First, I love the side-by-side picture with all these Death Fields factions, it's nice to see them all together, and the models and paint look fantastic!
Second, bravo on the "Death Fields Accessory Sprue" - a great idea, and that sort of thing will work great for making "Death Fields' armies out of all sorts of historical and even fantasy figures!
Third, I hope I don't come across a spoil-sport, but think whatever is done next might best be something that can't be easily kit-bashed out of existing historical kits, with Death Fields Accessories and bits, and something that hasn't already been beaten to death by older manufacturers.
So, I'm thinking maybe something like...
- More Accessory Sprues, for even more variety in Death Fields bits, for kitbashing.
- Those armored space-Romans, for example, can be kitbashed from the Late Romans and wold look great - just add some futuristic helmets and lasers to the torsos/legs, and maybe some sci-fi greeblies like rebreathers, shoulder armor, and the like; some distinctive sci-fi weaponry optional.
- Ditto for the space-Russians: I'd rather see great, distinctive historical Russians of some sort, and kitbash the distinctive torso/leg bits with some sci-fi ushanka-and-gasmask or other bits, with "laser-Kalashnikovs" or whatever.
- And for the cyberpunk Space Marines thing: I think some sci-fi guys in Modern US combat armor with futuristic guns and other gear is a popular idea, thanks to "Starship Troopers" and "Aliens" and the like, but it's something that could be kitbashed pretty easily from a hypothetical Modern US Army kit, with an Accessory Sprue's sci-fi guns.
- Heavy Accessories: I think the Grognards kit looks like a great idea: the command accessories are great, the heavy weapons emplacements are fantastic, with lots of uses besides Death Fields in other sci-fi games. Would like to see more of this sort of thing!
- Skirmish game objectives like large computer terminals, comms, scanners, sentry-guns, guard posts, spotlights, and the like can be useful,
- Seated and kneeling bodies for gun crews, and command figures or bits for other factions seem like they would have an audience.
- Heavy weaponry - sniper rifles, chain-guns, flame throwers, BFGs, missile launchers, and the like are always useful.
- Non-weapon tools and equipment are surely useful as well: scanners, communicators, hand and power tools, mine detectors, etc.
- Robots and Aliens seem like great ideas that can't really be overdone by other companies:
- There aren't a lot of options out there, unless you count Warhammer 40K stuff, and the (so-far) limited options in the Stargrave stuff.
- Even accessory sprues featuring sets of humanoid alien heads with distinctive sci-fi weaponry, and cyborg bits, are an improvement over the limited options available from the recent Stargrave kits!
- Elf heads with Cannon-Fodder or other Death Fields torsos and arms make for some quick-and-easy not-Vulcans. A "classic fantasy" Elf kit might even be designed with elf costumes that would fit either fantasy or sci-fi settings, so that fantasy elves can be kitbashed into a sci-fi faction.
- There's not a lot of variety in sci-fi out there, either - I keep hoping to see some more retro-sci-fi stuff ("raygun gothic" rocket-ships and rayguns), pulp sci-fi (see the old John Carter novels, and other early sci-fi), cyberpunk, and other genres. Death Fields seems like an opportunity to mix things up a bit with some different sci-fi subgenres!
- I like the Grey Alien suggestion!
- Non-humanoid aliens are even harder to find than humanoid aliens in these sorts of multi-part kits, and I for one would like to see more. (The giant spider kit is great, if a bit fiddly to put together!)
- "Starfish Aliens" and other aliens that don't have bilateral symmetry... Lovecraftian tentacle monsters and the like fit this category really well!
- Oddly-shaped humanoid bodies - such as the Lizard Men, are also an option... very tall, short, wide, heavy, slender, etc., or bodies with very short or long limbs, or odd postures, etc.
- We could perhaps use some accessory sprues to expand the weapons options for the Lizard men, and such sprues could double as arms for some other alien factions.
- I think a "War of the Worlds" style Martian kit could be brilliant: some sort of retro "steampunk" war machines, driven by small, weak alien pilots. (Daleks fit a similar template, and would be a more manageable size than H.G. Wells' public domain equivalent, so maybe something in a similar spirit to both?) I imagine these going to war with Victorian British soldiers on Earth, or with Death Fields Bulldogs on Mars!
- Someone in another thread requested "Space Orcs"... and I think more than a couple of us agree that a sort of "Space Orc" thing could be fun, as long as it's different from the 40k template...
- I suggest "Sci-Fi Morlocks" and/or mutants, from some bombed-out post-apocalyptic death world of the future, where mankind has been driven underground into vast underground factories and bomb-shelters to subsist on cannibalism while awaiting the end of nuclear winter... or something of the sort. If the bits are compatible with the Classic Fantasy goblins, then that's even better! :)
- Alternatively, "Space Orcs" might take the form of Sci-Fi Cromags - pulp cave men/wild-men with disrupter rays!
Of these, I think my favorites are the Morlocks/Mutants ("space orcs"), and the Steampunk Martian War Machines.
The most popular item on my list might, I suspect, be some modern/historical US soldiers, who can be kitbashed into sci-fi Colonial Marine Troopers, when combined with Cannon Fodder and Accessory Sprue bits. (Historical Russians of some sort - perhaps some that would fit the WWI and/or WWII lines? - who can be kitbashed into sci-fi Russians seem like another easy win!)
But, I'd be happy with accessory sprues, heavy weapons/command kits, robots, aliens, cyborg/humanoid accessory sprues: these aren't flashy, but they could have a lot of great uses for different projects!
TL;DR: Cannibal Morlock "sci-fi orcs" - IN SPACE!
Or alternatively, bite-sized "War of the Worlds" style Martian War Machines!