Mando Hunter

 o/

I've been on a big BattleTech kick here of late, which has stifled all other painting. It doesn't help that my primary SWL opponent has been MIA for the summer. He & his wife both work at a college, and so like most educators I figure they travel all summer. 

While I do have a squad of Snowtroopers base coated with Apothecary White, this not Bo-Katan Mando Hunter is the only finished model in that army so far. 

I've been trying to get my buddy Nick 2.0 to try the game, even going so far as to offer gifting him an army. But the best I've gotten is: Why, so you can kick my ass in another game? lol, at least he has some more Legion scaled cavern tiles in the queue for me. 

Imperial Remnant Stormtroopers

 o/

Following the fall of the Empire, the standards of unit kit were...relaxed a bit.

The latest across the finish line for my Star Wars Legion hordes is a squad's worth of Remnant Stormtroopers. I say squad's worth because I will be divvying these 10 up amongst the three squads that I Currently have (2 squads painted, one still in progress). Hence the differing colors of the bases' rims.

Some of these guys don't seem to trust Remnant logistics and instead carry extra gear on their own initiative.

In the future, Wet-weather/Mimban Stormtroopers will be released. Unless their rules are amazing (am not sure what a poncho will actually add to game play), I will just be mixing those up into my existing squads for a further motley appearance. 

Lacking the large orange shoulder pauldron, these two squad leaders have had to make do with a mere shoulder pad stripe and bandana for visual reference. The orange flowers on the one guy's base is purely coincidental. 

I don't use the Imperial Remnant battle force rules as they are too restrictive vs. my collection, to be able to even reach the point limits for Recon-sized games. I also do not know why Shoretroopers are required for the Imperial Remnant since they made no appearances in the Mandalorian series on which said battle force is based. 

Just a closer detail pic for this bunch showcasing everything from cracked helmets to starfish and crustaceans on their bases. Speaking of, I couldn't resist putting white flowers (in lieu of snow) all over the base of the guy with the Snowtrooper helm. 

Up next I have more terrain is on the painting docket, though I may sneak in a mini or two to break the monotony. 

The log on this guy's base is originally from the Ewok trapper that I used here. 

Imperial Bunker for Star Wars Legion

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Imperial control has been established.

While fairly generic, the darker grey color scheme gives this a strong Imperial vibe. I modified it slightly adding a different pintle mounted cannon than the one it came with (though I don't know if that will ever be used as such). 

I guess they shoved those empty containers out of the roof hatch and over the side, leaving them there to rot...

The cannon I believe comes from the 'Bus' model kit. I won an eBay auction of spare weaponry and this piece fit on here perfectly!

Adding a multitude of tufts and laser cut plants to the bases is becoming one of my favorite parts of painting nowadays.

Nothing to see here citizen. Move along, move along...

A squad of 4-5 guys could fit in here easily. 

Command consoles and monitors.

While visually interesting, this floor would be hell on anyone stationed within. Either there is a thin, not visible mesh covering the gaps in the floor, or else all station crews no doubt suffer from a multitude of foot and ankle injuries. 

I also finished my second destroyed Rebel gun emplacement. This one is a little narrower than the previous one I painted, but in the end was done in the same style and came out nicely, I think. 

This one got a bit more torched than the last one.

It is however, also being taken over by vegetation.

The interior of this one is now the realm of weeds, rather than gunnery crews.

At this point all I have left to paint terrain-wise is one more Massa'dun-styled building, and 3 more of my custom POIs using the old moisture evaporators and priority supplies pieces. 

Black on Black!

 o/

You know the ISF are the bad guys when they are trampling someone's flower beds. 

As much as I loathed painting the Shoretroopers in their actual colors, I had no issues painting the remaining four up as a squad of Imperial Special Forces Troopers. Honestly, if there was any challenge, it was dry brushing them lightly to lighten them up somewhat without getting them too dirty (well, boots aside). 

I was pleased with how the dirty boots came out. 

But other than that, a lot of the detail is lost in the super dark color scheme. 

The guy with the red stripes is the squad leader

The official models for this unit are Tie Fighter pilot minis. However, after painting up Iden Versio a year or so back...well, she looked kinda like a bobblehead. I think these models work much better. Recently the ISF got a points reduction meaning they are likely to be a bit mediocre. However, as a mediocre player myself, that ought not bother me too much. 

Leaving the droids for a bit.

 o/

My CIS army is just down to just assembling and painting my 2 Droidekas, a task I failed miserably at the first time I tried it a year or so back. Thus, I took the only sensible approach to the problem and ignored them to work on other Legion projects. Here they are in no particular order of completion:

Rebel Veteran Mk II Medium Blaster gunner(s), a.k.a.: when furries attack! This was an Etsy purchase that took what felt like forever to arrive and no time at all to paint up.

I've never felt the need for the Ewok trapper, so it is now a bit of basing decoration

I like making these larger bases almost like little dioramas. 

I'm particularly pleased with the how the fur turned out on this model. 

In hindsight, the hands are a bit human like and furless, but whatever. I'm not going back and changing it now. 

I put several ferns on this base as I recall lots of those in the forest scenes of Endor. 

Also in the support weapon realm, I have my Imperial Shoretrooper DF-90 mortar gunner. While a vastly inferior weapon to the Mk II above (it is essentially a direct fire mortar which...isn't really a mortar), it is nonetheless a cool looking mini. 

Finally! The last of these infernal Shoretrooper models! Well, sorta. You'll see what I mean in a future post. 

Rather than ferns, this guy's has chosen to camouflage his mortar by setting it up amongst monstera and a multitude of weeds. 

I'm curious as to how the round mortar charges exit the rectangular barrels of the mortar. It is likely one of those 'shrouded in mystery...' things, I'm sure. 

Most of what was completed here recently is for The Empire actually. Next up is my (almost) finished Imperial Scout Trooper squad. I still have the Saboteur left to finish. 

Thank God for The Mandalorian series! I really like the dirty Imperial Troopers look over the pristinely clean ones from the Return of the Jedi. 

Cool factor aside, Scouts sadly have an all-to-frequent tendency to just show up and die. 

Meaning that oh-so expensive DLT sniper upgrade is likely to be used sparingly, if at all. 

As for the other random Scout trooper, I'm never going to field a separate strike team, so that model was carved up to enable me to convert the Imperial Agent below.

This 3D print was a generic Jedi that I never really knew what to do with. So, I lopped off the hand with the already bent light saber and replaced it with a gun hand from the aforementioned, Scout trooper. 

I think his camo cloak came out pretty good. 

As the Scout was already down a hand, I figured taking his head off for basing material was a viable option. 

He didn't complain.

Three more across the finish line.

 o/

I've been making progress on all three Star Wars Legion armies. First up, my Imperial Scout trooper's squad leader who also serves as my stand-in Imperial agent (since the FLGS can't seem to get the official one in).

As you can see, he has skillfully chosen a tactical log that has been concealed by vegetation.

In keeping with my vaguely Imperial Remnant army and general preferences for all things miniature, his armor is fairly dirty. 

I opted for a red shoulder to mark him out as being of senior rank. 

No doubt he is using the scanner to locate his retinue squad, which in my last game, I stupidly deployed on the opposite side of the table. 

Next up, a second Shoretrooper squad leader. This one came out better than the first one, I think. The last four Shoretroopers are base coated as well. Still not a fan of painting these models but am glad to be almost done with them.  

He's probably just standing on the beach, taking in the view...

Were it not for the rifle, this guy may have been promoted to Imperial officer. 

Especially as he has a close combat baton strapped (somewhat awkwardly) to his pack. 

Lastly, my Rebel comms chick agent. She came with the specialists pack that I bought to get the pilot & astromech for the speeder in my previous post. My original intent was to use her as a squad leader, however after realizing that she had a second pistol strapped to her pack, I decided to use her as an officer/agent (FLGS can't get that model in either). Given that Rebel officers/agents have the option to fire two pistols, I think she will be of much more value in that role. 

Wait, shouldn't it be: Ladies first?

While simple, I was pleased with how her camo coat/smock came out.

Pistol # 2, for use when not calling in an orbital strike are starfighter support.

Not to leave the droids out, I've assembled all of the B1 battle droids, which when combined with my original horde gives me enough for 4 full super squads (13 + support weapon droid). 

To quote Screech: 'That's a lot of Clankers.'

Each squad as both the rocket launcher and E-5C gunners, plus a lone rad gun droid in the event I want to give someone radiation poisoning. There are a handful of extra squad leaders and rocket droids left over that will likely suffer the fate of basing material. 

Running the Empire into the ground.

Tuesday night I lead my Empire forces into yet another doomed battle. This time my Imperial army vs. Tom's Rebels which I have heard about but only faced now for this first time. Up to this point I have yet to beat Tom who is also new to the game, but also only plays Legion, and plays more regularly than I. That said, he is a blast to play with, and I thoroughly enjoy our games, regardless of my abysmal record. 

Here are a few highlights:

My army. Notably, the Scout on the tactical log was serving as an Imperial agent with his basic pistol only, and the Spaceballs would be Pykes as mentioned in my previous post. 

The only overall photo of the battlefield. My Storm Troopers, Scouts and Spaceballs have already suffered heavy casualties by this point. The speeder bikes were already dead because that is their job. Apparently.

*On the Record*, the Spaceballs are being blamed for the Empire's loss, as none were left alive to defend themselves. That's the points of mercenaries, isn't it? To purchase a fall guy?

One Scout was in combat with a squad of veterans, much to the annoyance of my Shoretrooper Mortar gunner. In the backfield, my Agent and his log had just charged and finished off the Veteran's support gunner (who was already wounded and suppressed into oblivion). Standing atop said log, he is looking for his next quarry.

As much as I loathe (and suck at) painting Shore Troopers, and despite their inability to actually move anywhere, these fuckers deserve to be painted. They used long shot to put three wounds on a very surprised Princess Leia (and Tom who thought she was safely out of range). Were it not for an excellent cover roll, she would likely have died. In the following turn, they gunned down two Taun-Taun riders who had yet to even be shot at!

Running amuck in the backfield, my Agent, despite having taken a few wounds himself, charges Leia reducing her to her last wound (were it not for her dodges he'd have killed her). Following this, she would withdraw from combat and...

...a heavily wounded and enraged Chewbacca ripped his arms out of their sockets. At this point the game was over. While my scouts as a whole were true to form and showed up and died, this guy should also be painted. 

*****

Following the game, I bought the Separatist starter box, chosen as it had the most appealing models of all four factions. The Rebel box has Wookies, the models for which I do not like, commandos who suck (but could just be used as regular Rebels), and Luke in the clothes he wore to get a medal, but never in combat. A curious choice. The empire box has an admittedly cool looking Vader mini, 2 squads of Stormtroopers, and 3 squads of Scouts who (again) always show up and just die. I suppose it is fluffy, but it's kinda boring,

I do not have any clones and honestly that army's only real appeal to me is the multiple generic Jedi options. It's really an army for all the folks who watched all of the animated Clone wars series (which I haven't). Most of their vehicles are kinda ugly too, also more Wookies. 

I didn't much care for the prequels, but I did like this army. Especially the hordes of comical and idiotic B1 Battle Droids. 

So, I opted for the endless horde of Roger Rogers which, as an old Iggy player appeals to me greatly. Including all support weapon options, I now have 58 B1 battle droids! I expect to have them all painted sometime around: never.