 |
Hetzerdog Miniatures
Babylons Burning
Review by Steve Crofts
|
Robed Cultists pack & Citizens Militia pack
 |
First Thoughts
Citizens Militia:- Hmmm double barrelled shot guns, American football helmet, M16’s, Uzi’s, what’s this about? (don’t worry I’ll give you an Inkling later!).
Each of the figures, (pack content of 6), is a totally different miniature, (In other words no duplicates!), all are well detailed and have individuality sculptured into them, if you follow me.
Details include zips, buckles, belts, jewellery, it’s all there right down to holes in a ladies woollen cardigan!
As you have probably gathered I like the overall look of these, but, (and it is a small but!), I see figures of this calibre quite often and the only thing needed is a little life in the face, a grimace, or a shout, mouth slightly open, you know the type of thing, well if these figures had a bit of that, then this would give them the last touches to there characters.
 |
The main basis of the character of each miniature is apparent in that each has a different face, by this I mean they are not clones, and I think my last comment really would add to this difference, (have a think about it guys).
Clothing is pretty well varied and again this is well sculptured and detailed, I do like the guy in the bike jacket and Football Helmet, also the woman in the cardigan, she has a sort of, “Try nicking my handbag I’ll Blow your head off!” look to her! Very appealing.
 |
Each of the figures regarding clothing is also very individual, the only thing they all have and that is the Militia arm band!
Folds and creases are nice, as is the padding on the chap with the hunting gear on.
Robed Cultists:- Now these are more uniformed in that they all wear the hooded monk type cowls and respirators, But as with the Militia they all have a Character and individuality to them.
Again a mixed assortment of weapons are carried, from a grinder to a Katana to AK47’s.
 |
The weapons in both sets are again very well detailed.
Clothing on these miniatures is, as I have already said uniform, and being dressed in Monks cowls they may seem a boring subject to paint, not so! Again the sculptor has worked well to get some nice movement into the clothing, poses also add to the figures.
 |
Painting
As you can imagine form the first part of the write up I was looking forward to having a “crack” at these, and they were a very nice experience to paint, the clothing and fine detail aid you in your task and even the smallest details did not, to me, seem at all difficult to paint.
The more paint shades that was brushed on the more appealing the figures became, even the Cultists were great fun, and I suppose you wouldn’t have thought that given they were all in their cowls and respirators.
In all very pleasing results, the hardest part about painting these figures, is knowing when to stop! I don’t know whether it was because it’s a break from the norm or what, but they do appeal to me.
I did find myself on a couple of occasions going back to them and painting, “That little bit just to finish them off!”
 |
What are the figures for?
Well….. the guys at Hetzerdog have not only created the miniatures but they have developed a nice set of rules to go with them. Yes I have seen and read a copy, and yes they look good, and yes they will be releasing them soon!
 |
All I can tell you at the moment is that they are set in a near future Earth, 2025, after a global catastrophe, and before you say it no there hasn’t been a Nuclear war! I think it would be unfair of me to elaborate further as it would spoil the work the guys have put into the introduction story, but from what I’ve read of the rules and background the gaming possibilities are endless and I have admiration for these guys for the concept being a quite in depth look at what could happen in the near future, and I surmise a lot of thought and some research must have gone into the whole planning of the background.
And how much are they going to be?
Well if you buy five packs of the Babylon’s Burning Figures, you not only get a LIMITED EDITION figure, but you also get the set of rules, now how’s that for a nice surprise!
If you don’t get the five packs of figures they will be available for sale separately.
Now the rules come on a professionally pressed CD Rom with some lovely art work on the front, sort of comic book style.
Question Time!
 |
It was nice to be able to ask Ian at Hetzerdog a few questions that you may be wanting to know, and being the nice man he is he answered, he also sent a list of there projected releases for the next few years, which I will post at the end of the article.
1). The list of new releases planned over the next few years is pretty lengthy, are you managing to stay on target with those projected releases?
To be honest we've had no end of problems with our manufacturer (mentioning no names!) which has put us a few months behind in terms of releases. That hasn't stopped us sculpting though and in addition to the first 6 packs we released, we now have another 2 packs cast and on their way to us plus 5 more packs that are sculpted and ready to go over the next two months.
Once these production problems have been smoothed out we expect to be releasing two or three Babylon's Burning packs every month for the next couple of years (in addition to our 28mm Irish Rebellion of 1798 range, our 1/144th scale Canvas Falcons WWI aircraft range and other forthcoming miniature ranges and games we have planned).
2). When developing new Figures for this range, are you prepared to take on board customer Ideas for figures?
Of course - we're always happy to hear ideas from our customers (or potential customers for that matter). We've already made some alterations to planned packs in the light of feedback and suggestions (the design of our forthcoming Cultist Templars for example). If anyone wants to make any suggestions, they can drop us a line at
info@hetzerdog.com.
3). How important are customer ideas when designing a new set of figures?
It's a balancing act - on the one hand, we have to make the miniatures our customers want to buy and on the other hand we have strong ideas regarding the game world, the general aesthetic and where we want to go with the BB range. In addition to this, we also have to take the suggestions and requests of our retailers and distributor into account.
Of course, it's not unusual to have different customers asking for the opposite thing so it's always a tough judgement call as to what to introduce and what to leave alone.
Since there are so many packs we want to bring out for this range, we rely on our customers to let us know what factions we should concentrate on and what packs should take priority.
4). When a customer Orders from the online shop or through mail order, what is the usual waiting time before the goodies are delivered, to say UK residents, Europe or the States?
We have a universal shipping policy so everything goes 1st class (domestic) or airmail (overseas) at a fixed - and very low! - price, regardless of where you are in the world. We get orders sent out within 2 working days 99% of the time so delivery times are usually in the region of 1-3 working days (UK), 4-7 working days (Europe) or 10-14 working days (North America).
Shipping costs are -
The shipping costs below are universal (i.e. we charge the same shipping regardless of where you are in the world).
Order value
Shipping Cost
Between £0.01 and £9.99
£1.00
Between £10.00 and £24.99
£1.75
Between £25.00 and £74.99
£5.00
Between £75.00 and £149.00
£11.00
£150.00 or more.
£15.00
5). What are the current BB figures you are concentrating on, and how long before release?
The next seven packs due for release are -
BB07 Ghoul Kids
BB08 Scav Officers, Runners and Sniper
(These are cast and packaged - we're just waiting for them to arrive from the caster)
BB09 Citizen Militia Heavy Weapons
BB10 Weapon & Accessory Pack #01 (30 items)
BB11 Weapon & Accessory Pack #02 (30 items)
(These should be cast up in the second half of April 2004)
BB12 Robed Cultists Pack #02
BB13 Cultist Templars
(These are due for release in May 2004)
 |
6). What figures will be following the current batch under development?
We're going to be concentrating on the Citizen Militia and Cultist packs over the next few months before moving on to some of the other factions - probably Scavs and Ghouls.
More releases for the future:-
PROJECTED BB RANGE
Packs listed in green completed, packs listed in black confirmed, packs listed in red projected
BABYLON'S BURNING BOXED SET LIMITED EDITIONS
BBLE01 Babylon's Burning CD-ROM edition free miniature
Ghouls Feeding (Ghoul boxed set ltd edition)
Elvis in wheelchair w/ nurse and two bodyguards (Elvis Cultie boxed set ltd edition)
Robed cultists with Holy Hand Grenade (Robed Cultie boxed set ltd edition)
Citizen Militia stretcher bearers and casualty (Citizen Militia boxed set ltd edition)
CULTIST PACKS
Officers & Runners
Medic & Casualties
BB12 Templar pack #1
Templar pack #2
Templar Heavy Weapons
BB05 Robed Culties pack #1
BB14 Robed Culties pack #2
Suit Wearing Culties pack #1
Suit Wearing Culties pack #2
Flower Child Culties pack #1
Flower Child Culties pack #2
Elvis Culties pack #1
Elvis Culties pack #2
ENCLAVE PACKS
Officers
Runners & Snipers
BB06 Medics & Casualties
National Guard Troops pack #1
National Guard Troops pack #2
National Guard Heavy Weapons
National Guard Mortar Team
National Guard HMG Team
NBC Troopers pack #1
NBC Troopers pack #2
Enclave Cops pack #1
Enclave Cops pack #2
BB01 Citizen Militia pack #1
BB16 Citizen Militia pack #2
Citizen Militia pack #3
BB09 Citizen Militia Heavy Weapons
GANG PACKS
Officers
Runners & Sniper
Casualties
Skateboard gangers
BB02 Roller skate gangers
Punks pack #1
Punks pack #2
Street Kids pack #1
Street Kids pack #2
Fetish Gangers pack #1
Fetish Gangers pack #2
Hip Hop Gangers pack #1
Hip Hop Gangers pack #2
GHOUL PACKS
BB15 Officers & Runners
BB03 Ghoul pack #1
Ghoul pack #2
Ghoul pack #3
Ghoul pack #4
BB07 Ghoul Kids
MERC PACKS
Officers & Runners
Snipers, Medics & Casualties
Mortar Team
HMG Team
Merc Troopers pack #1
Merc Troopers pack #2
Merc Troopers pack #3
Merc Troopers Heavy Weapons pack #1
MOB PACKS
Officers
Runners, Snipers
Medics & Casualties
Mafia pack #1
Mafia pack #2
Triad pack #1
Triad pack #2
Yardies pack #1
Yardies pack #2
SCAV PACKS
BB08 Officers, Runners & Sniper
Medic & Casualties
BB04 Scav pack #1
Scav pack #2
Scav pack #3
Scav pack #4
Scav Skateboarders
SYNDICATE PACKS
Officers
Runners & Snipers
Medics & Casualties
Mortar Team
HMG Team
Guards pack #1
Guards pack #2
Guards Heavy Weapons
Slave Militia pack #1
Slave Militia pack #2
Slave Militia pack #3
MISC. PACKS
Vehicle Armour Pack
Vehicle Weapons Pack
Vehicle Accessories Pack
BB10 Weapons & Accessories pack #1
BB11 Weapons & Accessories pack #2
Pack Animals
Wild Dogs
Flesh & Blood Characters
FUTURE RELEASES
Merchants
Road Marshals
Bikers
Raiders / Road Pirates / Slavers
Nomads
Tribals
Survivalists
Settlers / Rural Militia
Resin / metal vehicle kits
Resin scenery
Final Thoughts
A very nice set of figures and I hope to see more of them in the future. Well done to all of you at Hetzerdog!
Hetzerdog miniatures are available from their online shop at : -
www.hetzerdog.com
Or through Amazon Miniatures at shows throughout the country and the continent.
Please remember to mention Wargames Forum when contacting traders!
Return
to Product Reviews
Return
to What's New?
Return to Home Page