15mm Sci Fi - GZG Outrim Coalition, Squad Leaders & 200th post!

 This is my 200th blog post!  When I started this seven years ago I never imagined getting this far, or surpassing 130000K views.  I appreciate every single person who has ever perused these pages and for all the kind and wonderful comments.  Your feedback is most appreciated and drives me forward.

Recently I was thinking about how to better represent Leader figures in 15mm games.  Most suppliers create officer and leader models, but at a distance they often fade into the background with the rest of the army.  Thankfully I had eight spare GZG models in my WIP pile, Outrim Coalition.  They were just regular troopers mind you, but they gave me an idea: I would paint them in two different colors and use them as Squad & Platoon Leaders.  

My Outrim Coalition can be found here: 

https://darebearsminiemporium.blogspot.com/2020/09/15mm-sci-fi-gzg-outrim-coalition.html

GZG Outrim Coalition

My Outrim forces are done in a blue scheme.  To contrast that I chose a Vallejo Model Air 71.105 RLM26 Brown (more of a red actually) and Tamiya JN Grey.  They were then washed in Polyshades Antique Walnut and Tudor respectively.  Highlights were done with Vallejo Model Color 70.817 Scarlet and 70.829 Amarantha Red & GW Longbeard Grey respectively.  The visors were painted Vallejo Chrome & then washed with Tamiya Clear Red and GW Contrast Aethermatic Blue.  White dots were added at various points to simulate reflected light hitting a corner.  

UPDATE: I have replaced the white dots on the RLM26 Brown models with Vallejo Model Color German Orange to create a less stark appearance.

A simpler solution would have been to simply paint the rims of the bases different colors.  However I wanted something a little more striking and more individualistic, especially for smaller games.  

Anyway, I do not know why I did not think of this solution earlier.   It is certainly not a revolutionary idea mind you.  However, it makes it much easier to visually see where the leaders are and where units should be forming up around.  An easy enough solution, with a side benefit that these can also be used as character models in small skirmish games alongside regular troops.  I need to expand this idea to my other armies I think.