The BEST German Paras in 28mm??

[Too Bo Coo]

Hey Mates,  I thought I would throw this out to the Community.  I'm interested in building 500-700 points of 28mm German Paras.  I bought one squad of Artizan after seeing them up close in the PaintWAR magazine (WELL worth the 20 euros!).  But I'd like some variety in the sculpts and with the plethora of vendors in this time range and scale, it's a daunting task to pick.  I've seen the Offensive Minis and Warlord offerings and like both quite a lot.  I'm fine with plastics, but I cant seem to find anyone who makes them.

This is a project JUST to do the troops, with the amount of Bolt Action and Chain of Command players out there, I'm going to leave terrain and such to others....  I also dont think, especially at 28mm, that I want many if any vehicles.  They look GREAT but I think that at this scale, infantry on infantry with the occasional fixed weapon works best. 

I AM however working on my own set of WWII in 20mm.  I'll build Germans, Soviets and Americans so far and will build some terrain and use my post apoc zussy mat for the cityscape base. 

[westwaller]

The Crusader miniatures ones are very close in style to the Artizan ones I believe. They are early war, but I think you could mix them in with the later war Artizan ones, as I believe the veterans still wore their plain green smocks. You can also get a deal (I think) on boxes of the Crusader ones.

Bolt action and Offensive look nice too, they are more slender. The Offensive web site makes it hard to see exactly what you are getting in terms of poses, which put me off buying them.

 I don't know which are the 'best' , it depends on your personal taste, I guess. I don't have any Bolt action ones, but other bolt action metal models I have bought from Warlord come with very bent weapons, so that might be a consideration, unless they have sorted that out now.

[Stan Hollis]

Wargames Foundry Perry designed ones are the ones I have and they are very nice.

[grant]

Wargames Foundry Perry designed ones are the ones I have and they are very nice.

To me, these are the best as well. I don't think they will match with your Artizan though.

[redeaston]

I like Offensive myself but I have a mix of Offensive, Warlord and a few Artizan. Offensive are slightly smaller than the others but they mix OK. I have pics of them all on my blog so you can see how they mix - http://redwargaming.wordpress.com/ (I could get some pics of them side by side if that would help)

[majorsmith]

Artisan are the best, although the foundry ones are fantastic, they are smaller and have the step in early period smocks, the crusader ones look great and have the step in smock again/ buttoned up didn't really like the offensive ones, some strange proportions although they have a good range

[Dave C]

Ultimately the choice comes down to personal taste (and perhaps cost). Some ranges have a heroic or caricatured look. While I don't mind that, what I dislike is the huge over scaled hands that they seem to have.

Like you I was faced with the same choice a little while ago and opted to go with Offensive. There is a good range of poses - no two figures are the same in the squad packs. What is also nice is that the Offensive range continues to grow. While I bought their latest offering at Salute, their website doesn't show them yet.

If I can get this link to work here are my FJ from an earlier post:

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=66779.0

[Too Bo Coo]

From what I read it was not uncommon for vets to wear older kit.  If thats true, would it be a big deal to mix Artizan with Crusader?

[Orctrader]

I have painted the Artizan figures and liked them lots.  I have Foundry - yet to paint - and they look actually even better.  But smaller.

[David]

The best by miles is
http://www.offensiveminiatures.com/catalogue.asp?RID=11&CID=2
and the US Paratroopers are Ace
David

[axabrax]

I vote for Artizan. The FG 42 is messed up looking, but you can't beat the figures for character.  They are also the only range with Ramcke Brigade for North Africa, and motorcycles. Foundry figures are nice but more like 25mm, so good luck mixing them with other manufacturers. I also like the old bolt action stuff by Paul Hicks. Crusader is good for early war. I think you can get away with mixing Artizan,  bolt action, and Crusader, so I would cherry pick the figures you like from those three ranges.

[warburton]

My vote would be for the Foundry versions scuplted by Alan Perry. I have them and they are excellent.

I do not have them, but from photos I have seen, the Offensive Miniatures versions mix quite well with them if you need more variety.