Category Archives: Figures

Khurasan Miniatures

15mm Tigrid aliens from Khurasan Miniatures
15mm Tigrid aliens

15mm Ursid Bearmen from Khurasan Miniatures.

Khurasan Miniatures produces historical and non-historical ranges, some in 28mm, most in 15mm, and a range of 6mm SF stuff. It is a pretty rich variety though some figures seem more inspired than others. Good detail, the figures are easy to paint. I have yet to do a size comparison since I only have some threatening looking aliens. The figures do seem to tend a little large. Another American company, this one in NY.

just a note, the ursids wear sunglasses and smoke cigars.

Splintered Light Miniatures

A contingent of mice from the 28mm Hedgerows and Heroes collection from Splintered Light Miniatures.

A manufacturer in Georgia of all places. Mostly fantasy figures and those primarily in 15mm/18mm. There is also a range of 15mm figures from the Dark Ages and a couple of fantasy rule sets.

the figures are easy to paint with detail at a reasonable level and well set off. If you are looking for the elusive army of squirrels or ducks, they have it.

Call of Cthulhu

The Call of Cthulhu RPG has had a long life and so has spawned a variety of suitable miniatures. The two licensed ranges were from Grenadier and RAFM. The RAFM figures are still available as of this entry.

The figures are 25mm with similar figures listed simply as ‘pulp’ figures ranging up to 28mm. Pulp refers to the pre-tv action/adventure/ horror tales published in cheap magazines made of the cheapest type of paper using pulp wood. The initial stories of the Cthulhu Mythos were published in Weird Tales.

The figures lend themselves well to a variety of RPGs and there are a range of rules to choose from. Needless to say, certain figures resembling Indiana Jones, Amelia Earhart, and Sam Spade appear as a recurrent theme. Monsters from a variety of ranges make suitable antagonists.

Several imported monsters of unknown manufacture listed as Cthulhu Wars. Nyarlathotep is the large blue figure in the back with Shub-Niggureth a bit to the left and the King in Yellow in the foreground.
A Hong Kong Cthulhu War cultist alongside a Grenadier Call of Cthulhu investigator standing on a RAFM base. The scale seems close enough.
A night gaunt from Hong Kong Cthulhu Wars and another from RAFM. Scale seems about the same.
Plenty of other figures mesh with The Call of Cthulhu, here, Ral Partha ghosts.

Confederate Infantry

I have gone for economy and speed in assembling a force of larger scale ACW Confederate figures opting for hard plastic. The price is low especially if you can find someone discarding sets. Painting is as fast as I can make it si is somewhat rough.

A bunch of Perry miniatures from their Civil War infantry set painted as CSA infantry. These miniatures are hard plastic without the nice undercuts of metal miniatures but lighter and cheaper. Assembly is needed, attaching hats and occasionally arms. The figures are lighter and cheaper than metal and a few boxes provide a reasonable number of figures. I have yet to attach flags.
A closer view of some of the Perry figures including a piece from the Civil War artillery set. The barrel of the gun is not attached and can be exchanged for other barrels provided.

Confederate infantry

10mm Perrin Miniatures, the beginning of a rather massive body of figures representing armies of the American Civil War. The figures have a gray primed surface. White would brighten them up but I chose a dark grey to speed things along.

The Perrin figures are attractively sculpted and nicely detailed without any overkill. The poses are limited but sufficient. They offer a really nice range with a certain daintiness but seem to tower over GHQ while looking a bit like AIM figures on a diet. A nice choice though difficult to locate. The Last Square does offer the full range.

Laserburn

Hard to believe but there was a range of SF miniatures in 15mm that were not designed for use with Traveller. Instead, they were designed for use with with a set of rules called Laserburn written by Bryan Ansell. There was also a 25mm range which I have not seen.

The 15mm figures are interesting and well detailed with a nice unique quality. They provide an effective range that works well with the RAFM Traveller range. The set includes a variety of figure types and vehicles. The entire range is still available either through the Alternative Armies website in England or the Noble Knights E-bay store in the US. Another instance where an attractive set of 15mm figures has remained available years after their initial release. If only all miniatures were handled in this manner.

Traveller EVA Troops

Martian Metals for a time had the license for Traveller miniatures which, in contrast to most RPGs, required 15mm figures. Martian metals are well detailed with a flat appearance likely due to the two-piece molds used. The range offered was fairly comprehensive and interesting but the license for 15mm Traveller ultimately went to Citadel. The figures shown above closely mirror illustrations used in GDW Traveller literature.

The figures above show the standard EVA set plus a few spacesuited figures from other sets in the background. All figures were painted with a primer coat of white enamel. EVA figures were then brushed with a wash of black enamel followed by cleanup with white enamel.

Napoleonic Russian Corps


Book 1 of Napoleon’s Battles offers some generic formations for the main combatants. Shown above is a Russian corps with two brigades of infantry and a separate artillery force. Commanding officers’ ranks are indicated by the number of figures per base as well as the size of the base. Each regimental group includes a command unit with ensign, commanding officers, and musician. I have used larger bases for artillery than shown in the rules as it was difficult to cram all those pieces on the base size the rules specified.

The total number of figures here is 124 which gives some indication of just how many of these little guys is necessary for a game. A corps sized formation would likely be as small a force as one would field using these rules. Also worth considering is, that for infantry, the scale is 1 figure = 120 men. To recreate any reasonable size battle from the Napoleonic era would likely require hundreds of figures on either side.

Most of the figures shown above are Heritage/Empire, the artillery and crews and most of the mounted officers are Battle Honors, and the figures on the regimental command bases are by Stan Johansen.