Battle Droids & 2nd Batch of Bronze Legion

    My 2nd squad of the Bronze Legion faces off against Star Wars Legion B1 Battle Droids

Now that it is winter break from school, my hobby production is picking up its pace. The last time I was at the Dragons Guildhall in Beavercreek, OH, I picked up a box from the Star Wars Legion line. I know its figs are a bit overscale, but these were B1 Battle Droids, so I figured it'd be okay. I mean, how tall is a battle droid supposed to be, really? 

    The B1 Battle Droids will supplement my Machines force for Xenos Rampant, finishing it up

When I got home, I opened up the box, and smacked my forehead, "Oh, no!" Nothing that looked like a droid was attached to the sprues -- WAY too many individual pieces for me to glue together. I took them to our regular Sunday night gaming session and handed them over to my friend Keith, who is skilled at assembling these fiddly types of models. He gave them back to me the next weekend and said it had taken him all of 15 minutes. For me, it would have been hours of frustration, maybe a little screaming, and possibly a broken droid or two...!

    I like the 'Imperial Gold' metallic paint I used on the droids, and the figs themselves look very cool

They seemed VERY spindly and fragile. So, I gave them a spray prime of Krylon matte black followed by a 50/50 water and acrylic black paint mixture. I figured I would need all the layers I could get to keep these mechanical ankles from snapping! Once they were done, I gave all four a head-to-toe ( or armored boot?) base coat of gray metallic craft paint. Then I did something I rarely do. I painted each miniature individually. First, I used an "Imperial Gold" craft paint to paint some of the metal parts of miniature. I left enough of the gray metallic in the recesses and on various other parts of the miniature to give a nice contrast, though. 

    Unlike most of the time, I painted these figures essentially one at a time because it seemed easier

The backpacks were done in a metallic brown, while I added a deep metallic red for their eyes (sensors?) and as glowing components on their weapons. For the eyes, I also added in a dot of a metallic pink in the middle of the red to hopefully give an impression of a more brightly glowing center of the sensor.  I did their backpack antennae in silver so that it would stick out from the rest of the miniature. Finally, after all four miniatures were done, I went over the entire figures with a black wash, weapons and all. I wanted the figures to gleam a bit, so I didn't use a particularly dark wash -- just enough to add some depth and shadow. All in all, these went fairly quickly. Each figure took more than an hour to do all the detail on, but it was easier to do them one by one. All four poses are different, so going from one figure to another at the same stage really wouldn't have helped with efficiency much. I'm happy with how they turned out!

    With only 4 droids in the box, I'm not sure what category of troop type they'll be in Xenos Rampant

I also completed a second squad of the Bronze Legion for Xenos Rampant. I went with a completely different approach this time. I painted the entire figure black first, then added the bronze metallic. Last time, I did the opposite -- bronze first, then adding the super-fine detailed lines for the black. Which was easier and faster? I think this way was, at least marginally. I also did not do multiple layers of the bronze as I knew the effect I was going for. I was counting on the final wash to flow into the recesses and do that highlighting step for me. Otherwise, it was the same basic plan for the first batch of miniatures. 

    The second squad of the Bronze Legion reporting for duty, getting that force closer to the tabletop

Since I'd ordered five of the Wiley Games marines for this squad, I didn't have to do a Reaper figure in this batch. They were all from the same 3-D printed line. I definitely like the Wiley Games miniatures. They are heftier and seem less fragile. I am not as worried about them snapping at the ankles or having arms break. If you haven't checked out their line of figures (they are most well known for their Fistful of Lead rules), I encourage you to do so.

    Two squads of the Bronze Legion guards a power station on an Earth-like planet

So, the Bronze Legion has two squads ready for its force. The Battle Droids were intended for the Machines army, so it is basically the first ready for the tabletop. Could I be just a few weeks away from hosting my first Xenos Rampant game? My friend Keith has LOTS of Sci-Fi forces painted up, so I could host a game tomorrow using his, if I wanted to do so. Check out his Orcafinn's Basement blog for the incredible variety of minis he's painted up. I particularly like his Tyrannids and they will likely appear in my first game.