Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Star Wars: Hired Guns, Wookie Warriors and Stormtroopers, oh my!



Consider the Rodian. An alien in the classic form: green skin, pointed ears, antenna like sausage rolls. Maybe they are slow on the draw. Maybe they are not. In any case, I am glad that they are here. Fantasy Flight Games continues to produce miniatures for Star Wars: Imperial Assault at a stately pace, and I paint them as fast as I can get my hands on them.

The latest is a an odd assortment. But my favourite are the Rodian "Hired Guns". Mrs. Oldenhammer-in-Toronto often accuses me of favouring "dreary" colours when I paint. And so, for these space thugs, I decided to use the pinkiest pink I could contrive. Who knows, perhaps to a Rodian bubble-gum pink with red accents is an attractive combination.

My favourite part of these miniatures is the rules that go along with them. The FFG does a top-notch job of capturing the flavour of Star Wars, and this is a homage to Greedo, the hapless bounty hunter. The Hired Guns are expendable by design -- they're at their best when used as cannon-fodder, because before they die, they have can take a parting shot at the hero who zapped them first. Watch out, Han.

Also in this new release is an alternate Stormtrooper model. It's not the most radical redesign, but it's an improvement on the earlier model, which always looked to me like the trooper had a gamy leg. In any case, I'm just glad to see FFG expand the Stare Wars range with variant models since it adds vibrancy to the game. I hope they keep it up.


Stormtrooper Variant Pose, Imperial Assault FFG (sculpted by Benjamin Maillet, 2015)
New Stormtrooper in Variant Pose

Stormtrooper, Imperial Assault FFG (sculpted by Benjamin Maillet, 2014)
Stormtrooper in Original Pose (note the gamy leg)

And finally, there are the Wookie Warriors. These ones give me concern. The models are uninspired, with clunky weapons and an uninteresting, symmetrical pose. There's something about their expression that suggests that they're about to tackle a spaghetti eating contest rather than a squadron of Stormtroopers. But the sculpting is not the worst part. 

I won't belabour the rules-talk those who don't play Imperial Assault as a skirmish game, but suffice it to say that these hairy killers have instantly become best value on the table: durable as a Soviet tank and fierce as a grizzly bear. Single-handedly, they make the Rebels the most powerful faction in the game. I have trouble imagining why in tournament play, a competitor wouldn't simply field a force with as many of these Wookies as possible. They'd tear Darth Vader to ribbons. 

To put it another way, the Wookie Warriors are the first sign in Imperial Assault of "rules inflation", where players are encouraged to buy new supplements and models because they're slightly more powerful than last year's offerings. This sort of rules inflation is all too familiar to Warhammer players. Indeed, I think it's one of the reasons that Oldhammer is so popular... it's a return to the pristine currency of a bygone age. Well, that's a topic for another day...


Wookie Warrior, Imperial Assault FFG (sculpted by Benjamin Maillet, 2015)

Does he look angry? Or merely a little hungry?




12 comments:

  1. Lovely work! I still have the core game in its box and your posts are inspirational! You certainly dared to do something only few people dare to do... Oh, that pink! It strangely isn't out of place, how disturbing... :D
    The new Stormtrooper is cooler, right, and I have to agree about the Wookie, haha, but anyway you got him totally right, I like what you did here!

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    1. I really hope you enjoy the game. I'll be interested to hear about whether you prefer the campaign mode or the skirmish game. I hope you blog about it...

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  2. The pink is a surprisingly good look for that Rodian. It's a great sculpt too, very dynamic. And more fun to paint than yet another Stormtrooper, I bet ;). As for the Wookiee, I like him but I wish he didn't have a bum crack. *wince*

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    1. I really like that sculpt too. He looks surprised and almost naive. "You're not going to shoot me - are you?"

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    2. It also looks a bit like he's handing someone an invisible beer. Still a good pose :)

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  3. That pink/purple/red combo works very well. Contrasts nicely with the green skin too.

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  4. Your commitment to excellence is amazing, your work on IA is going to force me into buying the set and add ins at some point, perhaps a Christmas present to myself.

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    1. It was my Christmas gift to myself last year... so I endorse your idea. Now that your Skaven army is done or near done, you'll need a new obsession...

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  5. I think pink combo is the best. It is really good look for radian. I would like to prefer it. It's great consideration.

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  6. I think pink combo is the best. It is better than average search for radian. I might want to favor it. It's incredible thought. zentiz

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