kreigspiel Musorian ? now with pics

[dsmith]

Afternoon fellow LAFers,
I am thinking of ordering the kreigspeil Musorians from Eureka for opfor for my empress and eureka moderns for a central american setting for ambush alley games , but I have no idea how they scale out against them, I have read they run small ,but just how small can anyone help out with photos of each. For an idea I have the FFL and USMC recon from Eureka and most of the Empress US stuff, as well as the PLA from Col.Stone and a few Mongrel. Even a reference as to how they scale with some of these others may help in my decision good fit with mongrel ,smaller then Col.stone etc..... you get the idea, I really like the fact that there are multiple sets of these with nice poses and different head gear. I almost forgot I also have some of the redstar figures. Thanks
D

[cdm]

The Musorians are old school true 25's, or 22mm eye height, sculpted by Mike Broadbent at a guess. They stand noticeably smaller than say the modern French by Kosta but the height variation may play into your hands depending on personal tastes and ethnic representation. I can take comparison photos, but not until mid next week.

[Michka]

I agree with CDM. They are on the small side of true 25mm. I have a few painted up sitting downstairs next to my old Ral Partha Twilight 2000 figures, and they are smaller than those. On the other hand you can't tell much of a difference once they're painted. When I was looking through my Russian troops box I forgot the Kriegspeils were mixed into a batch of Mongrel minis.

Sorry I can't take a picture. I haven't figured out how yet. Maybe that should be my next project.

[dsmith]

Hey thanks for the imput guys . I went ahead and ordered 1 set of the standard guys with helmets to see for my self  if all else fails they become a pygmy army set on defending the rain forest after being introduced to marxist ideals during a neighboring countries long civil war and supported by Cuba and China. Long live the revolution .
Thanks again I'll get some photo's up soon of my Eureka USMC.
D

[dsmith]

As you know I went ahead and picked up a set of the kreigspeil Musorian they arrived on Friday, and to say the least I was very happy with them. I finished the first figure of 2 8 man fire teams he's an NCO and is kitted out in a local knock off of the woodland BDU.

and in case anyone was wondering how they looked next to some of the other ranges I snapped this.

These are from L-R Kreigspeil,Eureka,Mongrol,Empress, Col. Stone's Compound they look in my opinion very nice next to these and will be my opfor set in an imaginary asian kingdom supported by the Col. Stone PLA.
Hope you like.
D

[Col.Stone]

 
All the figures have excellent camo!
extra special to see one of "my own" painted aswell, seems like the musorians match pretty well, i sense a rear echelon force-purchase is not far away now 

[dsmith]

Col. so glad you like your PLA I have been beating my head against a wall trying to find a good scenario which did'nt include the PLA taking over the world so my squad (which is almost finished, look for more in the near future) will be acting in the advisor role in some fictional Asian kingdom they will be fighting along side the govt. forces and the other sets of kreigspeil with soft covers will be acting as the rebels supported by the French.Now I just need some suitable support either armored car or BMP? have'nt decided which yet for the Govt. troops.
Look for more in the next couple of days.
D

[carlos marighela]

I have quite a large number of the Musorians, yes they are smaller than the FFL, Bundeswehr, Aghans and USMC Force Recon etc etc, largely because all the initial Kriegspiel line were commissioned that way and because it's a different sculptor (Mike Broadbent). As I base my moderns on 3/4 inch washers, I've found that if I place a 1/4 washer atop that and beneath the Musorian's base they mix pretty well. I don't do it to all of them, this gives a little height variation. I do the same thing with the Eureka Vietcong/ NVA who are also good to throw into the mix as irregulars. I suspect that all the Broadbent sculpted lines would match well with Col Stone's Modern Chinese.

[abhorsen950]

Very, very nice moderns there, looks superb.

[Col.Stone]

The PLA-trooper would be a smidge taller than the musorian if he wasn't crouched over right?
i found that to be a bit difficult in making sizecomp pics, all my troops are in slightly bent poses

a type 86 (bmp1 variant) would probably look "in character" for a Chinese backed government.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMP-1_variants#People.27s_Republic_of_China

it's available in 1/56 from sloppy jalopy

[dsmith]

They blend almost seemlessly with Col. stone's figures when placed next to one another even without the washer.
I have been asking myself whether or not to base my figures on washers or not . The plus to that would be I could really elaborate on the scenics, the down side would be I would have to redo all that I have done I am still on the fence will see after the first game with these if I do it or not.
 I picked the 2 straightest figures this morning to get a feel and as far as I could tell they were the same height to eye level with the Kreigspeil being a little heftier.
Yeah I have seen the sloppy jalopy BMP and have them in mind for generics( for this project, Middle east, and warsaw pact get the most bang for my buck as I have all 3 of these in the works) and will be getting them in the future I was thinking along the lines of the BTR 80 B from S&S for the regulars as well. The setting is in a jungle so tracks vs. wheels? I was hoping that some one could tell me if any manufactures make a 1/56 PT-76 ? that would be the ultimate for the musorians a light tank with an 86mm gun fully amphibious would fit the bill nicely , however if none is available they will use the BMP 1 with BMP 2 's going to the Sultans household guard. The MTB will be T-62 when they become available again from sloppy jalopy and will be part of the Household cavalry( I could be pursuaded to upgrade to T-80's if they are ready COl. I could finally order my second squad) putting some of the kingdoms gold riches to modernization.

[carlos marighela]

Alas no 1/56 but IIRC there is a Solido diecast 1/50 version.  I've been weighing up the pros and cons of vehicle scales myself. In general terms I like the smaller footprint and scale match of 1/56 or 1/60. Then I looked at photos of the S&S VAB, it just looks wrong. Don't get me wrong much of their other stuff, especially their 20mm stuff looks superb but I wanted VABs for my French and the Solido 1/50 version is not only cheaper but better detailed. having made that call it alos opens up more support options. 1/48 scale AMX 10RC via Gasoline and they produce  the Kongsberg wepaons station to convert the VABs. I also discoverd that there are Chinese military trucks available as prepaints in 1/50 scale. Wonderful as they or another Chinese company also do great little T-55s for as little as $6.00 apiece!

If you don't mind mixing scales, Battlefield Evolution produced wheeled Chinese IFVs and a Type 99 MBT. Thes pop up on Ebay, smaller in scale, I think they are 1/60 - 1/65 but they look good. I've seen the Type 99 in the flesh and despite some  minor reservations about the model it looks like it would make a great match for Col. Stone's range.

[dsmith]

 I just bounced over to Ebay and found the solido PT76 I wish the treads were different they look horrible and will keep me from picking this up to bad cause the pt 76 fits the story line better oh well I have several choices for other vehicles AML90 from sloppy jalopy jumps at me for the household guard cavalry . I have'nt seen any of the battlefield EVO stuff next to 28mm, but I know they are kind of an in between scale any one got photos of these next to your 28mm stuff would be great
I have been repainting 1 of those T-55's for the last couple of weeks I love them they are perfect for the price and I may get more for my taliban once I move on to them. I am trying to keep my scales consistant so I will be waiting until after I get my  Sloppy jalopy BMP's so I can see if they work well together.

[Col.Stone]

I'd like to make the more common PLA vehicles, but an IFV would be first there, before any MBT's.
iirc the BF EVO vehicles are 1/64

PT-76, i think there's one of those in the jungle rot vietnam-line, listed as 28mm..

as for the t80, i'm fixing up a master that can survive moulding now, it takes a lot of time for me tho

[dsmith]

Went over to the jungle rot RLBPS page and "BANG" pt-76 no horrible tracks looks like a very nice model and I will be picking that up this week for the Musorians this helps with keeping to 1 scale for my 28mm I have decided to keep everything to 1/56th so that I have compatibility with the majority of manufactures out there
I don't know what I was thinking earlier it is'nt Sloppy jalopy who makes the AML-90 but Force of arms.
Well I won't rush you Col. being a one man show and all it's just nice knowing that your continuing with the T-80 when you get it done let us know and I wil be one of the first to get one.
1/64 I think is just to small so I will stay away from them.