bias against the 6mm game scale, I'm hoping that my efforts will slowly win over some converts as the project progresses.
Thanks for reading – this force was great fun to paint up, and it felt great to put it on the table last weekend, for sure!
--M
finally dips his toe into the world of Aeronef.
