Yet More Superhero Wargames Armies Ideas

I can stop anytime I want, I swear. It's just that I think people could really benefit from these army ideas, even if these are some of my worst-performing posts. Something I can do just for me, right? Like I can get these damn ideas out of my head so that I'm not tempted to make them myself, even if I did end up buying most of the Space Knight Heroclix recently for gaming. 

If you're not caught up by now, the idea behind these infrequent pieces is to discuss ideas for bringing a superhero-inspired Miniature Wargames armies into existing games if your FLGS or local club isn't keen on the genre. Whilst I try to not keep the ideas focused on any specific game or set of rules, I do have a vague idea of something along the lines of Warhammer 40,000 in mind, at least in terms of army size and variety of units.


The Brotherhood (Marvel)

Concept: Based on the representation of the "Brotherhood" army in X-Men 3, the entire concept of this force boils down to Magneto saying "In chess, the pawns go first". Despite probably being powerful enough to take Alcatraz by himself, Magneto doesn't want to run the risk of losing, so he brings an army of disposable minions to his side to do the dying for him. With his core group of more powerful mutants to back him up, Magneto is master and commander of a very dangerous rabble. The similar army Magneto builds in Ultimate X-Men is probably worth a look here as well.

Army Building: This one seems pretty straightforward, with mobs of weaker mutants making up the bulk of the force and a small number of elite and powerful members to provide the real punch. As most of the "lesser" mutants don't need to have really specific powers, they could be grouped in "squads" that serve functions. For example, mutants with strength and claw mutations for close combat, chameleon and climbing mutants as scouts and psychics scattered here and there as "radio operators" mean you can fill out a decent sized army pretty easily. Juggernaut and Phoenix fit easily as Dreadnought like vehicles and "monster" infantry, and plenty of games allow for powerful solo characters like Pyro and Kid Omega. 

Models: Honestly, I'd be looking at Heroclix for most of this, just as a way to keep costs down and to scale well with other games. There are plenty of thugs and criminals in other ranges if you want a look closer to the film for your mobs of disposable mutants. I could see using Knight Models or Crisis Protocol for Juggernaut to get something big enough, but I know from past experience that getting enough models in the right scale to match is pretty difficult and expensive.

Red Ribbon (Dragon Ball)

Concept: A mercenary army dedicated to conquering the world, Red Ribbon not only has troops, tanks and planes, but also robots, monsters and ninjas; what else could you want in a wargames army? Probably the only truly recurring villains in the Dragon Ball franchise, the Red Ribbon forces have brought everything from mercenary soldiers to Perfect Cell against Goku and friends over the years, giving plenty of scope for a fun and unique army build. Plus much of the naming scheme is colour-based, so you can have fun with naming things, like Colonel Taupe, Major Heliotrope or Sergeant Aqua. 

Army Building: The spread of troop types and characters means you can never really run out of ideas on this one. You can have plenty of Red Ribbon soldiers, tanks and planes to fill out the rank and file, of course, but do you need an elite unit? How about robots, or maybe ninjas? An elite assassin? Tau Pi-Pi is ready to go. Hell, there's even the Androids and Cell if you need something of an otherworldly power scale. For this concept, I'd probably be working backwards, deciding on a game and army, then finding stuff in the Red Ribbon catalog to fit. 

Models: Sadly, the amount of Dragon Ball miniatures on the market is rather low, but don't give up before you start. Most of the major characters can be found as a 3D print, and there is a great line of model vehicles that vary in scale from 28 to 40mm for pretty cheap. For the soldiers, there are plenty of lines of Cold War Chinese and Soviets that fit the bill quite well, and scale alright with some of the Girls Und Panzer tank models that are a bit more rounded and "cute" in style, for that Anime look.


Free Armies of Mongo (Flash Gordon) 

Concept: What happens when the heroic Flash Gordon of Earth turns the citizens of Mongo against the foul Emperor Ming? The Free Armies of Mongo are born! Mostly taken, in concept, from the King's Watch and King's Quest comic series, this idea works for pretty much whatever version of Flash Gordon that you happen to prefer. Hawkmen, Lizard-men, Tree People and whatever else you feel like are ready to go fight for their freedom against the evil empire!

Army Building: This army falls into the "Halo Covernant" or "How the Tau should work" category, in that each unit will have a very different look, perhaps even being a different species. It's pretty straightforward from there, really, Hawkmen are a "jump pack" unit, Aborians are commandos, Lizard-men are scouts, and so on. The various characters like Flash, Dale and Vultan are ready-made commanders and squad leaders, and there are plenty of rockets to fill out all of your vehicle needs. 

Models: There are plenty of "Not-Flash Gordon" miniatures available with a quick search online, I own some from Reaper and Dirk Garrison myself and they suit fine. Bringing together several different ranges may be necessary, depending on how big you want your army to be. The rocket ships may be a little harder to get, but I've seen a few good 3D print examples around with a good "retro" vibe.

Foot Clan (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Concept: It's a Ninja Clan with some comic book extras, not much more to this one. An ancient Ninja Clan, transplanted to New York City, embraces both mysticism and advanced technology in order to further its agenda of accruing power and influence. Most often led by the mysterious figure of "The Shredder", the Foot includes everything from Mutants, to inter-dimensional mercenaries and even robots depending on the source material, but there are always plenty of Ninjas to throw at the enemy. 

Army Building: I'd by lying if I said I hadn't been considering putting together a Foot Clan force for my wargames club's Samurai League, but I thought better of it. The Foot just kind of work really well for a lot of games, because you can have as many ninja as you want or need, then just add in whatever else is required for elite units and characters. Personally, I'd be using a mixture of elements from different incarnations of the Foot, from Rock Soldiers and Krang to Karai and Mousers, because that would give me more variety and more options to choose from. 

Models: There are plenty of Ninja models avaiable, which should fill out whatever you need in terms of "squads"; even the TMNT Heroclix Foot Clan Ninjas are pretty nice, though the weapons can be warped and often need replacing. Naturally, Heroclix have all of the characters you'll need, most are pretty affordable on the secondary market as well, but there is the IDW Board Game if you're one of those people who cannot abide Clix. Mantic does a great tunneling vehicle in the Warpath range too.