Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone - Lawmen 5 - 'And hey! Let's be careful out there.'

After finally graduating from the academy, officer Neo Reeves is ready to dispense justice, one electrified daystick bludgeoning at a time.

Officer Reeves is my second rookie, this time equipped with riot gear and a love of shouting 'DISPERSE!' while laying about him with that electro-baton.

Reeves was painted unassembled so I could get at that shield and helmet properly. The trick is to cover the contact points (Blutack is my buddy here) so no paint gets on them. Even primer can make a part not fit snug, and of course, you're just sticking paint to paint.

For Cyberpunk, these guys are pretty weathered. I like to think of them a bit like the put-upon cops of old Detroit in Robocop, hard-pressed and somewhat under-resourced.

That finishes my squad for now. I've enjoyed these guys, with some colours out of my comfort zone. There are eight members now, and as always, I'd love to add a few more. There are a couple more expansion boxes out there. But that's always the way, isn't it? No project is ever really finished. They'll be getting a run out in a couple of weeks with a group of good buddies.

After the brave souls of precinct 260, I'll be moving on to something a little more in line with the darkening days and the onset of Autumn. The knights are drawing in...

Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone - Lawmen 4

Another copper! Officer Smith joins the Lawmen today. Smith is a rookie, and is a Gonk class character. That is to say, something of a bullet sponge. I have some more Cyberpunk Red Combat Zone gaming coming up in September, so I want a pair of these newbs to add some extra entertainment value to the group. Cue lots of Robocop 'Does it huuuurt?' comments when my fresh-out-of-the-academy guys get riddled with gunfire.

Smith is a pretty detailed sculpt. I am NOT in love with the material he's cast in, Siocast, despite it's ability to hold detail. There were actually some quite badly miscast bits on this boy, and with Siocast being unfileable, there's only so much you can do with a razor-sharp scalpel. 

That said, I do like the sculpt itself. Smith looks like he's bitten off way more than he can chew here. That's not a scream of authority, that's terror.

As you can see, I'm playing with some new backgrounds colours, which I may or may not stick with. (Edit: Which I didn't. The black background messed with my lighting setup and poor Smith was hideously overexposed.)

So, one more cop to go, another Gonk, this time in the riot shield and baton variety. Until them, keep out of trouble citizens.

Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone - Lawmen 3

So! Lawmen for Cyberpunk Combat Zone ready to lay down the law. I've finished the final three members of the faction box, and they are ready to take to the table. Which they'll be doing in about a week.

I will be adding a couple of rookies, but for now, this is the crew. Overall, prepping these minis was a bit of a trial. Siocast responds only to super sharp scalpels. Files are no good, it just shreds the material. That said, once prepped, they were a lot of fun to paint. Especially Maximum Mike.

Maximum Mike is the faction leader. The sculpt is based on Mike Pondsmith, the man behind Cyberpunk. He makes a great looking veteran detective. 

I tried to give his jacket a vintage look, old, but comfy. I think it goes well with the dark jeans. His t-shirt echoes the colour of the officer's armour. (The armoured officer colour schemes are based on various police cars.)

In stark contrast to the casually dressed Mike, the sniper, officer J, is tooled up with all the toys. He is more lightly armoured than the others cops, but boy, does he have a lot of straps.

So many... straps...

Anyhow! Officer J had a mangled hand when I popped him out of the box, so I had to rustle up another. An Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii, I think. I really like his featureless helmet (there are 3 options) and all them grenades. A lovely sculpt. Not too shabby in the game either.

Next up, my MVP, Sebastian the police dog. A total berserker when I tried him in the game, I gave him the German Shepherd treatment. I love dogs in gaming. I've painted guard dogs, skeleton dogs, zombie dogs, and now cyborg dogs. They are always fun. There's no prize for guessing what Cyberpunk character Sebastian gets his name from.

Sebastian and the K9 officer come as kind of a pair. They work well in the game, and I'm half thinking of adding another dog. 

Next up are a couple of rookies, gonks in the game. The are weak, but the mechanic for using them is really interesting, and something I want to try. Essentially they get a turn when everyone else is resetting their activations. After the rookies, it's a drastic change of theme to something a lot more... necrotic.

Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone - Lawmen 2

Two more Lawmen join the squad today. Sergeant Voight and Tactical Response officer Kampff join the NCPD in it's struggle against the lawless hordes of Night City. 

I'm half way to a playable faction now, though I fancy adding a few gonks (rookies) to the team once the main squad is done. Gonks give your squad some actions while you are refreshing the rest of your squads activations. 

Sergeant Voight and the Tactical officer both come from the main faction box. Nice sculpts, if very detailed. They've been painted in the same manner as the K9 officer, with slightly battered gear. 

Officer Kampff comes with a cool riot shield, but this did mean painting it separately and glueing it on later. The lugs looked a little shallow at the joins, so added some pins to the wrists for added durability. I dislike sub-assemblies, but sometimes you gotta. 

Many of the minis come with alternative heads, so I chose this nice gasmask and helmet number. It's not easy to see hiding behind that shield, but still, I know it's cool. 

Siocast isn't the easiest thing to file, cut, or pin, so I had to be extra careful when gluing the shield on. Gloves are a must to avoid greasing up the nice new paint job as you press the parts together.

See what I mean about that detail? So many pouches. That said, these are really nice minis, and though I've only played a couple of games of Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone, it's a lot of fun, with a very nice dice mechanic.

Next up, the sniper.

Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone - Lawmen 1

Good evening to you all out there on the internets. 

An upcoming gaming weekend has skewed my focus wildly. I've lain down the rusty musket and taken up the laser-sighted compact automatic. The game, Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone.The faction, Lawmen.

I do love me some Cyberpunk, but I've not done a lot of Cyberpunk gaming, so this was an opportunity to paint up a faction of future cops for the blasting of crims among the neon streets of Night City. This first test model is the K9 Handler, Officer Dekker.

These models are Siocast, which, while this material really holds detail well, it's a bit of an arse to clean up. Forget your files, it's a razor-sharp scalpel or nothing. Not really models for someone starting out in the hobby. Or even veterans of the short-tempered variety.

Once cleaned up and based, I must say, painting was a lot of fun. Despite all the detail, this copper was handy enough to paint up. I wasn't sure at all about a colour-scheme, so I borrowed a little from the card art and changed it up a bit here and there. I do like my weathering, so this guys gear has definitely seen some action. Basing was my typical urban style, some thin cork sheeting and my porridge mix, painted up as decaying concrete.

There are five more models in the starter box, so more cops soon. I've noticed there are several expansions for the Lawmen, so who knows where this will end...

Turnip28 - 5th Deathcap Line Infantry 2

Let's kick off the first post of 2025, with a gaggle of vegetable-infused infantry.

I've completed my first batch of Turnip28 fodder for my wee force. These fellows, the 5th Deathcap line, will be 12 strong when complete. As the biggest regiment in the force, I decided to tackle them first. Getting them done will be a nice mojo booster. 

Fungal Revenant

I used a few Turnip28 sets for these, alongside the fodder set. The brutes and mutations set, along with some other bits and pieces gave me a nice sandbox to build with. Which was ridiculously fun.

The fungal revenant above is the ultimate fate of every Deathcap line trooper. All the Deathcap are riddled with fungal infestation, and upon a soldier's death, the fungus proliferates. Through some bizarre symbiotic quirk, the fungus soon resurrects the corpse of the deceased. This infested shell then continues to fight with the regiment until such time as too many bits fall off. It's unsettling, but keeps the line filled. 

Private Inkcap Dover

As to painting, I was happy with my test model, so I used that scheme. The ribbons on the rifles, after a suggestion from a friend, I painted like soiled toiler paper. Poo-dirty Seals? Shit Ribbons? Diarrhetic pendants? The jury is still out.

Private Cep Hawthorne

Next up I think the regiment's captain might get some paint. He's more heavily converted and covered in dozens of parnsips. Like, dozens. Until then, what's that smell?

The socks crack me up.