BMC 54mm Rough Riders

I couldn't find any 20mm plastic figures for the Spanish American war so I decided to pick up some in 54 mm soldiers from BMC. You can buy bags of 59 figures for under $6, so the price is right. The figures have size, but lack the detail found in 1/72 scale plastic figures. The set includes Jack Pershing, Teddy Roosevelt, two flag bearers (one identified as Sgt. Berry), Spanish infantry, Buffalo soldiers, and US regular army. Really, there are few differences between units. The only differences in dress are that the Americans carry pistols and have their shirts tucked in. The Spanish have longer coats. They did a good job of making the Buffalo Soldiers identifiably African American without looking cartoonish. The bag also includes two puny machineguns with crew.

I also picked up the boxed set, which cost $40. This turned out to be a tragic waste of money. For the extra cost you get the same figures, plus two nice Gatling guns, a blockhouse, sand bags, and barbed wire. I like the Gatling guns, but the terrain pieces, while nice, could have been scratch built for a few dollars. The figures are hard plastic, which should cut down on the problem of paint flaking off, but they seem brittle. The San Juan Hill rules include pictures of these figures.

BMC 54mm Alamo Figures

I needed a couple of bags to supplement my San Juan Hill figures, and I saw these in the store. I was in a hurry so I bought them. Although the picture on the bag shows Mexican soldiers in shakos, the Mexicans in the bag are identical to the Spanish Infantry in the San Juan Hill bag! They are wearing wide brimmed hats, not shakos. This was fine for my purposes, but a big disappointment to anyone wanting to do the Alamo. The label on the bag makes the preposterous claim "All figures accurate in detail." The BMC figures are always rather thin and spindly, but the Jim Bowie figure is horrible. He appears to be wearing pajamas, has a pointy-head, and looks like he just endured the Bataan Death March. The Travis figure is just as bad. He has cool sideburns, but his head is tiny and he is holding what looks like a toy sword. The Crockett figure is a little better. He's swinging his rifle in the same pose you see everywhere. In one of my two bags the rifle was broken making it look like he had a short stick. The rest of the Texans are an emaciated bunch. Apparently the siege has taken its toll. They come in several poses, which include top hats, hunting shirts, tomahawks, pistols, rifles, and Bowie knives. I don't recommend this set. The figures also come packaged with some terrain in a boxed set, which I did not review.

1/72 American Revolution