Cheomesh | 26 Sep 2014 10:58 p.m. PST |
So. Battlefront miniatures – I saw some years back and I wasn't impressed. That was 3+ years ago, however. If one wanted to create a late war German army of some kind, would I be better off in cost, value and/or quality sticking with Battlefront or is there a respected 15mm company that makes better / more cost effective miniatures I can sub in? Thanks, M. |
Privateer4hire | 26 Sep 2014 11:09 p.m. PST |
Plastic Soldier Company is a go-to for 15mm WW2. They have late war German infantry, heavy weapons teams and many flavors of AFVs. |
Nick Bowler | 26 Sep 2014 11:12 p.m. PST |
Battlefront went through a bad period. I think their very old figures and new figures are fantastic. It may be worth having a look again. |
GeoffQRF | 27 Sep 2014 2:36 a.m. PST |
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Martin Rapier | 27 Sep 2014 2:43 a.m. PST |
There are lots of decent 15mm offerings out there, of considerably better quality and cheaper than BF. Depends how much shopping around you want to do and where you are in the world, stuff which is cheap here may be less so in the USA and vice versa. My late war chaps are a mix of Peter Pig, QRF, PSC and Old Glory, fleshed out with some BF and a few other manufacturers where necessary. |
Andoreth | 27 Sep 2014 3:31 a.m. PST |
My choice would be PSC vehicles and Peter Pig infantry. |
VonTed | 27 Sep 2014 5:06 a.m. PST |
BF is pretty darn good quality these days…… perhaps not worth the premium price though |
kiltboy | 27 Sep 2014 7:11 a.m. PST |
Or post here saying you are looking, plenty of projects stall and there are always people looking to unload. I have picked up some very nice stuff from stalled projects. David |
Yesthatphil | 27 Sep 2014 8:45 a.m. PST |
You can't beat Peter Pig figures. For vehicles, Zvezda are IMO the pick of the bunch and match well. In 15mm pretty much everything mixes well with everything else … middle period BF look like clumsy fantasy figures* and PSC infantry are a bit tiddly … but otherwise whatever takes your fancy tends to work well enough. Phil P.B.Eye-Candy *I have any number of these … mostly they blend in once I have removed the goblin heads and replaced them with suitable items from the Peter Pig separate heads range. |
MH Dee | 27 Sep 2014 8:57 a.m. PST |
Peter Pig figs are lovely, and you will be pleasantly surprised by the much smaller amount of time you'll have to spend cleaning them up in pre-paint prep than Battlefront. I do like the recent Battlefront Winter late War Germans though. And CD Brits. Oh, and the new PSC Early War Germans are nice, just picked up a box today. |
Lion in the Stars | 27 Sep 2014 10:36 a.m. PST |
Depends on which range of BF models. For example, their Japanese are excellent, and they recently tooled US Armored Rifles and German gepanzerte Panzergrenadiers in plastic, one box having the full platoon with all the weapons options and all the halftracks. But I've seen some real duds, think it was their 2008-vintage Airborne that had a kneeling trooper just as tall as a standing one. |
raylev3 | 27 Sep 2014 11:08 a.m. PST |
I've always liked BF…it's a style thing. However, if you want real value, check out Old Glory's 15mm Command Decision line, especially if you belong to the Old Glory Army -- then you get 40 percent off. |
Landorl | 27 Sep 2014 5:22 p.m. PST |
I like Old Glory 15mm Infantry. I think that they are some of the best detailed that I have. Their bases are a little thick, and sometimes there is flash to clean. Their vehicles are good, but can be tough to assemble. |
Cheomesh | 27 Sep 2014 5:59 p.m. PST |
Alright, lots of good leads. Do the FoW books tell you what kind of weapon operators are to be on a given stand? Also, where do you get those dreadful squad (section?) stands so my guys will look like everyone else's? M. |
pigasuspig | 27 Sep 2014 6:47 p.m. PST |
Stands: Either from Battlefront or PSC. I just coughed up 14 pounds for a couple packs of them to go with PP figs. FOW books give little silhouettes for every single stand. They are more detailed than you need to be. For example, they show a Grenadier squad as 9 men: 5 in the MG section and 4 in the rifle section. But you could easily do 4 and 4 and no one would ever be bothered. |
Cheomesh | 27 Sep 2014 7:22 p.m. PST |
It appears these guys I know are utilizing this sub-set of the game: PDF link The other German player is building a Panzerkompanie, so to synergize/play on me liking troopers/light vehicles over tanks, I am looking at the panzergrenadiers on PG12. It looks like this set would set me up for the core minimum: link After which I would probably grab an aircraft (seems like a good idea) and something heavy. Seems like it would set me up. Beyond the PDF there, do I need anything more than the core rule book? Thanks, M. |
wizbangs | 28 Sep 2014 6:15 a.m. PST |
Battlefront's books tell you everything you need to know or have. Plastic Soldier Company is hands- down the best for vehicle quality & price. They sell Zvezda too, but their wheeled-vehicle kits give me fits to assemble. The tanks slap together in no time. Old Glory has been my first choice for infantry, but I stay away from them for vehicles & guns. I find the soft metal is too hard to work with & takes too long to clean up (pre-assembly) compared to the PSC plastic kits. I still buy Battlefront if the others don't make what I need or if I want a "one kit fits all" solution to my artillery batteries. Battlefront still makes plenty if money on me because I'm using their bases for all of my units in order to standardize the army. |
Cheomesh | 28 Sep 2014 2:50 p.m. PST |
Roger. Are their standard bases large enough to sub-base? That way, worst case scenario I can reuse them in another game. M. |
Lion in the Stars | 28 Sep 2014 7:47 p.m. PST |
BF bases are 25x30mm, 30x50mm, and 50x60mm. They're not really big enough to use as a sabot, IMO. If you really want to be a smartarse, you can under-fill the bases. Back in Flames of War V1, that was actually a suggestion for keeping track of the different infantry ratings. Veteran troops get 3 on a (medium) base, trained get 4, conscripts get 5. I based my Fallschirmjager like that, and the FJ have become my go-to force for Battlegroup Overlord. I just have another platoon of FJ that I single-based to use to make change! Hrmmmm… Reading that briefing, I'm assuming that you will want to run truckborne infantry? Buying the Zvezda trucks will be a lot cheaper than the Battlefront resin ones, but you will need to build the Zvezda trucks. BF resin trucks are one piece, no building required. |
Cheomesh | 28 Sep 2014 8:20 p.m. PST |
Half-tracks, yeah. Probably go with that box set up there (if I can find a US retailer) and pad the rest out with whatever I'd like to paint up next. I just got a look at the rulebook itself for 3rd edition. Bloody thing uses comic sans. Wow. I-GO-U-GO is less than ideal but this area's pretty light on wargames, and I'd like my miniatures / terrain projects to actually count for something, ha! M. EDIT: Oh, do those base dimentions have a specific troop type they're associated with? |
ubercommando | 29 Sep 2014 3:07 a.m. PST |
All these companies mentioned do good products. However, there are two things in BF's favour: 1. Range of items and 2. Availability. If you're doing 15mm WW2, then I suspect that most people's collections are from a variety of manufacturers. |
specforc12 | 29 Sep 2014 4:07 a.m. PST |
I like the Battlefront best for tanks, they're consistently good with good detail. I particularly like their 5-paks with individually sculpted vehicles is pretty cool – sorta like kit-bashed, having different damage to zimmeritt, items on the back decks, dented exhausts and fenders, that sort of thing. The metal kits, particularly the softskins, i.e. trucks mostly are excellent from Skytrex, and the Old Glory/Quality Castings range. Both companies have re-tooled many of their models and are much better than some of their older ones which were proportionally incorrect and noticable enough to be annoying. And, can't speak towards the quality of the different brands of figures, so I'm paying close attention and all years to that discussion. Oh, yeah, PSC has some very nice plastic kit models, though I prefer the "weight" and solidness and ease of build of the BF resin kits. In general the BF resin kits have more character. There softskin vehicles, especially the American trucks are lame though, so I'm looking towards other brands. The PSC American halftracks are far and above the best, and come with alternative parts to make variations on that vehicle. The way you can tell the best sculpted M3/M5 US Halftracks is look at the front fender scuplting comparatively and check them against photos of the real thing and it will become obvious. Cheers, Tibor |
Gottmituns205 | 29 Sep 2014 7:25 a.m. PST |
If plastic soldier company would release all the little APC's and Half tracks (like Pak 40 half track) or the 8 rads and such…they would be the DEFACTO go to place for armor. Buy your main stuff from PSC, everything else from Battlefront. I still like to use Battlefront infantry. |
wizbangs | 29 Sep 2014 8:56 a.m. PST |
PSC has a halftrack conversion kit (at least for the Germans) that allows you to convert a halftrack with a 75mm howitzer, flamethrower or mortar mount (I think there's another conversion or two in the box but it slips my mind at the moment). |
Lion in the Stars | 29 Sep 2014 10:08 a.m. PST |
EDIT: Oh, do those base dimentions have a specific troop type they're associated with? No, not really. Infantry HQ stands, snipers, very light mortars (50mm and smaller), observers and bazooka/PzShreck teams all go on small bases. Medium bases are for infantry, most small guns (HMGs, 60mm or larger mortars, recoilless rifles, AT and AA guns…), and motorcycle/cavalry HQs. Large bases are for cavalry, motorcycles, and artillery pieces. I think Pak40s and light Flak guns have been changed to medium bases, but I think they look better on Large bases. Objectives are also Large base items. |
Cheomesh | 30 Sep 2014 4:07 p.m. PST |
Are they purely ascetic, or is it reinforced by rules? M. |