Guest post by Tom B. AKA "VonBurge from TMP". Thanks Tom!
When Flames of War released “Blitzkrieg” I was very excited to start up a Early War French Tank Force. I always loved the look of the Soumas, Hotchkiss, and Renault tanks and BattleFront was producing some excellent models of them. That was all good news for me but the bad news was that the Early War French Infantry and Gunners have to be about the worst sculpts that Battlefront ever produced. They just would not do!!!
So I looked at alternatives for infantry and gunner figures to provide my tanks the proper support they needed. I first looked to Old Glory/Command Decision miniatures. The Old Glory miniatures seemed suitable enough, but it did not appear that their infantry packs included necessary VB Rifle Grenades miniatures and the packing (by 50’s) would mean some waste when adding in the LMG to the teams. Forged in Battle had some nice Early War French infantry, but no artillery crews to go with them. So ultimately I turned to Peter Pig to get the infantry and gunners I needed.
Overall I’m quite happy with them. The Peter Pig figures are good solid figures and Brookhurst Hobbies was able to quickly fill my order. Here is a better breakdown of my evaluation of them.
Pros
Good looking figures (much better sculpted than their BF counterparts!).
Very consistent appearance/style across all figures.
Readily available in the US. (Brookhurst Hobbies on-line order).
Peter Pig has the VB Rifle Grenade option needed (Missing from the Brookhurst on-line catalogue but they carry them, just use the product code from the Peter Pig home site to order).
Cons
No artillery staff and observer figures to go with the gunners.
Somewhat static in poses, but quite acceptable.
“Jay Leno Jaw.” This is really nitpicky but the faces on Peter Pig figures all look the same to me with rather pounced jaws. Not that I notice when they are waging into the Boche with bayonets!!!
Could not support my LGS with this purchase. Always an important point for me!
In the end, I’m very happy with my Peter Pig figures. I think If I were looking to do a full on Infantry company that I might go with Forged in Battle for convenience even. But for my one infantry platoon and one artillery battery, Peter Pig served me well.
I give them an 8 out of 10.
