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Looking to start bolt action but was curious who make the best infantry. I know from my time playing flames of war that the company making the game don't necessarily always make the best minis. So yeah, just curious about the quality of the alternatives to warlord's offerings

Not sure on what their Germans look like up close, but

http://www.artizandesigns.com/list.php?man=15&cat=102&page=1 Artizan do some pretty nice models, have some of their Americans and they are very nice single part metal models.

Warlords Metals are pretty good, the plastics seem 'ok' but end up looking like multipart models as opposed to small people if you know what I mean.

e.g. American winter GIs



I've got the Warlord metal SS, if I wanted grenadiers I;d have no issues ordering from Artizan via Northstar

By German infantry do you mean Heer, Luftwaffe or SS, as some companies don't offer them all. I'd say look at this thread on Lead Adventure, it has a decent list.

If you have the choice go for metals over plastics any day of the week. The Warlord plastics are GW style chunky (i.e. complete toss), and the Perry stuff is too small compared to the other ranges. Wargames Factory did do a cheap German box which was pretty good, but its OOP.

Oh, and Artizan's Germans are hit and miss. Barring the G43s and StG-44s their guns are massive (which seeing as this is mainly a GW forum might not be an issue, though they're not my taste). If you're doing a Winter force they and Warlord have you mostly covered though. If you're going down a Winter route I'd recommend looking at Heer 46's Kharkov range. They've some nice SS figures in parkhas (they're what I'm using for my own force).

And a scale comparison I made a while ago, just as its already uploaded on this site:




Achtung Cthulhu, Clockwork Goblin, Warlord Games, Wargames Factory, CP Models, Heer46, Secrets of the Third Reich - The Clockwork Goblin, Warlord Games and CP Models miniatures are on integral bases - though the CP models soldier is about a half head taller than most.

I'm looking for summer uniform Heer as well as SS, though Heer is a greater priority. I have no problem going metal. Any specific recommendations for those?

Warlord and Perry Germans are not the best, but they're a decent standard IMO, and if you're working to a budget, they're good value for money.

Warlord's 30 plastic Germans in a box for £20 is enough to give you a HQ choice, 2 ten man squads, and enough left over to make another small squad, or a heavy weapon or two if you have bitz laying around.

That's a solid foundation for any army and it ticks the box for the mandatory HQ and two troop choices

There is pros and cons to everything, but for me, the pros out weigh the cons in this example.

DreamForge has a nice set. Mind you, it's the only 28mm German box they do, but if you wait till Christmas shopping season, they tend to be deeply discounted.

Yep, that's the aforementioned Wargames Factory set. When Warlord Games and Wargames Factory hammered out their deal a while ago, Warlord was not interested in the plastics that competed with their own. DreamForge picked them up so they're still available, though I shudder to think what international shipping would be...

The Stormtrooper Accessory Kit is also worth a gander for parts; most of it is sci-fi and not helpful, but there's bits like stick grenades, pouches, various hands and likely a few of the heads could be re-purposed easily enough to add variety.

West Wind Productions have a ww2 range as well, can't vouch for the figures but I have used some of their heads on my bolt action minis.
To be fair I mostly stick to warlord games for 28mm. I like the look, reminds me of the old commando comics i had as a kid. Plus the price it good and the plastic box sets gets you a fair amount of plastic for 20 odd quid or so.

Of course though if I want my minis in proper proportions that's where 20mm comes in to play. Cough cough Elhiem minis.