"Indian Mutiny Figures" Topic

Mutineer and Iron Duke Miniatures seem to be the go to guys for this range.How do they stack up against each other?Iron Duke seems to be the more "modern" made figures but Mutineer don't look too bad either.I would like other opinions.
Mark

I prefer the Iron Duke range. I think they have some of the best sculpted 28mm colonial figures ever made. Tons of character, lots of action poses, but natural looking and not overly-stylized. Also, they are meticulously researched by the company's owner, Colonel Mike Snook, who is a legit military historian with a personal interest in the Mutiny. Another thing going for Iron Duke is that I believe they will keep coming out with Mutiny figures until they've covered all there is to cover, or at least get close, as they are single-mindedly focused on that one specific period (at least so far).

I have nothing against Mutineer and have a number of their irregular Indian figures in my collection, but if I was starting from scratch doing the Mutiny I'd definitely go with Iron Duke.

They actually do go together quite well size wise, at least.

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It was the Mutineer Miniatures range that got me gaming the IM in the first place – most of the packs are 'above average' sculpts with a lot of character and the range is pretty comprehensive – at least 80% of my collection are MM.

But, if starting from scratch, I'd probably go with ID, which are setting a new standard of sculpting and historical accuracy – it's just a matter of whether you are prepared to wait for your 'must have' items to be released – there's certainly enough infantry and artillery already released to get you started, and the first cavalry should be along soon, but you might have to be patient, or succumb to MM if you want something more unusual like Gurkhas or Naval Brigade – Mike's concentrating initially on the troops of Havelock's Lucknow campaign before moving on to other theatres.

SWMBO (a recent convert to painting) reckons the ID stuff is easier to paint and she's getting nice results. Much better than anything I've ever done, which is a bit demoralising in a way. That said, her Mutineer miniatures units also look pretty good and it many just be a matter of her becoming more practised as a painter and having acquired a better selection of paints.

Don't forget Foundry's Indian Mutiny figures. I'm not sure they are available at this time.

Iron Duke matches quite well with Mutineer, and while the former definitely have the edge in quality and accuracy, both really nice ranges of figures. You'll find that the Mutineer ones are a little heftier (*) than the average Iron Duke ones and that most of the sepoy are wearing an older style uniform. ie. two cross-belts as opposed to one with the ID ones.
The first ID cavalry figures should be out soon and you can already see them on their Facebook page.

(*) that said, at least one of the Mutineer sets (Sepoys in ragged uniform) are actually smaller and at least as slender as the Iron Duke figures. Probably done deliberately so to emphasise the 'raggedness? I'm going to order the 'British in ragged uniform' too just to see if that trend holds.

The really hard part in integrating the Mutineer miniatures is the fact that contrary to the Iron Duke ranges where you have as much as 20+ different figures for a single regiment/ battalion, Mutineer only does 4 or 8 (including command) at the most.

The Foundry miniatures are all available and don't forget to look in the Sikh War ranges and others as well to find compatible figures. They are generally smaller than Iron Duke but some real gems amongst them.
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Studio Miniatures has several figures ( mostly officers) which can be used for the Indian Mutiny in the Afghan range.
Very , very good quality figures.
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Same goes for Perry Miniatures Cape Wars range.

Old Glory has a range for the Indian Mutiny. They match somewhat size- wise with Iron Duke but of course you have the typical 'Hey Joe' poses. I call this the 'If you really can't wait' range.
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AW Miniatures has a dedicated range. Slightly smaller than ID but still compatible. Quite a few sculpting mistakes IMHO and quality is nowhere near ID, Mutineer or Foundry.
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Conqueror Models has a small range of Indian Mutiny figures.
I only have a single pack but I don't really like 'em and will probably not paint them.
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Several other companies have figures than can be used in the Indian Mutiny although intended for some other theatre. For example First Corp's John Brown Militia, or the Redoubt ACW civilians.
Many of the Indus Miniatures' ranges although intended for an earlier 'Indian' period can still be used for the Mutiny. Excellent figures BTW!
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