"Anything Still Missing in WWII Miniatures?" Topic

There are a lot of miniatures in many different scales available to the WWII wargamer today. Is there anything still missing, however? If so, what would you be interested in seeing?

* no, I'm satisfied with what is available on the market now.
* yes, there are still figures that are needed

For me early war Russians in 28mm for the Winter War with Finland.

Yes, more WW2 civilians of all sorts.
Plastic Pershings and M4A3E8s (which can then be used for Korea and eeeeearly Cold War games)
Civilian cars (other than VW bugs!)

What DSG said + I'd like to see all LMG / HMG Teams in 'sets' – one group marching / advancing the other emplaced and firing.

28mm Seabees, both blacks & whites!
34th & 80th NCBs were integrated battalions, deployed, and had the potential to see combat.

Canadian vehicles in 1/87 and 1/56:
Otter Armoured Car.
Ford Lynx.
Canadian Military Pattern Trucks.
C15TA Armoured Truck.

I'm satisfied with what is available on the market now

Early war SS, with their non-standard small arms. I used to have these in 20mm, but those are the only ones I've ever seen.

More choices for the following:

20mm
Early war Russians
Indian
Chinese

Slovaks. Would also be very useful for what-if scenarios where the invasion of Czechoslovakia was resisted.

Well, I personally want minis of my uncle Ben and uncle Junior from WWII. And I wouldn't mind one of my grandfather from WWII also, which leads to the thing that might be of interest to others … Eastern European partisans along with Italian partisans and the tons of other Resistance fighters. Seven French dudes and one mademoiselle is not enough. In fact, there were lots of female partisans and a few types of clergy that can't be co=opted from other eras for the Resistance.

There's still lots of scope for 1:72. Numerous tanks, vehicles and guns don't have good representations available.

New Guinea head-hunters?
Allied Pacific coast-watchers?
An Enigma operator + machine?
Cliff-leaping Okinawan civilians?
Incinerated fleeing Japanese cave defenders?
Russian tank-attack dogs?

Mostly in quite bad taste ….. I confess.

What I would REALLY like to see is stands depicting dug-in infantry and infantry support elements ….. and ….. dug in and camouflaged crew-served AT guns.

B

Danes (you can play the scenario in 1-to-1 scale)

Norwegians.

Better choices for East European axis minors.

Better and more dramatic poses for everything: More men crouching, running, kneeling, covering their heads, reloading, etc.

Figures posed as rifle grenadiers.

Wounded and surrendering figures (makes good status markers).

More variety in casualty figures.

A few more "heroic officer leading the assault with pistol" types.

Figures with knives, shovels and whatnot.

Bayonet figures clearly posed as using the bayonet.

More Germans with Soviet weapons and more Soviets with German weapons.

Chinese.

I agree with what Weasel has stated.

Chinese, DEI, fewer figures waving machetes or stabbing with bayonets, more kneeling down and crouching, fewer lying down. Civilian trucks and cars… and the ame for 20mm and 15mm too.

A wide range of 20mm (or most other scales) late 44 to 45 British and CW infantry for NWE: troops in winter wear, leather jerkins, smocks and greatcoats. The war did continue for over 6 months after Normandy, but no-one seems to have told the figure designers

Norwegians in winter cammo, and said norwegians with colt machine guns.

Civilians working in the factories in Detroit.
Soldiers sleeping in their racks/bunks.
Sailors swimming around their sunken craft.

Regards
Russ Dunaway

15mm:
Wounded, medics and surrendering figures (added to those Peter Pig sells)

Support vehicles (water trucks, ambulances, tank transports, recovery vehicles, etc.)

Maori Battalion figures who are wielding their rifle and bayonet in the manner of a tiaiha (traditional Maori long club). I managed to convert one using the Perry Desert Rats plastic set but a few more would be fun.
Robert

Decent 15mm Finns for the Winter War (not the early war "Nazi-Finns" that Battlefront/FOW makes).

More Indians couldn't hurt either, come to think of it.

I game at 6mm. Perhaps what I find missing differs from those who game at other scales.

I have M4A3E8s. What I need are M4 and M4A1 mid-war production (75mm, applique armor, flat hatch).

I have WW2 civilian vehicles. Not a lot, but enough. VW, Peugeot, some trucks (the ubiquitous Ford Model AA), and wagons … for WW2 civilians more than anything you need wagons.

As to dug-in figures, guns, etc., well I kind of look at that as the modelling part of the hobby. I provide my own gun positions and trenchworks. Until/unless the hobby (mostly game writers and gamers themselves) settles down to one dominant method of basing, I don't expect to see anyone provide trenches to fit my infantry. So I have to provide those trenches myself.

I find lots of vehicles in 6mm, but not so much variety of infantry.

Personally I am not feeling a need for more Eastern Front Axis. Romanians, Italians, Hungarians are available. At this scale I'm not sure I need different figures for Slovaks or Bulgarians. But that does not mean I am not wanting for infantry.

Figures in winter wear are a fairly recent arrival at this scale, and are not by any means available for most nations (US, German and Russians are what I know of so far … what about Italians or Romanians, or (gulp) Finns!).

I would really like Alpini, or French or Italian colonial troops (Armee d'Afrique, Fusiliers Senegalese, Goumiers, Italian Askaris). Don't forget the French Foreign Legion! I would really like to have a company of legionnaires! And Russian naval infantry would be a nice bit of variety.

Also, a "generic" workers' militia set might be good … figures in various caps and shirts/jackets combinations carrying mostly rifles, some with just pistols, a few molotov cocktails (or even a 'faust or two) could serve for many 1940, 1941/42, and 1945 scenarios.

And more mounted troops. Romanian, Italian, French, or French Moroccan/Algerian cavalry would be nice. And motorcycle troops for more than just Germans (and one poor Russian model of motorcycle + sidecar). In particular, it is somewhat baffling to me that multiple vendors provide Bersaglieri infantry figures, but no one makes Bersaglieri motorcycle-mounted troops. Seems like an obvious kit-sell to me!

There are some civilian figures available (or soon-to-be, as per GHQ). And in truth, at this scale, civilian figures from other eras can work well enough for WW2, particularly for the more rural areas most wargaming focuses on.

Just my US$0.02 worth …

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

6mm Ram. Not the Kangaroo, the original tank, for the German invasion of Canada. And that indig Australian tank in 6mm.

There are still a few gaps in 1/600 aircraft too.

Edit – and a lot of what Mark said for 6mm.

Mserafin, Warlord does early war SS with the Czech zb LMG and the MP34 in 28mm: link and link

For my money, in 28mm:

South Africans for East Africa;
Somali Dubats, same;
Romanian AHI-V ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AH-IV );
French Dragoon motorcyclists, mounted (Crusader is making me hopeful on this front);
French Cavalry dismounted;
Lorraine troop carriers.

6mm Soviet troops in summer and winter garb with budenovkas. Winter for the winter war and summer for the soviet polish war. I was going to use early WWI germans and paint the helmets (and spikes) brown.

1930s civilian vehicles (cars), who makes them?

Haven't found the 15mm US M-6 GMC for my North African Campaign TD battalion yet. Probably just missing them.

Gourmiers

SS Panzer Grenadiers, Fallschirmjagers, and Panzer Lehr----

Just kidding!

My suggestions could apply to most forces and theaters.

More medics and stretcher bearers. More crouching poses generally. Troops carrying ammo and other supply crates.

20 mm Belgium T 13 Belgium Infantry
Russian SU 76 PSG said 18 months ago soon but still no
Infantry Chinese Romanian (try and find the Hat ones)
Finns winter war Danish Dutch Hungarian Bulgarian
Japanese tanks Yes I know Strelets make some of the above but none in their so much better new style. the tanks again are all made in resin but are not to my style or OMG how much.

I still want 1/300 (or 1/285) scale bombers cast in resin. Metal airplanes have vertigo that increases with altitude. The bigger the plane, the harder it falls…

@ Darkest Star Games – When you mean plastic, what scale? I have the 1:48 Tamiya Pershing and the Hobby Boss M4A3E8 tanks in plastic.

@ Blutarski – Warlord Games makes the Soviet Attack Tank dog teams…I have two sets. Works pretty good in Chain of Command.

So I would like to see more civilian style vehicles in 1:48 or 1:50 scale, and the Early War Soviets with that pointy hat they wore.

P.

Civilian buses confiscated by militaries to move troops about preferably in 15mm. French horse cavalry (both mounted and dismounted with empty mounts and horse-holders To boot) in 15mm. Russian paratroopers (Early War) in 15mm. Non-UK/US engineering kit and vehicles.

Cheers and good gaming.
Rod Robertson.

More 28mm Italians in European uniform would be good. Everyone always makes them in desert gear!

On a side note. What is it with wargamers and VW Beetles? You do realise that production didn't start until AFTER the war? Sure, there were a few pre-production prototypes made before the war and a few limited-run cars made during, but Beetles would have been incredibly rare compared to how many other cars were around. If you want a civilian car it would be much more realistic to use something else!

Now that I think about it, a range of civilian vehicles from the 1930s in 1/56 would be good…

Dug in 10mm infantry teams of all the major cold war protagonists. PLEASE, PLEASE. more prone figures. I am sick of my battlefields looking like some Macabre Parade of idiots not taking cover, which is what they do most of the time.

There's a lot still missing, here's just a list for 20mm:
* Winter War Russians with M/36 helmets and greatcoats
* As above but with padded winter clothes
* As above but with m1915 assault rifle/SMG
* As above but with rifles & rifle grenades
* ST-26 engineering tank with snow plow and mine sweep
* Finnish Vickers medium tank in Winter War attire
* Infantry Guns model 1914 Obuhov and 1915 Rosenberg
* More Finns with Lahti/Saloranta LMG
* etc. etc. etc.

Proper heavy artillery crew for all major nations, not just generic "men with shells" that just don't look right for the heavy stuff. Things like pairs of men toting large shells on a shell carrier.

Infantry carts in 28mm for all nations, starting with the US, UK & Germany.

@Tommy20, come to the 1/87 side of the table, we have infantry and horse carts for Germans at least!
link

But yes, all the scales need them, they are a key item in infantry battalions.

15mm
early Soviet command car, the GAZ 61 or 64?
Generic civilian vehicles
More truck variety including fuel, dump, cargo
Common ammo and utility trailers
Armored bulldozers and tractors

Mike

15mm
Danes, Norwegians,Slovaks,1941 Yugoslavs,Bulgarians,Vichy French, full range of Axis Cossack troops, Partizan forces for Yugoslavia, Crete and Italy. Winter equipped French and British for Norway, 1941 Pacific Americans,Soviet mountain troops, Chinese of various flavours, French cavalry 1940 and French Alpine chasseurs. There's probably lots more I have forgotten about.

15mm vehicle's, buses, civiliazn vehicles and soft skins for all but especially smaller nations. Horse drawn vehicles including field kitchens, farriers carts, limbers and caissons. There's less gaps in the vehicle department than figures.