Okay, a bit of a repost. This was my A Call to War project, and I posted about 100 photos showing the journey from raw minis to completed forces. But I never actually posted a single shot with the complete unit - the closest I had was missing two 'Mechs from the TO&E at the time.
And then Sol7 dropped out of the image hosting game, thanks to wonderful service providers ::)
So, here we go again ...
Why the 4th Tau Ceti? Three reasons mainly.;
1) They're not your Warrior House/DBoG/whatever popinjays. They're grunts - skilled grunts, who like it that way.
2) They're a storied unit. Born in the Star League, but who refused to leave with Kerensky; featuring (as supporting characters) to Justin Alliard's story in the Warrior trilogy; their long service to House Liao recognised when invited to join the Citizen's Honoured; surviving the Jihad and appearing in the Dark Age.
3) Their colours. I've done brown, green, blue, black, white, and red. It was about time for something different, and the Ranger's two-tone metallics looked like just the thing - good looking, and not requiring insane skills (such as Savage Coyote's clanners ;) )
Plus, the Capellan innovation of augumented formations is such a good idea. An augumented lance is four ('Mechs/Vees), plus two (Vees/'Mechs/Squads of BA). An augumented company is two augumented lances. An augumented battalion is three augumented companies, plus a command augumented lance. Not since the Word of Blake has someone engaged in exploiting the synergies of combined arms at the basic mechanised team level.
(Plus it let me mix & match even more minis ... ;) )
So here we go on our journey ...
The lot. Yes, we have to pull back a bit to fit them all in the image ...
The command lance (going to drop the 'augmented' from here in - take it as read). We have a Yu Huang Y-H9GC for the battalion CO, with accompanying Awesome AWS-9M, Helios HEL-C (yes, it's on the Cappie's list), Victor VTR-10L, Morningstar Company Command & Morningstar Laser variant. This is a traditional "commander's reserve" formation, while as a side benefit 16 points of MHQ make for a great BI rating.
Assault company, first lance: Yu Huang Y-H10G, Lao Hu LHU-3C, Pillager PLG-3Z (note the waist insert, which brings the mini up to size required to play in this unit ;) ), Cataphract CTF-4L (from the lance pack), and four squads of Fa Shih. Yes, should be 2 squads, but I was on a roll ...
I just want to take a moment to call the Yu Huang out here as a mini. To be honest, I can't recall how I ended up with two of them, but this was going to be about the only unit I'm likely to make where both fit in. It's a nice big mini, it's got superb panelling and excellent detail. On the downside, I hate the arms as such - classic "massive barrel compensation" syndrome, the arms as supplied aren't that posable, and they're all lurching to the right. Had to do something about that.
For the H10G, I decided to work with the arms. Despite being a separate piece, the right arm needed pinning to be reliably fixed - the parts are moulded to only fit well in the dangling position. The gun from a DA SM2 artillery vee - sliced off with the disc at the base of the barrel, which fitted right into the right arm, and a smaller barrel tip added to the left arm to sub for the ERLL. Oh, and I sliced off two LRM tubes each side, to leave 3 which became ERML ports.
For the H9GC in the Command Lance, I left the weapons alone (except for covering over the LRM ports), but reposed the right leg. Not too much work - cut under the foot with my trusty razor saw, then bent with round-nosed pliers wrapped in a bit of cloth. I also took the time to straighten the torso at the left hi, so it wasn't leaning to the right any more.
I had a great time doing the gold detailing ... except for the minor fact that apart from the chest, leg & shoulder sunbursts, there's not any mirror-image panels on the whole great thing! So I just went with the flow.
Now onwards!
Assault company, second lance. Two standard Demolisher Mk IIs, two Gauss version Mk IIs, plus a Cyclops CP-11-B and Sirocco SRC-3C. They all have the same mobility profile, more or less. The standard Mk IIs take point, and the heavy direct fire support off the others mangle the opponents. The Demolisher's turrets help compensate for the Sirocco's quad limitations. (The Sirocco IMHO should have been called the Claymore - "point this side towards enemy" ...)
Second company, battle lance. The second company has more of a support role, so this medium battle company can be used to shore up weak spots, or back up other units. Men Shen MS1-OA, Koschei KSC-5MC kitbashed, Huron Warrior HUR-WO-R4O, THunder THR-2L (with bead inserted in the bland stock muzzle), and a pair of kitbashed LTV-4 hover tanks.
Second company, second lance. Fire support lance does fire support! Two upgrade LRM partisans, two of the fuel cell Partisans, a Crusader CDR-7L (with backpack, and modified head) and a reposed nuplastic Catapult CPLT-C5A. The jumpy 'Mechs make great bodyguards for the somewhat sluggish Partisans, while adding to the lance's indirect fire capability.
Third company is about fast strike. First company is cavalry/striker: Sha Yu SYU-6B with SNPPCs, Vindicator VND-5L with can-opener, Vulcan VLC-5M, and Blackjack BJ2-OA (aka "pocket Archer").
Third company second lance - a pursuit unit, with Regulators and add-on Fa Shih for fun & giggles. Whether striking a weak flank, or getting through the enemy's line for profit, these guys are the go.
And then fourth company - the recon specialists. First lance has nuplastic Raven RVN-4L and Firestarter FS-9S, an old intro plastic Assassin - these come up really well with a little work - and a Stinger STG-6L, A pair of Galleon GAL-102s round off the lance, with their electronics.
And lastly a lance of J Edgars in Scout config, accompanied by a Flea FLE-19 (with light PPC) and Duan Gung D9-G9. For all the flak the Duan Gung gets for its anaemic stats, I actually quite like the mini, and think it comes up really well!
So that's the lot, together. Had a lot of fun doing the Rangers, and hope you got some enjoyment from me parading them again.
Comments & questions welcomed as always!
W.
