June Releases and USAriadna for Infinity!

Alright, fashionably late to the party, as usual, but here are my thoughts on this months releases. I'll go through the regular ones first and then take a look at the new USAriadna starter set. I'll try to keep it brief. ;)

Oh, and I just realized that I forgot to post the March/April post that I started on. Hmm... should I finish it and post it just for posterity, or simply cut my losses and move on? Does anyone actually care?! Haha!

Speak of the devil! The Hardcases is the first mini for USAriadna released into the wild! It's not quite a cowboy (we'll get those later!) but still unmistakably American in its style. I'm not one of those who's been on the edge of my seat waiting for this sectorial, but it's a nice figure for sure. Good pose and some cool detailing. In game he's a cheap with ambush camo and infiltration, carrying a Tactical Bow and either a light shotgun or a rifle. Irregular to, if the title didn't give it away. Hehe!

Be still, my heart! The new Yan Huo with Hyper-Rapid Magnetic Cannon for Yu Jing is... very nice! I liked the first one with dual missile launchers that was released back in January, but this is a notch above. The pose is similar, although mirrored, and CB has managed to actually make it balanced looking, even with that single huge gun! Gone are also the manual triggers which I think is great as targeting should be handled internally anyway. The power pack is nice and solid looking and the gun itself looks scary - love the tri-barrel! Argh... I really need to get a second job to afford all the great new Yu Jing releases.

This came as a bit of a welcome surprise to me - a new Janissaries box for Haqqislam. We got an updated look of the Janissaries last year which I liked but felt was a bit on the thin side (there's supposed to be a guy underneath the armour after all), so I'm really glad to see that these newer sculpts have regained some of their bulk. I've always liked the design of the Janissaries and I think CB has managed to make power armour that bridge the gap between the modern/near-future stuff of Ariadna and the really futuristic armours of Pano and Yu Jing. What we get in the box is a boarding shotgun+tinbot (great to have a mini for that instead of just a marker!), a doctor and a missile launcher. The latter is also my favourite of the three (four) as she has a great pose of reaching for her next missile. Good stuff!

Alright, after all that excitement lets calm down with a repack; Combined Army Support Pack. We've all seen the Medchanoid and drones before but I think it's well worth pointing out how well they hold up to recent releases. They're some of my favourite CA minis and I think there's a distinct lack of alien in the Combined Army these days. Sure the new starter box is awesome with beautiful minis, but they're all much too human! I want more weirdness for the CA!

Finally we have another Igao for Tohaa. We got to see the first one back in February and it looked great without the symbiont armour. Very different from what we're used to from Tohaa. This one doesn't have the wild hair or the energetic pose but instead we get this really cool and dynamic shotgun/sword combo! With the boarding shotgun pressed under his right arm and then the sword helt pommel down in his left this guy looks ready for any kind of cqb. Very cool! I think I've mentioned it before, but this is pretty much a Tohaa ninja. I guess they got stabbed in the back once too many...


So that's it for the "proper" June releases. Now let's take a quick look at USAriadna! These will be quick comments.

It's worth mentioning that this is not simply a six figure starter box but entire army pack!

Alright, another antipode! I like the new antipodes alhtough I would like them even better if they were just a liiitle bit more alien. ;)

USAriadna dog warrior posing with his toys. I'm actually not that fond of this particular mini. The head looks a strange somehow and there's something a little off with how he's holding his arms. Love the great big heavy pistol though. Also, kneepads for werewolves!

What is it with N3 and motorbikes?! It used to be a Japanese thing and now they're all over the place! Not that I'm complaining, it's just an... observation. Anyway, my first reaction was that it felt weird that they'd send cruisers like this to a jungle planet but what the hell, it's such an iconic design that I can forgive them for it. It looks really nice but I'm actually more looking forward to seeing what the Desperados' bikes will look like! Also, great pose with the rider resting the shotgun on her forearm.

The Maverick dismounted. Nice model except, where did the shotty go?

Now we're getting into historical gaming I think! Nice boonie hat and walkie.

Alright, back to the sci-fi! Marauders are new medium infantry that bring heavy flamethrowers. Something slighly cadian about this guy, but I like him. Nice solid armour and a cool looking gun.

The Minutemen certainly got an upgrade! While I do think the double light flamethrowers look a little silly it's a great mini overall. I especially like the neck guard and the night vision goggles.

The three Grunts in the box. Good looking minis for sure, but I'm still tired of the "two guys looking like soldiers and one girl posing" that seem to have become the standard for line infantry these days. Nothing wrong with posing, but mix it up a little!

Finally we have the Gencon exclusive Van Zant who looks as hard as ever. Nothing amazing (except for Angel's painting!) but definitely a solid figure.


For me this months favourite release has to be the Yan Huo, closely followed by the Janissaries and the Igao. Nice to see CB picking up the slack from last month.