Gunboats-N-Glory

25mm Boxer Rebellion

reviewed by Bob Beattie

Boxer Rebellion fans, here is good news and bad news. First the good news. This is the most comprehensive range of high quality figures I have seen for this Victorian Colonial Period episode. Eighty-two (82) different figures at last count (with more on the way): 13 U.S. Marines, 12 British, 6 French sailors, 4 other style sailors, 6 German Marines, 6 Russians, 6 Japanese, 6 British in spiked helmet, 14 Chinese. One can almost make an entire unit for The Sword and The Flame with each figure in a different pose. U.S. Marines come in standing and kneeling firing, advancing, loading, attacking, high port, attacking gun at waist, charging, officer, kneeling and loading shotgun, (how about those for gaming the last skirmish from the Wind and the Lion), advancing high port, and standing firing, hat turned up. All nationalities come in similar varieties. Other infantry are promised as are mounted poses. Anyone wanting to start this colorful episode in colonial history could do no better to use this line. Cost is on the high side for 25mm at $1.10 but painted figures at $2.00 are offered too.

I have painted some and they turn out very nice. So, with all this good news, what's the down side? Up size is the down side. These figures are on the big big side of 25mm. They are bigger than Rai Partha, they are bigger than Falcon, they are bigger than Frontier, they are even bigger than Wargames Foundry. They do not mix well with any of these. They stand more than a head taller than the first three mentioned and half a head taller than WF. You can argue that some people are bigger than others so some figures can be bigger than others but the rifles should all be the same size! I would love to add these to my Boxer collection (even though I already have 900 of all nationalities); but they are just too darn big. For anyone wanting to start out into this episode, I highly recommend Gunboats-N-Glory; but, for those with figures already, you may want to get a few for small-numbers skirmish gaming. I did buy a few of the melee Boxers to use as extra-large officers and standard bearers and my son plans to use some as Martians for Space 1889. Available from Miniature Soldier Depot, 130 Hill Screscent, Calverton, NY. - BOB BEATTIE

The Reviewing Stand

Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #55
To Courier List of Issues
To MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1991 by The Courier Publishing Company.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com