"Best Vehicle Models for Gaming?" Topic

Being quite new to this period, choosing vehicles to use is a fresh challenge. Therefore, some advice would be useful. After some initial research, it seems that the best ranges on offer are either Blitzkreig, Rubicon or Warlord (Bolt Action). The prices are quite close and quality is always difficult to judge by pictures alone so what do people recommend? I want something reasonably simple to assemble and robust enough for gaming. Thoughts?

I don't have any, but, people on the FB Bolt Action groups swear by Rubicon, quality frequently comes up.

I don't like plastic kits.

Most of Warlord and (all I believe) Rubicon vehicles are plastic.

I do have some Rubicon, but all of my Warlord vehicles are resin. Very happy with all of my Rubicon and Warlord purchases, just don't like plastic.

Blitzkrieg makes very high quality vehicles, never been disappointed. I have over 50 vehicles from them.

link

Another high quality company is Trenchworxs.

trenchworx.com

They are the best resin vehicles on the market in my opinion, even come with little magnets for the turrets to hold on. Not the most extensive collection, but every vehicle is very well done. They even have a T-35 multiple turret tank (it is fantastic!).

Another good line is Die Waffenkammer out of Canada.

diewaffenkammer.com

Good line of vehicles, with some surprises (Japanese landing craft in 28mm, ya got one, just had to).

Hope this helps.

The Rubicon kits lean more towards the model side of the equation. I love them and most of the kits offer options to build different variants. Despite that they are robust enough for gaming. The few resin kits they make are also excellent, typically limited to odd and/or rare vehicles. They are 1/56th scale so will appear small against some miniature lines (an excellent match for Perry though which are also 1/56th scale). Rubicon's selection of kits is growing and you can get most of the primary tanks for the Americans, British (Commonwealth), Germans and Russians from them. They are light on artillery and anti-tank guns.

The Warlord kits vary a lot. Their resin kits vary from really good to down right frustrating to build. Here is a link to the finished version of the P107s I build that fall into the frustrating category:
link
Most of their resin is pretty straight forward though, at least the other ones that I have in my stash appear that way. The Warlord plastic kits that I have are branded Italeri/Warlord and are definitely in the model category and I have found them a little fragile for gaming but a few modifications and reinforcements of fiddly bits will take care of that. Their plastic kits are definitely 1/56th scale and I think most of their resin kits scale out about the same.

I don't own anything from Blitzkrieg so I can't help there. Another company to consider is Mad Bob Miniatures. They are also 1/56th scale and I think they only make resin kits. They fill a lot of the odd model niches; French, Hungarian and German (especially the vehicles for the 21st Panzer division in Normandy).

I have a fair number of build/painting posts on my blog for Rubicon, Mad Bob and Warlord vehicles. You can do a search by brand and find most of them.

Corgi diecast are also used.

Mad Bob Miniatures

madbobminiatures.co.uk

Good call, all kinds of rare vehicles.

I got some of his France '40 stuff, very good. I lost a barrel to one of the tanks, contacted him to purchase another. He just dropped it in the mail and sent it.

3d prints are cheap and rugged. In which armies/periods are you interested?

Lots of good advice here. I am particularly interested in the American and German forces in Italy and Normandy.

I see you're in the UK. I can heartily recommend Paint and Glue Miniatures for 3d prints -- I own a number of early war German prints of theirs: link I think especially if you're just starting out, the inexpensive 3d prints are great.

Jeff, interesting find. Some good looking models there.

If you feel like you are going to get more historical with your wargaming--as opposed to a kind of cartoonish GW sort of game play--then I would steer clear of 28mm for WWII. You're going to be far better served in the long run to play WWII at 15mm or maybe 20mm. Trust me, I started out in 28mm years back. ;)

I think 28mm is just fine when played at the platoon/skirmish level. Chain of Command does a great job at this level. I agree that any level higher than platoon is better played at a smaller scale.

I highly recommend Company B for 1/56 vehicles.

My choice of scale was decided by both the gaming and the modelling. I planned to game at no higher level than company level and that would be the upper end of matters given that, by military doctrine you try and attack with a three to one advantage and would, given the size of my table allow a 1:1 figure ratio. Also, I have experimented with painting and modelling at various scales and 28mm (1/56) is the one that I manage best and gives me the greatest satisfaction. Furthermore, I like the idea of the contrast with my Napoleonic gaming where battle is given at divisional level and above.