Specifically, this set, which has re-appeared in the shops:

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=1716

These Zvesda "Grenadiers of Fred. the Great" certainly look good.

My SYW Prussian infantry, thanks to HaT, is in good shape & I've cobbled together enough converted cavalry & artillery to make a viable army.

When I saw this set in the LHS, I thought of adding more units.....as you do.
But there's issues:

*From Kronoskaf, I find only two, mitre wearing units carried flags. I don't have either unit but it cuts down the options

*Size; they're evidently giants

* box composition. My SYW Prussian infantry battalions generally get a whopping 24 figures per unit. This still means lots of unused figures as each battalion needs a command stand. Of which there is one (officer, musician, NCO & ensign).

* Pose. To get sufficient figures for a unit, they'll have to be firing (kneeling, standing & loading) as I won't mix'n'match marching, advancing or firing poses in the same set & there are insufficient of any other pose. Indeed, the above is a stretch.

Opinions, especially from members who own the figures, is canvassed.

The officer is a really fantastic figure. The loading and standing firing figures are really nice as well. But I don't particularly like the rest of the set. When I put them next to the Hat sets they don't mix that well. And I struggled to get the arms to fit naturally when lying them on, the join didn't seem that good. However, this is only my opinion so I'm happy to be corrected by others who are far more skilled at painting and are more historically astute etc. Shame that the SYW has been done so poorly by Revell, Hat and Zvezda (minus Austrian artillery which is a great set and the new Hat Austrian's are ok).

Personally, I love the HaT MAC SYW Prussians. You're a bit hard on the Revell SYW figures too, which except for the Prussians are pretty good (yes, that Austrian artillery set! - the basis of my French SYW artillery). With head swops the Revell Austrian infantry has created quite a good army for me: I haven't even yet bought any HaT Austrians!

What *is* needed is for HaT to finish their SYW Prussian range & then start & finish a SYW Russian range.

But thanks for your comments on the Zvesda set. Again, multi-part figures don't bother me. In the past, I've found that cutting off the tip of the connecting nubbin (if it's too long) or shaving a bit off the side (if it's too thick) makes a good fit. Glue is another issue, though.

Well I bought them to be AWI Hessians but as others have said I think the period is badly served in 1/72 so I did the period with 15mm metals - all the same pose, nothing to stick on - wider range of types available... No contest...

In the last year I have built up large SYW forces using the HaT Prussian and Austrian sets, some Revell figures (including in particular their Austrian artillery set and their Hussars, which I bought several boxes of years ago when they were available), with Zvezda Napoleonic Saxon cuirassiers for conversion to SYW cuirassiers with tricornes. I reckon that this will provide me with large SYW forces for Austria and Prussia, and perhaps others as well, in my preferred scale and still at a lower cost than 15mm.

I have avoided the Zvezda Prussian Grenadiers set. Amongst other things the choice of poses is in my view poor: why 9 x kneeling figures?

This is not to say that I was not tempted by 15mm when approaching the SYW. After all, that is the scale I've used for TYW and ECW armies in the absence of enough good sets for that era. But the arrival of the HaT SYW sets made up my mind for the mid C18th.

The new Strelets early C18th British sets are fantastic, and I look forward to the WoSS range expanding. I'll be buying plenty!

Yes. I have them in my Prussian Grenadier battalions and they are worth the effort as the sculpting is absolutely superb. I bought three boxes to get a decent number of standing poses, and they work if you base them in two ranks with kneeling figures in front: the different standing poses in the rear rank gives a sort of representation of the firing drill by platoons anyway, and of course you don't need as many command figures. The standard bearer easily converts to another NCO. They are not too bad compared to the Hat and Revell infantry who are fairly tall in their own right. Some of mine ended up serving the guns from Zvezda's GNW Swedish artillery set.

It's a pain to convert those Saxons to cuirassiers but no other option exists at the moment. The one thing impossible to convert is grenz infantry regiments and pandours for the Austrian forces - maybe Strelets can be persuaded to produce some of these for us in the near future?

Hey, Stuart.

what about using the Italeri Prussian cuirassiers for the SYW?

I cut the hats off & glued some of the many spare HaT tricornes i had, glued a pigtail on & with a paint conversion: viola!

The horse furniture was more tricky.

And thanks for your useful comments on the Zvesda set.