In my seemingly never-ending quest to make an historically accurate late Roman 15mm army (about which more later, maybe next issue), I recently bought some figures from a French manufacturer named Alain Touller. I got them through Campaign Game Miniatures in Spain (www. campaign-game-miniatures.com) which is run by an expatriate Brit. A truly international effort.

What little I'd heard about these figures described them as "Essex-like", which was fine with me since most of my existing army is Essex. And I can see where this description fits in terms of sculpting style and casting quality. The detail is a bit cruder than Essex, and the casting quality isn't as high, but they still compare well.

The anatomy of these figures is pretty good, meaning the figures look like humans, without oversized heads or arms, etc. The poses are more fluid than those of Essex, although there aren't multiple variants for each pose like Old Glory would give you.

His horses are OK (no one will mistake them for dogs) but nothing to get %excited about. They are reasonable size compared to the men riding the . At least he knows enough of equine behavior to pose the legs correctly, unlike Essex, some of whose horses seem to be camels in disguise, based on the way the move.

Where Touller's figures don't compare well with Essex is size. I thought I was buying figures that would be compatible with my Essex units. Unfortunately, the Touller figures are a full head taller, measuring 17-18mm from top of the stand to the eyes. These guys are big! They certainly won't mix in the same unit with Essex, and I'm not even sure I can use them in the same army.

Touller makes a number of 15mm ancient lines (including DBA and DBM army packs) and Napoleonics. He also has a line of 25mm figures, including ancients, crusaders and French revolutionary war figures. He offers some things that other manufacturers do not. For instance, he is one of the few makers who has late Roman legionaries in chainmail. And for you Napoleonic garners, he is the the only manufacturer with Russian Guard Cossack figures.

These Guard Cossack figures were not as good as the Romans. There isn't much detail on the uniforms (few folds, etc.). There is a vestige of a plastron on the chest, suggesting this figure was modified from an Uhlan. Still, they are passable, and with a good paint job will look fine on the table. Besides, if you want Guard Cossacks, you don't have a choice.

Mr. Touller does not take orders directly. Indeed, the write-up on the Miniatures Page (theminiaturespage. com) suggest he is an eccentric loner who only casts figures for his own amusement. This can make obtaining figures difficult -- Campaign Game Minis had to re-stock part of my order, and it took them six weeks to get the figures. They come 8 foot or 4 horse to a package, for 2.50 Euros (about $2.75 last time I checked).