A Little Look at some Rebel Minis

During the last week or so, a number of anticipated parcels arrived in the letterbox. One of the first was from Rebel Minis. Along with the Earth Force Armoured Troops (MAEF8) and Earth Force Droptroopers (RMDT1) – both excellent packs of figures and I need to get more of them. And if I could paint them half as well as Jeff Racel has done, as seen on TMP, I would be a happy man! – I picked up some other figures that might be of interest.

There has been a lot of talk about ‘In the Emperor’s Name’ recently, a Dark Future version of the FUBAR family of one page rules-with-setting. Now, I’m not a fan of the 28mm Dark Future wargame rules, produced by a certain large, UK based company, but having had the opportunity of playing the role-playing game, ‘Dark Heresy’, I found myself quite enjoying the film-noirishness of the setting. With that idea floating about in my head, I picked up a pack each of the Titan Scouts (RMTS1) and the Earth Force Gun Clerics (RMGC1).

The great-coated Gun Clerics come in a pack of 8 – two each of four poses, two male and two female – and appear fairly static. As such, they are ideal for characters in a skirmish-level game, characters in a role-playing game, or for converting into officer types. With a round of plastic card and some Green Stuff, an outrageously wide-brimmed hat could be built on, or with a simple head-swap, a Russian Senior Officer’s head could be added, for that distinctive Inquisitor or General look. Alternatively, removing the guns and adding mechanical paraphernalia could create a passable Techpriest.

Straight out of the bag, these figures could be detectives, or agents, or sinister villains, or even Cult leaders. With a little bit of modification, their versatility increases.

The Titan Scouts look rather malevolent. Great, dynamic poses but the bald heads and blank-eyed goggles just make them look sinister. I assume that the goggles are some form of Light Intensifier or I/R eyewear to enable the Scouts to sneak around. As figures, I really like them. As character types, or as Morlocks or Underhive denizens, they look perfect. Alternatively, they could be cultists or Aftermath survivalists. I’m thinking pale, or white, skin and blues and blacks for their jump suites. Perhaps silver or gloss black lenses on their eyewear.

Along with the Scouts and Gun Clerics, I also picked up a pack of Gang Task Force figures (RMGTF1) from the Gangs, Gunmen, Hostages and More range. These guys were a bit of a punt for me, but I’m quite pleased with them.

Like the Gun Clerics, the Task Force members are in fairly static poses –standie aboutie as Mark calls them – which works for a couple of them, but is an opportunity missed for the aiming figure (middle of the group) and the drawing figure (extreme right). For these two, something a little more dynamic, perhaps semi crouched like the Titan Scouts, would have really set this group off. As they are, they are well-detailed, functional figures that will make good characters, guards or general NPCs. I’m thinking of modifying the shotgun-armed guy (second from left) by turning his gun into a laser carbine just to SciFi him a bit.

And finally, the Post Apoc Riders (RMPAR1). A thread about mounted modern or post apocalypse riders appeared on TMP late last year/early this year, around the time the film “The Postman” was on release in US cinemas. As threads go, this one flourished and then faded. A little while later Rebel Minis announced the release of their Post Apoc Riders. There was little response from the TMP-o-sphere, which rather surprised me, as it seemed to fill a niche.

Curious, I ordered a pack. I received five riders and five horses. Three of the riders have their rifles with the barrel up, one is attempting to fire from the saddle, and one is resting his rifle across his saddle. These are very nice figures with a lot of character and detail and I’m really pleased with them.

The horses, of which there are also five, are all of one pose and, to be honest, I think they are a little on the average side – undeveloped withers, undeveloped shoulders, saddle blanket too large, neck out of scale. Now, there will be some who won’t be worried as a horse has a leg at each corner, a hay addiction, and is there purely to move people around. Personally, I would try and track down some American Civil War horses and swap them in – I’ve painted an awful lot of horses for my Renaissance armies and bad horses do bug me a little. Alternatively, we could say that these are horse-analogs – ponis, if you will – and paint them with stripes, or add horns, or otherwise modify them to show that they only look a little like horses, they aren’t really horses.

Having said all that, the riders are really worth the price of admission and I will be buying a couple more sets, I think. I have discovered that, with no modification, I could easily mount the riders on a number of alternate rides –


GZG’s New Israeli gravbike


15mm.co.uk’s Asgard Hunting Lizard (MSM45L)

15mm.co.uk's Laserburn Jetbike (207a)


In all, a great selection of figures from Rebel Miniatures and I'm looking forward to painting them up.

- David