Not that these are more irregular than other Franks of their period, but the figures are produced by Irregular Miniatures, in their ‘Scots-Irish’ range.
This is one of my favorite units in any of my armies. I love the period, and the sculpts and poses are great. They are dressed and equipped as depicted in ‘Armies & Enemies of Imperial Rome’ and in ‘Armies of the Dark Ages.’ Each figure is subtly different, but similar enough to look like a cohesive unit with no silly poses. They rank up nicely, and fit on bases with no overlap.
They also required little work. I replaced any spears with wire spears, and I may have changed a few hair styles. I added a draco made of putty. Cleanup (if any) was minimal.
The commander is from the Vikings range. He was illustrated on the Irregular site, so I asked for him specifically. Ian was kind enough to oblige.
I was looking for some interesting characters for Mexican Adventure/Old West games, and I found the Pulp Figures PMH-07 ‘The Night Caravan.’ It’s a lovely set of three Gypsy musicians, and two dancing women.
They would have been fine as they were. The musicians had a bit of a piratical flair, so would make good bandidos – they needed little modification to make them into Mexicans.
I made them sombreros out of epoxy putty, and once they were hardened, I thinned the brims with my Dremel. There’s a 3mm round router bit that allows you to thin the brim but leave an upturn at the edge.
The sashes and headscarves are fine for Gypsies, and Mexicans alike. They are a lovely trio, well-sculpted and full of character.
The dancers were fine straight out of the pack, and provide the ‘plus fiery Gypsies’ tone needed for my games. My siestas will now be fiestas!
These figures are from the Copplestone Castings ‘Back of Beyond’ range. As such, they are intended for service in Northern India and environs. keeping the Russian Bear at bay. They are dressed and equipped as Britons in any theatre where Tropical Dress was the norm.
This makes them a very useful set indeed.
They are (mostly) in shirt sleeve order, wearing khaki drill shorts, socks, and pith helmets. They can be used in Africa, India, China, and places in-between, from the Great War into early WW2.
I organized them into two ten-man units. This is the first, with an officer, seven riflemen and a two-man Lewis team.
This is the second, with the same organization. I use rules for this era with ten, sixteen, or twenty-man units, so I don’t always use them like this.
These are the supernumeraries – Including the two NOT in shirt sleeve order. They allow me a small Command section, or the option of fielding a sixteen or twenty-man unit with the correct number of rifles. (Depending on the rules being used)
The three officers – Two are very similar, to be sure.
Three riflemen – The figures are similar rather than identical, and they are chosen randomly. This provides a good-looking unit, uniform without being identical. The poses and sculpting are top-notch as is to be expected when Mark Copplestone is the sculptor.
All in all, I am very pleased with the unit(s), and they are going to prove very useful!
There are plenty of uses for ‘characters’ in VBCW, CoC, or Gangster games. One source is eM4‘s Cluedo figures.
Many years ago, there was a version of Cluedo (‘Clue’ to our USA fans) that came with a set of pewter playing pieces. These have been released for gaming, and are quite lovely.
They are on the tall side of 28mm, but fit well with many ranges – This is not the complete set. The sculpting is first class, and the figures exude character.
The Vicar, wearing a French helmet. Off to The Front!
This is just a short article showing a bit of wasted effort.
A while ago, I used the heads from some eM4Dunwich Detective figures for a converted VBCW unit. It turned out OK. (VBCW: eM4 Militia) I then threw the headless bodies back in my box.
Later, I started using Woodbine Designs heads for conversions. (that I should have just used in the first place) I found myself with extra flat caps, so I replaced the heads on the DD bodies in my box.
So I replaced flat caps with flat caps, and the figures look much the same as they did before. The heads look good, but not much different. The figure on the right has his original head, for comparison.
As I have stated before, I really enjoy painting the Woodbine Design Khaki Serge infantry. The sculpting, poses , and anatomy are good, the details and casting crisp and clean, with minimal flash. They assemble easily, although I found a touch to the neck with the dremel made it easier. They paint up well and look good, and with a choice of 18 heads you can make a bunch of different units.
That of course is the problem – With each unit looking different, there is less incentive to stop buying more. As a result, I have more and more of these units on the shelf, giving me more Regulars than one should expect.
This particular unit has Head BRIT12-F Glengarry Caps. This cap was the undress cap for British infantry from 1868 to 1897, and for Scottish troops until 1914. Pop the tourie off the top, and they’d do for BUF troops, too.
They mix well with Great War Miniatures – The officer on the left is from Woodbine, the officer on the right is from Great War.
I have also used the Woodbine heads to convert a Renegade Miniatures HMG to support this unit. I had a bunch of Renegade HMGs that I had no use for, and I replaced all the heads with various Woodbine heads. Now my forces have far too-many HMGS for their too-many infantry.
Since I didn’t really need any naval troops, I figured two units would be better than one. I already had the figures.
I had 10 leftover figures from Old Glory pack CBP-15 ‘Boxer Rebellion Austrian Sailors’ that I used in ‘Darkest Africa – More Germans.’ I felt they would be better off sitting painted on a shelf, rather than sitting unpainted in a box.
Since naval uniforms tend to follow Royal Navy patterns, the sailors are ‘good enough’ to use as British, despite looking vaguely ‘old-fashioned.’
The figures are OK. The poses and faces are not great, not awful, and some of the heads are at somewhat suspect angles. The details are there – Pouches are heavier, not semi-flat indications. The kerchief/lanyard is there, even if hard to see because of the poses. But the castings were clean, without much flash.
Most figures were used as is, but I removed the rifle and left hand from a rifleman, and replaced it with a Lewis gun from a Wargames Atlantic WW1 Briton. The officer had his very Austrian-capped head replaced with a Woodbine Designs Service-Capped head. This gives a unit of 10 men – 8 riflemen, 1 LMG, and an officer.
They were base-coated with Prussian Blue, overpainted with Royal Blue. The flash has made them appear very mid-blue, normally they appear a lot darker.
I got a set of Pulp FiguresPSS 02 Tramp Steamer Sailors 2, for the officer, so I could use him for the unit. And then I didn’t.
Here they are with a RN armoured car. They give an impression of being both enthusiastic and confused.
All in all, I am pleased. I have another VBCW unit, and I have used up more leftovers from another project.
Ports and coastal areas are often defended, or raided by naval landing parties. Since my VBCW is set inland, I of course needed some RN types, whatever faction they may support. To this end, I am fielding a 10-man unit, of 8 riflemen, an officer, and a Lewis gunner.
The figures are from Empress Miniatures‘ packs MAT1 (RN Shore Party) and MAT3 (RN Shore Party Command) Two packs of MAT1 provide 8 riflemen. They are all single-piece castings, with few mould lines. They may look similar to each other, but that is on purpose – there is a pack MAT2 that provides more varied figures.
MAT 3 provides a Lewis gun crew, and a pair of officers. One of the officers is provided wearing a full WW1-era German field pack. I do not know why – For all I know, the Royal Navy had stocks of them captured in the War. All I knew was that it looked wrong, especially since he was the only figure with ANY sort of pack.
The Lewis gunner and his number two filled out the set nicely.
They are nicely sculpted, with delicate details. Perhaps TOO delicate. Webbing is none-too-thick, and various pouches are way too shallow. But they are there, you just need some care in painting.
Many years ago, Wargames Factory produced 28mm plastic Celtic chariots. They have long been one of my favourite plastic kits.
I have reviewed them here, and their Celtic infantry as well.
I am slowly building my way through all my boxes, six chariots at a time. I reserved some of my infantry to use as chariot drivers and crew – Two boxes worth, as it turns out.
I have been building them in a random manner. I build a bunch of chariots, a bunch of horses, and a bunch of crew, then pull them together randomly.
Some crew are infantry figures, if so, I remove the base. The drivers’ hands are drilled to take reins, and their hair filled hair out with putty.
The warriors have also had their hair filled out, and have been given wire spears. They each have a wire peg added to their foot and glued to a hole drilled in the chariot floor.
The horses have mostly the reined heads with the reins trimmed away, and a hole drilled for cotton reins.
The chariots were assembled as per instructions, except I shortened the yoke poles by about 5mm. Assembly was done with plastic cement, except for attaching wire spears and pegs.
Chariots and horses were assembled on 40x60mm bases, with the chariot wheels sitting on pieces of horse base. (So it will be level with the horses.)
Drivers and crew were glued in place. The wire gives a secure joint. Space can be tight, so you may want to check before gluing, and even switch crew around to see who fits best where.
Reins were made from crochet cotton, dipped in a mixture of white glue and paint. Draw the rein through your fingers to squeeze out excess glue/paint. This should also remove the fuzziness. Hang it to dry.
Put the rein through the horse mouth, then feed it through the rings on the yoke. Put both ends of the rein through one hand. Repeat on the other side. Trim reins to length.
The Phagons were originally released by Metal Magic, much to the joy of my pal Graham and me. They were even available in an economical 20-pack. We ordered two, and were quite happy. It was only after they went OP that I realized there were 23 in the series.
I spent the next few years of travelling in the USA, buying every Phagon I could find, in order to get complete sets for Graham and myself. I also got a bunch of extras in the process.
When Moonraker picked up the moulds, I got another set, as did Graham. Such joy! I even picked up a third set.
As aliens, they are quite useful – I treat them as ‘Space Broo’ out to capture ‘hosts’ for their larvae, so any captives are better off dead. They have simple objectives, and their opponents will as well. By their nature, they will not worry about losses, because the fewer they have on their ships, the better. By the time they arrive elsewhere, their numbers will have replenished. But they are useful as 40K Beastmen as well.
The figures are human-sized, with light armour, jump packs, and assorted weapons. The equipment is well-detailed and interesting, with plates, rivets, and cables a-plenty. The style of weapons and equipment matches that of the Phagon Battle-Clones.
The Phagons themselves are beautifully sculpted, the best goat men I have ever seen. The faces are superbly sculpted and they really repay dry brushing.
Moonraker also released an old, unreleased miniature of a ‘Goat God,’ sculpted by Gary Hunt. (Far right) Its style closely matches the Phagons, so I happily mix them in as officers/overseers.
They are now available through eM4 Miniatures. They are among my favorite miniatures, so of course I recommend them.
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