Old Glory UK 15mm African Irregulars review

 One thing I've been lacking is some infantry for my AK-47 Republic armies.  I have a fair number of Peter Pig figures, but many of these are earmarked for basing individually as part of my ongoing 15mm Action Force project.  I'd spotted that Old Glory UK's Command Decision range of modern figures which included African irregulars, and I thought that these were worth a closer look.  PP figures are now £4.35 per pack, or just under 55p per figure.  OGUK are 50 for £18 which is 36p per figure.  Annoyingly, they were £16 a pack when I looked on Friday evening, but I was after the bulk discount of buy 5 packs get one free which is only available by phone.  By the time I telephoned on Monday, they had increased to £18 a pack, so I ended up only buying a couple of packs after all.

The big question is, how do PP and OGUK compare in quality.  I was also interested to see how they compared in size, given the never-ending debate over whether 15mm is to the eye or to the top of the head.  I couldn't find any breakdown of what was in each pack, so the following review may also be of use for anyone considering a purchase.

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First up, pack CDMOD-09 African Irregulars AK47 etc.  This set contains 50 (or 53 in this case!) infantry in 7 different poses, all armed with an AK47.  Overall, the casting is excellent, with only a single bit of flash (mentioned below), minimal mould lines and small, easily removed vents.  Most of the poses are pretty good, though the fine detail is lacking in places.

The standing, firing pose wears a beret, webbing and is bare-footed.

The kneeling, firing pose wears a forage cap, boots, vest top and webbing.

My favourite pose, the machete wielding trooper wears a forage cap, boots and webbing including chest rig magazine pouches.  The AK47 is slightly lacking in detail, though this is improved by painting.

The standing pose is slightly awkward.  He wears a beret, boots and webbing.

The second standing pose is more dynamic.  He has webbing and is bare-headed (or possibly wearing a shower cap?!).

The running pose is bare-headed and has webbing pouches, one of which does merge slightly into his AK magazine.  The stock of the rifle is obviously a problem point, several of mine had some flash on the rear where the mould is obviously worn or damaged, but it was quite easy to clean up. The detail on the face is a little soft.

 Overall, I'd give pack CDMOD-09 GRADE B.  They are good value for money (especially if you get an extra 3 in the pack!), but there are a limited number of poses, one of which I'm not too keen on.  The detail is also quite soft on several of the figures.  I do like that there is a mix of different headgear and that there is also a barefoot figure in the mix.  For quickly bulking out an army, I think they'd be hard to beat pricewise, so I'd still buy a pack of these if I was starting a new faction.

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The second pack of figures I ordered was CDMOD-10 African Irregulars Command and Weapons (including mortars, LMGS, RPG).  As with the first pack, mould lines were minimal, small vents and in this instance, no noticeable flash.

The light machine gun appears to be an old RPD rather than a more modern RPK (the magazine is vertical rather than angled), though the bipod appears to be attached in the wrong place.

The RPG trooper wears a bush hat, boots, webbing and carries a pack of reloads on his back.  There is a slight lack of detail on his RPG-7.  The casting is quite thin (which is perfectly in scale), so several were slightly bent in the packet, but the grenade and breech took only a few seconds to bend back into shape.

The officer wears a forage cap, boots and has a small, stubby pistol.

The radio operator has a backpack radio with corded handset.  He is bareheaded and wears boots.

One of the mortar crew wears a helmet, boots and is clutching a mortar bomb.  The other crewman wears a forage cap, is bare-footed and is ready to drop the mortar bomb down the tube.

Here are the crew with their mortar assembled.  The mortar is slightly odd, having a wheeled carriage.  I can't identify this, all the wheeled mortars I've seen have been big, towed versions such as 120mm, and I'm not sure why you'd put wheels on something this small (82mm?) instead of a normal bipod.

 Overall, I'd give the command and weapons pack CDMOD-10 GRADE B-.  As with the first pack, detail is slightly soft in places and the number of poses is limited.  It would have been nice to have at least a couple of different LMG and RPG figures and perhaps fewer radio operators and officers.  The detail on some of the weapons is lacking, and the mortar is very odd. (If anyone would like to correct me on that mortar, please comment below and I will amend this review!)

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So, how do Old Glory UK compare to Peter Pig?

• Both are well cast, with little clean up required for mould lines, flash or vents.
• The PP figures have crisper detail, they also have thinner, neater bases.
•  PP have a much wider range of poses available (30+ across the militia and regular ranges compared to the 13 from OGUK).
• PP also have better detail and greater accuracy than OGUK on the weapons.

 Peter Pig are therefore the winners for me in terms of quality.  In terms of value for money, it's less clear-cut.  If I was basing figures individually for a small skirmish game, PP would win hands down.  For something like AK-47 Republic where you're multi-basing larger quantities in groups, individual detail matters less for me.  What I'm after is the overall effect, and in some ways the OGUK figures are better for this in that there is less fine detail to paint.  Because they are equal in terms of clean-up/preparation time prior to painting, the saving in cost means that OGUK edge ahead very slightly.

 For my size comparison, I took a couple of pictures to demonstrate how variable this is.  The PP figures are slighter and not quite so tall - though not by much in some cases, as you can see here.

OGUK on the left, PP on the right.

The difference in the RPG figures is much more noticeable.  The variation in height is very pronounced, as is the detail on the figures.  The RPG launchers look very different, but given the range of different grenade types, this isn't necessarily a problem.  The difference in clothing detail makes the 2 figures look very different, and they would look a bit strange together on the same base.

RPGs: OGUK on the left, PP on the right.

 In summary, Old Glory UK modern African irregulars will work well for AK-47 Republic, but it's probably best not to mix them with Peter Pig figures within the same unit.  Having PP and OGUK in different units within the same army should look OK, or using PP specialist gun crew for a mainly OGUK would be fine.  I will certainly be using both options in my armies.

I've got my first unit painted, and I'll post that in the near future, once I get a chance to photograph it properly.