Thursday, February 14, 2013

DreamForge Unboxing Part 2: Stormtrooper Accessory Set

At one time mules, the actual animal, were important to squads of soldiers. They could carry a lot more equipment than a single human and allowed soldiers to be less encumbered while also keeping then well supplied in the field. Later various types of mechanical devices were called mules due to their ability to move and carry military cargo. Everything from small electric tractors used to move aircraft ordinance to multi-wheeled cargo vehicles have been dubbed mules. 

Now the development group BostonDynamics along with DARPA are developing the next stage of military mules, the BigDog.



Using this as a starting point DreamForge games has included a model of a slightly more advanced mechanical mule with their set of Stormtrooper Accessories. These detailed little kits are outstanding and offer a lot of poseability and options for conversion. The only nitpick I have with them is the fiddly nature of the legs. Parts this small are a pain to work with using my stumpy fingers and cleaning the mold lines from them will be a chore. However the multi-part nature allows them to be posed much more realistically so it's a fair trade off. Just be wary and work in sub-assemblies. And make sure the legs are totally dry before trying to glue them into the main body.



The accessory sprues also contain several cargo boxes that are perfect for the mules. And 10 panzerfausts. Just in case you need them.
With a Wargames Factory Greatcoat Trooper conversion 
This is the Smart Mule head. A contradiction in terms from what I've heard about mules.
The cargo "claws" are moveable so that they can be closed tightly around specific cargo. They can also be left off completely to make a med-evac stretcher, water tank, or mobile missile battery.

I added a set of Stormtrooper Accessories to my DreamForge Kickstarter order simply to get the cargo mules. At first I thought each set only contained one of these but was very happy to find that there are three. They are a bit smaller than I first thought but look great once assembled and scale well with 28mm scale figures. And the design will work well with any futuristic type of soldier and not just the DreamForge Eisenkern.

The rest of the accessories are really too numerous to catalogue here. A field computer, field PDAs, first aid kits, and dozens of pouches, packs, and bags along with guns, grenades, and knives...whew. And that's not to mention the specialized heads for officers, soft covers for troopers, various hands etc. There's so much bloody stuff on these two sprues that I don't know where to start. So I won't. But be assured if you want a lot of little greeblies to enhance your sci-fi soldiers there are plenty of options here. All of the castings are crisp, detailed, and well done.

Here are some examples:







Next blog: Ada and the weird dog alien thing.

1 comment:

  1. Looks good, i'd of probably left the legs off and add a flight stand and had a grav version

    ReplyDelete