Laserburn - Imperial Commander - Russian Army 2050

Having completed the bulk of the Russian forces for Chechnya using the Laserburn rules from the 1980's as usual somebody at the club has the bright idea to expand this, its been a while since I played full on sci-fi, never having got suckered into 40K, I always fancied something a little more low tech.

So as others build various Sci-fi factions including the original Laserburn figures getting a make over. how to upgrade my modern Russians to create a sci-fi force.

Albeit only 34 years from now.

 

A search of the web for Warfare in 2050 revealed an interesting study by the US Army suggested that the battlefield will be covered with a new breed of super humans and autonomous combat robots.

The report lists several specific capabilities that will shape future land warfare: augmented humans; automated decision making and autonomous processes.

However, perhaps most disconcerting for policy makers and senior officers in 2015, the workshop participants furthermore predict that the much faster 2050 battle rhythm will overwhelm soldiers with the consequence that machines will have to make autonomous decisions with little human oversight:

(…) [H]umans will no longer be able to be “in the loop,” but will instead need to operate “on the loop.” The difference being that in the former, human decisions are a required step in a process and thus humans are exercising positive control; while in the later, humans can only observe the behaviors that are taking place (and in some cases the decisions that have been made and the reasons why), but they can only act after the fact or in anticipation of expected behaviors.

While the robots of the 2050 battlefield would resemble systems that exist today such as armed drones and fire-and-forget missiles, they would “possess significantly greater capabilities of machine reasoning and intelligent autonomy than those existing today,” according to the report:

Robots will commonly operate in teams or swarms in the battlespace of 2050 in the same way Soldiers act in teams today. These self-organized and/or collaborative collections of robots would operate with varying degrees of freedoms (from being actively managed to being autonomous) under dynamically established rules of engagement/priorities. Robot swarms and teams (as well as individual robots) would be assigned a variety of tasks.

Of course, relying on this force of largely autonomous killer bots as well as other new warfighting technologies would create new attack vectors for the enemy to exploit.

The principal Army unit operating in 2050 will be mixed human-robot teams. To enable humans to partner effectively with robots, human team members will be enhanced in a variety of ways. These super humans will feature exoskeletons, possess a variety of implants, and have seamless access to sensing and cognitive enhancements.

So what does this mean for transforming my 1990's Russians for a force capable of holding there own in the near future without ending up with hover tanks and jet bikes?
Brigade Models have some great kit which certainly helps create a force in the spirit of the article.

Chinese PLA Support Drones next to a Eureka modern officer.

A Robot swarm designed to move quickly into unknown enemy territory, they are armed with dual mini-guns and a wi-fi link to off table artillery and air assets.

Power Armoured Troopers from Brigade Models 15mm Range.

Super humans will feature exo-skeletons yet still retaining the usual battlefield weapons of small arms, support weapons and RPGs. But they could always double as andriods.

A Power Armoured Section, I need to work out some of the finer details if they are going to be pitted against the existing Chechen insurgents.

The principal Army unit operating in 2050 will be mixed human-robot teams.

With a small order on it's way from Armies Army for some of there future wars BTR range.

The Russians are receiving some fantastic reinforcements for whatever might arrive from beyond the stars or closer to home.