"15mm Higher HQ sets for WWII?" Topic

Hello All.

A few years back I supplemented my 15mm WWII Soviet armies with a Battlefront/FOW set billed as a Soviet "Artillery HQ". The set cost about $9US at the time, and had IIRC 2 bases of observers, 2 command bases, and a large staff base with a table, two staff officers, and a female radio operator.

It was the table and staff I wanted, since I needed those for the rules I was playing and no one else made (or makes) 15mm figures suitable for regiment/division/corps command units.

I was planning on buying quite a few of these for my other armies, but when I looked at the FOW online store this week, I could not find the small Artillery HQ sets; all I saw was much larger (and MUCH more expensive) sets that included the table and staff but also included lots of other items I don't want.

Does anyone know when this change occurred? I'm wondering if I can still find the old, smaller sets out there in retailers' stocks. I don't really follow FOW much, so I'm hoping someone who does can fill me in on the when, or even on the why.

Likewise, if anyone knows of similar, cheaper figs from other manufacturers suitable for use with Peter Pig or Command Decision, I would appreciate it. I'm aware of the PP "Higher Command" sets, but they are only available for a few armies, and in any case don't quite capture the look of senior officers poring over maps.

Thanks!

My apologies! I think after some more digging I found them. At least, I have found the German set: GE 709. I'll keep looking around the truly voluminous BF site for the others.

Any further thoughts on the topic would be welcome though.

It is pretty easy to make tables for the staff officers to pore over, similarly no HQ is complete without a motorcycle despatch rider, staff cars, MPs quivering at attention etc etc. It is usually fairly straightforward to cobble these things togther without having to buy special sets of accessories.

My regiment/division/corps commanders are usually groups of officers of ever increasing grandeur and scales of transport. Their staffs similarly increase in size and scope. Radio trucks are some of the easiest conversions to do.

The sovit artillery headquarter is SU709 Artillery HQ.

Thanks! A bit more diligent searching on my part turned up:

GE 709 German Art HQ.
SU 709 Soviet
US 709 American
IT 709 Italian
US0 112 US Airborne Staff Team
RSO 101 Romanian Artillery Group
BR 710 British Artillery Group (30NZD, and with lots more stuff than I want, but it is all useful for other purposes.)

There are of course the several larger "Groups" that run about 38NZD, but those aren't for me as I am now paying a lot for the few staff figures that I want.

Thanks for your replies. I too have often scratch built tables and cobbled together "HQ areas." As I move into 15mm though, I find that the number of figures that look convincing and realistic in these settings is vastly smaller (no pun intended) than in 20mm. I'm most interested in figures that look like staff officers and HQ personnel, and if I have to buy the funky little FOW picnic tables to get them, so be it! Aside from repositioning an arm or swapping a head, I have not tried doing conversions on 15mm figures. The horror!

Peter Pig has a table with maps and 'scissor' scopes in a pack in their WWI range that would probably work.

The pack Martin refers to is the French High Command pack in the PP WWI range. QRF have a set of German senior officers in their figure range too.

Peter Pig doesn't have a photo specifically of their WWI Austrian higher command pack; the general range photo will have to do:

picture

I have cherry-picked from that higher command pack to do WWII Hungarian staff teams.

Allen

"As I move into 15mm though, I find that the number of figures that look convincing and realistic in these settings is vastly smaller (no pun intended) than in 20mm."

Yes, it is more of a problem in 15mm than 20mm.

I wonder if maybe railway or aircraft modelling figures in the right scales might work – blokes in generic uniforms carrying boxes, standing around etc. I often use 20mm ground crew figs as HQ/rear services types, although I've yet to find a use for the Airfix guys in fire suits!

Thanks, folks! I really hadn't thought of using figures from the WWI range, but they would work quite well. Some would need some modifications/head swaps, but let's face it, the Brass didn't change ALL that much in appearance, and this IS a small scale.

Martin: yes, some of the smaller HO figures would work, and being plastic they are easy to modify. Some creative basing might be necessary, but I have a Preisser HO Soviet tank commander who fits in perfectly with the 15mm stuff, especially once he's stuffed in a turret hatch!

Allen: as always, you are a treasure trove of info! Thanks.

And to everyone: thanks for being such a great community and such a superb resource. If only the rest of the world worked like this!

Testers for a flsmethrower perhaps?

There are some useful odds & sods in the various PP ranges. I've been able to put together a reasonably useful French high command group from a mix of PP, QRF & BF figures.

I've also found that some of the GZG scifi 'crew figures' would pass for modern groundcrew etc. Some of the HO railway figures might be suitable too but they tend to be a bit skinny against metsl figures.

Testers for flamethrowers?

Would that be folks test firing one? Or plastic figs as test targets (could make a melted mess!)? Or perhaps some angry engineers "fragging" the HQ with the FT?

One's imagination can run wild. :-)

Thanks, Huw, for the GZG tip as well: I will take a look.

Do you find the PP and BF mix ok with the QRF figs? I have some QC infantry andthey are quite small--they still work if I mount them on thicker bases and don't put them too close to the others though.

Modern as in current era for the ground crew. Try GZGs V4 code. Their civilians/colonists have quite a number of figures suitable for modern gaming IMHO.

There's a bit of difference in heights between the PP, QRF & BF figures but nothing that I can't live with. I also do th odd head swap, using PP's separate heads range.

Old Glory do higher command figures in 15mm. I just ordered a Japanese one.

(I need some Generals to commit sepuku is they lose!)

I haven't noticed much in the way of higher level command figs in the Old Glory packs: mostly NCOs and platoon/company officers. What packs have the Brass in them?

link

1110 is the Japanese pack.

Yes, if you go to the Skytrex site you can see pictures; there are standard bearers, officers waving swords, etc., but no staff types here--pretty typical of the lower level command of the CD sets. They are good, but they are not "brass" in the sense that they are not high level command personnel.

Are you sure? They are listed as 1110..24 Figures Including Map And Radio Tables, Seated Figures And Standing Officers.

Well, I've been known to be wrong before, so we can't discount that! I went to the Skytrex site and looked at the CD Japanese Command set:CDJI 1, which is the same as that produced by Old Glory Miniatures in the USA.

I think you may be referring to the Quality Castings line: sold by "Old Glory 15s" but not the "Old Glory" figures themselves. Even I don't know how that confusing bit of confusing company names happened!

Thanks for the tip though: it's good to know QC makes those figures.

I'm waiting to see it it includes a General assisted by an aide, as he commits seppuku!

That WOULD be useful! :-)

That WOULD be useful! :-)

Yeah…especially if you get to paint up a before and after version!!!!

Yikes! That would be, what, half a head swap? :-)

(Plus major abdominal surgery, of course…)

Yikes! That would be, what, half a head swap? :-)

Well…which bits you had to swap would depend on how good the aide's aim was when he swung his sword!

Well, you could do several: good, bad, and indifferent, with varying degrees of head removed. :-)

BTW, Mal, have those figures arrived yet?

No Crunchy! I'm hoping they arrive in the next few days…but they are coming via the US Postal service, so it may depend on a roll of the die.

But I did get some figures from Eureka today. Various odds and ends I selected to fit in with my Chinese.

Ah!
They arrived today Crunchy Frog. And they look very nice. I will post some photographs when I can.

Neat! How doe they compare scale-wise with the other 15s?

Ummmm…well….I'm not usually one to worry about what mixes with what. But I must admit that these are very small. True 15's I guess.

Sounds about right, and I do agree with you on not worrying too much: I probably am just slightly further along the "scale worry spectrum" than you are. :-)