Saturday, July 28, 2012

New in the vehicle park

Added a new APC to the vehicle park this weekend. Our latest acquisition comes via the folks at...Matchbox!

Picked up a "Buffalo Mine Clearance Armored Vehicle" at a local grocery store. I'd seen this mentioned on The Miniatures Page and thought it worth investigating as I need a plethora of wheeled vehicles for the Feri campaign setting.

The Buffalo is modeled on a 'real world' vehcile, but honestly its a great stand in for the classic Traveller vehicle, the All Terrain Vehilce (or ATV). A 6 wheeled vehicle, the Buffalo has the distinctive "MRAP-Vee" body style, resulting on a much higher profile than a standard APC. I could descibe it, but a picture does such a better job.

Here is the Buffalo near a Rebel Miniatures Commanche light APC / Armored Car. You can see the height difference, though the other feature are close. Windows are bigger on the Buffalo.






Next up is the Buffalo alongside RAFM's Imp APC



Here is the side by side shot. It really shows the higher silhouette of the Buffalo. You can see the armored louvers over the engine radiator and the utility crane arm.



Next up - a comparision with the Rebel Miniatures EarthForce APC. Again, the Buffalo towers over the Rebel casting. Part of this is design philosophy - the Buffalo is designed more for a counter-insurgency environment that the front line actions of kinetic operations (to borrow a Tomorrow's War phrase).
 
But how does it look next to the troops. Well here are a few additional photo's;

With 15mm Travller power armor troopers.

And with a 15mm 'ship's crew' that usually try to keep off the Alliance's radar.




Sometimes the "Hero of Canton" likes to enjoy a cigar on the open air deck at the rear of the vehicle

Also makes a handy firing platform when you've got Reavers on your tail! This guy is actually on a Litko base and he still fits!

The verdict? I'm going to have to hunt down a couple more of these to fill out an infantry platoon. Its a great addition to the sci-fi force pool.The Buffalo gives a nice option for an APC appropriate to counter-insurgent operations rather than an IFV loaded for bear. And at less than $6.00 its a bargain!

2 comments:

  1. Nice report, Ray.

    You know, it's dead certain the Hero of Canton pronounces it "see-gar"...

    Regards,
    Keith F.

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  2. The more I look at the Buffalo compared to my other 15mm vehicles, the more this model looks out of scale. Its so big, it almost looks like it belongs in a 20mm range.

    Still, the great thing about sci-fi is the ability to re-purpose. It may just become a "mobile survey base" sort of a cross between an RV and an ATV. Or a Multipurpose Engineering Platform supporting a construction team in the field for building relays and other isolated facilities.

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