Legions East is a new company that focuses on the armies fighting in Russian between 1941 and 1945, and the Pacific. The line is carried by Two Tin Soldiers (www.twotinsoldiers.com), who kindly sent me six sample figures. I received one officer pointing with a map in the other hand, some riflemen, and a prone figure firing the Biggest Anti- tank Rifle in the World.

These figures represent the Finns during the 'Continuation War" (194144) when the Finns joined with the Germans to re- take what they'd lost after the 'Winter War' of 1939-40, but I'm don't think that the uniform changed that much. I guess the difference is that they aren't wearing snow suits, but if you're not picky these figures would work fine for the Winter War.

The figures stand 15 to 16mm tall on the "Barrett" scale (top of the base to the eyes.) They are pretty chunky, with big heads sifting on big shoulders. Their torsos seem out of proportion from side-to side. They also seem to have short, stumpy legs, but may just look that way due to the over-sized torsos. Big, strapping Scandinavian lads, indeed.

The detail on these figures is pretty sparse, but nicely done. The faces are simple but convincingly human. The helmets are a little big, particularly the back 'skirt' of the coal- scuttle design. Some would not look out of place on a samurai, in fact. This may explain why the heads look so big. The rifles are generic, cast short and thick.

The above-mentioned anti-tank rifle is thickly-cast, but does a nice job of capturing the distinguishing features of this weapon ((the 20mm Lahti, which really was huge!). The casting quality is average. There were some mold lines and a little flash, but they clean up easily.

These figures remind me of the initial offerings from Battlefront Miniatures simple but serviceable. They will not mix well with Old Glory, Peter Pig, etc.. But no other company makes Finns, so mixing really isn't an option. I hope that with practice this line develops to the same level of quality as Battlefront. Certainly they are going to get enough practice - their range will include early Russians, Romanians, Hungarians, Slovaks, cavalry of all nations, Chinese, Germans, Waffen SS and more.

The variety of their Finnish line is impressive for such a small army - ski and bicycle troops, men in winter gear (there you go for the Winter War) and a Bofors gun with Finnish crew. Packs are $4.50 each for 10 infantry figures. Worth keeping an eye on these guys in the future, I think.