Recently I took the plunge and purchased a few of the Banana War figures from Monday Knight Productions. These figures were formerly made by Pass of the North but have not been available for several years. Thanks to the good folks at MKP, gamers can once again recreate some of the small actions the United States took part in during the early 1900s in the Caribbean, known as the Banana Wars. Because I had never seen these figures before, I only ordered a small quantity to see if I would like the figures or not. I placed my order on their website, and received the figures a couple of weeks later. Let me start off by stating these figures are not in the same quality range as Foundry or Old Glory figures, but that aside, they aren't bad either. Using the Barrett Scale, these figures shake out at 23M from sole to eye, so they probably would not look well mixed in with the larger 28mm figures on the market today, but using them exclusively, one could provide a good looking game. My order was for one mounted U.S. officer, one pack of U.S. infantry (item 91-201),and another of Haitian rebels (item 91-205). The U.S. pack has 10 figures consisting of one officer and nine troopers. The troopers came in three poses: firing, loading, and "on guard". The on guard figures have open hands but no weapons to place in them. I assumed they would be used for artillery crew. As a matter of fact, these open-handed figures would have led me to my first complaint: 30% of the infantry squad pack I would have to provide some sort of weapon or other for. Not a major problem though, because one can always by more infantry by the individual figure, which would avoid getting more open-handed figures than one might have a use for. Then, upon further review, I realized that I was not supposed to have received these open-handed figures at all, but three figures with rifles standing on watch (hence, the "on guard")! A quick email to MPK explained my dilemma, and they quickly took care of the problem by sending me the correct figures. All of the U.S. figures in this pack are wearing Montana hats and gaiters, and are in what I would call light kit (canteens, bayonets, and ammo pouches on their belts). The officer is carrying a .45 cal. pistol. The detail on the figures is pretty good (equipment and belts), and should paint up fairly well. Face detail is somewhat lacking, however. The rifles are well done, with the loading figures pulling open the bolt, a pose I've never seen on a loading figure. Each of the three different poses consists of the same figure, meaning that all three firing figures are exactly the same casting, and so on. The Haitian pack is somewhat more interesting. Again there are ten figures present (three advancing, three standing firing, and three kneeling firing, and one "officer"), but the figures are all slightly different. For example, the three advancing figures are all in the same basic pose, but the heads are all different. Most of the figures are wearing shoes, but a couple are barefoot. The "officer" is the best figure of the ones I received. He is advancing, pointing his revolver (looks like a Colt) to the right, and carrying a machete in his left hand. Spurs on his boots and a blanket roll complete this animated figure. The U.S. mounted officer is average, to say the least. The horse he is riding is at full gallop (and is a well-done casting), but the officer is standing tall, as if he wasn't moving at all, a contradiction to his fast moving mount. The face detail is a bit poor, and his right hand looks as if he is pointing, but his index finger is rather short. One could easily place a guidon pole in the right hand. The carbine comes as a separate part, which is affixed to the left side of the horse. The packs cost $12.00, and come with round slotted plastic stands to mount the figures on (much like some fantasy figures I've seen). Don't worry, the bases on the figures are flat. I placed my order on the MKP website, and received my figures a few weeks later. Besides the U.S. infantry (6 different figures)and Haitians (11 figures), MKP is making U.S. Cavalry, a line of Moros (10 figure and 2 weapon packs), and a 3" artillery piece for the Yankees. Also, MPK emailed me to let me know there will be Mexican Revolution figures released in the near future. Overall, I would state these figures range from average to good and will look nice once painted. As this is a relatively obscure period in U.S. history, there aren't many figures available to game the Banana Wars with. Old Glory does make Moros in their Spanish-American War line, but no one that I know of currently make Haitian figures. Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company make a couple of packs of Cuban Rebels in their Span-Am line which might add some variety to the Haitians. Used in conjunction with Paul Hinson's Banana War rules (see elsewhere in this issue), one can break away from the British colonial genre and dabble in America's own colonial adventures. I plan to pick up some more of these figures (like the artillery piece and possibly some Moros), so I'll send in a review of those items in a future issue of MWAN. To order, check out MPK's website at http://www.geohex.com/MKPIndex.htm,or write to them at 534 SE Oak St., Portland, OR 97214. Their service is good, and they reply to emails rather quickly. Also, there is a Smartgroup that discusses this period. Joining is easy, simply send an email to smallwars-subscribe@smartgroups.com. Back to MWAN #118 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com