I've seen these things advertised from time to time. The aircraft looked nice, but the vehicles and infantry just don't show up well in the pictures (I've been looking at Picoarmor's website). Well, we're starting to think in terms of platoon-sized elements and I thought it would be interesting to have all the platoon components represented on the element stand (i.e., a 1-to-1 depiction on the stand).
So, I decided to try these guys out to see what they're like. I pulled out my Flames of War Afrika book and calculated out what it would take to represent a British Armored Regiment and a Motor Rifle Company with an anti-tank battery, an anti-aircraft battery, an artillery battery, and a recon troop. The total cost wasn't outrageous (a hair about $150 USD with enough tanks to have two squadrons of each type -- A9s, A10s, A13s, Crusader Is, Crusader IIs, Grants, and Honeys). At that price shipping was free. What the heck! I ordered them on Wednesday (the 24th). They arrived today (the 26th)!!!
All I can say is Great Googley Moogley!!! These things are incredible! As is the service from Picoarmor.
The tanks look exactly right; the amount of detail is amazing for something so small. Even the infantry is much more well defined that I would have ever expected.
A couple of things to be aware of, if you're considering buying. First, they're almost completely flash-free. The only flash I've found is on the infantry, and only on the bases themselves. But there are strands on many of the corners of the vehicles from the vent channels in the molds. Not a problem, no detail is obscured, but they'll all have to be trimmed.
Second, the standard pack is 15. For the tanks, they're all identical in each pack. The guns are different, though. There are 15 strips in each gun pack, but there are two guns on each strip. One gun is in the firing position, the other in the towing position. Guns in the firing position have crew figures integrated on each base. So, you could easily set up a couple of batteries of guns in the firing position and a corresponding amount in march column (but you'd have to order prime movers for them). Just incidentally, the Bofors 40mm come with 7 guns in firing position, 7 in towed position, 7 Matador prime movers, and 1 15cwt command truck. Other guns (AT, artillery) don't come with tows in the pack.
Third, gun barrels. At this scale, they're incredibly small. So, the models actually have what I thought was flash between the barrel and the base/hull. It's not actually flash; it's cast that way. But at that scale, it isn't a visual problem at all.
Next, heavy infantry weapons. The pack is listed as HMGs/Mortars. There are 15 strips, each strip having 1 Vickers with 3-man crew and 1 3" mortar with 4-man crew. So these have to be separated. They remind me a lot of the old, old Minifigs strips, except that the strip itself is very thin. Now, that being said, the metal is very tough; you're not going to warp it by bending it. I've been using sidecutters to deepen the seam between the two teams and then using small needle-nosed pliers to snap them apart.
Infantry is very much the same way. There are 5 strips with a prone 3-man rifle section and a 2-man Bren section that need to be separated. The infantry pack also contains 10 strips of a 3- and a 5-man rifle section standing/advancing. There is enough infantry in each pack to have 3 3-man standing sections, 3 5-man standing sections, 1 3-man prone section, and 1 2-man prone Bren to represent a platoon; and the pack has enough for three such platoons with one Bren and one 3-man prone section left over. By the way, the infantry, support weapons, and guns are on integral bases about 1mm thick, so they're not fiddly at all.
Other vehicles. The 15cwt trucks all have canvas; the Matadors are open-topped; and the Quads are the early model with the odd angles and enclosed body. I also picked up some US jeeps from the modern line, a pack of French field cars, and a pack each of French and Polish trucks -- the latter two because there are not yet any British 3-ton lorries, and these will do the trick for the time being. Half the field cars have canvas; the other half are top-down, so they make good staff cars. Half the jeeps are regular jeeps with just a driver; the other half have a 30-cal on a pedestal mount between the front seats with a gunner in the back.
The bottom line is that I love these figures. I'm thinking about putting each platoon on a 1.5"x1.5" base along with their transport (for the infantry and tanks; gun units will have to be larger -- maybe 2.5"x1.5"). I'm thinking that each base will become a mini-diorama with platoons doing different things (advancing, dug in, etc.).
For the purchase price, I ended up with enough stuff for a Motor Rifle Company (3 rifle platoon stands, 1 HMG platoon stand, and 1 3" mortar platoon stand with their own transport; and enough stuff left over for two more HMG platoons and one more mortar platoon), 10 armored troops of 3 tanks apiece, an artillery battery of 8 25-pdrs, 5 troops of 3 infantry tanks apiece, an anti-aircraft battery of 6 guns and transport, and two anti-tank batteries of 6 guns and transport, and a couple of armored car platoons -- 30 platoon-level stands, plus a couple of command stands. Doesn't sound like a whole lot, except that that includes enough tanks and anti-tank guns to cover any period of the war in North Africa from 1940 through 1943 with the appropriate equipment (although I'm now eagerly awaiting the release of some 17/25-pdrs).
In case I'm being obscure . . . I am extremely pleased with the purchase. As soon as I can get these guys mounted and painted, I'm going to order a similar Afrika Korps force to fight against.
