Historicon has come and gone, and from what folks have told me, it was a good one. The number one complaint that I've heard was that there was too much new stuff, particularly Ancients, which absorbed a lot of lunch money.
Starting with Ancients, 19th Century Miniatures has jumped into this arena with both feet. They have expanded their OLD GLORY 15mm line with Macedonians, Ancient Indians, Late Achaemenid Persians, Republican Romans, Carthaginians, Spanish, Libyans, Numidians, and Germans. The ones that we have seen scale out at about 15M on the Barrett Scale and are as fine a castings as we have seen lately. Also included in the appropriate packs are lengths of piano wire for pikes and long cavalry spears. A very nice touch If you are playing "Warhammer Ancients" or DBM, this is fight down your ally. One slight criticism of Wh Century is the lack of DBA packaging. The explanation is that it would be cost prohibitive. Perhaps as this growing company expands, this will be in the offering at a later date
Speaking of Ancients and DBA, Essex has just released 6 more armies with emphasis being on Ancient Chinese. They now have Early & Later Shang Chinese (#s 6 & 16a), Early Northern Barbarians (#7), and Chou & Spring and Autumn Chinese (#16b). They scale out at 15M and are up to the usual Essex standards as far a quality goes. The packs of 9 infantry, 4 cavalry, chariots, etc. are also available separately for those of you who want to build your own army.
On the rules set front, "Battle for Empire" has been released. The covers the era of British colonialism, 1870-1902. These rules are in the popular Arty Conliffe style, similar to "Shako", "Patriots & Loyalist" and "Mr. Lincoins War". If this system appeals to you, these will fill in the gap
On the World War II front, rumors abound' The first is that the masters for the Battle Honors 25mm U.S, ETO figures are finally on the way from England as well as the South Pacific Commonwealth troops. With any luck at all, they should be in your local shop by mid September Also the problems with the M3 A1 Stuart have been worked out and they are back in production. For the 20mm fans, FAA is producing their new line of Armoured vehicles including a PZ 35t and a T-28. Hopefully, these will include the instructions their guns lack These should be available by mid August. Also early war German Mountain Troops and Late War Panzer Grenadiers in their new squad pack format. (I wonder where I hey got that idea).
As usual, there are also new Pirates for both Dixon and Foundry, but we'll talk more about them next time Also Dixon has expanded their Wild West line, but as we haven't seen those yet, it will have to wait as well.
On a personal note, I would like to thank all the folks who have sent in their comments about this column Some have been good, and some have haven't, but the fact that folks are at least taking the time to look at it makes it worthwhile.
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