Tanker: Line Infantry ⦵

Here we have the first real Infantry unit painted up for Tanker. These are Line Infantry (⦵). Line Infantry are the most basic type of infantry, possessing no special equipment or tactics. However, they can improve more quickly than other types of infantry and—more importantly—they uniquely come with four soldiers per squad instead of the normal three.

These miniatures are built almost entirely from the Wargames Atlantic "French Infantry 1916-1940" box. Three of the men are dressed in the normal French enlisted uniform (painted up in a different color scheme), while the fourth is a more distinct officer to serve as the Section Officer for this group of infantry. The officer is a simple headswap, equipped with the "Sharpe" head from the Napoleonic British box. The rifles are (I think) Chassepot rifles. Bayonettes are an upgrade option available to Line Infantry, and they provide significantly better melee combat damage than hitting with a rifle butt or knife.

Here are the paints used for the soldiers of my mercenary company:

• Hat and Pants: Vallejo Game Extra Opaque Heavy Blue (72.143)
• Pants Piping: Vallejo Bonewhite (72.034)
• Puttees: Vallejo Luftwaffe Uniform WWII (70.816) (These are the lower leg wrappings.)
• Coat Exterior: FolkArt Matte Coffee Bean (881), then Vallejo Beasty Brown (72.043)
• Coat Interior Lining: Ceramcoat Burnt Umber (02025) 
• Straps and Belts: Ceramcoat Burnt Umber (02025)
• Rifle Wood: DecoArt Americana Deep Burgundy (DA128)
• Bayonette Hilt: Vallejo Game Extra Opaque Heavy Brown (72.153)
• Weapon metal and buttons: Vallejo Gunmetal Grey (70.863)
• Basing Main: Vallejo Diorama FX Earth Texture, drybrush Ceramcoat Territorial Beige
• Basing Spot Drybrush: Vallejo Goblin Green (72.030)
• Basing Final Light Drybrush: Vallejo Bonewhite (72.034)
• Rim: Vallejo Black (70.950)
  

Since an Infantry pick in Tanker gets you two squads, I suppose I'll need to put together at least three more models for another squad. Ultimately I'll need at least fifteen more (three each of Grenadiers ⦻, Skirmishers ⦽, Warriors ⦾, Engineers ⦷, and Medics ⨁). Perhaps after Christmas.

Tanker: Impa TAV Tankette, KGJ-7 Tankette, and Tank Crew Ⓣ

Here are two more tankettes that I've designed for Tanker, representing common designs from two more of the fictional nations of the game world.

On the left is the Impa TAV (tracked assault vehicle). Hailing from a heavily-industrialized nation, it is well-armored, can be heavily armed, and has some bells and whistles that other basic tankettes may not. However, unlike the Steed and KGJ, it lacks a turret. Well-engineered and beloved by its crews, this lack of a turret means that getting fully-tracked or otherwise immobilized renders the Impa TAV nearly defenseless. This tankette can equip a machine gun, a heavy rifle, a light cannon, or even a medium cannon (the only tankette to be able to do so).

On the right is the KGJ-7. In many ways, it sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Impa TAV. Cheap and mass-produced, it does not have any bells or whistles, simply meant to do its job reasonably efficiently. However, unlike most tankettes that can only fit two crewmembers, the large KGJ-7 has three; it's still cramped, but if a crewmember becomes a casualty, the other crewmembers are cross-trained to take their place. The KGJ-7 is also remarkably tough; their simple, rugged design and redundant systems can sometimes survive damage that would cripple other tankettes. This tankette's turret can equip a machine gun, a heavy rifle, or a light cannon, or it can go weaponless with a recon hatch.

In addition to the tankettes, which I designed, I also kitbashed two tank crewmembers (Ⓣ) from plastic kits. The main bodies are Wargames Atlantic French Resistance, the heads are WA Cannon Fodder, and the arms and revolvers are either WA French Resistance, WA Napoleonic British Rifleman, or Warlord Games WWII SAS. The colors are primarily Ceramcoat Burnt Umber (02025), lightened with FolkArt Coffee Bean (881), and Vallejo Heavy Blue (72.143), along with a Nuln Oil wash.

With several tankettes to choose from and a pair of crewmen, I finally have an actual, finished unit for Tanker. I should probably work on getting some infantry squads put together.

Tanker: Steed Mk 1 Tankette

The Steed Mk 1 Tankette with a vaguely era-appropriate figure for scale.

I've been slowly designing a tabletop RPG, working title Tanker, where each player controls part of a small militarized group in a fictional post-World War One-esque setting. Your class can be "Tank," for example, and you control the tank and its crew members. I've gotten to the point with Blender where I can make decent vehicles for 3D printing, so I designed and printed this: the Steed Mk 1 tankette.

A tankette is like a little tank, only large enough to hold two cramped crew members, and it has only a small gun for infantry support. My design is just based on what I thought looked good when I was building it, based on elements from real-world designs such as the French Renault FT and the Japanese Type 94 tankette. Would my tank really run? Not well, if at all. Does it look good enough? Yes.

I've used 5x2mm magnets on these designs for turrets (which can be fully rotated and swapped) and the tow hitch (which can accept any of the tow-able trailers I've made). You can see more variants below (with the contrast cranked up due to the white filament on white background). The turrets are:

Turret w/HR, turret w/LC, calliope turret w/MG, recon hatch.


• Regular turret: This turret can fully rotate and contains one gun. It also has a small access hatch to allow the crew to enter and exit the vehicle.
• Machine gun (MG): An automatic, anti-personnel gun
• Heavy rifle (HR): A semi-automatic gun that can engage both infantry and light armored vehicles
  
• Light cannon (LC): The smallest actual tank cannon, similar to a Puteaux SA 18, for anti-armor use
  
• Recon hatch: An unarmed version of the tank, this configuration removes the turret and the accompanying rotation mechanisms, freeing up significant space for a more powerful engine.
• Calliope turret: This turret, which can be built onto either a machine gun or heavy rifle turret, includes a scaffold with an eight-shot rocket launcher. While there are numerous downsides, it does allow for rocket bombardment to complement the main weapon.

Top to bottom: Towed rocket cart, small tow-cart, large tow-cart

In addition, the tank can tow several types of detachable trailers. The trailers are:

• Small tow-cart: This cart can carry one unit of cargo in the RPG.
• Large tow-cart: This cart can carry two units of cargo in the RPG.
• Towed rocket cart: When detached, a unit of infantry can crew this weapon to shoot up to 16 rockets at enemy positions. This model is not particularly accurate, but it can heavily saturate an area.

So, that's the Steed Mk 1. Only one of the models I've printed has been painted up. The rest remain bare white filament. I've also designed a truck, similar to a Liberty Truck, so I'll post about that once I have one of them painted up.