Bazooka Joes - Drop Troop Missile Launcher Teams

 I decided to start the 3rd Platoon with a bang - missiles! These are the first heavy weapons teams I have built for my Xhorik 87th. They are loaded up with extra missile tubes/cases. True to real life paratroopers, these paratroopers' missile launchers are nearly useless when firing at a Leman Russ head on (1 in 12 chance to hit and glance the armor) so they will have to line up for side and rear shots to have much chance. From what I read about the true paratrooper battles, that seemed to be the case and the lack of anti-tank capability was a real issue for the paratroopers in the D-Day battles.

I went with a running team, a standing team and a crouching/kneeling team, figuring the two men would be working in unison so it would make less sense to have one running and one kneeling, for example.

Front view of the three teams: standing, running, and kneeling.

Side view. I love how the poses of the Elysians convey a sense of action such as firing, running, or even pointing .

Rear view: You can see how heavily loaded they are with extra ammo and equipment. 

This was my first time putting two infantry models on a large base. There is a lot of space to fill or else it looks very plain. I have been keeping the bases pretty simple for this army, but these large bases seemed to require something more. So I used a few pieces of slate that I collected and stored five years ago when I lived in Pittsburgh to create a large rocky base. They still looked plain so I added some tufts of various grasses. I really like the look of the brown grass so now I might need to go back and add some to a few of my regular 25mm bases - eventually. I tried to place the grass along the edges of the rocks where I imagine a little shade could let a seed germinate and the water run-off from the rock could enable the plant to live in the harsh rocky deserts of Xhorik Prime.

First team: The gunner fires while the support trooper is ready with extra ammo.

Second team: These two are using a rock for cover while the support trooper points out key targets to the gunner.

Team three: These two are quickly advancing across the rocky terrain to a new firing position. 

You will also notice that these guys do not have grav chutes. That is due to the limited number of grav chutes I have left in my stock from before they were discontinued. My plan for the army is to have one platoon (2nd) as a "grav chute insertion" force that is meant to deep strike in every game and all models have grav chutees. This is my existing platoon that is heavy on melta guns. Next I plan to build a "heavy weapons platoon" with squads of mortars and missile launchers. The normal plan would be to have this platoon start on the table since their weapons will be very ineffective firing on the turn they arrive via deep strike (snap shots only so no mortars or frag missiles). Of course, I will mix and match units in the meantime until I have both platoons fully built.