davesimpson | 08 Mar 2014 7:07 a.m. PST |
The beginnings of an opposition force for Sallies' Army
The mecha are repurposed Blue Moon Robot Legion soldiers. The IFVs, infantry and tanks are from O8's new sci-fi line. Although they are meant to be tracked vehicles, they can be converted to hover/grav propulsion through the simple expedient of painting their tracks black and mounting them on a stand. Because of the overhanging side skirts, you only really notice the tracks when you look at them from close-up, at a level angle. The GEVs are Germy B.ugger light grav tanks with GZG small vehicle turrets glued on top. The missile carrier is another GB kitbash, this time with a missile launcher turret from Germy's cybertank. I hand to drop-cast copies of the turrets to get enough of these – Germy and GZG can probably forgive me for that, as I did it for my own use and enlightenment and I've given them plenty of cash over the years. The unit To&E being used here is based on an American Armored Cavalry Squadron, ca. 1965-1980. These units had HUGE combined arms platoons, made up of three tanks, 1 APC carrying an infantry squad, one APC-mounted mortar and some six recon APCs, for a total of 11 vehicles per platoon – more than a Soviet tank company! I'm making my TO&E regimental and a bit more flexible. It will have 3 Dragoon troops, 3 Tank troops and 3 Light Attack/GEV troops, along with 3 Squadron Headquarters. Troops can swap platoons and Squadrons can swap troops so, in practice, mission-tailored task forces can be easily created. The regiment will also have an aviation troop and an artillery battalion. The walker battalion will be straight-up and simple: three companies of three platoons each, with a fire-support platoon in reserve. |
Todd636 | 08 Mar 2014 7:21 a.m. PST |
Very nice! Just what I need, to be sucked into another project. : ) |
Legion 4 | 08 Mar 2014 8:08 a.m. PST |
Nicely done ! |
Redroom | 08 Mar 2014 9:00 a.m. PST |
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Mkultra99 | 08 Mar 2014 9:30 a.m. PST |
What is the mat that they are on? Minis look great! |
Zeelow | 08 Mar 2014 9:53 a.m. PST |
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Stealth1000 | 08 Mar 2014 11:50 a.m. PST |
3mm is looking so nice. So many scales. Which to go for. |
Twilight Samurai | 08 Mar 2014 5:17 p.m. PST |
Painting and basing are excellent! A comparison shot next to something (6mm tank perhaps, or coin) to give it scale would be good. |
davesimpson | 09 Mar 2014 6:43 a.m. PST |
Thanks for the kind comments! Here're some pics with a quarter and a euro for scale
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commanderroj | 09 Mar 2014 6:56 a.m. PST |
I like it all. Going to get some and do them up for an arctic campaign. Dont think I get get the blue moon robots economically in the UK, which is a shame. |
commanderroj | 09 Mar 2014 11:59 a.m. PST |
I meant Antarctic,What's not too like about fighting it out over an icy wasteland? |
sharkbait | 09 Mar 2014 2:05 p.m. PST |
Those look sweet! I'm tempted to start getting some of these 3mm minis, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Right now, I'm inventorying my 6mm to see if I should buy more to round out the units or go into 3mm. |
Hombre | 09 Mar 2014 2:12 p.m. PST |
Excellent work! Wish I had that skill. I need some of those figs. |
Rothgar | 10 Mar 2014 7:01 a.m. PST |
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(Major Disaster) | 10 Mar 2014 7:34 p.m. PST |
Outstanding work! I'm sorely tempted to build some 3mm armies What type of material do you mount your vehicles and infantry on? |
davesimpson | 11 Mar 2014 6:22 a.m. PST |
The nice thing about 3mm is that it's cheap: USD 4.50 will get you 15 castings. Building a full-fledged battlegroup for a game like Future War Commander will cost you under 20 USD. (A pack of tanks, a pack of IFVs, a pack of infantry, some small (3 casting) packs of artillery and helicopters and maybe recon). Painting them, even to a really high standard, takes an afternoon. Given this, 15mm is better thought of as a "Bonus scale", unless you're doing something like Forward March Studio's Wagram project. You get it for "free", given that it shouldn't take serious time or resources away from your other projects. This is why 3mm is great for projects or periods you always wanted to do, but couldn't find a justification for in terms of time or money. Even if you buy a set of Blue Moon Robots for your 3mm battleforce and ship them, 1st class, from the U.S., you're STILL going to come in at under 50 USD on the project. And there's the benefits in terms of space and storage: play on a coffee table, store in a cigar box. Sure, it's not 28mm, but it's as good as 6mm and getting better all the time. And it's cheaper and even easier to play and store. So why is this a big temptation and not a no-brainer buy? :) I base my figs on artist's board, Maj Diz Aster. I used to base them on plastic, but found out that it's ultimately cheaper and easier to use the board, plus the paint won't chip off it. At this size, warping is really not a problem. |
davesimpson | 11 Mar 2014 6:25 a.m. PST |
My big problem with 3mm sci-fi is that I now have far too much to ever get on one table, just because it's so cheap and easy to buy and build this stuff. One day, I'm going to have to set up a "proper" 6x4 table with a fast and easy rules set like Ogre minis or Easy-8's scifi stuff and play with everything I've got. My collection rivals that of some Epic 40K heads
except it cost something like one fifth the price. |
davesimpson | 11 Mar 2014 7:21 a.m. PST |
This is about 2/3rds of my currently painted 3mm science fiction stuff. Going from the back left to the front right, we have the Revolutionary Army of Salvation, the New Vistula Legion; the Lafitte Regiment, Baron Hisa Möder-Fokker's husehold troops, the anarcho-syndicalists and Count Penn-Taylor's household troops. This looks like a lot, but it's about 300 USD worth of figures, with more than half of that being the titans and the DP-9 stuff (which costs an arm and a leg) – maybe 1/5th of the total castings. These were acquired over a period of ten years, so call it an average expense of 30 USD a year – 50 USD if you add in the other stuff which isn't shown here. That foamie square is 50 cm x 50 cm, by the way, to give you an idea of scale. It's sitting nicely on a chair top.
Not everything is painted or based coherently in these photos. The stuff towards the back (i.e. the New Vistula Legion and the Revolutionary Army of Salvation) is pretty much finished and based the way I want it to be, although the Sallies' Titans still have to be finished and some of the Poles' equipment still has to be neon-highlighted. |
Ethanjt21 | 23 Mar 2014 7:06 a.m. PST |
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Legion 4 | 23 Mar 2014 7:22 a.m. PST |
some very nice work there ! |
javelin98 | 24 Mar 2014 10:25 a.m. PST |
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Kirk Alderfer | 25 Mar 2014 2:06 p.m. PST |
Hot diggity darn, that is too cool |
Zakalwe64 | 26 Mar 2014 6:30 a.m. PST |
A little bird once told me that Rommel Twee was his inspiration
. He just got tired of waiting for RT to do up his own 3mm sci-fi stuff
;) |
Kirk Alderfer | 26 Mar 2014 8:07 a.m. PST |
. He just got tired of waiting for RT to do up his own 3mm sci-fi stuff
AWWWWA
. now I feel bad :( but I am working on some 3mm schtuff now |
Zakalwe64 | 26 Mar 2014 3:39 p.m. PST |
Looking forward to seeing it! |