AM alternatives: Victoria vs Kromlech vs Anvil

[Feral_80]

Greetings all,

 

Since by now it seems pretty clear that GW is not going to release any new AM infantry anytime soon, I am looking elsewhere to improve the looks of my army. I really cannot stand the current Cadian and Catachan lines.

 

The three brands in the title seem those that offer the best products, although certainly not at cheap prices. 

 

I am especially interested in something original, i.e. not replicas of GW famous regiments. Highlander-style regiments seem particularly cool, although it might be a pain to paint those kilts properly!

 

Anyway, by looking at their websites, I would say that Victoria has the top quality. I am in love with their kilt-wearing Highland Moss Guard especially, while I am not that mad for other regiments (Catachan/Gaunt esp.). 

 

Anvil seems to offer the best variety and customization options, but the pose of many of their models seems slightly awkward, and - oddly enough - I am not 100% convinced by any combination I have tried so far. 

 

Kromlech is great for Orks, but seems to have limited (although beautiful) sculpts for humans. Their store website is so badly designed that it is a pain to search through their stuff, however. I notice they also produce kilted soldiers, but they seem incomplete, i.e. upgrade kits (I cannot find any arm! Is that intentional?).

 

What would you say? I have never bought anything from either of them - can somebody provide some information? Even better, comparisons.

[Mitchverr]

Anvil is slowly releasing a massive range over the next while, it all depends on when you want to start to collect, if you dont aim to buy in 6 months to a year for infantry, I would say wait and see with those and focus on any armour you plan to buy till then to build and paint.

 

Otherwise, if it comes down to money, anvil for money saving, victoria for extreme quality (but slightly small for heroic scale iirc from some i saw first hand), personally never a fan of kromlech but thats me.

 

Madrobot has nice alternatives as do maxmini and puppetswar headwise.

 

 

A friend of mine with anvil stuff says they were really good.

[CoffeeGrunt]

Having bought from all three, I'd say they're all good quality in their own way. As you note, Kormlech is limited in human models but their Highland regiment is pretty well-represented. Anvil sculpts are fantastic in person and they have a huge variety, but they're a bit more expensive so if you're running hordes of models that may be tricky. If you're from outside the UK though you can take advantage of the woeful state the GBP is in and get them cheaper via exchange.

 

Victoria also do a great range that are similar to traditional Guard regiments but very much their own style. They also famously do female Guard models if you want to round out your force with a bit more diversity. I've had a fair few bits off here but squads are hella pricey overall, especially for a numerous army like Guard.

 

Bear in mind that you won't be able to use these at GW events or in GW stores though, by the way.

[Ranulf]

I've been playing with 3rd party bits for the last month and a bit, yet to settle on anything. From what I've got on hand:

 

Victoria Miniatures

 

Kilt legs Male - match up seamlessly with the Cadian torsos, beautiful sculpts, crisp detail, great casts.

 

Sporrans - Good detail, good casts.

 

Greatcoat Legs MKII - Close match up to Cadian torsos, nice sculpts but lacking in movement, detail is a bit scrappy around the boots, lots of flash.

 

Chem Tank Backpacks - match up seamlessly with the Cadian torsos, nice details, poor cast, lots of flash. 

 

Camo Cloaks - Nice detail but poor casts, the cloaks are so thin it's easy for the cast to fail, leaving bubbles and holes. Will need work to fit most GW IG minis. Lots of flash.

 

Bald Chem Mask Heads - Fits well with Cadian torsos without work, details are a bit fiddly to paint, mask tubes are very fragile and easily broken when removing flash.

 

Universal Rolled Sleeve Rifle Arms Male - Fantastic Sculpts, fit well with GW Lasguns. Need to shave (tiny) parts of the Lasgun to fit with Cadian torso when using these arms.

 

Anvil Industries

 

PASGT Heads with Gas Masks - Great detail, great casts, needs a lot of work to fit Cadian torsos. Smaller than Cadian heads. 

 

Beret Gasmask Veteran Heads - As above.

 

Long Hair Heads - As above. Awesome detail. 

 

Field Radio / Communication Sets - Great detail, great casts. Needs work to fit Cadian torsos.

 

Exo-Lord Multi Pose Bionic Arms and Exo-Lord Bionic Rifle Arms - The Bomb! My new go to for bionics. 

 

I'm currenty waiting on a delivery of Short Trenchcoat Legs, (Static/Advancing/Kneeling) Bergens and Stalheim with Gasmask Heads. Should have some pictures (mock-up and painted) of a few different concepts in the next two weeks. 

 

From what I've seen so far, Anvil is ahead with regards to sculpt quality and the quality of their casting process. Vic Minis comes out on top for compatibility - their bits almost feel like they're designed to work with GW Cadians as well as their own lines. The Kilt Legs / Rolled Sleves are awesome and are pulling me towards a Drookian Fen Guard style regiment, but Kilt painting is a pain in the arse. 

[Feral_80]

Thanks all for the info! Very useful. Would you mind sharing some pics?? I am looking for kitbashing ideas as well, not just regular regiments as they are sold, so everything is fine.

 

I know painting kilts would be a severe pain - but ain't those cool?

[Chaplain Gunzhard]

I have bits from all of these, including madrobot, maxmini, shapeways and puppetswar etc - though mostly for Space Marines.

 

For IG specifically though, it comes down to Victoria, Anvil and Madrobot for me. The Madrobot heads are really cool though also the most aesthetically divergent. I love everything about Anvil industries except the legs; for some reason they have weird leg poses. Victoria is excellent but expect to wait a while if you're in the US.

 

They all mix together fairly well, just be mindful of the beltline... some torsos have the belt and some leg sets have the belts, can't have 2 belts though right!

[Vel'Cona]

Seconded on Anvil for quality/selection and Madrobot's varied and interesting selection of heads.  Keep an eye on Shapeways too, as with IG getting more popular in 8th (since the dex is already making waves) I suspect more than a couple stores will start adding IG prints soon.

[OnboardG1]

The short greatcoat legs and PASGT helm with gas mask look like they'd match well with the Cadian kits to make Steel Legion. Although by the time you pay that it feels like you might as well have just bought Steel Legion minis.

 

Any thoughts on alternative Catachans? The command squads are really nice but I don't want to throw £30 at each ten man infantry squad and the basic infantry is old and awful. The new Goliaths might suit (I have an old school force of Armageddon Ork Hunters) but I don't know what the price point will be.

[CoffeeGrunt]

Victoria do a line of jungle fighter types, though they're less Rambo and more Crocodile Dundee.

 

Shapeways is good for the odd custom piece, but the material is brittle and it runs at a premium.

[micahwc]

I've bought several parts from Anvil and I have been very happy with all of them. They are very nicely detailed. The resin is a joy to work with compared to other resin products I've use. It doesn't seem to snap easily, and tends to snap where the part is supposed to come off the sprue anyway. (4/5 of my jump packs from Kromlech snapped and were basically unusable, and some other resin products I've used have been just as bad).  I'm thinking of just running some heads on cadian bodies, and maybe some special weapons for my guard.

 

I've got 8 of their heavy bolters for space marines that I need to install, but they look great. I've also got several of their portable phase cannons, which look great but are not really large enough physically to represent lascannons. They are smaller than a space marine missile launcher.

[Tirak]

I use them for my Lascanon heavy weapons teams and no one has complained so far.

[Formerly Wu]

Any thoughts on alternative Catachans? The command squads are really nice but I don't want to throw £30 at each ten man infantry squad and the basic infantry is old and awful. The new Goliaths might suit (I have an old school force of Armageddon Ork Hunters) but I don't know what the price point will be.

 

Anvil just released a Jungle Fighter line that is quite specifically Catachan in style. 

[sebs_evo7]

I bought anvil heads and I'll probably end up buying the bodies from them as well to make it easier. The necks are similar to space marine heads so you have to cut away quite a bit for them to fit a cadian torso.

[Lemondish]

Anyone familiar with pig iron productions? I'm looking to get a feel for size and quality. They have some great Tallarn style heads that I want to stick on some Elysian bodies, but not if they're massive and/or look out of place from a quality standpoint. 

[Chaplain Gunzhard]

They [pigiron] are the perfect scale for Guardsmen and pretty good quality, some of the bigger 'halo' style helmets are better suited to slightly bulkier (SM Scouts) models imo though (which is how I use mine hah).

[Lemondish]

They [pigiron] are the perfect scale for Guardsmen and pretty good quality, some of the bigger 'halo' style helmets are better suited to slightly bulkier (SM Scouts) models imo though (which is how I use mine hah).

 

Good to know! I'm looking at the shemagh ones. Hopefully the slimmer Elysian bodies look won't make the heads look too bulky, though I might be able to resolve that with the cloaks I intend to add. 

 

I wouldn't have to do this if Forgeworld would just bring back their lovely Tallarn kits (or if GW would finally give us plastic kits for the common regiments).