Black Beards Raiding Aces

Some of us here at WWPD have caught a bit of desert fever, those that frequent the forums will know why. I'm no exception and decided to begin a small raiding force, which will be followed by a small 8th Army force and a Small Afrika corps force.

I decided to go with the SAS, the jeeps just look cooler then the chevs of the LRDG and I can't quite bring myself to play any other nation just yet.

4 blisters of SAS jeeps will get you 8 jeeps in total, enough to make a small, under strength, starting force. SonBae posted a full review of the SAS here.
However, there's only two sculpts for the jeeps and only one sculpt each of the driver and gunner, which leaves the Jeeps looking almost identical. No problem!

An SAS Patrol tares through a small village.

“Two sculpts for the jeeps and only one sculpt each of the driver and gunner"

With minimal amount of effort creating unique jeeps is possible, you just have to raid your bits box, you do have one right? Right?!

I saw this as a challenge rather then a setback. One of the things I miss from collecting Warhammer 40k was the ability to graft a cannon to a guys arm, but if you try that with FOW people tend to give you a look and then walk away with their head in their hands.

“One of the things I miss from collecting Warhammer 40k was the ability to graft a cannon to a guy’s arm”

Now I'm sure grafting cannons to soldiers crossed many mad scientists minds in ww2, but it didn't catch on. If I was to do some conversion work to my Jeeps to make them individual, they would have to be a little more subtle.

So I started with extra stowage. If you look at pictures of the SAS and LRDG their vehicles are overflowing with equipment. I dug through my bits box and grabbed as many Jerry cans, tarps and packs and whatever else i could find and began to liberally stick them all over the Jeeps.

Battlefront's sculpts are great, but compared to some photos of the SAS and the LRDG they are seriously light on equipment, but this will actually work in your favour. There's plenty of flat surfaces to glue extra stowage to without having to tool anything off.

Small changes can break the uniformity of the models when you subtly place items in key places. Dropping a spare helmet into the back of a jeep hides the fact that it has the same SMG and backpack as 3 other jeeps. I really wish Battlefront had thought of this and added a few bits of extra stowage to each blister, a few loose Jerry cans to stick to the sides and a couple of rolled up tarps would allow a bit of variation in each model.

After I'd distributed the gear between the jeeps I decided I wanted to do something a bit more unique, after all these guys were not your regular rank and file, and they were alone in the desert for weeks at a time, so they were bound to have gained a little "character". Raiding aces is almost about developing a story unique to you, so I wanted my guys to look like they have a story to tell.

“I wanted my guys to look like they have a story to tell”

Some period nudey magazines (probably borrowed from Dirty Jon) for those long cold desert nights, thrown in the back of the 2ic's jeep. A fun little Easter egg for my opponent to find, and a WWPD logo stamped on the fender out of tribute to you guys.

I also decided that somewhere along the way my guys had picked up a mascot, a stray dog they possibly found searching for food at an oasis, maybe woke to find it raiding their backpacks one night. It’s not unheard of for soldiers to pick up pets while posted abroad. In case you’re wondering, his name is Rommel.

I decided my 1ic needed something really special to identify him from the rest. The desert raiders' tactics are not too dissimilar from pirates of old, often outnumbered and out gunned. Both share the same tactics, get in cause havok and get out before the enemy can bring their superior fire power to bear. Swap waves for dunes and ships for jeeps and you have the SAS. They even had to beg, steal, borrow and trade to get the supplies and ammo they needed from their allies.  Naturally this led me to the conclusion my lead jeep needed a pirate flag!

Yar! It be a pirates life!

“Naturally this led me to the conclusion my lead jeep needed a pirate flag!"

How’s that for spreading fear amongst the enemy's ranks?!

So you can see how it’s quite easy and fun to make a Raiding Army that's unique to you with a small bit of effort and imagination. These guys aren’t your nameless hordes of T-34's, they deserve to be unique!

I love the scultps BF put out, i just wish there was more of them, or they offered ways to add extra stowage, raiders are an army you want to pick up and look at closely.

“These guys aren’t your nameless hordes of T-34's, they deserve to be unique!”

Rocky terrain gives the SAS some cover.