Sunday 19 February 2012

Copplestone Castings HRT Troopers

My last figure review featured a group of Foundry SWAT Troopers painted up as a Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), the SWAT branch of the FBI. Sticking with the HRT theme I'm going to review the Copplestone Castings' set FW1 Hostage Rescue Squad from their range of 28mm scale Future Wars figures.
Unlike the Foundry figures, these guys are not given names and I haven't got round to naming them yet, so I'll just have to identify them as Troopers 1-5 going from left to right.
At the far left of my two photos, Trooper 1 is standing partially crouched down and carrying a 12 Gauge SGT Tactical Response model 90102 Pump-Action Shotgun. SGT (Scattergun Technologies) produces a range of customised shotguns by modifying off-the-shelf Remington weapons. This model, adopted by the FBI, is based on the Model 870 Pump-Action Shotgun. His back-up pistol will be the .45 Springfield SRP Bureau Pistol. Note that all of these troopers are also armed with daggers.
Trooper 2 is in an advancing pose and is armed identically to Trooper 1.
Trooper 3 is standing on guard and he is armed with the 10mm Heckler and Koch MP5/10A3 Sub-Machine Gun, the default weapon of the HRT. The fact that it is a heavier calibre weapon than the standard 9mm Heckler and Koch MP5A used by most SWAT Teams makes no difference in a game like All Things Zombie but if I was playing GURPS, for example, it certainly would make a difference.
Trooper 4 is similarly armed and he has been sculpted in a more animated pose than Trooper 3. Troopers 3,4 and 5 are also armed with .45 Springfield SRP Bureau Pistols and daggers.
Trooper 5 also carries the MP5/10A3 SMG and he has been depicted firing it from the shoulder.
In many ways these figures are better than the Foundry SWAT teams I've shown recently. For starters, they are all armed with standard issue firearms. Secondly, they are all male, which reflects real life more accurately. Thirdly, they are a lot cheaper than Foundry. This set costs just £8.50 for all five figures. Compare that with the £10.00 for five figures that Foundry is asking for.
Just out of interest, anyone setting a game in the U.K. could very easily use these figures as SAS troopers. Now there's a thought!

35 comments:

  1. So team Vampifan will meet the SAS now? Oh dear.... Hopefully they will be on the same side then! They are a pretty kick ass team!

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    1. Er, no Johnny, Team Vampifan will not be meeting the SAS. Even though I am English, my campaign is set in Mayhem City, U.S.A. And I can't see the SAS travelling across the pond to the States. Yes, the SAS are kick-ass and I certainly wouldn't want to go up against them but oh boy, I'd love to have them on my side!

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  2. I agree on those being better than Foundry's.
    Talking about SAS, you know any "true" SAS figures?
    Something like this:
    http://topnews.in/law/files/British-Special-Air-Service.jpg

    I really love the gas masks, they look much "apocaliptic" heh

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    1. Thanks, Mathyoo. I know of a few firms who make SAS troopers (the Assault Group, for example) but none who make them in the uniform from your picture. I suppose you could substitute some SWAT troopers for SAS troopers if all else fails.

      If anyone else can help Mathyoo, please let me know.

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    2. TAG has them for military duties, yes.
      I will probably pick SWAT with gasmasks, they got helmets, but otherwise I think they are great. I love the variety of weapons you get in a pack.

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  3. these look awesome, might have to pick them up.

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  4. Nice looking figures, and good paint-work as always.

    As both the Copplestone and Foundry figures come in a standard pack of five figures it makes me wonder if there Is a standard real-life SAS/HRT team size ?

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    1. Thanks, Joe. There are indeed, standard sized teams for the groups you mention in real life. SAS squads usually consist of four men. SWAT teams are usually made up of four men or five men (LAPD SWAT, for example, uses five men teams). HRT teams tend to be larger, usually six men or possibly eight.

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  5. Cool set of figures these Bryan they are sitting in my todo box staring at me.

    These could be used as a great number of things from generic special forces to mercs.

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    1. So get them painted, Simon! Once you've painted blsck on them they're practically finished!

      Yes, these could fulfil a variety of roles, as you mention.

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    2. LOL I have far to many todo. I dug out an old project earlier on the week and trying to get that started again.

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  6. Another great set. I think they would be a great addition to anyone already sporting some Foundry HRT.
    All males and more accurate arms is nice too.

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    1. Scalewise, these fit in very well with the Foundry figures, so twaming thenm up makes sense if you want bigger forces.

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  7. A great little set, I like the two with the shotguns!

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    1. I like all of the figures in this set, Ray, but there is something cool about a pump-action shotgun.

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  8. Those guys look great. Nice job. You've inspired me to finally get some 28mm SWAT. I went with the West Wind Raod Kill SWAT 4 man team and Army Special Forces 4 man team. I had been looking for a US supplier for the Copplestone Hostage Rescue Squad, but they didn't have them. Have you reviewed the Road Kill minis in the past? I thought they looked pretty good on WarWeb.com

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    1. It's funny that you should mention the West Wind SWAT figures. I do have them and they are waiting in the queue to get reviewed. I have all of the West Wind SWAT teams and they are superb figures. The Army Special Forces figures you mentioned were reviewed ages ago. If you click on the Label marked Military you should find them.

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    2. Maybe you need another tab for figure reviews ?

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    3. Joe, I have reviewed far too many figures just to list them all on one page. In my photo folders I have files for zombies, (not surprising, this is the biggest file of all) civilians, cops, criminals, gangers, military, vampires and one for other supernatural stuff. That's nine files, so I'd probably need a tab for each of them. I rather think that it'll be too much work to do to compile them all, especially for my zombie figures reviews. I note that my label for Zombies has 132 entries for it. Admittedly, not all of those entries apply to figure reviews but I bet a large percentage of them do. Even if it was just for half of them, I'd still have to type in 66 links. Sorry, mate, but I think I'll pass on this idea for now.

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    4. Hi, Vampifan. Thanks. After I typed the query as to whether you had reviewed the Road Kill minis in the past, I did a google search. The whole top of the image page was your work. I should have known. West Wind and the other mini manufacturers and vendors should put you on salary. :) I'll bet more buying decisions have been after viewing your reviews and paintjobs than are made on their sites. Please keep up the great work.

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    5. Thanks, Joe. That's really made my day!

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  9. I wonder if you can manage to play a game with all your impressive collection of painted models!

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    1. Ha ha! I don't think I could find a table big enough to hold them all!

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  10. Good stuff, let's see them in action PLEASE!

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    1. Once I complete my police station you ought to see quite a few police figures in action.

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  11. I liked the figures but they needed a few more poses in another set but lovely work all the same Brian....

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    1. I wholly agree, Fran. I wish that Mr. Copplestone would sculpt a second set but I don't think it'll happen.

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  12. very cool, they look like ninja with smgs

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  13. Very nice my friend they look very much like ninja's with guns !! I like them alot.

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