Review - HOF Combat Medics from 15mm.Co.Uk

If you ordered science fiction minis from 15mm.Co.Uk in the past few weeks, you probably noticed a little Christmas gift in your shipment. I received mine last week (along with the Star Vikings and a few other items, but more about them later). For those of you who weren't able to take advantage of the free special - they will soon be available in the HOF Humanity range. And they are definitely worth adding to your collection.

The pack includes six castings: two figures carrying medical kits, a third operating a scanner/tablet device, two identical litter bearers, and a grav-assisted litter. The castings were nice and crisp; there was just a bit of flash on a couple figures' legs, and some visible mold lines on the helmets that were easy to clean. I will gripe just a bit about the thickness of the figures' cast bases. I've noticed this on several of the HOF Humanity figures (cultists, post-apoc warriors, etc), and it is somewhat of a nuisance to deal with. HOF figures tend to stand a little on the tall side as it is. Depending on your basing preferences, a thick 3-4mm blob below their feet could leave them towering over many other figures. 

To remedy the thick bases, I tried something based on a TMP suggestion - using a large metalworking file on them instead of my small jeweler's files. It worked quickly - just a minute or so on each figure thinned the bases down to the ultra-thin standards found on Laserburn and HOF Retained figures. Then I glued three castings each to two popsicle sticks, hit them with some white primer, and set to work.

I wanted to keep these figures as generic as possible, since their uniforms and equipment makes them suitable for just about any human force. The details on the figures really came out when I started painting them. The only thing I don't really like on the figures' bodies are the hands - they're a bit misproportioned (similar to the Cultists and Post-Apocalyptic Warriors). Their fatigues, body armor, and helmets are very nicely detailed, and quite generic. Long-time Dropship Horizon follower Zac pointed out to me how much these figures resemble the GZG Hammer's Slammers figures, and I agree. They are wearing fabric fatigues, an armored vest (with raised medical cross) that covers the torso, and a helmet with a smooth face-shield/visor. I really like the stretcher, the long box, and the soft bag. Detail on the fifth figure's equipment is a bit soft, but it does allow some creativity with the paintbrush. Here's a look at the raised medical symbols on the backplates and medical box.

I painted them as generic as possible, so I could use them with a number of different human factions in my collection. The fatigues are Vallejo Stonewall Gray with a wash of Secret Weapon Soft Body Black. The helmets, armor, boots, and bottom of the litter are P3 Ironhull Grey; the visors Vallejo Silver with Secret Weapon Blue Wash, and the medical kit/details are basic white and red. The three individual figures were based on pennies, and the litter team was mounted onto a 1.25" fender washer.

After thinning the bases down, these figures end up being a great match for many newer figure ranges. Here they are alongside figures from Armies Army, Rebel Minis, and Micropanzer.

They are a little taller than some of other figure ranges. Here they are next to RAFM, previous-generation GZG, and Laserburn figures. But with the specialist nature of these figures, I don't think it will matter if they stand out just a little bit.

Overall, this is a nice little pack. I'll probably grab another team with each future 15mm.Co.Uk order and personalize them for some of my forces. In fact, it would be pretty easy to lop the heads off a set of these and substitute matching heads from another line. But for now, this team can handle a few Medevac assignments on my 15mm battlefields.

Cheers,
Chris