"H&R Infantry" Topic

So way back in the early 90's, I was on a business trip to England and stopped into Heroics & Ross and bought a large list of product, going heavy on things that GHQ was not good at such as infantry, anti-tank and vehicles they didn't support. The infantry is in packages with "Navwar Productions"

So I have a lot of infantry from that period and I'm fixing to do Italian and then Israeli infantry/heavy weapons, etc. THe figures GHQ has a really great, but really expensive if you're going to do a large army.

Heroics & Ross is really limited on their pictures on their website, especially infantry. And what pictures they do have are poorly lighted and size of image is too small and/or too far away (it's not that expensive to buy a small 'light box' for photography guys and gals)

My question is are the H&R infantry being sold today the same was what was sold back in the 90's and if not how good are they compared to GQH?

I don't mind spending the money on really good figures. Question is should I use what I have or buy GHQ or is there a "New H&R" that is much better than old H&R?

The latest H&R stuff is really pretty nice. Definitely different from their earlier stuff, which seemed to be mainly about the silhouette (which was good, TBF).

I did some comparison shots on my blog a little while back: link

The older figures are listed as "classic". If you have packs from a while ago and want the new buys to match that is what you buy.

Figures listed as NEW are new masters and very much in the same quality as GHQ. They have also taken over a few ranges, Main Force and Adler, and those are shown as separates generally (if not always).

Hope this helps.

Thank you!

Heroics & Ross is really limited on their pictures …

Pictures? Did he say he wanted to see pictures? I could have sworn I heard something about pictures….

I focused on H&R infantry in the 1990s. My largest WW2 army, my Russians, are primarily H&R. My WW2 continental French army are almost all H&R.

Then GHQ came out with their individual figures line (vs. the en bloc infantry that had been their leading offer before). I built my Italian, my Romanian, and my French Colonial (Armee d'Afrique) forces using GHQ figures.

During the time I was putting together those forces I also built my US Army force, using the 1990s H&R figures.

Comparing the two I found that the (older) H&R figures were notably less detailed, and a little smaller. But not so much smaller that I would shy away from mixing them, not only on the same table, or in the same force, but even on the same stand. The GHQ figures look better, the H&R figures are more robust for game-time use, and have a better selection of poses and weapons.

More recently I expanded my Italian army with new H&R figures. Their new castings are very good. I consider them a match to the GHQ figures in terms of detail. They are a bit more robust in construction -- they don't look big and bulky, but I expect they will stand up to regular use better than GHQ figures. Mixing them on the same stand, you would not be able to see which is from which vendor if I didn't tell you. H&R still offers a better selection of poses and weapons.

To wit:

Dismounted US Army mech infantry company, and armored recon platoon, done with older H&R castings.

US Army engineer team with mine-clearing equipment, done with older H&R castings.

Dismounted platoon of French dragoons (motorcycle troops), done with older H&R castings.

Italian infantry company (continental uniforms) done with GHQ figures. The packs did not come with enough LMGs, so I had to improvise with other prone figures from the extras bin and still didn't have enough for the proper TOE.

Romanian infantry platoon done with GHQ figures.

Close-up of Romanian rifle squad and company command squad. The detail and quality of the figures is really superb.

Italian infantry bolstered now with additional LMG teams from the new H&R castings.

Side-by-side of GHQ LMG team (right) and new H&R LMG team (left). Note that the prone LMG loader on the GHQ stand is a random figure from the extras bin, as GHQ does not provide loaders for the LMGs.

New H&R Italian engineering figures in process. Details and poses are really superb.

Close-up of new H&R Italian AT Rifle team placed with GHQ infantry squads. I see them as fully mixable. The H&R figures still provide a better selection of weapons and poses.

Kind of a lot there. Hope it helps.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

Plus H&R have now acquired the Mainforce range, which is also very good. The range of figures is more limited than the standard 'new' H&R equivalents.

Robert