"Questions about Heroics & Ros 6mm Minis......." Topic

Greetings; seems I have never heard anything positive about H&R, however they make a few items no one else does for WWII and Moderns, so will be placing an order next week like it or not.

First, they have the absolute worst website I have ever used from any hobby retailer. No pics (does not inspire confidence), and a ton of sub-categories that when you click on…..nothing at all is there. So that's a pain.

Searching Google images, I am mostly coming up with painted H&R pics. Some look passable, some terrible. Hard to tell if it's the paint jobs, or the castings (or both).

So, just curious about general quality. Will be paying international shipping, and their prices are a bit higher than Scotia, so want to make sure am only getting what I need.

Definitely looking for WWII trains (Soviet and German), and only they and Irregular (which look awful to me) are the only options outside of Shapeways. Are the H&R trains worth the price? Again with only painted pics online it's hard to tell.

For Moderns they make a few items no one else does that I need, like the FROG-7 as an example. So will be picking these up regardless and hoping for the best. Any comments on general quality are appreciated.

My main concern is the trains, they are not exactly cheap one you start building up a good sized order, so would like to know in advance if I should bother, or just put that money towards a Shapeways order instead.

Thanks!

CW

So, just curious about general quality.

They are okay. They are a bit smaller than other ranges. What H&R seem to concentrate on getting is the correct proportional outline, which they achieve. They don't use raised detail on the infantry, so it is hard for most painters to make them look good close-up, but the general effect is pretty decent at normal viewing distances. I definitely prefer their AFVs to Scotia and Irregular.

I hope that is a fair summary. I can't speak to their train models though.

They are not up to GHQ standards, but they are generally ok. I've got the German trains and rolling stock and found them to be pretty good. I put them on display at the Joy of 6 show last year and got some favourable comments. I used them with Levin's rails and buildings and they looked fine. Not much cleaning up required, certainly much better than Irregular. So, if you like the look of the painted versions I would say go ahead and get them.

Can't speak particularly for the trains. I've been doing their SYW, Napoleonic and FPW infantry. Ancients, too. Very friendly. Service is good. If you've overseas, I believe you're looking at a minimum for postage and handling, so you want to order as much at one time as possible.

At least in infantry, they're a good head shorter than Baccus or Adler. (They used to me marketed as 5mm, but got a courtesy promotion to 6mm, when the scale caught on. I see other manufacturers relabeling 25mm as 28mm on the same program.)But proportions are good, and the newer production, while the same scale, is generally crisper with sharper detail than some of the older ones you'll find pictures of on the 'Net.

Go for it.

I love em. I have painted up Ancients, SYW, Colonials, Naps, 30yw/Ecw and some other periods. I like them a lot. Baccus and Rapier are also great. They will not mix with Adler or Baccus. But Irregular will work fine with them. I own Adler, Baccus, Rapier, Ghq, CnC, Irregular and a couple of others.

Thanks.

John

I purchased one of the German train sets the BP42 and then purchased the extra carriages to also make a BP44. The 3.7cm FLAK car is slightly different to the Quad 20mm FLAK car. The trains are quite nice and are worth the price in my opinion, the carriages are mostly in two main parts, with gun turrets/FLAK guns where required. Here in the UK the train sets are the same price one and a fifth GHQ packs (6 tanks), so are quite good value, but I do not know what the postage is to the US.
The new vehicles produced by Heroics and Ros are getting close to GHQ standards and the new open topped vehicles have gun crews moulded to the gun.

I've not purchased the trains so can't comment on those. I'm generally a GHQ buyer but use H&R as well and most of the H&R line are not as good – BIG – exception for their newer stuff however, and the T-80s I bought from them (not sure the exact model) are every bit as good as GHQ.

Even with shipping they are generally cost less than GHQ per figure as well.

Thanks gents, will be putting in an order next week.

I have some trains but they were from the '80s so I don't know if they have been re-modelled like a some of their other stuff. I think the trains are fine for the price. Similar to GHQ level from 10 years earlier.

I have a smattering of other vehicles and the same can be said. Hit or miss depending on when they were done. I have WWII and modern infantry from then and some new buys and the new stuff is great. Almost GHQ level. They are gorillas though (very stocky) but the only figures I have/had that were accurate that way were the original ('70s) GHQ infantry. Correct proportions but very weak.

I hate their (H&R) web site. What pictures they do have show infantry and guns mounted on flocked bases. You can't see a damn thing. Who thought that one out? I would like to find (I may start) a thread somewhere with pics of their products. The infantry especially should be pictures of the raw castings and how many with each package.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

Stephen

The OP said he never heard anything positive about H&R – and I would agree with most of the criticisms here, especially about the website. But one big plus with them is that you can order pretty much exactly what you want – one tank, if you want it, or a single Milan team. That can make a huge difference to the cost, compared with GHQ say.

Not only that John Secker, but his recent stuff is very good. I have some of his Stillbrew Chieftains which are excellent.
Perhaps he should try his local camera club, Technical College or University, where he might find someone willing to photograph his models as an exercise or for a nominal fee. It pains me to have to go through the rigmarole of ordering samples before I can decide on whether to buy units. Having said that, he is very amenable to doing turret swaps etc

Been buying Heroics/Ros since 1983, first packs were modern Americans, M113s, M60A3s, and XM-1s. The X was for experimental as it was a model based on prototype M1s w/105mm that were just being fielded. The M60A3 is still one of my favorite models. Their armored trains are great and I have the German ones along with their track sets. The rolling stock are ok as I believed eve a different sculptor was used. Back in the day, Roger styles did all the Heroics Ros stuff and Navwar did additions that were sold in the Navwar catalog. Now all the figures and molds are together under the H/R name. New vehicles are being sculpted by Ian Armstrong. The new stuff is great and the catalog keeps expanding but it is hard to figure nd the latest releases. I am not sure who sculpts the new Infantry packs but I was very pleased with the WWII winter Germans and modern East Germans. I recommend downloading the catalog and just send an order and get invoiced through PayPal, makes it easy. Once ordered, it take 3-4 weeks (or at least that has been my experience but I order a lot and always oddball quantities). There are a few bad/inaccurate models but every manufacturer is guilty of these. I mix H/R armor with CnC, GHQ, the long since defunct In Service Miniatures and Irregular but I never mix the Infantry which is exclusively Heroics / Ros. Lest I be accused of being discriminatory, I own Baccus GNW and am debating their WSS. Be happy to answer any questions about H/R Infantry and armor, just PM or email me at Rstuhrke@aol.com.

Regards,

Rick

I got some links to pictures and opinions from various people about H&Rs moderns, which mostly agree with what has already been said here 'the older stuff can be ugly but most will work, the newer stuff is second only to GHQ'

New T-54/55s
link
Comparing H&R with Scotia Grendal
link
Straight from the bag modern vehicles and (new-sculpt) infantry
TMP link
New VDV (painted)
link

I like H&R, the quality (on their older stuff) is good enough for 6mm (an inch-long tank that is 2+ feet from my eyes aint gonna show much detail) and it is cheaper than most. I really like their new casts though and I am probably going to find an excuse to make some T-55AM2B battalions.

All of the above is true. H&R castings are smaller than GHQ, CinC, and Scotia because they're 1:300 versus 1:285th for all the others. I've mixed the former 3 with no badly visible effects apparent.

There are two selling points for H&R infantry not mentioned above. First, the smaller castings are closer to actual scale even if they aren't as good looking as GHQ infantry castings. Second, they are considerably cheaper than GHQ even after accounting for the difference between the dollar and the pound. You get a similar number of castings for about 60% of the price! If you're building a mass infantry force this can be a consideration.

I've got some Frog7s and they are lovely. Some ranges are better than others and the newer stuff by ian Armstrong is much better.

Frog 7
6mm.wargaming.info/page28.shtml

I have lots more pictures and comments in my Moderns section.

The best thing about H&R infantry IMHO, is that you get reasonably complete units. Usually you get enough figures to equip at least a platoon plus at 1:1, with appropriate leaders, crew served weapons and complete squads.

I agree with ScoutJock that there is a real advantage in H&R in the way the packs are organized. As with their vehicles, it's just easier to get the right number to build the unit you want to build.

I would add to that the observation that the H&R figures are more robust. They take handling better.

I agree with others that they are a bit less detailed. But I would counter that with the observation that a very detailed figure, in a strange pose, or with the wrong equipment (because you couldn't find the right number of figures with the right equipment) does not necessarily look better.

I like GHQ "individual" infantry and heavy weapons for their detail.I like H&R for their poses, their mix, and their game-worthy construction.

It's a bit easier to paint the GHQ figures up well, but you can paint the H&R figures up very creditably and I think they look nice. Not super, maybe, but nice.

I have both in my collection. I use both. I like both, more than I like the other vendors I've tried. I even occasionally mix them (What?!? Such HERESY!!).

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)