Ogre Miniatures Without Ogre Miniatures
by Thad Blanchette
(March 26, 1997)
by Thad Blanchette
(March 26, 1997)
(Thad works for Devir Livraria, a publisher and distributor in Brazil.)Thinking about the miniatures crisis which seems to have afflicted many Ogrephiles out there has prompted me to compile this list of sci-fi figure manufacturers. All of the companies below produce 1/285th - 1/300th scale figures suitable for Ogre. Quality is measured by the number of asterisks next to the company's name (on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best). Some of the stuff listed here is nicer looking than the rest, but any quality judgements made are my own subjective opinions. Your tastes are probably way different, so don't sweat it if I pan your pet manufacturer, O.K.?
A word to the wise: please do not order stuff blind from this listing and then blame me if it's not what you wanted. All these companies will be more than happy to send you a catalog and/or some photos of their figures. Look before you leap!
Please be aware that this is not a complete listing - I don't have catalogs for everybody and there are literally hundreds (OK, dozens upon dozens) of small garage manufacturers out there. Not listed here (for starters) are companies like RAFM which produce some nice mecha figures but otherwise leave 1/300th scale sci-fi untouched. Also not listed here are pure terrain manufacturers. Finally, I'm only giving descriptions for those figures that I've personally seen up close. The stuff below is merely what I've run across up to now, in as complete a form as possible.
Company: Geo-Hex/Capricorn Space ****
Let's start off with Geo-Hex, my favorite sci-fi company. I like their stuff, though it's slightly smaller and more modern (meaning closer to the '90s) than the traditional Ogre line. (Geo-Hex's GEVs are small, turreted tanks, for example). Great for third world Ogre powers. The Triton IV chassis is used as the basis for many of the vehicles listed below, which supports the idea of vehicles built by a country with a limited military/industrial base (such as Brazil or India).
Address: 2126 North Lewis, Portland, OR, 97227
Phone/Fax/Net: 503-288-4805/503-288-8992/geohex@aol.com
Line Name: Future Wars 1/300th scale sci-fi miniatures
Ordering Info: Accepts check, money order, VISA and MC (credit card payment available to US residents only). U.S. Domestic shipments pay 7% shipping charges while us overseas folks pay 25% for land or 50% for airmail. Canadians pay 15%. Better yet, Chessex and many other distributors work with these guys, so your local games pusher will probably be able to front your order for you. Support local merchants, where possible!
All blisters are $6.50 unless otherwise noted. Number in parenthesis is number of figures in the pack.
ITEM NAME OGRE EQUIVALENT FWT01 Triton IV Tracked Tank (5) Light Tank FWT02 Triton IV GEV Tank (5) GEV (has jump jets instead of skirt) FWT39 Symtor GEV MBT (5) GEV (has GE skirt) FWT11 Jupiter IIA Tracked Med. Tank (4) Heavy Tank (this is very, very nice) FWT16 Andromeda/D1 w/Hy. Turret (3) Super Heavy Tank, 1 cannon only FWI04 Triton IV GEV IFV (5) GEV-PC FWM08 Triton IV Tracked Msl. Launch. (5) Missile Tank FWM09 Triton IV GEV Missile Launcher (5) GEV-MSL FWSV16 HEMTT Heavy Flatbed Truck (5) Really nice Truck unit FWA04 Hellcat Tracked SP Gun (5) Mobile Howitzer FWG01 Infantry (50) MIL (I prefer Sintacs armored infantry for INF.. This stuff is slightly smaller.) MT-25 GEV Mobile Command Post (1) Mobile CP in resin. $4.50 MT-26 GEV Bulk Cargo Transport (1) BIG GEV Truck in resin. $4.50 MT-46-50 Industrial complex (1) Factories in resin; each one of five sections is different. MT49 makes a great reactor. $9.50 (Resin) MT-01 Small General Purpose Buildings (3) Typical resin sci fi urban houses. $4.50 MT-02 Med. Gen. Purpose Buildings (2) Typical small resin warehouses. $4.50 MT-33 Basic Building (1) Basic resin office/store complex. $8.50 MT-08 Armored Command Installation CP in resin. QUD001 Signs, Public Toilets, Greenhouses Lots of fiddly bits for sprucing up urban areas. (White metal.) Full Listing for Geo-Hex FWT01 Triton IV tracked tnk FWT02 Triton IV GEV tank FWT04 Deimos hvy GEV tnk FWT05 Diemos/IO (lg turret) FWT06 Ganymede shvy GEV FWT07 Ultratron shvy trk tnk FWT09 Antron hvy track tnk FWT11 Jupiter II md. track tnk FWT12 Deimos w/FWT11 turret FWT14 Deimos w/twin mnt turret FWT16 Andromeda shvy track tnk FWT17 Andromeda w/twn turret FWT19 Andromeda w/FWT11 tur FWT20 Ganymede II w/hvy turret FWT21 Ganymede w/twn turret FWT30 Triton AAA tracked FWT31 Triton AAA GEV FWT36 PT-124 lt grav tank FWT37 Simcat MBT tracked FWT38 Sycat AAA tracked FWT39 Symtor GEV MBT FWT40 Sytor AAA GEV FWT41 Simbat grav MBT FWT42 Simbat AAA grav FWT44 Wolfcat tracked tank FWT45 Wolftor GEV tank FWT46 Wolfbat grav tank FWT57 Sencat trackd sup tnk FWT58 Sencat GEV sup. tank FWT59 Sencat grav sup. tank FWG01 Infantry FWI03 Triton IV trackd IFV FWI04 Triton IV GEV IFV FWAC01 Tritonian II trk APC FWAC02 Tritonian GEV APC FWAC09 PT-124 lt grav com. FWAC10 PT-124 ACAV FWM08 Triton IV trkd msl FWM09 Triton IV GEV msl FWM10 Triton IV lt grav msl FWSV05 Trkd ammo carrier FWSV08 Police GEV van FWSV09 Trkd engineer veh FWSV10 civilian vehicles FWSV16 Heavy truck FWA04 Hellcat tracked SPA FWA05 Helltor GEV SPA FWA06 Hellbat grav SPAGeo-Hex has lots (and lots and lots) more sci-fi stuff (including boats, VTOLs, two entire lines of buildings...), but the above is what would most interest an Ogre player. Ask for Geo-Hex's full catalog if you need more info.
Company: Simtac/Scotia ***
Many people don't like these folks' sci-fi miniatures, as several of them are kit-bashed together from WWII and modern micro-armor parts. For example, their hover scout vehicle is based on a German WWII SPW 251 chassis... Nevertheless, some of the items in the Simtac line paint up quite nicely. In particular, I like their power armored infantry - when painted correctly these make great battlesuits! I've received several faulty castings from Simtac over the years. Assume that 5% of the figures you'll get will be poor castings. In Simtac's defence, they do offer a quality guarantee. I've never taken them up on it because of the cost of sending figures back and forth between Brazil and the States.Address: 15G Colton Road, East Lyme, CT, 06333
Phone/Fax: 203-739-3609
Line Name: Scotia Models 1/300th scale sci-fi miniatures
Ordering Info: Accepts check, money order, VISA and MC. U.S. Domestic shipments pay 15% shipping charges while overseas pays 20% for land or 40% for airmail.
All blisters are $5.50 and the figures are either lead-free pewter or normal white metal unless otherwise noted. Number in parenthesis is number of figures in the pack.
ITEM NAME OGRE EQUIVALENT SF2 Air Cushion Tank (5) Primitive GEV SF11 Hvy Multi-turret tank (1) A primitive Ogre/Chinese Dragon $6.50 SF14 Twin Laser Grav Tank (5) Light HWZR (it looks non-mobile) SF15 Lt. Grav APC (5) GEV-PC SFI108 Power Armored Infantry (+/- 40) INF, ENG, WPN (three models) SFI05 Lying trooper (+/-40) Militia TT301 Pre-fab Light Laser Turret (4) Laser Turret. $3.00 TT319 PPC Tower Type 1 (1) Laser Tower. $5.00I'm not as familiar with Simtac's line as Geo-Hex's stuff, so I've only listed here the items I can personally attest to. There are many other sci-fi figures produced by Simtac, however. One thing I haven't listed which is pretty neat is a heavy power armor design which would make a great 10mm figure for a miniatures version of Battlesuit. They also make a line of exotic modern vehicles (including Brazilian, Argentinean, South African and Chinese stuff) if you're looking for some odd archaic armor. Ask for Simtac's catalog for more info. (BTW, all recognizable armor names in the list below are vehicles built on that chassis. The 2000 line generally has a railgun turret while the 3000 line has a railgun and GEV skirts. 4000's have their bottom hull filed off to give them that high-tech grav vehicle look...)
Full Listing for Scotia SF1 Lg grav tank w/heavy hull SF2 Std air cushion tank SF3 Air cushion scout vehicle SF4 Primitive grav tank SF5 Lg grav APC SF6 Sm scout vehicle SF7 Hvy scout vehicle SF8 Sm grav jeep SF9 Imperial grv tnk w/hy gun SF10 Imperioal grv tnk w/laser SF11 Hvy multi turrent tank SF12 Sm flying saucer SF13 Lg flying saucer SF14 Twin laser grav tank SF15 Lt grav APC SF16 Medium field support laser SF17 Twin lt field support laser SF18 Hvy plasma supprt cannon SF19 Thunderbolt 3000 fighter SF20 Abrams 2000 tread MBT SF21 Abrams 3000 GEV MBT SF22 Abrams 4000 grav MBT SF23 Chieftan 2000 tread MBT SF24 Chieftan 3000 GEV MBT SF25 Chieftan 4000 grav MBT SF26 Challenger 2000 trd MBT SF27 Challengr 3000 GEV MBT SF28 Challengr 4000 grav MBT SF29 Merkava 2000 tread MBT SF30 Merkava 3000 GEV MBT SF31 Merkava 4000 grav MBT SF32 Leopard 2000 tread MBT SF33 Leopard 3000 GEV MBT SF34 Leopard 4000 grav MBT SF35 Osario 2000 tread MBT SF36 Osario 3000 GEV MBT SF37 Osario 4000 grav MBT SF38 Leclerc 2000 tread MBT SF39 Leclerc 3000 GEV MBT SF40 Leclerc 4000 grav MBT SF41 BMP 2000 tread IFV SF42 BMP 3000 GEV IFV SF43 BMP 4000 grav IFV SF44 Warrior 2000 tread IFV SF45 Warrior 3000 GEV IFV SF46 Warrior 4000 grav IFV SF47 Bradley 2000 tread IFV SF48 Bradley 3000 GEV IFV SF49 Bradley 4000 grav IFV SF50 M-113 2000 tread APC SF51 M-113 3000 GEV APC SF52 M-113 4000 grav APC SF53 BTR50 2000 tread APC SF54 BTR50 3000 GEV APC SF55 BTR50 4000 grav APC SF56 GEP AMX 2000 trd AAA SF57 GEPAMX3000 GEV AAA SF58 GEPAMX 4000 grav AAA SF59 York 2000 tread AAA SF60 York 3000 GEV AAA SF61 York 4000 grav AAA SF62 SA4 2000 tread msl tank SF63 SA4 3000 GEV msl tank SF64 SA4 4000 grav msl tank SF65 SA5 2000 tread pt defence SF66 SA5 3000 GEV pt defence SF67 SA5 4000 grav pt defence SF68 ZA1 2000 tread SPA SF69 ZA1 3000 GEV SPA SF70 ZA1 4000 grav SPA SF71 ZS14 2000 tread SPA SF72 ZS14 3000 GEV SPA SF73 ZS15 4000 grav SPA SF74 T10 2000 lt AT laser gun SF75 T10 3000 lt AT laset gun SF76 T10 4000 lt AT laser gun SF77 XT101 lt sonic canon SF78 XT201 md sonic cannon SF79 XT301 hvy sonic cannon SF80 PXT2001 super hvy laser SF81 PXT2002 supr hvy plasma SF82 PXT2003 super hvy disrpt. SF83 Scorpion 2000 tread lt. tnk SF84 Scorpion 3000 GEV lt. tnk SF85 Scorpion 4000 grav lt tank SF86 Ford XT 2000 truck SF87 Ford XT 3000 GEV truck SF88 Ford XT 4000 grav truck SF89 GMT 2000 md truck SF90 GMT 3000 GEV truck SF91 GMT 4000 grav truck SF92 Scamm 2000 hvy truck SF93 Scamm 3000 GEV hvy trk SF94 Scamm 4000 grav hvy trk SFI01 Marine w/laser rifle SFI02 Marine w/pulse rifle SFI03 Strike trooper w/pulse rifle SFI04 Support laser grav sled SFI05 Lying trooper SFI06 Officer w/bolt pistol SFI07 Rocket team (prone) SFI08 Power Armor Infantry SFI09 Bounty hunter SFI10 Crewman/pilot SFI11 Battle Armor Squad SFI12 Ranger in envirosuit SFI13 Combat pwered troops SFI14 Combat powered cmand SFI15 Combat powered hvy wpns AAF1 Alien infantry/w hvy laser AAF2 Alien infantry w/club AAF3 Alien command AAF4 Insectoid infantry AAF5 Insectoid hvy wpns AAF6 Insectoid Command AAF7 Biomech tank, medium AAF8 Biomech tank, heavy AF1 Alien hvy transport APC MS1 Hyper Speed Tank XT-T1 MS2 Heavy APC Power 7 Type
Company: Irregular Miniatures * to **
This company has three sci-fi figure lines; two in 1/300th scale and the other in 2mm! I've only seen the 2mm stuff up close, and I found it very unimpressive. Even a careful paint job will probably not liven these buggers up. However, they might be of some use as unit markers on a campaign game map. The photos for their NSF 5mm (1/300th) line look better, but it's hard to tell a figure's quality from a black and white shot in a catalog. In any case, Irregular's stuff looks much more high-tech than the Ogre universe norm - vehicles are clearly grav powered, etc. However, they do have some nice infantry, scenery and even some odd stuff you cant get anywhere else (such as Empire Strikes Back-style rebel cavalry). A further bummer (for Yanks) is the company's English location, which means a pretty hefty freight charge for American customers (welcome to the club!)Address: 69a Acomb Road, Holgate, York
N. Yorks. YO2 4EP, United Kingdom
Phone: (01904) 79-0597
Line Name: 6mm science fiction miniatures, 2mm Sci-FiOrdering Info: Accepts international money order, VISA and Access or pounds sterling (add 10% for bank charges if paying in non-Brit currency). U.S. and Canada residents pay 45% - 50% shipping charges (depending on order size) for airmail, 25%-33% for surface (which means it'll get there about the time the Combine/Paneuropean war really starts to heat up). Eurofolk pay 25-33% while Aussies and Africans pay 35-90% (!). Apparently, Irregular has forgotten that us folks in South America play miniatures games, too...
Full Listing for Irregular 6SF1 Infantry Group 6SF2 Missile Team 6SF3 GM74ATL MBT 6SF4 GM274 Cutlass AA Tank 6SF5 GM311 Alexander IFV 6SF6 GM591 AT missile vehicle 6SF7 GM561 Attila lt tank 6SF8 GM191 GUV jeep 6SF9 GM191 jeep + AT msl 6SF10 GM571 Gun mortar vehcle 6SF11 GM581 Armrd cmmd veh. 6SF12 GM541 APC 6SF13 GM321 AA msl vehicle 6SF14 GM531 SPA 6SF15 GM76 assault gun 6SF16 GM86 IFV 6SF17 M62 early MBT 6SF18 Infantry msl team 6SF19 Infantry recon team 6SFG1 AGS430 Human gunship 6SFG2 OG 420 Human scoutship 6SFG3 UG 400 Human asltship 6SFHA1 Humanoid inf group 6SFHA2 Humanoid msl team 6SFHA3 Humanoid T1 MBT 6SFHA4 Humanoid AA tank 6SFHA5 Humanoid IFV 6SFHA6 Humanoid armored car 6SFHA7 HumanoidAT msl vehicle 6SFHA8 Humanoid jeep 6SFHA9 Humanoid command vehcl 6SFHA10 Humanoid gun mortar veh 6SFHA11 Humanoid APC 6SFHA12 Humanoid AA msl vehcl 6SFHA13 Humanoid SPA 6SFHA14 Humanoid assault vehcl 6SFHA15 Humanoid early MBT 6SFHA16 Humanoid msl team NSF1 Stabber MBT NSF2 Strumber MBT NSF3 Slider MBT NSF4 Lifter APC NSF5 Jet bike NSF6 Track pulse cannon NSF7 Robot attack class NSF8 Robot mechanic NSF9 Attack Infantry NSF10 Support Infantry NSF11 Alien Infantry NSF12 Alien Support Inf NSF13 Rebel cavalry NSF14 Large dust worm NSF15 Baby dust worm NSF16 Alien MBT NSF17 Alien light MBT NSF18 Alien SPA NSF19 Alien APC NSF20 Alien skimmerFigures generally run around 15-60 pence apiece (what that is in Yank money, I have no idea). [As of June 1998, the exchange rate was approximately $1.625 US per pound sterling. So 60p would equate to about 40 cents, give or take. -- Fish] Attack infantry come based 4 to a 15p stand. I'll not go into details here (as I've not seen the stuff outside of the catalog), except to say that figure NSF7, the Robot Attack Class, looks suspiciously like a Dr. Who Dalek... Irregular also produces any kind of historical 6mm figure you could possibly want, and many you probably couldn't care less about. Ask for their catalog and have your mind blown. Cavemen hordes vs. a Mk V, anyone?
Company: Ral Partha ****
Most of you know about Ral's Battletech stuff already. I'm not a big fan of it, but I do use some of their figures. I'm not going to go into much detail about Ral Partha here as they supply practically every games store in the world. Ask your local store owner for a glance at the catalog. Ral's Kurita 6mm Infantry is particularly nice as it has two different types of figures: 5 armored battlesuit models and 5 unarmored militia models.Line Name: Battletech Figures
Phone contact: 513-631-7335
Company: Games Workshop
Now, now... they do make 6mm scale sci-fi figures. For the three or so of you who dont know about this company, GW is the biggest miniatures manufacturer in the world. They produce a 6mm sci-fi game called Epic 40,000, which has sort of a dark, gothic ambiance. GW's figures are very overpriced and not at all to my tastes, though I suppose that someone could conceivably use them for Ogre. I've even kit-bashed one of their Eldar Tempest heavy grav tanks into a MkII-sized GEOgre; anything is possible. Like Ral, GW is in every game store in the universe, so I'll only give contact info here.U.S. Address: 3431-C Benson Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21227-1072
No other contact info at this time. Pick up a copy of GW's house organ White Dwarf at your game store for further news.
Line Name: Epic 40,000
Company: Nightshift Games *** for plastics **** for metals
Nightshift took over the old Renegade Legion sci-fi armor game from FASA. As part of the deal, they aquired some of FASA's miniatures stock as well. Of particular note are their plastic Renegade Legion tank boxed sets. These are two different kits with around 50 miniatures of 5 or so different tank and APC models each. Again, these figures are quite high-tech compared to Ogre, looking more like grav tanks than GEVs. [Possibly because they are... -- Fish] However, theyre nice looking and relatively cheap, if you can find them. Check out Nightshift's stand at conventions; they should still have some in stock.Line Name: Renegade Legion Miniatures, 1/285 scale (they look closer to 1/300 to me)
I only have a contact number for these folks from the 1996 Games Quarterly Catalog. God only knows if its still current... 510-797-0717. Last years sales contact was Paul Lidberg. Ask for items 5975 - Plastic Death: TOG Cohort Pack and 5976 - Plastic Death: Legion Cohort pack. Each is 20 bucks, though item #5985, the Miniatures Bonus Pack, will give you both for a measly US$29.95. C-in-C used to produce metal figures for Renegade Legion - ask the folks at Nightshift if they've still got any.
Company: Stone Mountain Miniatures ****
Yet another high-tech looking 1/300th sci-fi minis line. Stone Mountain has support walkers (two-legged vehicles smaller than mechs), infantry and nice laser installations as well. Their tanks look sleek enough to drop from orbit, however, and are obviously about a century ahead of Ogres tech level. Very pretty, though.Line Name: Dark Star 6mm Miniatures
Again, I only have a 1996 contact number for these folks as some well-meaning person here at Devir apparently tossed their catalog while cleaning out our files... Phone: 303-654-7989. Sales contact person last year was Dave Babb.
Full Listing for Stone Mountain ASF100 Marines ASF101 Inf. sup. weapons ASF120 Scout walker ASF150 Puma IFV ASF160 Lynx ACAV ASF161 Tiger MBT ASF110 Mid-tech inf. ASF151 Stormer IFV ASF162 Lancer MBT ASF200 Legionaries ASF201 Legion sup. weapns ASF220 Zukat walkers ASF250 Sorhan IFV ASF251 Srahne com. IFV ASF261 Zirhan MBT ASF210 Imprl mid-tech Inf. ASF252 IFV ASF262 Tank ASF263 MBT FAN600 Laser towers FAN601 Laser cmnd towers Abbreviations for the jargonically challenged are as follows: SPA = self-propelled artillery (a big, mobile howitzer-like gun) MBT = main battle tank (a tank) APC = armored personel carrier (a mobile box for carrying foot soldiers) IFV = infantry fighting vehicle (an APC with more armor and a bigger gun) ACAV = armored cavalry vehicle (a faster, better armed IFV)
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