What The?! Miniatures is the miniatures company formed by Brian and Amy Cottrell who are best known for the Protocon 9 Best Minis Game Winner Battleground Weird War II. The game takes place in World War II and includes a twist with superheroes, villains, and monsters like King Kong. It is a great independent game that deserves a lot of success. Wanting to increase the pool of available Weird War minis, the Cottrells formed What The?! Miniatures as an outlet to create and sell their own minis that fit perfectly with BG WW2.
We first covered the game when Amy crafted the Battleground World War II – Wargaming in a World Gone Mad article, which is also our Highest Rated Article by all you readers. Now the weird gaming continues with two brand new figs. The models are German Fliegerfaust. If you never heard of that before you have a lot of company. Until I read up on them I hadn’t a clue what they were. Thankfully, Brian has shared that information in a post titled New Minis on his website. Basically, they are shoulder-fired anti-air rocket launchers.
Photos (Click to Enlarge)
You can see the progression of the model below. The first two pics are right and left views of the finished green (sculpted but not cast) model. The last one is the finished model after being casted in metal. This figure is walking with his Fliegerfaust to the perfect location to shoot down Allied planes.
Again the first two pics are right and left views of the finished green model before it was sculpted. The last one shows the finished model after it was sculpted. It has the Fliegerfaust on its shoulder waiting for the right shot.
How to Buy
Both models are in 28mm scale but the rest of the models What The?! Miniatures will have for BG WW2 will be 34mm scale. These models look real nice and only cost $3.50 + actual shipping. That’s not a bad price at all and you can save a lot with a low cost shipping option. Or, if you need the figs now you can choose a more expensive overnight shipping method. You can only pay with Paypal for now and please e-mail [redacted] to place your order.
Reaction
That said I have some concerns about these models and the road What The?! Miniatures has chosen. The figs look good and I like the idea of having one pose of a guy walking with the weapon. Movement is good and shows action. Action makes people want to buy the fig so that is a plus. Also, in terms of fluff the soldier needs to get to a location to use the weapon. What I don’t like is the shoulder-fired pose. I love having a shoulder-fired one but I think the rocket launcher needs to be aimed higher in the air. It looks like it is posed to take out a tank but a plane. Fliegerfaust are anti-air weapons. Therefore they need to be aimed at the sky where aircraft are. You don’t see planes bombing or strafing while on the ground. They do that from the air.
Brian promised to create rules for the Fliegerfaust and make them available before the figures go on sale. He still has time because the Fliegerfaust were leaked on TMP and also on here. But, What The?! Miniatures isn’t officially open for business just yet. Perhaps in the rules there will be options or a chart for using the Fliegerfaust against tanks. It makes sense on one level that rocket launchers can take out planes but also how devastating they are against tanks and other vehicles. If those rules exist that will mollify me a bit. Even if such a rule comes into existence I maintain that an anti-air model should be pointed into the air. Not directly forward.
There is some good news here that leads into a concern I have. Future models will be sculpted and cast in 34mm scale. The Fliegerfaust will be re-sculpted and casted in that new scale too. Don’t let that dissuade you from getting the 28mm versions, they’re quite nice and can work with a ton of 28mm games, and perhaps they’ll re-sculpt one of the soldiers with his rocket launcher pointed in the air.
My concern with this change in scale is that most games I’ve seen are 28mm and they enjoy a lot of success. I’ve read that a lot of WW2 and Weird War figs from other companies are in 28mm scale or something close to that. By switching to 34mm scale I’m afraid that long time gamers won’t buy the new figs because they won’t fit into their existing collection. I’m also concerned that other companies will be alienated because gamers will either need to use other companies’ stuff or product from What The?! Miniatures.
I understand why the Cottrells made the decision to switch and I am sure it was a difficult one. The main reason for the change was that 38mm models will fit in better with 1/48 and 1/50 scale vehicles, which most gamers use. A road to success for the Cottrells is to fill a niche with high quality, desirable, and useful product. I think 38mm will be that niche and the Fliegerfaust are certainly desirable, high quality, and useful. They went all out and are now getting the Fliegerfaust professionally painted. When those photos are available we’ll share them here for all of you to see.
Bottom Line
Overall I give these figs 4.5 out of 5 stars and 2 thumbs up. You can order the figures by e-mailing [redacted] or going to the official Battleground Weird War II website for more information. Until the What The?! Miniatures website goes live Paypal will be the only accepted payment method. Remember that $3.50 + actual shipping is all it takes for you to get these incredible models. Way to go Amy and Brian! These figs are excellent.
