Ros and Heroics

1/300 Napoleonics (figures)

Reviewed by Ned Zuparko
Photo by Brian Stokes

For years, economic realities have forced many wargamers into smaller and smaller figure sizes. Also, many gamers, hoping to stretch that dining room table into a full-sized battlefield, have been looking for smaller figures to provide large armies while keeping bigger figures as an outlet for their painting talents. In fact, several years ago, Minifigs brought out 5mm "blocks"; unfortunately, they just didn't appear to really be "miniatures" as much as tiny bumps of lead, and failed to catch on in the US.

When George Jeffrey, Robin Peck and Don Lambert told me that 1/300 Napoleonics had caught on in a big way In Britain, and offered to send me samples, I was, to say the least, sceptical. After all, why not just use boardgame counters? 1/300 figures (which are about halfway between the 5mm and old Scruby 9mm in size) just seemed to be too small ... until I saw them. As they say in the light beer commercial, "I am surprised"! They definitely are miniatures.

Of course, there are definite differences between a small line like this and the larger scales, and the use of such figures must be a matter of individual taste. Even though a lot of detail CAN be painted on these figures, a really good paint job will be wasted since details won't be seen on the tabletop. Therefore, it is important that we examine some of the advantages and disadvantages compared to the larger lines instead of just giving a figure a numerical rating.

1/300 scale infantry cost about 6 cenys each, a definite plus. They are easy and FAST to paint, and do allow one to indulge in detail if one wishes. Storage is easy (100 figures in a matchbox) and large armies easily created. Figures are available for the major powers and half a dozen smaller ones, and almost any uniform can be "created" by painting a different figure the right way. En masse they give an attractive "aerial view" of Divisions and Corps moving across the fields, and are eminently practical for the hard knocks of wargaming.

Of course, 1/300 scale is more for PLAYING than for painting or collecting, and there seems to be little point in using such small figures if one wishes to portray only small fights. Regimental facings and raised crossbelts will not be found on these figures!

Their best use is for the creation of an army, or to take advantage of a limited playing area. I compared the stand size for a single 25mm figure mounted at a 1:20 scale fo WRC Ancients to the 1/300's and found that 20 of them fit into the area occupied by one 25mm figure -- could this protend 1-1 scale battles? The mind boggles!

1/300 scale infantry comes with 5 infantry cast on a stand, in many poses. There is a complete line, including wagon, pontoons, limbers, guns, etc. Packs contain 50 infantry, 20 cavalry or 6 guns. Packs cost $3.00 each through the US distributor, Enola Cames, P.O. Box 1900, Brooklyn NY 11201, not including postage. Two retailers that I'm aware of carry some 1/300 scale Napoleonics, and I'm sure there are others. They are SHIP SHOP, 112 Main St., Annapolis, MD 21401 and THE LAST GRENADIER at 119 S. Golden Mail, Burbank, CA 91502. One can also order by mail from Brian Stokes, PO Box 2637, La Habra, CA 90631.

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