"What's the verdict on Wargames Factory?" Topic

I've seen their figures and I like some and some I don't. I've heard that they have gotten progressively better with each new set. The pictures of the unreleased Vikings seem to bear that out as they look as good as Perry figures to me. But what's the verdict on these figures and company now that they've been around for a year or so?

Overall;

I like them.

There are some sets that I find lacking, some that I think are as useful as any metals that exist, and some I am anticipating.

Over time, I have noticed a marked improvement in the sculpting quality, and the price point is always nice!

Now, unlike some, I am not prejudiced against plastic figures. I built models long before I started collecting miniatures, so assembly is just part of the hobby for me. Also, I like full armies or units, which is just not feasible with some metals, considering the price. Happily, most plastic figures will fit with at least one existing metal range, so I can do a nice mix of both.

To me, the material that they are made of does not matter as much as the quality and overall cost of the miniature.

I have to agree with Tsunami,,,

I have been a wargamer, as well as a member if IPMS for more than 40 years. I have enjoyed working with plastic much ,ore than metal, because it is so much easier to work with. Conversions are far easier to create in plastic than metal. Of you feel the need for more weight, then simply add weight to the base via washers, lead shot/bits, etc.

Wargames Factory have been getting better with each new set, and, to be honest, I went for a Republican Roman army rather than an Imperial one because of their plastic Roman set. They have a great forum, a really good shipping service, and a really nice attitude. Add to it that they use a packing service designed to help the disabled, and it's an all-around great company.

Now, that being said, I am NOT against metal minis. I have a LOT of them, thousands, to be specific, but i am really and truly fond of the Wargames Factory line and of the folks who run the company.

Thier minis have allowed me to enter into a period i always wanted to game, Ancients, at a level I wanted to do, without breaking the bank, and while maintaining a gret level of detail and overall composition.

You won't go wrong dealing with them.

I like their stuff. The colonial brits have a coupla' quirks as far as gear but ah can work around it. The figs are very customisable, economical and not bad castings. Their romans, celts and germans are prolly gonna suck me back into a 25/28 mm ancients army <sigh>

Like their stuff.

I wish they would move past the Liberty/Union League and just manufacture. You can't please everyone and it is a mistake to try. What you can do is focus on finishing eras, selling great deals with variety in the packs, and moving along at a quick enough pace that people are respectful of your progress.

There is way too much angst and drama surrounding the LUL.

The Zombies are probably their roughest set as far as quality, but if you want large hordes of cheap zeds, there you go.

Their Romans, which received many varied reviews, work fine for me as my 28mm Romans.

It is true, each set has gotten better than the last. I think you will continue to see even better sets with their next few releases. Samurai, in particular, should be interesting. Lots of Sci-Fi stuff in the pipeline too.

As a small company they still have some major kinks to work out, but in about another years time I can see them leading the plastic figure industry.

"What's the verdict on Wargames Factory?"

Guilty!

Guilty of making some of the best plastic 28mm figures for historical wargaming that is. Thanks for the positive feedback (and even the negative as it helps us improve).

But I'm biased as I'm now formally employed by them. We can't wait to show you what we've got in store for next year…

Just don't ask me to reveal our secrets yet; I won't do it, not even for a whole box of Snickers bars with almonds.

I like all the ancients figures that have come out. Their shippig is great and Tony and his staff are great people! IMHO. I will be selling off some of my older celts to make way for the LARGE amount of their Celts! Mike Adams

I like them, the Libert and Unin League seems to have run it's course though, some sets have reached 100% but no sign of production.

What's the verdict on Wargames Factory?

Same as nearly any manufacturer here; some folks like them, some folks don't.

They make figures. They let people suggest things like undead morris dancers, and if enough individuals show interest, they make them.

Their quality has been getting remarkably better with each new set. The Romans were Ok, the Celts were better and the Germans plus Vikings were that much better again. So they are definitely one to watch in my book. I'd expect their next release to be that little bit better again.

"Just don't ask me to reveal our secrets yet; I won't do it, not even for a whole box of Snickers bars with almonds."

Not that I'm offering – how about two boxes?

Two boxes eh? Well, we will be at Fall-In… Perhaps we could come to an arrangement…

They keep getting better with each new release.

well I would say it's a bit far fetched to compare the quality to Perry or GW but the quality HAS improved since the early releases. The early sets are passable "toy soldiers" or gaming tokens, the new figures are usable figures for large armys. I personaly (I think some of you know) don't quite trust/believe everything they write but I can honestly say I have only heard good things about their sales service.

varglives, I think you'd be surprised by the latest Wargames Factory sets. I'd easily put the quality of the sculpting and molding up against Perry or GW. The molding might actually be a bit better.

I'm awaiting the Vikings with baited breath.

I have only experience with their Roman stuff. Not bad. Take a look here link

They are going better with the newer sculpts.

I have developed an appreciation for plastics again after a very long hiatus. When I was a kid putting together model kits, the 1/35 scale infantry in hard plastics were great, but I hadnt touched plastics in decades. I was 100% metal miniatures for wargaming.

As plastics became more popular in the wargaming industry the last few years, I bought the odd box here or there to check them out, but I wasnt blown away by them. Then, a few months ago, I met Tony from WF. I was immediately impressed with his enthusiasm for his product, and for his candour regarding the progress of the line from the first miniatures the company produced, to its latest set at the time, the German infantry. It was clear that here was a guy who loved what his company was doing, and who had some cool dreams about what they could be doing in the future.

So I started spending more time looking at their figs and painted some up, and was pleased with the result. The german infantry and cavalry are very nice figs, and the variety of poses for warbands are too much fun, especially when you mix in the weapons and heads from a complementary box like the Celts.

There are little details I really appreciate, like the spacers they mould onto the frames. These pegs stick out from one side of the frames and fit into plugs (?) on the opposite side, giving the figures and weapons plenty of space even when stacked neatly in tall piles. No damage to the smallest parts this way. A nice touch.

The pictures of their latest line, the Vikings, are incredible. The depth in detail of the faces beneath the helms look superb. I notice that they have detailed each layer now, from the outside garment and equipment, to the hair, and then the skin. This is true of the German cavalry as well. There is a horse head/skull standard that shows the skull, the jaw, the teeth, all well layered.

Is there room for improvement? You bet. But Tony and company seem to be very receptive to feedback of the line, and from speaking with Tony, I can tell you that he is committed to improving each release. I think the access to Tony and WF is great. The Wf forum is very active and the company reps get right into the discussion. I dont think I've ever seen a wargaming company that was more accessible to their customers.

So there is my very long-winded response. I think the figs are very good, and improving all the time. I'm sold on their intent, their drive, and their product. Does that make me a sock-puppet? LOL!

Dean

Does that you a sock puppet? Well only if WF just gave Maine Historical Wargamer's Association 3000 damn minis?
oh wait……..

I think that anyone who has met and/or corresponded with Tony would probably have much the same to say- even if he wasnt supporting their club with 3,000 figs! He's not one to hide his enthusiasm for what he is doing.

Happy dice rolling.

Just not my cup of tea. I find most of the poses awkward and a little contrived.

Just my honest opinion Guv,,,,,,

Cheers,

Darrell.

Well 3000 figures buy a lot of praise and enthusiasm in no quantity makes up for "awkward and a little contrived" sculpts. the figures are fine for bulking out large armies inexpensively but no amount of gimmicks can gloss over the anatomy of the Romans.

Hi varglives, I find it curious that you have been on the attack whenever Wargames Factory has been mentioned over the last several days. The majority of your posts since joining TMP last month seem to be anti-WF.

I'm not sure what's wrong with this anatomy:
picture

And I'm also wondering if you're actually based in the UK as your profile mentions. If you are, you keep some late hours based on all the posts you've made!

I don't just sit and moan about WF, I have praised other figures and made recomendations for peoples queries since joining :) the majority of posts being WF related is because I seem to be drawn into long debates….

I'm not super anti-WF I just think everything produced is already better represented in either plastic or metal by pretty much any other manufacturer (exept maybe Irregular, Old Glory and Essex).

Anatomy- they are too bulky, they are all hunched over, the shoulders are too wide,the necks are at an odd angle, the arms join at the body not the shoulder, the spear holding hand looks unnatural and the shins are too short and that's just the Romans. Open your eyes, look at a real person.

I'm a night owl ;)

How's the anatomy and "bulkiness" on these Perry figs then?

Would you want to meet the one on the right in a dark alley?

picture

"the Libert and Unin League seems to have run it's course though"

Hardly the case I should think. Merely a bump in the production que road.

I find most of the poses awkward and a little contrived.

I thought the point of multi-part plastics was that you could try to pose the models whatever way you wanted to.

So some people will assemble theirs in the most dynamic poses imaginable, while others will try to be as conservative as they can – and others fall in somewhere between.

Griefbringer-

Good point, and one that was discussed on the WF forum a week or so ago. It started with an observation that some of the figures dont seem to hold a sword properly, which led to discussion and examples of how they should be placed in the open hand to get a better look. It also led to a discussion about the balance between accuracy and flexibility in allowing multiple weapon choices for the same hand.

The Romans were several releases ago. WF has improved the quality of the figures, and the soon to be released Vikings look awesome. Pretty much all manufacturers release a few figs or even a line of figs, that are not quite right for one reason or another. Anyone remember the Dixon pumpkin heads? Hasnt stopped me from buying their ACW and King Louis lines, which are great!

I personally like WF minis, a lot. Sure, there are other companies that make these same ranges, however they aren't nearly as cheap (pricewise, not in quality) as WF plastic. Where else can you get a 2000 point WAB Celt/Ancient Britons army for $120? The sculpts are, imho, fine. These are, after all, toy soldiers meant for pushing around on a table, not exact/precise scale miniature humans. And besides, the miniature anatomy for WF stuff is a lot closer to scale than most other miniatures lines. I have a bunch of WW2 figures that are firing .75 caliber rifles, and have HUGE hands, but in order to make a mini that's not too fragile in metal, I live with it.

So long story short, they are nice minis, at a cheap price. Feel free to disagree, but then buy me some of your favorite company, and send them to me, and I'll make a comparison. ;D

I like both metal and plastic figures. Metal is weighty and holds astounding detail, but is hard to modify and customize, which is something I enjoy doing.

My mates and I are beginning to collect armies to play under the No Quarters rule set in a semi-custom fantasy world, and I have been eyeballing the Wargames Factory figs for a little while now. I do have a few questions I was hoping some of you could answer.

Scale wise, these look better, less "heroic" (silly) and -generally- more proportional. But how do they scale against other figs, say those from Warlord (the only other good plastic figs I've seen), or Old Glory? One of my friends wants to run a Sengoku Judai era Samurai army, and he has been looking at the Old Glory 28mm samurai, hoping to mount them onto a square base so they'll be as "high up" as the other figs.

Also, I heard Wargames Factory was going to produce some Hundred Years War figs, but I never got an email back from them about it. Is there any information on this somewhere?

M.

WF are planning an early Hunderd Years War but I suspect it is a year away.

WF Celts and Warlord celts are identical in size.
Here is a comparison of Foundry Viking, Wargames Factory German, Crusader Viking, Warlord Celt, Wargames Factory German.
link

More comparisons here
link

Regards
Mick

Enthusiastic people who constantly oversell and under deliver.

Figures are dire though recent releases are becoming less dire than before.

Some of the pictures of the forthcoming Vikings look like they may no longer meet the full legal standard required for true direness, though as there pot smoking fan club often likes to point out we are not allowed to pass judegement of their figures based on photos.

Leaving aside all the past 'baggage' the problem with the figures fall into two main areas.

1)Level of detail: For reasons I don't understand the detail on WF is always 'soft' and nowhere near the crispness that their competitors had no problem in hitting from day one. It still is 'soft' only getting less 'soft' than before.

2)Sculpting/Poses: The poses rarely seem to have the 'natural' or 'fluid' look that others again seemed to have no problem with, weapons rarely seem to 'fit' properly in hands (hint:maybe they should think about sculpting weapons and hands/arms together).
This is easier to figure out, take a bunch of people who have never sculpted digitally before and ask them to sculpt using a computer and what is going to happen, its going to take a long time for them to develop their skills to the level of a 'master' vs their competiotrs who hire people who are already masters at sculpting non-digitally and dont need to develop their skills at all to produce great figures.

I think the supposed 'speed' of the full digital process is irrelevant from many 'customers' perspective all we really care about is the quality of the end product and to date the 'digital' process hasn't produced the quality to match their non-digital competitors nor for that matter has it yet even matched the speed of the non-digital process.

Maybe Uesugi Kenshin has the right timeframe, give them another year and they may finally catch up to where their competitors were eighteen months ago and their figures will become worth buying.

The Vikings are the first set from them that looks like it contains at least some acceptable figures that might paint up decently, will have to wait and see, if they get into someone like Caliver I might pick up a box and see for myself.

Wargames Factory gets a qualified thumbs up from me. I create an affordable mass of rank & file in plastic & flesh out my "characters" in lead (mostly Foundry). Overall detail is pretty good, & as many others have mentioned, the detail seems to pop out more once the figs are painted. Most recently, I combined parts of the plastic Numidians sprue w/ Caesarian Romans to create a unit of raw Roman recruits for WAB. I used my leftovers to create a small unit of archers. The mod-ability of the Numidians make them a favorite. I am currently painting a batch of WF plastic Germans, and have combined it with a few lead "characters" from Foundry.

IMHO I think W.F. do a good job on there figures, and they are looking better all the time with new releases. Mike Adams

WF gives good product and good service at a very affordable price. I rarely purchase figures because of cash and time constraints. Just about anything bought gets painted and used or it won't be bought.
Due to my addiction to the 2 hrs system and my interest in the pulp genre I picked up 2 boxes of Zulus for use of generic locals with spears and bad intentions. What a waste!
I discarded muskets Martinis, shields,Knobkerries etc.
The wealth of surplus gear went into the spare parts box to be placed into the tommorrow file for (hopefully) future use.
It was still an affordable waste and no 2 figures look the same. Well 'Bravo x', I wish I had access to wacky tobakky
as it would improve my painting skills. Sad to say I like this company and it's products based on decades of personal experience. …(poor slob never got stoned)…I pity you.

There…my 1st naughty post. Old hippy out…

Well, I've decided I will order their 5 dollar "Viking" sprue deal and give them a look at. I really like how easily we can convert these, as there's no drilling involved to insert new weapons.

M.