Hi Everyone
Blog post is a little last this week thanks to work/ life commitments, and a general "end of the month" lethargy setting in. I've got a lot of projects in the air at the moment and I'm rotating through them to keep myself interested. Things are slowly getting finished, or started, and I might look at doing a general overview update this weekend showing off a few different things.
In the mean time... ANOTHER NEW PROJECT! YAYYYY!!!!
With Infinity turning 10 years old this year Corvus Belli released a new version of Humanities greatest champions; Achilles v2.
Achilles is a member of the Aleph's Steel Phalanx; an army made of artificial humans created to fight against the Combined Army, the greatest threat to Humanity. Achilles is supposed to be the best of the best, a monster in the guise of a man able to take down literally ANYTHING that get's in his way.
Corvus Belli have a habit of making multiple versions of characters, representing the different equipment choices that these characters could take. Achilles v2 is the same man in advanced Hoplite armor, offering increased protection at the cost of slightly reduced mobility (and I mean very slightly based on his rules).
The Achilles v2 Anniversary Edition comes with two models; the normal model (sword raised, heroic pose) and a limited edition version holding the severed head of a Combined Army Morat.
I picked up the set for £18 (+PnP) from Element Games, which is pretty good for a limited edition model (£9 per model is pretty solid).
The packaging is a little more lavish than I've come to expect from Infinity; a lush red backdrop replacing the usual tabletop scenery.
Inside the box the models are, as usual, secured between layers of foam, with the arms/ heads safely kept together in a small bag. I was also super pleased to discover a couple of extra 'freebies'; two pin badges and a set of postcards. Not much, but a nice little something to add to the pageantry of a limited edition model.
The two badges each have a different logo; once displaying the N3 logo, celebrating 10 years of Infinity, and the other displaying Achilles v2's heraldry.
The postcards came in a small, sealed plastic pouch. Opened up reveals two postcards; one displayign Achiles v2's design artwork (with his stats), the other an actual postcard from San Giovanni, Neoterra (a lovely piece of artwork, and once I'd buy as a poster! hint hint)
Each Achilles model comes with the same torso, making starting the assembly very easy. Minimal flash on each model made cleaning up the torso super easy - something I've come to expect from Corvus Belli's miniatures.
The models were made of four pieces each - left arm, right arm, head and torso. Small guide pins/ recesses in the arms and head ensure the model goes together very easily. There wasn't a guide provided on how to assemble the models, but with only four pieces you don't really need it.
Five minutes after starting the models were finished and sat on my desk.
Since the Torso's are the same, I imagine you could swap the arms/ heads around to create a couple of different combinations of models. You can't see in the image above, but there are some raised fins on the shoulders of the model (attached to the arms) which may prevent these arm-swaps. If you follow the normal builds, the models are great; one with sword raised and multi-rifle, and the other displaying his grizzly trophy. Since Achilles can be fielded with either a Multirifle of a Spitfire this duo-pack is perfect for anyone wanting to swap equipment (ok... you could just field the same model every time and REMEMBER what gun you're using, but if you're like me you'll forget and play WYSIWYG and feel pretty silly.)
As a parting shot, I put Achilles next to a couple of my other models (Infinity, and a random Space Marine) just to show off the size of the model. He's a head and shoulders taller than any other human model in the range (Sun Tzu showing off how diminutive he is compared to the Hero of Paradiso), and even taller than a Space Marine. He even comes up past the waist of the two TAG's I have! He's an absolute monster!
As a one off model, I cannot recommend Achilles enough. As a model for a Steel Phalanx army, he's okay. I'm still very new to Infinity and I lose to to the Steel Phalanx a lot, but I've been told that once you know the tricks they're quite easy to beat. He's a very point's heavy unit, justifiably given his stat-line and equipment, but he's a very "all your eggs in one basket" kind of guy. Heavy armor and Mimitism make him difficult to bring down but they're easily countered with the right tools. He offers no specialist option, and should eh die you're losing 75 points worth of your 300pts army; that 25% of your force!
Fortunately, I don't play Steel Phalanx (....yet....), and so he'll make a great addition to my collection as a display model, and may feature as a HVT in a few of my games over the coming months. Hopefully I'll get a fully painted version soon!
As always, like/ share/ subscribe if you like what you've read, and feel free to comment with suggestions/ comments on how to improve this blog. I'm still new to the blog format and the only way I'll get better and start delivering on what you want is by listening to you. You support and advice matters to me, so thank you, and get in touch!
Medge
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