Thursday 6 July 2023

New Victrix 1/144 (12mm) WWII models



Today, I managed to take a detour from a family journey and call in at Victrix. This was pre-arranged by phone. They are very nice people, who politely allowed me to interrupt their business routine.

The reason for the visit ….. impatience! They have just added three new additions to their 1/144 WWII range (12mm) in the past 24 hours and I was very keen to get them into my hands.

My last purchase was the Soviet T-34 pack and infantry with support weapons, so this new purchase allows the new S.U. 76 to add variety to that force and the new Pak 40 (75mm Anti-Tank gun), will give German defenders some non-vehicle firepower in up-coming scenarios attack / defence, which I will base around 1944.



The third pack in the new trio covers British 6 pounders and their Loyd Carrier transports.

Pak 40 sprue


Pak 40 (above 1 of the 4 sprues) - there are 4 gun models and crew, complete with their Sd Kfz 11 transports. The transports have passengers. On the sprue, the personnel have both standard uniform and smocks, so the modeller can choose which to use. This set also comes with sandbag sections, so that gun emplacements can be built.

6 Pdr - there are 3 gun models and crew, complete with their Loyd carrier transports. On the sprue, the personnel have both standard and airborne uniforms, so the modeller can choose which to use. As with the Pak 40, there is additional stowage and ammo boxes. (Note - Victrix have British and German airborne infantry in the pipeline)




S.U.76  (above) - there are 6 models in this set. The crew come with standard uniform or winter uniform, the gamer can choose which. Also the early model or late model (76M) can be built. With this chassis done, the T-70 pack will be added in the future.

The anti-tank guns in particular are important additions to the range, as they add in a new dimension to attacker / defender scenarios, by introducing an important weapon platform.

I can’t remember the channel / link, but there are a couple of YouTube tutorials that show these models being painted, they will give you a close up view, so that you can see the very nice detail.

The scale is well suited to the ‘O’ Group rules and the Boots on the Ground rules, both are sold by Victrix, with the latter also supported by some very good scenario books.

I plan to use ‘O’ Group, plus my own rules and also the new Rapid Fire Reload rules, with my basing making infantry density look a bit meatier.



Above - A scene from my own collection. I base the Victrix infantry on 40mm x 20mm with 6 figures per base, which allows the base to look quite ‘section’ like. The support weapons go onto 30mm bases, just so that they are clearly and immediately differentiated from infantry sections.

The vehicles are Victrix Panthers, very easy to put together and as you can see, paint up well. The transfers do come with the packs.

For the record, the bridge and building are from Battlescale’s 10mm range, the road is latex from TimeCast, the river is from The Last Valley and the mat is from Geek Villlain.

I popped into Kendal (the local town) for lunch and supporting some local shops, I picked up a GW Wraithbone base paint from Boyes and then went to Games Workshop (Warhammer) and bought a pot of Contrast paint - Militarum Green, which looks useful.

While in GW, I asked if there were any other hobby stores locally and the gent kindly said ‘Victrix’ :-)

Resource Section.


An earlier post that shows Victrix Shermans. LINK


https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2021/02/victrix-12mm-world-war-ii.html


An AAR showing Victrix figures in a play test of my own rules LINK


https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2022/10/1944-henris-farm.html



An AAR showing a small platoon level game of ‘O’ Group. LINK.


https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2021/09/assault-on-strassengabel-o-group-game.html


My sister webspace ‘COMMANDERS’ is being re-configured to showcase various figure and boardgame systems that I am enjoying and gives a flavour of where current projects are up to. Link.


https://commanders.simdif.com


30 comments:

  1. Just noticed this. Infantry, heavy weapons and command all in one pack? As Soon as I finish the Dark Age stuff on my painting queue...
    Thanks for the heads up.

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  2. Hi, the infantry packs are usefully arranged. The sprue content can be seen on the Victrix webpage. I now have Soviet, British, U.S. and German. They are a relatively quick paint.

    If you go into my last photo and then expand, you get an idea of the raised detail that can be picked out.

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  3. Useful additions for sure. Nice that they have a good combined infantry pack, compared to PSC (IIRC). One attraction is the sheer fun of actually assembling the models, as we did as kids with Airfix and Matchbox, but much better fits these days! Not sure that I would ever need 6 SU-76's for a game, certainly not for my BKC games, but then I tend to play quite small forces compared to some. Good that they were happy for you to visit too:).

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  4. Hi Steve, these days I want my kits to have fewer parts, which these do, especially having track assemblies complete.

    I was thinking about doing some Rapid Fire, where in the rules 1 tank equals 5, with these,

    12mm I could have the five vehicles on the table instead of 1 (still behving like one vehicle would …. but visually right) and the RF game would actually look like a battalion game, likewise my bases of 6 inf could replace the games bases of 2 figures - a base would still equal a base, but there would be more bodies in the company and it would aesthetically look like what it is meant to be representing (so same thoughts for BKC, which might interest your good self).

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  5. These figures and kits look good. Unfortunately for me, my WWII projects are in 15mm and 28mm.

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    1. Hi Jonathan, the detail and proportion is very nice. I have a lot of 1/72 (20mm), which I love, but the functionality of 12mm for my smaller table is difficult to ignore.

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  6. You were impatient! Under 24 hours from release? Bet the folks at Victrix were pleased that a new set had such high interest. If you paint them up fast you can be an influencer! 😀

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    1. Hi Stew …. An influencer, would I have to get my lips done? :-)

      I’m pretty sure that these will get a lot of early attention because anti-tank guns are new to the range, so will bring a new aspect to the table for anyone collecting and the SU 76’s will start expansion for anyone collecting a Soviet force.

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  7. my WWII stuff, long dormant, is 20mm and never quite finished. I was thinking of starting over in 15mm but wondering what I would do with 50 each of MG and mortar teams... This is the thing. Of course, first I have to see if the lads like Crossfire.

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  8. Hi, multiple copies of items has always been a thing with plastic sprues., it is the nature of the volume production needed to make a sprue viable. If you go to the Victix website and have a look at their Soviet infantry, it is their latest infantry pack and you will get a good idea of sprue content and standard of sculpting (pretty amazing).

    For the Soviet pack, they have produced two different sprues, one for weapon teams and the other for infantry, but the weapon team sprue has some interesting poses, such as the flag carrier and some of the other figures can be drawn across to your infantry bases or used to make spotting / recon bases etc.

    15mm does have a lot of unit type coverage, though the Victrix stuff is starting to gain traction and there are also other manufacturers doing 10 / 12mm (in metal) that means there is pretty much universal coverage in the scale.

    I would say the advantages of going with the 12mm are that gun ranges on the table ‘seem’ more intuitive and using 10mm buildings and 12mm figures brings a smaller footprint. I am using a domestic kitchen / dining room type table, so it suits my play space.

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  9. My but you were keen to get those in your hands Norm. It's fun though to visit the source of your hobby stuff isn't it? My 20mm WWII collections are languishing unused in GHQ, perhaps they need an airing...?

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    1. Hi David, it was nice of them to let me drop by, I was a bit like a kid in a candy shop! It would be nice to see your 20mm grace the table.

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  10. A very fine diversion there Norm, those goodies look rather nifty. I am hoping to detour on our journey home from Cornwall next week to visit the Attack show in Devizes🤞

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  11. Hi Phil, plenty there to keep me out of trouble for a while. That sounds a great opportunity to get to do Devizes.

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  12. Hi Norm, this reminds me of my days visiting the Essex Miniatures shop/factory :) I really like these 12mm tanks and figures - I guess Victrix have done a Warlord Epic thing here, a different scale so that you have to buy only their product! Good business sense and the quality of the sprues looks first class.

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  13. Hi Lee, The 12mm is a nice scale, but Victrix can share this market. Pendraken are slowly re-designing their WWII range and the new designs seem to be a tad larger than the old and are comparable to the Victrix stuff. It is a long time since I have had any Skytrex 1/200 figures, but it would likewise be interesting to make comparisons.

    The detail on the sprue is exceptional and I like that they generally fall into the ‘easy build’ category. It is interesting to note that between Warlord’s Epic and Victrix 12mm, the plastics giants are offering a broader spectrum of scale. I love the 28’s, but for too many years they have dominated wargaming media and wargame shows, it is good to see a bit of scale diversity starting to raise its head again on the wargame scene.

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    1. ...and don't forget the Minifigs N range as well.. they form the basis of my Desert War collection and in my opinion are gorgeous..

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    2. Hi Steve, they had fallen off my radar, though going back a few years ago at a Manchester show, there was a chap there selling them and they were quite a thing, not always a guarantee of getting what you wanted. I think even he was taken by surprise by the sales!

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  14. You will have to paint the SU-76s fast if you want to stop those Panthers Norm! 😊
    Lovely painting on the Panthers and I agree the smaller scales seem to do WW2 better for tanks.

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  15. Hi Ben, I know self praise is no recommendation, but I must admit to being particularly pleased at the paint job on the panthers. The T-34 is a nice set as you get both 76mm and 85mm options in the same set …. So I think 85’s to deal with those panthers :-)

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  16. I like the look of 15mm Command Decision figures, but almost everything comes in packs of 50, $20 each.

    German battalion, CD 15mm packs
    1 command 50 figs $20
    2 riflemen 100 $40
    1 HMG 50 $20
    1 mortars 50 $20
    1 panzerfaust 50 $20
    1 Pz IV 3 $30
    AT guns 6 $23
    AT crews 50 $20
    total $193

    Victrix German Battalion
    1 infantry 184 figs $35
    1 PZ IV 6 $28
    Total $63

    +AT guns from Pendraken

    Some extra tanks instead of loads of heavy weapons and officers.

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  17. Hmm, formatting didn't work. Sorry.

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  18. Hi Vincent, wow, that is a surprising. If the Command Decision stuff is in lead, I would have thought that they would have purposed value starter packs to get a couple of forces up and running. So Yes, building from scratch the Victrix looks the more cost effective path. I am guessing plastic v lead would also make for cheaper postage on that collection of 50 pack volume. Are there any Flames of War starter sets that would meet your purpose?

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  19. Old Glory (not Old Glory 15s) sells Command Decision and they don't break up packs. A pity, since the sculpts are very nice.
    Each spin of a mold yields one pack, it seems.

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  20. The detail on that Pak40 sprue looks superb! For 10mm scale these minis seem tops!

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  21. Hi Mike, as a modelling fan, you would have an instant appreciation of the detail that they have managed to put into this scale.

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  22. These are great Norm - if I didn't already have TONS of (very rarely used) WWII 15mm (as well as some 20mm and a few 28mm...sigh!) I could very easily be tempted by this scale!

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  23. Hi Keith, yes, it has much to recommend it. One of my thoughts is that I fancy at some point doing some 1985 cold war gone hot and that any investment that I make now in the WWII terrain, would make an easy (and cheap) migration into some modern stuff, when that time comes …. Which in particular benefits from small vehicles so that weapon ranges look right.

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  24. Lots of lovely details, how many scales do you do ww2 in again?
    Best Iain

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  25. Hi Iain, I went to a Hobbycraft today and bought four boxes of 1/72 multi kits ….. yes, I know!

    The kits are by Academy - new to me

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Thanks for taking the time to comment