Britanan Troopers and Grenadiers Product Review

 Being one step ahead of all things minis related I was obviously going to have my name on the pre - order list for these bad boys.

Initially impressed with the greens and then fully wowed by Atacams superb paint job I knew I had to have some. I managed to aquire 9 troopers and 6 grenadiers all at just under £2 a model - at such a reasonable price I was happy already. But what was in the packs? Were the models really as detailed up close as they looked in the picture? Anything not quite right about the casts?

OK first thing all the models came carefully packaged in packs of 3. You get 3 bodies, 3 heads on sprues and 3 gun arms on sprues for the troopers - the heads are completely interchangeable but the arms are all set poses - so all in all your left with 9 possible variants straight out the pack (handy that I got 9 right?) - The Grenadiers are slightly different - 3 bodies, 3 seperate heads, only 2 guns (ones already attached) and a really fiddly looking bit of cloak for one model (Don't worry it does initially look awkward to attach but on closer inspection its perfectly cast so only a minimal amount of greenstuff required), so again 9 variations available for the Grenadiers.

the number 9 will be very significant in Relics one day... they're coming...

Oops I nearly said too much... again. 

Anyways lets get down to the assembly part. The metals good quality, soft and easy to work with and the casts have minimal mold lines. The heads of all the models have got a fair amount of weight to them so definitely require pinning, I drilled mine down about 1/2 inch each way so Ive got a nice sturdy join. A small amount of green stuff was used to fill the few gaps in the join but its not entirely necessary, its a matter of taste and how thorough you intend to be with the paint job.  The arms are a little different and you could probably get away with just a bit of super glue, still theres enough room to get a pin in there so you can make them all pretty hard wearing if you want. The cloak is the only fiddly bit really but again super glue alone should hold it, there ain't enough room there for a pin so I reinforced mine with green stuff.

On to basing - the tags on the Brits are pretty large and at first I was a little unsure as to how well they'd fit the bases, I decided on building up green stuff around the base to give it more depth so the large tag actually became an advantage. You could always remove a chunk of the tag but I wasn't brave enough to do so as I thought I might weaken the peg legs.

So thats the assembly part over... well not quite... a models never really a model until its based and undercoated! :p

 OK a bit of sand and a spray and we're ready to go.

I opted for a slightly alternative colour scheme, replacing the tan "skin" that Atacam used with a light jean like blue ( Red , White and Blue) and missing off the yellow details ( not my favourite colour) on the trim.  Be warned these models are incredibly detailed and painting the stitching can be a real ball ache, Im lucky to have my good friend Paulius EL Fliddo Majic Fingers Esquire on hand to help out with the fine detailing, if not for his assistance I might have opted for a simpler scheme to cover any mistakes so its worth being aware of your own abilities before you put paint to brush.

Game wise - Having played a few games of the quickstart rules I am favouring the grenadiers over the troopers as they are the heavy hitters at the moment, the troopers make up more the bulk of the force. This is all reflected in the points so if you want a fair pointed army straight away id go for more Grenadiers than troopers, although if you prefer horde type armies then bulking out on troopers is the way to go. 

Outside of Relics and alternative uses - well the size of the Brits makes them an obvious candidate for alternative dwarfs/ halflings , Rhulic Warmachine players could make a tasty looking unit from Brit bits :p you could easily swap out the heads and add in whatever you fancy from any range, also the heads themselves fit comfortably on larger more human sized models so the possibilities are only limited by your own twisted imaginations:P Also another possible use is for alternative Malifaux pieces, I may even make some Bayeux Gremlins using Britanan bodies myself...

Well I think Ive covered everything so far and to sum up they're basically just cool to have in your mini collection whatever game you play, the minis are well priced and they're on the same level as PP's high standard, these are the first of many options for the Britanan forces and will be the main foot soldiers for the majority of armies, there are plenty of other goodies on the horizon to really expand the range properly...

Time for me to Hush Hush for now... I do believe my Unmann are in the post right now and Il be sure to mention all the little details about those here soon.

Thanks for reading and be sure to head over to the official Tor Gaming Page for more info on Relics and the puppet army of mad King Jorje... yh thats right mad King Jorje...