"Really Cheap Troops?" Topic

Suppose that, especially for beginning kids, you need LOTS of small, cheap and not prone to breakage. For horse & musket, you look for RISK replacement sets, of RISK games in thrift shops. But where do I look for Ancients, Medievals and Moderns? Used to be there were cheap Axis & Allies tanks everywhere, but now that I need them, they've gone away.

Thanks.

There is the Feudal game if it's still available. I think Memoir 44 may come with troops. Check plastic solider review. They've got a whole section on board game minis.

Here you go –

link

There is a medieval version of Risk, in conjunction with English Heritage, don't know about extra pieces and unlikely to be in charity shops yet.

Robert, look here for off-retail pricing and good service for 1/72nds:
scalehobbyist.com
These folks sell Axis and Allies types of figures as well as 1/72nds, though I'm not sure about the pricing on the Axis and Allies stuff. Good Service as well.
historicalboardgaming.com
Happy hunting!
Bob

Robert,sending you a PM.
Bob

I'd probably go with 1/72 plastics.

Robert I've got a "Feudal" game. It's in the attic. Would sell it if interested.

How accurate are you wanting? Are you open to some "free interpretation" and large scales? Discount stores have plastic tubs full of plastic toy soldiers, generally fairly large (1/32 or something close to that). I've seen these for "modern" forces, pirates (with skeletons), fantasy, and "medieval knights" (basically knights in full plate armor, probably not historically accurate).
Hobby Lobby, Walmart and similar places might have them; I'm pretty sure you can buy them on Amazon, too.

Hobby Lobby also carries the BMC repros in clear vinyl bags, typically labeled "Yorktown" or "Gettysburg" (and often found in their gift shops, too). These are for the AWI and ACW (obviously), but they also have medieval knights on occasion. You get all of the historical accuracy you should expect from these…

Slightly pricier are the "Toobs" by Safari Ltd. These are painted (not well), and include AWI, ACW, modern soldiers, and possibly others— I know I've seen knights in one.

I will second the recommendation of 1/72 scale figures. They are very inexpensive, per figure. Most boxed sets come with 32-48 figures per box, and boxed sets can be delivered to your home for typically $12 USD-$20!

As stated Plastic Soldier Review has good, detailed reviews, with photos of each figure within each set they review. They even cover fantasy, but the reviews are more commentary, as the owners do not play fantasy games. Best part about PSR, is that they tell you the average Height of the figures within each set!

I am a huge fan of Red Box. They have extensive historical lines of figures which they sell.

I am a fan of their fantasy line, Light and Dark Alliance figures.

I find the best prices for Red Box figures on e-Bay, from Red Box, direct, in Ukraine. In spite of the war there, I have had zero problems getting my toys from them. Cheers!

+1 for HistoricalBoardGaming.com, have gotten a fair amount of nifty stuff there.

If you want really cheap consider paper figures. Check out the offerings from Helios Books and Peter's Paperboys. Based up on the table they look as good as metals, and are much cheaper. A good range of periods are available, and best of all no painting!

I'll second Paperboys as a good source of cheap figures. You can always reduce the size of your copies to make smaller figures – I've done this by reducing the original Helion book ECW troops to about 10-12mm and they look good.
Of course, if you take into account the cost of ink for your printer they may not seem quite so cheap, but you won't have to buy paint and the time saved by not having to paint them is priceless.
Plus, your figures have been drawn/painted by a talented artist and may well look far better than you could produce yourself.