As promised in the previous issue, here are the new Elite French figures but before I review these I must make a correction. I warned readers that I was entering unchartered territory trying to identify the British figures in the last review. As expected I did get it wrong - the figures concerned were not British at all but Portuguese which explains the epaulets etc, (at least the uniforms were basically British!) Now, onto the French. DESIGN/QUALITY: As with the previously reviewed figures, these are of a uniformly high standard. They are well cast with a minimum of flash - most have little or none save from a few casting lugs on the bottom of the bases. Naturally this means that little preparation is required to ready them for painting; another plus with most Elite figures. The best of the selection we received would have to be the voltigeurs in 'tenue de route' (campaign dress). They have the long trousers rolled up or gathered at the ankles and the waterproof covering on the shako. They are perfect for any of the later campaigns from Spain to Russian, the German campaign (1813) and the final defence of France, 1814. The figures themselves are nicely proportioned and animated in poses perfect for skirmishing figures. Also received were a number of officers in bicorne - a useful addition. Although it was quite common historically, while there are plenty of Revolutionary period there are not many depicted wearing bicorne in the Napoleonic era. If you have a look at the new Elite ad in this issue or on the bottom of the back cover you will see that Leroy Simpson has used bicorne-wearing officers for his Polish regiment. In addition to this was a mounted officer in shako. The standard Elite mounted figure, he has saddle furniture moulded as part of the figure and fits well on the horse - a large but reasonable looking animal. Other figures depicted above include a wide variety of fantassin including line grenadier company, voltigeur and even a battalion fanion figure in a number of subtly different marching poses. The slight variations in most of these poses gives a nicely animated touch to your massed formation. The only figure that seemed a little awkward is the NCO(?) with the arm extended perhaps exhorting his men to dress the ranks properly! The arm looks 'stuck on' and appears at an anatomically impossible angle. Nevertheless, in a battalion formation it wouldn't look too out of place and, as before, add a nice variety to the number of poses. RANGE: Elite make figures depicting every one of the major Napoleonic protagonists (and a few of the smaller ones like Portuguese!) and also do a reasonably comprehensive range of ACW figures as well. AVAILABILITY/COST: They are available by mail order from Elite. The price has recently gone up to $1.60 per foot figure but even with this modest increase they are still one of the most affordable figures on the market. In a further development the former owner of Elite, Nathan Vinson, has sold out to Leroy Simpson, partner of Scott Robertson (1st Corps), based in Townsville. It is Leroy's superb painting and basing of Elite's Poles (reviewed in the last issue) that is on show at the bottom of the back cover. At Cancon I heard a few grumbles about the amount of H&M stuff in the magazine in proportion to other periods. As the last issue was in fact a H&M special, I didn't think it was too bad but lest we be accused of bias Cannon Fodder Miniatures have come to the rescue with a plethora of figures from a number of historical periods an none of them remotely Napoleonic! Back to Table of Contents -- Kriegspieler #8 To Kriegspieler List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Kriegspieler 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