One of the favourites of my 15mm sci-fi armies are the Chuhuac: dinosaurs with guns from Loud Ninja Games (available from Alternative Armies).

It’s a full range: from basic grunts through to grav bikes, mecha battlesuits, light tanks, APCs, cyberform drones and command figures. The range also includes two forms of air support: light fighters and heavier craft that can be configures as either gunships or transport vehicles.

The only thing missing from my collection were the heavier Charka aircraft: a gap that I filled when Alternative Armies had their usual Christmas sale.

First up, here are a few shots of the Charka Kas gunship in flight:

It’s a good bit of kit that comes as one basic piece with a cornucopia of different weapon options to attach to its various hardpoints. Here, I’ve given the Kas two major forward facing cannon, two forward facing rocket launchers, and (a nice touch) two mini backwards-facing cannon to discourage tail-gating!

The marking are all on slightly raised relief on the models, so are very easy to paint.

Next up is the transport version: the Charka Ras. It’s the same basic piece but with the addition of a pod that sits underneath. You also get the same bag of weapon options to attach, although you need less as some of the hardpoints are concealed by the transport pod. I still managed to fit the two forward facing rocket launchers and the rear guns, but used two more mini-cannon to fire forwards: they look as if they could sweep the ground just in front of the landed ship, giving cover to the dismounting troopers.

The transport pod is sculpted to ressemble the sides of the Sirrus APCs, suggesting that the Ras can carry six Chuhuac troopers…although I think that might be a bit of a tight squeeze!