Gravedigger

Faction: Fallen (Barguest)
Nationality: N/A
First Colorway Appearance: RPG Bramble
Figures in Colorway: RPG Bramble (1/12), Heavy Bramble (1/6, 1/12), Caesar (1/6, 1/12), Harold (1/6, 1/12), Mighty Square (1/6)

Once upon a time we didn't know what faction Gravedigger belonged to. There were no decals marking it as a Martian or Terran bot. However, with Barguest's arrival (and a little help from Ash) the Gravedigger group was revealed as Barguest's force.

Gravedigger's colors are black with an ash overcoat and rust. Decals come in either white (predominantly) or black.

Decals

Note that big G

The easiest and most prominent decal on any Gravedigger robot is the Gothic G. The G itself standing for Gravedigger.

As for what a gravedigger is... well they are people who dig graves. Quite an ominous and creepy name for a military group. The majority of decals follow this theme of grave digging and death.

Note the Xs on the launcher

Note X on hand

Note X on shirt

The one decal that doesn't follow the theme of graves and death is an X. Every bot with hands has the X on their right hand in either black or white. It can also be found on other areas of a bot in white or black.

At first one would think this might be a straight edge X (I first did before Barguest was a thing). However, the X is connected to Barguest who sports a very similar looking X to those found on Gravedigger bots.

Note the spade

The spade is another staple decal. A spade is for digging up dirt. How appropriate for the group known as Gravedigger having a symbol of the most important tool for digging a grave. That is the most literal way of looking at it. It is important to note that the spade does have the characteristic look of the spade symbol found on a deck of cards. The ace of spades is known in folklore/legend as the death card.

Note 97 on left shoulder (our right)

Note DG097 on right chest plate (our left)

The last set of decals is the number 97 and the string of letters and numbers DG097. Probably just identification numbers

Sayings

Note saying "Counting bodies like sheep..."

Counting bodies like sheep is a rather bleak saying. There is saying that one death is a tragedy but a million is a statistic. The deaths are just numbers instead of being people. Similar in a sense to counting sheep to fall asleep. They just become numbers.

This saying has a real world connection with the songs Pet and Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm of The War Drums by A Perfect Circle.

Note Worm Food on right shoulder (our left)

Finally, we have the saying worm food. In its most literal sense it is referring to the dead which are worm food. Worm food itself is a saying used in place of dead or passed away

Commando Uncle 5

Photo Credit: Neil Blevins

Faction: Earth Coalition
Nationality: Unknown
First Colorway Appearance: Dropcloth
Figures in Colorway: Dropcloth (1/6, 1/12)

Uncle 5 (either a unit of DCs or just a unique singular DC) was part of a crack group of commando DCs and troops that infiltrated Deimos, a key communication relay for Mars, and took it over. Earth forces held it for 23 days before the Martians were able to retake it.

Decals

Note the U5 on cloth and chest. Photo Credit: Neil Blevins

The main decal of Uncle 5 is U5. This is where the name Uncle 5 comes from but the actual word for the U might be unit instead of uncle. Uncle was probably a nickname given to the unit or the Dropcloth itself. Small U5s can also be found on the arms (back of right and on bicep of left) of the Dropcloth inside of a red circle.

Note broken heart on left shoulder and coffin on left forearm

Two other prominent decals are the broken heart on the Dropcloth's left shoulder and a coffin (found on the back of the cloth and on the left forearm).

Heraldry of the 44th Combat Engineer Battalion

The broken heart also has a small blood drop underneath it. The broken heart could have many meaning from the commando group being heart breakers to the the enemy or possibly being heart broken themselves. In our world their was a military unit that used the broken heart as part of their heraldry. That would be the 44th Combat Engineer Battalion or the Broken Heart Battalion of the US Army. The name Heart Broken comes from the battalion was looking forward to arriving home after being deployed to Japan after WW2. However, while on the boat home, they were redeployed to Korea to help with the Korean War. It was possible the soldiers serving alongside these DCs experienced a similar scenario. They might of been on their way back to Earth but the higher powers said they were going to Deimos instead.

The coffin found on Uncle 5 is an old six panel one (like you see in western movies). Coffins are associated with death and for a commando group that's kind of what they do best (usually with a hint of stealth). It might also be a symbol of how dangerous a commandos work is. Essentially dead men walking depending on the mission. It's hard to see but under the coffin there is the word: he. It could be the initials HE instead of the word he. Who this could be is a mystery to me or what he would be in reference to under the coffin. It might be a reference to death himself (coffin being death and the he referring to his physical form).

Note hash marks on right shoulder

Note hash marks on left shoulder

The last decal found on Uncle 5 is four diagonal lines or hash marks. These could be for possible kills (kill marks). A possible (if loose) real world relation might be the 5th Special Forces Groups beret flash (Commando Uncle 5... 5th Special Forces Group).

5th Special Forces Group's beret flash

Names

Commando Uncle 5: Commando Unit 5

Deep Powder Corp

Faction: Unknown (either Earth Coalition or Martian Sympathizer)
Nationality: Unknown
First Colorway Appearance: Bramble Mk2 (Deep Powder) / Large Martin (Mr. Frosty) / A whole damn set (Frosty Choad)
Figures in Colorway (Deep Powder): Bramble Mk2 (1/6, 1/12), Bertie Mk2 (1/12), Bertie Mk3 Mode A & B (1/6, 1/12), Harold (1/6, 1/12), Square Mk1 (1/12), Square Mk2 aka Snippy (1/6), Bot Sniper Frank (1/6), Mighty Square (1/6), Caesar (1/6, 1/12), Grunt (1/6, 1/12)
Figures in Colorway (Mr. Frosty): Bramble Mk2 (1/12), Large Martin (1/6, 1/12), Dropcloth (1/6, 1/12), Square Mk1 (1/6), Square Mk2 (1/6, 1/12)
Figures in Colorway (Frosty Choad): Large Martin (1/12), Damn Large Martin (1/12), RPG Bramble (1/12), Bertie Mk2 (1/12), Square Mk1 (1/12)

The first thing to understand about the Deep Powder Corp is that it's a loose group and not heavily centralized. It serves as a patrol corps in Europe and has many of its smaller formations spread out over the continent. Some of these formations are the 3rd, Mr. Frosty, and Frosty Choad.

All the Deep Powder groups have a variation of whites, blues, and blacks as their main colors.

Decals

Mr. Frosty

Deep Powder. New main decal.

Deep Powder. Old main decal.

The old main decal that was used by the 3rd looked like stems with pedals on the end. It looks like wilting flowers and with the winter theme this would be apt for the Deep Powder Corp.

The new main decal of the 3rd is a snowflake. Mr. Frosty also have a snowflake as a prominent decal. They might look the same from a quick glance but the snowflake found on the 3rd is thicker and more defined then the Mr. Frosty snowflake. The Mr. Frosty snowflake is thinner, has more branches, and the branches don't connect to one another.

Note the lines on the body and going down onto the cloth

Lines on the main body and partially on the face shield

The main decal for the Mr. Frosty group are a series of lines. There direction and number (minimum of 2) of the lines varies. Some of the lines will form an F on some of the bots (Large Martin and the squares) this might stand for frosty or maybe they just like the letter F. On the Dropcloth the lines look like a 77.

Note the FC on the main body

The main decal for Frosty Choad is FC which is the initials of its name. If you're wondering what a choad is it is a derogatory term that refers to a penis that is wider than it is long. There, now you know.

Note the cartoon character on the bots right (our left)

On all the Deep Powder 3rd bots with the snowflake decals there's a cartoon character which has been drawn onto them. It's a person with two pointy incisors holding a bomb above their head and a word bubble. The world bubble doesn't have words but another drawing. It's a skull with a singular X inside of it. It looks like the little guy is saying death and about to lob a bomb. It's not uncommon for soldiers to draw on their equipment but this particular decal is found on other bots. One possibility of what it could be is the 3rd's mascot.

Note right shoulder (our left)

On some of the Mr. Frosty bots there is a Minus 77 decal. This sticks to the winter theme found for Deep Powder with the Minus 77 referring to temperature. Now whether it's in Fahrenheit or Celsius is up for debate (-77F = -60C, -77C = -106F).

Note left shoulder (our right)

Speaking of minuses there is one found on Frosty Choad bots on the left shoulder. Going back to the winter theme again with negative temperatures.

Note left shoulder (our right)

On all Deep Powder 3rd bots there is an arrow pointing upwards.

Note chevrons on face shield

Chevron on right side (our left) of the Square. Also note the square on the squares face (ha!)

On all Frosty Choad bots there is a series of chevrons on them. One is pointing towards a group of two. Also on all the bots (with arms) there are two chevrons located on their right shoulders. Two chevrons denotes the rank of corporal.

Also located on all Frosty Choad bots is a single square. This square is located in a variety of places. The Large Martins have them located around one eye, one on the square's face, one of the Brambles chest plates, and the Bertie's hand.

Mr. Frosty Decal

On some of the Mr. Frosty bots there is a decal sporting their name sake. A kind of skull with Mr. Frosty written below it. Either a unit badge or their mascot. It's an interesting choice as there was a children's toy in the 1980s known as Mr. Frosty which could make flavored ice (it didn't work all that well).

On all Deep Powder, Mr. Frosty, and Frosty Choad bots there are numbers.

For Deep Powder the most prominent is a big 3 or 3rd. Found on the Bertie Mk3s are the numbers 3 and 4. These are possibly there own designations as bot 3 and 4. The number 27 shows up on a few Deep Powder bots. This possibly might denote their own formation under the 3rd (3rd say being a division while 27 might denote the brigade under said 3rd division).

On Mr. Frosty all bots have a 77 surrounded by brackets.

On all Frosty Choad bots there is the number 17 followed by an M. 17 meters? 17 miles? Or something else entirely?

Sayings

Frigide Hassen

One saying found on the Deep Powder bots in frigide hassen. This is German for hate cold. Now this is a translation error (admitted by Ashley Wood). It's supposed to be flipped being read as cold hate. This saying falls in line with the winter theme of the Deep Powder Corp bots but the saying of cold hate has much more to do with feelings then it does with weather. 

Cold Heart

On the Mr. Frosty bots a saying that pops up is cold heart. Like cold hate the saying itself has less to do with weather and more so a feeling or emotion. Cold hearted is to be unfeeling or unsympathetic.

Zucker Tod (left tread, our right)

Another saying found on Deep Powder is zucker tod. This is German for sugar death. Sugar death fits into the winter theme of the Deep Powder Corp. Sugar is white and it does have the ability to kill. Also sugar is known as the white death which really fits in with the whole winter theme.

Names

Harold (Deep Powder): Winnipeg - Winnipeg
Square Mk1 (Deep Powder): Snippy - The name Frank gave to his Square. Frank thinks Snippy is embodied by his dead brother who died in a car accident at 11.
Bot Sniper (Deep Powder): Frank - He's Frank...
Large Martin (Mr. Frosty): Mr. J Frosty -This guy
Dropcloth (Mr. Frosty): Snowballer - Snowballer or Snowballer
Grunt (Mr. Frosty): Dunn - Dunn
Damn Large Martin (Frosty Choad): Stephen - Stephen Morris
Large Martin (Frosty Choad): Ian - Ian Curtis
Bramble Mk2 (Frosty Choad): Peter - Peter Hook
Bertie Mk2 (Frosty Choad)- Barney - Bernard Sumner
Square Mk1 (Frosty Choad): Gillian - Gillian Gilbert

666th Desert Combat (Sand Devils)

Faction: Earth Coalition

Nationality: Unknown

First Colorway Appearance: Large Martin

Figures in Colorway: Large Martin (1/6, 1/12), Damn Large Martin (1/12), Dropcloth (1/6, 1/12), Square Mk2 (1/6, 1/12), Mighty Square (1/6), Bertie Mk3 Mode A & B (1/6, 1/12), Caesar (1/6, 1/12), Grunt (1/6, 1/12)

One of the many desert forces of the Earth Coalition. The 666th were up for a fight in any arid region you could dump them in.

The 666th have a base color of tan. Weathering comes in brown, black, and white. Decals are presented in either black or white.

Decal Breakdown 

The primary symbol of the Sand Devils is a white skull which is surrounded by a white circle. On the skull there are the numbers 666. 

666 is the number of the beast with the beast being the devil. This religious symbolism is hardly surprising coming from an Earth Coalition group as they were a force primarily composed of Christians. Used in a reverse form here to intimidate their enemies instead of being something they feared themselves.

Note the 666 on the cannon canisters

Note the 666th on the head

The numbers 666 can be found on two other decals. The 666 which is encircled and another labeled as the 666th which itself is encircled as well.  

DC decal located on upper part of the arm

Then there's the initials DC inside of a square. They are either black or white. The initials stands for Desert Combat.

EC decal located on the DLMs right (to our left) arm

Another initial that be spotted on Sand Devils is EC in white. This stands for Earth Coalition.

Fallen decal on the Caesar's cloth and the bar code on its head. Photo Credit: Collectiondx

One very intriguing detail on the Sand Devils is the Fallen decal which is located on some of the bots. One's mind might immediately jump to the ex-N.O.M. members but one must keep in mind the religious symbolism used by the 666th. For them the Fallen have nothing to do with N.O.M. but everything to do with the devil. The devil (Lucifer) and his followers themselves were once one of Gods servants, angels. However, Lucifer rebelled and sparked a civil war in heaven that saw Lucifer and his allies defeated and cast out. They would forever be known as the fallen angels.

The last bit of decal is the bar code found on the back of some of the robots heads. This bar code doesn't read as anything but for the forces of the 666th it would be a quick and efficient way of keeping tabs on units that have returned from the field or not.

Cannon Sayings

Soldiers like to scribble on anything that can get their hands on. The cannons of the robots in the 666th are no different.

The Sand Devil Large Martin and the Damn Large Martin share the sayings devil tongue on their cannons. Devil Tongue might be in reference to the old Devil's Tongue Battery found on Gibraltar. It would make sense for the artillery pieces of the 666th to borrow a name from an artillery battery.

The saying on the Bertie Mk3 Mode B is fawk tongue. Fawk isn't a real word but it might be the 666th being cute with the word fuck.

Names

The 666th do love to name their bots. Below is their names and any real world connections that they have.


Large Martin: Robbie - Unknown real world connection
Damn Large Martin: Bobbie (If I remember correctly) - Unknown real world connection
Dropcloth: Monty - Bernard "Monty" Montgomery
Square Mk2: Meh-Fisto - Mephistopheles
Bertie Mk3 Mode A: Chad - A 3A Legion Member
Bertie Mk3 Mode B: McQueen - Steve McQueen
Caesar: Clint E. - Clint Eastwood
Mighty Square: No Name
Grunt: Private Fuchs - Fuchs is German and Yiddish for fox

Colorway Breakdown Primer

Counting Bodies Like Sheep...

Wanted to post this up so people know what to expect from the colorway breakdowns that this blog will be focusing on.

For the most part a good chunk of colorways borrow from our actual world. Some might have a presence in the WWR universe (especially with things relation to WW2). However some things are drawn directly from our current world.

The breakdowns will mostly focus on decals. Trying to break them down in a historical context or what they mean if possible. Some have a direct historical or meaning while others do not. For those that don't it then comes down to an educated guess on what they mean.

Other then decals we'll break down names, sayings, and providing translations if needed.

Tome O' Bots Part 2

Harold

Variants: Mk1

Cannons

Arms

The first robot Rothchild ever rolled off his assembly lines. A cylinder attached to a tank like lower body with two cannons, arms, or a combo of both. The Harold was a tracked robot do to Rothchild not being able to figure out how to get a bi-pedal robot working (he eventually would). This made the Harold great on flat surfaces but suffered on everything else. There's also the question of the Harold's AI. It was anything but smart and it would degrade rapidly if injured causing instances of friendly fire or the Harold blowing itself up. The Harold did its job on the battlefield though and helped launch Rothchild Mechanics into the beast it would later become.

Caesar

Variants: Mk1, Mk1.5

Dome - Single Shield

Flat Top - Single Shield

Flat Top - Duel Shield

 The Caesar was the most advanced robot that Rothchild had ever produced. A 8 foot tall robot of pure steel, aggression, and evil intelligence. Mk1 Caesars were a cylindrical body with proportional arms. Attached at the shoulder was as independently moving shield that protected the Caesar from incoming projectiles. A shield can be located on one arm (usually the right) but some Caesars had two shields. Caesars came in two variations. A flat top and a dome. It is said that the flat tops were more thug like compared to the thinking killers that the domes were. Mk1 Caesars came equipped with pistols, machine guns, assault rifles, and knives. 

Mk1.5

Mk1.5 Caesars had the same body as the Mk1 Caesar but all Mk1.5s to date have only been spotted being shield-less flat tops. One small change to the Mk1.5 had been the main sensor which instead of being a single one is a group of three. All Mk1.5 Caesars had only ever been seen with Rothchild. A Mk1.5 came equipped with a grenade launcher, pistol, and knife.

The idea of Caesar was born out of the failed Dirty Deeds assassination of Rothchild. Rothchild saw that he needed a personnel bodyguard and only the best robot he could come up with would do. Like all good businessmen Rothchild came up with an export version that he sold to the EC and deployed to Rothchild's own forces. Some interesting notes about the Caesar. One, it has the ability to jam a Square's communication equipment and they would kill them no matter their affiliation just because. Second, Caesar's were a high octane, high testosterone machine. In the same force one could see Caesars bumping or shoulder shoving. All part of their protocol to keep them feisty. Third, Rothchild could see through the eyes of every Caesar. Fourth, N.O.M. had a four in ten chance of ending up on the wrong end of a Caesars knife when trying to convert them.

Large Martin/Damn Large Martin

Variants: V2, V3

Large Marin

Damn Large Martin

The Large Martin was a mobile artillery piece. Not particularly fast but they were one of the most destructive robots to come from Rothchild. A Large Martin was based around a thick central body, a flat head, large arms with meat tenderizers, and squat legs. Attached to the Large Martins head is a large metal plate for extra protection and an artillery cannon. On a Damn Large Martin the metal plate has been shifted towards the center and it sports two artillery cannons.

V3

The V3 Damn Large Martin retained the same body of the V2. The only changes were to its head and cannons. Now instead of being a mobile artillery piece the V3 was a mobile anti air unit.

Square

Variants: Mk1, Mk2, 4-Square, Bomb (1.5a), Tank, Mighty, Birdcage

Mk1

Squares came in all sorts of flavors but they all had the same job. They were scouting and communications platforms. All Squares are simple in their design but the Mk1 is the most simple being a box with stubby little legs. On this box was a cute little face and voice unit that made the square sound like a small child. This was to disarm soldiers who would try and harm the Square.

Tank Square

A retrofit to the Mk1 was adding tanks treads to them. This was done so Squares working on Mars who could be quicker and more efficient in that environment.

Retrofit

Another retrofit to a Mk1 square has been to add longer legs to them like their Mk2 cousins. This could be seen on units operating in adverse conditions like snow.

Square Bomb

One last retrofit to the Mk1 was attaching a large bomb to its head and using it as a suicide bomber.

Mk2

A Mk2 retains the same box body but had replaced the stubby legs with longer legs and has a single eye instead of two. They were agile and quick.

4-Square

4-Squares retain the same box body but now had four legs giving it the appearance of a spider. Like the Mk2 Square these were much more agile then the Mk1s.

Mighty Square

Then there was the Mighty Square. It was the largest Square to ever see the battlefield. Beyond the usual box body it has thicker legs in the same shape as the Mk1. It had armored side aprons that to protect those vulnerable legs. Mighty Squares didn't have the same scouting responsibilities that they other Squares had. Instead the Mighty served as a network hub for Squares and other robots on the battlefield. Data and information could be quickly and efficiently shared to robots with a Mighty Square on the battlefield.

Birdcage

Lastly we have the Birdcage. The Birdcage was quite the departure from the other squares (and one might argue it's a entirely different bot). It still retained that central box body but it now sported Caesar like legs and a armored apron. The Birdcage also lacked the usual face you'd find on a square and only retained a set of eyes. The Birdcage was mainly used as a logistical robot ferrying equipment over rough terrain.