"Best 15mm moderns" Topic

With the imminent arrival of FOW TY in November, I'd like to get an idea of all the manufacturers of 15mm moderns out there. I may end up buying from BF if their prices are reasonable, but I'd like to know what other options are there.

Khurasan Minis has infantry for 70's and soon 80's soviet infantry. Definitely worth a look, especially for cold war tanks and afv's.

QRF has a massive range of vehicles and infantry, though I'm not the biggest fan of their infantry sculpts. I've also found prepping their models for painting to be a chore, but that's a casting issue than sculpting.

There are some fantastic looking models coming from Khurasan and Armies Army that I'm personally very excited for.

Thing is price wise they're all in the same price bracket, though QRF does have sales, one on now I think?

Khurasan is a choice:

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Khurasan's figures and vehicles are some of the very best out there. Not terribly expensive but in range with FOW. Khurasan's vehicles are resin pieces and very nice. The troops are excellent. The owner got in trouble for sock puppetry here on TMP, but the figures are first class.

QRF

Probably the best when looked at all together. They have one of the largest ranges out there for 15mm including the all useful T64. The infantry aren't as good as Khurasan's, but they are still quite good and the newest figures come out are excellent IMO. He's a UK firm, but has good prices and reasonable shipping. Plus there are a couple of US stockists who have decent prices. However ordering from Geof is still a option as he's fast, and the prices are still good especially when he's running a sale.

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Irishserb has some useful stuff too. Plus his $5 USD HUMVEES are excellent!
I think he's not taking orders right now though.

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Old Glory has their Command Decision line:

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I hear they're miniatures from a different line and the quality is pretty good. The infantry come in bags of 50 and are fairly cheap. You might want to research that.

You can get most of the Old Glory line cheaper at Warweb…

warweb.com/Post-War_c781.htm

But be ready for a long wait. My last order took 3 months to process, but I wasn't in a hurry. YMMV.

There's also Quality Cast:

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You can also get their miniatures at warweb too. I "think" some or a lot of Command Decision is Quality Cast (?). They're cheaper at warweb too, but again, be ready for the wait.

I'm sure there's others.

I've got a mountain of modern lead in 15mm and I think I've bought 15mm figures from everyone who makes them on both sides of the Atlantic. Go with Khurasan, they are super. Clean crisp detailed figures. You can't go wrong.

Rebel Minis has some 15mm modern figs and I recommend them highly. Nice detail and good castings. The only problem is that they don't have a complete line.

The Command Decision post war range is good for the figs and vehicles they carry. Not the best but an excellent price to quantity ratio.

QRF has some nice vehicles – not bought any infantry from them.

Some of the Zvedza vehicles are very nice (T-80 I believe) but the M1 is a total washout.

EDIT – Irish Serb's resin vehicle line looks excellent but I have not seen them in the flesh yet.

don't forget Rebel Minis

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Rebel Mike has some good stuff, mostly infantry. He doesn't have any modern vehicles though. His US troops are really good as are his insurgent and African troops. Plus he does have civilians, police, swat, and various special forces troops. His US Special Forces are excellent D-boys.

I give another thumbs up for Khurasan, have their '70s Soviet infantry and BTR 60's- very good!
Rebel Minis have good infantry as well.
I have Johnny Lightning M1A1s [w/plow] and somewhat bigger for 15mm -1/87 Roco stuff, actually lots [E-Bay is your friend].
The Zvevda T-72s are good and looking at picking up some of their
URAL trucks.

Oh, Battlefront's current Vietnam and Arab-Israeli War lines are very good and rather affordable if you do some shopping around.

whats wrong with the zvevda m1?

Very poor detail, and in some parts of the model next to no detail at all.

Are the Khurasan troops about the same size as those from QRF, and Battlefront, or are they taller?

I seem to recall someone mentioning they may be 18mms+, but don't know for sure.

Interestingly, Khurasan doesn't have any early to mid-Cold War NATO troops to oppose them yet, so I hope that changes.
Their Americans seem better suited to the ultra-modern period, I think (could be wrong about that, but that's the impression I have about their US troops).

Yep, they are larger. Definitely not mixable on the one stand. IIRC the next line of infantry will be 80s soviets.

The yanks are on their way by all accounts.

Khurasan figures are about a head taller than QRF so it often becomes a question of going Khurasan alone.

QRF, BF and PP are decent next to each other.

Thanks guys, on the size issue. That's what I thought I'd heard.

Saw a nice pic of the 1980s Soviets from Khurasan. They do look good, as do their 1970s figs too.

A shame there's no NATO opposition for them to fight, but I guess they do fit the old rumor that the "Soviets were giants", from back in the Cold War days (not really meant seriously, just your typical over the top rhetoric).

QRF's West Germans are later sculpts, and quite nice. There are both early and late Cold War minis available.

The Cold War British are the latest sculpts, and look to be quite good as well, with SLRs and helmets, finally.

Wish that QRF would make some more early to mid-Cold War Soviets and Americans.

Rumors and requests have it that possibly East Germans, Swedish (not sure if QRF or Armies Army are doing the Swedes), and others may eventually be in the queue. I certainly hope so. Obviously, we'll be needing more Soviets as well, too.

Haven't seen any news on the Carl Gustav that was supposed to be released by them as well. Bug Geoff, about that, and other stuff, if you want to see him/them make it.

S-Tanks and PBV-302s for the Swedes are coming, from QRF.

I'm still bugging Geoff about the M114 Scout vehicle for the US Armored Cavalry. Sadly, no one makes it yet, and its a must-have for patrolling along the inter-German border. I suspect a few of you might like some of those as well, to go with your M48s, M551s, M113s, M106s, and Mutts.

Would love to see some early to mid-Cold War ATGM missile ground mounts as well, like the SS-10, SS-11, etc., etc.. Some were also fitted to the backs of jeeps, landrovers, and other vehicles too.

I think it best to wait for the BF release before making any big plans, the whole venture relies on folks embracing the rules for it to sing.

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Glad someone has finally mentioned that it uses a different rules engine (though it's familiar).

There is also Peter Pig in their Africa range which has lots of useful figures and rules. Cold war stuff also available from Irregular and Mike Yarrow miniatures.

Nah, there are plenty of other rules options, McWong.

Khurasan figures are about a head taller than QRF so it often becomes a question of going Khurasan alone.

QRF, BF and PP are decent next to each other.

I don't think it's quite that bad. Khurasan figures are a bit leaner and a touch taller than the other three who are shorter and stockier. I happily use all three in my games because people aren't all the same size.

@Mako- Yes, the Americans are ultra-modern guys. 1980's-1990's aren't out yet. Geoff at QRF said on another thread that he would look into his old US range and see if he can continue to produce. I think Just Jack was prodding him to do that.

Also thanks on the UK troops! I didn't know that the helmeted SLR boys were out yet!!

Don't forget Skytrex lads – outstanding British and Soviet 1:100 scale AFVs. US too….

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That Zsu certainly looks nice.

Thanks for the info, Tgunner, though I was hoping he'd consider resculpting the range. Not sure if Geoff, or someone else did the older infantry, but the newer releases are a lot better than the older figs (Geoff's apparently doing the newer ones), like the Bundeswehr, and the British with SLRs and helmets.

I am now sculpting our figures, and once I have finished the Canadians will be working on Cold War European theatre Americans and Russians (yes and Sast Germans)

Excellent news, Geoff.

East Germans are preferred though, at least by me, in addition to the Americans and Russians.

Not sure about those South Eastern Germans. ;-)

Did the Carl Gustav crew(s) get finished, and released yet?

Could also use some casualty figs. I was thinking that in this scale, you might be able to sculpt some generic ones, that might work with several nations, by hiding the bottoms of their helmets on the figure base (conceals the nationality a bit). Thinking guys lying on their sides, stomach, back, etc., to go with that.

Of course, guys falling dramatically would be nice too.