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Space cowboys would be pretty cool NGL

Also the set desperately needs an Arnie, Sly, and Chuck Norris head.

Space Cowboys/Cavalry would work for me… Tricorn wearing Space Minutemen could make decent Fallout Commonwealth Minutemen figures.

Female heads, perhaps with the command sprues as with the Grognards, makes sense.

Oh I just thought of what would be a good satirical US regiment, space militarized police

Per Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/wargamesatlantic

Wargames Atlantic
Ken Kyoto there are actually several different "American" teams on the Death Fields circuit. This one just happens to be next

I imagined that to mean teams from other periods, probably not multiple +/- modern teams. I imagine an ACW or AWI team would be cool.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Per Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/wargamesatlantic

Wargames Atlantic
Ken Kyoto there are actually several different "American" teams on the Death Fields circuit. This one just happens to be next

I asked about female marines, and Hudson Adams said that there will be a second set if there is demand. So sounds like no female heads in this set, but a possible all female marine set if this one is successful.

Here are the current standings in the big poll:

Sci-Fi: Grognard Raptor Cavalry and Ooh Rah neck-in-neck

Fantasy: Landsknecht Ogres in the lead with Trolls and Kobolds coming up fast

Historical: Modern Operators, WW1 British, and 1930s Gangsters and G-Men in a dead heat.

Not suprised by any tbh, except maybe the WW1 British

I'd like the basic rifle more if it had an actual muzzle. The rectangular block just looks weird. I can't tell if it's meant to be a big energy-weapon focusing thing (but then where do the grenades come out from) or a kind of shroud which covers the actual muzzles, but it just doesn't look right. Better to have a couple of tubes sticking out which you can trim if you really want a flat-fronted gun, in my opinion.
As for other weapons I would like to see on the sprue, my top priority would be some rifles without grenade launchers. While pump-action UBGLs are iconic for the USCM's pulse rifles and the (film) Starship Troopers Morita (although that might have been a shotgun), the most likely wargaming uses for these guys are going to be as basic riflemen. So, I'd suggest maybe something like enough shotguns, rifles with UBGLs, and rifles without UBGLs to equip at least three quarters of the models with each.
If there is still space on the sprue after all that, I'd say flamethrowers and grenade launchers are the most 'universal' special weapons (usable by, for example, chaos cultists, genestealer cultists, and guardsmen in WH40k).

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Do Raptors not have the ability to twist their wrists/forearms?

Basically no dinosaurs could. But for the carnivores it meant their wrists were that bit sturdier, it'd help the raptors ancestors in scaling trees and it'd certainly help when grasping or wrestling with comparatively sized prey.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ww2/korea US deathfields team would be pretty cool. Especially if they have laserised thompson submachineguns like on Dr Who or fallout New Vegas.

 lord_blackfang wrote:
Oh I just thought of what would be a good satirical US regiment, space militarized police

The current designs could work as Department of Education’s premier Shock Resource Officers.

These looked wrong to me at first glance so I stared a bit more until I realized the problem - four heads to a body. Helmet-less. These are proportions of a 5 year old child, I really hope this is not the look of finished product. Also, why are rifles so big? There is ample space in (ridiculously big) stock for a magazine and inner mechanisms, there is a reason why most rifles in RL went for bull pup design if they had built in grenade launcher like this, otherwise you get really long and front heavy gun that is nearly impossible to aim/control. Yes, Aliens pulse rifle had similar layout but it was a glorified submachine gun using pistol ammunition that was much more compact and more ergonomically designed.

Then there is magazine itself suggesting this thing fires full battle rifle ammunition, but funnily enough there are no optics to take advantage of it (not even rails for one, despite rails being plastered all over the gun), no convenient grip to control something that powerful, and the way second dude shoulders it would make first shot rip it out of his hands and fly backwards over his shoulder. The carrying handle (?) could maybe fit optic, but it's too thin, too far back, and has no space to put fingers in a glove underneath it. It seems to serve no purpose except to obstruct the users view as it is. Also, why is ejection port narrowing to a slit towards the rear, where the case is thickest? Is it trying to jam the gun on purpose?

As much as armchair experts like to whine about GW guns, this here is much, much worse as most of the above problems would be solved by 15 minutes of looking at current weapons and thinking why they are designed that way, while being close enough to current designs problems can't just be hand-waved away by exotic mechanisms or gun workings like in 40K. It's like seeing car with square wheels, it's kind of obvious it was designed by someone who not only spent precious little time on the look of his design, but also didn't bother to think how it works.

And I don't even know what is going on the front of the pistol or why the rail on top of it went full cargo cult, crudely imitating the shape of a real gun rail while being useless in practice, while the rifle at least got the shape (if not position) of rails right. Plus, at first shot that rail would ram right into rear cover hopelessly banding and jamming the gun, unless the cover is bolted to top frame and moves with it, in which case it would just cut user's thumb really badly

 Perfect Organism wrote:
I'd like the basic rifle more if it had an actual muzzle. The rectangular block just looks weird. I can't tell if it's meant to be a big energy-weapon focusing thing (but then where do the grenades come out from) or a kind of shroud which covers the actual muzzles, but it just doesn't look right.

The rectangular block is meant to ape modern tacticool muzzle shrouds, but the designer failed to get why they are square (to put rails on all four sides, something this gun doesn't do):



It's also copy-paste from Aliens M4, but again, designer failed to get why it's designed that way and funnily enough, M4 has sticking out barrel (as having your muzzle flame inside a shroud is a good way to heat up whole shroud to red glow and fry your hands really fast):

 lord_blackfang wrote:
Oh I just thought of what would be a good satirical US regiment, space militarized police

They are already in the game. They are just sitting outside of DF arena door waiting for your team to do their job

Irbis, you make some excellent points about the weapon design.

 Grumpy Gnome wrote:
Irbis, you make some excellent points about the weapon design.

Agreed. Hopefully they are listening.

Their heads are also looking really big. Hopefully they scale them down a bit.

Have you added your thoughts on FB? They are reading stuff there.

These looked wrong to me at first glance so I stared a bit more until I realized the problem - four heads to a body. Helmet-less. These are proportions of a 5 year old child, I really hope this is not the look of finished product. Also, why are rifles so big?

This is actually just how we (the Americans) look and I'm glad to finally see accurate representation in wargaming.

 Rihgu wrote:

These looked wrong to me at first glance so I stared a bit more until I realized the problem - four heads to a body. Helmet-less. These are proportions of a 5 year old child, I really hope this is not the look of finished product. Also, why are rifles so big?

This is actually just how we (the Americans) look and I'm glad to finally see accurate representation in wargaming.

No, no! We only act like a 5 year old child and that is why we start to look like them.

Plus, we only use rifles that are comically "bigly" to show how manly we are!

 Irbis wrote:
Also, why are rifles so big?

Because they're Americans

 Gallahad wrote:

 Grumpy Gnome wrote:
Irbis, you make some excellent points about the weapon design.

Agreed. Hopefully they are listening.

Their heads are also looking really big. Hopefully they scale them down a bit.

The Mad Robot designers normally point out that the renders of heads and faces can look out of whack and overexaggerated compared to the actual model that will be delivered from that render.

Is it because we're looking at the outside of the mould?

alphaecho wrote:
The Mad Robot designers normally point out that the renders of heads and faces can look out of whack and overexaggerated compared to the actual model that will be delivered from that render.

Is it because we're looking at the outside of the mould?

There's usually some shrinkage and smoothing, but the general proportions should match the sculpt.
While the heads, arms, hands, and weapons of these figures are extremely large, and their bodies very wide compared to real people, they are consistent with previous WA sculpts as well as science-fiction miniatures made by other companies, notably Games Workshop. I think that most GW humans are actually further from normal human proportions, having longer arms, wider torsos, larger hands, and faces proportionately larger to the rest of their heads.
I don't know why people have suddenly noticed that only on these sculpts. Possibly because the details look otherwise so realistic, the cartoonish proportions stand out. But if you compare them to GW's Cadians, Tempestus Scions, Orlocks, GSC, or Chaos Cultists / Traitor Guard, the proportions look about the same and Krieg are just a little more human-shaped, as are the human (playable) characters from Blackstone Fortress. Likewise, Malstrom's Edge Broken and Epirians are only slightly more realistic, as are the Domari from Beyond the Gates of Antares. Even Forge World's Krieg and Elysians are chunky compared to the more realistic scaling seen in most historical miniatures.

Some Raumjäger support weapons concepts...

Aw yeah, finally.
Although I am still of the opinion Raumjager heads still look a bit too short and wide

 Irbis wrote:

These looked wrong to me at first glance so I stared a bit more until I realized the problem - four heads to a body. Helmet-less.

I dunno, these look more like 5.5-6 heads to me. I think the helmet is throwing you off quite a bit.

 Irbis wrote:

Also, why are rifles so big? There is ample space in (ridiculously big) stock for a magazine and inner mechanisms, there is a reason why most rifles in RL went for bull pup design if they had built in grenade launcher like this, otherwise you get really long and front heavy gun that is nearly impossible to aim/control.

The rifles really aren't that big. I'm not sure why the stock is a fixed version instead of a collapsible one. Maybe they are bull-pup already and the forward magazine is for the grenades? Do we have any other pictures of them?

Also, no, most RL militaries did not go to bull-pup for any line rifle, let alone just to use an under slung launcher. Training will account for any issues with use. It would be relatively awkward for someone unused to it at first though, for sure.

 Irbis wrote:

Then there is magazine itself suggesting this thing fires full battle rifle ammunition, but funnily enough there are no optics to take advantage of it (not even rails for one, despite rails being plastered all over the gun), no convenient grip to control something that powerful, and the way second dude shoulders it would make first shot rip it out of his hands and fly backwards over his shoulder.

Yeah, just no. Assuming that this actually is a rifle that uses bullets as we know them, no line rifle will have a calibre high enough to produce that much recoil. It is impractical for many reasons, the most important of which would be accuracy. Modern line rifles seek to minimize recoil as much as possible to facilitate target re-acquisition and re-engagement. It would be much harder to put multiple rounds on a target if recoil took you that far off your point of aim. Throw stress, heavy breathing, and moving while firing into it and you will miss a lot.

Second dude is a little bit high on his shoulder but I have seen far worse while shooting. Plus, his support hand looks like he just slapped the magazine in, which would make this a transition/reload pose, not a firing one.

As far as optics, we don't know what the kit parts will be. Maybe they are separate and can be added where we like?

 Irbis wrote:

The carrying handle (?) could maybe fit optic, but it's too thin, too far back, and has no space to put fingers in a glove underneath it. It seems to serve no purpose except to obstruct the users view as it is.

The handle could definitely be used to mount an optic. People do it all the time. Plus, even without a handle many people mount optics on the rail with a riser included. Makes it easier to use for most people. You have much less distance to your eye from a shouldered position.

 Irbis wrote:

Also, why is ejection port narrowing to a slit towards the rear, where the case is thickest? Is it trying to jam the gun on purpose?

Again. assuming that these are comparable to modern rifles in their ammunition type and functions, yep, that is a bad design.

 Irbis wrote:

As much as armchair experts like to whine about GW guns, this here is much, much worse as most of the above problems would be solved by 15 minutes of looking at current weapons and thinking why they are designed that way, while being close enough to current designs problems can't just be hand-waved away by exotic mechanisms or gun workings like in 40K.

Better idea would be to ask someone who is at least proficient with their use.

 Irbis wrote:

And I don't even know what is going on the front of the pistol or why the rail on top of it went full cargo cult, crudely imitating the shape of a real gun rail while being useless in practice, while the rifle at least got the shape (if not position) of rails right. Plus, at first shot that rail would ram right into rear cover hopelessly banding and jamming the gun, unless the cover is bolted to top frame and moves with it, in which case it would just cut user's thumb really badly

I'm not sure what they are going for with those pistols either. Regular slides do a number on your hand if you aren't careful. I can't even see how you could be careful with this design. lol

 Irbis wrote:

 Perfect Organism wrote:
I'd like the basic rifle more if it had an actual muzzle. The rectangular block just looks weird. I can't tell if it's meant to be a big energy-weapon focusing thing (but then where do the grenades come out from) or a kind of shroud which covers the actual muzzles, but it just doesn't look right.

The rectangular block is meant to ape modern tacticool muzzle shrouds, but the designer failed to get why they are square (to put rails on all four sides, something this gun doesn't do):

It's also copy-paste from Aliens M4, but again, designer failed to get why it's designed that way and funnily enough, M4 has sticking out barrel (as having your muzzle flame inside a shroud is a good way to heat up whole shroud to red glow and fry your hands really fast):

This is an odd choice, again, if modern rifle equivalent. Having the muzzle outside the shroud also allows you to dissipate the muzzle flash better. Otherwise you get a straight out jet of fire, which is bad for a few reasons. Not least of which is it acts as a beacon if you are firing in reduced light.

And just so we are clear: I work at a job where I have to qualify multiple times per year with a rifle. Day/night; Stationary/moving targets; Shooting standing/kneeling/prone; Shooting while moving; Shooting from a DFP; shooting while wearing a gas mask; Shooting using various optics and with no optics; Malfunction/jam clearing and basic rifle maintenance. Also, I am far from an expert. I just happen to have some relavent experience.

 Perfect Organism wrote:

alphaecho wrote:
The Mad Robot designers normally point out that the renders of heads and faces can look out of whack and overexaggerated compared to the actual model that will be delivered from that render.

Is it because we're looking at the outside of the mould?

There's usually some shrinkage and smoothing, but the general proportions should match the sculpt.
While the heads, arms, hands, and weapons of these figures are extremely large, and their bodies very wide compared to real people, they are consistent with previous WA sculpts as well as science-fiction miniatures made by other companies, notably Games Workshop. I think that most GW humans are actually further from normal human proportions, having longer arms, wider torsos, larger hands, and faces proportionately larger to the rest of their heads.
I don't know why people have suddenly noticed that only on these sculpts. Possibly because the details look otherwise so realistic, the cartoonish proportions stand out. But if you compare them to GW's Cadians, Tempestus Scions, Orlocks, GSC, or Chaos Cultists / Traitor Guard, the proportions look about the same and Krieg are just a little more human-shaped, as are the human (playable) characters from Blackstone Fortress. Likewise, Malstrom's Edge Broken and Epirians are only slightly more realistic, as are the Domari from Beyond the Gates of Antares. Even Forge World's Krieg and Elysians are chunky compared to the more realistic scaling seen in most historical miniatures.

WGA’s previous Death Fields minis are nowhere near as heroically scaled as GW minis. Even though GW has tuned down the cartoonishness of their proportions, there is still a big difference. These renders look much more like Cadians in proportions than Grognards or Raumsjagers. At least, that’s how they appear in refer form.

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:

Some Raumjäger support weapons concepts...

YES! I've been waiting for these since the original Raumjager kit came out, and from this preview image I think they're going to come out looking great. Can't wait!

Honestly Raumjagers deserve a full retool, they're the oldest sprue, half-sized for 4 bodies and basically no bits when a modern WGA kit can be one and a half sprues for 6 bodies.

Aesthetically the Raumjagers are my favourite of all WGA kits without a doubt. They have this "Profesional army of the bad guy" look nailed down.

I'm glad to see that they are expanded. Command squads, or boxes with more closed heads would be very nice!

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
My guess is the parting is down to whoever they've had do the sculpting,

i'd agree the torsos seem an odd choice (unless the backs offer different options then mixing and matching may make sense)

These are not a wargames atlantic product at this point. These are basically reptilian overlords space nam 3D prints reconfigured for a sprue. Wargames Atlantic looks to be the manufacturing and maybe distribution partner.

If the special weapons sold in the STL kits, it's likely reptilian overlords wanting to make the kit fully represent the options they want.

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:

Some Raumjäger support weapons concepts...

Oh sweet! I really need these. My only heavy weapon for them is this conversion:

I know it's a kneeling pose but I can't unsee my first impression that the mortar crew figure is a Dwarf.