28mm Near Future Media Crew

"Reporting live from the Toxo IV peace conference, we go now to Gretta Van Grouchy...."

A weak performance by the Winnipeg Jets tonight (losing to Carolina? Really? And now we'll get killed by the Rangers tomorrow - sigh) but I managed to get a couple of pictures of some additional odds and ends finished over the weekend.  This is a 28mm 'near future' news crew - I think they were from Copplestone Castings.  It is one of those things that turn up when I rummage through my pile of stuff in the basement.

Action News from TVH, bringing you reports from the front lines of tomorrow

There have been many times where I have wanted to add a media representation to one of our skirmish games, either for modern or sci-fi.  Bands of nitwit journalists seem to be a fact of life for the armed forces today, and I don't see that changing, even in the so-called grim darkness of the far future - "What happens when the aliens attack? Stay tuned after sports with Jack..."

The camera dude seems pretty bulked up, while the reporter herself still has  just the right wardrobe...

I branded the news station as "TVH" - my theory is that at some point in the future, 24-hour news and the history channel will merge somehow.  I tried to paint the female reporter as a kind of grimmer-looking foreign correspondent type, lots of budget for nice shoes and clothes, but just too much botox....

There are not a lot of media-type models out there.  I have a couple of Vietnam-era combat journalist figures from Force of Arms miniatures, but they don't have the all-important TV camera.  These models are near future, but they can also pass for journalists in a modern engagement - the camera isn't quite big enough to look like a contemporary videographer, but then look at what people manage with cell phones - I don't think the camera has to be that big.

"Corporal, this would look more natural if you would take the mask off...." 

Whether covering Gün Schwarm's latest exploits against FuturKom, or following the hard-working Imperial Guardsmen as they fight against the Ork invaders, these two will make good objective counters, penalty markers, or just entertaining fluff for the game.  Tomorrow's War even has rules for folks like this accompanying a fire team.  Just imagine what will happen to your victory conditions if you manage to get your reporters shot...