25mm Kitney & Company my heroes for saving Battle Honours 15mm`s are a company to watch in the future. They have released some very nice 25mmAustro-Hungarians from 1859 & 1866, with 1866 Saxons to suit. 41 packs so far of infantry and artillery - £2.50 for 4 figures with variants. From the same company come some very exciting 25mm Eastern Front types. Waffen SS (12 packs) and all the Russians you could possibly want (29 packs). These C20th figures are truly masterpieces in their own right. Whilst still on 25mm WW2, 1st Corps have released some very characterful 1941-43 British Infantry. In fact they are a bit cartoonish and so most suitable for Gauntlet Publications new "Gott in Himmel", tongue in cheek wargames rules by Mathew Sparkes. Redoubt have begun to release their redesigned Peninsular Napoleonics of some 2,000 figures. Unfortunately, I`m not impressed, but don`t let that put you off - plenty of character, as they say. 60p except Harper & Sharpe, who are 70p each. Redoubt have also begun a multi-part American Civil War range in similar fashion and style to their popular ECW range. Separate heads and bits with several variations in step or weapons carriage to each basic pose. NEWSFLASH... Wargames / Guernsey / The Foundry If you buy multiples of 10 of any one figure, the price per casting is now 63p. The best news of all, is that this includes the price of separate shields and weapons for Ancients and medieval fans, which were 7p each on top of the basic figure cost ! Latest releases include Custers Detail - a very good Custer with 8 dismounted troopers to be followed by Reno`s Detail shortly with Reno in a straw hat and more trooper types. ; A new Colonial range is at the planning stage and they`re looking at doing the Rif Wars (25mm ?) in Spanish Morocco. Phone, fax or write to The Foundry to get hold of some free sample figures of the period of your choice - see wargames press for details. 20mm C20th Rolf Hedges of Bandera Miniatures (32 Linnet Mews, Balham, London SW12 8JE) attended Triples with his staggering range of 20mm SCW figures and artillery pieces, many suitable for WW1 & WW2. Also from Rolf come Liberation Miniatures German WW2 Mountain troopers in helmets and smocks are excellent. Rolf is working on a new late C20th range which includes Eastern "freedom fighters / militia" suitable for Chechen rebels and African guerrillas / mercenaries. SKYTREX have released a new range of 20mm WW2 infantry to compliment their armour ranges. The infantry are sold in section packs - good idea - either moving or firing. An Australian correspondent has told me that they were worse than WARSQUAD from several years ago and that he even returned them to the manufacturer at his own expense! Lots of nice shiny new castings from SHQ. Some lovely figures, just a little too fragile for the average wargamer - particularly when the 13-year olds at the club get their hands on them. As mentioned in Gauntlet no.8, I'm now importing a range of figures from Italy - ITALWARS. Well the first samples arrived the Thursday before Triples and I was staggered by the quality - far better than I was expecting - well up to if not surpassing Dave Allsop`s style of Hotspur/MLR figures. Everyone who saw the figures was impressed. The WW2 range starts with Italian Marines of the 10th MAB Division. the best troops of the Italian armed forces after the armistice in 1943. Fought alongside the Germans at Anzio, in Yugoslavia and in the Alps. Many can be used as later Folgore paratroopers with plenty more to follow. My favourite range has to be the Great War 1915 -1918 Italians and Austrians. Many more available soon including Arditi assault troops and Detachment Rommel! IT FIGURES ! Will other wargame figure manufacturers please note that when you want to bring out a new range, you have to follow IT FIGURES example. Since May, IT have released surprisingly well thought out ranges of later Great War figures suitable for 1916-18 in helmets. British / Scots / Germans / French and Aussies so far. Not just riflemen and HMGs as many manufacturers would settle with but Staff sets, Lewis gun teams, bombing parties, trench raiders, pioneers, tank crew, trench mortars, snipers etc. Full marks, in fact 11 out of 10 for the breadth of the range IT. The figures themselves are a bit flat in aspect and more of the Britannia mould than say SHQ. Nevertheless they have period flavour or should that be lice, dripping from every crease, fold and seam. The completeness of the range on offer makes them a very attractive proposition. How about some "doughboys" !!! As I write, resin armoured vehicles, late war cavalry and early war 1914 infantry are available. Figures around 36p each. Lewis & Bombing two man teams 72p each. Britannia have released some stonkingly good Partisans and Soviet support weapons. At last the heavier weapons available to some of the larger partisan formations have not been forgotten with anti-tank guns and crews, 60mm mortars, and HMGs. It`s often forgotten that many Eastern European Partisan groups fought in divisional size formations or higher ! I must congratulate Britannia on the Soviet 2 horse gun limber and Partisan riders for £3.50. All extremely suitable for battles big and small on the Steppes or in the Balkans. 20mm Historical Wodensfield Miniatures have been mentioned before for their 1/72nd scale ACW range (10 different infantry for £3.00). The first releases of troops in right shoulder shift poses were as good as any 25`s on the market yet their latest offerings of US Sharpshooters does let them down a little! Maybe I`m being too fussy, but certainly worth a second look from 6 SWALLOWFIELDS DRIVE, CANNOCK, STAFFS, WS12 5QU. As I mentioned briefly in the last issue, Paul Sulley of Tumbling Dice Miniatures has expanded his range of "Airfix" size 20mm pewter figures into other historical ranges. John Watson sent me quite a few of the Tumbling Dice War of The Roses / Burgundian Wars range and I am only too glad to review them. There is just something about the size and feel of these figures which I really like. Detail is adequate and in scale, no heavy folds of cloth or flesh to have to worry about. This means that they paint up quickly and don't have that artificial look conveyed by other more detailed figures and each figure type has up to half a dozen subtle variants. Unfortunately, the metal is brittle, you must accept that a dropped figure is a broken figure. This also means that conversions are difficult with heads and arms snapping when a knife is applied. The only figures unfortunately which let this otherwise very good range down are the archers. Figures are 35p each whilst battlepacks of 100 figures give a saving of 20%. 10mm You may have eschewed 10mm in the past but Pendraken should get you looking at them again. I saw Pendraken`s extensive 10mm ranges at Sheffield and was tremendously impressed by the castings. The quality of the Pendraken figures was not only superior to many 15mm figures available today but even a few 25mm companies as well. The thing about 10mm is NOT TO BE A CHEAPSKATE. Just because it`s a smaller scale, doesn`t mean you should think about wargaming on the cheap if you're the sort who normally lashes out 70-90p on a 25mm figure. I like mass battles. Believe me, DBA/DBM really improves if you put 10 - 15, 10mm figures on a base meant for 3 - 4 15mm chaps. Their medievals were superb, chiefly being late types in gothic / 1450-90`s armour. excellent for the WoR / Burgundian Wars. But do look out ! They are selling packs as 100YW / Scots War of Independence - where the figures are in various visored sallets and full plate armour who would be normally happy gracing WoR battlefields. Spanish Civil War range is over 10 years old now and still crap. Steer clear of these. Books The Battle of Barnet by Pat McGill is an excellent piece of research material. Once again Pat has thrown himself completely into his subject and leaves no stone or previous account of the battle unturned in his quest to uncover the most probable course of events on Easter Sunday 1471. Barnet is famous both for being a battle fought at close quarters in a thick fog and for the death of the War of the Roses most romantic character Richard Neville "Kingmaker". Pat begins by covering the political scene between 1469 and 71, then takes an indepth look at the campaign before turning to the battle itself and his more plausible interpretation of how the armies deployed and the subsequent events. All of this is neatly wrapped up in 40 close typed pages. A bargain at around £6, I think, from Freezywater Publications. See them at the shows under the lance and longbow banner , who sell very nice quality sweatshirts I might add or make inquiries to 13 Rochester Drive, Hampton Park, Lincoln. LN6 0XQ . Back to The Gauntlet No. 9 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1997 by Craig Martelle Publications This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com