29th May 2003
The box is 310 x 260 x 70mm. The top half has a painting of the APC, the short box sides feature a partial reproduction of the box top pic, while on the long sides is shown the other kits available on one side and the other has a bit of pointless blurb. The lower box half is unadorned.
The contents are a simple 4 page A4 size instruction assembly leaflet, 3 main sprues of plastic components of a mid green colour, one sprue of smoky clear components, and a transfer sheet with 2 small white transfers.
Smoky Sprue & Instructions & Transfers (the cyan patch)
Assembled, the kit is 225mm long x 70mm wide x 56mm to top of hull. The main turret is 55mm long x 41mm wide x 16mm high. The wheels are 45mm diameter. The pieces are neat and well cast, and assemble easy enough. In the final product, the wheels are turnable, the main turret is rotateable and also slides back from the top to the rear storage, and the mini front turret is rotateable. The guns on both turrets are not raisable/depressable. The kit is intended to be completed fully sealed - ie - there are no openable hatches. There are no internal details either.
There are external hatches to the front left drivers compartment and the middle right personnel compartment. There are no rear or topside hatches.
When assembling, pay attention to how the nose area is assembled, as the instructions aren't all that clear about how a few pieces tuck in around the drivers window. All other assembly is a breeze, so you don't need to be an expert, or spend long hours making it fit togther. I assembled the 80 or so parts in a leisurely 2 hours.
Here is a scan of the main body sprue matched up against other figures. Featured are aliens from Leading Edge and another manufacturer, Leading Edge marine (painted), GZG size Romanov lady (painted), GW Space Marine, 25mm Star Wars AT-ST, and 25mm GZG resin light APC. You can see the APC hatch underneath the Romanov lady to give you an idea of its size. The kit is therefore a bit of a monster itself, though the Leading Edge APC is quite abit smaller and on the other extreme. The current Alien figures are, by general consensus, too short. That being said, they are too short for 28mm gaming. They are suitably imposing for 25mm figures such as GZG. As Alien gamers we are abit more stuck in the usual scale issue that currently undermines much of the industry than some other ranges are. Good solid marine poses are usually more easily obtainable in 28 than 25. To compare the vehicle to the figs, the wheels are meant to be 1.52m high, or just shorter than the adjacent soldiers.
This kit is too big aesthetically to be able to go with GZG size 25mm figures. It looks clearly oversize next to them. For scale-a-holics, regrettably this kit is not of much use for 25's, but then, neither is the Leading Edge vehicle, though it scales out to the tech specs from the movie. The Leading Edge machine just 'looks' too small, though it is correct.
For 28's, this kit comes close enough to be of use. It's still oversize, but due to the fact most people won't remember it clearly, that there was alot of action going on in it, plus it held 12 marines and command computers and weapon storage and engine, and that's a lot of room needed so it feels about right to me. The hatches are out of scale one way or the other, but it's liveable. I feel the crew compartment is suitably sized to hold them all in comfort, plus they didn't seem to stoop too much inside it in the movie. For 28's, the kit is imposing, and you can see why it ran over an alien with ease when they fled the base in the movie. I was rewatching the movie recently, and th einside views and outside views appear to be two different items. The moving vehicle appears to be about 2.1m high, or as the Leading Edge kit scales out. The point of clarification from the movie is a shot of Gorman stepping out of the APC without hunching, and taking a small step to the ground. The inside views show a very roomy craft, with all the movie characters standing up inside it with clearance, which may make the overall vehicle 2.4 high externally (accounting for roof and floor thicknesses)
Image of assembled kit vs several figures - Here is a comparison shot of the almost completed item vs several figures as per the sprue shot, plus two 54mm British SAS. Overall, the kit probably suits 40mm figures better. True 25's are definately small, 28-30's it's just a big vehicle. Compared to the Leading Edge kit, which stands shorter than the Leading Edge marines shown in the picture, I'd prefer this kit over the smaller metal kit. You'll pick both kits up for roughly the same price.
I'll be using it on my table, but I dread scratchbuilding a dropship for it.
The information presented is what the Colonial Marines Technical manual says. The Aliens RPG says otherwise as noted.
Designed specifically as a lightly armed/armoured dropship payload, the APC is an all purpose light support vehicle for the marines. To fit within the dropship cargo space, the vehicles dimensions were restricted to 2.17m high x 9.22m long x 3.38m wide with a weight of 14.5 tons. This is with the APC turret in stowage at the rear of the machine, while in action the vehicle measures 2.81m high x 8.58m long x 3.38m. For 25mm scale (eye height = 5'5" = 1/66) the dimensions are: 32.9mm high x 139.7mm long x 51.2mm wide stowed or 42.6mm high x 130mm long x 51.2mm wide in action. For 28mm scale (eye height = 5'5" = 1/59) the dimensions are: 36.8mm high x 156.3mm long x 57.3mm wide stowed or 47.7mm high x 145.4mm long x 57.3mm wide in action.
The base variant carries 2 crew and a maximum of 12 passengers (RPG says driver +14 passengers) , plus equipment for upto 3 days normal combat action (not continuous action.) The RPG says the APC can survive enclosed 7 days without an environmental recharge.
The base variant M577A is armed with a retractable main turret, and a small turret adjacent to the drivers compartment. This forward turret is armed with a pair of 20mm gatling cannon with 1700 rounds of ammunition. The main turret is armed with 2 x 20mW alternating plasma cannon. The turret houses 1000 rounds of ammo for each cannon, with a maximum firing rate of 40 rounds per minute. Maximum range 4km.
(RPG says the main turret has a Light Disruptor, for use against ground targets. Also included in this turret is two missile launchers, carrying Srpint or Dogleg anti missile mssile variants. A total of 16 missiles can be carried. I can't really see any evidence of this on the model. The forward mini turret contains a twin barreled las cannon and is the primary anti missile weapon with a second anti personnel use. Lastly it lists a light mortar system on the 'roof' of the vehicle, with 32 rounds of ammo, suitable for targets in cover, so I assume 'HE' rounds)
The main turret on M577A2 variant is armed with 2 x 40mW lasers, the maximum number of shots prior to power degeneration is not specified. Maximum range 3km.
The main turret on the M577A3 variant is armed with 2 x 20MeV charged particle beam cannon. The vehicle is capable of supplying enough particle 'fuel' for 50 seconds of conitnuous beam with a maximum range of 3km at a lightly armoured target.
Mounted to the rear of the vehicle (not that I could make it out on the model) is a chaff/flare/smoke charge dispensor.
There are no firing ports for the passengers.
Stored in the APC for the infantry's use are 8 flame throwers, 8 remote sentry guns, 2 phased plasma guns (fixed pair I assume) or two fixed RPGs, 16 anti tank missiles (assumed shoulder fired) and a mortar. (some of these items may be what the RPG mistakenly assumes is fixed to the APC)
The vehicle operates at a maximum on road speed of 150km/hr (Not sure I'd go along with that - The RGP says 25mph(40km/hr) cross country or 80mph(128km/hr) road), accelerates nought to 42km/hr in 6 seconds. It can climb upto 60 degree slopes and has a base clearance of 216mm, but can be 'raised' (pump up adjustment) to 516mm.
It is nigh on impossible to get authentic Aliens APC's to suit 28mm gaming. The Halcyon kit being too large and rare and excpensive, the Leading Edge metal kit abit small and rare and expensive. Scratch building is long and tedious and not always the result we'd like.
Also worth remembering is that this is only a dropship capable APC designed to fill a specific need for the US Colonial Marines. Alternate APC's from other sources will work quite well and suit the Marines, regular army, other nations, and corporate and mercenary forces. It was also the APC in use when the Aliens were encountered. There is no doubt in my mind the APC would undergo serious re evaluation and redesign for use in anti Alien operations.
Remembering this makes it easier to accept non 'genuine' articles for use on the tabletop.
28mm alternatives are:
It is also possible to use 1/48 scale APC's, which while appearing abit large (not as bad as the Halcyon APC) are not too bad at all.
Modern vehicles will do the job, I feel WW2 vehicles are a bit dated looking, though the M3 halftrack might almost do as a modified civilian vehicle put to military use.
I recently picked up a number of Kitech modern vehicle plastic kits locally for AU$18.
Of use are the following kits:
The first four of the following APC kits use the same lower half, so are therefore all the same length and width.
Of these kits I found the LAV-25 and M2/3 suitable vehicles for my taste.
I'll break this into two broad subjects - Dropship APC, and General APC. Why the difference?
Dropship APC's are usually sent in small groups (often in pairs) to sort out minor problems in generally out of the way places. For example, they wouldn't be sent to a major colony to handle insurrection, as generally these places already have some form of authoritarian infrastructure (milita/reservists/police). For these type of instances, the regular army are more likely to be sent with a more significant investement of military hardware to do the job. The dropship APC is more likely to see service in remote space colonies which might have low populations and limited military infrastructure.
Neither type of APC could stand up to a full Alien assault for long, as the armour is thin and close range fire will lead to a lot of acid damage, plus the main armament is not designed for close range combat, and the amount of firing ports severely restricts defence. Of course, soldiers riding on the APC are extremely vulnerable if they lack the fire power to hold the Aliens back.
Because of their rather specialised use, these vehicles are quite expensive. Even so, the dropship units are always undermanned and underfunded (so the blurb says.) Dropships APC's tend to be more fully self contained as they tend to get no backup, and may often feature some individual unit modifications. The mission in the Aliens movie seems set up a bit unusually, as the Sulacco had 2 dropships on board (2 APC's most likely then) but there were only enough crew for one APC/dropship. Marine platoons (26 personnel) normally operate with 2 dropships with an APC each. In normal circumstances each APC operates with a driver, section sergeant and two squads each comprised of corporal and lance corporal (motion tracker), smart gun and rifleman. Somewhere between the pair of APC's or dropships will usually be the Lieutenant and the Synthetic depending on the situation.
The Dropship APC acts as a rapid deployment mechanism for the two rifle squads, and then acts as a fire support, command and control, and replenishment base. The vehicle is an integral part of the formation. For Alien hunting the APC has limited use, except as the squad support and transportation vehicle. I feel with further Alien hunting expeditions that the APC will evolve, or get relagated to a more robust transport/support vehicle.
As depicted in the movie, the Dropship APC acts as a command centre, with technical readouts, video monitoring, radar and other electronic sensing devices. These are both as mounted on the vehicle and also the marines headsets. The APC driver has a limited display panel with access to all the feeds, while the main command console is fixed to the rear wall of the APC and no doubt almost runs the complete back wall from wheel arch to wheel arch.
General APC's are larger and purpose built for their tasks, and generally much cheaper and more common. Attached to smaller colonies for internal policing and light defence, they are generally wheeled for places with good surface road networks, while tracked may be more common in poorer conditions. Most tend to be amphibious (calm conditions with preparation) by general design. Unlike the Dropship APC, very few have sophisticated command and control and are usually patched ino the local defence network, if there is one.
Infantry transport is limited, and usually stretches to no more than 6 soldiers. They can add to the vehicles firepower to the broadsides as they usually come with firing ports, and some also have top hatches. The soldier compostion varies depending on the vehicle source, for example police may have one sergeant and five constables in riot gear, military may have sergeant, corporal, 3 riflemen and smart gunner, while militia may have sergeant, corporal and 4 riflemen or whatever else can be scratched up. The level of communication between the soldiers and APC is usually only through the general network with remote offsite command and control.
The amount of spare equipment stowed in the back of the APC is usually limited compared to the arsenal in the Dropship APC. If any of these were converted to Alien hunting, I would assume two soldier spots would be dropped to increase the amount of extra weapon storage but then again every soldier counts.
Alien hunting with General APC's is more likely to end up with the APC as a strong point with specialists riding in it, while the regular soldiers are carried in civilian vehicles to the site. After all, most sites will be inaccessable to vehicles of any size and APC's likely to be in very limited numbers.
Tanks aren't really a considered feature of Aliens scenarios, however, they may make an appearance. I don't find any of the modern vehicles all that sc-fi Aliens looking except the Israeli Merkava which looks quite like the tank illustrated in the Technical Manual.
Judging by the background provided in the RPG and Technical Manual, tanks are no longer a great feature of combat (no sweeping Kursk battles by the sounds) and feel to me to be more heavy support vehicles for specific purposes. Consider the problem of transporting such heavy vehicles into and out of orbit, and I figure except for major military battles (1:300 type gaming) tanks won't appear too much in an Aliens scenario, except where they happen to be part of the local armed forces. Also consider that except for Alien invasion Earth or other major planet, the Aliens will be facing strike teams, garrison, police, riot or militia troops, who are far more likely to be fitted out with APC or modified civilian type vehicles rather than tanks. Also, firing 105/120mm rounds at fast moving Aliens is pretty pointless mostly, so I assume vehicles sent off on Alien hunts will be lighter armed computer controlled autocannon type systems.
When it came to painting my vehicles I found it hard to decide on a scheme. Fighting Aliens won't need camouflage! Therefore colour scheme will fall to either a generic scheme based upon the organisation the vehicle is attached to, or one based on climatic conditions. However, I can imagine after time some surface texture material may be applied to make the vehicles more acid resistant.
Options are:
I guess it partly depends on what you are trying to represent (or the background world you are setting the scenario in, and therefore to some extent the colour scheme)
