Action Force - The Black Major

With the ink barely dry on the Action Force treaty, the fledgling military unit was called into action in the Antarctic.  Being a continent over which no nation has control and governed by international treaty which prohibits military activity by individual nations, Action Force was effectively the only unit which could investigate attacks on research outposts by a man calling himself "Baron Ironblood".  At this early stage, the 4 fighting arms were not yet established and Action Force was still a disparate mix of different soldiers.

It was not an auspicious start for Action Force - ambushed by "Red Shadow" infantry working for the Baron, the Sea Kings of the investigating marines were riddled with bullets.

Quick thinking by one Action Force officer killed the ambush party but not before the Colonel leading the operation was killed.  The remaining Sea Kings were destroyed by anti-aircraft missiles launched from a hidden submarine and wave after wave of Red Shadows overwhelmed the survivors of the expedition.  Only 2 Action Force troops survived, John Shepherd and Chas Dillon, both experienced Royal Marines who had been plucked from their SBS training to join the new unit.  Baron Ironblood employed brainwashing techniques on both men and eventually Shepherd turned on his former colleague and joined the Baron.  Now known as the Black Major, Shepherd became Ironblood's trusted right hand man, leading the Red Shadows in many attacks.  He was at the forefront of their attack on a small Andean village which Ironblood had chosen to house his new lair.
 

My Black Major is a Peter Pig German officer.  It's a fairly simple colour scheme, Vallejo matt black with a Humbrol 32 dark grey drybrush.  The boots are Vallejo black which for some reason always comes out gloss.  In this instance, I made a point of using it so that his boots stand out from his uniform.  Vallejo Dwarf Flesh face with mixed sepia/flesh wash and an Elf Flesh highlight.  The officers' cap is GW Red Gore with a Vallejo sepia ink wash, as are the shoulder markings.  A skull-and-crossbones logo on the chest finishes him off.