"Cheapest 15mm AWI minis?" Topic

I want to start a small AWI 15mm army for both the Americans and the British with some Hessians, a regiment of cavalry each and a couple guns.

Been looking at Irregular Miniatures but I want to know if there is anything cheaper out there. Thanks in advance!

- Dan

EBAY.

Why 15mm? Go up one scale and do 20mm plastic.

I find little good out there for 20mm AWI plastic. Look at the plastic soldier review and nothing jumps at me, unlike ancients or napoleonics. No Brits in campaign uniform, no Hessians, Americans who either look like militia or where the 1778 standard uniform that probably saw limited issue. Poor quality French, etc….

Dan, this is an easy one – Stone Mountain Miniatures range of 15 mm AWI (recently resurrected) goes for about .33 US cents each for foot. And I think they have brigade packs where you can get a minor reduction on that. Good company, good product and paint easy. Some will say they are older sculpts to which I say, so what?! Once they are painted and in play its about the action, not the figures or the paint job.

Sadly, Musket Miniatures is on hiatus awaiting the new owner getting those ready – very similar in style to Stone Mountain. Will also match well with Polly Oliver if they're still going with their resurrection (and they have about the best flags I've seen – though haven't bought any yet). Can also match well with Peter Pig. Irregular figures are a lot larger, might mix with Blue Moon and/or Old Glory but not the others mentioned. Essex is another option though a bit bulkier but able to bridge the smaller and larger figures.

But, hands down, Stone Mountain on price.

Second hand sets of Risk (strangely- the sets showing a tricorne redcoat on the front). Older sets can be picked up cheap off ebay and a box includes a whole armies worth of 13mm or so figures.

Old Glory with the discount card…

Peter Pig in 15mm, great figurs or go 10mm with Pendraken, stunning sculpts and great value

Peter Pig are close to "true 15mm" and so will go with most of the more venerable ranges. More importantly, Peter Pig and the equally "true" QRF/Frei Korps range are – both individually and in combination – by far the most comprehensive available in 15mm, and include French, Spanish (FK only), several types of cavalry, oddities such as mounted British infantry for the South, and spare heads to convert generic figures to specific units (PP only). The PP range also includes unusual figures which are designed for use as markers for their "Washington's Army" rules, but are universally useful for vignettes etc.

PP are usually 8 foot/3 horse for £3.00 GBP, Frei Korps are 8 foot/4 horse for £2.70 GBP.

I'm sure you can find your own way to the PP and TSS/QRF websites, but here's a friend's wargaming site which showcases the PP range:-

link

I like the Blue Moon range, though it is closer to 18mm than 15mm. I also have a few other ranges mixed it as well, though they area tad smaller upon close inspection.

My fussy objection to PP are the cocked hats, which are more correct for SYW/F&I than Rev, but I like the rest of the line and have some in my armies.

My problem with the old OG line of Rev War are also the hats, which look more like bicornes than cocked hats. I think the figures may run a tad big as well.

Maybe it's just me, but artillery in 15mm is rather weak. My favorite guns on the scale are from the Musket Mini line. PP guns look like Viking guns – clunky looking. BM has a rather limited supply of guns. I think the OG guns are rather clunky looking as well.

Picky, picky. :-(

Greetings,

This web site has photos and reviews of 15mm AWI figures, but doesn't have much information on pricing.

link

Stone Mountain Miniatures aren't featured here, but they look a lot like Musket Miniatures, for it's worth.

I imagine that the country you live in would have an impact on what you decide, thanks to availability and postage rates.

I guess I probably should have mentioned where I was at yeah. I'm in the United States, Pennsylvania to be more specific.

What I want to do is play Charles Grant's The War Game using 15s or 10s I haven't decided which to go with though. I also would like to form "Grant Sized" regiments, hence wanting the cheapest.

I'm looking at either Irregular or Pendraken for 10s because they come individually based which is what I'm looking for.

I had no idea where to go for the 15s though. Stone Mountain looks promising though.

I've toyed with that same idea! I think Peter Pig has a great looking line, but in the numbers you want, the cost is going to go up. I'd probably buy an Old Glory card and go with Blue Moon. Stone Mountain are older and simpler figures, so they would paint up quicker, which may be something for you to consider.

Dan,

If you waffle between Blue Moon and Stone Mountain, the biggest difference will be in having most of the figures from Stone Mountain similar in pose (not exact) versus quite a variety from Blue Moon. Some love the latter and I like it for some eras but for 18th century I prefer the more regular regimented look. Also easier to paint a lot of figures with the same pose because you can get into a rhythm.

Beware the road of large regiments – they can be very tedious to paint. They look great on the table, though. Depends on the discipline you bring to the project. Good luck and keep us posted.

Mine are Blue Moon and Old Glory, fair few bought of ebay. Nice figures and work for me.

I would recommend the Blue Moon AWI range (and some of the F&IW eg militia/indians which are different from their AWI versions) in an instant, if the horses weren't so awful. They have the advantage of pose variations which, whilst not everyone's cup of tea for SYW and the like, actually really work in F&IW and AWI because the units are relatively small and more "active". They also put more or less the right proportions of officers and sergeants in the packs, which manufacturers rarely do at this scale/size, so they are good for skirmishing as well as "mainstream" battles. Their predecessors, the OG AWI range, were really not good in terms of accuracy of clothing (as "historygamer" says, they were wearing bicornes, whilst the British were only in '68 Warrant). Also, the Grenadiers had unhistorical standard bearers; there was a ridiculous ratio of command to rank-and-file (1:3, IIRC) yet no NCOs; and while the Continentals had a near-perfect mix of clothing/headgear combos, they came in 2 or 3 incompatible poses so you couldn't mix them all in one unit, etc etc.

Stone mountain, for price and availability , but price isn't averything. SM is a fine dealer and will fill "specials" for you and will thank you for it! They are a grand firm to trade with. Money isn't everything….. I can't recommend them enough. Musket minis was also a great firm, I hope the new managers are as conscientious in their service as the previous one, because that will be a tough hard act to follow.