Review of FMG Italians and HBG Axis Minors

[dangermouse650]

Which takes us to the next question: how will the units hold up to painting them?

FMG’s takes to acrylics just fine, I know this firsthand.  I haven’t tried painting any of HBG’s, but I think some others on here have.

HBG’s pieces paint well, i use tamiya acrylics, have just invested in some vallejo, will see how they go. By the way, my son beat me to it, he has already painted 1 set of the axis minors, and is using the vallejo paint, he thinks there cool  :-D

[crusaderiv]

I love the carrier and the subs

[jim010]

@Viracocha:

Nice turn-out with the avocado - and the BB mods look smooth.   8-) You sticking to the OOB infantry?  Or using them as a different unit?

I do not plan to switch out all my pieces from OOB to FMG, so I’m keeping the OOB inf to stay consistent with the other inf (not that you could tell on the board anyway).  For mec, I used Table Tactics half tracks.

[militaryman077]

Are table tactics halftracks still available?== because they did come with the now defunct “Central Powers” expansion set.

[jim010]

I don’t know if you can still get them.

I have recently just gotten HBG’s pieces.  I have now switched out the Table Tactics mec with HBG’s trucks, which I will now be using as motorized inf (mec).

[militaryman077]

@jim010:

I don’t know if you can still get them.

I have recently just gotten HBG’s pieces.  I have now switched out the Table Tactics mec with HBG’s trucks, which I will now be using as motorized inf (mec).

yES, they look nice.  I’m using them as mech infantry also because it’s almost impossible to find any of the central powers half tracks on ebay.

[militaryman077]

Great News! Coach is coming out with an “Italian Brown” Minors set next week so we can use the trucks not only to replace FMG’s truck but also as Mech Infantry. Now I’d love to see the Neutral Set come out in French blue so I can add the trucks to the Frence mix.

[knp7765]

FMG is coming out with a France set and they will have trucks in them.  Plus, they should be more appropriate looking.  Jeremy said the Italian truck was a one-time mistake as far as the size goes, the rest of the nations’ truck pieces will look much better.
Also, Jeremy may decide to do France after UK, Canada and ANZAC.  That’s not as far away as it seems.  ANZAC and Canada will use the British mold but be different colors, so they should go pretty quickly.

[CWO Marc]

@knp7765:

FMG is coming out with a France set

This is good news.  Is there an estimate of when it’s expected?

[dangermouse650]

Received my Italian set a few days ago, opened and inspected, while i’m happy with the detail there is a bit of work to be done, the battleships turret problem and all the subs are curved. To make matters worse, i had the dice on order they arrived as well, but i had the misfortune of my package arriving by courier. The box had been crushed, so there were a few broken infantry but can you believe they managed to break some of the dice……    :?   Oh well, win some and lose some. By the way the piece count was almost perfect. Thank you Jeremy, will put in another order shortly.

[Rorschach]

They broke the DICE?  WOW.  That must have been one hell of a hit to the box!!

Bent subs are easy enough to fix (warm them up to the point where the plastic softens slightly, gently bend back into shape, dunk quickly in ice water to cool and set them).

[knp7765]

@CWO:

@knp7765:

FMG is coming out with a France set

This is good news.  Is there an estimate of when it’s expected?

Afraid that’s kind of hazy right at the moment.  First they have to finish up Germany (grey pieces) and the new combat dice, which with any luck should be done by next month.  Next will be a run of Germany (black pieces) which shouldn’t take too long since they already have the mold ready.  Next we have to complete USA which still needs about half the sculpts, make the mold then into production.  After that is the whole process with England.  Canada and ANZAC will follow but be like black Germany, UK mold in differnt colors so that won’t take as long.
Then, depending on which way Jeremy and FMG want to go, either France or Russia will be next.
A good part is if the Chinese factory holds true to the contract that FMG is working out with them, ALL sets are supposed to be complete by the end of 2012.  So, assuming this is true and works out well, no matter which set you are really waiting for it should be within a year.  Considering how long it took us to get to finished product with the Italians, I think this is really positive news.

[lozmoid]

I finally received my FMG Italy Combat Units & Combat Dice!  :lol:

Piece count:

Rifle Inf: 10
SMG Inf: 12
Leader: 6
Artillery: 12
Mot. Inf: 6
Mech Inf: 12
SPG: 6
Tank: 6

Fighter: 12
Tac. Bomber: 7
Strat. Bomber: 6
Air Transport: 6

Submarine: 12
Transport: 11
Destroyer: 10
Cruiser: 6
Battleship: 6
Air. Carrier: 3

That’s 149 units. The numbers in bold are in question as to their correct quantity. How did I do compared to the rest of you?

First of all, I really love these units. I can’t wait to pre-order Germany.  :-)

However, I think there should have been more variation between the two Infantry sculpts as they are similar in pose. And in my opinion, the Rifle Infantry unit should have been the higher quantity of the two (as rifles were the mainstay of all armies) and the SMG should have been the lower (making these units more of the Special Forces/Elite type). But hey, no worries.

The Artillery is great but I would have liked it more if its barrel was pointing upwards a few more degrees. I think Artillery should be pointing up, and Anti-Tank Guns should be pointing straight forward.

As I’ve said before, the Mot. Infantry (truck) unit is too large for my taste but I’ll happily make do with it unit a smaller sculpt becomes available to purchase.

I think the Tank could have been a bit bigger but again, I’m happy with it. To be honest, I think 8 Tanks would have been better than 6, even if that meant sacrificing some Transports or Submarines.

The Fighter is, unfortunately, too small. And the wings should have been more tapered towards the fuselage. This unit is my biggest negative with the whole set.

I think the Cruiser could have been a LITTLE bigger. And if not, then at least a little taller. Its hull could have been raised a milimetre or two (it virtually sits flat on the sea).

And finally, it would have been awesome to get 8 Combat Dice in a set as opposed to 6 but I can dream!

But those are my only critiscms. Other than that, I’m loving it. Thank you for all your hard work, and I hope you take note of all the players’ ideas regarding unit type/size/design etc.

Lozmoid

[Tall Paul]

Lozmoid,

I’ve decided to use the “Half-track Truck” from HBG’s “Axis Minors Set” for my Italian Truck. HBG has now released the “Axis Minors” units for individual sales and this makes the truck replacement possible.

I think your opinions are noteworthy and I believe that both FMG and HBG are “listenning”.

“Tall Paul”

[Tall Paul]

Here’s a pic of the sculpt. I think it looks really cool, and great for the African desert.

“Tall Paul”

[lozmoid]

Thanks Tall Paul. That’s a really nice looking unit and I might have to buy some Axis Minors from HBG soon. However, I wouldn’t know whether to designate it a Motorised or Mechanised Infantry unit piece! It seems to be half and half to me. Nice though, and a worthy addition.

By the way, can anybody please point me in the direction of the topic/thread regarding the correcting of the FMG Italy pieces in terms of the bent ships? I can’t seem to find it and several of my Subs, Destroyers and even Battleships came with their ends hugely distorted! lol  Thanks very much guys.  :-)

[Rorschach]

@Lozmoid:

By the way, can anybody please point me in the direction of the topic/thread regarding the correcting of the FMG Italy pieces in terms of the bent ships? I can’t seem to find it and several of my Subs, Destroyers and even Battleships came with their ends hugely distorted! lol  Thanks very much guys.  :-)

Heat very gently (and slowly) with a hair dryer, bend just as gently into shape, dip quickly into ice water.  That should fix any bent plastics.

[lozmoid]

Thanks, Rorschac. I thought there was a post or thread regarding dipping them in boiling water or something and then putting them into cold water. If no such thread exists, can anyone with some experience in this process please give me some advice re the water method? I don’t have a hairdryer. Thanks!

[Rorschach]

Boiling water should work as well.  Let them sit in it for a few minutes at least.  Basically what you want to do is soften the plastic up gently so that it’s pliable and then slowly bend it into shape while it’s still warm.  Dunking it into the ice water will cool it off quickly allowing it to retain its new shape (most of the time.  I’ve had it bend back a little on me some times but then you just repeat the process).

If the bend is really bad you’ll need to do it a few times just a bit at a time.  The last thing you want to do is bend too far and snap the piece.

[lozmoid]

Thanks again. I am referring specifically to the FMG Italy units here and I have found that they are all made from some kind of very pliable plastic. I tried bending the Battleship tail and found it moved with no chance of snapping. Good quality stuff, FMG. Now just to get 'em straightened out.