AE-WWII Soviet PSI Starter Force: Review

[Bowiefan]

Not the sort of thing I'd usually do, but thought I'd try my hand at a little review for anyone curious about the game/miniatures. Quick reminder then...AE-WWII (AE = Alternate Events I think) is a skirmish game by American company Darkson Designs. No prizes for guessing that it is World War II based, but with added 'Weird War' elements included (Nazi super soldiers, American robotics etc). I've gone and bought myself the Soviet PSI Force starter set, which looks like this:





For my £18 (RRP £20), I get 7 miniatures and quick start rules, featuring stats for both Soviet and German starter sets. Obviously this means a couple of friends could get a set each and have some battles straight away without having to wait to buy the full rules. Seems a good idea for anyone intending to give demo games too. I believe these quick start rules can be downloaded as well, so it's easy enough to have a look at them if you need to. Other than a cursory glance at these though, I don't know too much about the rules so I'll not comment on them any further.

On to the good stuff then...the miniatures. This set includes 7 multi-part metal miniatures (4 humans, 3 'Chumans', essentially human/chimp hybrids), with the emphasis on multi. I think you could probably buy 2-3 of these starter packs, and the miniatures could still be assembled to look like fairly distinct individuals. Good from a modelling point of view of course, especially as most of the human parts look like they could be swapped around if desired. A basic soldier can be assembled to be throwing a grenade, aiming a rifle, pointing towards a target etc, with the separate heads allowing you to alter the poses further by simply changing the way they face. The more important units seem to have even more parts available. I'd assume that these parts cover weapon options available in the rules, which would be helpful in letting you assemble the units as you wanted them. At roughly £2.50 a miniature it could be argued you are paying for the choice these multiple parts offer you, but I personally don't think they are overly expensive in comparison to other miniature lines. As a skirmish game you'd need less minis anyway. Pictures speak louder than words so they say, so I'll show you the PSI Officer as an example of the multiple bits on offer to each mini, with full content details below it:



1x PSI Officer: 1 Body, 3 Heads, 7 Arms
1x Polituk: 1 Body, 2 Heads, 3 Arm Sets
2x Soviet Guard: 2 Bodies, 3 Heads, 3 Arm Sets
3x Chumans: 3 Bodies, 4 Heads, 4 Arm Sets

The miniatures themselves are on par with other modern metal ones in terms of mould lines/flash. Most parts have something to clean off, but I haven't noticed any that have details ruined because of it. It wouldn't take too long to assemble a miniature I'd say, although obviously cleaning up all the multiple parts will extend the preparation time. Sculpting wise I really like them, but obviously the painted picture shows them off fairly well. The Chuman faces in particular are full of character, but all the faces seem well done and the rest of each miniature is fairly well detailed. It is worth pointing out that they are sculpted as 'true' 28mm, so might seem fairly small if you are used to GW miniatures only (though they are in keeping with my Infinity minis). This could make assembling them a little difficult, given you need to glue small arms to bodies, but anyone with hobby experience should be ok. Pinning might be an idea, but I'm not overly familiar with using this technique on metal parts myself, so I'll see how I get on with just glue. I've taken a quick picture with an old Space Marine to better help show the size (though bear in mind the AE-WWII minis need the heads added). These are the Soviet Guard with their various bits:



Generally though I'm happy I ordered them, and I can see these being nice miniatures to paint (if you are into your brush fun  :wink: ). I might not get into the AE-WWII game itself (I'm favouring buying the Secrets of the Third Reich rules at the moment), but I'm sure I'll be making use of the miniatures somehow. Anyhow, that's my review, hopefully someone found it of interest, though it might be old news to many...still, it's a little more hobby content for the forum at least  . Any questions, please do ask.

BF

[Hammers]

Thanks for the review. I have been eyeing this set for a while, especially the comissar. Its a bugger it doesn't come separately.

They seem to be nice sculpts. I am not all convinced about the heads. They sort of look like screw on heads...well, that's basically what they are, but I have seen other sculptors being able to disguise that better.

[JollyBob]

Good review, thank you. 

I must admit to being tempted by some of this line, (I mean, who doesn't like experimental war-chimps?) but the proportions of some of the humans look really wrong to me.The arms are too low and the necks too long, making them look gawky and weird.

BUT, now I know that they come as multiparts, I can see more potential for fixing these problems with a little repositioning and judicious use of greenstuff.

Hmmm. More tempted now. 

[majorsmith]

ive had some of these before, didnt like them at all, and they are small!!!

[slobberblood]

Thanks for the info!
wow, small figures!

[Bowiefan]

I must admit to being tempted by some of this line, (I mean, who doesn't like experimental war-chimps?)

It was the Chumans that swayed me too. Glad I'm not alone in my monkey loving...In a purely 'I like the metal miniatures' way you understand  .

Good to hear from a few others. Obviously individual taste and opinion will differ, so I'm all for people sharing their thoughts. I got sent some of the Russia troopers by mistake at the same time as this starter pack, and they are a touch smaller than the starter minis (crouched poses doesn't help).

BF

[pixelgeek]

Thanks for the info!
wow, small figures!

Small compared to a Space Marine. :-)

They are indeed smaller than other "28mm" WWII minis but I've not noticed the difference that much when using them with Artizan figures.