9. Bataillenfeur Games 20mm SYW Miniatures: Hap Jordan just sent me a packet full of the latest releases in his growing line of 20mm Austrians and Prussiaos for the SYW; the line now includes 44 figures (foot and mounted) plus 6 different horses. The newest Prussiaos include 3 cuirassier figures, 3 artillerists and 3 grenadiers and the new Austrians ioclude 3 greoadiers in bearskins, 4 Greozers, 3 artillerists and 3 cuirassiers. A running heavy horse was also included in the sample pack.

Let's look at the Prussians first. the grenadiers come in march attack, advancing with musket poioting ahead at a 60 degree aogle, and a drummer. All are nice figures with good detail on the mitre cap plate and cartridge pouch, snappy-looking moustaches and good anatomical proportion to the castings.

The 3 artillerymen include one holding tbe rammer, one carrying the shell cartridge and an officer ho1ding a linstock as if to ignite the fuse on the cannon. Nice castings one and all.

Finally, we have 3 cuirrassiers. Hap notes that they are sculpted for 1762 and advises that one simply clip off the plume on the tricorn for earlier periods. It appears that they are wearing full body cuirass plates (front and back), so you will have to take care to paint straps on the backside of each figure and paint the tunic color on the back of the figure to "convert with paint". Figures include an offlcer waving his sword, a trumpeter and a trooper with shouldered sword OK figures, but not as well done as the foot figures. The running horse is well-animated, but appears to be a tad large for the riders, proportion- wise.

The Austrian Grenzers include an officer in cloak pointing his sword forward (looks like the RSM Croat officer), a standing flring Croat, one loading his musket and one advancing. All Croats are nicely sculpted with enough barrel sash detail to make painting the lace details easy. Grenadier Sgures include march attack, advancing and a drummer. Good figures all. The artillerists come in the same poses as their Prussian counter-parts and come without lapels. The cuirassier poses include an officer, trumpeter and trooper, all nicely sculpted.

Hap informs me that he plans to release artillery pieces, 2 generic mounted offlcers and a coatless generic gunner, all during this summer. Later in the Fall, he will add 20 British/Hanoverian and French Infantry. The French and British cavalry and gunners will be available in the Spring of 1998. This is a nice line of figures and it appears that the company intends to offer a comprehensive line for each of the mapr nationalities, so you shouldn't find yourself being stuck waiting for command flgures or certain types of cavalry etc.

The horses that I have seen are a mixed bag though in terms of quality and I recommend that you look at these before making a major addition to your herd. As an alternative, consider mounting your cavalry on RSM95 20mm horse, which should fit nicely. You can order Bataillenfeur flgures from Hap Jordan at 14 Parkview Avenue, Jamestown, New York 14701. Phone (716) 488-1586. Figues cost $0.50 per foot and $0.75 per horse.

Give some consideration to 20mm wargame figures, which provide the size/spacing benefits on the tabletop of 15mm figures, yet have the visual appeal of the larger 25mm figures. 20mm is arguab1y the best wargaming sca1e and we are fortunate that Bataillenfeur Games is filling this niche need.

10. Guernsey Foundry 25mm SYW Prussians: I received another heavy box of samples of the latest re1eases from the Foundry, this time an assortment of Prussian grenadiers (in small mitre caps) and a variety of mounted and dismounted Prussian cuirassiers.

The 8 different fusilier samples include a fifer, drummer, standard bearer, 2 NCO's with spontoon (one marching and one standing at ease), 2 march attack (1 with mitre and 1 without and w/banged head), 1 marching and drinking from a bottle of something that Alte Fritz would not approve of.

Finally, there is a man wounded and sitting on the ground that would make a great morale marker. I believe that these all have lapels and Swedish cuffs and fall under the category of "Prussian Fusiler, Pristine Order" . Then there are a pair of officers: one thrusting sword forward in the "en garde" position, and the other standing defiantly holding his sword at his side. You can actually see the scalloping on the edge of the officers' tricorns--nice touch!

I also received a pioneer in what looks to be a grenadier's mitre. He is wearing a leather apron and has superb detail on the plate of his mitre, which makes it easier to paint. His arm (holding axe) is cast separately and has to be glued on, but the socket at the wrist is well- formed so it should be relatively easy to do the altachment surgery. Boy oh boy do I really like these figures.

There is not a bad one in the whole lot, and to top it off, these guys really do look like Prussians. Also include was 2 mounted officers; one has aiguilettes on his right shoulder and the other is doffing his hat. I plan to upgrade all my officer stands with these guys.

Next are a batch of Prussian cuirassiers, 8 different mounted variants including the Garde du Corps standard bearer (at last, know I can finally add this unit to my Prussian army. I was waiting for someone to make the unique Roman vexilum that this fellow carries). We have a trumpeter with lots of lace detailed on the casting to help you paint him, another figure w/o hat firing a pistol, which is tilted sideways to keep the powder from falling out of the firing pan, 3 variants of troopers: one with separate arm for animation, one waving sword over his head and one holding his sword at his side. The swords are all thick and heavy so as not to break off during use.

There are also 2 dismounted cuirassiers: an officer and a trooper holding his carbine in a pose right out of the Funcken book (see the dismounted Austrian cuirassier in the book), p1us one dead cuirassier and one dead cavalry horse.Finally, there is a regular standard bearer with lots of nice detail on the finial and cross belts.

11. Guernsey Foundry SYW 25mm Russians: Bryan Ansell also sent me a box of what he calls the "Russian Reinforcement Deal" which includes a bunch of musketeers and grenadiers wearing their distinctive blue capes rolled and slung like a blanket roll. All are without jackets, which have been left behind at the wagonberg before the battle, so you will want to paint them in their red sleeved waistcoats. There are 8 variants of march attack, each having subtle variants in facial expression or haircut. There is also a standard bearer and an officer walking with a musket in his hand.

The grenadiers have 7 march attack poses and note they do not have capes rolled around their torsos, ie they are capeless (?). Nice details include the matchbox on their cross belt, and the highly detailed mitre caps, belly boxes and cartridge pouches. There is also a standard bearer and officer in waist coat holding musket (wearing mitre cap) and another offlcer similarly posed but wearing a tricorne.

The drummer (mitre) and 2 more officers (tricorn) are wearing the green uniform coat. One of the officers is particularly great: bareheaded and holdng his musket in a defending position and looking as though he intends to hold his position if its the last thing that he does.

12. Future Guernsey Foundry SYW releases: Steve Philips, who is now the west coast distributor of Foundry figures, (Ed Patrick of Pendragon Miniatores will still serve the US east of the Mississippi, from what I understand) advises me that he has received samples of the next batch of Russian offlcers, and, get this, Prussian Hussars! Yikes, I cants wait to see these flgures. Also, artillery and crews are scheduled to be ready in time for this year's Historicon convention.

Guernsey Foundry and Wargames Foundry have moved together into the same location on the Isle of Guernsey. The Foundry catalog is now available on computer disk for IBM-compatible PCs. The disk is free. Please note that the new address for the company is as follows:

The Foundry Ltd
Huberts Lane, Off Doyle Road, St. Peter Port, Guernsey
Channel Islands, Great Britain GY1 1RG
Phone: 01481 714241 Fax: 01481 714905

You can also order Foundry figures from their US office at 1549 Marview Drive, Westlake, Ohio 44145. Phone: (216) 871-4587, or from Steve Philips at 4761 North Bear Canyon Road, Tucson, Arizona 85749. Phone: (520) 749~703; Fax: (520) 299-0141.

13. SYWA Official Coffee Mug: I've still got about 30 mugs left and after that, they will no longer be available. Green ceramic mug with beige clay medallion of Frederick embedded into the mug. It's hard to really describe how cool this mug looks, but you won't be sorry that you bought one once you see it. Price is $15.00 plus $3.00 First Class postage. Proceeds help fund our convention in South Bend as well as other activities such as Tricon. Make checks payable to "Jim Purky" and send to 3127 Park Place, Evanston, IL 60201.

14. Paul Petri's Historical T-shirts: I don't know if Paul has a name for his enterprise yet, but if you were at this year's SYWA convention, you saw everyone wearing t-shirts with Old Fritz's puss on it. Paul also plans to add a co1or shirt with Marshal Soubise (this looks great). Write to Paul at 1012 Dartmouth Drive, Bartlett, IL for information about available shirts and prices.

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