Burnin' and Lootin' - BOYL Rioters

With Bring Out Your Lead 2015 just around the corner, I needed to make the final push and complete the figures I need for my game 'Anarchy in the UH'. The game is based on Space Hulk, with rioters taking the role of the hordes of genestealers. I'm sure you can imagine that a rampaging mass of Necromundan civilians and underhivers, high on spook, frenzon and whatever else, would be a terrifying sight.

Sadly, there aren't many sci-fi non-combatants, and precisely zero ranges of sci-fi rioters. I figured that for the purposes of my game, modern rioters would suffice - players' focus will be on ensuring their gangs (Terminator squads) survive.

I ended up plumping for the Offensive Miniatures rioting mob. An investment of £50 landed me with 39 rioters, plus a dog (and a pair of wheelie bins). The figures aren't perfect (not sci-fi, a touch small), but they have the major advantage of being cheap. They also perform the required function of looking like a suitable horde of angry civilians.

The mob runs riot through the port, catching an unfortunate squad of law-enforcers!

My approach to painting all of these figures was quite different to my usual method of individually painting each figure - I knew I simply couldn't afford to spend 3-4 hours per figure, so instead opted for a quick and basic system.

I split the figures into roughly 3 batches and sprayed them different base colours (yellow, brown and a dark blue/green). Then I systematically took a batch and attacked it over the course of the evening, painting all the flesh, then randomising some details a colour at a time (brown jacket on fig 1, brown trousers on fig 2, brown gloves on fig 3; red hat on fig 4, red jacket on fig 5 etc. etc). All the colours were then given a wash to add depth, then any details (stripes, dots and so on) were added before basing.

This batch painting approach enabled me to paint 12-14 figures in a single 3 hour sitting from the spray base coat. The figures certainly aren't high quality paint jobs, but they will be perfectly acceptable in the context of a game based on Space Hulk where there is a high turnover of placement and removal.

Vid screens and catapults - the weapon choices of the masses!

I'll leave you with a final shot of the masses, ready to take on the hired guns, bodyguards and gangs in a few weeks time.