Old Glory UK 15mm African Irregulars review

 One thing I've been lacking is some infantry for my AK-47 Republic armies.  I have a fair number of Peter Pig figures, but many of these are earmarked for basing individually as part of my ongoing 15mm Action Force project.  I'd spotted that Old Glory UK's Command Decision range of modern figures which included African irregulars, and I thought that these were worth a closer look.  PP figures are now £4.35 per pack, or just under 55p per figure.  OGUK are 50 for £18 which is 36p per figure.  Annoyingly, they were £16 a pack when I looked on Friday evening, but I was after the bulk discount of buy 5 packs get one free which is only available by phone.  By the time I telephoned on Monday, they had increased to £18 a pack, so I ended up only buying a couple of packs after all.

The big question is, how do PP and OGUK compare in quality.  I was also interested to see how they compared in size, given the never-ending debate over whether 15mm is to the eye or to the top of the head.  I couldn't find any breakdown of what was in each pack, so the following review may also be of use for anyone considering a purchase.

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First up, pack CDMOD-09 African Irregulars AK47 etc.  This set contains 50 (or 53 in this case!) infantry in 7 different poses, all armed with an AK47.  Overall, the casting is excellent, with only a single bit of flash (mentioned below), minimal mould lines and small, easily removed vents.  Most of the poses are pretty good, though the fine detail is lacking in places.

The standing, firing pose wears a beret, webbing and is bare-footed.

The kneeling, firing pose wears a forage cap, boots, vest top and webbing.

My favourite pose, the machete wielding trooper wears a forage cap, boots and webbing including chest rig magazine pouches.  The AK47 is slightly lacking in detail, though this is improved by painting.

The standing pose is slightly awkward.  He wears a beret, boots and webbing.

The second standing pose is more dynamic.  He has webbing and is bare-headed (or possibly wearing a shower cap?!).

The running pose is bare-headed and has webbing pouches, one of which does merge slightly into his AK magazine.  The stock of the rifle is obviously a problem point, several of mine had some flash on the rear where the mould is obviously worn or damaged, but it was quite easy to clean up. The detail on the face is a little soft.

 Overall, I'd give pack CDMOD-09 GRADE B.  They are good value for money (especially if you get an extra 3 in the pack!), but there are a limited number of poses, one of which I'm not too keen on.  The detail is also quite soft on several of the figures.  I do like that there is a mix of different headgear and that there is also a barefoot figure in the mix.  For quickly bulking out an army, I think they'd be hard to beat pricewise, so I'd still buy a pack of these if I was starting a new faction.

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The second pack of figures I ordered was CDMOD-10 African Irregulars Command and Weapons (including mortars, LMGS, RPG).  As with the first pack, mould lines were minimal, small vents and in this instance, no noticeable flash.

The light machine gun appears to be an old RPD rather than a more modern RPK (the magazine is vertical rather than angled), though the bipod appears to be attached in the wrong place.

The RPG trooper wears a bush hat, boots, webbing and carries a pack of reloads on his back.  There is a slight lack of detail on his RPG-7.  The casting is quite thin (which is perfectly in scale), so several were slightly bent in the packet, but the grenade and breech took only a few seconds to bend back into shape.

The officer wears a forage cap, boots and has a small, stubby pistol.

The radio operator has a backpack radio with corded handset.  He is bareheaded and wears boots.

One of the mortar crew wears a helmet, boots and is clutching a mortar bomb.  The other crewman wears a forage cap, is bare-footed and is ready to drop the mortar bomb down the tube.

Here are the crew with their mortar assembled.  The mortar is slightly odd, having a wheeled carriage.  I can't identify this, all the wheeled mortars I've seen have been big, towed versions such as 120mm, and I'm not sure why you'd put wheels on something this small (82mm?) instead of a normal bipod.

 Overall, I'd give the command and weapons pack CDMOD-10 GRADE B-.  As with the first pack, detail is slightly soft in places and the number of poses is limited.  It would have been nice to have at least a couple of different LMG and RPG figures and perhaps fewer radio operators and officers.  The detail on some of the weapons is lacking, and the mortar is very odd. (If anyone would like to correct me on that mortar, please comment below and I will amend this review!)

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So, how do Old Glory UK compare to Peter Pig?

• Both are well cast, with little clean up required for mould lines, flash or vents.
• The PP figures have crisper detail, they also have thinner, neater bases.
•  PP have a much wider range of poses available (30+ across the militia and regular ranges compared to the 13 from OGUK).
• PP also have better detail and greater accuracy than OGUK on the weapons.

 Peter Pig are therefore the winners for me in terms of quality.  In terms of value for money, it's less clear-cut.  If I was basing figures individually for a small skirmish game, PP would win hands down.  For something like AK-47 Republic where you're multi-basing larger quantities in groups, individual detail matters less for me.  What I'm after is the overall effect, and in some ways the OGUK figures are better for this in that there is less fine detail to paint.  Because they are equal in terms of clean-up/preparation time prior to painting, the saving in cost means that OGUK edge ahead very slightly.

 For my size comparison, I took a couple of pictures to demonstrate how variable this is.  The PP figures are slighter and not quite so tall - though not by much in some cases, as you can see here.

OGUK on the left, PP on the right.

The difference in the RPG figures is much more noticeable.  The variation in height is very pronounced, as is the detail on the figures.  The RPG launchers look very different, but given the range of different grenade types, this isn't necessarily a problem.  The difference in clothing detail makes the 2 figures look very different, and they would look a bit strange together on the same base.

RPGs: OGUK on the left, PP on the right.

 In summary, Old Glory UK modern African irregulars will work well for AK-47 Republic, but it's probably best not to mix them with Peter Pig figures within the same unit.  Having PP and OGUK in different units within the same army should look OK, or using PP specialist gun crew for a mainly OGUK would be fine.  I will certainly be using both options in my armies.

I've got my first unit painted, and I'll post that in the near future, once I get a chance to photograph it properly.

Red Shadow motorcyclist

One of my Peter Pig orders included a pack of WWII German motorcyclists (pack no 193).  I am converting these into Red Shadow outriders for my Action Force project.

Minor alterations were made to the helmet with Milliput, adding the front visor and a small box on the back.

The motorcyclists are equipped with normal rifles instead of StG-44 assault rifles, but a tiny blob of Milliput added the distinctive curving magazine which makes it look close enough from 6 inches away.

The Red Shadow has been painted GW red gore with a sepia ink wash. The remaining areas are black with a dark grey drybrush.  The various markings were carefully hand-painted.  It probably needs a skull-and-crossbones emblem on the fuel tank but I didn't feel my brush skills were up to it at the time!

Action Force - Red Shadow reinforcements

Some final infantry reinforcements mean that I have, at last, got enough Red Shadows for a decent Action Force game.

As before, these are Peter Pig late war Germans, a mixture of assault rifles (StG44) firing and advancing plus some German NCOs kneeling and standing.

I have enough for a good mix of fireteams including team leaders and support weapons.

I've recently purchased a copy of the Osprey Wargames Black Ops and have the first scenario planned...

Perhaps I'll even manage a game before Christmas!

Action Force - Red Shadow machine gun teams

 More support weapons for my Red Shadows, this time in the form of a couple of machine gun weapon teams.

They overhang my usual weapon team base size slightly but not enough to cause any problems.

These are Peter Pig late war LMG teams (MG42s).  Peter Pig doesn't tend to add much face detail on the prone gun teams because you don't really get to see those features during a normal game!

This actually made them easier to use than the normal Peter Pig figures.  I didn't try to shape the front of the helmet with Milliput, just painted it as it was.

Action Force - Red Shadow support weapons

 My Red Shadow army receives some much-needed support weapons at last.  The action figure Red Shadow came with a bazooka and these Peter Pig WWII late-war German Panzershreck troops need only a little bit of work to look the part.

An additional late-war LMG advancing figure becomes a Red Shadow machine-gunner.

Action Force - future plans

That's my initial Z Force unit completed for now but there are plenty more to come including additional AT-4s, M240 and M249 teams, infantry etc.

Now I just have to manage to get a game in with them all!

Action Force - Red Shadow machine gun team

Being outnumbered by the combined Z Force and SAS Force troops I've completed, the Red Shadows need some reinforcements.

A Peter Pig MG34 team needed only a little work to turn it into a Red Shadow machine gun team, ready to suppress those pesky Action Force troops!

Action Force - Z Force weapons teams

I've added a few support weapons to my Z Force unit, Peter Pig modern US again.  They're mounted on 2p pieces for use as weapon teams in Force on Force.

The Browning .50 cal teams come with some extra crew but they've been incorporated into the infantry.  3 crew per base would make it rather crowded anyway.

I also have some M240/FN MAG gun teams, though I haven't taken a particularly good photograph of this one!

Action Force - Z Force LAWs

Although none of the original Z Force action figures were armed with anti-tank weapons, for gaming purposes I'll need some.  These Peter Pig AT-4 troopers fill the role well.

The chap on the left seems to have a Minimi/M249 as well as his AT-4.  They'll add some good firepower.

Action Force - Z Force sappers

Codename "Tracker", Raoul Santilliana the Z Force Sapper was a repaint of the British Commando action figure.  He came armed with an M60 but I preferred the Peter Pig modern US M249/Minimi (which replaced the M60 in US service in 1995) and M240/MAG gunners to the Vietnam-era M60 gunners.

 The only alterations to these are head swaps for British Commando stocking caps.

Obviously only one of these is Tracker, but I'm sure Z Force had more than one support weapon!

Action Force - Z Force Captain

 Commanding Z Force is Grant Campbell, "Skip".

Skip is a Peter Pig modern US M203 grenadier.  His head has been swapped for a WWII para beret head, though for some reason it seems to have a Bruce Forsythe chin.

I prefer the M203 gunners to the actual squad leader/command figures Peter Pig make, I think they'll fit better with the small-scale actions I'll be fighting.

Action Force - Z Force radio operator and medic

Sven Inglesen, code-name "Doc" is an unmodified modern US medic. He has a white medical kit and white webbing, helmet and vest to match the action figure.  The figure had a large red "flare launcher" but I haven't tried to give him one of these, though I might experiment with another medic later.

Radio operator Gianni Paulo Brazzi, code-name "Breaker", has been converted from a Peter Pig WWII 14^th army sten gun figure.  He has a head swap with a peaked cap that came from a GZG figure which was the itself the leftover of an earlier head swap.  This gives him the headgear and weapon of his action figure counterpart.  A guiter string aerial turns his backpack into a passable radio pack.

Action Force - Z Force

Z Force launched the main assault on Ascendancy Island, taking advantage of SAS Force's diversionary attack to secure a beachhead and advance inland.  Once the bomb was located and dealt with, it appeared that the threat from Baron Ironblood was over.
 

It took a while to decide on which figures to use for my Z Force infantry.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've tried to go with the spirit of the figures rather than slavishly copying every detail.  The original Z Force infantryman figure came with an MP5 SMG, but those shown in the comics usually seem to have the FN FAL/L1A1 SLR.  An assault rifle is more practical for general combat troops than an SMG and Peter Pig professionals were one possibility - lots of great details with webbing and backpacks to match the action figure plus an SLR as the main weapon to match the comics.  The only problem here was the head, the bush hat doesn't match any of the action figures.

Rather than try to hand-sculpt the heads for 40+ 15mm figures, I went for the easier option of using Peter Pig modern US troops instead.  Heads and weapons aren't exactly right but they'll do for now!  Helmets aren't unprecedented anyway, Z force minesweeper "Scout" and medic "Doc" both had helmets, as did tank commander "Steeler".  A few head swaps will create a more varied force, red berets and black commando stocking hats being present on some of the action figures.  Many of the infantry pictured in the comics wore the commando style stocking hats too, especially on Vanyo's excellently illustrated strips "Desert Strike" and "Jungle Terror".  I will buy some more Peter Pig professionals and swap their heads for the spare US helmet heads and some more of the stocking cap heads to give me SLR-armed Z Force troops.  For now, the modern US have a great range of dynamic poses.

Base colour is Vallejo medium olive green with matt black webbing and tiger-stripe camouflage.  A 50/50 Pledge/sepia wash provides subtle shading, though my second batch seems to have come out rather darker thean the first ones.  Helmets don't have the camo striping, the hooded infantryman and minesweeper action figures just had plain headgear.  Red googles are something I particularly remeber from the action figure so that was a big reason for going for these specific figures.  Webbing, weapons, boots and gloves are black with a dark grey drybrush.  The final touch is a very carefully painted military stencil type red "Z" on the shoulder.  Trying to paint this 4 times on each figure (first in white on each shoulder, then overpainting both in red) was a real pain!

Action Force - SAS Force

Action Force moved swiftly to retake Ascendancy Island, and this time the operation went like clockwork.  Q Force, the naval element, reconnoitred Ascendancy Island, capturing a Red Shadow.  Space Force satellites observed the Baron's movements.  SAS Force parachuted secretly behind the Red Shadow defensive lines, ready to attack from the rear when the moment came.

I've used Peter Pig WWII British 14^th Army figures with sten guns and tommy guns for my SAS Force soldiers, the original heads swapped for British commando stocking cap heads.  These match the SAS force action figures fairly well, "Quickfire" having been equipped with a Thompson SMG.  The 14^th army figures are carrying plenty of equipment which compares well with the action figures and ties in with their appearance in the Battle Action Force comics.  Some of the SAS action figures were finished in a grey and black camouflage pattern, others were all in black.  For the moment I've opted for the all-black colour scheme, I don't know how well the grey and black pattern would show up at 15mm scale but I might experiment with the next batch to see what result I get.

Action Force - Red Shadows

The disaster in Antarctica could have spelled the end of Action Force but fortunately the chance to redeem themselves followed quickly.  Baron Ironblood invaded Ascendancy Island, a small sovereign nation in the mid-Atlantic Ocean.  Concealing a nuclear bomb on the island, Ironblood demanded a ransom or he would detonate the device.


The Red Shadows are the footsoldiers of the evil Baron Ironblood.

These started off as Peter Pig late war Germans.  The Sg44 assault rifles are a good match for the weapons used by Red Shadows in the comics.  Heavy weapons will be a mixture of Panzerschrecks, which are close enough to the bazooka issued with the original action figure, and MG42 light machine guns.  All my Red Shadows have needed some conversion work to the helmet to create that distinctive shape.

Base colour for them all is my trust old pot of GW red gore.  A Vallejo sepia ink wash brings out the detail and prevents them looking too bright.  Weapons, webbing and boots are matt black with a Humbrol 36 grey drybrush.  Final details are the black triangles on the shoulders and helmet, followed by white edging on the collar, "V" shapes on the sleeves and a teeny-tiny skull and crossbones on the helmet.

*Update* - Found one of my Red Shadows, so here's what I was aiming to achieve...