E5-22 War Droid

This is an idea I got while looking at more of the Wotc star wars figure range. I came across this cool looking Assassin droid. On further research I found it was created by the same species that created the battle droids. This is all good stuff because it fits in with the look and feels of the CIS forces.

The figure isn't as big as I was expecting but is still huge compared to a clone. It has a flame thrower so that was fun coming up with rules for that. Rather than an assassin droid, I'm going to use these up scales versions as war droids.

I will give them tank class armour and pair them into units. So two of these droids will form a platoon.

Their melee attack is quite nasty too due to the crushing tracks and array of weapons. I think the main problem for the clones will be the class three armour though, that might cause some headaches.

The E5 stands much taller than his B2 brother. These E5's were going to be the follow on from the classic B1 battle droids. However, the B2 came along and took the slot.

I will get two units of these, so four models in all. I just like the idea of having slightly different droids in the army, as these were made by the same manufacturers, it's a no brainer to include some.

Also, the flamethrower is unique to this unit and that will be interesting to game with.

I used a green / tin shifter Vallejo paint to give it a nice green sheen. 

Some mild battle damage and weathering finishes off the model.
 

Gunship stowage 15mm

I had an idea recently on how to improve the look of my Republic gunships using crafting mesh.

It's always good to look at the original models whenever possible, this is a nice example of panelling and weathering. This is also a good reference for battle damage and carbon scoring.

This side view clearly shows the stowage racks and hand grips for the troopers. It hangs down far enough to see it and is quite noticeable.
 

Recently I have been watching a guy on YouTube who creates his own space fleets using crafting mesh to create the ships. It took me a while to finally track down what he was actually using. Luckily for me my wife knew exactly what it was and where to get it.

Having managed to get hold of some, I realised it would look great as the stowage and handles in a gunship. So today I cut up some pieces out and glued them in.

At first I put crates and equipment in the racks, but the empty ones looked better, so I emptied them again. Seeing light through the mesh gives a much better impression of the detail, so it was a no brainer.

The troopers look a lot better in the back now too. There was too much space above them before and they looked a little lost. They look much more film accurate now.

I positioned the mesh just low enough so it looked like the figures could reach up and grab it.

My mesh doubles as the hand grips and the stowage racks, it's a cheat but it works.

Once I had worked out the positioning of one, it was time to do all the others. The new ARC troopers gunship got one too.

Finally, the finished gunship got hers too. She really is finished now, complete with cargo storage and racks. The mesh gives just the right amount of detail to do the job at this small scale.

It's nice to keep improving these toys and bringing them closer in to a scale model for gaming.

Homing Spider Droid 15mm

After the test game on the weekend, I was left thinking isn't it a shame I can't get any of the large Spider droids to complete the CIS forces. As the range is made from brittle resin, the idea of a leggy, fragile spider walker is enough to give you a cold sweat.

 However, after trying to find another figure, I stumbled across a line of rubber star wars miniatures. I was delighted to see they made a Homing spider droid so ordered one.

The figures come with cards for the game they were intended for. Some of this information might be useful to me while I'm creating the stats for combat and movement.
 

I was even more delighted when I saw how big the walker is, as it fits perfectly with the scale of the resin figures. Being rubber, it's bulletproof too, so won't snap or break like resin.

The dorsal laser fires a beam over a great range, while the belly gun fires heavy blaster bolts. It's a slow mover so I will give it a 4" movement. Having a beam weapon I will give it a extra attack dice for every 11 and 12 that are rolled. This represents the beam slicing across the terrain, continuing to do damage. It's skill level will be classed as green but it will have six hit points because of it's armour and size. It will also have a weapon range equivalent to that of a tank, so most of the time it won't be getting any penalty for long range.

The long range and the extra attack dice should make this walker a scary sight as it looms over the tree tops.

Finding toys like this makes me realise doing this conflict in 15mm was definitely the right decision. Toys like this and the gunships, also the amount of units on the table, are a strong argument for 15mm. A large spider droid like this would cost a fortune in 28mm...if you could actually get one that is.

As a rule, the large Homing spider droids are normally escorted by their smaller cousins, the Dwarf spider droids. The smaller walkers act as the eyes and ears for the larger, powerful droids. Now I have found a good proxy for these monsters, I can replicate this on the battlefield.

The paint job on the model isn't bad, totally usable as is, but I will give it some washes of green and purple. The hull has a kind of oily sheen which will be nice to do.

To bring it up to spec a bit more with my figures, I've added the tiny antenna that were missing from the rubber toy. These will be painted and blended in.

A very good fit for scale, these things are huge.

The CIS now has some big, heavy walkers to match that of the Republic...well, not quite but almost.

The spider family go to war. I also stuck some bark under one of the feet to make the pose a tiny bit more dynamic. The tiny aerials really give it a bit more detail too and help scale it to the other figures.

Here is a scale shot showing a AAT tank and some B1 droid infantry. I think it's perfect and I can't wait to base it up and get it in the army.

The last nice bonus about the figure, is it comes on a 2mm thick base. This means I can use it as is and it should save me ordering MDF ones. Result!

Update: I'm not very happy with the eyes on this model so I've enhanced them with super glue.

Now that the eye lenses are proud of the face plate, it should be easier to get some paint on them. To make them glow, I will first paint them in white, then use a clear coloured Tamiya paint. This produces a lovely glowing lense look.

A second walker arrived today and was modded like the first one with antenna. I also scored the dishes on the weapons so they are more film accurate. Now I have two I can start to paint them.