The Thin Beige Line

The next squad I assembled includes the OOM series battle droid upgrade. This droid becomes the unit leader and boosts the range of the units ‘Coordinate’ ability.

For this squad I intentionally chose more stationary poses in order to represent its commanding role in the army. I even included a couple of droids ‘standing to attention’ to flank the unit leader.

As the OOM series droids are distinguishable by their yellow markings, it made sense to use the Averland Sunset I had used as the unit leaders colour, for this squads spot colour.

This unit will fulfil a mid field role, where their extended coordinate range will allow them to pass orders backwards or forwards to otherwise out of reach units.

As they won’t always be where the action is, I’ve opted to equip Alpha Squad with the E5’s as their heavy weapon.

With a range of four, a red dice and the Critical rule, this is probably the most versatile weapon available to the B1’s and will ensure this unit can always contribute a couple of dice to the fight.

The next squad to get their markings will include the B1 Security Droid upgrade. This droid allows the unit to which he is assigned, to override their AI programming, should the situation call for it.

To reflect the security droids presence this units markings will be red, as is the Star Wars convention for security droids. I have used GW Evil Sunz Scarlet for the markings. 

As the B1 security droid occupies the personnel slot, this unit will be fielded at full strength. This slightly larger unit size and the benefit the Security droid brings, means Delta are an obvious choice for front line work. I have tried to select poses that reflect their mobile deployment.

I have assigning this squad the standard E-5C but have also given them the option of fielding the Radiation Cannon. 

The Radiation Cannon is the most expensive weapon available to the B1’s, and also has the shortest range! The security droids presence offers me the best chance of deploying this weapon successfully. His ability will allow me to advance the unit into radiation cannon range, before the units AI programming kicks in and causes them to fire their standard weaponry.

Within the ranks of the Droids, Blue is used to denote engineers and pilots. As this unit will have blue markings, I’ve decided I will field them in close proximity to my AAT Tank (more on this later), in order to relay orders to the OOM Tank commander.

Though it doesn’t contain any specialist unit upgrades at the moment, this will be the first of two units who have the option of fielding either the E-5C or the E-60R.

The E-60R is a pretty powerful weapon for the droids, sporting three black dice at range four and adding Impact 2 to the attack. It’s main drawback is that the card needs to be readied after use, making it challenging for the unit to aim or reposition itself as well as fire. It can also lead to problems if your AI programming kicks in and the weapon is waiting to be readied.

However the E-60R is the B1’s most powerful anti armour weapon and will serve as strong deterrent to enemy vehicles.

The markings for this unit were done with Caledor Sky from GW’s base range.

The final unit to receive their markings has been dubbed ‘Gamma Squad’.

Gamma squad has been given the same load out as Ecco squad, having the option of fielding either of the standard B1 heavy weapons. This gives me some flexibility within these units, while the first three squads have more defined roles

Gamma’s green markings were painted with Vallejo Luftwaffe Camo Green.

My B1’s were almost completed. I just needed to give each of the units a coat of Army Painter Soft Tone Wash, which would further bring out the detail and tone down the squad markings. As a matter of course I also give all of my gaming miniatures a coat of Vallejo Matt Varnish to even out the finish and protect the paint beneath.

Once the droids had been given their soft tone wash and Matt coat Varnish, I added red lenses to the binoculars with Contrast Blood Angels Red. This was knocked back with a Nuln oil wash. The final touch was to add a tuft or two of grass to each base.

With the B1 squads completed, I turned my attention back to the STAP’s.

I lightly glued the STAP cassis to a couple of spare flight stands and used a can of Mechanicum Grey to prime them.

I had recently been given an airbrush by Hazyboy and figured this would be a quick way to achieve a decent paint scheme.

I had never tried pre shading before but had seen some great examples of this technique on the OTT site and wanted to have a go at it.

Flipping the STAP’s upside down I airbrushed Corvus Black on the rear and lower part of the chassis. I then turned the models back the right way up and applied Dawnstone for the mid tones. Finally I used a zenith of White Scar, this time working from the front and keeping the airbrush above the model.

Once this had fully dried I gave the whole model a thin coat of Karak Stone. I aimed to cover the entire model but by working from above and horizontal to the model, I was able to leave some of the darker shadows on the underside and in the deepest recesses.

Sticking with the palette I had used for the B1’s where possible, I used Contrast Black Templar on the inner frame of the chassis and gun barrels. 

Returning to the pilots I painted the handlebars and foot rests with the ‘Airbrush Dawnstone’, this time applied with a brush.

I added blue markings to the pilots to maintain the theme of my other units. They were then given a coat of Soft Tone.

With the bulk of work done on both the pilots and STAP chassis, I carefully glued them together with liquid poly. The chassis were connected to the flight stands with superglue.

I checked over the models for areas that needed touching in after the assembly, mainly around the handlebars and foot rests. The models then had the obligatory coat of Matt Varnish and this unit was finished!

The next unit to be added to my army are the BX Commando Droids. Anyone familiar with the Clone Wars TV series  will know that these guys are a significant upgrade on their B1 forbearers. 

This was a really nice kit to assemble and included a few optional armaments. I went with the Vibroswords which look much cooler than the energy shields IMO! The swords also give the unit the ‘Charge’ ability, allowing them to engage the enemy more quickly. 

These were primed Khaki followed by Wraithbone, in exactly the same manner as the B1’s.

As the contrasts had served me well until now, I decided I would stick with this method of working. For the moment I’m doing a couple of tests on some spare arms to figure out which colours will work best for the Commando Droids dark colour scheme.