Hello,
Would WA be interested in producing a plastic set for present days near future/Sci-Fi accessories?
It could contain backpacks, pouches, holsters, cans and beer bottles, small barrels, laptop and other small electronic devises and so on. The kind of things like the ones in the Sorcerer’s Spoils set but for another period.
I could certainly get behind such a thing.
I wouldn't have thought of cans and bottles per se, but the bottles would also make nice molotovs, for example!
I've never seen any bits for electric torches/flashlights, for example. Fantasy kits occasionally include lanterns, lamps, and torches, but I'd like to see a better variety of that sort of thing, especially in more modern and sci-fi kits.
I've seen a few bits that could pass for cell phones/tablets, GPS, drone controlers, radios, or whatever, but they aren't very common. There were a coule nice bits from the digital Cannon Fodder civilians that could pass for scanners/trackers, Star Trek style "tricorders", detonators, or other gizmos, but these sorts of bits are also uncomon.
A hand holding a badge/ID was notably absent from the Agents set, where it seems like an iconic natural fit for undercover officers, fedreal agents, and so on.
Binoculars, radios, and canteens are classic military action figure accessories, mostly instantly identifying an officer or leader. Entrenching tools/shovels, machetes, hatchets, mine detectors, and so on are in a similar place. You see a few bits like this in historical military figure kits, especially engineers, command, and specialist kits, but they're not very common otherwise.
Syringes, bone saws, scalpals, and other medical bits, and first-aid kits, help visually identify a medic character, who tends to get some special attention in skirmish gaming.
Every now and then I see scabbards/holsters for shotguns, carbines, machine pistols, and assault rifles, and these are nice when I see them for modern/sci-fi adventurer types. Bandoliers and bullet-belts aren't very common, I can scratch-build these with only a little trouble, but not everyone is into that! Pistol holsters are a little more common than most of these sorts of bits, but not overwhelmingly so, while pouches and grenades are pretty common, so maybe a few of these might be useful, but no need for lots of them, I think.
I like the police whistles and truncheons that came with the Victorian Police digital set, and I believe there was a pulp exorcist/priest digital set that included crucifixes, vampire stakes, and holy water - I love those sorts of bits. The sticks for protest signs in the civilians kits were a nice inclusion, by the way!
I always enjoy things like musical instruments, hand and power tools, meat cleavers and butcher knives, when I see them, for non-combatant characters, or for improvised weapons in mobs, for brawler characters, and so on. Fantasy villager/townsfolk kits often include sledges, picks, scythes, pitchforks, lumber axes, and that sort of thing, but not in any great numbers. I treasure the tiny handful of chainsaws I've been able to get my hands on!
Backpacks aren't unusual for military kits, but modern civilian backpacks are a little different, and less common. Duffel bags, satchels, briefcases, and the like are also uncommon. These sorts of bits are kind of common for cinematic zombie survivors, scavengers, and so on!
I'll add civilian gas masks to that, too: Wargames Atlantic is great about including gas masks for Death Fields and military kits, but civilian gas masks/rebreathers (that is, just the masks, without military helmets) are a different story, and suit survivors and scavengers well.
Anyway, that Sorcerer's Spoils sprue looks like it's going to be great, and I could certainly get behind more of that sort of thing! Not very useful maybe for historical army-building, but priceless for RPG character models, and for urban fantasy, apocalypse, and sci-fi skirmish gaming.
You point out to some interesting stuff here. Don’t just think of things that could be added to the figures but on bases or used with other scenery. They could be used as objectives markers in games and so on.
addendum.. for unhelmeted gasmask heads, they should include some 'respirator only' versions. where they are wearing those half mask ones that just go over the mouth and nose, rather than the full face shield/goggled types you usually see used by the military and government types. the fgull face types should absolutely be included too, but variety would be nice. and some half-masks would allow for people to give their agents and civilians a style like that of characters from "The Division"
@danydag its been talked about already and why don't we wait to see how the sprue game plays out shall we?
@Mithril2098 That sounds like something that should be in a proper set, like first responders or terrorists.
this might require more effort than it's worth, but I wonder if, with the new standard proportions system, it could be possible to make it truly generic? like you have one sprue of "near future upgrades", that you can package with the modern kits to sell basically two of each product. but then I guess you'd lose some flexibility for the sculpts.
@Brian Van De Walker remember how the first round of voting was supposed to wrap up mid-january? lol
@Brian Van De Walker Sorry I missed that. Do you have a link to the discussion?
I don’t want to advertise for other miniatures manufacturers on the WA forum, but there’s a few modern/near future/sci-fi (both in metal and plastic) figures that could take advantage of this accessory set
@Brian Van De Walker they're actually industrial grade, usually used for stuff like spray painting, spray insulation, etc., and in the recent decade have been used heavily by protestors around the globe as a way to reduce the effects of teargas and smoke. so there is an argument for them being available to any of the sets, even the civilians. i just referenced The Division because it is a visual look from a popular game that i've seen a number of people interested in duplicating on tabletop, with a fair few 3D Print creators making STL's for the style. which suggests a market for cheaper plastic ones.
@danydag Its not a discussion it was a contest that WA has not finished the first round of voting for yet (look over the main webpage news articles in the top left corner), they have not posted up the pulp section yet and in all likely hood there will be 5 or 6 upgrade sprue ideas like this submitted.
@timbus the thirteenth Yeah, but this time lag is typical, predictable, and I also recall Hudson explaining it the week after submissions where closed.
@Mithril2098"Terrorists" are often either civilians or civilians gone rogue and typically would have a mix of military and civilian equipment, the industrial painter masks would work fine in such a set.
