Ok, so the mini-Sherman was always a CarWars thing, but it was my favourite vehicle from that game, and so I wanted to make one for Gaslands.
My mini-Sherman was a panel van with a rocket launcher under the front bumper and enough armour to weigh the vehicle down during a cyclone. That's pretty topical right now over here (I'm looking at you Cyclone Alfred!).
Oz Wheels has a series called 'Barn Finds' and these vehicles come pre-grubby with worn paint work that just screams Gaslands. So, I purchased a number of panel vans and set about looking for the appropriate rocket launchers to put under the front bumper.
Vanguard Miniatures make some nice Sentinel style walker units in Epic scale, the weapons on which work well also for Matchbox scale vehicles. So, I nicked two rocket pods and put them to use on my new (old) mini-Sherman.
I remember one excellent game of Car Wars where our town was invaded by a band of rev-heads eager to kick us out of the place. We took out their vehicles one by one until eventually just their leader was left. We ended up pinning the guy between our vehicles, with me in the lead. Given I only had a forward-facing rocket launcher, but a tone of armour, I just slowed the guy down as we hemmed him in. In the end, we crawled to a stop, and he was out of ammo. He quietly surrendered at that point. But my mini-Shermon was a rock, an almost immovable one at that, with an acceleration of only 5mph. Once I got up to speed, I wouldn't break as it took too long to get going again.
The business end of the mini-Sherman
I'm still considering if I should put a bull-bar on the front of the vehicle just above the rocket launchers. But for now, my mini-Sherman is ready for the table. All I need to do now is make the Gaslands vehicle profile for this thing.
