A quick post this thursday on realistic future warriors. Not all science fiction troopers need be bristling with weapons, overly armored up and looking morel ike robots than the men they are. In fact, some of the neatest future troopers are the ones who are just men with guns.
Remember the Colonial Marines, or the Hoth troopers. What about the contractors in Avatar? These guys were all wicked tough and cool even when they were fighting black nightmare bugs, stormtroopers or 10ft tall blue cat natives. I wish there were more of these guys in miniature. I suppose the reason that we don't see more of these guys in miniatures is because really they don't stand out all that much as futuristic save for the details. I might even argue that the subtlety of such soldiers is lost on todays crop of scifi fans who seem to want an ever-increasing amount of wow factor in their toys. It also might be argued that such troopers are far too close to historical figures to really be bothered with by the guys forking out the cash to get the minis produced in the first place. Don't get me wrong, there are a few gems out there, but they are few and far between. Other than a few notable few (and you know who you are) future trooper minis almost all come out looking like Colonial Marine knock-offs. But you can have more than that.
A visor there, a shoulder plate here, maybe a knee pad or a chest protector or something and suddenly you are tripping the 22nd century nice and well and giving the public a really nice trooper they can believe in. Give the man a gun that is humanly possible to wield, and that has a sensible futuristic configuration and some kit that looks like it serves purpose other than to hold his skull collection and BAM, future trooper goodness.
Well enough of the soap box today.
Seeya when I get back,
-Eli
Posts
Chello!
ReplyDeleteell, if you're playing a game like 2300 AD or the Battlestar Galactica RPG, you do want that "Colonial Marine" look...it's integral to the game. :)
There are a few of these "mid'tech" trooper options:
ReplyDelete15mm.
Old Crow
RAFM
Older and Newer GZG
In 28mm
Pig Iron
I acknowledge the fact that there are a few of these types of troopers out there but the new ones that have been coming out seem to be leaving this behind.
ReplyDeleteAlso, part of my point was that there was room for something new within the category as well just as I have mentioned I beleive there is still room for some more innovation in alien miniatures.
-Eli
The guy in the first picture looks a bit like a Titan marine, and Khurasan does some 'Colonial Marine' types in 15mm as well.
ReplyDeleteIs your point that a lot of companies seem to equate 'future human troopers' with WH40k Space Marines? And so we seem to get endless variants on the hardsuit body armour. Ginormous guns seem to be part and parcel of the cartoonishness of this sub-genre, and if they were originally "ironic" or "satirical" then that's got lost in the static.
I find it interesting when seeing the amount of body armour that, particularly US, troops are wearing in Iraq or Afghanistan, to compare today's troops to those of Gulf War I and the European units of the Cold War era. Then look at concept pictures from the 'Future Warrior' (I think that's the name for it) project. We are rapidly heading towards more heavily armoured infantry than, say, the CMs in 'Aliens'. And once they're in rigid frame exoskeletons, some bright spark is going to mount a support weapon on it :)
Good post Eli.
ReplyDeleteDisagree with these pics looking like the Titan Marines, Kobold - certainly not ot my eye.
Agree about the modern body armour as seen in Afghanistan having a Sci Fi chic of its own,
I've often thought how a modern soldier in Afghanistan today would have been a Sci Fi trooper to me back in 1979/80.
Thing is, there are still only a few true Modern that is 2010 miniatures in 15mm on the market - most 'Moderns' are 1970/80's whihc is like describing 1914 Germans in picklehaubes as 1945 Waffen SS.
Cheers
Mark