New Wheels for Gün Schwarm

Gün Schwarm fire team tries out the new IFV from Old Crow.

In my post last month about the project pile for the fall of 2011, I mentioned that I was working on some reinforcements for Gün Schwarm, the future-retro sci-fi fascists that do battle with Dallas's FuturKom and Mike F's Future Brits.  The Güns have been able to count on important fire support from all sorts of silly, over-gunned vehicles, but they have been behind their opponents in one key areas - APC/IFVs for the troops.

Dallas' FuturKom lads ride to battle in modified BTRs, and Mike's Brits roll out in modified Rhinos.  The Güns? They walked to the fight.  They have two Space Panthers and a Space Hetzer for backup. Even a VTOL! So no complaining!

But in the game, mobile protection for the infantry is still useful, and with the streets of New New Old Berlin looking pretty rough in the wake of FuturKom's "Occupy Everywhere" operations, it was time to give the Gün Grenadiers a battle-worthy ride.

Front view of the Claymore APC, showing the standard "support" turret.

The challenge was finding the right model for the job. At first, I wanted something that fit the WW2 theme, that I could cover with searchlights, hatches and missles (standard SpaceKrieg conversion process) and just fit in.  German WW2 halftracks seemed to be one way to go, but in the end even the 1/48 die-cast models are too small, in my view, to fit the mood/look of the force.  I tried a GW Chimera, but it looked like...well, a GW Chimera - not horrible, but not...different enough.

Rear view of the model, showing the access ramp for the Gün troopers.

I finally just ordered some APCs from Old Crow.  I was already using Old Crow products in the 15mm lineup, and I thought the 28mm scale ones would be nice too. So the Gün Schwarm War Ministry ordered some Claymore APCs.

The Claymore model resembles many of the IFVs currently serving in armies around the world, but still keeps a futuristic, sci-fi look to it.

I love the model - brings to mind many of the modern 8-wheeled APC/IFV vehicles in service currently with armies around the world today, like the BTR-80 and the LAV, while still managing a bit of sleeker, sci-fi look to it.  It also looks like it would really carry a squad of 28mm infantry models.

I changed my painting approach slightly for these vehicles - no wash of Devlan Mud, so they aren't quite as dark as the other Gün vehicles.

Top view showing additional access hatches for the troopers.

One of the great things about the Old Crow models is that there are multiple turret options.  The standard turrret is the "support" version - and even there you can choose between types of barrels to go with a "cannon" look, or a "gatling gun" look. 

The Claymore APC will provide good support, and cover, for the Gün fire teams.

And if you are anticipating real trouble, you can mount the "tank hunter" turret.  I love that turret - kind of brings to mind the idea of the Stryker Mobile Gun System.  When you see the size of the gun barrell in relation to the figures in the picture, I'm pretty sure that thing will be able to hunt more than just tanks...although with the FuturKom arsenal, we'll take all the help we can get.

Another variant of the "support" turret, with gatling-style cannon barrels - good for dealing with FuturKom infantry, and university protestors.

The "tank hunter" version of the turret - what kind of tanks are they thinking about? Can probably take out apartment blocks as well...

There is a third version of the turret - "multi-missile" - but I haven't got one of those yet.

The worst thing you can say about Old Crow is that actually getting the product can take a while, but that is it for problems, and I assure you it's worth the wait.  Old Crow's stuff is really sharp, and really, really easy to work with.  The quality of the casting is absolutely top notch.

I have three of these models for the Güns - I'll do up a mix of turret options for the vehicles. One vehicles is finished, another is painted and just waiting for decals, and the third is primed and waiting to get going.  I hope the vehicles will see some service on the table sometime soon!