Star Wars reimagined: the Clone Wars (18 / 11)

[Ajsalium]

As per the title, I need five scout trooper heads in 28 mm scale for a small project I'm planning (not another Star Wars project, no sir, honest ).

So far, the only source I've found are the old WotC pre-paints; but since I only need the heads and don't want to end with a pile of decapitated bodies, I'm asking here, in case anyone knows where to get the heads alone. I'm already covered in regards to standard and first order stormtrooper helmets.

[mcfonz]

Probably a bit of a hassle but there are these from pig iron:


That you could convert with a bit of work - if there are no better alternatives.

[No Such Agency]

Can you use Instant Mold to make a mold of one of the pre-painted figures' heads, and duplicate it?  Even if you only made casts of the face, you could probably sculpt the backs of the heads fairly easily.  Not trivial, but no harder than converting those (admittedly cool) Pig Iron ones to look like actual scout troopers.

[SotF]

You can probably find some on shapeways...

[Earther]

Standard trooper heads here: http://souldark.ru/magazin/Netshop/conversion-bits-warhammer/

Maybe they'd be up for doing a scout/biker version?

[Ajsalium]

Yup, that's the source for standard stormtrooper heads that I have found. There's an eBay seller that I'm pretty sure it's the same guy(s), that also has first order helmets (everything else in the eBay store is the same as that one).
May try to contact the site and see if there are plans for releasing the scout helmet.

[Daeothar]

Probably a bit of a hassle but there are these from pig iron []...

Didn't Pig Iron close shop though?

[Ajsalium]

They did, as far as I know...

But they are open again:
http://www.pig-iron-productions.com/

Maybe they changed hands?

[Earther]

They did change hands.

There's an eBay seller that I'm pretty sure it's the same guy(s), that also has first order helmets (everything else in the eBay store is the same as that one).

Have you got an ebay link for those heads Ajsalium?  

[Ajsalium]

It used to be this:
http://www.ebay.es/itm/131980035885
But that item is now not on sale. I guess (and hope!) it will get relisted soon.

Here is the eBay store:
http://stores.ebay.es/Plastic-Mill

[Earther]

Cheers mate! 

[Ajsalium]

Today, while I wait for some minis for this little project of mine to arrive, let me introduce it to you...

Ajsalium's
NOT STAR WARS PROJECT
Episode 3'14
Attack of the obssessive compulsive disorder

I blame Agis. Some time ago, he posted a pic of a Weyland-Yutani commando in his AvP thread (here). Because the colour scheme was black and white, it struck me as some short of "near future" version of a stormtrooper. So I started to wonder what Star Wars could look like with a more gritty style.
Anyway, I managed to repress the need to start another project.
For a time.
And then a friend prompted me to start watching the Clone Wars tv series. Suffice to say that I've watched the whole six seasons within a few weeks, and am now onto Rebels. A true Star Wars overdose.
So last week my will finally failed, and I started to think about the Empire side of the Star Wars universe; specifically, about the stormtroopers.
And in order to illustrate this sort of fan-military-fiction, I want to collect a few minis. Not truly a playable force, just a sample of the different type of units I imagine for the stortroopers (probably 5 minis per unit, except the basic stormtroopers that'll receive a 10 man squad).
And since this is going to be a not Star Wars project, none of the miniatures used will be official Star Wars. I'm going to use the enforcer range from Mantic, simply converted by giving them the stormtrooper heads I've talked about earlier. As for vehicles, the enforcer jetbikes will be used as the scouts' speeder bikes from Episode VI; and probably a Scotia Grendel walker as a sustitute for the AT-ST (although, ironically, it's more expensive than an official AT-ST from Imperial Assault).

[Ajsalium]

While I still wait for a bunch of minis to arrive, I have started writing random pieces of background fluff. Here is the first one, a very general description of the military forces of the Empire.

Speaking in broad terms, the Empire's military forces can be divided in three main groups: the Army, the Navy, and the Stormtroopers.

Army: the ground and amphibious fighting forces. They number in the hundreds of millions of soldiers, plus some tens of millions of support personnel, mainly technicians and physicians. The Army integrates dozens of different species, althought humanoids are favored if only for practical reasons (being able to share the same equipment). The Army is structured according to a rather complex hierarchy: there are sixteen ranks for combatants, ranging from private to Field Marshal; medical auxilaries are organized in their own eight ranks; and technical support personnel are asigned to ten possible ranks. The standard Army uniform has khaki fatigues and dark green armour.

Navy: the space, aerial and naval fight and support forces. Their number is roughly half of the Army, but with so many more technical support personnel that they almost even out. As above, all races are allowed in the Navy, but being far more equipment-dependant, only humanoids become pilots (some races have an advantage over humans for better depth perception or faster reflexes). The hierarchy is similar to the Army's: sixteen ranks, from spaceman to Grand Admiral, for combatants; the same eight medical ranks; but up to twelve ranks for technicians and support, to accomodate to their greater importance and weight. The Navy uniform has grey fatigues and dark blue armour.

Stormtrooper Corps: the elite of the Empire's military might; always ready to fight anyone, anywhere, anytime. It's not publicly known how many there are, but the best informed estimates fall between one and ten million troopers; a small number for a whole galaxy with thousands of life supporting systems. They don't have permanent non combat personnel assigned to them, drawing upon the Army and Navy resources for their needs on a strict case to case basis. Unlike the Army and the Navy, the StormCorps shows the true xenophobic face of the Empire, and only humans are allowed into it; they more or less justify it by saying that they "are not here to make friends, but to defeat enemies". Since this Corps is completely combat-oriented, it has a rather simplified hierarchy, with only eight ranks, to speed up the chain of command and avoid compromising the combat efectiveness. They have the best equipment the Empire can offer, wearing an advanced suit of full armour, white, over black fatigues. The droids they employ are painted black, and their vehicles are universally grey. This strictly limited monochrome palette is used to give them an inhuman, almost robotic, look. They will show no empathy, no mercy; you can't reason or negotiate with them, you either surrender or die.

[Predatorpt]

Looking forward to seeing more of this project!

[Ajsalium]

Thanks!

For today, let's explore the Stormtroopers in more depth.

The StormCorps is the elite fighting force of the Empire, the true enforcers of the will of the Emperor. Their humans-only policy is a stark remainder that the Empire is the Empire of Man. Ruthless and impersonal, they execute the Tarkin doctrine perfectly: "rule through the fear of force, rather than force itself". Not that they cannot use force... extreme force.

They rank from trooper to general, following this chart:
Leading officers:
   General
   Coronel
High Officers:
   Major
   Captain
Low officers:
   Lieutenant
   Sergeant
   Corporal
Soldiers:
   Trooper
The ranks are colour-coded. Low officers are distinguished by blue markings, high officers by red markings, and leading officers by yellow markings. These markings are applied in the right shoulder pad when wearing combat armour; when wearing dress uniforms, in a small plaque over the left chest.

Not all stormtroopers are the same. There are different roles they need to take care of, and thus different specialists exist within the Corps.

When most people think of the stormtroopers, they are actually thinking of the assault troopers. They are the most common type of stormtrooper, the basic soldier, and roughly half of the Corps.
They wear thin black fatigues, and above them an armour made of a black rubber-like material, quite light and flexible. This is complemented with big pieces of white armour, made of a certain ceramic compound, that fit smoothly and offer a great deal of movement (for a full suit). This armour has top particle protection, and a decent enough energy projection. Their helmets incorporate a HUD that offers information to enhance their coordination and efectiveness in combat.
Their basic unit is the fireteam, made up of nine troopers led by a corporal (there's also the "lite fireteam", with only four troopers and a corporal, an assemblance typical of guarding duties). They can grow into true armies, and the full range of ranks is available to them.
In order to assist them, they usually employ probe droids, sometimes retrofitted for combat. But the biggest (in every sense of the word) support is that of their vehicles: the armoured walkers AT-ST and AT-AT are well known and feared throughout the galaxy.

Another type of stormtrooper is the scout. These are specialists in exploring and reconnaissance missions.
They wear a different type of armour, one that has less protection but is much lighter and has zero movement restrictions, as befits their duties. Also, they are the only stormtroopers that commonly use camouflage. Their helmets are different, too: they incorporate a shade (as their missions are quite often carried out in open fields) and a bigger respirator (for when they are driving at top speed).
Their basic fireteam is made up of four troopers led by a corporal. Since they have a supporting role in bigger operations carried out by the assault troopers, they will only operate in small formations, and scout officers top at the lieutenant rank.
Scouts employ grav bikes able to navigate most terrains and capable of reaching 300+ km/h. Scouts demonstrate having great reflexes driving them. Although rarer, the smaller brother of the AT-ST, the AT-RW is sometimes used, too.

A third type is the shock trooper. Selected from the biggest and more violent troopers, these big guys are assigned to close combat fighting. Whenever the StormCorps invade a place, the shock troopers led the invasion, swathing a path of destruction and leaving no one alive.
For better carrying out their missions, the troopers are enclosed in massive servo-assisted black and white armours; in order to manipulate them, the troopers need to be equipped with cyber conectors. This partial disfigurement is a price they are willing to pay, since once inside their armours each one of them becomes almost unstoppable. Currently, they have been granted a new type of helmet, the next iteration of the basic stormtrooper one.
Like scouts, the basic shock fireteam is that of four troopers led by a corporal. Again, they have a support role and limited numbers, so their officers only go up to lieutenant.
To better fulfill their mission, shock troopers usually carry with them roughly domesticated beasts, selected from what the galaxy has to offer in fierceness and brute force, and teached to wreak havoc amongst the enemies of the stormtroopers (and sometimes the odd assault trooper that gets in their way).

The fourth type of stormtrooper are the pilots. Scout, assault and shock troopers all attack on ground; but for the Empire, air and space superiority is a must. The pilots from the StormCorps are the very best, and when they are not fighting they'll be training in combat simulations, mostly based on real battles. And although not common, sometimes a pilot will drive the massive armoured walkers, or other tanks or amphibian vehicles, too.
Pilots wear the same armour than assault troopers, but with the armour pieces painted grey, as the colour of their vehicles. The helmet is adapted from a standard one, with two tubes attached from it to the air cans they carry concealed on their backs for low or no atmosphere piloting.
Being a small Corps within the Corps, even though they are still a support force, they have a broader allowance of ranks, and pilot officers can become up to majors. The standard unit for space battles include five pilots, one a corporal; for air battles, there's not truly a standard unit and the size of their team wil be decided upon what is considered necessary.
For space battles, they usually pilot TIE interceptors, the best space fighters of the Empire (standard TIEs are used by the Navy, not the StormCorps). For aerial support, their two main ships are the gravcopter and the gunship, both manned by just two men: one taking the role of pilot and the other the gunner.

Finally, the elite has its elite, too. These are the imperial guards. They are selected from the best stormtroopers (regardless of role), with true and proven combat expertise, and unquestionable loyalty to the Emperor. The Imperial Guard is not truly part of the StormCorps... but all guards are stormtroopers.
They wear the standard assault trooper armour, but with two variants. First, all the pieces of hard armour are painted red, instead of white. And second, they wear a different helmet, one that closely resembles the old Mandalorian helmet that was the inspiration of the very first stormtrooper ones. When bodyguarding the Emperor, they'll don a red cape, too.
Ranks are quite meaningless among the guards; they are one in their service to the Emperor, and that's all that matters. Because of their connection to him, when in missions alongside other stormtroopers, they can issue orders to low and high officers alike; only leading officers are not subject to them (although they will be informed by the Imperial Office of the guard's requests and asked to accomodate them).
And sometimes they will drop the guard armour, don their original one, and go back to fight alongside the rest of the stormtroopers; paying attention to the slightest sign of disloyalty, of course.