I am pleased to announce the fourth release of the new Gunslinger range from Flytrap Digital is available now, for those backing the Patron at the appropriate levels. This release kicks off Phase 2, bringing the first two packs of this new faction, the mysterious group known as Kojoti.
Disclosure time! This post is part of my work with Gunslinger. As one of the four people who run that project, I’ve played a pretty major part in the creation of these figures, doing the initial spec and pack layouts through to delivering the Gunslinger social media posts over on Facebook and Instagram.
Now, let’s get to the good stuff. Beginning with, who the heck is Kojoti?
The private military company Kojoti (translated from Serbian for Coyote) is a internationally recognised provider of personal security and military training. Originally founded in Serbia by a local millionaire with ties to the government in the mid 2000s, Kojoti grew from providing armoured car guards and supermarket loss prevention specialists in the Balkans into a worldwide security operation, used by several major multi-nationals to perform risk management and mitigation in foreign markets.
In addition to it’s public persona, Kojoti is primarily a provider of deniable private military forces around the world for it’s customers. While other groups are a more subtle touch, Kojoti can provide larger scale capabilities both for training other proxy forces and delivering kinetic operations.
From interrogation of captured contractors, a key part of Kojoti’s recruitment is a process that is referred to as The Slaughterhouse. New recruits to Kojoti have been know to be recruited from various prison systems around the world, with a primary focus on those with former military experience or a history of violent organised crime. These new recruits are referred to as “Месо” or Meat – after minimal training, they are equipped with lower spec equipment (older pattern NVGs and body armour, weaponry missing key force multipliers such as optics or aiming devices). Месо are then used as disposable assets, only slightly more useful than locally hired forces they may find themselves allied with. Life expectancy as a member of the Meco is low – between Kojoti’s aggressive tactics, hazing of new members and an expectation to prove yourself, it is very common for the Meco to absorb large numbers of casualties even in a successful operation.
Only once a member of the Meco has survived long enough, or caught the attention of a senior figure in Kojoti, are they move up in the company to join the regular troops (also referred to as the Čopor. At this stage they are issued with latest equipment and then sorted into their roles. The Čopor can be found in several different arrangements – usually leading and controlling the Meco, but occasionally into smaller but more highly trained groups for special tasks.
Especially skilled individuals may find themselves in Intelligence roles, running local assets to assist the Kojoti. Over the last few years, some national intelligence agencies have found themselves encountering more and more of these lone coyotes, even in locations that the company has not technically declared itself to be working in.
We’ll cover some more details on Team Chernobog (this specific unit) in the Deep Dive on the 25th but as you can see, Kojoti is a group of incredibly dodgy folk. These guys are designed to be a real contrast to the Black Sector release, individualistic yet highly trained killers ready to cause havoc for the right price. You can see this in their mix of equipment – while each fighter has their own combination of kit, we tried to keep a few core things; everyone has body armour, everyone has plenty of mags, and similar platforms are used to minimise supply concerns while working away from traditional supply lines. Apart from that though, Anton got to go nuts with the clothing, shoes and head options, providing a force that looks ragged but cohesive.
We also decided to go with a different type of pose for the force – while Black Sector were pushing to the fight, the Kojoti guys are in the thick of it, trading shots while advancing or covering their teammates. This posing style is one we’ll continue into the rest of the range, with even the security team being a touch more jumpy than last time.
Meco Rifle Team
The core of any force is its riflemen, and among the Meco heavy forces, the bulk of its manpower will be armed with the humble AK platform. Three of this set are armed with assault rifles, a mixture of magazine styles (including the jungle mags) and other attachments depending on the operator’s choice (or probably more likely what he’s been given). There is also a Meco fighter equipped with a regular RPK for some portable firepower within the team, easily able to put down bursts of suppressive fire. However, the Čopor leading them is heavily armed with his own RPK, although modernised with an adjustable stock, optics and of course a drum mag.
Meco Assault Team
After the Rifle team has put the fire down, the Assault Team rushes in to push through any weak points and clear out the opposing positions. These guys have a mix of equipment, including multiple sets of breaching gear and disposable MRO launchers for neutralising light vehicles and strong points. Personal weapons for these guys are a variety of AKs, including one lucky Meco who has managed to kit his hands on an AK-15. The Čopor has his own heavily modified AK, complete with all the attachments you might need for close-quarters combat.
The observant among you may have noticed that we have included 10 different heads in the renders above and that’s because we’re including HYDRA packs 4 and 5 in this month’s releases. We’re not aiming to include this many heads every month (just one HYDRA pack will be the norm) but seeing as this is a ragged and individualistic force we thought it made sense to give you plenty of options from the off. As well as the various goggled/masked heads ideal for your mainline troops, we have some more characterful options… okay we have some more aggressively facial-haired options to just show how scrappy these guys are.
As always moving forward, these models have been supported and test printed by Dan from Desk-Ops.de, our print-on-demand partner and the third head of this project. As you can see they have printed rather nicely, with a few points and improvements we’ve learnt from the release of the first phase. We can also recommend printing them at larger scales as well, as they will be perfect for putting in your display cabinet.
Additionally, this new phase is going to really start showing off what you can do with the HYDRA system, with each release adding to your possible options when assembling your force. If you want to run Kojoti as a slightly more professional force (or just want to start scrapping at night), then the first three Hydra packs give you plenty of options. Seeing a Kojoti fighter with panoramic night vision though is a slight concern!
If you want to get these figures yourself, they are available now at https://www.patreon.com/flytrapfactory Patrons at the “‘Supporter Tier’ GUNSLINGER” or higher will get 10 figures in total (as well as 10 separate heads). The items are delivered both supported and unsupported to help you get printing. To assist with basing, the figures have a peg in their foot to provide support either by drilling through the base or sanding the peg down to make a large contact area without requiring too much additional material.
These figures will not be on My MiniFactory until the phase is complete, so joining Patreon is your best bet for getting your start with Kojoti.
If you don’t have access to a 3D printer, no worries! As mentioned above, we have a partnership with Desk-Ops.de – Desk-Ops is our exclusive Print on Demand provider for the EU (although shipping worldwide). From the start of November, this month’s release will be joining the other sets currently available via POD on his website, letting you get your hands on these figures without having to even struggle with replacing the FEP or doing any of the cleanup.
Later this month we’ll be releasing a Deep Dive revealing some more secrets behind these figures and potentially talking about next month’s releases. For now though, don’t forget to check out the Linktree above for all the places you can find Gunslinger online – we have pages on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube, each one providing sneak peeks as to what is coming next, as well as some more shots of these figures in action.
We’re very excited to be releasing this range, with the remaining packs in it featuring some cool pieces of kit and some designs I am very excited to see finally in tabletop form. I’ll see you all on the 25th for the next update, and enjoy the figures!