Onslaught Miniatures sits firmly alongside Vanguard as one that has developed grimdark scifi 6mm to sustain the Epic Warhammer 40,000 community long after Games Workshop stopped (and then, recently, started again with the 8mm-ish Legions Imperialis).
But even if you don't like the grimdark aesthetic, there's something here for you, because they have the Okami Technocracy range that definitely isn't T'au Empire. And within that are these rather lovely OTC Attack drone minis.
Images (c) Onslaught Miniatures
Drones like these could play one of several roles in your games of Midnight Dark. The obvious first place to start is light infantry (see my previous blog about Grumbler Miniatures for more on light infantry) with the synthetic upgrade. Synthetic is really significant upgrade, because synthetic elements can't be exhausted, meaning they can take and hold territory to the bitter end. But they cannot be given heroes or 2- or 3-star command upgrades.
But these drones are more adaptable than that. Given their appearance, they make an excellent choice for Recon elements, synthetic or otherwise, allowing them to guide fire for indirect fire elements. And with the forward observer upgrade, they can spotlight targets to help others hit them harder.
But my favourite use for them doesn't seem them feature as an element at all but, rather, as an upgrade for a mech! Support drones come in three flavours: shield, gun and spotter. These each provide the mech with some interesting abilities, like shooting round corners or re-rolling attack or defence attempts. A mech can have up to four support drones, all of which must have the same abilities.
As support drones do have to be represented on the tabletop, these Onslaught attack drones are a great choice to do that in a way that's more interesting than just another counter. But as support drones don't have a stat line, here's a Recon element:
Cost | P | M | F | A | D | Special | |
Reconnaissance | 22 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | Vigilant, Dig In(3), Guidance, Synthetic |