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.

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.

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.

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.