Wednesday 4 April 2012

Review: Reinforcements from Critical Mass Games

My 15mm 'Op4' (the faction is still to be named) arrived this morning from Critical Mass Games; 1 platoon of recon troopers, 1 platoon of droptroopers, a pack of 'Command' recon troopers and a pack of 'Recon Infantry w/ Laser Cannons. This should give me enough Recon Troopers to build two small platoons, each with 1x2 man command team, 3x4 man teams w/ small arms, 2x2 man teams w/ grenade launcher and 4x2 man teams w/Laser Cannon, oh and a couple of sniper teams left over. I did forget to account for a CO and 2iC so thats a bit of a bummer, I'll have to pick them up at Salute. 

Here's some pictures, one of each pose, from the above sets to show what you get and a few words on quality, poses etc. A bit further down I've dones some comparison pictures with minis from CMG, GZG and Old Glory to show scale. Hope this is some use. 

Closeups

Laser Cannon troopers, for some reason the design of the LC in the middle pose is different to the other two, not sure why... Also, I think they look a little like they want to get the LC as far away from them as possible for some reason.
Some of the Droptrooper poses, not entirely sure about the Grenadiers, look a little awkward. 
The rest of the Droptrooper poses. Again, not the best imo.
Recon Troopers w/ Sniper Rifles. 
Recon Troopers w/ Grenade Launchers. Really like these sculpts.  
Recon Troopers Command pack. 
Kneeling Recon Trooper pack. Again, nice poses on these. 
The Standing pack (couldn't find the other pose...)
Conclusions:

Pros

  • Sharp sculpts. 
  • Good design (I think!)
  • Fairly priced, for Sci-Fi  - £14.99 for recon platoon (43 figures), £9.99 for Droptroopers (27 figures), 8 man packs for £3.70. Also, if in UK, no import duties!
  • Well cast - few mould lines (mainly on helmet visors and shoulders pads/legs), little/no flash, no miscasts or air bubbles. 
  • Pose variety - sufficient.
Cons
  • Poses  - some of them, especially the droptrooper line, look a little awkward. However, generally good. 
  • 'Scale Creep'  - Recon Troopers are 16.5mm, Drop Troopers are almost 18mm (although they are wearing light power armour, so this is ok). This makes them look a little odd next to Praesentia line. 

Verdict -  Solid. 


Comparisons 


In the comparison below the RAL is exactly 15m from eye to foot. Beware integral bases when comparing!
Left to Right: CMG PhaseShifter, CMG Praesentia, OG German infantry, CMG Droptrooper, CMG Recon Trooper, GZG Spider Drone, CMG Droptrooper, OG German Infantry, CMG RAL, GZG Drone. 

All in all it looks like my new Human faction are a tad on the tall side, must have come from a low gravity world it seems!


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