Mounted General Pack 1, Prussians (GEN1) and Mounted General Pack 3, Austrians (GEN3), by Rank and File Figures These are a (relatively) new release by Rank and File, and came in good time for my local game club's experimental attempts at adding detail to the command rules of BNIII. Both sets have, nice, clean figures, but my impression is that the sculptor for the Austrians was either more experienced or a Habsburg sympathiser, but I'll get back to that, later. Firstly, the Prussians: they are cast in the saddle and separate from their horses. There are two figure types, one in a picklehaube and one wearing a forage cap. The picklehaube is too small, for my liking, and is reminiscent of a Great War helmet; in fact, both officers could pass for W.W.I officer figures, which may well have been the designer's intention. Fortunately, the mix seems to be eight officers in forage caps to four in picklehaubes. The Austrian figures, on the other hand, seem to possess an `élan that their northern counterparts somehow lack. Both figures are each grasping a sword; one wears a double-breasted tunic, mutton-chops and shako, while the other wears a for-and-aft bicorne and reminds me of Marshal Radetsky. His be-medaled chest is proudly thrust forward, his sleeves are adorned with lace, and his mustache and goatee are obviously neatly trimmed and waxed. In either case, the lack of diversity of poses will require those gamers who prefer to create "tiny dioramas" when assembling command stands to seek to add other manufacturers' figures. Frontier and Falcon spring to mind. Price per pack is $8.00. for twelve officers and mounts. -Finis- Back to Clash of Empires No. 3/4 Table of Contents Back to Clash of Empires List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Keith Frye This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com