The American Redneck (pretend latin name: goodoleboyus jethrous) is a durable stereotype recognized worldwide. He’s probably second only to the cowboy as an icon of the United States. As somebody who lives in a rather rural state of the union I’m not crazy about that, but as a GM and tabletop gamer I can see the advantages.

Since everybody knows the basic characteristics of a stereotypical redneck, they take almost no effort to set up or play. Put on a cornpone accent and say “yeehaw” a lot and everybody at the table knows exactly where you’re coming from. As a class, rednecks are famous for being proud, heavily-armed, intolerant, racist, poorly-educated and rampaging alcohol abusers. This set of traits makes them perfect ingredients for almost any RPG or tabletop scenario as either noble allies pitching in to combat some eldritch menace or as cliquish hillbillies out to wipe out “durn city folk.” Whatever the scenario, rednecks can be a useful part of your toolbox.

Which brings us to this week’s subject: a pack of rednecks (technically “Redncks/Militia”) from West Wind’s Roadkill line. What I like about these minis is that with one glance you know exactly who they’re supposed to represent. Each is clad in bluejeans or overalls and a trucker cap, and half of them have beer in one hand and a gun in the other. The hats and beer cans offer a great opportunity for painters more far more skilled than I to add a little satire to their tabletops by depicting favorite (or despised) brands of beer or sports teams. I tried hard to paint each of their hats with a tiny UK (the University of Kentucky is my home state’s somewhat rural university, bitter rivals with my city’s University of Louisville) , but my freehand skills just weren’t up to it.

Hey Earl, what's that on your leg?

Overall detail is quite good on these figs. Their clothing is nicely sculpted with appropriate folds and creases, except for one oddly huge line on one mini’s inside pant leg. They pack a variety of reasonable accurately-sculpted guns, certainly far better than the semi-blobs carried by the pack of West Wind’s police officers I looked at in an earlier review.

Much like the other WW packs in my collection, the overall anatomy on the rednecks is decent, with heads and feet in proper proportion, but the faces leave something to be desired. Their leader (holding the most cans of beer) cuts a fine figure with his formidable muttonchops and shades, but the others have an oddly froglike cast to their features and all three have odd and unnatural expressions on their faces. It’s nothing you’re likely to notice on the tabletop, but after spending time with Hasslefree’s amazing line of adventurers the difference really stood out to me.

The guy with the most beer is always the leader

Git them dang zombies!

Overall I really liked these minis. At $9 for all four, they represent a good value, with impressive detail considering their price point. I plan to use my as a posse of “good ole boy” zombie hunters, but they can play a number of roles on a variety of tabletops, and I would rate them as a good addition to any modern-era GM’s collection.

Pros: Highly characterful, Nice clothing detail, Good Value

Cons: Faces somewhat crude

Final Verdict: 3/5

MSRP: $9/6 GBP

Source: Old Glory 25s

Popularity: 23% [?]

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