August (there were no July releases) was all about USAriadna, which I didn't feel were all that interesting. We got the Tiger Soldier with Spitfire which I'll definitely get, but from a minis perspective I think this Alguaciles hacker wins out! An odd release, seeing as there's a different version in the Corregidor Starter (that I also like) but a welcome one. I quite like the pose and the intense focus he seems to have. Nice model! Would have to consider replacing the starter set hacker with this one and use the other as HVT if I ever start that Corregidor force I've been thinking about.
What's that you say? Corregidor? Yes... I'm in love with almost all Corregidor models and the Mobile Brigada is in the top two (guess top one!) so I was happy to see this nice box of four more deadly looking beetles! I still find it silly that the female minis are so thin compared to the very bulky males - you'd think they'd look pretty much the same after putting on power armour - but at least it's not as bad as the female Hsien or Hac Tao! They look good though I wouldn't mind some less static poses. Hmm... aren't heavy infantry releases generally fairly static? Anyway, love the reloading of ths shotgun and the dainty looking gun in the hand of the hacker!
October brought us the updated Guija TAG for Yu Jing and what an update it proved to be! While I still really like the original version this does look better. The only things I would have changed from a design perspective is to make the thighs bigger again (to keep the landmate feel) and make the head... weirder. I much prefer the Briareos look of the original to this very humanoid head. Finally, the pose with the sword is what makes me really sad. Yes, it's kind of cool, but I much prefer my TAGs to look like they're do ingwhat they do best - shooting people! When I get this I'm seriously going to consider converting it to actually holding and firing that Multi-HMG it's got stuck on it's back. Still, it's a lovely looking TAG!
Not satisfied with a huge TAG CB also gave us a new Azra'il in October. This is quite an update! We had of course seen the Feuerbach variant earlier but I like this one even better. The new Haqq HMG looks great and the box magazines on the back are big and chunky which i like. Tht final touch is the shield on the right arm, reminiscent of Kerberos Panzer Cops. Hmm... can you tell I like big burly robot-y stuff yet?
Oh, you couldn't tell? Alright, let me spell it out for you with even more power armour goodness!! The Domaru Butai box was delayed a couple of months until November, but well worth waiting for! This is an excellent update of the old design that incorporates parts from Neko Oyama (the haidate - thigh armour) and also retains the dynamic poses that very much fit the Domaru. Getting a Spitfire also unlocks a bunch of new options for army building. I've always been a great fan of the Domaru and if I ever expand my Yu Jing enough to run JSA I think I'll have to try a Domaru link.
Ok, so it's not only about the power armour... I like this guy more than Achilles v2! Spektrs are generally just cool and this guy has the coolest looking gun and is about to put down a mine which is something I love to do with my skirmishers! The pose is a little bit odd when you think about it, but at first glance it looks good enough so no reason to dwell I suppose.
Back to the power armour again! January brought us another new Hac Tao. This time we finally got the hacker that had been mentioned earlier and it's weird and great looking at the same time. Weird because... why does he have his sword out? Great because (among other things) he has his Multi-rifle actually slung! This is something you rarely see on Infinity minis which makes me appreciate this Hac Tao all the more for it. Also, the general update to the Hac Tao is superb and it brings much needed detail to the earlier fairly plain armour. Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the next Hac Tao will be female! January also contained the Desperados and Govads which almost made the cut into this highlight list.
February brought us another lovely Nomads release - the new and exciting Bandit! Boarding shotgun for the win again, and a neat hood/mask combo that I really like. The running pose works great as well, the only thing that looks a bit odd is the silly way he holds the sword. I understand what the sculptor had in mind but fighting like that simply doesn't make much sense. I'll most likely adjust it by cutting the sword off and turning it around so the blade goes up under his left arm. Whenever I get this guy that is!
Yes, more power armour! Hector came as a bit of a surprise to me and I think I've found the leader that I want to try and build my Steel Phalanx around. Achilles is cool and all but he's a bit headstrong. Hector seems like a much more tactical thinker. The model is nice and big with a very character tinbot and huge revolver! While the gun looks cool I at the same time feel it's a missed opportunity not to model an ALEPH plasma rifle. We've never seen anything like that before! Still, this way it's easy to use the model for whichever profile. If you're wondering why the Su Jian didn't make it it's simply because I prefer the old model - more weird and robotic looking.
Which brings us to the current releases this March. This felt a bit like one of those months where CB goes thin on releases to get the schedule back on track. Sure the HVTs are pretty cool and I'll pick up the Dragon Lady for sure, but it feels like secondary releases in a way. Still, we got the cool looking Kanren for Yu Jing! This guy is some kind of counter-insurgent, working hard to root out threats against the StateEmpire. Seemingly a very interesting toolbox model that I'm looking forward to try out.
And here's where we are now! I got to say it's been a nice past few months for us Yu Jing players with releases in six of the nine months! I have kind of reached a point now where I hesitate to paint any of my older Yu Jing models as I suspect we'll see updated versions of most of them soon enough. The quality keeps on rising steadily and although I picked mostly the big impressive power armour guys in this highlight there are so many spectacular looking lighters troops as well.
Really looking forward to seeing what else 2016 has in store. I certainly wouldn't mind resculpts of the Zhanshi line troops (and maybe Keisotsu butai) as well as the Shang Ji and Hsien. The latter two have awesome looking sculpts already but they are very much on the small side, so just a lighter update to get them into the same size as the rest of the power armour infantry might be enough.
Anyway, those are some Inifnity thoughts! See you later!
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