"15mm "not" space marines" Topic

does anyone make a 15mm sci fi set of figures that are not gw space marines(but look like them)?

Short answer: no. 15mm sci-fi doesn't cover space fantasy to the point where you will find more than a handful figures armed with swords.

Also, Games Workshop fanatically defends their intellectual property, even if they don't compete in a certain scale. MJ Miniatures did make a line of figures that were fairly similar a few years back, but were shut down.

Now, if you're willing to give up the swords, your best bet (aesthetically) are the Blue Moon Orion Republic troopers. link More "space opera" than "gothic fantasy," but fairly similar. Here's some I did in almost-Blood Angel colors:

And the leader figures COULD be converted with a 15mm fantasy sword, if you really felt the need.

Another option are the old Laserburn Imperial Troopers (which were, in fact, the direct predecessors of Rogue Trader marines). 15mm.co.uk/Imperial_Troopers.htm But there aren't many poses of these as they were produced for small skirmishes.

If you can get away from the 40k aesthetic and just go with the theme, your best bet is the Critical Mass ARC Fleet line. link You can use the regular infantry for normal Marines, the recon troopers for Scouts, and the Augments for Terminators. There are even one- and two-seat jetbikes available. They could be used as a "hard sci-fi" version of Space Marines.

-Chris K.

EDIT: I forgot the HOF Retained Knights. 15mm.co.uk/Retained_Knights.htm They're another very close option:

I would have picked the HOF Retained Knights, myself, as they have a beaky-ish helmet (even if it actually looks more like the Gunner's helmet from the "planet-killer" gun on the original Deathstar). The Retained Knight Command set contains several figures that fit the over-all religious order vibe of the Space Marines, too.

There are even Retained Knight-crewed bikes and various people have converted M113s to Rhinos, etc.

I've painted a load of HOF Retained Knights and would strongly support using them for SMs. To me, their look and feel is very close to that of the SMs, more so than the MJ and Blue Moon stuff.

I used the 28mm Retained Knights from Alternative Armies as generic Space marines for many years, i never really got into 40K, i bought the Retained Knights as they are great proxies that can be used with other games companies miniatures as well as 40K and still look as though they belong so I would also highly recommend them for 15mm 40K game play too…

One more reason to go with the HOF Retained knights is that they are notably taller than other old-school 15mm's, so unlike GW figures, the space marines might actually tower over their opponents as the fluff suggests they should.

During my very brief dabble in 15mm, I purchased some of them and some of the Laserburn Imperial Troopers. The HOF figs were nearly a head taller. Also, while the Imperial Troopers had a very cool Rogue Trader vibe, if the quality of the figs is any measure, the molds for the HOF figs are in much better shape.

I used the Blue Moon Orion Republic minis, also, and converted a few with swords.

Ask around and someone might have some of those old MJ/The Scene figures for sale. I got some from another TMP'er a couple months back and they're nice figures. A bit shorter than most 15s made now, but most of them still give off that superhuman vibe most still tote larger weapons. Others get it from the obvious chainswords, power fists and bolt pistols.
Here's a (Really bad) photo of a few. Sorry for the quality. Cell phone was all I had handy.

These figures are in the middle of being converted, and will have the first lot done before the end of the year.

The first lot of Orcs are finished and will be available from next weekend.

Cheers

Mike

i was'nt really looking for swords. i like the big shoulder pads and well, the general look of gw space marines. those don't look too bad, wolf.
no, what i really meant, was the space marine power armor, bolters, power packs, etc. i don't play 40k. i loved RT, but after the money machine that is gw started up with the game, i stopped. still, no matter how most feel about that greedy granny, i'd love to see space marines, a terminators, and ork boyz and etc. from gw made by gw in 15mm. it seems to me 15mm is the in thing in sci fi these days, gw would make a killing in that scale.

mike, what figures?

@Wolfprophet – I was wondering how you ever did with those. You'll have to post some clearer pictures when you get a chance. :)

@Mike – did you end up having to convert the Orks, or are you just going to re-release them as-is? I remember you posted a conversion-in-process sometime last year.

-Chris K.

The orks have been converted Chris, and should be available from next week, unfortunatly no longer Orks but they still have the same sort of look about them.

The original ones may be changed very slightly into mutants.
Not much needs to be changed for that.

I am still waiting for some to be done, but will release what I have next weekend. I am still working on some of the vehicles so hope to get a lot more released before the end Dec. Most of the figures will be mounted on Vehicles.

John the picture that wolfprophet has posted.

The old space troopers. They are being converted at the moment, and once I decide on a new name for them I will get them released.

Cheers

Mike

"it seems to me 15mm is the in thing in sci fi these days, gw would make a killing in that scale."

Clkeagle and I have said this quite a few times on here…. They would absolutely make a killing. Even better would be if they actually did the marines in the correct scale…Which would make them a pretty hefty figure in 15mm, one certainly worth a price tag of $1.40 or so per figure. Certainly more of they cast them in something nice and sturdy, like white metal. Never was a fan of lead figures.(Metal's too soft for my liking.)
I absolutely love the look of 40k figures, but I'd rather have them in 15mm. :)

Oh and correct scale vehicles! The Rhino kit isn't even big enough to carry a 10 man IG squad, yet we're supposed to believe it can fit 10 marines. In 15mm it means they could make some of those bigger kits scaled down and get people to buy them en masse. I'd certainly buy a thunderhawk or two (Or three or four because I have poor impulse control.) as a 15mm scale resin(No 'finecast' resin. Real Resin.) and metal kit in that $70 – $90
price range we see for things like that huge walker being made by Micropanzer, or Khurasan's transport ship and dictator mech. Or, I suppose with a 15mm thunderhawk, they could get away with a plastic kit and give it interior detail and all that good stuff. There's just so many possibilities.

John Lacour: "it seems to me 15mm is the in thing in sci fi these days…"

Not as much as sites like this would have you believe. :)

Not as much as sites like this would have you believe. :)

I'm going to make you eat those words in a year or two, once a few of these ranges start appearing in game shops. :) I'm calling it now… we'll see Critical Mass featured on Bell Of Lost Souls before the end of 2012. And there, inevitably, someone will discover an open-range system like Tomorrow's War or Gruntz. Things will get insane for us when that happens.

@Wolfprophet – it'll never happen on that scale. They've invested far too much in the "28mm" range. The only thing we could ever hope for is some 15mm intern-sculpted items in the collectors range, or at most, a limited re-release of Epic Armageddon in 15mm.

-Chris K.

I'm going to make you eat those words in a year or two, once a few of these ranges start appearing in game shops. :) I'm calling it now… we'll see Critical Mass featured on Bell Of Lost Souls before the end of 2012. And there, inevitably, someone will discover an open-range system like Tomorrow's War or Gruntz. Things will get insane for us when that happens.

Really hoping you're right! High time some sensible people took over.

you are spot on, wolf. necrons, all the crazy ork stuff, eldar wave serpants, tau battle suits. all in 15mm would not make me play 40k, but i'd sure buy the stuff for my new love, gruntz. if there is one brain left at games workshop, i bet he's thought of the 15mm explosion and said, "we should have done this thing in 15mm."
think of it. its right betwwen the epic stuff, and the too big scale of 28mm. space marines that are the super humans they are suppose to be. orks at the right scale. and you could play the apocolipse game with really big forces. and i'd buy a few thunderhawks my self!

This could be doctored up for a great Rhino/Leman Russ kinda tank…

link

"all in 15mm would not make me play 40k"

Same here. The rules are…. Well, they're actually a really good system. They are. BUT!…. They're just not suitable for platoon strength forces. Maybe a squad and a vehicle. But certainly not a large battle game.

"it'll never happen on that scale. They've invested far too much in the "28mm" range. The only thing we could ever hope for is some 15mm intern-sculpted items in the collectors range, or at most, a limited re-release of Epic Armageddon in 15mm."

Sadly, I must agree with this. We are talking about the people who released crappy resin figures, then had the balls to actually release a repair kit for them…complete with dollar store nail files marked up by an outrageous amount.

The new Khurasan minis, due to be released soon, look very Space Marine-esque to me.

Granted, their helmets are a bit different, being bubble tops, but their bolt guns, and bell-bottom style legs fit the look nicely.

They were just previewed about a week or so ago, so aren't available for sale quite yet, if I recall correctly, but should be soon.

John,
I recently converted a Heavy Infantrybot from The Scene link to fill in as 15mm Space Marines
The large, rounded shoulderpads are what grabbed my attention.
In my first attempt at "sculpting" with Greenstuff I was able to produce some tolerable results.
link
link

It's certainly not perfect, and clearly the backpack is missing (though I was never a big fan of the GW backpacks) but at a typical tabletop distance there's little doubt what the figure is meant to represent. As an added bonus, the Heavy Infantrybots stand roughly a head taller than most typical 15mm humans which only fits the image of the giant space marine.

Cheers,
Brock

Great job Brock, I love seeing the conversions that customers do to my figures.
Since their release I have had a lot of customers asking for the same figures but with normal human heads for 20mm, and with a helmet so they can be used for power armoured troops.

I am pleased to say that this is in the process of being done , and the first packs will be coming out early January.

I am looking at doing the figures with out heads. And a good selection of different heads.

Cheers Mike

well, are the RT era beakie marines any smaller? if they are smaller maybe, with the bigger 15/18mm figures…

The RT Beakies are fluff-perfect big guys compared to 25mm infantry. They just don't look like much compared to the modern 32mm+ range that GW has climbed into. About the only use you'd have for them in 15mm games is some kind of giant battle robot.

But those old RT era marines would be perfect for 20mm gamers I bet. :) I sort of regret not shelling out the $60 at my LGS for that big box of RT era stuff. If I anything I could have kept what looked interesting and market place'd the rest on here.

Monday Knight has an old experimental piece from MATAAC they've named G.E.O.R.G.E. Chunky humanoid robot almost ideally suited to the role of 15mm not-Marine Dreadnought. I picked up three at Shield earlier this month. They don't seem to be on the website yet, though.

@Brock

With some conversion the new Jump packs from GZG might be good for your marines:

Excellent idea. I'll have to add those to my ever-growing list of "must have" items.