Empire of the blazing sun Imperial rifles

Empire of the blazing sun Imperial rifles  

The Imperial rifles march into battle in a medium spartan box!

The back of which has a render of the models included and some fluff about the section. Inside we find:

Zooming in on the details of the models:

Contents as list:
1 Activation Card
5 riflemen 

Quality:
The models are of a nice quality with clear casting in white metal.

Appearance:
I feel the imperial infantry capture the feel of military uniformity and order nicely.  Despite being in two parts the models can not be posed and as there are no optional bits included, it is not possible to add any simple variety.

Tabletop Usage:
The imperial rifles are a mainstay section; as such, inclusion of  a section of them or a section of ashigaru is mandatory to create a legal force.
Whilst the ashigaru are close range power houses, the imperial rifles eschew melee in favour of long ranged firepower.
Compared to other ranged infantry the imperial rifles compete well, having the advantage that their extended range contains range band three. Countering this is the quick setup model assigned rule (MAR) requiring a command point to be spent if the unit fires in the same activation as it moves and lowering the dice colour of such attacks by one.
The penalty for firing at long range combines with quick set up, making doing so costly (two command points if there is an officer nearby, four if relying on the section's sergeant) and somewhat ineffectual! This cases me to think it may be best to use early turns to run Imperial infantry to an ideal location to rain a steady tempo of ranged death from!

Cost per model:
At an RRP of £14 (or £12.60 from thetrolltrader or firestormgames) for a box of 5 the imperial rifles work out at £2.80 (or 2.56) per model. For metal models of this size this is solid value.

Cost per section:
To get the most from a section of imperial rifles you want a full section of ten models costing £28 to which you can also add an upgrade box for £9 (£8.10) giving a final coat of £37 (or £33.3 with 10% discount).

Conclusion:
The imperial rifles are nice models however the small number of sculpts and the lack of any options for individuality give a total score of 8 out of 10!