As part of the game development process, I prefer to use figures rather than cardboard counters or plastic tokens or meeples or something. I do have same vague justifications for this – I need to be able to test with other people who are non-gamers and figures are easier for them to see what’s being represented; and it also lets me try out figures from different sources to see which might be worth using as sources. Honestly, though, it’s mostly because I prefer to push around figures which look cool! In this post, I’ll be talking about the figures I like to use.
A couple of disclaimers to start off with. I’m not affiliated with any of these manufacturers; these are purely my opinions; everything is correct at the time of writing but may not remain so; and finally I’m looking exclusively at scifi military figures. With all that out of the way, on with the show!
First up, Mad Robot Miniatures. I came across them when I was looking for Colonial Marine figures for… well, I’m sure you can figure out why I wanted them! These are resin figures, sold as individual sets of torsos, arms, legs, heads, weapons, etc. You can buy 10-person squad sets too – either way, you’re looking at around US$40 for 10 figures. The assembly process is a bit finicky, but the end result looks pretty good. There’s plenty of detail, and you can pose and equip your soldiers how you like (within the restrictions of the pieces you order, of course). Mad Robot do a variety of different styles, mostly scifi themed, and also do some vehicles and horses as well. If you need resin conversion parts for figures this is definitely worth checking out.
Next in the review: EM4 miniatures. This manufacturer is actually going to show up twice, so let’s begin with their metal Future Skirmish range. These are one-piece castings in some sort of white metal – I’m not sure exactly what it is, but it’s non-toxic and fairly soft. You’re looking at £2 each for these, so they’re fairly reasonably priced. The figures themselves are pretty good, with plenty of detail and character. Being made of metal they have a satisfying heft to them. Although there are a reasonable number of figures in the range they’re a bit restricted in terms of equipment and poses, so if you want more variation than that you’re probably going to have to do some conversions. That’s too much work for me, so let’s move on.
The other EM4 offering is their plastic Near Future range, specifically their sets of gangers and troopers. These come on sprues of two-piece torsos with legs and heads attached, arms with weapons attached, and backpacks. Unpainted, the silvery plastic they’re made of makes them look fairly terrible, but don’t be fooled: the figures actually have a surprising amount of detail and character, and if you’re a good painter I think they would reward your efforts.
The best thing about the EM4 plastics is the price – a set of 5 figures costs the princely sum of £2.99, which can be less than a single figure from some other places, so if you need lots of figures and you’re on a budget these are not a bad place to go. Unfortunately, the flip side of that is a lack of variety. EM4 used to make conversion parts for them (different weapons and torsos/heads) that fitted together easily, but that stopped long ago so you’ll have to get bits from somewhere else and do the conversion work yourself. Still, they’re well worth considering if you’re on a budget. Side note: if you want orcs or dwarves, check out their plastic fantasy figures. You can get bags of 50 monopose figures for £10.50, which is very good for bulking out an army!
However, the main source of figures I use is Anvil Industry. Their Regiments line is also resin parts, which you can mix and match as desired. Assembly is a bit easier than the Mad Robot products, because of little features (like the clever use of sockets on parts) which make it just that bit easier to put them together and have them looking good. Their website also has a convenient “squad builder” function, so you can fairly quickly put together your shopping list with some assurance it’ll all fit together and look okay. There’s plenty of variety of equipment and poses, plenty of detail on the parts, and plenty of character expressed in the heads especially.
Especially noteworthy is their line of female figures, all of which look cool while still looking as if they belong on a battlefield. I’ll be honest: I love these figures. It is dismayingly hard to find female scifi soldiers who don’t look like they’re more familiar with Cosmo than cosmic horrors. No condemnation for those figures – some of them look fantastic. And let’s be honest, male figures usually all look like steroid advertisements too. But for Close Encounters I wanted a gritty, industrial, near-future sort of look, with figures that could plausibly have a chance against a bunch of nasty alien bugs. Stripper heels and cleavage were not on the agenda.
Unfortunately, you pay for all this quite dearly. A single squad of five figures from Anvil Industry starts at £16, and realistically you’ll probably be over £20 by the time you have them equipped how you want. Specialist squads and heavy weapons etc quickly add to the price.
If I was going to recommend figures from this list, I’d start by asking what they were for.
- Cheap figures for boardgames or to fill out larger forces? Definitely the EM4 plastics. The prices are so low it’s almost insane not to use them, and with the money you save you can pick up some conversion parts from elsewhere to add a bit of variety and detail here and there. In fact, when I get home I’m going to line up a few conversions myself – watch this space!
- Moderate-cost figures for skirmish games? EM4 again, this time their metal range. Harder to do conversions but less need to do so, and they look good painted up.
- Highly-detailed figures, customised how you want? Probably Anvil Industry, with an exception I’ll get to in a minute. It’s worth taking a look at Mad Robot too, though.
- Customisation parts for other figures? Mad Robot or Anvil Industry – it’s worth checking both suppliers, depending on what you want. Honourable Mentions: Victoria Miniatures and Statuesque miniatures. Victoria does a wide range of resin conversion parts, and the only reason I didn’t mention them earlier is that I haven’t actually purchased and used them yet. Statuesque does some very good female heads for conversions, in a range of sizes so you’re certain to be able to find one that’s just right for the figure you have in mind.
- Colonial Marines? This is the exception that I was talking about earlier. If you want figures for a Colonial Marines squad, you should definitely be looking at Mad Robot. They have everything you need for a tense battle in an atmosphere processor, from weapons and armour right down to the lobster-tail helmets and little shoulder lamps. Absolutely bad-ass!
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