Wednesday 9 January 2013

The Medics Get A New Ride

Last night I showed you my shiny new HOF Combat Medic team from 15mm.Co.Uk. But how can I get these great new Medics to where they are needed most? There are plenty of great 15mm personnel and cargo movers that could serve in the role of battlefield ambulance... Zac suggested GZG Hover Trucks in last night's comments, but I had already selected my vehicle. Here's the Ravenstar Studios Jackal - Ambulance Variant.





Ravenstar's basic utility vehicle is ideal fodder for these types of conversions. Adding the red crosses was pretty straightforward. For the big one, I took a scrap of plasticard (the stuff with the tiny square grid/tiles on it), cut it to a square 4 tiles by 4 tiles, cut off the four corner tiles, and flipped it upside down. The smaller crosses on the doors and hood needed more flexibility for the curved surface , so I used a scrap of glossy cardboard and cut the squares with my hobby knife. They may not be perfectly symmetrical, but I'm not exactly the worlds most stringent perfectionist. :) 


After that, all that remained was applying same paint scheme used on the figures, propping the vehicle on a single washer (to get the hover skirts just slighty off the terrain), and setting up the photo box. This really is one of the best reasons to collect 15mm sci fi. These aren't from the same designers, sculptors, manufacturers, or even the same continent. Yet they work together seamlessly. The Jackal even has a hatch on the back which would easily fit the grav-assisted litter with a patient.


This is exactly the kind of unit I like to field in my smaller-sized wargames. For a scenario, I'm thinking about setting up an urban battlefield with a key objective building. Some goons in that building are holding a team of badly-injured heroes. The medics, escorted by a similar-sized security detail, will need to get to the objective building, stabilize the wounded, load them in the vehicles, and withdraw before enemy reinforcements arrive.

Since the vehicles already match, I might simply let the Combat Medics take my Laserburn Law Enforcers as their security detail.


And for the goons, I'm thinking either HOF Post Apoc Warriors...


Or Armies Army Rusks.


I'll post a battle report as soon as I get a chance to run the scenario.

Cheers,
Chris

11 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks, Simon. I might have gone a bit over-the-top with the red crosses... but he, it's science fiction. Who knows what kind of alien gunships or robot drones would need to identify that vehicle as a non-combatant from striking distance.

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  2. Your creative brain is boiling! An ambulance is a great idea: the scenario ideas spread out exponentially when a piece-of-the-battle like this is added. Nice work on the vehicle BTW.

    Both groups of bad-guys rock. Use them both, but in differing medi-ambulance scenarios. Variety is the spice of life.

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    Replies
    1. I love the scenario idea.....
      And those Laserburn law enforcers look neat too.
      It's all your fault I have to buy sci fi 15mm.

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    2. Thanks, gentlemen. Just a couple more things I want to paint and then I'll run the scenario once or twice and see how it goes.

      And Dave - I'll happily take the blame for bringing you into the 15mm fold!

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  3. I to am looking forward to see how the scenario pans out, the Ravenstar Studios Jackal does make a good looking Ambulance variant nice call Chris.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Zac. That MASH idea you put in my head really has my creative juices flowing today... might follow up with some ideas for building a futuristic MASH encampment.

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  4. Nicely done, though there doesn't seem to be much room inside this vehicle for a litter and a couple of EMT's, especially if they need to work on the patient en route.

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    Replies
    1. The picture seems to be at a bad angle - it's larger than it looks. The side hatches, for example look quite small next to the figures. But in my hands, they look to be easily the same size as drivers/passenger doors on real-world vans and ambulances.

      But it would still be fairly compact for treating patients en-route. It might be better to assume that rear hatch opens to a self-contained stasis pod, or even a bio-medical pod like in Prometheus.

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  5. Top work Chris! I like these Ravenstar vehicles, and bought a few before Christmas. Your conversion acts as a real inspiration- thanks very much!

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  6. The POST-APOCALYPTIC mini in the center (the one with the separate legs) looks VERY DIFFERENT than the Post-Ap warriors currently avaliable from 15mm co uk's site.
    http://www.15mm.co.uk/images/hof55_1ws.jpg
    And it's not the gasmasked 'Rim Mercenary' either (which is a tad shorter and very different in appearance as well).
    What kind of miniature he is? Can he possibly be a 'Trator - Human Civilian'?
    http://www.15mm.co.uk/images/hof11_1.jpg
    (the second from the left, possibly?)

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