I started out with a few old fantasy tribe zombies and some old Citadel plastic skeletons in my first zombie game.
For the most part these
are on the small side. This was largely stuff I have had for
years and some of which were the first figures I ever purchased. I
had also picked up some Alternative Armies zombies along the way. This
made a quick if challenging game. I decided quickly that I wanted
more zombies. Lots more zombies.
I look at the zombie miniatures I own and worry that what I end up with will be something like the undead version Village People although I do need to find a motorcycle cop to make that happen. These are what I call feature zombies.
At the time I started buying zombies, there weren't too many zombies to choose from. A few manufacturers had a few small ranges. This quickly changed. You can look and minis manufacturers without finding something that works for a zombie game.
Anyway, I thought I'd do a
list of the zombies I have used and plan to use in the near future. Over time, I will add some more in. I
know that there are plenty of zombie lists out there already. This one may be
a little more subjective (in my mind that's a good thing) than some.
Copplestone – Sadly there are only ten of them. These are some
of the best zombies available in 28mm. They seem to stand out in all the
pictures of games that people post. Characterful without standing out
too much. Copplestone are just on the heroic side of 28mm but their human
zombies are not all that out of proportion with some of the smaller
stuff. They have a lot of civilians that would make a nice addition
to any range. They are reasonably priced and well worth the money.
Cold War Miniatures – Cold War has a nice sized range of zombies
with about sixty five plus some survivors. Unlike Copplestone, they fit well
with anything in the traditional 28mm scale. They have a nice mix of
all the human type zombies you could want. Whilst American themed zombies are not
all that hard to come by, old War have some British themed zombies
too. They have a few kid and crawler zombies and even one that is on
fire. I do like my feature zombies and this really dates back to the
original dawn of the dead. This range has some nice ones such as
Elvis, Hari Krishna (like the one from Dawn), a British Guardsman in
bearskin and a whole range of others. They seem to be available
through eBay at the moment. All in all a nice range. The odd figure in the range requires a little construction but nothing major. I am not sure if they still do metal bases but if they do, they are very good.
Eureka – Eureka have two nice sets of zombies and a lot of
modern military types. The first pack of ten different eviscerated
zombies. They look pretty good and fit in with the cold war stuff
very nicely in terms of size if not style. They have a style all of their own. This makes them great as special types of zombies. I have seen these painted up very nicely as Glowing Ones
from Fallout and their tattered look makes them look good for eviscerated zombie types. They also do a pack of zombies getting out of barrels that are similar in style to the first pack.
I have seen these used as great terrain markers but don;t actually own any myself. What they d have in
addition to this are some nice modern and cold war military figures.
The have some Americans and Russians in NBC gear. The Americans
really make me think of the early Romero films. Not a huge range but
well worth putting an order in.
Hasslefree – These are a great company to deal with and they do
some cracking miniatures. There range of zombies is quite small
(about a dozen) but they do some nice miniatures. They are the place to get a zombie surfer. One of the most
ubiquitous zombie miniatures on the is Ray (not Shaun). A zombie with
a cricket bat. They do a nice zombie mutant/small tank. Again the
great thing about Hasslefree is not their zombies but their zombie
hunters. This is one of the best ranges out there. All are good characters. Again, these all fit in
well with the traditional 28mm stuff out there. Their single figures are not cheap but are very nice. They do have a set of five zombies which is reasonably priced.
Studio – These started to come out about the time I was
finishing my big push on zombies. If they had been available at the
time this would be a lot smaller post as I think most of what I would
have binged on would have been Studio. Sadly I only have a few of
them. They have everything I could ever want apart from zombie dogs.
Lots of female zombies which other ranges lack like kids and
crawlers. They have a nice range for hospital scenarios and some of
them look like the cast of Scrubs. They also have a lot if
characterful stuff. There are zombies that seem very like the zombies
from Left 4 Dead. They have a Santa, bride and groom, soldiers,
police, clowns, superman and even Harry Potter.
Tengu – I like these minis a lot. They are a touch smaller than
the regular 28mm zombies but are not so small in terms of body size
that they look out of place with others. They just look slightly
shorter.
If you look back I have posted some of their Grey zombies in the
past and some of their regular zombies here. It is not the biggest
range in either scope or size but it tends towards the small but
perfectly formed. One of the best things about this range is the fact
that they have female zombies, which many ranges omit. They also have
a couple of mutant type zombies that really make me think of Resident
Evil.
Wargames Factory – In general I am not a big fan of plastic
kits, they take too much time to put together and tend to be fairly
fragile. More importantly, they seldom seem to fit with anything
else. I actually own two boxes of Wargames Factory Modern Male zombies and they do assemble into
something that fits in very well most of my other stuff. Because they
are plastic you can in theory get a huge range of poses but there are
quite a few that don't work to well. That said there are thousands
that do. They can also be turned into corpses and crawlers with a
knife, some green stuff and about five minutes.If you are looking to build a new zombie hoarde or bulk out what you have already, these are the zombies to go for. Although I don't own them they do have a pack of female zombies which is unusual. They also do two plastic box sets of survivors, one male and one female. This makes a wide enough range that you could populate your entire game with these minis.
Black Cat Bases – Their range of zombies is not huge and it does
not really stand of from the crowd. I have used some of them as glowing ones. I think they are all badly beaten up and largely naked. The poses are not my favourite but they are not bad and cheap for metal figures. I have painted some of the as glowing ones but I am not sure they look as good in this role as the one from Eureka. They have a range of modern
ghouls which are really fantastic. Again, not a huge range but these
are really nice modern figures. They look like crazed teenager in
hoodies and with pointed ears. There is one I don't own where the creature is coming out of a sewer which looks nicely threatening. They look a little like hunters in
Left 4 Dead. They fit well with all normal 28mm figures.
RFAM – This company do have a a nice modern range with a number
of zombies. I think I am right is saying that these are the grandaddy of modern zombies. All are nicely detailed sculpts. I've been a fan of their for a long time and a huge fan since they picked up the old Citadel 15mm Traveller minis which have featured on this blog several times. I got a boxed set of zombies a few years ago but I only have a few of these painted. There are some nice
zombie minis and some quite a range of civilians and zombie hunter
types. On the down side, the bases are very chunky on some of the models. I have added matches to one wooden base to even it out. If, like me you add a standard sized base to each figure, this is going to make them look a little tall. This is about the worst thing I can say about the minis. Some of them look very human and have little damage, which is a benefit and a curse depending on which way you look at them.
Westwind Productions – These are nicely generic so could
probably be used in fantasy and pulp games as well and quite cheap as
well. They are quite chunky though and definitely on the heroic side
of 28mm. If your game features big chunky zombies, these will do
nicely. The range features some nice zombie hunters and red necks
which work well as survivors. This range would not be first on my
list but there is something of the completest in me.
Foundry – Not a huge range and they are cowboys. Cowboys may
sound like a strange idea but for a game set in the American South,
they do okay and as ever, everyone needs a feature zombie. I painted one up for Zomtober last year. They may be an impulse purchase but they fit is as
slightly (but not unworkably) bigger than standard 28mm.
Stuff I wouldn't recommend
I do like the Zombie Plague game and miniatures. I ordered the
full set and all the survivors from the states several years ago. The
miniatures made by Fortress look very good too and they are
impressive in the flesh as it were. Sadly they are huge compared to
everything else and are closer to 32mm than 28mm. Some of the GW stuff looks very nice but next to none heroic 28mm it is a little chunky not to mention the fact that it's a kit. The stuff from the Zombies!!! game is really small for 28mm and wouldn't be all that out of place in a 20mm game although their zombie dogs might be worth a look.