Editorial - The Future of Troop Carriers

As 15mm Sci Fi continues to grow, we see an ever-increasing variety of miniatures.  Infantry, buildings, aircraft, mecha, and especially ground vehicles, are being released every month.  The variety suits us well.  Those of us who play in this scale have a huge variety of backgrounds, influences, life experiences, and expectations of our hobby.  But there is one thing  that we all have in common...

We all spend time thinking about the future.   

Yes, I know it's fairly obvious.  It's called science fiction.  We think, we conjecture, we guess, and we invent.  But more to the point - we disagree.  Sometimes it's friendly debates, and sometimes we get downright angry and combative about defending our ideas.  :)  So, in the vein of the previous discussion about prone figures, I thought it might be interesting to hear a few different ideas about future combat systems.  Our first subject?  Armored Personnel Carriers.

If you've ever ridden in one, you'd understand why
they're running out so quickly!

Discussions about vehicle design and size turn downright hostile sometimes.  Which is great in some ways - it means 15mm gamers are getting very passionate about their armies.  But turning a personal opinion into some kind of fact (which, again, we're talking Science Fiction) contributes nothing to our growing hobby.

If they look too small, and you just can't visualize them with your troops - fine!  It's your army, and there are plenty of larger vehicles.  But please believe that the designers and manufacturers know what they're doing when these vehicles are produced.  They are considering both passenger space and the ability to transport these vehicles from theater to theater.

Similarly - what's wrong with liking a vehicle, but giving it a different role?  Example: you think a Combat Wombat LAV or GZG 6-Wheel MICV feels too small to be an APC in your force, but you still like its design.  What about using it for a scout car?  Fire support or retrans vehicle?  Or on the other side, you think a Khurasan Caiman or RAFM Grav APC is too large to be a single-squad transport.  Could it be a platoon carrier?  Or a mobile Tactical Operations Center?

Getting back to the subject, let's take a look at three iconic APCs from popular science fiction.  I'm going to personally match offerings from various 15mm manufacturers with these iconic vehicles to form some general categories.  These opinions, of course, are completely mine.  :)

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First, let's take a look at a simple battle taxi - a futuristic version of Cold War-era APCs.

Going by Games Workshop's rules and background fluff, the Rhino is a basic workhorse in the 41st millennium.  Sure, it has a few advances over today's vehicles... it can operate in a vacuum, the crew can make many basic repairs, etc.  But at its core, this isn't much different from, say, an M113.  Here's the basic facts about this type of APC:

• Armed only for self-defense
• Lightly armored
• Crams its passengers in like sardines
• Small and light enough to be transported by air/sea/space craft

However, it's fairly obvious that simple "battle taxis" are going by the wayside.  Modern armies are equipped with Infantry Fighting Vehicles instead of APCs.  The key difference?  Offensive capability - these are designed to stay with the troops instead of dropping passengers and returning home.  But modern IFVs still cram their passengers into very confined spaces; it is absolutely imperative that they can be transported to the theater of battle.

1/100 Science Fiction vehicles that I'd personally throw in this category (feel free to disagree):

• Antenociti's Workshop Hunchback and Karbardin, most of Ground Zero Games', Brigade Models', and Combat Wombat's great APCs, the Rebel Minis Wolverine, RAFM Imp, Old Crow's Claymore, Glaive, and Trojan, and Ravenstar Studios' Blazer, and Khurasan Miniatures' Yozhik, Cafferata, and Karkwagon vehicles. 

From this list, I really want to draw attention to GZG, Antenociti's Workshop, and Combat Wombat.  We sometimes see these vehicles described as "too small" for 15mm figures.  To put it bluntly - they're not.  If you've never had a chance - head to a military museum or display and stand next to modern APCs and IFVs.  They are far smaller than you may realize.  They would appear especially small if you had a 190cm diameter, 15-30cm thick disc glued to your boots!

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On the other end of the APC design spectrum...

Let's think about the AT-AT purely in terms of the films... no Expanded Universe fluff necessary for today.  Basic facts about this type of vehicle:

• Integrated command and communications suite - a fully-fledged General has no limitations commanding the battle from one of these and staying in contact with higher headquarters
• Packed with troopers, with up to platoon-level support equipment (educated guess from the tripod laser cannon seen inside Echo Base)  
• Armor is capable of withstanding direct hits from many high-power weapon systems 
• Main armament is capable of devastating large structures.  

It's also fairly safe to say (again, excluding Expanded Universe sources) that this vehicle is designed as much for intimidation as it is utility.  Simply put... This vehicle has no contemporary Earth equivalent.  You won't see this archetype outside of science fiction (the Space Marine Land Raider being another example).

Very few equivalents in 15mm sci fi, at least so far.  Khurasan Miniatures' Alligator Assault Transport, in my opinion, is the perfect example of this archetype.  The Garn passengers are well protected by the shielding, and it clearly has enough firepower to level a small town!  I could also see the Khurasan Lion or the Old Crow Lancer as filling this role, but they could just as easily be in the next category...

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So those are the extremes when it comes to future design philosophies.  Let's split the difference - combining what we know works today with what we think will best support military forces of the future.  Modern vehicles like the Stryker are starting to assume this role - keeping every soldier connected to a realtime battlefield grid.  This makes each vehicle a dedicated mini command center, rather than requiring separate "command post" variants of each APC.  Most of the technology for this is within our reach... I think we'll see vehicles following this design format in the next 15-30 years.  The most iconic example:

Again, we're going to ignore sources other than the film itself.  What we saw:

• Transported and protected a squad  
• Fully integrated command, control, and communications system
• Plenty of spare room for long-term sustainment, such as food, weapons, maintenance parts, and medical supplies
• Weaponry with a significant offensive punch

The movie script refers to it as an APC (Armored Personnel Carrier), which is fairly unbelievable to anyone with a reasonable level of military knowledge.  Even in the 80s, a vehicle with this design philosophy would have been designated as an IFV.  Using "APC" in the script really only leaves a few options.  It could have been a deliberate "update" of an old military term.  It could simply be slang or an informal definition (compare a 16th-century "handgonne" to a modern handgun for a good analogy).  Or, far more likely, it was a mix of the screenwriter's creative license and ignorance of basic military terminology.  

But this "APC" presents a unique blend of what's tried and tested in the 20th century, what we think early 21st century equivalents present (or should present), and what we think likely to come in the coming centuries.  Its design isn't simply to get troops into combat and then return to a base.  It's designed to stay with them, offer a mobile shelter/command post and increase their offensive capability.

I think these 15mm offerings fit this type of vehicle pretty well:

• The Khurasan Caiman is the highlight of this category... I just don't personally see it firing a few shots, dropping the troops off, and being done with its mission.  However, Khurasan Miniatures does market this vehicle as a high-tech 13-man APC, not as anything more.
• The Khurasan Atlas is another vehicle that could be seen following this design philosophy, along with the Old Crow Lancer and Critical Mass Games Kaamados transport vehicles.  Even the Critical Mass Arc Fleet transports are pretty large, and could easily serve as more than a common battle taxi.

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Now I turn it over to you (manufacturers and sculptors - please jump in as well).  How do you like your troops to be transported?  Crammed into basic transports, neatly packed into a vehicle with some support weapons, or spaciously riding a vehicle that keeps them fully integrated with each other and their higher echelons?  What are your ideal and favorite 15mm transports?

Cheers,

Chris