Tuesday 23 August 2016

USARF Recruitment Office - Part 2

More USAriadna? More USAriadna!

The army is coming along nicely and this next batch adds a lot of variety for my infantry. I'm still loving painting these guys and am looking forward to picking up the Maverick box soon too!

Hardcase, 112, Grunt with LGL, Dozer and Airborne Ranger
The Desperado has quite a unique look, pushing the cowboy aspect pretty much to the limit for a scifi game. It was a nice break to have all these dark, woody colours to work with and the red scarf adds a nice but of colour to the mini.

I tried to string the bow using some thin guitar string, but it just wouldn't quite fit. It's possible that I'd need to bend the arm or the bow slightly to make it work and I definitely might try it again in the future.

I'm looking forward to more of them being released so I can max out the availability using unique models because I'm completely in love with these guys. For their points (only 12!) they are incredibly destructive and disruptive. The light shotgun is actually quite a rarity in USAriadna as well given that most of their troops just have (Sniper) Rifles.




I also started working on my support troops. First up was the 112 (although I guess he would actually be a 911 for me) which is going to be one of the few pre-digital models in the army.

It's really easy to see the difference in quality with these earlier models. There is more flash and there are more mould lines and rougher surfaces too. The parts don't fit together nearly as well either - I don't think you could even attach the axe hand to the arm without pinning!

He's very much the model that stands out from the rest of the army with the yellow and red coat defining his look. I tried to tie him back in with the trousers, vest, boots and shoulder pads to make up for it though.

I wasn't keen on the stock pose though so I very carefully bent the right arm using a pair of jeweller's pliers so he's holding his axe to his side rather than straight behind him.

The 112 is our only Doctor and is mostly just going to be there to help complete classified objectives. 12pts for a Light Shotgun on a Regular specialist makes for a pretty decent cheerleader as well so I have no qualms about taking him in a list if I need to.





I also found time to turn out the Grunt with LGL. She's my seventh Grunt now so was fairly quick to do, although an errant stroke of paint meant I rather jacked the face on her. Hopefully nobody will notice...

Her arm was bent/re-positioned slightly so that her hand fits around the goggles, as if she's moving them into position, otherwise she's entirely stock.

I don't think it's a profile I'll use often, so time will tell how much battle she actually gets to see. Having a template weapon in a Fireteam is always useful, but without the Burst bonus when using Speculative Fire it's still a little niche compared to just having a Heavy Flamethrower. Spending 1 SWC on a rather situational weapon is also a difficult to justify decision when that could be a HMG or a pair of Sniper Rifles instead.



Next up was my second pre-digital model, the Dozer with Traktor Mul Control Device. The Muls themselves are on the painting desk at the moment!

Again it is clear that the detail is not as clear or crisp as on the modern miniatures, but he was actually quite enjoyable to paint.

As the only source of the Engineer skill and D-Charges he's going to be a regular feature in ITS lists I think.




Last, but certainly not least, is the Para Commando.

I think this mini is really awesome - just look at that beard! All the satchels, ropes and straps give him a different look from the regular infantry and makes him pretty interesting to paint.

Armed with his trusty SMG this handsome fellow can glide gently onto the battlefield and snatch objectives out from under my opponent's collective noses. I think he'll be showing up fairly regularly and I'll have to try him out with Van Zant too sometime.

I'm also looking forward to there being a Rifle version as I suspect their Assault Pistols could be pretty devastating if used carefully.



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