HEAD FOR THE HILLS A belated Ho, Ho, Ho, because this is being written within days of the Xmas deluge. I have many spies and operatives who get me info and lots of other stuff. Recently, a big bag arrived, filled with that dangerous lead we keep hearing about. After taking the proper health precautions, I examined it closely and discovered that it was the latest batch from Old Glory, which supposedly contains some of the transition figures made by their new designer, either from scratch or using semi-completed masters. The first bit of news is that Old Glory is now "officially" a large l5mm figure scale-all the figures would measure in bareheaded at the new l7mm scale, but they have retained the slimness of the line, so they don't appear bulky just big. The horses are tall not fat. Bearing this in mind, let's see what we have. The French cavalry has been filled out nicely. A lot of attention has been lavished on the heavies (Dragoons and Cuirassiers). The Dragoons have at least six main figures: command (three), regular troopers (three types, including campaign dress). The Cuirassiers have seven main types, including campaign dress and a charging figure with a loose arm for positioning as you wish. In all cases, these men are well- animated and carry the proper equipment. There are lots of nice details, as we've come to expect from this line. In the light cavalry range, the Hussars are well detailed-even a bit jaunty-and the elite companies in busbies are represented (this is also true in the case of the Chasseurs). The Carabineers are presented in the old bearskin uniform. The Line Lancers are very nice and the Chapaska troopers (rarely cast by anyone) are done in a charging pose with the lance arm loose for individual positioning. A varied selection of horses exists and variants of troopers are used as well. The Austrians are exceptional. A lot of care has been taken with the Cuirassiers, making them some of the nicest animated (especially the charging trooper) figures in the range. The lights are also very good, with the Uhlans reminding me of a late 1800's print pose I've seen. The Hussars are as jaunty as the French, and the Dragoons/Chevals are even more animated than they were historically. The Russians are next, and here we see some sort of transition at work. I have the Russian command (1812) in field dress and coats. The command includes mounted officers-and by the way, these officers are very useful for other armies, especially the Germanic allied forces. All these guys are a mix of the old style, "real" personalities. Men are drinking from canteens, cheering, wounded, and.... Now here is one of the intrusions of fantasy into historical gaming which Dick Bryant complains about. A line infantryman cheers as he waves an Eagle he has captured. Real? NOT. Most totally bogus. These command packs are still great despite that and just what you'd expect. But now let's talk about the line. I've got line advancing and defending, two separate packs which look so much alike they could be mere variants, and, speaking of that, I've got twelve examples of each pack and I can't find a single different pose-and Mikie doesn't like that. It could be a fluke in what was sent to me, but then again... As to the figures themselves, I'd have to describe them as sort of bloated flats. The seam/mold line runs down the middle of the face and body. This means that the figure was most likely sculpted from a sideways view which makes the figure less round. The muskets in both poses are presented up and forward in a somewhat uncomfortable pose. (When you view the figure head-on, it looks like he's carrying a flagpole.) There isn't the same looseness of previous infantry yet there's not enough stiffness for a parade march. It is still a good figure but not the best. A nice little touch is in the figure carrying a haversack. At first glance, the haversack being carried high under the armpit may not look right, but let me assure you, it is. During one of the reenactments I was at, my First Sergeant was a notorious strap tightener. I soon felt like a cartoon of a little kid stuffed into a snowsuit. The actual reason for wearing a haversack high was to keep it from bashing into your thigh or hip. All in all, Old Glory is still a bargain. The going price is $18.50, for which you still get a large bag of some of the finest figures available. My hope is that they play around with the designs some more, never get into blister packaging, and keep the variety. In the last issue, I did break down and confess that I am a terrain junkie. So in pursuit of that little psychosis, let's take a look at some products.  I should probably give you a little background so that you can appreciate my current situation. I live in a medium-sized, 100+ year-old house. The 150,000 to 200,000 painted figures (it varies) battle for space with art materials, plant collections, computer/game machine banks, antique marbles and more. (I'm just lucky that Sheila only collects piles of manuscripts, which she edits as one of the Publishers at DAW Books.) Because of my collecting mania, I find myself left with one little room in which I have a 6x8 table surrounded by plants and shelves that run from the floor to the ceiling. And I already have enough trees and Geo-Hex to cover a small state. Could I stop? But noooooooo! Bearing all that in mind, here we go on a basic tour of some of the latest that's available. One of the most complete offerings of terrain goodies is available from Geo-Hex, 2126 North Lewis, Portland, OR 97227 (503) 288 4805 FAX (503) 288 8992. Besides being the home office of Geo-Hex, they now offer scenic felt mats/table covers at 4x6 from $30 to $40. There are seascape, starscape, gamescape, and battlescape versions (with the printed hexes) along with stream, road, farm field-forest material. This is not just felt. This stuff is flocked and comes in green or desert (for the dorks, I mean enthusiasts, who play those WWII games). Plus they have all kinds of corner locks and tree bases. I find that the felt and the Geo-Hex tend to stick together nicely anyway. When requesting a catalog from Geo-Hex, send a SASE. And more stuff reaches me from David Jackson, Pharaoh's Arms, PO Box 32, Munster Hamlet, Ontario, Canada KOA 3PO, the Canadian and United States representative of Chariot Miniatures. Recommended is their 15mm Revolutionary (French, that is) rangethese are a real 15 in the Old Glory style, with lots of animation and action. The Paris mob is very well done down to the heads on poles. Many of these figures will make great generic mobs to boot, because they are such an assorted lot. The regulars are also well represented for the Austrians and the French armies. Chariot is one of the most underrated lines around and continues to amaze me with its quality releases. They also follow a "LAW" that I have observed which I call Mikie's Law of Figure Sculptors, which states that, "All sculptors seem bound to do some of their best work on artillery crews." Chariot is no exception. My helmet's off to Declan McCabe, the factory manager of Chariot, and his entire staff for achieving a standard of excellence on the "mini" side of the hobby that a lot of the larger scales should at least try to equal. The Chariot range of Napoleonics is also extensive and pretty well covers the Revolutionary through 1815 periods. Chariot is a company that is starting to make great strides. And speaking of rating things, I've decided there's a good rating system for me to use in the words of a famous old U.S. TV commercial, it's the "MIKIE LIKES IT SCALE." I can go with that. Mike Hickling of Wargames South, 24 Cricketers Close, Ockly, Dorking Surrey RH5 5BA produces a ton of very nice figures for just about everything. The 1:200 scale range by J. J. Croucher is really nice and clean, the style smooth and loaded with details. At the moment, they cover the ACW completely, the Hundred Years War, WW2, and Modern, offering all you could want and desire. It's time to bring out the reading glasses so the elderly among us can see all the magnificent details and animation. A really professional job with lots of great animation. They also produce a really nice line of AB Napoleonic large 15s, very well animated and detailed and the style is in between Freikorps and Battle Honors. They are represented by EHQ, our parent company. So I'll report more if I can weasel some samples out of them. Mike Hicking also produces a darn nice set of flags in 10, 15, and 25mm. Unfortunately, these are only Medieval, Hundred Years War, and War of the Roses. The flags are done in a style that has a faded, "dull" flag look rather than that real slick shiny printed style, a good job. Whew, pant, pant. My Mac has a program which I used to replace function sounds with recordings from the movie 2001-HAL talks a lot. "Everything is running smoothly. Good-bye." "Good-bye, Hal. Do you want to help me make some trees?" "Warning, Mikie, your wife says that you have too much stuff on the 80 MG hard drive and she wants to delete me." "Oh, no! Them wimmen just don't know what fun is. Now where's that new game disk I got in the mail?" JEROME'S CORNER 2 In my personal quest to bring good stuff to all you gamers and researchers, and stymied by the realization that "I just don't have the time to do this anymore," I shamelessly abased myself to Lionel Leventhal, the power behind a ton of excellent books from Greenhill Books, Park House, 1 Russel Gardens, London NW11 9NN, and he graciously sent me a copy of WITH EAGLES TO GLORY via the fastest sea mail I've ever seen. This gentleman has done the work for you. John H. Gill has written probably the most complete history of the Germanic-French allies in 1809 that I've ever seen, and all in one volume, too (and, I kid you not, my computer just played the opening of the "Blue Danube" [courtesy of 2001 audio clips]). Now we're not looking for a book full of exact uniform detail, although enough is provided for the novice to get excited and hunt up uniform sources. Here we do have a series of who's who-ends a lot of the confusion I've always had about certain units and organizations. The book's style is far from dry as it deals with each State's troops and organization; it tells the tales of just what went on, how they were raised, what they did and where, relations between the Emperor and the various princes, and more, more, much more. There are a ton of maps of places that I've never seen and all are quite readable and clear. The style of writing gives these unsung units a feeling of realism and personality while conveying the understanding that, for all their spirit, they weren't used as well as they should have been. And, yes, I, as the "Merry Monarch," the reincarnation of Jerome, was sort of a "not as good as he should have been" guy. Hey, but since we game in an alternate universe, I can redeem Westphalia any time I want. You'll find things about the Tyrol uprising and other areas that have never been published to a wide audience and certainly have not been available in English. For instance, for those who thought a Napoleonic engagement with less than 10,000 men on each side was tiny, there are a hundred accounts of companies of infantry with a couple of guns and a squadron or two of Hussars, Dragoons, and even Cuirassiers chasing all over the countryside. It's an ideal setup for the skirmish gamer (or someone who can't afford 25mm anymore). And to top it off, all data on the units is fully listed. Each chapter can be viewed by any gamer as a minicampaign with all the orders of battle written out. For the interested historian, this is the source, and if you have "copious spare time" to do more on your own, this is also the source for sources. Most , if not all the material used here, is from primary sources. The "period" illustrations are all black and white and there are some I've not seen, including many good ones of the various Princes. I always do find it fascinating to see the people connected with the events. What John H. Gill has done is a rare event for Napoleonic books and that is to make Eagles as lively as any ACW or later narrative (very good use of quotes from an era when few outside the English or French left written accounts) while giving the reader all the information he or she needs without it becoming top-heavy with data. To give this the best compliment I can (remember, I'm in the publishing biz, too), this is a good read. It is also one of the Must Haves in any serious Napoleonic library. One of the things that the EE&L players can claim to be is the popularizers of the idea of the company stand. By this we mean that one stand of figures represents one actual company of men-in any scale or any time frame. Over the years, I've gotten a lot of favorable mail on this subject. For most of Gaming History, games have been concerned with the idea of figure scale: one figure equals 10, 20, 50, 100, etc. I started out with the old "Frappe" rules, which were at 1=10 in 20/25mm. This ratio became an early casualty due to the increasing price of figures and the cost of raising several armies. As new scales of figures appeared and the desire increased to fight really large battles with rules which more truly reflected what actually happened historically (rather than CLS-better known as "Column, Line, and Slaughter"-or Bowling For Austrians) the larger ratios of castings to menshowed up. Along with this came abstractions where a battalion could be represented by three stands or four. What happens in that situation is the sacrifice of what a battalion can physically do for its mere presence on the field. Now, as our club became more interested in formations, what they could do, and how long it took--that became an important factor in gaming, and any in-depth study of a battle told you that many times a battle was lost before the fight because of the initial orders of deployment. This led us to the use of templates for maneuvering space between units which was both realistic and almost entirely ignored by 99% of all rules-although it should be the standard for all armies of all times. Just why do you think that checkerboard formations existed for thousands of years? That was to try to make sure that units didn't fall all over each other. The use of a single stand for each company (at any scale) allows you to use accurate formations, no matter what period you're involved with. In fact, it makes you act more realistically on the battlefield. Now this means that you could represent a company with one figure on a stand and use a roster system. We do use a roster system but some players use the one figure per stand and others use three or four--guess what I do? As long as the stands are the same size, it doesn't matter. In this I agree with an article in Miniaure Wargames about how just plain great a "big battalion" looks. A battalion should look like a battalion. Not even the Spanish or the Neapolitans would flee from the assault of four French figures. Thus we come to the matter of scale. I differ with the learned Editor here. Never really totally explaining himself, Jean says: "5mm, yes. Ha. Ha. Mezame. Do you not see? Ze flanks are ze more maneuvering units. See ze big picture? Not as if I paint it myself. Ha, ha, ha, zut alorzes, chevrolet coup pay." Or something in that vein. Which I translate to mean that deep in his brain cells he has a conception that really tiny units could exist with three-mile flanks Yeeek! Here we must say that we have nothing against 5mm. Indeed, I did some design consulting for the most excellent Alder ACW line (and you know I have lots of this stuff, too). My 5, 6,10mm figures are all on stands not much smaller than the 15s. You can't go much smaller and I won't. No, no, no-Jean can't make me. I've remounted all my stuff twice and I never will again. This is where I have to whack Jean on the head with a wine bottle each time he says it. Dave Ryan's Empire (Partizan Press, 26 Cliffsea Grove, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, SS9 INQ) sent me a nice packet for '93. It included Napoleonic Notes and Queries, ECW Notes and Queries and the Napoleonic Association's My Military Experiences, 1806-1816, which is the slim notes of Major H. Wundenberg. The major was a Prussian in '06, Westphalian till '13 (In the Grenadier Guard and the Guard Chasseur, and he got out of Russia alive) and re-Prussianized for Waterlooan interesting little booklet. The other magazines are digest versions not unlike a previous incarnation of this magazine. No.7 of NN & Q features uniforms of the Portuguese (pre-1806), raising Highlanders, fortress construction (the big classic types), the Swabian Circles military organization of the Holy Roman Empire (that's the Wurttemberg area), and a lineup of reviews of video, books, and the like. Issue No. 8 follows along with nice articles on the history of Austrian Infantry Regiment #1 and its reenactment unit (quite nice), the English invasion plans, Wurttemberg flags, and lots of other little goodies. These and two other magazines are available in the U.S. from: Military Matters, 55 Taylor Terrace, Hopewell, NJ (a good source of books, etc.). PAINTING HINTS 2: THE PRIMAL URGE One thing that you hear a lot about is priming. This is a subject that has really changed over the years with some people even claiming you don't need to prime anymore if you use acrylics. Technically, yes, but let's explore that idea a little further. Priming used to be necessary because the high lead content of figures would chemically eat its way through the old paints-that was the main reason. But now figure alloys are more stable and that problem has largely disappeared. So the most important reason to prime your figures these days is that a primer not only seals the surface to be painted, it also gives the paint a surface to cling to, and it affects the color painted on top of it. There are three types of paint: transparent, opaque, and interference. I'll get back to that later. For now, let me continue to tell you about priming. At one time, I was down on spray-priming because many of the old spray paints would half dry in midair creating undesirable effects on the final paint job; this problem has largely been done away with. Now whether you spray or hand prime your figures, the first thing to avoid is a primer with a slick finish-always use a matte paint. What makes a matte finish flat is that its structure-without going into the long technical explanation-is rougher than that of gloss. This makes for a surface that will allow paint to cling to it and not "bead up." Now here's the most asked question about priming: What color should you prime with? EYOWOUCH! The choices are light (white to gray) or black. Black is favored by a lot of painters because you can really dry brush all over it, letting the casting automatically produce shadows. This is really a help if you don't paint too well or if you have a bunch of figures to do. Now comes the part that has to do with paint. All paint is translucent to some degree. Light passes through it, reflecting off the pigment and also from the primer underneath it. A lighter primer produces a "brighter" figure while black primer tends to dull a figure. This is where you need to think about the type of paint you are using and how bright or rich it is. Oh, yes, I mustn't forget about interference colors-I knew I had about 99% of you stumped there. Interference colors reflect their own color in intense direct light and transmit a complementary in indirect light. This "flip" varies according to the surface and the surface color. Adding a small amount of black in this situation will produce a brighter color--and that's not something you'll find in the standard painting guide. So that's the story of priming. It's all really up to you. I do a lot of black or dark brown, especially for smaller figures, but on Austrians (or figures with a lot of white), I always use a deep ocher-so there. Catalogs Here's some that you can't do without and which will squeeze your credit cards dry: Leichtung Workshops, 4944 Commerce Parkway, Cleveland, Ohio 44128. This is mainly a woodworker's catalog, but it has a huge section of "mini" tools. In the same vein is Micro-Mark, 340 Snyder Avenue, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922. But this is 80 pages of tools and stuff geared for boat- building, dioramas, and all kinds of other stuff, much of it at discount. Besides the tools, they have all kinds of discounted Woodlands Scenes materials, casting goos, molds for casting rocks and cliffs, some inexpensive stuff called E-Z-Water. I love it -BUY! BUY! Whew, I just found out about this place. Jerry's Artarama, P. O. Box 1105, New Hyde Park, NY 11040. Even if you have a good art store near you, get this catalog. This is a totally catalog store so the prices are 40 to 70% off and delivery charges are low. They have everything including items I've only read about. Pens, inks, all kinds of acrylics (including a highly recommended craft paint: Delta Ceramcoat-and the legendary Golden Heavy Body acrylic), plus a large selection of professional air brush supplies, and more types of brushes than you'd believe. This is the artist's version of Uncle Scrooge's Money Bin. A last word A company in England informed me that they were a "bit put off" at being compared with the Old Glory figures for a number of reasons after seeing some figures produced in England under license. This brought to mind two problems which I have often thought about. After reading all types of reviews for the two+ decades I've been in this hobby (EEK!), several basic points have emerged: the first is the constant debate about scale--with 15s and 25s sliding mms up the scales as we watch. And the second, which concerns the above comments from the British company, is about style. For lack of a better description. there are two basic styles of figures being made--Smooth and Energetic. The Smooth figure is best described by MiniFigs and Essex style figures. Everyone knows what they look like. This is the style rooted in the oldest type of miniature figures. The Energetic style has its roots in-as an example of one of the best-known firms Freikorps. This style is recognizable by attention to a lot of animation/detail, to all kinds of clothing folds, etc., and a basic "informal" soldier on the field look. Which style is preferable is a consumer's choice with the sculptor's style and the casting quality being the deciding factors. I love them all and I can't be stopped. But what probably upset the company in question was the actual casting. From the comments of my English friends, it sounds like the castings they saw were from badly made molds created from secondhand masters (like real old Xeroxes), or were not prime quality for other reasons too detailed to list here. Suffice it to say, the result was that they sure didn't see the figures that I'm familiar with. I don't know if I was actually the first to coin the term, but I use it a lot and with good reason. The term is "Figure Creep" and it really bugs me. The definition is, "When a manufacturer allows the figures within a line to keep getting bigger and bigger. The first offender was the old Battle Honors when they first appeared. For a while they were a big 15, but after a time they went way beyond that--and the Confederation of the Rhine releases were the worst offenders as they loomed to a whopping 18mm. Well, they've done it again. At this time (according to my sources-May ' 93), the Old Glory line is being done by any number of excellent sculptors, following the "guideline styles" of the late Alsop. But here's the rub. I just received a number of the latest released figures, which included advancing Austrians in shakos. Isn't anybody watching anything? If you want fantasy, these soldiers are GIANTS. Guys , these figures (running, etc.,) are 18mm in a bent-over pose. If they stood at attention, they'd be 20mm. I stood them next to some Essex figures in a standing pose (and Essex makes a Big 15). It looked like an eighteen-year old next to his twelve-year-old brother. Please get your act together, guys, and watch what you're doing. These Austrians don't even mix with the previous releases. I hate Figure Creep and the only excuse for it is poor comunications. So stop it! Somebody should be watching all these different sculptors and issue some kind of guidelines.  As I believe I mentioned previously, David Jackson, Pharoah's Arms, P. O. 32, Munster Hamlet, Ontario, Canada KOA 3PO, is the North American representative for Chariot Miniatures. He also carries a nice listing of books, offers a painting service, and sells some painted armies. David specializes in Ancient armies and has a small newsletter dealing with that period. I've been sent (in 17mm or so) some of the latest releases: one orc, one Bavarian, and one Russian. Chariot is certainly expanding, to say the least. The orc is nicely done in a full frontal posture. I'd like to see some of them advancing with sinister intentions. The Bavarian is a standard acceptable job-could be anyone's figure. The Russian is a real surprise. Chariot's style follows the smooth Minifig school-one of their triumphs is the 10mm ACW line for its incredible detail and animation. Well, the sculptor really got into this first release in the Russian line. The figure is in a "march/attack" pose with his head slightly turned. What's different is that the animation has perfectly captured the swing of the "goose step" style of marching that some armies affected. This is one of the best figures that I've seen in some time, and I hope it represents the rest of the new releases. The Napoleonic line presently includes a very decent line of Revolutionary to 1805 French, Prussians, and Austrians and the regular guys to 1815. They are now in the process of filling out the Prussians and adding the Russians and Allies. If you like good figures, you'll like these and you might get some nice surprises. Hey, at least these days there are a lot of good sculptors who produce really terrific figures even at those prices. I can still remember the days when people were saying complimentary things about figures that I would describe as: "Ack! What's on that French flagpole. It looks like an overstuffed turkey! What? That's a Cuirassier? It looks like an armored troll on a deformed buffalo!" Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 2 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by Emperor's Headquarters 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