Wednesday 14 December 2011

Foundry Backstreet Militia

I was quite surprised to see that I had not done a review of these five figures when I featured them in one of my first batreps for my blog. Now that one of them has joined Team Vampifan it is time to rectify that oversight and do a full review of Foundry's Street Violence set SV054 Backstreet Militia.
 
I'll stick with the names that I gave these characters in my ATZ scenarios, some of which are based on the names provided by Foundry. At the far left of my two photos above is Corporal Perry Kroeger. He is armed with a 5.56mm Steyr AUG Assault Carbine, a pistol in a holster on his left hip and a Flash Bang Grenade. He is one of four figures out of this group to wear a pair of sunglasses. As he advances, he is keeping a lookout for any signs of danger.
To his left is Corporal Steven "Shuggy" McGraw, armed with a 5.56mm Heckler and Koch 33E Assault Rifle with scopesight. He doesn't have a back-up pistol but he does have  a Flash Bang Grenade. He is standing in an "on guard" position.
In the centre of the group is Team Vampifan's latest recruit, Lieutenant Ulysses Catweazle. His primary weapon is an ATK-Heckler and Koch XM29 Objective Individual Combat Weapon, (OICW) with an underslung grenade launcher. He is also armed with a 9mm Heckler and Koch MP5KA5 Machine Pistol and Flash Bang Grenades. Catweazle is the only one of the squad not to wear sunglasses. He is much taller than the other figures in this group and has a commanding presence about him, which is why I chose him as the team leader.
Sergeant Angela Ziskin is the first of the two females in the group. She is the team's sniper and is armed with a 7.62mm Sniper's Rifle, whose make I cannot identify. Sorry! She has no other weapons. Note that apart from Lieutenant Catweazle, they are all wearing gloves.
Finally, is Private Carrie Bryce, the rookie of the group. She has a Sniper Rifle, identical to that used by Ziskin slung over her right shoulder. Having two snipers in such a small group is very unusual. In her left hand she is wielding a 9mm Heckler and Kock MP5KA5 Machine Pistol. Note how she has reversed her cap to wear it back to front.
When I used this group in my two ATZ scenarios a few years ago I used them as a U.S. National Guard team. How you use them is entirely up to you but they make for a nice squad of military figures. If I have one minor criticism to make of them it is that I think it would be more logical for them to be armed identically with perhaps one deviation from the norm. Perhaps being a militia group they can get away with the diversity of weapons, but as I said, it's only a minor quibble. I certainly have no complaints against the quality of the sculpting or with their poses.
This set of five figures costs £10.00 on the Foundry website but if you act quickly you can get them for just £8.00 whilst the current Foundry sale lasts.

20 comments:

  1. Definitely got a militia look to them...great work on great figures.

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  2. They look great, you did a good job on the camo and the webbing.

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  3. Those look very nice. Great paintjobs on some cool minis. I was just over on the Foundry site a few days ago looking at these. I especially like Catweazle.

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  4. Nice camo paint job; strangely enough I have this set on my paint tray currently, they're next in line with another foundry set after the next batch of Zombies are finished !

    Therer doesn't seem to bemuch rhymeor reasonas to how Foundry put their units together (or their collections for tht matter !)
    Yet again though its a set with one giant figure !

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  5. Looks like a HK PSG1 sniper rifle to me.

    Great paintjob! I really hate to paint camo.

    Whiteface / Oliver

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  6. Oh, I had a deja vu.
    You had a post in July with an unidentified sniper rifle "my guess: PSG1". I may sound a bit repetitive, but I really think they are PSG1.

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  7. @Fran. Thanks, good buddy!

    @The Extraordinarii. Again, thanks, and I must admit, I'm very happy at how the camo came out on them.

    @Luckyjoe. Even though he towers over the others, I really like Catweazle as well.

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  8. I really like your painting style, Vamp. They are almost cartoonish (in a really good way) - Im not sure, I cant place it - but, to me, its different than anything else I have seen.

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  9. Another great set you've painted. I've had trouble painting camo before, you've made a great-looking cohesive unit. And I really like the big guy!

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  10. @Joe. Well, if they're sitting on your painting table you now have a ready made colour scheme to go with them!

    You're right about the way Foundry allocate their weapons to their Street Violence figures. It feels very random at times, and certainly so with this set.

    The allocation of one oversized figure in each set had something to do with the Street Violence skirmish rules that Foundry brought out many years ago. I downloaded them but I've never tried them out.

    @Oliver. I'm going to go with the PSG1, because I'm sure you're right. Also, your memory is far better than mine because I have no recollection of your earlier post. It's old age catching up with me, LOL!

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  11. @WarRaptor. There's nothing wrong in describing my painting style as being cartoon-like as I take that as a compliment! Thanks!

    @Mike. Camo patterns can be a real bitch to paint. Have you seen the digital camo pattern that the U.S. Army uses nowadys? Believe me, that is not easy to replicate in 28mm scale. (There speaks the voice of experience!) But these guys (and gals) came out very well. I'm happy with them. And we have another thumbs up for Catweazle. Yay, the big man!

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  12. Nice camo and webbing Vampifan.

    I have these undercoated on my bench giving me strange looks as to why I haven't done anymore on them. Mainly down to the camo scheme I can't make my mind to do them all the same or a hodge podge of different camo.

    Nice work as usual.

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  13. Simon, I know the feeling. Do you go for a simple one-colour uniform, or for a much more difficult multi-colour scheme that will take a lot more time but which will look better? You just have to do what works best for you in the time you set yourself.

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  14. Great camo work, they look a well mean bunch, especially the giant in the middle!!!

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  15. I also bought and painted this set, very nice miniatures. I painted the fatigues in the normal US Woodland camouflage, it came out nicely.

    About those weapons, I think the OICW's grenade launcher is actually over the barrel instead of it being underslung ;)

    That sniper rifle might be a PSG-1 or a MSG-90, both would probably be impossible to differentiate at this scale.

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  16. @Ray. And yet more love for Catweazle!

    @Robert. It took me ages before I was able to identify the OICW and I'm still not overly familiar with it, so you could well be right. As for the sniper rifle, I'm certainly not familiar with either weapon you mention. If I was playing something like GURPS (which I love) it would make a difference, but for ATZ it's enough just to say it's a sniper rifle.
    Oh, and I'm glad to hear you're happy with how you painted your set of these figures.

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  17. This set is one of the most useful ones you can get from Foundry. Those guys and gals can be used as militia, rogue military, mercenaries, well-armed outlaws, corp security, and anything in between.

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  18. Love the camo, this is a great set!

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  19. @Robert. It certainly is a very versatile set.

    @Zerloon. I'm glad you like them.

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