15 mm Listing for Old West and Pony Wars

[FifteensAway]

For those who want wider spaces for your Old West and Pony Wars games, 15 mm is a good option.  So, here is what I know is out there.  I gave a much more abbreviated response in another thread recently and could not, at that time, remember a couple of the ranges names but have included them here.  Hope this is useful to some of you:

Bluemoon Manufacturing Old West through Old Glory 25s - includes buildings, teepee set, furnishings, buckboard and doctor’s buggy, etc, and extraordinary versatility of poses, also look at their War Paint range which includes apaches mounted and on foot.  In the Shipyard range is a model of the Camp Far West - the river boat in the Little Bighorn Campaign.  (larger figures)

Peter Pig - includes buildings (see also Mexican Revolution range for Mexican buildings and scenery range for buildings - and some of the figures might be useful for the non-purists like me - have some added), includes locomotives and cars and a pack of crew figures, nice teepees, heck, they even have a pack of dead cows, and a good pack of cacti in that scenery range - and don’t neglect the outhouses!.  They have a number of wagons one of which is the only available chuck wagon that I am aware of.  (smaller figures)

QRF Miniatures - Freikorps Yellow Ribbon Range - did have a range of resin buildings, may still have, as well as rubber railroad track, has some unique items like native scouts in helmets.  Search other ranges for unarmed civilian packs to find other useful figures.

Minifigs through Caliver Books has a range.

Hovels has a range of 15 mm figures (smallest of the lot), includes some nice detail items like travois, stretched hides, Pony Express rider, native camp figures.

Stone Mountain Miniatures has plenty of suitable buildings.  They also have a camp pack in the ACW range that is useful for soldiers at ease (vignettes or forts before the action heats up).

Irregular Miniatures American Indians range (largest of the lot), don’t neglect the animal range for both buffalo (available from several other ranges as well) and pronghorn antelope, don’t forget to look at their scenics range for a few useful items.

Alternative Armies under 15 mm historical ranges, American Civil War and Pony Wars range (old Table Top figures?).  These figures are a little squat and small but do add some options.

CP Models Wild West range- newest “on the block”, a small range so far but in the 7 packs there are 28 unique sculpts, nice figures - really like the masked bandits - only foot figures so far.

Glencoe Models (plastic) has a couple of sets of steam locomotives that are useful.

Of course, figures from ACW ranges can be added in here and there as can figures from various Mexican War ranges, same for buildings, some intended for ACW will also work for Old West, for instance, Old Glory 15s ACW range has a pack with some nice civilians, especially women in fancy dresses but a few others, too.

For greater variety in wheeled transport, Bluemoon has a variety of useful wagons in the Napoleonic equipment range - and draft horses (and they have a pack of dead draft horses that I find useful - edit: these are in the ACW range, not all the horses in the pack are draft horses, about half).

From all of the above you can get just about anything you want for either the Pony Wars or the Old West.  Peter Pig’s personality packs give a mounted, on foot, and dead version for a given figure (usually) - about 20 such options.  Minifigs has a nice mounted and on foot cowboy pack.  With a little careful examination, you will even find some figures with a remarkable resemblance to certain movie characters.

Like all things miniatures related, a little imagination can find useful figures not at all intended for the Old West - for instance, I have a ‘broom’ riding witch who I will repurpose as a soiled dove ready to ‘fly the eagle’ (I believe she is from Khurasan Miniatures).

For me, the biggest omission from all of the above ranges is a nice horse drawn hearse being pulled by ‘circus’ horses.  Another big omission is mounted women.

Now, if I’ve omitted any range, please fill in the blanks. 

I have figures from all of the above and while some will object to mixing the smallest next to the largest, there sure is plenty of variety.  And there is no problem getting plenty of mounted figures, heck, Bluemoon has one pack of 30 different mounted figures and one more in another pack of mostly foot figures.  And if you really know the period for the Pony Wars you know the infantry matters and the Yellow Ribbon range has that covered.  (Despite Hollywood’s focus on the cavalry, the infantry ‘won’ the Plains Wars.) 

Taken as a whole, despite a few key omissions, I’d say we are spoiled for choice in 15 mm Old West and Plains Wars options.  Of course, there is likely to be a litany of “but what about” something someone wants/needs.  That is endemic to this hobby I suppose.

[sjwalker51]

The Minifigs Range is excellent despite its age and would be, with Blue Moon, my ‘go to’ for the period - I think they sit well together.

[Cacique Caribe]

Fantastic list, thanks!!!

Dan

[boywundyrx]

Lancashire's ACW range has some "Raider" cavalry in their ACW line, both mounted and dismounted that would work for the Old West too.  They're listed under the cavalry packs.  They're more 18mm than 15.

Can anyone comment on how the CP models stack up against Blue Moon? 

Thanks,
Chris

[frank xerox]

Freikorps Mex/US war range has Mexican militia who make great comancheros and mule packers

[FifteensAway]

I believe the CP models might be a bit smaller than Blue Moon but not so small as to be unusable - not like the large difference between Peter Pig and Blue moon figures.

Still hoping CP models adds to their Old West figures.  Might have been put on hold courtesy of that whole COVID mess.  They are some of the nicest figures available - and mine, at least, were crisp and clean.