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Sniper Drone Team Crimson Leaves
So
far, Commander WarmRain has tried to engage sniper commander Sun
Willow in conversation. At the three month mark, the enigmatic man
suddenly looked at her for a full minute, and then spoke in a flat
and measured tone: "Yes, I do like ham."
WarmRain
had asked that question the third week after they had arrived on
Vas'Quez 4, in reference to the introduction of human food animals to
the Tau diet, as a result of the increasing population of Gui'La
joining the Tau Empire.
There
have been complaints that the unnaturally quiet Sniper Drones stare
menacingly at anyone who passes by them. WarmRain originally tried to
explain that robotic camera lenses cannot show emotion; but when she
found herself shuddering at the very same thing one day, she
abandoned that argument.
Once,
Stealth Commander StillSea confided that while sneaking about at
night in stealth mode, he had spotted the sniper commander and his
sniper drones huddled about a stack of human children's books -fluffy
bunnies and roly poly puppies - while giggling and speaking in low
whispery tones to each other.
Was
it true?
Commander
WarmRain really doesn't want to know.
About
the Miniature:
This
is my most heavily modified model next to Commander WarmRain.
The original sniper team kit has a commander that has his head
buried in the remote scanner/telepresence machine, he is molded as
one piece with it. After seeing something similar in White Dwarf, I
carefully carved that body away from the remote scanner and
constructed (with sprue, bitz, and green stuff) the screen that
presumably the commander would have been staring into, and the
controls he would have been grasping. Then I took the Devilfish
commander and rebuilt him into a standing version of the sniper
commander, and put both behind a low rock, as though they had set up
there for cover. I added a Pulse Carbine slung over the new sniper
commander's back for effect, and added a power unit to the side of
the scanner to help support it, now that it no longer had a commander
attached to it to help hold it up.
The
result is a reasonably unusual interpretation of the model, albeit
the basic look borrowed from another hobbyist who I admired. Nothing
wrong with that. I'm new at this. |
About
the Army Card:
I really
love the sniper team. They always hit on 2+ on a D6, wound on 4+ and
have terrifying anti-armor capabilities. The Networked Markerlight
that they can use for themselves is just gravy. Plus they can pin
enemies. What's not to like?
Well,
I'll tell you.
Looking
at these models you would naturally assume that the sniper drones
are built for speed, with those big engines in the back, and their
sleek racing look; I automatically assumed they should be able to be
flown at speed independently around the battlefield, triangulating on
the unfortunate. They are controlled via a standing scanner,
remotely, through telepresence, so this only makes even more sense.
Additionally, the remote is described as being primarily used to give
orders, the Drones are already artificially intelligent, and can make
independent decisions.
Oh,
nay nay.
They
all have to stay within two inches of the commander and his
telepresent remote control system. And if he dies, they explode. Whaaaa?
Sometimes,
Games Workshop are complete asses. |
