My first exposure to wargaming was thru a game of micro armor and from that point on I was hooked! To this day, even though I have gamed other periods I always come back to this scale and my favorite time period of World War II - the Western Desert and the Eastern front in this scale. With well-done terrain and a good set of rules - there is nothing quite like the panorama of a micro-scale battle to fire your imagination and keep the interest level high. On top of all that, this scale offers economy of space and realistic sight distances not offered in other (larger) scales. Having stated the above, the one detraction to this scale (in my opinion) has always been the lack of quality, well cast infantry. I have original packs of GHQ infantry that are years behind the current casting curve but are much more appealing than the current line of World War II "Prussian" infantry offered by this company. GHQ has always been in the forefront of this scale and their line of vehicles and equipment are second to none so I hope I'm not the only one who feels that their line of infantry falls way behind - if simply that the animation and posing is totally wrong - any comments? CinC offers well cast infantry albeit not for all the major participants - these are cast in the standing position and are rather thin. Heroics & Ros - although their molds are quite old and sometime(s) show their age offer a wide variety of figures - yet even though their world-wide mail order service is excellent - these figures are slightly smaller - being cast in the 1/300 range. Does the above sound too picky! Too severe! Well - I don't know about you but I spend a lot of money on this hobby - and I have come to expect quality for what I spend. What do infantry approaching a departure line/going into a fire fight/simply waiting to advance do? Well, in my experience, the one thing they don't do is stand around waiting for something to happen, unless relaxing in a "cleared" area to the rear! I want my micro infantry to appear as if they are waiting - but waiting to fight, move forward, etc. If you agree with the above - then, now, you can have it - Steve Royen owns HALLMARK FIGURES (30 HAIGH WOOD ROAD, COOKSRIDGE, LEEDS, LS16 6PB) and manufactures MAIN FORCE MINIATURES - covering all the combatants (major) of World War II and the Modern era; these are pre-based in metal and are cast in strips of one, two, three or four figures. I recently ordered some British and Germans from the line and was very impressed - all bases feature figures that are either prone or kneeling. Figures are well detailed and cast - full packs are worn and all equipment was well defined - it was obvious the designer did his homework as regards uniforms and equipment. The bases have a rough texture that makes drybrushing a snap and really highlights the figure(s). Some particulars - as an example - from the British line Single Prone Figure - base measures approximately 4 inch in width and z inch in length. Figure is well defined with folds in clothes and full pack. Casting of typical British steel helmet is excellent. Three Figure Command Base - base measures approximately 3/4 inch in width and 12 inch in length. Three figures - one prone, one in a semi-crouch and one kneeling; all well cast and defined. Central figure is the command figure, prone figure is looking thru binoculars and the other figure is talking on a field telephone. Four Figure Infantry Base - base measures approximately 1 inch in width and 2 inch in length; four figures in four different poses; two of which appear to be rising to advance. I can't say enough - can't make enough nice comment's about this line; suffice it to say that they will become the primary part of my micro-fanatic collection; sure, I will still use the occasional CinC or Heroics & Ros standing figure to provide a rounded appearance to my units. Painting - flash was almost non-existent; some minor problems on the bases that was easily taken care of with a sharp X-Acto blade. I primed the bases after washing with Krylon Light Gray and after drying, a spray of Krylon Black. After 24 hours of drying time I used a medium sized brush and the painting went very quickly - owing much to the fact that the bases themselves make handling easy. I used an OPTI-VISOR throughout and after the final flat spray was very pleased with the results! Steve takes all major credit cards and his mail order service is first rate - if you game in this scale I urge you to contact him! Back to MWAN #67 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1994 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com