Tim's Review of 15mm Miniatures

Tim's Review of Figures

This is an update of my original 15mm miniature review. I have been looking for some alternative 15mm WWII mini's and would like to share my thoughts. Be aware that these are my personal opinions, so if I have gored anyone's sacred ox…my apologies…

From Left to Right...

#4 - Battle Honors - US Marine Advancing
#5 - Battlefront - US Para
#6 - Old Glory/Command Decision - US Army in Greatcoat
#7 - Resistant Roosters - US Army in Greatcoat
#8 - Peter Pig - US Para

Height (I measured these, the scale in the pic is 1mm off)

• Battle Honors - 13mm
  
• Battlefront - 16mm
• Command Decision - 15mm
• Resistant Roosters - 18mm
• Peter Pig - 15mm

Proportions

• Battle Honors - BH mini's are in proportion for the scale, trouble is the scale is approx 13mm or 86% of what it should be.
• Battlefront - BF uses "heroic" or comic proportions for their mini's. It's like everyone is Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• Command Decision - CD's minis are proportioned ok, though sometimes hands and faces are too big.
• Resistant Roosters - RR guys are big. Not only do they measure in around 17-18mm, the proportions are off.
  
• Peter Pig - Pig's proportions are ok, the legs and feet are a little thick sometimes, but they look good.

General Comments

Battlefront (Flames of War) Currently the "Gold Standard". A wide variety, with good poses (ETO only!). These guys are a little on the large side or 'heroic' as they are called. Lots of detail and very dynamic; they are closer to 17mm than 15mm. Some of the early castings are true 15mm and look thin and static compared to the later ones. Nothing wrong with that, but it can look odd when you mix figures. BF's uses a soft casting alloy which makes the mini's easy to convert. The tank & gun barrels are a little thick scale wise, but that is done for miniature strength purposes and doesn't look out of place; perception is reality... They are also a bit pricy; an average tank company will have approx 12 tanks, at $9-$10 each…do the math.

Command Decision/Old Glory - Or WWII at a more economic level. OG has a good mix of poses and a good range of figures (ETO & PTO). I am a little mixed on OG's stuff. The price per mini is very good; foot is typically around 50 for $27 and vehicles three per pack at $21. They frequently run 20-40% off sales, so they are even a better value at times. The consistency between the ranges is mixed. A few fit in very well with BF's "heroic" figures. Others are much smaller and look too small next to BF's but fit well with Peter Pig's mini's.

With a little work their vehicles are just as good as BF's. OG's lead alloy is soft, which is most evident in smaller parts which bend easily (MG's and such). Some of their barrels seem a bit thin...I have noticed this most obviously on their Pz III's and some 37mm Flak mounted on halftracks. I am not sure if it extends to other tanks in the line. In general the newer the mini's are the better the sculpting and larger the size.

I have three big gripes about OG mini’s:

• The boots are often perfectly in scale – ie, they are thin and can snap off easily
• OG vehicles have an annoying tendency to have a mold line running around or through the middle of the model.
• OG models tend to have a lot of flash/molding lines that require cleanup.
  

Resisitant Roosters - Produce Finns, Germans, Japanese and some interesting US (ETO infantry in greatcoats!) in limited scope. These look good on the site, but are disappointing in person (at least the Japanese and US in greatcoats are). The castings are "soft" lacking crisp lines and detail. They may suffer from the 'Gripping Beast syndrome' of looking better painted up than not, so I may correct my first impression after I paint some. They don’t match well with any of the other ranges

Peter Pig (Range 8) I like Pig's miniatures. They cover everything from early war to late war; ETO; PTO; and probably a theater or two I have missed. To me they are the Ral Partha of 15mm. The problem is, like Ral Partha they are true to scale (15mm in this case) and in general the foot don't mix well with other lines. Not too much of a problem if you stick with Pig, but mixing is less than satisfactory. The alloy Pig uses for casting is strong, but can be brittle when you try to bend arms and heads. This is a good thing for MG's and such. Incidentally, Pig's vehicles are a good match for the other lines. Pig also makes heads, so for example you can use British heads with their pie pan helmets on the bodies of US Marines to create early Marines. My one gripe about Pigs mini's is some of the gun barrels on the tanks are a bit thick...

Quality Casting/Battle Honors miniatures – Nice large range that covers both ETO & PTO); QC has some problems, however:

• The infantry are very small at 13-14mm (the vehicles are in scale)
• They are a little pricy (three vehicles for $29)
• Castings in general not as good as OG and more expensive.
• Some of QC’s vehicle castings are very poor representations of their originals.
• For some reason QC's tires are only one sided (the back is smooth). Not a real problem on trucks and such, but it looks bad on towed AT guns.
  

Conclusions

The Good
If I buy more troops they will be either Battlefront or Peter Pig. Both have great detail and a wide range of figures. It is unfortunate that the figures don't mix well. BF's are more heroic and PP's less so. So in most cases it is all BF or all PP...CD/OG can mix well with PP, but not BF.


The Not so Good...
CD/OG figures are good in a pinch, the price is right and you can afford some bad castings. They also make some teams and accessories that are hard or impossible to find from other manufacturers ranges, I also find that if you want to put crew in vehicles (fighting from half-tracks, etc), CD/OG is the way to go...


The Bad...
Battle Honors/Quality Casting (They are the same) There is no reasons to use these figures. Maybe if you got the whole company for free...maybe. The figures are small and not particularly well sculpted. They don't mix well with anything else...DON'T GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT...I don't mean to be so vitriolic about it, but I have been burned twice on these guys...It has been an expensive lesson and I am a bit annoyed

And the Ugly...
Resistant Roosters, I just don't know where to go here. I have seen a number of examples from two different lines and they just don't cut it. The web site shows them off nicely, but I was shocked when I got my order from them. They are too big; the sculpting is was below standard; the proportions completely off. I don't know how else to put it.

Remember these are my opinions...feel free to disagree and by all means comment!

Web Resources

Size Comparisons

Article on 15mm and "large" 15mm figures
http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~trochim/articles/15mmNap.pdf

For 25's – 28's
http://www.warflag.com/shadow/cast/figuresize/figuresize1.jpg

Where to buy:

BattleFront/Flames of War
http://www.thewarstore.com/battlefrontflamesofwarwwii.html

Command Decision/Old Glory
http://www.warweb.com/old-glory-15mm-world-war-c-70_138_1417_413.html

Resistant Roosters
http://www.thewarstore.com/resistantroosterswwii.html

Peter Pig
http://www.brookhursthobbies.com/Peter%20Pig/peter_pigR8.htm

Quality Casting.Battle Honors
http://www.warweb.com/quality-casting-wwii-c-70_153_420.html