Volunteer Study Part II

Our super soldiers all know how to fight - we can all attest to that from leading our own backyard patrols. But how do they stack up against each other? In this section I'll take a critical look at how these soldiers handle themselves.

We've already seen these joes in the position of attention. The next position is kneeling:

The Super Soldiers Kneeling

Vint. Joe Hasbro	Cpt Action Ideal	Stony Marx
Grunt HOF	Krause Elite Bde	CC Joe Carded - CC
Sam 21st Ver 1	Hans DM	OD Ertl
OA SOTW	Merc 21st Ver 2	BB Elite Force

Evaluating how our guys are at kneeling you have to remember how we really do it. In order to keep our backs straight and our arms out in front of us, we have to lower our center of gravity and move our butts toward our ankles. Because our knees can bend beyond a 90 degree angle we can do this.

Now taking a look at our soldiers:

•  Merc: Is the best kneeler. He can keep his back straight, has good balance and can actually sit back on his heels because of his unique knee joint.
• OD, BB and Hans: Are the second best kneelers. They can keep their backs straight, have good balance and can actually sit pretty far back on their heels.
• Vintage Joe: He can keep his back straight and has good balance.
• Captain Action: Is the next best. He has to lean ever so slightly backwards because he can only bend his knees 88 degrees and his extra long arms put more weight forward of his center of gravity.
• Stony Smith: Is about middle of the road. He has to lean way back because of his weight and limited knee bend.
• HOF Grunt: Is an example of having had radical knee surgery to fuse your bones!

The Hands

Vint. Joe Hasbro Hard hand, good wrist articulation. Can't hold onto weapons very well.	Cpt Action Ideal Semi-hard hand, good wrist articulation. Seperate trigger finger. Hand rubber hardens over time. Holds weapons very well.	Stony Marx Soft hand, no wrist articulation except for spinning. Seperate trigger finger. Holds large weapons very well.
Grunt HOF Soft hand, no wrist articulation at all. Holds weapons poorly.	Krause Elite Bde Action hands. Soft hand, good wrist articulation. No trigger finger (unless you cut it). Holds weapons well.	CC Joe Carded - CC Semi-Soft hand, good wrist articulation. No trigger finger (unless you cut it). Holds weapons well.
Sam 21st Ver 1 Semi-hard hand, good wrist articulation. No trigger finger. Holds weapons poorly. New version supposed to be softer.	Hans DM Semi-Soft hand, Great wrist articulation. Trigger finger. Holds weapons well. New version has separate fingers that have a wire core for individual positioning.	OD Ertl Semi-hard hand, excellent wrist articulation. Seperate trigger finger. Hard to get weapon in hand but once in the fist, holds weapons very well.
OA SOTW Semi-hard hand, good wrist articulation. Seperate trigger finger. Hard to get weapon in hand but once in the fist, holds weapons very well.	Merc 21st Ver 2 Semi-hard hand, good wrist articulation. Softer than first version hand, holds weapons ok.	BB Elite Force Soft hand, excellent wrist articulation. Seperate trigger finger. Easy to get weapon in hand and once in the fist, holds weapons very well.

The hands tell you alot about a soldier. As you'll see below, poor wrist articulation is only really bad when combined with poor shoulder and elbow articulation. But, far and away,
the Best Hands goes to:....  Dragon Models. The trigger finger coupled with the gripping hand, good wrist and now individually movable fingers, make this the best.

Standing Firing Postition

Vint. Joe Hasbro Great shoulder, elbow and wrist articulation allow vintage to easily fight in this position. The ackward hand position makes it just about impossible to put the finger in the trigger guard. His ability to properly sight down the barrel makes this guy our clear winner.	Cpt Action Ideal CA's only problem is in his neck articulation and the size of this chest. Both make it impossible to actually sight down the barrel.	Stony Marx Stoney actually does very well. His only problem is that he can't bend his neck. But the limited articulation of his joints actually allows him to maintain a firmer grip on the weapon.
Grunt HOF What can I say? Absolutely the Worst! The only way this joe could fight is if you pulled the trigger for him.	Krause Elite Bde Does not do as well as expected. Perhaps the tightness of his new joints interfers, but he is unable to actually grip the weapon with his trigger hand. Also, the smallness of his Action Hands makes holding any weapon very unstable.	CC Joe Carded - CC Not very good. Old CC here can't bend his head to sight and his hand is too big to look realistic and too poorly articulated to help firing the weapon.
Sam 21st Ver 1 I really thought he'd do better. Unfortunately he is a close second for the worst. Poor shoulder rotation and clubs for hands makes 'Sam' just slightly better than HOF.	Hans DM Excellent in holding the rifle but his limited neck articulation doesn't allow him to site very well. Very close second to the vintage joe.	OD Ertl Very good in holding the rifle but without neck articulation he just doesn't cut it. Good wrist articulation almost lets him hold the gun correctly.
OA SOTW Despite his muscle bound arms, OA does quite well. With poor neck articulation though, he loses out.	Merc 21st Ver 2 Merc does very well. But even with great neck articulation it is very hard to get the rifle in the correct position. His unique chest design may be the culprit.	BB Elite Force Excellent potential, but his overly long neck makes it very hard for BB to site well.

 The Best Standing Firing Position goes to:....Vintage Joe.

Prone Firing Postition

Vint. Joe Hasbro Good form. Able to lie flat on the ground and still look up. Best sighting capability.	Cpt Action Ideal His extra long arms allow him to get into a very realistic Prone position. His articulation enables him to easily get into, and stay in this position.	Stony Marx What is there to say? Stoney should never get into this position. His lack of neck and waist articulation makes him eat dirt at every change.
Grunt HOF He may be able to do a 100 pushups but he'll never fire his rifle from this position. Tied with stoney for being the worst!	Krause Elite Bde Does not do as well as expected. Perhaps the tightness of his new joints interfers, but he is unable to actually grip the weapon with his trigger hand. Also, the less than vintage neck articulation detracts from the pose.	CC Joe Carded - CC Another dirt eater. Although not quite as bad as HOF, CC does need some better wrist and neck articulation.
Sam 21st Ver 1 I really thought he'd do better. Unfortunately he is a close second for the worst. Poor shoulder rotation and clubs for hands makes 'Sam' just slightly better than HOF.	Hans DM Great! Tied for best at this position. The limited neck articulation doesn't affect the score here. He is one of figures that can actually put his forward elbow on the ground in the correct position.	OD Ertl Very poor in holding the rifle and he can't sight.
OA SOTW Despite his muscle bound arms, OA does quite well. His poor neck articulation doesn't hurt but his right arm lacks the flexibility to get his hand near the trigger.	Merc 21st Ver 2 Merc does very poorly. Surprisingly, Merc should stay out of this position. I think his large shoulder ball joints actually hinder his ability here.	BB Elite Force Tied for best at this position. His long neck actually helps here. He is one of figures that can put his forward elbow on the ground in the correct position.

 The Best Prone Firing Position goes to:....Hans - Dragon Models and Body Builder - Elite Force.

Sitting Postition

Vint. Joe Hasbro As we've always known... Joe don't Sit. His ball hip joints don't allow his legs to get into a realistic position.	Cpt Action Ideal He sits a little better than Joe but his hip construction still doesn't allow him to put his thighs together. Remember "Make Your Buddy Smile", when you crammed into the back of a duece and a half?	Stony Marx Similiar to Captain Action as far as form, but poor ole Stony doesn't even have the articulation to get his big feet out of the way.
Grunt HOF He does a little better than Joe but he still looks like he's balancing on the head of a pin.	Krause Elite Bde Same as Joe. Cotswold copied the design - good and bad.	CC Joe Carded - CC Very Good. CC can sit in Jeeps and other vehicles very well.
Sam 21st Ver 1 Sam is tied for the best sitter.	Hans DM Great! Tied with Sam, OD and BB at this position.	OD Ertl Great! Tied with Sam, Hans and BB at this position.
OA SOTW A little too stiff without being able to lean forward.	Merc 21st Ver 2 Merc would have tied for the best but his calfs are a little long and his pelvis creates a little bump between his legs, lower than his buttocks which makes him not sit flat.	BB Elite Force Great! Tied with Sam, Hans and OD at this position.

The Best Sitting Position goes to:....Sam of 21st Century, Hans - Dragon Models, Deer Hunter OD - Ertl and Body Builder by Elite Force .

Quick Summary

This is the second time the Reich scientists have run through this study. Dragon Models was the first genetic engineer to dramatically redo the 'Joe' form. Because of that, DM took an early lead in current Gene Wars.

Now it appears that other 'labs' like Elite Force have learned the lessons well. Their brand new super soldier, code named "Body Builder" is a fantastic trooper in both form and function.

BB's major problems were in form. The Position of Attention and his neck construction are the limiting factors. The position of attention can be overlooked by Reich Quality experts but, they do demand a redo of the neck. It should be shorter and have better articulation side to side.

21st Century made some major advancements on their body design. Fix those club hands and pelvis and you will give Elite Force a run for their ReichMarks!

Our scientists are looking for a new Dragon Model volunteer to go through our testing process. (Most survive...) So look back soon to see how they fare.

Thanks for the read, If you have any comments about these pages or my unscientific method please email our propoganda minister at scott@stewartsattic.com