Vulk Missileman, Jasmine Throne Foreign Battalions

Above is an image of a Vulk missileman from the JTFB, the Jasmine Throne Foreign Battalions.

The so-called Kingdom of the Jasmine Throne is a freehold in Federation space inhabited largely by humans, settlers primarily from the former Terran Central Asia, and their young queen, Roxann Diamunda, is a just and humane ruler. However, there has always been a great deal of intrigue, rivalry and dissension in the military and ruling caste of the Jasmine Throne, and assassinations and military coups were all too common in the past. This led the queen's great grandfather, the mighty Shapur the Wise, to raise four battalions of aliens to serve as his bodyguard, simply titled the Foreign Battalions.

The force has gradually been expanded and there now exist twelve battalions of JTFB as well as four armoured battalions. Each infantry squad member and vehicle crewman is a different alien species to prevent collusion in the ranks.

This system has worked well and there have been no successful coups since Shapur's time.

Aliens come from around the galaxy to serve in the JTFB, for many different motives. They may all look different but they wear uniform armour (modified to suit varying body shapes, of course) and use weapons of standard design (similarly modified by your friends at Mercanto-Dett Military Solutions). All must know at least rudimentary words in Federal Standard in order to obey simple commands. The training regimen is gruelling and many candidates fail, but those who succeed are members of an elite, hallowed formation indeed.In fact, it was Roxann's decision to send six battalions of the JTFB to Molch that turned the tide in the Molch/Vornid War.

Their battle cry is "to the queen!" which is a reminder that their most important role is to protect the queen and rally to her in case of a coup attempt.

All JTFB members are called "men" even though none are human and some are female. Vulk are some of the larger aliens serving in the JTFB and as such are often tasked as the heavy missileman in Fireteam A in a squad. Vulk are huge, ferocious carnivores and must undergo considerable conditioning to work with other species, but these dauntless warriors invariably earn the respect and sometimes even affection of their teammates for their coolness and bravery under fire. The huge Slaker cannons that native Vulk warriors employ are of no use to them in the JTFB as a logistical matter, and they are equipped with a standard heavy smart missile launcher, which is mounted on their armour and aimed and fired by a pressure point implanted in the Vulk's mouth.

This is the first sneak preview of our upcoming JTFB line, which will be made up entirely of unique aliens, each in standard armour and using standard weapons. They use MDMS vehicles, the Goanna/Taipan AFV and Canetoad APC, and there will be JTFB crew halves for those vehicles as well. We may even commission Roxann and her Neo-Sassanid legions as a future human faction (most of the army of the Jasmine Throne is human, only the queen's bodyguard being alien). Stay tuned for more details on the JTFB.

Exterminators

The Federal Defence Forces are static army units which defend far-flung worlds from alien attack or infestation, and preserve government control on planets subject to unrest or separatism. They wear some body armour, though less extensive than in the first-line Federal Army divisions, and it is of simpler design and tech. Their weapons are the older rifles firing caseless CPR but each one mounts a grenade launcher and this affords the FDF troops with considerable close range firepower.

Due to infestation either by Space Demons or Parasachnids, units of the FDF stationed in infested zones have become proficient at eradicating such "xeno-hazards." These units are called, with some dark humour, "Exterminators," and they are the only units of the FDF to be actively posted to foreign worlds, but only long enough to put in place a programme of eradication (POE) so that the local forces can then maintain the xeno-hazard.

One typical unit is the 1/2/469FDF (first battalion, second division, 469th FDF Division), a unit raised on Earth, in the FUSA (Former United States of America). Although raised in the Mid-West of the FUSA, the unit has been stationed for some years in the Florida Quarantine Zone, which was rendered uninhabitable by Parasachnid infestation after the First Pelagic War. It being eventually recognised that these infested zones would be difficult if not impossible to fully cleanse, the emphasis is instead placed on population control, planned and executed by the FDF division in the zone, in this case the 469th.

The most effective bug-hunting battalion in the division is the first battalion of the second brigade, a designated Exterminator unit self-dubbed the "Pointy Toed Shoes" because there is no place the bugs can hide once the second battalion is gunning for them.

Because of their Exterminator status the PTS are periodically deployed to other worlds as well, and they were eventually called in to implement a POE for the Parasachnid population after the Sepulvedan War was over. During this time they also had many battles with holdover Control Battalion Death Squads surviving in remoter outposts of the planet.

We are pleased to sneak preview the first three of nine poses of 15mm Exterminators which will be released shortly. The pack will be a typical squad, split into two four-soldier fireteams and led by a sergeant. Each fireteam will have a MLMG (mobile light machine gunner); one team has three riflemen as support for the MLMG, the other team having two riflemen and a flamethrower operator. These should be released in a few weeks.

The Karkwagon

The Karkarines are amphibious creatures that evolved from fish similar to earth's sharks. Their body form permits them to inhabit shoreline areas and to live in both the sea and on the land, a strong advantage for a sentient life form.

The Karkarines are the main line infantry soldiers of the Pelagic Dominate, and when their Cnidarian masters call them to war they fight in the very powerful, advanced tech anti-grav vehicles that the Cnidarians provide.

However, they have also ranged far and wide throughout the galaxy themselves, serving as mercenaries for any party willing to pay their price. They are not very good as garrison troops but are an excellent choice as troops to buy before a battle, for they are brave and have a serious attitude toward war.

When they serve as mercenaries they do not have access to the grav tanks of the Dominate, but that does not mean they go to battle without armoured support, and their forces are in fact highly mechanized. The most common vehicle used by them is the Karkwagon, an armoured personnel carrier offering a good degree of protection agaist small arms fire and shrapnel. The vehicle is fully tracked and has two heavy hydroplasma cannons as its main armament.



The vehicle is cramped and uncomfortable for humans but the Karks like it that way, their traditional form of social interaction being to stand or swim in close proximity to each other. The vehicles carry four large boxes which are filled with water before the vehicle goes on a mission, as when the squad deploys the rear door opens and much of the water in the vehicle escapes. When the squad remounts, the door is closed and the water pours from the spare tanks into the vehicle. The Karks can get by indefinitely without water, as they can extract oxygen from air as well as water, but they greatly prefer to have water flowing over their gills.



The Karks widely export the Karkwagon as well, and when they do most races naturally prefer to use the spare water tanks for storage. Some remove them altogether. The vehicles are cheap and simple, being welded plates for the most part, but they get the job done, being well-armoured and having good speed and reliability.

These vehicles, as well as the equally ubiquitous Karkpanzer, were used in great numbers in the Molch Vornid War.

The Karkwagon was designed for sci fi or Weird World War II gaming, and was sculpted by TMP's "Grabula." It is not a CAD design, it was made the old fashioned way! The kit is all resin and easy to assemble. The spare boxes are optional and any or all may be left off. The mail hull piece, not including the tread assemblies, is about 2 1/4" (57mm) long. Coming soon.

Federal Army Infantry Drone (preview)

Here's an advance look at the infantry drone often attached to Federal Army infantry at the platoon level. Remotely controlled, each of these micro-drones is capable of travelling along the walls of city streets, into a major built up structure or deep underground into an enemy bunker via an air duct or other entrance to deliver vital intel on enemy movements.

And for those moments when causing a little mayhem is in order, the drone will be able to mount an optional rack of F&F micromissles.

This is just one of a whole series of new items being cooked up for the Federal Army by Mike Broadbent. As usual, Mike's done a splendid job on this piece! Stay tuned for more intel.

Garn Merchant-Warship

The Garn, hulking alien reptilians, do not understand what a cruiser is because the Garn do not "cruise." Instead, like a monitor lizard seeking prey, they relentlessly pursue opportunities for conquest or trade advantage. Showing the flag on a cruise is meaningless when there are worlds to be dominated or trade gains to be realized. However, as the ship they use for this purpose, the Merchant-Warship, is roughly the size and strength of a Federal Cruiser, it is designated a heavy cruiser by the Federal Navy.

Federal Naval jargon has dubbed the ship the "MerWa."

The Merchant-Warship can carry two to four turrets each mounting two of the mighty Vulcan Naval Rifles, and batteries of ship-killing heavy missiles (which can be retasked for heavy surface bombardment in support of the ship's troop complement). Alternately two of the Vulcan-mount turrets can be replaced with cargo or launch pods if the ship is seeking a trade advantage rather than straight conquest.

Merchant-Warships do not carry fighters, but are well defended against them, bristling with close defense laser systems. The ships have both heavy armour and forcefield defenses.

As these vessels sail on missions likely to include interaction with aliens on the surface of distant worlds, they always carry a strong complement of warriors and tanks, the huge Crocodile and Alligator class anti-grav vehicles. Indeed this is an intrinsic part of their purpose. In combat with another spacecraft, the powerfully armed and protected, but generally less maneuverable, Merchant-Warship will attempt if possible to send landing parties to the enemy vessel in order to capitalize on the Garn advantage in close quarter combat, and potentially sieze the enemy craft as a prize, garnering honour and cash for the task force's Hegemon.

Our model of this lumbering alien cruiser cum troop transport cum merchant ship was designed by John Bear Ross and will be released as an adversary for our upcoming Federal Battle Class Heavy Cruiser. And coming soon into scanning distance, its weapons hot and armed, is the Pelagic Dominate's sleek Benthic Class Battlecruiser ....