Micropanzer Wargames Studio is a relative newcomer to the 15mm scene. Jason has been doing a really good job at keeping the public updated on his larger releases. But there are a few items that seemed to just materialize on his webstore without fanfare or news flashes. I picked up one of those items recently - the Remote Wheeled Gun Drone squad.
The pack contains four tracked drone bodies, four wheeled drone bodies, four mini-missile launchers, and four autocannon turrets for $3.50. I had a hunch that these would be great for adding heavy weapons to some of the "less complete" infantry ranges in my collection. They work even better than I imagined. These are pretty small, especially compared to drones like the Ground Zero Games MAWPs. They really look like a futuristic infantry heavy weapon system; a great alternative to modern-looking heavy machine guns and mortar systems.
And the best part? Their style works alongside pretty much every infantry range out there. They would look acceptable alongside riflemen, and look perfect next to specialist figures. Here's two example "drone controllers" from the past year's releases. These are ideal since they're holding little tablet/communicator devices. But look at the third figure - it's been around since we saw tablet computers on TV. And it looks more than capable of controlling these drones.
If you really wanted to, these gun drones could be painted in generic blacks/greys/metallics and based separately. Then they could be assigned to any force in your collection. You could use them with Mad Robot Harook in one game, then alongside some old Laserburn troopers the next night. Or you could put them onto a larger base with one or two crewmen, and dedicate them to a specific force:
Again, these work with anything. On the left is a GZG Generic Heavy Weapon Crew figure. Just the kind of mini one would expect in this role. But on the right is an RAFM ex-Aslan figure. Those are an ancient figure range - we'll never see heavy weapon troopers sculpted to match them. But I can use these drones to build complete infantry platoons from the single existing Aslan pack.
And if you don't like the launcher or autocannon? It wouldn't be tough to swap them out for one of The Scene's Orky gatling guns, some Warhammer 40,000 bits, or even a gun from an old action figure. Either way, there's no excuse to avoid some of the smaller infantry ranges. How many times have we seen sculptors and manufacturers told "yeah, those are great figures, but I can't buy them until they have proper heavy weapon support." Well, now you have them. Old Laserburn or Traveller ranges? No problem! Critical Mass Ygs or Zas mercenary packs? Turn them into an army!
Cheers,
Chris
