by Grant Hill

At the end of March Corvus Belli released four new miniatures for their anime inspired Sci-Fi game Infinity:

• PanOceania Kamau Hacker
• Ariadna Para-Commando with HMG
• Haqqislam Daylami Infantry with Rifle, Panzerfaust
• Combined Army Malignos with Sniper Rifle

Kamau Hacker Price: €7.50

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This PanOceania hacker is part of the Kamau amphibious intervention team and, like the original Kamau miniature, has air-lines, breathing apparatus and other aquatic looking items on the sculpt. The only armament on the miniature is a pistol attached to the left thigh, with the right hand holding a hacking device. The Kamau armour has obviously been adjusted for the female form, but the pose of the miniature seems a little odd to me. The buttocks are pushed out slightly while the top of the torso is pushed forward in the opposite direction producing a curve in the spine that looks very uncomfortable. As usual for Infinity miniatures there is a plenty of detail to satisfy painters and in this case all of the detail is easy to reach.

The sculpt itself is only two parts, the main body and the right arm, but five “hacking holograms” are also provided on a single transparent sheet. The holograms need to be cut from the sheet and then attached to the miniature. As I hadn’t assembled an Infinity hacker before I contacted Corvus Belli for advice and they suggested either PVA glue or blue-tak to attach the hologram (permanently or temporarily, respectively), superglue should be avoided as it will produce a white cloud effect on the transparency. I found the process a little bit “fiddly” but the final look is pretty impressive. The pin and hole joint that attaches the arm to the body allows almost no choice of position without some additional conversion work. The review sample miniature has quite a noticeable mould line running over most of the miniature that will require some attention and it had more excess metal that most Corvus Belli products, this is exemplified by a large piece around the fingers of the left hand that may take some time to fully remove. Many PanOceania figures have a helmet aerial as a separate piece that is tricky to attach securely but on the Kamau hacker this is cast onto the main body and I found this to be a major improvement.

Pros

• Hacking hologram looks good
• Helmet aerial cast on

Cons

• Uncomfortable looking pose
• Excess metal will require some work to remove

Para-Commando with HMG Price: €7.50

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This release adds a heavy machine gun (HMG) option to the ranks of the Ariadna Para-Commandos that previously only had rifles and grenade launchers available. Items typical of airborne troops, such as breathing apparatus and a skate style helmet, can be found on the miniature along with a knife, pistol and tactical knee pads. As a member of the “low-tech” faction in Infinity it’s perhaps no surprise that the HMG and other equipment wouldn’t look out of place in an ultra-modern or near future setting. The pose looks realistic for someone braced to fire a heavy weapon with the commando looking in the direction fire.

The miniature is provided as two pieces, the main body and the HMG, which has the right arm and left hand moulded on. The left arm ends in a small stub that neatly fits into a recess on the hand once a small piece of excess metal is removed. Miniatures with weapons positioned across the chest like this para-commando can sometimes be difficult to assemble when provided as three or more pieces but there are no such problems here. In terms of casting, the miniature has almost no visible mould lines but there are a few pieces of excess metal that will need to be removed. One of these is located on the right tricep and hence some care is required to remove it without obscuring/destroying detail. If I was going to be really picky, having a large weapon positioned across the chest means that a small area of the chest is going to be difficult to paint, but this is an issue with any miniature that adopts this (pretty common) pose.

Pros

• Easy to assemble compared with similar poses on other miniatures
• Could also be used in ultra-modern or near future games

Cons

• Some excess metal tabs are found in difficult to remove places

Daylami Infantry Price: €13.00

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These basic infantry troopers for the Haqqislam faction are provided as a blister of two miniatures: one armed with a rifle and one with a panzerfaust rocket launcher. The miniature equipped with a rifle comes as two pieces: the main body and right arm. The pose is somewhat relaxed with one arm by the side and the other holding the gun so that it is pointing in the air, while the right foot is resting on a rock. The second figure is provided in three parts (main body, right arm holding panzerfaust and left arm) and has adopted more of an action pose with the body braced for firing. As the left hand is sculpted onto the panzerfaust there are essentially no options for positioning during construction, this miniature will fit together in only one way.

I actually had some difficulty in the assembly as I found it hard to get all three pieces into the correct place at the same time without leaving any gaps. The final pose may be worth the effort as it gives the impression that the weapon is in the process of being used. I particularly liked that the panzerfaust is held up to the head so that it looks like the trooper is looking down a sighting device, unfortunately this is spoiled by the left hand, which is positioned on the other side of the sight.

As can be expected from the Infinity line, both miniatures have plenty of extra details including futuristic looking rucksacks, extra pouches, a knife and a pistol. There is also plenty of texture on the clothing and plates in the armour for a good painter to go to town on. There was a bit of a casting issue on the miniatures I received, while one side of the face looked great the other appeared miscast with the eye detail almost missing and a generally flat appearance. Otherwise the mould lines were minimal and there were only a couple of small tags of excess metal that needed to be removed before assembly. Hopefully the casting issue on the faces is limited to a small batch as it spoils the miniatures, which could also be used as more generic sci-fi/near future infantry.

Pros

• Well detailed with good poses
• Can be used as generic sci-fi infantry

Cons

• Assembly of the panzerfaust miniature is moderately difficult
• A casting issue on both faces in the review sample

Malignos Sniper Price: €7.50

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The Malignos form a deep incursion corps within the Combined Army and this particular example is armed with a sniper rifle. It is provided as eight pieces: legs and lower torso, upper torso, head, left arm with knife, right arm with sniper rifle and three small antenna like pieces that are provided attached to a single sprue. This is a lot of pieces for a single miniature, especially as it’s barely larger than a standard sized Infinity human, and it does mean that construction will be a bit of a challenge for less experienced modellers. Attaching the two torso pieces left a small gap that I felt the need to fill and although it was obvious where the arms should be attached there was little to hold them in place and they should be pinned in place for a lasting bond. The small antenna like pieces attach to the upper torso but will be easy to accidental knock-off during play or transport and are too small for me to pin. I also had some trouble removing all the flash and mould lines from the pieces simply because of the size.

Away from the construction problems, the miniature has a distinct alien feel about it with long limbs, strange feet and what appears to be an extra joint in the back/spine such that the crouched pose couldn’t be adopted by a human. The angle of the head gives the impression that the sniper is on some elevated terrain keeping an eye on the enemy or perhaps tracking some prey and this is well matched by the overall pose. I particularly like the weapon design too, although it doesn’t look organic like some of the other combined army weapons it seems to convey a deadly sniper look with its long thin barrel.

Pros

• Great pose and overall impression of a sniper

Cons

• Construction requires some intermediate/advanced skills