Shiny Package

Well I ordered some parts from Brigade Models the other day and these have arrived this morning. I have to offer my thanks to Tony at Brigade as I asked for a mix of parts to convert up some examples of Space Marine tanks. 
And here we have it - in two little baggies we have four Neo-Soviet Kunitsa APCs and five extra turrets that I orders. I actually should only have ordered four turrets, but made a mistake. 

Casting - 4 of 5
Okay first deviation from the list of rules I put in a few posts below, but it is important to talk about how much work needs to be done on clean up. Overall these are good, with minimal venting flash on two of the APCs which is easily removed. There are slight mould lines along the sides of the APCs but these are quick enough to scrape. 

Sculpt - 4 of 5
The APCs are nice, with enough detail to make them look good up close. They have items such as top and rear hatches with handles, a little windscreen and a front plate for some form if markings. I think the sides could do with some piping or exhausts just to break up the plating, but not a major issue. The turrets feel a bit more functional then detailed, and  do not have any delineation from the front of the multi barrels. 

Variation - 2 of 5
As much as I like the design of the Kunitsa there appears to be only one body design (there is a mortar version but I am counting this separately) with no extra stowage options. This is in line with APCs generally, especially the common or garden plastic Rhino but I would like to see maybe some ablative armor or a mirror version to add a be more detail. 

Atmosphere - 3 of 5
As stated on the over arching line review these give a really good near future sci-fi feel, with a definite evolution from real world vehicles here. I would like to see something that rises it slightly beyond this with some style element running through the line but this is just the GW fan in me I suspect more than anything else.

Value for Money - 5 of 5 
These are the best value APCs I have seen on the net, at 75p each these would go well alongside a plastic Space Marine box set to build up a full battle company for not much. The turrets came in at 20p a piece, totally 95p each for 4 different variant tanks. Not bad at all.

I will post up the conversion guide tomorrow for the Rhino type tank conversions hopefully. I defiantly need to sort out some better pictures as these do not do the models justice but I need both daylight and probably a better camera...

Line Review – Brigade Models Neo-Soviets

Right up for the first review is the Neo-Soviet line from Brigade Models. This is an overarching review before I get onto the models which I have, however I think it is important for the line as a whole to be talked about.

Now I was initially looking for vehicles and infantry to fill out an Imperial Guard section of my Horus Heresy era Thousand Sons force. This is the one area where really anything goes in terms of substitute miniatures but I was looking for something which was still a bit standard and love the look of the solid Neo-Soviets.

So let’s try and stick with my own guidelines and go through the scoring areas:

• Atmosphere: 3

Here I have to put something on the table – I think skulls, arches and general gothicyness are nice. So this makes atmosphere tricky to judge when you have the lashings on offer from Games Workshop or Privateer Press. However I feel that this line, and the whole Iron Cow influenced set of lines, do have a good clean modern sci-fi feel to them. They look like something that has evolved from the 21^st century naturally and that works well in my mind.

But I do like skulls…

• Sculpt: 4

These are solid sculpts in this line, with a very current feel yet enough of a future vibe to make sure they do not feel like they are out of place with the other more sci-fi hover vehicles of the Brigade Models stable. They are 6mm models so do not really need to be over sculpted anyway, but I do feel that I would like to see a little bit more in terms of baggage and detailing around the rockets/missiles.

• Variation: 4

Currently there are 21 models in the line, covering small, medium and large tanks, artillery, anti-air and transports with a few extra vehicles and two boats. These tend to have a feel of heavy vehicles across the line but fit together nicely as a whole. There are enough types of tank to really have a mix of units, with standard, close support and tank hunter classes if the game model you use supports such a mix. What surprised me, and is not clear on the website, is the mix within the individual models, with there being significant variation for the Bizon tanks especially. More on this when I review the individual models.

• Value for Money: 5

Now to me this is where the whole of the Brigade Models lines do really well, with most tanks coming in around a pound (£1) each, and less for some. This really makes it possible to build up a large force without too much of a hit in your pocket, or splash out and get a lot on the table at once. Now I do not want to draw comparisons between companies as I think that most offer something for someone but this is probably the best balance between quality and cost I have seen around.

This is a really good line, and covers all the gaps in the 3rd edition Imperial Guard army list if you are interested in this system (guess what I play...). I hope that over the next week some detail will emerge around a number of the models, but knowing me and my ease of shiny things (read data mining software at the moment) to distract me it may take a few days longer for all to appear on here.

Rules of Reveiw

I was planning on posting up first review tonight but instead had a thought about making sure I set myself some rules around reviewing to help cover some of the issues I have had looking around for miniatures. As such I hope to try and use the following as some rules to help people out there.

Standard reference model – it is always hard to see if models will scale up with others in your collection and as such am going to utilise the plastic Space Marine Rhino and plastic Space Marine infantry in mark 6 armour. These are quite common due to being a staple from the 2^nd edition Space Marine boxed set which was packed full of both.

Dimensions – I will provide length/width/height measurements for vehicles and height for infantry, alongside the same details for the Rhino and Space Marine as listed above. 

Photos – pictures should cover both painted and unpainted models, and cover an unassembled shot or two for those looking for bits.

Grading – going from 0 to 5 and covering the following areas:

• Sculpt
• Variation
• Value for Money
• Atmosphere

I know that the grading criteria will not cover everything but should give a good feel. I suspect that these will change as I review things but I will aim to stay consistent as possible with these.