By Bob Barnetson

In March 2008, Artizan Designs released 11 new 28mm figures in their Thrilling Tales line. Several of these releases comprise The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, while others supplement existing pulp figure ranges. Each miniature costs £2.00 or you can buy all 11 for £20.00.

Historically, the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was another name for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) during WW2. It was created in 1940 to both conduct warfare by means other than direct military engagement and also serve as the core of British resistance should the Axis powers invade Britain. It is unclear whether these figures are meant to represent the historical SOE.

Initial Impressions
The 10 figures I received arrived bagged together inside a sturdy cardboard box and surrounded by bubble wrap. The only breakage during transport was the tip of a single rifle barrel. The figures had no significant mold-line flash, but there was a lot of vent-hole flash. One of the figures also had a deformed base that required about five minutes of work with pliers and file to get the figure to sit properly.

There is a fair bit of diversity on the figures. Two are quasi-stormtroopers, filling out Artizan’s Sturm Battalion Zorn line. Of the remainder, four have a sailorish look to them and, being the first ones that fell out of the bag, give me the impression these figures would be great in a freighter or submarine game. Of the remainder, one figure looks like a commando, two look like gentlemen (ignoring the Thompson SMG with ammo drum one is brandishing) and one looks like a thug.

Initially, I was kind of confused by the selection. What am I supposed to be able to game with these guys? It took me awhile to puzzle out that some of the figures supplement existing lines and only a few are part of the new Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare..

Anatomy and Posing
Sculpted by Mike Owens, the figures are 30 mm from top of head to shoe sole. The Sturm Battalion figures look like they’d fit in with other WW2 figures such as Darkson Designs or Bolt Action Miniatures. The others would likely be fine alongside Copplestone’s pulp figures. I’m not particularly picky about small differences in size (people are different sizes, after all) so readers might have different reactions.

All of the figures are standing, although their individual poses range from quite active (one of the Sturm troopers) to nonchalant (one fellow with a hand in his pocket). There are no obvious anatomical problems with these figures. The anatomy and posing is realistic. Few of the poses would be suitable for conversions because the arms are half or completely molded to the body.

Seven of the 10 figures I received carry weapons: six submachine guns and one revolver. None of the figures is in a firing pose, although all look ready to do so. I find these poses the most useful from a gaming perspective: armed but not necessarily shooting. Figures with no weapons aren’t really much good in a firefight, although they can be useful as bystanders, boss men or scenario objectives.

Sturm Battalion
These two troopers (PLP115 and PLP116) both have late-war German assault rifles and are wearing some sort of gas mask and rather impractical long coats (ever try running in a buttoned trenchcoat?). Each is nicely detailed and looks quite menacing. Both have some sort of armour plating over their shoulders. These pads are quite thick (in real life, they’d be about 4” deep) and would be bulky and difficult to move in.

The only other criticism I have is that both soldiers have large bags hanging from behind them: perhaps they store the gas masks in these instead of the more historically accurate corrugated metal tubes? On top of these bags are standard WW2 German canteens. While both troopers have webbing, I can’t fathom how the canteens are attached to it or, indeed stay where they are positioned.

Sailors
I don’t know if these four figures (PLP110, PLP11, PLP112 and PLP113) are all supposed to be sailors, but the clothing and headgear they exhibit seem naval to me. While perhaps meaningless in the context of pulp, the weaponry two of the figures hold (PLP113 holds a Sten SMG and PLP111 carries a Thompson SMG) seem to put them in the Allied camp–perhaps they are a part of the Ministry of UNgentlemanly Warfare release? The other two figures might swing both ways.

In any event, when my wife saw these figures, she asked “Why are their pants square?” Sure enough, the back of these figures’ legs and bottoms are very square looking. I’ve spent quite a while trying to understand how cloth could hang in this way and, unless there is some sort of internal structure to these pants, this must be a stylistic choice by the sculptor—no one’s pants look like this!

The figure holding the Sten gun is wearing some serious bell bottoms, with the cuffs measuring 14” front to back in real life and have a circumference of about 40”. It might be possible to downplay these cuffs with some artful painting.

Maybe these pants are special cold weather gear meant to accommodate big boots; the figure is wearing a sweater, big jacket and toque. But if he is dressed for Ice Station Zebra, how does he relate to the guys with open coats and dinner jackets? Or any other offering in Artizan’s pulp catalogue? Complaining aside, the detailing on these figures is nicely done. The figures would take a wash well, causing things like ribbed cuffs to really stand out.

Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
The four remaining figures include one commando figure (PLP114) and three gentlemen in suits (one with a Thompson SMG and two with canes)–I’m guessing they are Artizan’s newest line with the Thrilling Tales collection. The commando figure is heavily armed, with an SMG, pistol, sniper rifle and grenades. He also has a US-style canteen on his webbing. The sculpt is very animated and you can almost hear the sound of him hosing down some bad guys with his Thompson.

Two older gentlemen (PLP107 and PLP109), again with square pants, look the part of spymasters or aging agents. One has a monocle while the other has a flower in his lapel. I can’t wait to paint these, likely with pinstrips. They will be useful in a Gangster game.

The final miscellaneous figure (PLP108) is a rather burly looking goon in a bowler hat with a cane. Depending on how the mood strikes you, he could be hired muscle or a rather athletic Winston Churchill, out to set the continent ablaze with his own two hands. I plan to use him as a mob boss, myself.

Comment
Individually, there are some nice figures. Yes, they have some quirks (Velcro canteens, disco pants, square bums) but they are well sculpted and crisply cast and will add variety to anyone’s pulp game. At £2.00 GBP each, these figures are leaning towards the higher end of the market.

I’m primarily a gamer, not a modeler, so the relatively little prep required by these figures before they get painted is appreciated. Apart from one base being akimbo, nipping off some flash and filing a few mold lines is no big deal.

I remain a bit confused as to which figure are actually the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare collection and which belong with other lines. If I had to guess, the “sailors” seem a part of the Europe Ablaze I or II lines, and the Sturm Troopers clearly have a home.

Conclusion
These are nice figures that will doubtless fill a needed gap in someone’s pulp game (“Damn, now where will I find a ship’s captain and first mate at this late hour…”). They are priced in the same range as Mark Copplestone’s and Bob Murch’s pulp figures and should go nicely with these lines.

Pros:

• Wide variety of crisply cast figures.
• Interesting details on the figures.

Cons:

• Some odd sculpting choices regarding the clothing.