Heavy Gear - Sleeping with the Enemy

After the long winter months, spring is in the air here in Ontario, and with it come a renewed vigor for painting miniatures! I've gotten through another project, and here are the pictures of my results:

So, after all these posts about building my Northern Army, why have I decided to paint a Long Fang Naga of all things? Two reasons, actually: first, I got bored of painting layer after layer of brown, and; second, I think the Naga is one of the most iconic machines in Heavy Gear, and I'm a bit jealous that the South have a strider that has some survivability!

Now, I don't play South at all, but I do have a couple of things to say about the Long Fang Naga. I find that most Southern forces, if they field a Naga, will field the vanilla variety, with their anti-gear and anti-tank missiles. The Long Fang Naga is 80 TV, but you could also get 2 field guns for 70 TV. Southern players may also be apt to save the 10 TV, but here are some points why it is better to take the Naga over the field guns:

1. Mobile Weapon Platform: Field guns have a speed of 0/1 whereas Nagas have a speed of W 4/7 or G 6/12. The efficiency of your field guns will be won and lost where they are placed before the battle even starts, whereas the Naga can react to keep its guns throughout the game.
2. Armoured: Anything stronger than a brisk breeze will destroy a field gun (it has an armour value of 8), while the Naga has an armour value of 23. Both units will be stationary when they fire, but there is a difference of on 1 between the movement modifiers for Defence. This comes much more in handy when dealing with Air Strikes or sniper units with rifles.

And now I'm off to paint my PC for my upcoming D&D campaign. More on that soon!