Giant Robot Madness

So… a few weeks back I stumbled upon a blog (which I now can’t find) that had stumbled upon a pretty sweet deal on some 1/35 Ma.K. models (Mascinen Krieger) and so… um… I bought some (worked out to about $50 CAD for 24 of them)…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


24 Melusine PKA Ausf M made by Hobby Base (I picked them up from Hobby Link Japan.

This was a bit of a serendipitous find as only a couple weeks previously I had bought a bunch of AT-43 plastic robot models that Fantasy Flight Games was dumping super cheap (again in the neighborhood of $2-3 per model)


Um… I think they’re called Red Blok or something… they’re for AT-43… I’ll use them with Savage Worlds or something…

Anyway I like the looks of them they had a clunky soviet look to them and I thought could potentially be passed off as some sort of Weird War Two super weapon… and I’d been wondering what I’d use against them… well MaKs of course!!


Here’s a shot for scale… from left to right we have; a T-26 from Army Group North Miniatures, the Big Bad AT-43 Red Blok thinige, a panzer crewman from Bolt Action Miniatures, a MaK, a Sentinel® from Games Workshop® (pictured here entirely without their permission), a Russian tank crew from Bolt Action Miniatures (standing in front of..) another (smaller) AT-43 robo-armour thingie, and finally a KV-2 from Army Group North Miniatures…

The primary question is how to base them….?


Left to right; Option #1 (washer), Option #2 (60x60mm Mdf base – same as the Sentinel® from Games Workshop® (based that way entirely without their permission), Option #3 (slightly smaller metal washer), Option #4: (80x80mm MDF base – the new standard for all the 20mm-1/72 stuff I’m using for Blitzkrieg Commander/Cold War Commander/Future War Commander.


Things to consider:

Cost – the big washers are expensive I need 24 just for the Ma.K.s I’d like to re-base the AT-43 stuff to something similar for some continuity

Storage – the bigger the base the more storage bins I’ll need…

I’m kind of leaning towards the 60x60mm MDF base. It’s what the Sentinel® from Games Workshop® (based that way entirely without their permission) and the smaller 28mm WW2 tanks are on… It isn’t TOO ridiculously bigger than the models and I can probably fit 15 of them in one of my storage bins.

The 80x80mm were only really considered because I could then pass them off as even BIGGER beasties in some Blitzkrieg Commander/Cold War Commander/Future War Commander games…

To repaint or not to repaint… At some point I probably will… for now… They’re actually pretty nice looking, so I’ll probably leave them be (I’ve got enough other stuff to paint right now!!). I wasn’t sure how to count them, as with other prepaints, in the purchased vs. painted tally. If I never do paint them it’ll forever be a purchased with nothing to ever count against it in the painted category. I think what I did with some of the WW2 diecast tanks last year was I decided NOT to count them, but if I ever did I would count them as purchased and painted… a bit fiddly but whatever…

Oh, accounting…! Why do I bother!

Weird War or Sci-fi… I had intended to possibly use these for Alternate WW2 sort of gaming, but have also considered just using them for a straight-up sci-fi skirmish campaign. You’re probably thinging “why not use them for both?” – and I probably WILL use them for both… but I’d like to determine a primary use as it would determine what sort of paint job I might give them… if I ever get around to repainting…

Meh… enough blathering, I think I’ve figured it out – now back to painting…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Based robot warriors? Or maybe some SYW French cavalry…? Never can tell around here these days!