Been quite a while since I did one of these painting updates huh? Time to come back with an interesting one.
Earlier this year, Combat Octopus released his SSO sets (two packs and a support set), giving us a set of modern Russian/AK-equipped operators with a variety of weapons systems and a literal shit ton of pouches. The packs even include some Western gear, making them a great intro set for Ultramodern wargaming. However, sometimes people want weapons that aren’t on the list – such as modernised rail-equipped versions of prototype Russian rifles from the 1990s. Luckily, someone paid to commission a brand new figure for the range, and so we got another release out of CO.
The Team Leader set, as you can see, is a little unusual for a Combat Octopus figure in that it comes with one complete body, rather than being split at the waist or with exposed MOLLE loops so you can set up your own selection of pouches. It also comes with a new head design and NCO pointing hand, as well as four weapons – for the Western fan, there is a short AR-15 rifle but for those who do care about the weapon matching the mags then you can pick between an AK-12SK, an AK-74 and a modernised AN-94. Yep, the Akbakan, beloved of gamers and feared by those who need to deal with the mechanical system hiding beneath the handguard to give it the two round hyperburst feature. Additionally, this one is actually based off a unique variant which has been adjusted for modern use. The stock has been replaced with a buffer tube, a rail alongside the top of the receiver (complete with an Aimpoint-style red dot) and a suppressor. It’s definitely a unique looking rifle, but also incredible cool.
Of course, I couldn’t simply take him as he comes out of the pack. I found myself delving back through the literal massive pile of heads that Combat Octopus has released over the last few years. While scrolling through, I found one of the heads from the Anti-Material Sniper Loyalty Reward, a balaclava and headset combo. Putting the head and body together, I suddenly had the vibe of Obi-Nairboi – the balaclava head and pretty impressive tactical gear with a full-featured rifle with all its attachments.
So then it came down to painting up my version (Qui-Gon Bazi if you will), and I started off by almost immediately ignoring much of the clothing underneath. Technically, he is wearing a set of tactical clothing, with Crye-Esque shirt and trousers. However, it’s been a while since I’ve sat down and painted so I decided to go for non-camo clothing. I ended up taking the iconic purple top from Nairobi, mixed with a solid colour set of tan trousers. All the tactical gear was painted in my usual tan colour. For the weapon, I ended up sponging on some rough desert colour to help break up the pure black and make it look suitably “veteran operator-y”.
The end result is something I’m pretty happy with. It’s not my best painted figure, but as someone who hasn’t painted in quite a while I’m happy with how it came out. I may go back and add some additional touches later (some extra highlights) but I could quite happily put him on the table.
Speaking of putting him on the table, I quite like the idea of using him as a mentor for less well-equipped forces, someone directing the local milita around while able to make sure they receive the correct support from above. He is definitely not deniable – even in ChargeReal I doubt the AN-94 is rolling out of the arms factories at speed.
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