Wargames Factory Page
There haas been a recent and quiet revolution in wargaming of late - The development and proliferation of high-quality hard plastic miniatures (in some cases multipart and poseable). While the idea of plastic miniatures isn’t new, wargamers have always liked the heft of metal in their hands. But there are changes in the wind.
So, why the sudden popularity of plastic miniatures?
· Cost – Metal costs worldwide have skyrocketed in recent years, and they’ve shown no sign of dropping. Plastic is much cheaper to produce after the expensive process of mold creation is complete. But unlike molds for metal figures, plastic molds don’t wear out with use. They can be used repeatedly with little if any loss of fidelity. Plus, one box of plastic figures can give you all you need to start an army in some rules sets.
· Technology Improvements – With the developments in 3D printing, CAD sculpting technology, and so many related developments, the truth is, plastic figures are equaling and overtaking metal figures in their quality, especially some of the efforts by the Perry Brothers.
· Ease of painting - Unlike their soft plastic brethren, hard plastic is much easier to paint and holds that paint well with the usual primer and varnish coats. It also makes it easier for someone from the scale modeling side to transition to wargaming, as they’ll already have many of the tools to work with these figures.
· Customizable – On some of the larger figures, if you’re so inclined, you can mix and match limbs, weapons, heads, anything your heart and skill desires. And many of the manufacturers include extra weapons and limbs for just such a reason.
So, what’s out there? Some of the more notable manufacturers out there include:
Wargames Atlantic
Wargames Atlantic has a good reputation out there that covers quite a few different periods, including Ancients, Napoleonics, and World Wars I and II. You get around 32 28mm figures for $35, which translates to about $1 a figure. That’s a bit better than the metal average of $2.50 for a 28mm lead figure. For historical players, this is a good development.
Wargames Atlantic
Perry Miniatures was one of the first big producers of 28 mm hard plastic miniatures, and they’ve no sign of slowing down. They include boxes of historically accurate units that make it easy to build for Sharp Practice and Black Powder rules. They cover such wide subjects as the English Civil War, American Civil War, Napoloenics, World War II, Colonials, and American Revolution. They even sell accessory packs with more rifles and more limbs to allow for more variety for those looking to do conversions! One box set will set you back about $28.00, which for 40-50 figures is an incredibly good price and a cheap way to get into some of these rules sets.
Warlord Games Site
Warlord Games has been putting out more than a few plastic figure lines in 28mm, 1/300, and now 15mm American Civil War.
Warlord’s been a leader in the field and has quite a few options in their Bolt Action boxes, and is known for supporting their product lines well. Look at the variety in most of their figure lines. Their 28mm is a bit pricy, with 40-45 figures for $56. But in the 15mm offerings, you can get 100 figures for $32. While that is a brigade for Black Powder, it’s practically several dozen brigades for, say Fire and Fury. Considering it also comes with commanders and some artillery, it’s a pretty good deal.
Victrix Models makes a variety of plastic miniatures in 28mm, 54mm, and 12mm (World War II). I’ve seen Victrix in the flesh, and they put out a nice product for what you get. If you want to do 12mm WWII, you couldn’t do better than picking up their lines to start. They really have a lot to get you started with a variety of figures for such rules as Kampfgruppe Commander or “O” Group. Their 28mm Ancients and Dark Ages offerings I have played with, and they are really nice figures, to say the least. Prices are cheaper than Perry, with 56 Napoloenics in the Austrian box for $25. And you get flags too!
In conclusion, it’s fairly obvious that we’re in a golden age of plastic miniatures. These are only some of the manufacturers out there. If you haven’t tried any of these or other offerings, give them a try, you might like them enough to make them part of your army.
Happy Gaming!
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(This article is credited to Jason Weiser. Jason is a long-time wargamer with published works in the Journal of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers; Miniature Wargames Magazine; and Wargames, Strategy, and Soldier.)