Building Infantry Squad
Miniatures for Heavy Gear

The old-fashioned infantry is often ignored in mechanized science-fiction games. After all, what can a bunch of guys on foot can do against an 8-tons armored walker, or a tank? Well, plenty, as it turns out: sniping lasers and anti-armor rifles will take out vulnerable targets, and the man-deployable guided missiles hurt just as much as their vehicle-mounted counterparts. Fighting back isn't easy, since infantry can take advantage of any shred of cover available. Sure, they don't move fast -- but once in, they are persistant thorns in any commander's side.

Several types of infantry figures are available. Each trooper is a separate model, with its own base. In the game, however, infantry squads are treated as a single unit to ease bookkeeping. How to use them, then? There are several possibilities:

• Field each figure separately. This works great for Skirmish-scale games, because troopers can be placed realistically within cover, but it's cumbersome.
• Create "squad" bases that represent a whole infantry team. This is less flexible, but easier to play with.

This modeling article shows you how to put together a simple, good-looking infantry unit. Obviously, this is not the only way possible; a smaller hex base can be used, or a strip of sheet styrene (if one desires the squad to be lined up abreast for easier deployement behind cover). It is, however, a good compromise -- and it looks fantastic on the tabletop!

	Step 1: Components The picture at left shows the basic components that were used. The strip of 1/144 scale infantry figures is from the Northern Guard pack. The 40mm plastic round base is available in a blister of eight, plenty to do several squads. The gray bar is a piece of scrap plastic that we'll use to create some scenery.
Step 2: Design Carefully clean up all the pieces before assembly. Once this is done, place the figures on the base in an interesting posture. You might need to experiment a bit to find something that looks good. Use small rocks and bits of scrap plastic to create an interesting environment. Basically, we're trying to make a miniature diorama. As the illustration shows, there is no need to place all ten troopers of the squad on the base, since it is an abstracted infantry unit anyway. Three or four will do -- ideally, one will carry a model of the heavy weapon carried by the squad, for easy play recognition.
Step 3: Assembly Now that the display has been designed, it's time to glue the various components on the base. Make sure there will be enough space between the models to let you paint them later, else some figures will have to be painted separately. Small pieces of plastic cards can be glued on first to make an uneven ground; plaster or putty work as well. (If the latter are used, the molded-on bases of the infantrymen can be "sunk" into the putty to hide them).
Step 4: Texture Once this is done, glue some sand or flock to the base to give it a ground texture. An old paintbrush and carpenter's glue make the work fairly easy: spread the glue around the figure, then sprinkle fine sand or flock evenly, shaking out the excess after a few minutes. Once this is thoroughly dry, a second coat of highly diluted glue can go on top to lock down any errant grain of sand. Glue on any additional accessories (spare guns, scenery items, ruins) and give the entire model a coat of primer paint.
	Step 5: Painting Paint the model using the same base color as the rest of your Heavy Gear forces. In this case, the troopers were painted dark green, then drybrushed with an army color. The ground was first painted brown, then several sand tones were drybrushed over it. A heavier application of sand color was used on the wall section, make it stand out somewhat from the ground, yet not taking too much attention away from the infantry. Though this was not done here, flock and lichen can be used to create more complex scenery for the troopers to hide in.

Next week, we'll offer other examples of squad bases and configurations. There are many gamers and modelers out there doing some very cool stuff with our miniatures, and we want them to share their work with others! If you have Web-sized (3-4", 72 pixels/inch) pictures of Dream Pod 9 infantry miniatures, send them to us!

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