Alien Flying Greeblies

 
All the UAVs and drones we've seen to date in 15mm have been very human in origin. There's nothing that Chad Feldheimer could really call serious 'alien shit'.

Browsing Forbiden Planet's store in Aberdeen a couple of month's back I came across these dim sum with tentacles greeblies in a Dr Weller (?) Stargate SG1 Action Figure blister. Definitely 'alien shit' and better still  reduced to just £1.99.

I was instantly taken. I'm not into the Action Figure thing but always check them outto see if the accessories would be picking up for 15mm, either on Ebay or if the figure was at a suitably reduced price. In this case, just £1.99 - so I bought three.

I'm going to mount them on individual flight bases as 'extreme' alien remotely or articifial intelligence piloted UAVs/drones. They could also be drop pods, some form of alien jet-bike or just a missile. With some pinning, you could stand them vertically as walking/floating alien mechanical or biological multipods.

Cheers

Mark

Weekend Project - AI 'Drone Army'

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I'm starting another mini-project today. Building and painting the first elements of an AI Drone force of mixed GZG Gun Drones, mini UAVs and Wheeled MAWPS.


I really like the way Jon has mounted them in the picture above, but I have to be more practical and will mount the bulk in two's to maximise their versatility in a spectrum of game systems whilst also attempting to meet my vision for them on the tabletop. My intention is to use them both as near future force multipliers and 'early' Sci Fi 'soldiers' rather than individual mini tanks. I'll discuss more about this in a later post.

As things stand I can lay my hands on 3 packs of Gun Drones, 2 packs of mini UAVs and 3 assorted Wheeled MAWPs. My plan is to supplement them using my Xmas discount voucher from GZG as I always like using these discounts to pick up more of the less 'glamorous' bits of kit or accessories.

I want to build this force up so that it can be an independant AI battle force in it's own right whilst also being suitable as an 'early' Mechanoid Army with Alien Squad Leader.

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned GZG's Gun Bots? Well, I don't want to have all my eggs in one basket. The tracked Gun Bots are sufficiently different to be used in opposition forces.

I bought the Drones, MAWPS and UAVs originally not for any high fallutin' ideas about military AI, but for purely practical reasons. They are 'anonymous' in their design, so can be used to quickly and cheaply provide support weapons from squad to company level or even become additional 'soldier' units to augment any existing force on the tabletop. But again, more about this later this week.

Cheers
Mark
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Latest Intel......GZG 15mm Aerial Mini-Drones (prototypes)

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Jon has pulled a magnificent blinder as a result of this thread on TMP (click here). Here are two prototype 15mm mini aerial drones from GZG together with a metal 'flight' stand.

GZG 15mm Aerial Mini-Drones
(note: 1cm squares)

The fan/rotor on the GRAW style drone (right) is sculpted underneath as well! These will be very useful in the forthcoming TOMORROWS WAR Ambush Alley Games' Force on Force variant.

WWW.GROUNDZEROGAMES.NET

Cheers
Mark
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GZG 15mm 8 Wheeled MAWP & UAV Hoverdrone Review

A double review today. Two very tasty remote/AI vehicles from GZG, the V15-62A Wheeled MAWP with tribarrel autocannon (£2.50) and V15-60A UAV Hoverdrones (£3.50).

First up, the MAWP. This is a dinky little 6 wheeled remote gun platform (read tank) that could easily find a home in any Near Future, Mid-Tech or Colonial tabletop force. I could even see it accompanying the Alien Mercenaries we looked at on Saturday to make them a somewhat beefier proposition.

GZG V15-62A Wheeled MAWP
with tribarrel autocannon (£2.50)

As we've come to expect from GZG, there are three variants of the wheeled MAWP (tribarrel, missiles and plasma cannon). It comes as an 11 piece kit - hull, sponsons, 6 wheels, turret and gun, which fit together really easily. Some blu-tack is holding the weapon in place for the photos, otherwise there's nothing else holding it together right now. I would recommend a dry-run before final assembly and you paint the hull sides before gluing on the wheels.

There's something vaguely Blakes 7 or even UFO about the wheeled MAWP and I like it even more for that. I can easily visualise it crashing across a lunar surface providing fire support to guys in Vacc-Suits!

Now, I bet you thought that Kitbash of the Week had dried up! As if! Below you see a quick and simple kitbash of the MAWP using the remote turret from V15-44A High Tech light Grav APC/Scout vehicle.

Kitbash of the Week
GZG V15-62A Wheeled MAWP with turret from V15-44A

Let's move onto V15-60A UAV Hoverdrones. These come two to a pack, which includes separate weapons pods (1 pair of tribarrel cannon and one pair of rockets) and clear plastic flight stands for £3.50. Bargain! When I bought them I didn't realise they came with the stands, so that was a bonus, providing an inexpensive alternative to GW Tau Gundrones I was considering!

GZG: V15-60A Pair of UAV Hoverdrones
(pack of 2) ) £3.50

Once again, I really like these models. The Hoverdrones are well sculpted and are detailed on the underside as well. The hover blades in the centre of the model are very well executed. You see it here without the weapon pods attached. One of the models had quite a bit of flash, but nothing a few minutes with a knife and file won't overcome.

I'm planning on fielding up to 6 of these babes to provide cover to a light recce/screening force. Or I may even use them as a force in their own right - possibly in conjunction with GZG's unmanned AI Gunships and a range of diffrenet MAWPS.


Both the UAV Hoverdrones and MAWP are really nice models that will complement 15mm, 20mm and 28mm Sci Fi forces as remote (AI) weapons platforms. It wouldn't hurt to have a couple of each these in your collection to ring the occasional change to your forces or even provide those additional points where you need them to 'balance' a points based game system.

Cheers
Mark

GZG 15mm UAV Hoverdrone PREVIEW

GZG: V15-60A UAV Hoverdrones
(pack of 2 - one with guns, one with missiles)
£3.50

Excellent. I had been looking at Tau Gun Drones to use as 15mm UAV's, but even on EBay they were coming out around a fiver each. Jon's UAV Hoverdrone works out at £1.75 per model! 6 of these would provide quite an interesting unit and I already have an idea for dogfights above the tabletop battlefield between gunships and a swarm of the Hoverdrones!

Cheers
Mark