Tuesday 18 December 2012

Artizan Designs

Artizan Designs produce a fairly small Dark Ages range which covers Arthurian, Carolingian, Moor and Viking warriors.

They are nicely sculpted with some good poses and crisp detail. The figures are on the small side when it comes to 'heft' but can be mixed with most other ranges quite happily unless you are very picky!

Figures come with shield but spears are not included.

This photo shows an Artizan figure on the left with a Crusader Miniatures figure on the right.




Here we have Artizan on the left with Foundry on the right.



Next up is Artizan compared with a Gripping Beast plastic figure.



And Artizan on the left with Redoubt on the right.



Here is Artizan compared with Renegade on the right.


Tuesday 4 December 2012

Perry Miniatures

Perry produce what are for many wargamers the 'gold standard' of figures. They have a large Napoleonic range in both plastic and metal.

Their figures are beautifully sculpted with good detail and animation. The only downside for me is that my painting skills are not good enough to do them justice!

Here is a Perry miniature on the left with a Victrix figure on the right.



And Perry on the left compared with a Warlord Games figure on the right.


Tuesday 20 November 2012

Foundry Miniatures

Foundry are a major supplier of wargames figures and produce a huge range. They have several Dark Ages lines including not only the usual Saxons and Vikings but also Arthurian Romano-British, Early Saxons, Franks and Normans. So plenty to choose from!

They are nice figures that are well-cast in a massive variety of poses. Detail is good and they paint up well. The packs come with shields, bows etc included but spears have to be bought separately. Foundry are well worth a look and have a good website with plenty of pretty pictures!

Here is a Foundry figure on the left compared to a Crusader Miniatures figure on the right.


And Foundry compared to a plastic Gripping Beast figure on the right.


Here is Foundry on the left and a Redoubt figure on the right.


This is Foundry on left and Renegade on the right.



Foundry on right and Artizan on the left.


Monday 12 November 2012

Renegade Miniatures

Renegade Miniatures produce a small but tasty range of Anglo-Saxons including a few cavalry.

The figures are fairly bulky but a lot of them have a style that is evocative of the famous Lewis Chessmen which gives excellent period flavour. The sculpting is nice and clean with good detail. Shield and weapons are separate but included in the pack, although I would have preferred spears rather than swords and axes!

Here is a Renegade figure on the left and a Crusader figure on the right.


This is Renegade compared to Foundry on the left.


Renegade on the left and a plastic Gripping Beast figure on the right.


Renegade on the left and Redoubt on the right.


Renegade on the right and Artizan on the left.




Tuesday 23 October 2012

Victrix

Victrix produce fifteen sets of hard-plastic Napoleonic figures at the moment. Apart from a set of British foot Artillery, they are all Infantry covering the French, British and Austrian armies. Each box contains 50 to 60 multi-part figures with extra heads/arms/weapons etc, which allows a vast range of different figures to be made.

They can be a bit fiddly to put together, especially the arms of firing figures! But they are excellent for small scale skirmish wargames such as Sharp Practice, as the potential to make each figure an individual is huge. The figures are well proportioned and are compatible with several other popular ranges of Napoleonic figures.

In this photo the Victrix figure is on the left compared with a Warlord Games figure on the right. Both have the bottom of the base aligned with the zero-line of the grid but they sit at slightly different angles because of the different sizes and shapes of the bases.


Here is a Perry figure on the left compared with a Victrix on the right.


Tuesday 16 October 2012

Crusader Miniatures

Crusader produce a large range of Dark Ages figures including Byzantine, Spanish, Scots, Irish, Anglo-Saxons, Normans and of course, Vikings! They also do some very nice personality figures.

The figures are well sculpted, need very little cleaning up, and even I found them easy to paint! They are a touch larger than average, but will still mix well with other ranges. If you have a Dark Age army, Crusader figures should be involved!

This photo shows Crusader on the right and Artizan on the left



Here is Crusader on the left compared with Gripping Beast on the right.


Crusader on the right compared with Redoubt on the left.

Here we have Foundry on the left and Crusader on the right.


This is Renegade on the left and Crusader on the right.


And a couple of pictures of some Crusader Anglo-Saxons painted up.



Thursday 11 October 2012

Redoubt Enterprises

Redoubt produce a small range of Vikings all available to order as single figures so you can mix and match. They also make a longship that comes with 15 crew and 5 other figures.

I found that the figures are packed with character but of slightly strange proportions. In terms of height and heft they are on the small end of the 28mm spectrum. In view of this and the small range, Redoubt are maybe not going to supply the bulk of an army, but are great for adding a bit of variety to other ranges.

Here we have a Redoubt figure on the left, with a Gripping Beast figure on the right for comparison.


Redoubt compared with Crusader Miniatures.

Here is Redoubt V Foundry on the left.


This is Redoubt and Renegade.


Redoubt on the right with Artizan on the left.



And some Redoubt Vikings painted.



Tuesday 2 October 2012

Gripping Beast

This is a quick review of  the multi-part plastic figures made by Gripping Beast. They are currently one of the biggest noises in the Dark Age period, and produce both metal and plastic figures.

There are two plastic sets available at the moment, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. Both are similar and contain 44 figures. Extra weapons and heads are provided in each box so you can end up with a nice variety of figures. The main downside with these sets in my opinion, is that all the men wear mail coats making them high status warriors. An army is going to need more unarmoured troops than armoured, so a plastic set of less well equipped figures would really help to bulk out your force.

On the right of this photo is a Gripping Beast plastic Saxon. On the left for comparison is a Viking from Redoubt Enterprises.


Next is Gripping Beast compared with Crusader Miniatures.


This is Gripping Beast on the right and a figure from Foundry on the left.


A Renegade figure on the left this time.


Gripping Beast on the right and Artizan on the left.



Here are a couple of pictures of Gripping Beast Anglo-Saxons painted up.




Thursday 19 July 2012

Hello!

Hello and welcome to 28mm Review.

The aim of this blog is to compare 28mm wargames figures from different manufacturers. As most wargamers know, 28mm is not a scale but a size. The problem with this is that not all 28mm figures are compatible with each other. Some manufacturers measure 28mm from the bottom of the foot to the top of the head, while others may go from the foot to the eyes because the top of the head is usually covered by headgear. Some produce realistically proportioned figures, others are more caricature-like with chunky bodies or overly large heads and hands.

This is all great for variety and enables people to collect figures which appeal to them. It does however, lead to constant questions along the lines of "will figures from 'x' manufacturer fit with those from 'y'?" Well, my aim is to make this the place to come for the answers!

Due to the large number of different figure ranges available this database will take some time to grow, so please be patient if your favourite line is not mentioned and keep popping back to see what is new. If you are a manufacturer of 28mm historical wargames figures and your range is not featured, I will gladly accept a free sample!