Wednesday 16 March 2016

EM4 Pre-painted Wild West Figures

Anyone starting out on collecting 28mm scale figures for Wild West gaming faces a wide choice of suitable figures from assorted manufacturers they can buy from. One company that may not be immediately apparent is UK-based EM4 Miniatures. What I particularly like about their two Wild West boxed sets is that their figures come pre-painted to a very high standard, making them ideal starter figures. I bought both sets just last month, despite the fact that I've been after them for a very long time.
OWH1 Old West Heroes Set 1 contains the following five figures shown from left to right in the two photos directly above and below - a dapper sheriff armed with a pistol, a no-nonsense gambler armed with a holstered pistol, a poncho-wearing gun-slinger armed with twin holstered pistols, an overweight Mexican bandit armed with a double-barrelled scatter-gun and a plains Indian warrior armed with a rifle and tomahawk.
All I did to them was add sand and gravel to their bases and then paint the bases. Nothing more needed doing to them. What a lovely, refreshing change! By the way, the slottabases provided with both sets were hexagonal-shaped, I replaced them with 25mm diameter circular bases.
OWH2 Old West Heroes 2 contains the following five figures shown from left to right in the two photos directly above and below - a "soiled dove" saloon girl armed with a pistol, a grizzly mountain man armed with a knife and buffalo gun, a simple farmer armed with a rifle, a deputy sheriff armed with a pistol and a Negro buffalo soldier armed with a pistol.
I repainted the trousers of the buffalo soldier as I felt they were too dark and I also painted the turn-ups of the jeans worn by the deputy. Once again, I textured then painted the bases.
These two sets contain a nice cross section of character types and in my opinion, there isn't a bad one amongst them. I particularly like the Mexican bandit and the mountain man. The fact that they are all pre-painted is a huge plus and a great time saver, even for someone like me. That they are so well painted is just the icing on the cake. I doubt if I could have done such a good paint job on them or chosen these colour schemes, not that I'm criticising the colour schemes (apart from the buffalo soldier's trousers, which I didn't like).
Set OWH1 costs £12.25 for all five figures. £2.45 per figure is not bad value for such well painted figures. However, I do have a complaint to make about set OWH2. It costs £15.30. The reason it costs a lot more is that it was "supposed" to include a CD of simple skirmish rules and floor plans for a Wild West town for you to print out. My set did not contain this extra CD. I resented paying extra for something that wasn't there. That said, the rules are very basic (just 4 pages long) and not that good and I certainly would not have used them or the floor plans either. I have seen both on-line and was far from impressed by them. So, I don't really miss them. It's just the principle of paying for something that should have been included but wasn't that rankles me. Incidentally, both sets also come with five different coloured d20 dice, with skull symbols replacing the number 1's.
This is the floor plan that should have been included with set OWH2.
EM4 used to sell a lot of pre-painted boxed figure sets but I have noticed over the past years that their ranges are dwindling and are not being restocked. The moral of this story would seem to be, buy them whilst they are available, because if you wait too long they may well be gone for good. It is such a shame that these sets are not being restocked. I'm only too glad I bought so many of them when I did.

18 comments:

  1. These figs look great Bryan, shame you didn't get all you paid for. That said I would only use the floor plans as an idea on building 3D terrain so not really missed, but I get your point I would feel a little cheated.

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    1. That's my point exactly, Andy. The figures are great but the pricing is all wrong for set 2.

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  2. All the stereotypes of the west. As you say so many companies doing western figures it is a hard market to compete in I would think, And that makes it vital that they supply what they say. How very disappointing.

    As a long time wild west wargamer I am very pleased to see you tackle this subject. I know you will do it justice.

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    1. Well said, Clint. Both the Wild West and the Weird West are subjects I will be returning to in the future. I hope I do both equally well.

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  3. Those certainly are some interesting sculpts Bryan, and I heartily agree with you as to the best-looking ones. I have some of the "EM-4" pre-painted Gladiators somewhere, and was happy enough with their paintjobs to buy a follow-up box at some point; even though I believe I only played their Colosseum game a couple of times in the end.

    I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what Wild/Weird West minis you post up next as I can feel your infectious enthusiasm for the genre tempting me already :-) Although one has to wonder where "Rum'n'Bones" stands considering an expansion KS is on its way soon - from what I hear?

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    1. Thanks, Simon. Funnily enough, I also bought their two Gladiator sets, although I have never used them.

      More Rum'n'Bones? That's news to me. I can see this needs looking into. I was in two minds about starting work on painting some of my pirate figures this month but ended up painting more Zombicide: Black Plague zombies.

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    2. Bryan, Hopefully this link will work: http://wargameterrain.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/cool-mini-or-not-upcoming-rum-and-bones.html
      "Second Tide" starts in April apparently.

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    3. Thanks, Simon. The link does work. I've found a load more info about Rum'n'Bones 2: The Second Tide on their Facebook page. Damn, it all looks good. Campaign rules are a must have and the new figures are to die for. Oh dear, oh dear, I hear my wallet crying already!

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  4. Nice models. Makes me remember the film young guns. loved those films "regulators" Makes me wanna play some wild west. Yes I would feel cheated too

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    1. Cheers, Damon. I have fond memories of watching both "Young Guns" films at the cinema when they were first released.

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  5. Nice and simple. Bases look much better nice work :)

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    1. Thanks, Simon. Just having to do the bases was a huge help and saved me a lot of time.

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  6. These miniatures look great, but personally, I would prefer them to be unpainted. Not because I could do a better job, but if everything is done for you, where is the fun in that?

    Have you considered contacting them about the missing content? Surely they could send you a pdf or something now that CDs became a passing technology?

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    1. Thanks, Mathyoo. Part of me agrees with you about painted vs unpainted figures. The way that they have been painted is very different to my method of painting. But weighed against that is the time saving factor. With my mountain of unpainted figures that became a deciding factor for me.

      I didn't bother contacting EM4 about the missing CD as it's not something I particularly want. Mind you, a refund would be preferable.

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  7. They look really good for pre-paints Bryan. Although you've done a fine job with your alterations Dude.
    Some really nice generic characters, should make some nice NPC's and set dressing for your Wild West adventures.
    Not getting everything that you paid for is unforgivable, even an explaination would have been something.

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    1. Thanks, Bob. You are right, an explanation for the absence of the CD would have been nice.

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  8. A nice selection of figures and very reasonable for pre-painted figures, given that the price point per figure for other unpainted figures can be a lot higher.

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    1. I quite agree, Jez. £2.45 per figure is an excellent price to pay. Heck, even the £3.06 per figure for set 2 isn't that excessive.

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