Federal Army

The Federal Army has sent a small taskforce to the planet Forsey to assist the Fyoder Corporation. Water mining rights on the planet have been openly disputed by the Nationalist Independence Party resulting in armed conflict with the corporations security. Fyoder Corp has asked for mediation in the ongoing conflict and is threatening to send in it's own forces to protect it's facilities if issues are not resolved. The Nationalists meanwhile deny any attacks on Fyoder's properties but have stated that they will defend their territory against Federal incursions.

This is my Federal Army forces so far. I think I'll take a break from these as I want to add some alien races to the collection. I have some new figures on order that should hopefully arrive soon. Meanwhile I have to work my way through a large painting commission of Night Goblins.

Commonwealth Elite SAS Squad

The troops of the 3rd Commonwealth are equipped with unique armaments - lightweight tesla and plasma weapons made from plasticeramic. With this equipment there is less need to field large forces so Commonwealth units tend to be smaller than their Federal counterparts.

The Commonwealth is currently assisting Federal troops on the planet Forsey as peacekeepers in the conflict between Nationalist factions and the Fyoder Corporation, an ongoing "brush war" over water mining rights.

These are British SAS Elite from Micropanzer. I also have a unit of the helmeted version still to paint but I couldn't resist posting these before starting the others. The beret gives these a unique look and I love the big guns.

Alien Plant Life

Much of the Flora and Fauna of Earth was transplanted to the colonies during their terraforming, but much of the native plantlife and animals survived. The Federal Army often finds itself waging war amongst the most exotic and strange foliage.

I used the tops of some dried out poppies at the back of the garden to make these suitably alien plant forms. I'd love to do more but I suppose I'll have to wait until the same time next year. The figures are a Khurasan Federal fusion gunner and supporting infantryman (top) and a Special Forces (not Arnie from Predator) from The Scene (bottom). Here's an in-progress pic of the planets before the bases were finished...

Federal Racoon ARV - IT OPENS!!!!

Just discovered that these Matchbox ARV vehicles actually open to reveal seating and computer systems!! There's a whole load of modelling opportunities here I think.

Federal Droptroopers

The Federal Army responds to threats with heavy hitting infantry teams of Droptroopers. Only the fittest and strongest soldiers are recruited into the ranks of these elite units.

Compared to the soldiers of the Recon Battalions the Droptroopers are much taller and imposing, and with their heavier armour and special training give the Federal Army a cutting edge that their opponents struggle to match...

The Droptroopers are carried into combat in Falcon Dropships. These fast moving ships can drop from orbit and can carry a full squad of infantry along with a Racoon ARV.

The Droptroops are from Critical Mass Games and the dropship is a work in progress from an old Star Wars model picked up cheaply from eBay. The other side still needs painted and there is a brocken weapon that needs replacing.

Heavy Mobile Suits

The Nationalist Forces that regulary face off against the Federal Army lack the manpower that their enamy can field. Therefore they have developed heavily armoured mobile power suits, each capable of taking on several units of regular Federal infantry by themselves. These power suits are capable of travelling through the roughest terrain and performing hit and run operations against Federal facilities and supply lines.

I picked these little Gundam figures up from ebay from a seller based in France. I'm not sure what scale they are, but they fit really well alongside 15mm figures as large power armour suits.

Federal Drones and Control

When it's too dangerous to send in the infantry, the Federal Army utilises remote Drones. This version of the wheeled drones are armed with autocannons and are controlled by a command team from as far a way as several miles. The command team can track the drones on a field holoprojector.

The drones are from Ground Zero Games and the Command Team is from Khurasan Miniatures. The holoprojector is supplied with the projection printed onto clear acetate - a brilliant idea from Khurasan who also manufacture some of the best 15mm scifi figures on the market.

Federal Army Armoured Personnel Transports

The Federal Army has a vast selection of vehicles to choose from for each mission, though they are not always at the cutting edge of technology. Anti-grav vehicles are expensive to operate and more costly to replace, so often tried and tested wheeled vehicles are used.

The workhorses of the Federal Army are the Racoon ARV and Grizzly Heavy Transport. Both vehicles have had many variants with field modifications adding to the variety of models availiable.

The larger vehicle has been converted from an old Dinky Stalwart that had been sitting in the garage - in fact, I think I've had this since I was in primary school - and the smaller vehicles are modified Matchbox Armoured Responce Vehicles. So all in all this set of vehicles has cost less than £10. The figures are ARC Recon from Critical Mass Games.

Critical Mass ARC Drop Troops

Wow!! Seriously impressed. I placed an order with Critical Mass for some of their Drop Troops and two days later they've dropped through the letterbox. This will motivate me to get my Dropship moving from the workbench to complete a lot faster.

Now I just need to get my deliveries from Rebel Mini's and Micropanzer. The Rebel Mini's one is taking way too long!

Power Armour Troops Part 2

Here's the finished unit of Power Armoured Troops.

The Scene Battle Robots

I had finished these Battle Robots (not-Terminators) from The Scene a few weeks ago but the more I looked at them in the base metal paint scheme, the more I though they were a bit predictable.
After reading "The Clockwork Traitor", part of the Family D'Alembert series from EE Doc Smith / Stephen Golding, I decided to repaint these as Security Bots with yellow shoulder flashes. The book features a villian obsessed with mechanical perfection who has an army of droids protecting his main facility. This made me think "why have an army of terminators?" when I could do something a little different.
I decided that these will be part of a human led, corporate force. I have some CAT powerarmour/droids enroute from Rebel minis that'll be the heavy hitters of this army, and once those have arrived, I'll order some Earth Force Infiltrators as the human units.

Matchbox Armored Response Vehicle continued (Part 3)

Here's a work in progress update of my up-armoured Matchbox Armored Response Vehicle. I've used some thin plastic sheets to cover the huge windows on the original vehicle. This slight change has altered the whole feel of the vehicle, which I'm pretty happy with. I just need to add some decals and finish the base.

Here's a shot with the original vehicle as comparison...

Power Armour Troops

With last nights painting blitz I was slightly side tracked by some power armored figures I've had sitting around for many years. I can't even remember who made these guys. I was never happy with the paint job they had, but now that they've been repainted I'm really impressed by the sculpt quality.

I think the weaponry looks like a heavy shotgun, a grenade launcher and a heavy plasma weapon. There's only three poses but I have enough for another three 3-man bases which should give a reasonable sized force with some pretty heavy firepower.

As I said, I've no idea who manufactured these so if anybody can shed some light it would be appreciated.

Critical Mass ARC Recon Troops

I've had the ARC Recon squads sitting waiting to be finished for a couple of weeks now, only needing based and their guns painted, so last night I made an effort to get these completed. So here we go. I think it'll either be Drop Troops or Augments next on the shopping list from Critical Mass.

These will be transported by my Matchbox ARVs. The armour style of the ARC infantry match pretty well with the chunky look of these (not so little) vehicles.