Zombie of the Month- March 2015- Zombie Horde (Male) by Wargames Factory

   Okay, so, I have this beautiful population of awesome female zombies from the Wargames Factory Zombie Vixens set, but now I have a problem, because now the gender population balance of my zombie apocalypse is off. I know, who worries about these things? Hey, it's good to at least be able to create a realistic population if you want to, right? So, what's a necromancer to do?

   The solution is obvious, of course, go back and buy the Wargames Factory Male zombies. So here they are!

The Zombie of the Month- March 2015- Zombie Horde (Male) by Wargames Factory

   What’s so great about these Zombies? I think their best feature is how generically modern they are. I mean really, when building a horde representing the entire population, let's face it, most of your zombies should be sporting jeans, t-shirts, business suits, and the like. And that's what these guys are- a set of multi-part zombies with totally mundane clothes, so you can have the nauseating wave of normal people turned zombie, with the capability of varying them just a little bit in pose and clothing combinations.

   Don't get me wrong. These guys do not have the unmitigated awesome of the Zombie Vixens. They are much older sculpts, and unfortunately, it shows... quite a bit, actually. I know how expensive it is to get new sculpts, especially for something as inconsequential as zombies, but with how awesome the Vixens are, I'd LOVE to see what the same sculptor would do with the male box.
   Still, the box is highly customizable (within the confines of boring men's clothes), boasting "28 unique parts per sprue. 936 unique combinations! (Over 1800 if you don't care whether the arm is bare or sleeved!)" At less than a dollar a zombie for that kind of "normal folk" variety, I can't call this a "do not buy." I certainly don't regret getting it.

The Basics:

Scale- Wargames Factory refers to their stuff as 1/56 scale, which is roughly 28mm.

Genre- Modern, although some of the pieces you could get away with using in a medieval setting, if you paint them accordingly and are not that picky about your anachronisms.

Material- Hard Plastic

Parts ‘N’ Bits- Right from the website, just to show you the variety you get:
The package includes 5 sprues that each contain:
1 x Dr. Zed (and/or duster/raincoat Zed)
1 x Fat guy torso
1 x Bare chested surfer-dude torso
1 x rotted shirt torso
1 x suit torso
1 x button down shirt torso
1 x drawstring short legs
1 x rotted long pant legs
1 x suit pants
1 x mailman shorts
1 x cargo pants
4 x sleeve right arms
4 x bare right arms
9 x heads

Assembly- Most of the joints are ball-and socket style, except for the arms, which match up flat. This allows for greater versatility posing the figures, but occasionally makes the connection points look a little awkward.

Bases- Alas, they do not come with any bases. But odds are, if you're building a horde, you have some lying around, so no big deal.

Ratings:

Sculpt- 2 brains out of 5- Judging by the comments on their website, these were really impressive when they came out in 2009. Unfortunately, with the huge advances that have been made in sculpting in the last few years, They are really showing their age. Still, since they are intended to be mundane characters, you should be fine if you are blending them into an entire horde.

Affordability- 4 brains out of 5- With 30 zombies for $21.95, you're getting them really cheap. If you need a large horde, this really ups their viability as a purchase. And you can probably find a better price for the box if you shop around a little.

Value- 4 brains out of 5- If you only need a small horde, this might only be a 3. But if you want to shoot the city scene in the first episode of The Walking Dead, you can't do better for the combination of cost and representing mundane, hideous masses of undead city slickers. And, at those numbers, no one is going to care if it unbalances the genders in your population a little- the sexes are equal with their... rotted out.

Availability- 4 brains out of 5- Even though the box is several years old, it is one of the go-to boxes for horde building, and it looks like Wargames Factory sells their stuff a lot of places. I even got lucky enough to pick it up in person in a large hobby shop. So you shouldn't have any trouble finding it. Do yourself a favor and shop around a little bit and save a few bucks.

Pros: Multi-part figures cause less figure repitition, very good for modern "regular folk" horde building

Cons: Outdated sculpts and only one gender limits their value for smaller hordes