In 2005, Mongoose Publishing, a gaming company based in the United Kingdom, released Starship Troopers: The Miniatures Game, drawing upon the novel, films and television series as inspiration through a license from Sony.
Shortly after the first film came an award-winning CGI series titled Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles. Starship Troopers: The Miniatures Game was originally based mainly upon the CGI series, but later included more material from both book and film.
Armies[]
The playable races of Starship Troopers: The Miniatures Game include the United Citizen Federation, the Arachnid Empire, and the Skinnie Hegemony.
Each of these races, besides the Arachnids, is further divided into different playable armies:
Mobile Infantry commanders, for example, can choose from a wide variety of different platoons. These include Light Armoured Mobile Infantry (as seen in the film adaptation), Marauders (large bipedal vehicles), Power Armour platoons (as seen in the Roughnecks cartoon), Pathfinders (elite commandos loosely based on the PC game[Title needed]) and Exosuits (based on the original Powered Armor from the original novel by Robert Heinlein).
Skinnies are based on a tribal society, and so the abilities and choices available to a Skinny army depend greatly on the choice of tribe leader.
Arachnid armies are extremely versatile; all Arachnid units are usable and are limited only by the hive's ability to breed them. In this way, the player develops their own personalised colony.
Several future armies are also planned. The Mobile Infantry will receive engineering platoons, cadets and rebel colonists. Skinnies will receive new tribe leaders such as the Skinnie Skymaster, who will grant access to rare aerial weaponry. The Arachnids, an almost entirely unified race, simply evolve new breeds and incorporate them into their existing forces.
The Forth and the Coven are coming out soon for the miniatures game.
Miniatures[]
Mongoose produces a large line of 30mm plastic and pewter miniatures for the Starship Troopers miniatures game, by sculptors including Shayne Hoyle, Bobby Jackson, Bob Naismith, Ben Saunders and Steve Saunders amongst others.
List of miniatures[]
The models released as of December 2006:
- SICON Forces
- Cap Troopers
- Female Cap Troopers
- Mobile Infantry Light Armour Troopers
- Mobile Infantry Light Armour Specials
- M8 Marauder "Ape"
- M8C Marauder "Bigfoot"
- M9 Marauder 'Chickenhawk"
- M9 Marauder "Nighthawk"
- Heroes of the Mobile Infantry
- CHAS
- MI WASP Troopers
- Reliant Gun Platforms
- Support Missiles
- The Roughnecks
- The Roughnecks Army Book
- Pathfinder Trooper Squad
- Pathfinder K9 Squad
- The Pathfinders Army Book
- Veteran Cap Troopers
- The Klendathu Invasion
- TAC UAV
- Stalwart Bug Field Generators
- Mobile Infantry Army Book
- Micro Support Platforms
- Mk II K9 Squad
- Grizzly Exosuits
- Grizzly Exosuit Officer
- Cougar Exosuits
- Cougar Exosuit Officer
- Marauder Platoon
- Mobile Infantry Power Suit Specials
- Fleet Landing Party
- Arachnids
- Warrior Bugs
- Warrior Bug Horde (18 Warrior Bugs)
- Hopper Bugs
- Tanker Bug
- Brain Bug
- Firefries
- Plasma Bug
- Blister and Blaster Bugs
- Mantis Assassin/Hunter Bug
- Arachnid Army Book
- Burrower Bugs
- Royal Guard Bugs
- Control Bugs
- Imposter Bugs (incorrectly referred to as "Infiltrator Bugs")
- Thorny Tanker
- King Tanker Bug
- Spider Bugs
- Cliff Mites
- Overseer Bug
- Rippler Bug Mega-Swarm (9 Rippler Bugs)
- Arachnid Invasion Force
- Skinnies
- Warchief
- Raiders
- Skinnies Army Book
- Tyrant
- Militia
- Soldiers
- Soldier Heavy Weapons
- Lord
- Venerables
- General
- Guard
- Guard Heavy Weapons
- Slaves
- Leader of Slaves
- Cabal
- Speeders
- Heavy Speeder
- Skinnie Brutes
Success[]
Starship Troopers was received favorably at Origins where it won Best New Game. It has grown quickly from a model range of around five boxed sets, to a huge array of miniatures for all three armies. However, many players report a less favorable response. Many report gaming stores dropping the range as well as limited critiscism of the model quality and the game's background story. Starship Troopers still maintains a loyal fan base through the Mongoose Publishing forums.
Starship Troopers Evolution[]
The game is currently undergoing a renewal. An updated rule system and new miniatures was scheduled to be released in August 2007, but no release has been made to date. At a recent event, some of the new rules were showcased. They included some modified statistics for certain models, limiting models to a single reaction, and two rules known as "suppression" (assumed to simulate suppressive fire pinning troops) and "shattering" (a modification of the current mission objective format). The new miniatures will be made of "wargaming" quality plastic and be pre-painted, as opposed to the current metal unpainted figures. The initial box sets will be:
- SICON Forces
- Mobile Infantry Light Armour Squad
- Mobile Infantry Grizzly Exosuit Squad
- Arachnids
- Arachnid Warrior Bug Swarm (12 Warrior Bugs)
- Tanker Bug
- Skinnies
- Skinnie Raiders
- Skinnies Soldiers
- Forth
- Forth Fenos Fighting Machines
- Forth Fenirs Command Fighting Machines
An expanded rule book will be released 2-3 months after the initial release, one new box set will be released each month per army with new armies (such as the dreaded Coven) appearing towards the end of 2007. The SICON TAC Fighter and the Skinnies' Starlight Speeder are confirmed for release.