Wednesday 13 July 2011

Foundry Looters 01

Wargames Foundry produce two sets of looters in their 28mm scale Street Violence range and I'm going to review them both today. Here are set SV055 Street Thugs and set SV063 Wrecking Crew.
At the far left of the two photos above is Harry, the first of two thugs armed with a wooden baseball bat. From his pose he looks like he could be the leader of this little group, pointing towards their next target.
Next to him is the second thug armed with a wooden baseball bat, Elvis. He doesn't look like an Elvis to me but that's the name that the good folk at Foundry lumped him with. He holds his bat in a two-handed grip. I'm no fan of his goatee beard.
The guy in the middle, Flamer, probably got his nickname from his love of setting things on fire. He is about to light a molotov cocktail with a cigarette lighter. A red bandana covers most of his face. His hair, tied in a ponytail reaches down to the small of his back. Surely that's a fire risk!
Next in line is Tony Mosley, one of the very rare Foundry figures to be given a Christian name and a surname. I wonder if he's a real person, possibly a friend of the sculptor. Anyway, I've painted him as an African/American to add some ethnic diversity to the group. He appears to be unarmed but who knows what he's got stashed in his backpack?
Finally we have a man armed with nothing more than a rolled up newspaper. This is Bets, fly killer extraordinaire! Bets and Tony could double as ordinary civilians, given their lack of any obvious weapons.
The next two photos above show the five figures from the Wrecking Crew set, starting at the far left with the appropriately named Crowbar. He wears his baseball hat back to front, which I always think shows a lack of intelligence. I wear a baseball hat myself, but always with the peak facing the front. As you can see, Crowbar is armed with a crowbar, which would make for an improvised weapon in ATZ.
To his left is bare knuckle fighter, Quiff. He has a good set of muscles on his arms so he's probably rather handy in a fist fight. On the other hand, he'll be a total liability in a gunfight!
Next up is another thug armed with a molotov cocktail. He's called Dutchy and he's holding a lighted molotov cocktail, which he's just about to throw. Note that his hair is almost as long as Flamer's from above. He wears a Burberry baseball cap, back to front, making him twice as thick as Crowbar. For those not in the know, Burberry baseball caps are prevalent amongst the loathsome Chavs in this country, so, not a good look.
Fourth in line is my favourite figure out of both sets , Dodger. You can tell in an instant that Dodger is a looter because he's making off with a portable TV set. A nice touch is the plug dangling from beneath the TV. I think he's an absolute gem!
Last of all is another skateboard fan, Linus. He's carrying his skateboard in one hand, whilst giving the finger with his other hand. Charming! On the plus side, he at least, knows the correct way to wear a baseball cap.
When I reviewed the Foundry Street Warriors last time a few people criticised them for being too heavily armed. Indeed this was a criticism aimed at many of Foundry's Street Violence sets. It's not something that has ever bothered me but each to their own. I mention this because there is no way you could level that criticism at these two sets. Not a gun in sight!
I've already used a lot of these figures in an ATZ scenario from my campaign, called, what else but "Looters" which you can view here and they are absolutely perfect for that role. It has to be said that these two sets are not your typical Street Violence figures but they are all the better for that. If you are looking for very lightly armed antagonists these are ideal. Each set costs £10.00 from the Wargames Foundry website.

15 comments:

  1. I liked these because of their look, good figures, great personalties and of course a damn good paintjob. Foundry do non armed civilians aswell if you just want victims.

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  2. Nice job as always. Can't wait to see your next review of miniatures or next Batrep.

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  3. wow,i wish i was that good,how do you do them so quick,i hope it wont be long till we see them in action

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  4. Nice review and nicely painted mini's

    They are a nice set and on my list of things I want.

    Its hard to find decent bare knuckle fighters that aren't street fighter (Ryu/Ken types) or ninja looking

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  5. @Fran. I totally agree. I have their civilian figures as well. Nice cannon fodder or should that be zombie fodder?

    @Thanks, Doug. The next batrep shouldn't be too far away.

    @Shintokamikaze. I've had these guys painted for years, so they certainly weren't done that quickly. If you want to see them in action click on the link in the review. They did not fare well against Vampifan and co.

    @Brummie. Thanks. Yes, some of these would be perfect for bare knuckle fighters, especially the figure of Quiff.

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  6. Superb paint jobs on great figures sir. I love the Wrecking Crew set best. Crowbar is my favourite.

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  7. Wrecking crew for the win!

    Have not really thought much in lines of unared civilians...

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  8. Great looking figures, I like the Tom Mosley figure, does he get an extra few inches in movement as he's on a skateboard?

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  9. @Adam. Yeah, the Wrecking Crew are better than the Street Thugs but I still like Dodger best of all. Hey, it'd be a dull world if we all liked the same.

    @Johnny. Another thumbs up for the Wrecking Crew. These aren't all unarmed but they are very lightly armed. If you look at the basic rulebook for ATZ, there a few possible encounters with unarmed or lightly armed folk. It might be worth thinking about covering all eventualities.

    @Ray. I'm sure ATZ doesn't have rules for skateboarding but an increase in movement seems reasonable to me. Plus, they have the advantage of being a darned sight quieter than any motor vehicle.

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  10. Nice figure, I think they can be useful in a lot of scenarios, even in non zombie game ;)

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  11. Like others I like the wrecking crew - and I wish they would sell these figures as singles, as I want the one with the molotov cocktail!

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  12. I'll go against the norm and give my bigger thumbs up to the Street Thugs set (though both are great). I recenly put in a rather large order at Foundry, and picked up the Thugs, but decided to pass on the Wrecking Crew for now. The two fellows armed with the bats really sold me on that set.

    You've painted both sets nicely.


    @ShellDrake. Foundry won't be selling them as singles, but I'm sure you could buy the set and recoup some cost by selling the rest on ebay (as singles or a set minu the guy you want).

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  13. just a quick question,if you could help me please.How do you paint african american skin,what colours do you use? cos he looks great

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  14. i have been wanting these figs for a few years now never got around to getting them, regret that now, your work is above par as usual. makes me want them for sure, great job

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  15. @Zerloon. I could see these guys being used in a contemporary crime scenario. Just set Dirty Harry on them!

    @Shelldrake. Sadly, they aren't available singly but Adam offers some good advice.

    @Adam. If baseball bat armed thugs are what you're after then it makes good sense to buy the Street Thugs set. Not many companies make thugs with baseball bats.

    @Shintokamikaze. For African/American flesh I start with Vallejo Chocolate Brown. If you only have Citadel paints, use Scorched Brown instead. I give this a Citadel Badab Black ink wash. Then I drybrush with Vallejo Chocolate. Depending on how dark or light I want the skin to be, I'll add further dry brushes with a lighter colour like Citadel Bestial Brown, which may be lightened further by adding Citadel Bleached Bone to the mix.

    @Mike. I bought these in the mid 1990s, so I've had them a long time. They certainly stand the test of time.

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