Elastolin Miniatures

40mm Medieval (figures)

Reviewed by Nick Nascati

Generally speaking, most wargamers consider any figure larger than 25mm, too big for anything but skirmish games. With the price of 25's, it is time to reconsider this opinion. Elastolin has been around for a long time, dating back to Pre WW II days, their 40mm range has been available for about 30 years. These figures can make the claim (I believe), to be the only current range to have a set of wargame rules written specifically for them. Those rules being the Chainmail Rules by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perrin,

The figures without exception are exquisitely modelled, with a careful eye for correct anatomy and detail, resulting in a quality unsurpassed by any smaller figures. For the Pike and Shot gamer, the company has five ranges to offer which are immediately applicable:

1. Medieval Knights - 10 foot knights and 2 mtd knights in the armor of the late 15th century, These figures are useful for The Wars of the Roses, The Burgundian-Swiss Wars, and the Early Italian Wars.

2. Landsknechnts and Reiters (Knights) - 19 foot including 5 artillery men, and 5 mounted figures (in full armor), all suitable for a variety of Landsknechnts and Swiss formations.

3. Turks - 6 foot figures, including a musket armed Janissary, suitable for the entire period up to 1683.

4. Domestics - 6 figures, from a blacksmith to a milkmaid, useful for a variety of roles in populating medieval and Renaissance towns.

5. Siege Equipment- 5 different guns (which actually fire), 2 mantlets, a covered wagon, and several other beautifully detailed items.

Aside from these figures, the other offerings include Romans, Vikings, Huns, Normans and Saxons, ACW, U.S. Cavalry and Cowboys and Indians. The plastic is easy to work with for conversions, and virtually any needed troop type can me made by selecting the right figure. The larger size of these figures makes painting relatively easy. They look good when given a basic paint job, and absolutely breathtaking when given some extra care. Both novice and expert will enjoy painting them.

The figures must be used as an entire army, as except for a couple of very obscure European sources, there are no other sources of 40mm figures. I have been told, but cannot confirm, that some of the personality types made by Dragontooth Miniatures measure 40mm, this bears looking into.

Regarding their use as wargame figures, I have fought battles with 200 + figures per side on a 6 x 12 table, and there was no problem with crowding. For skirmish games, they are ideal, being large enough to really personalize, but small enough for a good sized skirmish.

At present, all but the Cowboys and Indians are available unpainted. One word of warning. The figures are supplied in "kit form", i.e. many of them need to have heads, arms, weapons, etc. attached, and all need to be attached to their bases. The best way to assemble them, is to make use of any of the many instant glues now on the market. A foot figure costs about $.60, and mounted figure about $1.20. You also get a 10% discount when you buy 10 or more of one kind.

As to rating the figures, I am going to depart from my usual impartial stance, and give the entire line a solid 5.0, as I see it, they are just about perfect in every way!

Elastolin Figures are available from a single source: Continental Hobbies, Inc., P.O. Box 116, Adelphia, NJ 07710.

A Large SSAE will bring you their latest catalog and price list. One additional note, Henry Bodenstadt (who runs Continental Hobbies), keeps a stockpile of about 1,000 of each figure in the line and can provide almost instant order processing. I have received figures generally within 5 days of my putting an order form in the mail!

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