In the chaos of Nuka-World, three gangs vie for supremacy among the wreckage of the theme park. Today we look at one of these gangs, the Operators. More professional than their counterparts, and focused on money above all else, these guys are really in it for the caps. Less classic raider gang and more organised crime outfit, their focus on profit means they’re broadly better equipped and armoured than either the Pack or the Disciples.
Thanks to Modiphius for providing this kit for review.
The Miniatures
Raiders: The Operators is a hard plastic-sprued kit that comes as two sprues that together make ten Operator models. Each model is unique, with a distinct body for each (though several are actually the same design reposed). Every model comes with several options (usually two, sometimes three) for weaponry, and at least two optional heads. All of these options are if not unique in terms of the weapons themselves, then in terms of the posing and arms. This box is enough to build an entire Operators warband for Fallout: Factions, and though you might in theory pick up a second box to flesh your warband out with additional options and for larger games, just one should do you pretty well for many many games.
The plastic is not quite as crisp as modern Games Workshop kits, but it’s very similar to those put out by Wargames Atlantic and other modern plastics producers – high quality, good detail, and lots of parts fitted into the frames. Considering this is one of the first hard plastic kits Modiphius have produced (there was the Heavy Armour box for Brotherhood of Steel, and this is a substantial step up from that kit) it’s very impressive indeed. The dynamism of the poses, the variety of options, and the cleanness of the sculpts are a slam dunk for such an early foray into the medium, and happily stand up against the competition.
I cannot state this enough: I really really liked these minis. I started with the Operators because I suspected they’d be the ones of the three I was least interested in, but I quickly found myself delighting in the build and in painting them. This bodes very well indeed for the other kits. There are so many little details on them that are a joy – the little metal bow ties that many of them have, the pouches and straps are all feasible and relatively sensible but aesthetic, the weapons are very “Fallout” in a hard to define way but vibe well. Oh and there’s a huge number of extra pouches, bags, and so on, as well as these fantastic little base details you can add for additional interest.
I’m also absolutely delighted at the diversity on display in these miniatures. Not only are there a good number of femme-presenting sculpts here, there’s at least one that I struggled to ID on a gender spectrum, in a great way – big non-binary energy. That coupled with a good variety of hairstyles and features, and you have a very inclusive set of miniatures. Each one feels like an individual, and yet the design cues bring them together to feel cohesive at the same time. It’s the first infantry kit I’ve seen to trump the Cadian kit from GW in terms of diversity and attention to detail, and I love it.
The instructions are extremely clear and blessedly pleasant to read and interpret. The design of them is great, and it’s fantastic to see in a field where these things are often an afterthought at best (I’m looking at you, Victrix).
Update: Ok, so I had to come back and quickly update this section. Everything else in the review stands, but the instructions do have a key flaw – in order to know which builds are valid in Fallout Factions (rather than Wasteland Warfare) you have to reference the little rules section at the start of the booklet. It is very easy to overlook this – I did. I just built stuff because it seemed cool. By a stroke of luck, everything I build is valid for play, but that was pure chance. I’d really like to see future instruction booklets have a little symbol by the builds that are valid options for Factions.
This is one of the best plastic kits I’ve had the pleasure to work with in a long time, and if Modiphius can keep this up we should all be very excited not just for these three kits, but for the upcoming Super Mutant and Wasteland Raider kits too.
Painting and Basing
For the painting I decided to go nice and simple, and cleave pretty close to the box art while kicking the colours up a notch. I’m not going to give you a full guide because this was honestly very very simple – a basecoat in the right colour, then everything but skin got a black wash (Nuln Oil will do, I used a thinned black ink) while skin got an appropriate wash (Reikland for pale skin, Druchii Violet for dark). Then I did a couple of steps of highlights always zenithal (as if the light is from above).
Here are the colours I used:
- Suit/Cloth: Scale75 Caspian Blue with 1:1 Caspian Blue:Bering Blue highlights, then a top highlight of pure Bering Blue. If you don’t want to use Scale75 then I’d use Vallejo Model Colour Prussian Blue with 1:1 Prussian Blue:Light Turquoise and then final highlights with pure Light Turquoise.
- Metal (including Armour): Vallejo Model Colour Neutral Grey, with highlights mixed with increasing amounts of pure white
- Straps (and other leather): Vallejo Leather Brown, with highlights mixed with increasing amounts of pure white
- Guns and Boots: Vallejo Black Grey, with highlights of 1:1 Black Grey:Neutral Grey on boots, and a drybrush of Neutral Grey over guns
I mixed up skin and hair tones to my heart’s delight, so go wild on those.
For the basing I applied some Vallejo Scenic paste with a little crackle paste daubed on a few bases for some variation. I then basecoated in Citadel XV-88 before being drybrushed with Citadel Zamesi Desert, then Vallejo Model Colour Iraqi Sand, then finally Citadel Tyrant Skull Dry. I then added a little weathering powder (some ancient Forgeworld brand dark sand and pale dust, but any deserty-sandy powders will work) that I brushed up the boots and around the base to add some texture. Finally I added some spiky shrubs and laser cut succulents from Gamers Grass.
Conclusions
This is a great kit. If this is what we can expect from Modiphius plastics going forward this is a line to not just watch but greedily collect. Resin is such an off-putting factor for many people, so to see the jump to a fully fledged plastic range and of such quality is fantastic. This box is available to buy right now and you should absolutely hit that buy button. The only plausible reason to wait is that these are some of the minis that come in the Nuka-World Core Box for Fallout Factions, so you might be planning to pick up that box instead.
Those of you who know me as a writer know that I rarely offer full-throated recommendations of products – hell, I’ve even critiqued Modiphius products on this site in the past – so the fact I’m so won over by these should be a sign. Everything is pointing to Factions being an absolute home run, and these miniatures are part of that.
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