Empress miniatures has released a couple of new sets of US Naval Special Warfare miniatures. The first is modeled after the SEALS that took part in Operation Red Wings, the operation where a SEAL team was inserted onto the mountain Sawtalo Sar, in the Kunar Province in Afghanistan.

During this mission the SEALS came under attack and three of the four were lost to combat. A rescue CH-47 Chinook was dispatched with a relief unit from the same SEAL unit along with aviators from the 160 SOAR (Special Operation Aviation Regiment). This aircraft was lost by rocket fire as it approached the site and all personnel were lost.

The ensuing rescue mission called Red Wings II was launched to recover the remains of those lost as well as rescue the "Lone Survivor" Marcus Luttrell. It just goes to show that we in the military stand by our motto to never leave a anyone behind.

The miniatures are beautifully sculpted and have some nice crisp detail on them. In my honest and humble opinion these miniatures do the SEALS justice and would be an excellent addition to anyone's collection, whether you use them in a game or just to stand a place of honour on your display shelf.

The second set is one that has become familiar over the past year or so. It is of a sniper in their shooting position taking watch over a patrolling unit down below and looking for threats to that patrol.

You can see that the sniper has a shooting mat underneath him for those extremely long periods of lying and waiting (at times this was just an army olive drab blanket or sleeping bag ) and the sniper rifle supported by his rucksack that had a damped area to reduce dust flair ups when he shot to prevent giving away his position. He also has his M4 lying next to him in case combat got a lot closer to him that would make his rifle impractical.

There are two poses available, the prone in shooting position and in patrol movement. Again these are both nice sculpts and would do nicely for American Snipers.

What do you think of these?