Another random side project...

o/

While odds of VOR miniature game reaching the '2.0' stage are at best theoretical and at worst laughable, I still periodically entertain the idea of building another VOR army. Locally, there is one other guy who plays the game on exceedingly rare occasions, however he's thinking of opening an FLGS of his own (again), so future games of VOR may be possible...

Going with that, I was thinking on building another Union army, though a considerably different one than I've fielded in the past. The 'Union' is the amalgamation of the US, Canada & Mexico. They have hover tanks, drones, uber technology, etc. However when the Union formed, many US military units went rogue, formed militias of the quasi legitimate (and completely illegitimate) natures, 'confederate' regiments formed who would only defend the territories of the former USA, and three US states even tried to secede (Utah, Montana & Wyoming, which was pointless as they were completely surrounded). As such many of these rogue/renegade units still exist and the Union's military often carries out 'hunts' (that's what it says in the book) to exterminate them. So my thought was to use the Union force list (mostly) to recreate one of these renegade units. Thus far, I have two models which I painted over the weekend, first my Commander:
This is actually an Infinity Ariadna model. The scale is slightly smaller/thinner than an Imperial Guardsman. He'll be equipped with his assault rifle & power armor (although its not really a full suit, its close enough). The Ariadna have a quasi-Scottish theme, hence the tabard (which on the Infinity site is painted in a Scottish-like tartan pattern). I really wasn't sure what to do with it, till it struck me as a good place to add an old American military star (from a WWII model kit that the Orks had claimed). No idea what the serial number on the shield is for, but the military often festoons it's equipment with serial numbers, so it seemed like a good place to add one. There look to be enough minis in the Ariadna range to build 2-3 Union squads for VOR (if that ever comes to pass).

I said I would be using the Union list 'mostly'. One nice thing about VOR is that there are rules to create your own units/weapons/vehicles. While a bit cumbersome, they are useful. Being a renegade band that's cut off from proper logistical support, I'm sure that the Drones, hover tanks & what not would have fallen out of service (indeed the Commander's power armor will be the best piece of gear in the unit). Instead simpler vehicles would come into use, such as the good ol' army truck:
This is an Old Crow model (with a modified gun barrel using a GW bit). It's about the length of a rhino (w/o the plow) and the width of the rhino hull (i.e.: w/o the sides). I didn't much care for my original paint job on this, as it struck me as a bit bland. So I changed some colors, added some washes (still can't seem to avoid streaks on large flat surfaces), decals (again from the WWII model kits) and overall I rather like it. Well, not so much the streaks, but for something that'll get used once in a blue moon (if ever) its fine. Speaking of decals, the tire pressure ones fit perfectly between the wheels. Rather pleased with that!

Currently the US military LVS & HEMTT transport trucks have a cab that is similar in shape to this, however they are 8x8's. The Union's formation is still some ways off though (200ish years if I recall) so the odds of a 6x6 army truck of a similar cab design entering service and then getting passed off onto the reserves as obsolete (I would guess they have hover trucks to follow the tanks) are decent enough. Anyways, add in some 'hillbilly' armor and a small MG cupola and it's a perfect APC for some gun toting militia wackos!