The Plastics Revolution

In the last two to three years rigid plastic wargames figures in 25-30mm "scale" have gone from an experimental rarity to being a thriving and expanding part of the wargamer's buying options. There are now eight companies producing at least one box of historical figures* and probably more will enter the marketplace this year too. The first to get to market was Warlord Miniatures closely followed by Perry Miniature, who brought their trademark superb quality of sculpting with them. Quality across the different companies has been very variable, as has size/ scale.

I have bought quite a few of the available boxes out of curiosity and for periods I am not committed enough to to want the expense of metal figures. When I have paid £1.00+ for a figure I do the best I can with what painting skills I have, 50p or less, not so much. The opportunities for adding Napoleonic regiments to my collection in the slim, proportional style of miniature that I am trying to stick to looked promising at first but so far it has been quite limited.


Of the manufacturers who produce Napoleonics, only Perry and HaT figures are close to a proportional style. Perry are chunkier that Alban and HaT are shorter and not such nice and consistant sculpts. The Perry figures have until recently been mainly focussed on the Hundrd Days rather than the earlier periods. The French infantry produced by Victrix do include a box based on the earlier uniforms (pre-Bardin) but althought the bodies of these figures are similar in size to the Perry offerings, the heads are a bit too chunky for my needs. I have experimented with Victrix bodies with spare Perry heads and these will do until there is another choice to fill the ranks of the Premier Empire.

(*For the record: Perry, Warlord, Victrix, Gripping Beast, Immortal, HaT, Conquest Games and Wargames Factory. Sorry to any I have missed.)