Ratnik appears to be a Russian manufacturer based out of Ekaterinburg. I believe the name Ratnik means warrior in Russian, which would make this a very appropriate name for this firm. I don't know much about them and this is the first set from them that I have come across. Some internet searches reveal that they also produce tin lead figures in 54mm scale. I only saw them sold individually, but I don't know if they were originally part of a set. I will have to keep an eye out for more info about them and potentially more sets.
Ratnik 1941 Soviet Border Guards
This is a good set to complement the Hanomak NKVD Soviet Guards. The sculpting is average -a couple of the poses feel a bit stiff, like the man throwing the grenade or the man to his right- but the diversity of poses compensates for that. For example, you get a radio man with it which is something handy in any unit and several of the poses are useful in fighting scenes. As was the case with Hanomak, you also get a guard dog, which seems quite appropriate for this unit. The one pose I don't care much for is the officer walking with the gun in his hand. He seems to be of limited use in the type of scenes I like to setup. Lastly, this set also comes with a border post. I guess to help setup the scene at the border. Given how shortly the war was fought at the border where these posts might have been, I would have preferred if they had given us an extra pose instead. But all in all, a decent set to add to the collection.
