It's the end of the month and what do we get at the end of the month? Infinity releases! Weee! There's some old stuff and some new stuff and some really new stuff in the May releases, some of which we've seen as concept art in the seminar a few weeks ago. Let's have a look...
Let's start out with the Yu Jing Raiden Seibutai with heavy rocket launcher. Although I didn't dislike the first Raiden I wasn't overly impressed either, it looked cool enough but it didn't really click for me. For some reason this second one is different. It's still the same design, so I don't know why, but something about the pose and the way he holds the rocket launcher really makes it work! When I first picked up Yu Jing I had this idea to start out that way but work my way into JSA eventually. I never did go down that way (yet) and with the Invincible sectorial on the horizon that's probably where I'll end up in the end. However, I do think this is a solid choice for JSA players who want some decent firepower that can survive the first couple of turns intact. For vanilla Yu Jing I'm not so sure but I think there's a place for him in JSA.
Then we have a taste of things to come for Ariadna in the Kazak Spetsnazs. Here's a guy I really like! You can immediately tell it's a Kazak but the added webbing, equipment and beret tells you this is something out of the ordinary! Great mini with superb detailing and very cool looking scope/mask. We don't really know what he can do yet, except that he has Ambush Camo(?) and Marksman L2 which is a new skill that give your attack the effect of Shock Ammo and can remove the penalty for shooting a target behind cover. Pretty neat! More info on Marksman at BoW. This certainly seems like it could be a scary alpha strike kind of unit and shock ammo effect should make sure that those pesky No Wound Incapacitation guys and gals will go down properly.
Now we'll take a quick break from all the guns and have a look at the O-12 High Commisioner. I really liked the concept art for the commisioner and the model doesn't disappoint! Good lines, nice flow of the cloak and a commanding presence. I imagine this guy just ignoring the chaos of the battlefield around him as he needs to get on his transport, or update his top secret O-12 twitter account. Unfazed by what goes on around him! It's also good to have a civilian available outside of one of the Dire Foes boxes.
Next up is a box of PanO Knights of Santiago. This is a mix of the two older Santiago knights and two new ones, namely the one with Boardnig Shotgun and the one AP CCW. I'm not a particularly big fan of the whole knight thing that PanO has going, these are an exception though. And it's all thanks to the sheer amount of movement displayed in their metal bodies! I also think it's great how well the old and new sculpts go together, the old ones don't stand out at all (like in the new Neoterra Starter). My only niggle is that the combirifle knight totes the old version of the gun. Had that been updated as well, this would have been a perfect box! They are pretty scary on the tabletop - not quite as close combat oriented as many other knights they have a great BS of 14 and with a 360 visor they're a tough nut to crack even in the active turn. They are slow, but with Frenzy you could get some more speed out of them after their first kill! Oh, and the two new ones will be released separately as a blister for a limited time, so go and get them now if you already have the old pair.
Last but not least we have the new Nomad Tunguska Intervetors! To these I can only say, yes please and hurry up and bring me more! As far as I'm concerned the old Nomad range is by far the one in most need of resculpts so I'm always happy to see things like these! The new Moiras were a great step up and so are the new Interventors. Speaking of the Moiras there's some similarities in the uniform which is nice. The goggles are still there although they've been scaled down a little. Them being labeled as Tunguska Interventors is kind of interesting as it might imply that vanilla ones won't get access to the new nifty looking Fast-Pandas. Who, by the way, look really cool and nothing like the more whimsical drop cat we saw a couple of months ago (although I liked that). These Interventors also have a much more militaristic, Tunguskan look to them so maybe we'll actually end up with regular and Tunguskan Interventors in the future...
A solid month! I think my favourites are the Interventors followed by the Spetsnaz... with the knights very close behind. I'm excited to see units from the new book(s) already and can't wait to see the new Invicibles!
As I always use scenic bases, I'm not a big fan of the old "sniper with a foot on a rock/wall/whatever" pose, especially as we are getting another one this month.
ReplyDeleteLove the Interventors, though, even though it wa a slimmer month this time around.
Yes, I agree about the rock thing. Usually easy enough to replace with something more fitting for your base, but still.
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