Roundway Figures come to us from the same people who manufacture the Ros Heroics Figures. They are 15mm detailed figures that are provided with little or no flash. They paint up quickly. The extensive line covers French and British subjects, with Dutch, Bavarians, siege equipment, etc., to follow. Some of the infantry poses are: firing (both kneeling and standing), loading, musket upright, marching and musket thrust forward. There are separate packs for command, NCO's, and grenadiers. There are even grenadiers throwing the grenade which should be useful for siege games of the period.
Horses and riders come cast separately and command packs are a vailable. The French Dragoon is particularly nice in his fur hat with hanging bag and slung musket. The best figures by and far are the engineers and artillerymen. Eight different castings are provided for each. The engineers are provided in both the coat and waistcoat only. Artillery pieces come 2 to the pack. Mounted colonels and generals round out the range. Horse comes in 4 man packs with command at 3. Foot is in 8 figure packs and command in 6. There is a gun team set that would do well for later tricorn periods as well. On the negative side. some of the riders are cast looking slightly up and to the left. I would have preferred them to be cast more normally, however they can be changed with the aid of a needle nose pliers. Unpainted the figures appear different from other lines.
However in the painted state they mix very well. I recently visited a group in Lincoln, Nebraska and saw the Roundway line with figures by Editions-Brokaw and Dixon on the same wargame table. They appear perfectly compatible. Only if you pick up a stand and look at it at eye level can you tell a difference. These figures will make a welcome addition to an existing army or as a range on which to base an entire army. Cost wise, each pack is80p. This figures out to be about $1.40 per. Add to that the postage which is 20% for surface mail and 40% for airmail to the USA. Roundway will accept both Visa and Master Card.
As a final note, Roundway indicates that they will introduce a range for the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. It can only be hoped that they will include other figures for the period so the War of Austrian Succession can be built. The range is now available from the Ship Shop in Annapolis, Maryland, which advertises in this magazine.
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