By Hal Thinglum – CLASH OF EMPIRES MAGAZINE – Keith Frye, 33 Ridge Road, Bloomingdale, NJ 07403 (e-mail: kmfrye@carroll.com) publishes this fine MWAN-sized quarterly miniature wargaming publication (US $12/Canada $14.50 for one volume year/4 issues) devoted to the European wars of Empire of the 19 th century and does a fine job; I enjoy his writing and approach! Thus far, six issues (two have been "double" issues) have been published and it is very well done. MWANer Scott Hansen is a Contributing Editor. The articles thus far have been leaning toward the historical aspect of the period but I suspect this is highly dependent upon the type of articles received. Double Issue 5 & 6 (Spring/Summer, 1999) was 48 pages long and featured articles on the Battle of Navarino, Prussian Cavalry 1870-71, Die Schlact Bei Langensalza 1866, Uniforms of the Kingdom of Hanover, Amphibious Assault, the Dannevirke and Dybbol Fortifications, and Pass in Review (review column). I very much enjoy "specialty" wargaming publications such as this and am very impressed with what Keith has been able to do with CoE! This period is very much overlooked by wargamers – even the Franco-Prussian War, though the most popular of the period, is not gamed very much. I suspect the second most popular period of this period would be the Crimean War and I know very few gamers who do it. One can locate figures in different scales for the majority of conflicts covered by CoE – it might not be as easy as for other time periods, but they can be found. It would be helpful for Keith, in my opinion, to list such figure lines to shake up some interest in the period. Highly recommended and my congratulations to Keith for a fine job! He deserves our support!
By Hal Thinglum – OSPREY PUBLICATIONS – These are not "new" publications, but I wonder how many people are aware of them. THE ROMANIAN ARMY OF WORLD WAR TWO (#246) by Mark Axworthy and FOREIGN VOLUNTEERS OF THE WEHRMACHT 1941-45 (#147) by Carlos Caballero Jurado from their MEN-AT-ARMS series. I recently picked them up from THE EMPEROR'S HEADQUARTERS, 7047 N. Barry St., Rosemont, IL 60018 though as you know, these OSPREY 48-page books are available almost anywhere. For many periods I have been interested in, I have been able to locate more specific uniform information elsewhere and one of the "complaints" about OSPREY has been that they are "too general." This is probably true, however, one must remember that this is probably their very purpose – to provide a "general" overview of the subject matter. In this, they are extremely successful, in my opinion. While working on my 25mm Eastern Front WWII collection, I started thinking it would be fun to add some non-German/Russian types. I started thinking about other combatants and Italy, Romania and Hungary came immediately to mind. I pulled my FAA 25mm Spanish Civil War figures thinking that perhaps I could use some of them to represent some of the above name countries.
Then I realized that I didn't have any information about uniforms for them. I checked my Knotel, Knotel & Sieg UNIFORMS OF THE WORLD, but this valuable reference work covers the period 1700-1937. Thus, these OSPREY books turned out to be my only "quick" reference to get me started. And after taking a look at the Romanian book, I realized I could use FAA "Nationalists" as Romanians for the Eastern Front! Very useful indeed! In addition, I found the "general overview" approach to be very helpful as I knew very little about the Romanian Army during WWII. Did you know they were the third largest army in the Axis and the fourth largest in the Allied forces? I didn't know that! I also didn't know what type of armor they possessed and found out they started with R-2 light tanks, Renault UE2's, and R-1 light tanks, and progressed over time to PzKpfw 38(t)s, and Pzkpfw III Ausf.Ns and IV's, StuG III's and SdKfz 222 armoured cars. In 1943-44, they used captured Soviet T-60 light tanks and converted them to tank destroyers. Very helpful information and this information will help me greatly in providing my Romanian force with some pieces of armor! If any MWANer is interested in the Romanian WWII army, it would make a very useful article! The
FOREIGN VOLUNTEERS OF THE WEHRMACHT 1941-45 covers the Legion Wallonie, Legion des Voluntaires Francais, Phalange Africaine Balkan Volunteers including the Croats and a number of "Eastern" volunteer units. It seems to me that one could easily use German figures for a number of these units by just painting on an arm or helmet patch denoting the "foreign" unit. There are several other OSPREY books which I ordered and just received today:
#131 GERMANY'S EASTERN FRONT ALLIES 1941-45 and #103 GERMANY'S SPANISH VOLUNTEERS. The Eastern Front Allies book covers Finland, Hungary, Rumania, Slovakia, and Italy and Croatia to a lesser degree. The Spanish Volunteers book is interesting as I had never read anything about Spanish troops on the Eastern Front. Apparently, they fought very well. The majority of them returned home in 1943 with only a "Legion" staying till 1944, although a number of Spanish illegally went to France to enlist with the German Army. The book reports that the Spanish wore German uniforms at the front with the Spanish National Seal worn on the sleeve. Too bad nobody makes any 25mm Cossacks which could be used for this period. I am surprised OSPREY doesn't have any books devoted to the Italian Army of WWII! Books are $12.95 each.
By Hal Thinglum - GERMAN TANKS OF WORLD WAR II – I am always checking out the "sale" books in book stores in hope of finding a real gem and recently found this book by Dr. S. Hart and Dr. R. Hart (Barnes & Noble 1999) in my local BARNES AND NOBLE bookstore ($14.98). This 175 page "coffee-table" sized book has lots of black & white photos as well as color drawings of the vehicles which are helpful in painting! There are, of course, specifications included for the tanks. The book covers the following vehicles: Panzer I, II, 35(t), 38(t), III, IV,V, VI Tiger I and VI B King Tiger; Marder I, II, III; Sturmgeschutz III, and Jagdpanzer IV, 38(t) Hetzer, V Jagdpanther, VI Jagtiger. Information on each vehicle is broken down into development history, the vehicle in combat, and specifications. As an introductory book onGerman tanks, it is very helpful.
By Hal Thinglum – THE HELIOGRAPH'S GUIDE TO GERMAN COLONIAL MILITARY UNIFORMS: AFRICA – Richard Brooks, The Heliograph, Rt 5, Box 771, Saluda, SC 29138, has published a most interesting and helpful booklet ($16/US; 15 pounds/UK; $20USD/Rest of World) for the colonial gamer which appears to have been written by MWANer Mark Keigwin. . Richard has ably and religiously published THE HELIOGRAPH for some years and done a terrific job! This is a 30-page spiral-bound booklet with a number of black/white illustrations and color plates pertaining to uniform information. In Richard's introduction, he provides basic information as to the uniforms of German infantry and naval officers and EM. Mark then gives information re the Wissmann unit, Schutztroupe, native troops, and Masai shield designs. There are many illustrations and color plates. A very nice job by both Mark and Richard. My congratulations! Highly recommended for the Colonial gamer!
By Hal Thinglum – FOUNDRY 28MM NEW RELEASES - THE FOUNDRY, Mount Street, New Basford, Nottingham, NG7 7HX, UK (Phone 0115-979-2002; FAX 0115-979-2209) has released seven new packs for their excellent 28mm Darkest Africa line: DA59 Tribal musketmen in European hats & coats, DA150 Azande characters, DA151 Azande Warriors 1 DA152 Azande Warriors 2, DA153 Azande Warriors 3, DA154 Azande bodyguard with rifles, and DA235 Belgian Askari characters. Sent for mention were DA151 Azande Warriors 1 and DA235 Belgian Askari characters. Each pack has seven differently posed figures; the warrior pack comes with all open-handed figures who have their left hand situated for a shield. Two different types of edged weapons were included with the pack. They are in attacking or advancing/charging positions and very well posed. The Belgian Askari characters pack has seven Askaris: bugler w/rifle slung on left shoulder, charging with musket, possible NCO with right hand up apparently gesturing for those in the rear to stop, loading, standard bearer with rifle slung, drummer, and on guard. They are all wearing a small fez-type cap. Animation is good; the figures have no flash except for a "bulb" of lead at the end of bayonets; and within this pack were four shrunken heads on poles! No mention as to cost. Excellently done figures, per usual! Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum – NAVIGATOR MINIATURES 25MM ANCIENTS – NAVIGATOR MINIATURES, Beech Cottage, Main Street, Stillington, N. Yorkshire, YO61 ILA, UK (phone: 01347-811283; FAX 01347-810503; e-mail: navpr@globalnet.co.uk) is a new company (at least to me) in the UK run by Paul Johnston producing 25mm Ancients. The listing has 24 figures for Carthage, including an elephant & tower, and bolt thrower; 20 Republican Romans; and 28 listings for Celts. In addition, there are six horses available. Figures are .75 pence each including shield and spear; horses are .90 pence; the elephant is 9.00 pds/bolt thrower 3 pds. Credit cards and checks are accepted (if you are in the US you are better off to use your credit card); UK postage is free; Europe +20% of order, rest of world +25% while credit card purchases are charged at cost (a good thing!). Three samples were sent: R19 Roman infantry officer; CE2 Celt Noble holding severed head; and C13 Carthage foot officer. All come with separate weapons. I am impressed in that all open hands are cleanly cast and the weapons will fit very nicely into them! Nice job, Paul! The weapons are very well done as are the figures. They measure 28mm from top of the stand to eye level. All three figures are wearing cloaks. Excellent figures; Paul sent along a two page colored illustration of his figures painted and they look great! This would be a very nice new line for Ancients players! Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum – LEMAX VILLAGE COLLECTION TERRAIN ITEMS – This is a company putting out Christmas village display pieces which I saw at both VALUE CITY and MICHAEL'S CRAFT STORE during the holiday season and they are very good! There are 14 different mountains/hills cast from the "Mountains in Minutes" substance – a light-weight resin type of substance. I wrote to the company and they stated they would send me a catalog and have not as of yet. Anyway, you may yet be able to locate some boxes of these very handy hills from either of the above stores; if not, wait till next holiday season. I waited until the day after Christmas and purchased mine at half-price at one store and 70% off at the other. Six of the 14 models are backdrops and the others are mountains and hills. They each come with a set of ten trees which can be used for the wargaming table; the trees are on a wire which can be pressed into the hills and have snow on them and you can either leave them that way or spray them. All of the 14 pieces have snow on them. These are very good models and great value for the money!
By Hal Thinglum – 54MM WWII RULES – "RECON & RUSHES" – The Toy Soldier Company, 100 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10024 (phone 201-792-6665; FAX 201-792- 2626) has released MWANer Charles Elsden's RECON & RUSHES: 54mm Miniature Rules for the WWII Period ($19.95; postage $6.75). This is a 37-page 8 1/2 " X 11" effort contained in a three-ring binder. In addition, there are seven cardstock reference sheets printed only on one side. MWANers will know of Charles' passion for 54mm wargaming figures and he is to be congratulated on getting his "labor of love" rules published! Charles states that although they are written for 54mm, they will work just as well with 25mm, 20mm , and 15mm as well as figures and vehicles are individually mounted. Scale is one figure/vehicle equals four. He has fifty figures to an infantry company and four tanks equals a company. He provides basic information for game units for infantry, Hqer's company, support, mechanized, reconnaissance, tank, transport, combat engineers, paratroopers, commandos, partisans, air squadron, and boat squadron. There are seven phases in each game turn. Movement is standard – infantry 6", tracked vehicle 12", and wheeled vehicle 24" with terrain modifications. The basic rules cover 12 pages while the rest of the rules book is concerned with "optional rules." These optional rules include air and naval rules. "Heroic Role Playing" is covered which can add some interest to a game! A set of tables are provided for each section. There are rules for AFV repairs, vehicle ramming effects, prisoner interrogation, paratroop drops, offboard artillery, mines, infiltration,and much more. I can see where we "non-54mm" wargamers can learn something from Charles' rules and apply them to our own wargames for WWII. Nice job, Charles! The one negative factor here, in my opinion, is the steep cost - $26.70 including postage. I highly suspect that this is due to wargamers (us) and 54mm collectors (them) are operating in two different worlds as to cost of items. They may be a little more used to paying a higher cost for their toys. This is unfortunate as I think Charles has put a lot of work and love into these rules and they should see a wider audience than I think they will at this price. At any rate, the contents are highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum – BATTLE FRONT 15MM WWII – This is a 15mm WWII line put out by CRUSADER DISTRIBUTORS LIMITED, Unit 4, 136 Marua Road, Ellerslie, Auckland, New Zealand and distributed in the US by MILITARY MINIATURES DISTRIBUTION USA, 8554 122 nd Ave., NE, Suite 108, Kirkland, WA 98033. They are listed as 1:100 scale and I must admit to being highly impressed with them. John Brewster of EMPEROR'S HEADQUARTERS, where I picked these up, reports they fit in very well with the OLD GLORY WWII line. I don't have a complete listing but the one I have has at least 79 packs of German vehicles and seven figure packs; 42 American vehicles/7 figure packs; seven French vehicles; 22 Russian Vehicles/6 figure packs; and 33 British vehicles/1 figure pack. I have the following German packs: WWG105 – mortar teams: 1 large, 2 smaller (each in 2 pieces), 17 crew in 6 poses, six figures w/shell (3 kneeling, 3 standing placing round in mortar), and a mixture of helmets/soft caps. WWG75 Pak 38 50mm AT gun & crew: five-piece gun (2 wheels, barrel, shield, carriage), 4 crew in 4 poses kneeling with mixture of helmets/soft caps. Wheels fit very well. WWG84: horse drawn limber – my favorite! – 6 horses; 3 w/riders – all one pose w/helmets. 2 limber riders (helmet/soft cap), four-piece limber; good fit with wheels though some flash on one wheel. WWG108 Panzerschrect teams: seven 2-man teams prone (total of 14 figures) in same poses. Six other figures (3 poses) kneeling pointing, looking through binoculars, and holding binoculars. Good poses – all wearing helmets. WWG49 SiG 33 150mm howitzer: five-piece gun, five crew in five poses with mix of helmets/soft caps. Again, good fit with wheels. Now the Russians: WWR106 Gun Crews: 20 figures in 10 poses; five sets kneeling, three sets with round. Good poses/variety; mixture of helmets/side caps. WWR18 76.2mm field gun & crew: 5 crew/4 poses – all side caps; five-piece gun with good wheel fit. WWR105 Mortar Teams: 3 mortars (1 large, 2 small), 17 crew/6 poses in mixture of helmets/side caps. WWR26 Horse drawn limber: same as German set; all riders in helmets; wheels have good fit, per usual. WWR16 ISU152: resin hull, good detail; three metal pieces (2 tracks, barrel); good fit re barrel and turret; tracks fit well. WWR02 KV1 Tank: Resin hull, stationary turret, 3 metal pieces (two tracks, barrel) and again good fit re barrel and tracks. Cost is $5.50 per pack. I am very, very impressed with these figures and this line. Anyone who makes WWII horse-drawn limbers must be a wargamer! Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum – B&B MINIATURES 20MM FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR – BROOKHURST HOBBIES, 12188 Brookhurst St., Garden Grove, CA 92840 (Phone 714-636- 3580; FAX 714-636-9150l e-mail: info@brookhursthobbies.com) carries the excellent 20mm B&B MINIATURES line of FPW figures and they offer terrific service. I placed a large order via FAX on 12-29-99 and received every bit of my order on 1-5-00! WPGI-24 Wurtemburg Jaegers: seven poses – 2 standing firing, 2 kneeling firing, 8 charging, 3 loading, 1 bugler, 2 differently posed officers. Figures have a variety of equipment (light equipment, pack back, blanket roll). Quite a bit of flash on these figures. WPGI-1 Prussian Guard: 5 walking w/rifle held in front of chest, 2 right shoulder shift running, 9 marching, 2 officers w/different heads, one standard bearer and one drummer. Many enlisted men poses have different heads; these are my favorites – they have a variety of beards which makes them look great when painted! FPFI-3 French Guard Grenadiers: 12 marching at march attack – different heads; two officers, drummer, standard bearer. All in bearskins. FPFI-2 French Line Marching: all in greatcoat; 2 light equipment marching, 10 w/pack marching, 2 officers differently posed, drummer w/slung rifle, and standard bearer. FPFI-15 French Marines advancing: 10 marching w/slung rifles with different heads and beards; three marching w/rifle on right shoulder; two identical officers, and one standard bearer. FPFI-16 French Guarde Mobile Advancing: 3 advancing w/rifle out; 4 advancing w/rifle across body; 5 advancing w/rifle upright; drummer, one officer and two standard bearers. FPFI-17 French Guarde Mobile Marching: 6 muskets slung, 7 w/rifle on right shoulder, one standard bearer, one officer, and one drummer. FPGI-4 Prussian Infantry Marching: 2 different officers, one standard bearer, one drummer, 6 running right shoulder shift, five trotting right shoulder shift; five marching. All with various degrees of equipment (none, pack, blanket roll). FPGI-10 Saxon infantry Marching: two different officers, one standard bearer, one drummer, 10 running right shoulder shift, two trotting right shoulder shift, and four marching. FPGI-26 Wurtemburg Infantry Marching: two differently poses officers, standard bearer, drummer, 7 right shoulder shift marching, two marching, seven running. Prussian packs are $22.50/20 figures while French are $17.50/16 figures. As mentioned, there is a variety of equipment and heads within each pack. I really enjoy these chunky 20mm figures. As I've mentioned before, I don't like the packaging; an error produced two standard bearers in one pack and I don't want two in a unit. If I could purchase them individually, I would buy another unit, minus a standard bearer and purchase another enlisted man to replace him, but this isn't possible. I might add that Brookhurst offers 10% off on purchases over $100 and 15% off over $150.00 which brings down the cost considerably. Very highly recommended! There is about 10% breakage of bayonets due to the bayonet being cast in scale – very good detail, but bayonets have a tendency to break when they are done in scale. Little beauties, however! See my article on the 20mm FPW in this issue for further details re B&B MINIATURES.
By Hal Thinglum – AB FIGURES FROM WARGAMES SOUTH – Wargames South, Ffos Yr Ewig, Llanfynydd, Carmarthen, SA32 7DD, UK (my spell checker will have a hell of a time with this address!) (Phone/FAX +44-0-1558-668771; Web Site: www.ab-figures.demon.co.uk) produces the line of AB pewter figures done by Tony Barton. They offer 15mm Napoleonics for French 1796-1806; 1806-12; Austrians Revolutionary Period as well as 1798-1815; Peninsular British, Russians 1802-1810 and 1812; "Jena" Prussians 1806 and 1812-15; Spanish 1802-13; Brunswick; Portuguese; Bavarians 1806-14; Saxons 1810-14; Grand Duchy of Warsaw; Wurtemburg; and the Ottoman Empire; as well as a nice range of 15mm ACW. In 1/76 th scale, they offer WWII tank crews and army personnel.
First of all, let's take the WWII figures. There are 35 packs of figures (3.75 pds/pack usually). There are French, British, Germans and Soviets figures to be used for tank cre3ws, officers, vehicle crews, and gun crews. In addition, they have released three packs of British infantry sections (10 figures for 6.50pds). These come in marching & casual poses; advancing & skirmishing, and Kneeling & prone for Europe 1944, The advancing & skirmishing pack was included for mention in this column. There are ten differently posed figures which are very good as to detail, animation and casting as there is no flash on the figures! They measure 20mm from top of stand to eye level. Six are charging/advancing w/rifles while one is standing firing, one is throwing a grenade, another beauty is advancing w/Bren gun firing, and the last is advancing with SMG. All are wearing netted helmets and are in full equipment. Outstanding figures! I can easily highly recommend these figures to WWII gamers.
We can always use seated figures in greatcoats and other special uniforms such as reversible winter coats, winter clothing, etc. They are also offering a new line of 15mm flags (2.50 pds/sheet; there were eight flags to the sample sheet) for the Napoleonic period encompassing Grand Duchy of Warsaw, Portugal, Austria, Russia, Confederation of the Rhine, France, and England. The line is very extensive and specific to individual regiments. The sample French line infantry 1812 pattern sheet I received had flags for regiments 50, 51, 64/88, 65, 72, 96, 100/103 and 105. Quality and color is good. They need to be hand cut, folded together, and adhered with white glue. Very nice colors/detail! Highly recommended!
Now, my favorites – 15mm Napoleonic figures! I've been looking for a 15mm line for a number of years and would have settled on ESSEX, however, their British line infantryman advancing was in such a poor pose that I decided to wait and find another line, especially since my goal was to do the Peninsular War. Well, AB's British line consists of the Peninsular War range – a perfect match! I don't havea full understanding of AB's history and it has confused me for a long time, even though several people have taken the time to explain it to me. Suffice it to say that AB has it's origins in the BATTLE HONOURS line which was done by Tony Barton, though it is an entirely separate and newer line than the BATTLE HONOURS line. They are billed as the "best" 15mm Napoleonics and I suspect they are correct in this regard! First of all, prices – foot are .25 pence each, mounted .50p, guns are 1.00 pds as are gun crews (four figures). Casualty sets (ten figures) are 2.50 pds and "enthusiastic" sets are 1.25 pds (five figures). WARGAMES SOUTH has excellent mail order service – it took about two weeks from the time I sent the order airmail to when I received it! Outstanding response time!
My problem with doing this review is that I did not keep a copy of the figures I ordered and the figure bags were not identified as to contents. My knowledge of Napoleonic uniform detail is "average" at best but I shall try and do the best job I can. B50 and B51 are British casualty sets and each contain ten figures. One of them – I don't know which one – has two dead highlanders, a British infantryman crawling with hand to chest, two identically posed figures holding their hand to their head, one holding his hand, two using a musket as a crutch, and two identical three-figure bases of two infantrymen helping a wounded comrade by carrying him on their muskets. The second pack of casualties contains three dead figures in two poses, three sitting in two poses, two in one pose leaning forward supporting himself on his musket, and two at march attack with head leaning to the far right. My intention is to use the "dead" figures mounted individually on "morale" stands to reflect a "routed" unit. Figures "sitting" will indicate the next morale phase, i.e., perhaps "fall back", while standing casualties will be used to indicate that a morale check needs to be taken by a unit. I will also use some standing casualties within a unit itself just for "visual" purposes.
One of the nice things about AB figures is that there are up to five variations of poses within each code number. These variations consist of different head positions, right foot forward vs left foot forward, how the musket is being held, etc. I prefer these types of pose variations as they make a unit "look" right. I ordered some French infantry from the 1796-1806 period as I wanted to have some figures/units in bicornes along with those in shakos. I am sure that not all units received new headgear as soon as the change was officially instituted; also, there must have been some soldiers within a unit who retained their "old" headgear for awhile. This provides a nice "campaign" look. There are four fusilier poses within this range; two at march attack, one advancing and one firing/loading (which means you get an assortment of each when you order that particular code) with an additional fusilier in greatcoat at march attack. There are grenadiers in bearskin or bicorne and again in greatcoat as well as a voltigeur skirmishing and "flank co" in greatcoats. I have always assumed that when a figure manufacturer describes a figure as "flank co", that it can be used for either as a grenadier or a voltigeur – am I correct? Then there are a number of officers, drummers, standard bearers, eagle bearers, and mounted officers.
The skirmishing figures pose has three poses: standing firing, loading, and several variations of running w/musket. These figures measure 17mm from top of stand to eye level. I like the fusiliers in greatcoat at march attack – they should look very good as a unit! There are two very good officers in greatcoats – one is holding his bicorne over his head in his left hand while pointing his sword toward the ground directly to the front of him. Nice poses! Standard bearers and eagle bearers have cast-on flag poles. I should also mention an important fact with pewter – it doesn't break as easily as lead apparently – I think in my entire order of several hundred figures, I had one broken bayonet. This is a distinct advantage over lead! Usually when I am sitting at the computer writing reviews of figures, I end up with a load of lead pieces on my computer table when I dump out a bag of figures – not so here. Also the detail would appear to be much sharper with pewter and flash is virtually nonexistent! The French casualty pack (1806-1812) of ten figures has four dead in three poses, two sitting in two poses, two in an identical pose hobbling with the musket as support, and two different poses in the process of being "hit".
All very functional for morale marking purposes. The "enthusiastic French infantry pack (1806-12) has five figures has two different poses: the first is running with his musket upright in his right hand with his shako on the bayonet while the other pose features an infantryman with shako held in right hand over his head while holding his musket in his left hand. These would make great markers for rules sets featuring "breakthrough" rules. They could also be used sparingly within a regular line unit. There are a number of "personality" packs/figures available for both the French and British, as well as other nationalities. These are, of course, very handy for "General" stands – I like to use one mounted General for a brigade commander, two for division, three for corps, and four to five for the Army commander. In addition to the mounted officers, which are available for both French and British, the French have the following mounted command figures: mounted ADC (.50p), three mounted Generals (2.50pds), Marshals Davout, Lannes & Lasalle (2.50pds), six Generals/Marshals (5.00pds), six ADC's (5.00pds), d'Hautpol & Nansouty (2.00pds), an eight figure set of Napoleon and staff (7.50pds), General Dorsenne of the Imperial Guard (.80p), and a Superior Officer of Hussars (.80p).
The British have Stapleton-Cotton, Packenham, and a Major General (2.50pds) and Beresford, Cole and an ADC (2.50pds). The saddle is cast to the figure so you can switch horses around as much as you wish. I like my Generals on standing or walking horses and that is the way they come. There are many variations of each horse pose and they are well done! All Generals within a pack are in different poses as well. Within the eight-figure Napoleon and Staff pack, all are mounted. There are two great looking Hussars with carbines resting on their right thigh, a Mamaluke, Napoleon, three Generals, and one figure which I can't identify the headgear. The six-figure ADC pack had six horses, a dismounted Hussar and General, and four different mounted ADC's. The cavalry are nicely done!
I ordered some French Dragoons and I don't know if they are from the 1796-1806 or 1806-12 period – AB has French Dragoons for each period, so the uniforms must be different! There is an eagle bearer, trumpeter, officer and variations on the enlisted men pose – the sword arm seems to be differently posed on many of them. Riders fit the horses very nicely and again, there are many variations of horses, which always looks good in a unit. The artillery limber packs all have three pairs of horses with three limber horse riders in different poses. The limber wheels fit well and the detail on the limber is good. Usually, you can get the limber horses either galloping or walking. AB doesn't make limber teams for all of the different types of artillerymen. For instance, for the French Guard artillery, they make both the foot and horse artillery crewmen, but only a horse limber, not the foot limber. Perhaps they are the same – I don't know, but for the British, they make only the RHA limber, not an RA limber. I am going to get a pack of ESSEX of their limber and see if they match up size-wise and if so, then I'll just use ESSEX for what AB doesn't produce. I may be tempted to go with three team artillery limbers, which actually just take up a lot of space on the tabletop; however, I suspect that this may more accurately reflect the actual amount of ground taken up by a battery of artillery; any thoughts on this one? In the 1796-1806 French range, there is one limber set with drivers in bicornes and it comes in both walking and galloping horse teams. They also have a caisson available in the same modes although I don't see myself using caissons. For the 1806-12 range, they offer one limber – foot artillery and caisson, again both walking/galloping as well as mentioned previously, a Guard Horse Artillery limber and caisson. For those gamers who like a little more reality with their batteries, they have a pack of Guard Horse Artillery mounted figures consisting of mounted officer, trumpeter, and four mounted gunners (5.00pds). I've thought that someday I would like to have a diorama of a horse gun, limber, three-team horse and riders, along with mounted gunners, all galloping. I think this would look very effective on a well-terrained base. Another idea has been to have a six-gun battery lined up with caissons and limbers. Lastly, the gunners themselves – The French 1796-1806 range has foot artillery and horse artillery (in Hussar uniform) crews and in the 1806-12 range, they have a line crew in shako, officer, line horse crew firing and then loading, as well as Guard foot and horse crew. The British have RA crews loading, firing, and moving the gun, and RHA crews loading and firing as well as an RHA mounted officer. I like to purchase the various packs and mix them together when I have lots of guns. All poses are different within a pack and the figures are nicely done! The French 1806-12 limber packs have one-piece limber horse/riders which I like. I like the fact that AB offers me the opportunity to do the Peninsular War and stay within what they offer, with the exception of some of the missing limbers, as mentioned before. I am very impressed with the quality of the line and I think you will be as well. Drop them a line for a listing and include perhaps a five dollar bill – I don't think you will be disappointed!
By Hal Thinglum – HOWARD WHITEHOUSE TERRAIN – Howard Whitehouse, 265 McCarter Rd., Lafayette, GA, 30728-6479 (706-638-8199) continues to churn out quality terrain pieces – if you have any doubt, please refer to the front and back photos of MWAN #103! Excellent work, Howard! Just the other day, I found a large light box on my doorstep from Howard with a large rock formation – about 15" X 15" on a strong, circular base which won't warp. It stands about 15" high so it is pretty steep – the top six inches being about 2 1/2 " X 2 1/2 ". There are many flat areas which will accept singly mounted 25mm figures and it is painted in a variety of brown/tan with scrubs added for effect. In addition, it is dry-brushed or high-lighted with perhaps a white to draw out colors better. This will perfectly match a number of such pieces Howard has made for me in the past and can be used for the Peninsula, NWF, Sudan, Mexico, Spain, American Southwest, etc. Very effective indeed! He has sent me six sangars which I intend to use for the NWF. I suspect they are made of real rocks and then painted; it would appear as though Howard then drops a small amount of sand and then dry-brushes for effect. Each is just over an inch tall. The Pathans would frequently construct rock defenses in semi-circular patterns and these are perfect for 25mm. They are, of course, all different, as they are all scratch-built – one of them is fully enclosed and will fit perhaps two or three 25mm figures with bases. Very nice job, Howard! Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum – HAROLD'S RANGERS – 54MM WAR GAME RULES FROM THE TOY SOLDIER COMPANY – The Toy Soldier Company, 100 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10024 (201-792-6665; FAX 201-792-2626; Web site: http://www.toysoldierco.com) sent this set of rules covering "ancient times to 19 th century conflicts by owner James Delson. It follows the same format at Charles Elsden's rules reviewed earlier in this issue being a three ring binder of 48 pages with five cardstock play charts. James writes that "play is conducted in 5- second turns, called phases." During this time, a figure can fire, draw a weapon and ready it for combat, melee, move, or carry out an activity. Figure scale is 1:1 and ground scale is 1" = 1 yard. There is an optional "Mass Combat" system in which each turn equals half an hour and figures fire only in groups, instead of singly. There are six phases to a turn so we can assume that a single turn equals 30 seconds. Firing and melee is carried out via percentage dice with a maximum range of 144" for small arms; wounds result in points lost for a figure; maximum movement on a road/walk is 6". There are suggestions for tactics and "footnotes" giving examples of play. James offers a section on building armies/forces using the points system as well as scenarios and character generation. The "Mass Combat" system allows for use of hundreds or thousands of figures which involves determining a "ratio" between the two opposing sides. He also includes a section of solitaire play. The rules are well organized and laid out and easily followed. Cost is $9.95 which is much more in line with the actual value than The Toy Soldier's recent publication by Charles Elsden. There is always something in a set of rules we can "borrow" from, even if it is not a set we plan to use. There is, I think, great value in a set of rules such as these as they allow one to "play" with their 54mm toy soldiers and bridge the gap between "collecting" and "playing". This set would provide the 54mm gamer with everything they would need to either play with their "toys" or use the rules as a foundation to develop their own rules.
By Hal Thinglum – THE EMPEROR'S HEADQUARTERS – I made a visit to EHQ yesterday and although I've been to their new store location, EHQ, 7047 Barry Ave., Des Plaines, IL 60018-3401, I never really had the time to "shop" around. Although the actual store area is perhaps less then its previous location, there are still a lot of interesting items to look at and I managed to find a number of things I was in need of:
15MM HALLMARK FIGURES: Hallmark Figures, Thornville, Main Street, Stillington, York, YO61 1LA, UK (01347-810147). I've always found this interesting range to be valuable. Not only do they offer the most extensive and best detailed wagons in 15mm, but I am always surprised by what I find. I have many of their 15mm gun crews for the Malburian and English Civil War (including Scots gun crews), but they offer many other items. I took out my 15mm ship from J&T MINIATURES several weeks ago and realized I was short a number of ship's guns. I had ECW gun crews painted up for the ship and planned to use it in my ECW games. I managed to find a number of ship's guns at EHQ and I am sorry to report that I don't have a listing handy – it is packed away somewhere amongst the hundreds of boxes in the garage; however, AE14 and AE15 are very attractive; you get two guns for $2.00 from the AE14 pack and two larger guns in the AE15 ($2.50). Wheels are cast on so there are only two pieces to assemble – the carriage and the barrel. There were several other guns but since the wheels were separate, I choose not to purchase them. Detail, as usual with Hallmark, is very good and there is no flash. If you are looking for 15mm ship's guns, I don't think you will find better quality at a better prices than these beauties. Highly recommended! While you are at it, take a look at what else they offer; I think you'll be very pleased.
BATTLEGROUND TERRAIN – I don't think I've heard of this company before - I found two packs of wire defenses: EEE-9003 (wire set) and EEE-9004 (blown wire set), each for $12.99. Each set has four resin pieces (two 8" and two 4" sections) with wooden posts along with a strand of "wire" for affixing to the posts. The "blown" set has some posts missing as well as a shell hole. They will be very effective for WWII 25mm Eastern Front gaming! I find these sets to be priced very cheaply; check into purchasing barbed wire and you'll find out how expensive it can be. Highly recommended. If anyone else has purchased items from this company, or knows the address, please let me know. I'd be interested in what else they have to offer. They are available from EASY EIGHT ENTERPRISES, 10036 Caenen, Lenexa, KS 66215 (1-800-335- 2977; www.battlegroundwwii.com). There is also an instruction sheet re preparation of the sets.
BATTLEFRONT WWII 15MM MINIATURES – I've already told you how impressed I was with this 15mm WWII manufacturer. Well, I was shocked to find a 15mm (1:100 scale) metal model of a Junkers Ju87 D/G Stuka at EHQ! They are produced by CRUSADER DISTRIBUTORS LIMITED, Unit 4, 136 Marua Road, Ellerslie, Auckland, New Zealand (www.crusader.co.nz; http://members.aol.com/milminusa) and distributed in the US by MILITARY MINIATURES DISTRIBUTION – USA, 8554 122 nd Ave., NE, Suite 108, Kirkland, WA 98033. This is a quality model and fills a great need for the 15mm WWII gamer as airpower needs to be represented on our wargames table! The wing and fuselage are cast in separate sections as are the wheels, five bombs (three different types), the tail section, cupola (clear resin) and two other lead pieces. Instructions are not provided though I am assuming that the average wargamer would have no difficulty in putting it together. I am curious as to which other planes they have in their listings. Price is $14.50, which I find to be very reasonable given the price of plastic kits; I don't think there are any plastic kits available in 15mm scale, though I don't know for sure. The pieces fit together well and there is virtually no flash. I am going to have to go back through MWAN and find the article on mounting wargames planes on bases as this is a great model to have for your army! Highly recommended!
BATTLE HONORS WWII 25MM RANGE – I saw some of the WWII Japanese, Sikh, Gurka, etc. figure packs available from 19 TH CENTURY MINIATURES, 13595 Green Street, Grand Haven, MI 49417 (616-837-7045; FAX 616-837-8568) and picked up two packs I've been wanting for some time – XGMV14 German PAK 40 and crew ($10) and XGMV28 JAGD Panzer IV ($30). The gun consists of 11 pieces and there are four crew in different poses; one with a separate arm. Two crew have rounds, there is an a kneeling officer/NCO, and a sitting figure with the separate arm. Detail is very good though there is considerably more flash than I like to see, even on the figures themselves. If you game WWII, you have to have a number of these anti-tank guns! Unfortunately, there are no assembly instructions, which someone such as myself would require. However, this is a highly recommended model!
The JAGD Panzer IV comes with a cast resin body and metal parts consisting of the two tracks, gun, and two turret hatches. The tracks have the "skirts" attached to them. The resin body is fairly flash free though you will have to do some cleaning up with the metal parts, though not as much as with the anti-tank gun. A beautiful model and again, highly recommended! I am anxious to see these items added to my WWII Eastern Front collection! XGMV6 is a Hanomag with Nebelwufer ($25) which does come with instructions for assembly and mounting of the Nebelwufer. This model has a lot of parts! Everything is metal; you'll have no difficulty whatsoever assembling the Hanomag. It comes in six parts; top and bottom body, two tracks, and two front wheels. Way too much flash on this nice model. I've always liked the look of this vehicle and am fascinated by Nebelwufers!
They were a very terrifying weapon from what I have read. I rented 'Battle of the Bulge" last weekend and was very disappointed at seeing US tanks and half-tracks painted German colors being passed off as "Tiger" tanks and Hanomags! The massive tank "attacks" through woods and against the two were a bit much to take so I stopped watching it when the "Tigers" were lined up about two deep in preparation to "charge" American defensive positions on the edge of the town. Anyway, on to XRMV1 Soviet T60 tank ($25) – this beauty comes with resin body and metal tracks, turret and turret cover. Minimal flash on the resin body and not much on the metal pieces. The turret cover can be glued either open or closed. I wonder if someone out there will be making 25mm WWII tank commanders? Very nicely designed/cast.
Lastly, I have XGMV25 Daimler Benz Maultie Prime Mover ($20). The truck and truck bed are in resin and nicely done! The truck bed's resin is done to represent wood and is very effective! Should look great painted up! Metal pieces include two tracks for the back, two front wheels, windshield, truck cab, two long wooden sides and two shorter front/back wood pieces. Not too much flash. I've been picking up trucks for my 25mm project and they should look very good on the tabletop! I also saw a German command car with two riders, however, I didn't get it yet. Maybe next time!
SIGNIFER WARGAMES FLAGS – Signifer, 2001 E. Lohman, Suite 149, Las Cruces, NM 88001 (505-525-2378; http://www.zianet.com/signifer/signifer.html) is a support of MWAN and offers a wide range of quality wargames flags. While putting more 25mm SYW units together some time ago, I came up with "almost" two French line battalions being but two enlisted men poses short. Therefore, I added a second flag bearer to each battalion. However, once they were painted, I couldn't find the French "National" flag to add to the command stand – I had the "regimental" flag for each. John Brewster, of EHQ, who is most helpful and knowledgeable in virtually any area, told me the French "National" flag had a white background with a cross and looked through the Signifer flag sets till he found one for me. This was SYW 2555 France I ($3.49) and has four flags; two for the Royal Roussillion (I assume, regimental and national), and one each for Guyenne and Languedoc. Color, as I expected, is outstanding; instructions are provided for use – cut the flag, fold it over, and use white glue. I have many Signifer flags on my 25mm SYW units and am very pleased with them. Highly recommended!
MACARTHUR'S JUNGLE WAR – THE 1944 NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN – This is a 1998 312 page hardcover book by Stephen R. Taaffe (University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66049) and price is $35.00. Since my father, Harold, was a combat infantry staff sergeant in New Guinea with the 32 nd Infantry Division till late '44 when he was shipped back to the states due to malaria, I am always on the lookout for books pertaining to this subject to give to him. I was very surprised and pleased to find this gem at EHQ. I haven't had a chance to read it cover to cover yet and won't as I want to send it off to him ASAP; however, I have browsed through it and it is quite interesting. It does cover the subject on a strategic and operational level, thus you won't find small unit actions within this volume.
The cover states "The New Guinea campaign has gone down in history as one of MacArthur's shining successes. Now Stephen Taaffe has written the definitive history of that assault, showing why it succeeded and what it contributed to the overall strategy against Japan. His book tells not only how victory was gained through a combination of technology, tactics, and army-navy cooperation but also how the New Guinea campaign exemplified the strategic differences that plagued the Pacific War, since many high-ranking officers considered it a diversionary tactic rather than a key offensive." If you have an interest in the WWII Pacific campaign, this would be a very worthwhile book – hope you enjoy it, Dad!
OSPREY CAMPAIGN SERIES #60 THE EBRO 1938 - John Brewster of EHQ directed me to this excellent overview of the Ebro campaign during the Spanish Civil War by Chris Henry($17.95). If you aren't familiar with the OSPREY CAMPAIGN SERIES, then you are missing out on something! I have a number of these titles and they are very interesting reading as they not only give the details of the campaign or battle, but they also cover both sides quite well in 96 pages. They also provide color plates of uniforms which are quite helpful. With my current interest in the Spanish Civil War, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to pick up something on a specific campaign. The chapters include: Origins of the Campaign, Opposing leaders, Opposing armies, Opposing plans, The Campaign, Aftermath, The Battlefield Today, Chronology, Wargaming the Ebro Offensive, a glossary and recommended reading.
In the chapter on wargaming, the discusses both miniatures as well as strategic, political, role-playing and other games. I have always been disappointed by the section on wargaming within this series, feeling that it could easily be expanded and as such, be far more popular. I do admit, however, that this volume devotes more time to wargaming than do the other ones I have in my possession. There are six color plates, each encompassing almost two full pages, of battle scenes with a number of uniforms types in each. In addition, they continue their fine tradition of providing the reader with excellent "wargames table-looking" maps of the campaign/battle. Highly recommended!
ESSEX MINIATURES 15MM NAPOLEONICS – ESSEX MINIATURES, Unit 1, Shannon Centre, Shannon Sq., Thames Estuary, Industrial Estate, Canvey Island, Essex SS8 OPE is my favorite 15mm manufacturer, no doubt. Their lines are, I would say, the most consistent re figure size in the business, there is always a minimum of flash, and I have always been pleased with the extensiveness of each of their lines. I picked up NE10 British limber gunner, four horses and two drivers ($5.99) to size it up against the AB MINIATURES limber set. An AB limber horse and rider measures roughly 27mm from top of the horse stand to the eye level of the rider whereas the ESSEX measures some 24mm – 3mm difference! Um! When I set them up next to each other, the 3mm is not a size difference I would object to on the table top. The limber has a single trail with twin ammo storage areas on the back of the limber, the two limber horse riders have the British crested type helmetand the limber rider is wearing a shako. Although I have two limber horse riders, I only have two limber horses and they are both the "unridden" type without a saddle as they possess the blanket roll where the saddle should be. I'm assuming that if there are two limber horse riders, there should be four limber horses. ESSEX must have made an error as well in packaging. I'll have to bring this back to EHQ and have John take a look at it.
Well, I did accomplish my purpose of purchasing a pack to compare to AB! The ESSEX listings for the Napoleonic line is quite extensive. I have always particularly liked the ESSEX horses as they are very animated and quality is always good. Their packaging of eight foot/six foot command or artillery crew/four cavalry/three cavalry command is reasonable to me. I would like to see a little more variety amongst the poses within a pack, as has come to be the "state of the art" practice the last few years. I've had this dream for years about building 15mm SYW armies with ESSEX figures, but have resisted it thus far! The listing encompasses French, British, Prussians (1813-15), Austrians, Austro-Germans, Russians, Brunswick, and Spanish, as well as 43 packs of guns, limbers, the British Congreve rocket with crew as well as the carriage with limber, the French "Flying Ambulance", and much more. Highly recommended!
ESSEX MINIATURES 15mm FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR LINE – This is a very extensive and interesting line! I've been picking up figures for about nine months since they came out and am very impressed with it. Foot/cavalry packs are $3.59 per pack with equipment packs being more expensive. First of all, the German Army – there are seven packs of Prussian infantry advancing w/shouldered rifle (my favorite pose for this period!), attacking, firing, kneeling firing, lying firing, assorted poses, and command consisting of two identically posed sets of officer, standard bearer and drummer. The standard bearer is a nice figure holding the pole with his left hand far away from his body and banishing a sword up high with his right hand. They are all in helmet as are all Germans in this line. Drummer have full pack.
The advancing w/shoulder musket are in full equipment with a blanket roll – all are identically posed. I always hope to do a little bit of mixing of poses but I won't with this line as the attacking pose is, to me, more of a "defensive" posture with the figure holding his rifle across his body in an "on guard" type position except he is not looking forward, but rather to the front of his body which would be in essence, looking down the line of his comrades. Not my favorite pose, as a matter of fact, I don't like it. I won't get the firing/prone poses for my armies so I can't tell you about them. All are in full equipment with blanket roll. There are six packs of Prussian Jagers: advancing with rifle at side, advancing rifle 45 degrees, kneeling loading, assorted poses, command pack consisting of two sets of officers, standard bearers and hornist, and a second pack of command with four officers and two hornists. I have five of the six only missing the second command pack.
My Jagers will have firing/loading firings in a skirmish line. The advancing rifle at side figure is very good for a skirmisher; the kneeling loading figure is good as well. I would have liked some standing/kneeling firing Jagers, but they aren't available. The "assorted poses" pack features poses from other figure packs within that category, in this case, three kneeling loading, three advancing w/rifle at side and two advancing w/rifle 45 degrees. My Jager command pack must have been mislabeled as I received the 10b pack of four officers (all same pose – walking w/sword across front of body) and two hornists. I don't think I would have wanted a standard bearer for the Jagers anyway. It is my understanding, given the fact that I have a limited amount of knowledge about this period, that the Prussians did not carry standards into battle.
There are two packs of Prussian artillery crew packed six to a set; foot artillery and horse artillery – foot crew have six different poses – very nice – an officer pointing w/ammo box on the ground in front of him; crew w/rammer moving forward, wiping brow w/helmet in left hand at side, shouting, w/round, and kneeling. Again, full pack w/blanket roll. The horse crew are in light equipment: officer w/hands behind him, pointing shielding eyes, w/rammer, standing w/arms at sides, standing w/sword at right side, and pushing wheel. Nicely done crew! There are six packs of Saxon infantry though I don't have any: firing, kneeling ready, advancing firing, lying firing, assorted, and command (officer, standard, drummer). They are listed as being in helmets. I'm curious about the "advancing firing" pose as this sounds like a good pose for the FPW! There are an additional three packs of Saxon foot in "caps" firing, advancing shouldered rifle, and kneeling. I have the advancing and this is a nice pose – I like the caps as I like to mix them with the helmeted figures. All in heavy equipment.
The Bavarian line or Jager have eight packs: advancing rifle 45 degrees, advancing rifle forward, kneeling firing, firing moving forward, lying firing, assorted, and two command packs (one with officer, standard, drummer and the second with four officers/two hornists). I have five packs from this series: advancing rifle 45 degrees – a nice pose, assorted poses (standing firing –1; kneeling firing-2; prone firing-1; advancing rifle forward-2, and advancing rifle 45 degrees-2), and both command sets. I especially like the standard bearer as he is running. By the way, all standard bearers have cast on poles and I have had very good luck with ESSEX cast on flags! The "firing moving forward" figure is only slightly moving forward. Well done officer type!
The Wurtemburg line or Jager series has six packs: two different advancing, firing, mixed poses, and two different command packs – officer, standard and drummer for line infantry, and officer/hornist for Jagers. I'll be able to mix the two advancing packs. All have packs; the standard bearer is shouting – a nice pose. There are eight packs of Prussian cavalry: Dragoon, Hussar, Cuirassier, and Lancer; each has a separate command pack w/officer, standard, and musician. I have all packs except for Dragoon EM pack: The Dragoon officer is cast to his horse – magnificent pose with him upright in saddle with sword held high over his head and looking to his right! Standard bearer will need a pole, bugler looking to left blowing bugle. Nice set! Hussars have four identically posed troopers and two types of horses in the pack. The Hussars have sword in outstretched arm. The Hussar command has the bugler cast on his horse. Beautiful horses! The Cuirassier packs feature the trooper with sword on right shoulder, cast on horse bugler blowing bugler w/horses in walking position.
The Lancers have separate lances with pennants; lances will be pointed forward. All Lancer command are cast separate from horses. The Bavarian cavalry have four packs: cuirassier and Cheveauleger with separate command for each. Cuirassier again cast w/sword on right shoulder, bugler cast on horse. The Chevealeger are holding their sword along their right side w/all command and horses cast separately. There is one set of mounted generals/staff with three beautifully cast officers cast on their horses. One horse is rearing backwards, another officer is pointing on walking horse, while the third is holding on to his cap with his right hand while his horse is galloping! Great set!
Now for the equipment sets: there are nine packs currently available and I suspect this will be expanded as the French do not have a Mitrailleuse. KOE1 is a French foot artillery limber (single trail) with four horses (differently poses), two limber horse riders (same pose with blanket rolls), two riding gunners (cast as one-piece; one has rifle slung on right shoulder) and limber with two separate wheels. ESSEX makes great limbers/artillery with all wheels fitting well. An excellent set priced at $6.99. All crew in kepi. Beautiful limber horses! KOE1b is a two horse limber for the KOE1 French set. KOE2 is a French 4lb gun ($2.89) which provides you with a single gun. KOE2a is the French 12lber. KOE3 French horse artillery limber ($6.99) with four horses, two riding crew (both with slung rifles), two limber horse riders, and single trail limber; all figures in kepis. KOE4 is a Prussian gun ($2.89). KOE5 Prussian foot artillery limber set with some contents as KOE1 – figures in helmet. KOE6 Prussian horse artillery limber and KOE7 is the two horse Prussian limber. I like the way they offer either a two or four horse limber – very thoughtful! Outstanding job with the artillery! Virtually no flash, everything fits together well.
The Frenchies – There are eight packs of early line infantry, Marines or Foreign Legion; kneeling ready, two charging, at ready, firing, leaning forward firing, lying firing, and assorted. All are in kepies with full equipment. Again, all figures within a pack are the same pose except for the "assorted". The kneeling pack has them "at ready", good charging pose pushing off with left leg, at ready will look good in a line, while the second charging pack could be mixed with the first – their legs are little more spread and the rifle/bayonet more extended to the front. There are eight packs of later line infantry without epaulettes with the same pack selection as the early line: I suspect they are the same figures as line but the sculptor left off the epaulettes. There are six command packs of which I have none: assorted officers; early and late command each with four officers and two drummers; early and late command with two officers, two standards and two drummers; and a pack of buglers. The Guarde Mobile has four packs, two of charging, kneeling firing, and loading: I have the two charging packs – both have their legs spread out with rifle thrust out slightly the difference being one pose has their rifle higher than the second pose.
The Guarde Nationale is firing, loading and ready – I have the ready pack and this is a nice one. The figure is in a somewhat relaxed pose with rifle held down extended to the front without bayonet. Then there are command for both Guarde just mentioned: officers; four officers & two drummers; officer, standard and drummer, and six trumpeters. I have the officer/standard/drummer which has two of each pose again with cast on pole. There are four packs of Marines in sheepskin jacket – advancing, kneeling, at ready, and command pack officers; none have bayonets. Advancing pose is like the relaxed pose mentioned above. Chasseurs Apied or Leger Oafrique has five packs – kneeling firing, charging, loading, and command packs of four officers/two trumpeters or officer/standard/drummer – I have none of these nor of Zouaves or Tirailieur Algerian in Fez (kneeling loading, at ready, firing, leaning firing), nor of Zouave in fez with Turban wrap around (same poses as last figures). Zouaves in Kepi have six poses: kneeling loading, at ready (w/o bayonet), firing, leaning firing, four officers/two drummers or officer/standard/drummer. Nice officer pointing w/right hand while holding sword in left.
The Guard Grenadiers come in either bearskin or bonnet with each set having three packs of advancing/attacking, one advancing firing, and one command pack of officer/ standard/drummer. These are all outstanding figures and can be mixed together extremely well for all ten packs. The Guard Voltigeurs come in shako or bonnet in kneeling firing, standing firing, loading, ready, and command pack of officer/standard/drummer. Again, easily mixed as to headgear. There are four packs of Francs-Tireurs kneeling ready, standing ready, running (all three in hats), and advancing in American kepi. I don't plan on having any of these. You may know these were "irregulars" which surfaced in the later portion of the war. There are two packs of artillery crew – foot and horse. The foot pack has an outstanding officer waving kepi, two figures of the same pose kneeling opening ammo box (outstanding figure!), figure w/rammer over shoulder (never saw such a figure but it is very good!), carrying bucket shouting, and lighting gun holding rifle with left hand. Very good figures! The horse pack has one running w/bucket, two different poses w/rammer (one w/bucket), and two identical poses holding a round.
I have very little French cavalry but there are seventeen packs: Generals/staff, Cuirassier w/upstretched sword arm and all command separate from horse, Hussar in dolman & fur talpac (sword resting on right shoulder & separately cast horses/riders), Hussars in long jacket & kepi, Dragoons, Chasseur a Cheval, Lancers, Chasseurs D'Afrique, and Spahis. All have command packs except for the Spahis.
OK, in general, an outstanding line! Very little flash, good detail, nice casting and good poses for the most part. One thing I don't like about these outstanding horses is that ESSEX has a tendency to cast them with very narrow bases which can make it difficult to adhere them to a base. I use superglue and don't know how I would do it without the superglue. This is, however, a very minor complaint about what is a great line of wargames figures! There are so holes: I'd like to see Prussian foot in caps, French Guard foot and horse artillery crews/limbers, Wurtemburg and Saxon cavalry as well as artillery crew/limbers for Prussian Allies. However, you can pick up all of these items from OUTPOST very easily. Secondly, FREI KORPS 15 has an outstanding line of FPW and 1866 period. I'd stay away from their foot as they are undersized and lack detail, in my opinion, but their horse and artillery limber sets cover all combatants and they also offer lots of mounted officers for all sides as well. Figures from both of these manufacturers fit in very well sizewise, except for FREIKORPS 15 foot and artillery crews, as mentioned, with ESSEX. I'd also like to see them branch off into the 1866 conflict as you could use your FPW figures more. ESSEX prone figures can be used to denote units who have "gone to ground" by the way, if you, like me, don't like to use prone figures except for skirmishers. I can recommend this line most highly! ESSEX, Box 278, Route 40 East, Triadelphia, WV 26059- 0278 (304-547-0000; e-mail: shood@ict.org).
By Hal Thinglum – WALMART COLOR PLACE SPRAY PAINTS – I've been using WALMART'S Color Place Spray Paints (indoor/outdoor) for priming purposes for years and really like it! I use either black or white – both "flat" – depending upon my needs. Cost is about .89 per can so it is very inexpensive! I find that it gives a good cover although my technique helps in this regard. For any size figure – 15, 20, 25mm, I lay the figures flat in rows on a painting table that Clem Clemens made for me years ago. It consists of an "X" shaped base and a rectangular top mounted on a broom stick. I then spray the figures from all four directions as well as from above. When they have dried, I turn them over and repeat the process. This, of course, is done outdoors. Make sure that when you are done spraying, you keep on spraying with the can turned upside down so as to expel all paint from the nozzle so it won't get clogged. I hold the spray can about 8-12" away from the figures. Very effective means of priming your figures and quick as well!
By Hal Thinglum – SAM'S CLUB BANQUET TABLES – SAM'S CLUB is virtually everywhere so you shouldn't have difficulty finding one. I recently ran across some 30" X 96" (2 1/2 X 8 foot) banquet tables for $38.00 each – a very inexpensive price, I might add. Now if you purchase two of these, you have a 5''X 8''wargaming table which can be folded up and put away when you aren't using it. I decided to pick some up because my wargaming table has become a "catch-all" in the basement. I specifically wanted one or two for a MWAN work table. It seems as though every time I feel like setting up a wargame, the next issue of MWAN arrives and I have to clear everything off the table so I can have room to get the issue prepared for the post office. You have to pay a $25.00 yearly fee to join SAM'S CLUB, but it is certainly worthwhile. They also had some shorter tables, though I don't recall the length – may have been 60" long. Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum – 'STERILITE' PLASTIC STORAGE SHELVES – I found these in our local TARGET store recently and they are very handy! This is a five-shelf unit 36" long, 18" deep and 73" high. It is extremely simple to assemble and looks good. In addition, it is very easy to take apart again. I can store a lot of plastic sweater and shoe boxes full of figures on them and they look so much better than the old metal shelving units. The box states each shelf can hold up to 150 pounds. Cost was between $35.00 and $40.00 depending upon whether they were or sale or not. No tools are required for assembly; you just insert the plastic tubing between each of the five shelves and you are done. Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum - PLANO DURASHELF PLASTIC STORAGE SHELVES - This is the same type of storage unit described above except I purchased these at WALMARTS. Price was the same as above. They state the unit can hold 1,000 pounds. Dimensions are roughly equal to the unit above. Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum – NAISMITH DESIGN 15MM ENGLISH CIVIL WAR – NAISMITH, available from NAVWAR PRODUCTIONS LTD, 11, Electric Parade, Seven Kings Road, Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex, UK has a 15mm ECW line and I had not seen any samples of their line until I ran across several packs of figures while at last year's HISTORICON. I managed to pick up two mounted command packs: EC33 Charles I, Lucas, and Rupert and EC24 Essex, Fairfax and Cromwell. These are very nice figures, though on the small side. If you are familiar with the 15mm MINIFIGS line, they are just a little smaller than them. I don't find this a problem on the tabletop but you might want to order just a pack or so and size them out with your current figures. Detail is good; there wasn't much flash; and they look good painted up. I especially like the Rupert figure as he is carrying his dog (can't recall the name of the dog) with him! Recommended for the ECW/TYW gamer.
By Hal Thinglum – B&B MINIATURES NEW 20MM AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE WAR FIGURE LINE – B&B Miniatures, 37 The Queensway, Hall Road, Hull, UK HU6 9BH has released a brand new line in 20mm – AWI – and it appears as though it will be quite extensive! Two bags of unidentified figures – one of three mounted and one of four foot figures – were included for mention in MWAN. The mounted officers are very good; they come with trotting horses (same pose) and the saddles are cast to the riders. I would be very tempted to identify these mounted generals as Americans, but I could be wrong. One is "hatless", while the other two are holding their hats in their right hands. Very nice figures! There are two foot figures in hunting shirts – one loading and the other with a fife. The other two foot figures are of a standard bearer and drummer in uniform. The drummer has a bandage around his head. The pole is cast on the standard bearer. I like the figures and the line looks good as well: there are twenty-one packs of British (15 foot; heavy/medium/light gun with crew; light dragoons and command; and mounted staff). The foot feature line infantry (advancing, march attack, and charging), light infantry in helmet (marching and skirmishing), grenadiers in bearskin (same poses as line), Highlander line and grenadiers (each advancing and march attack); and line infantry in same three poses as above but listed as "late war". The Hessians have 14 packs: line in tricorne and mitre (each advancing, firing, charging); grenadiers (same three poses); Jagaers skirmishing; heavy/medium/light gun with crew; and mounted staff.
The Loyalists have fifteen packs: Queens Rangers (skirmishing, grenadiers, and mounted), British Legion mounted and skirmihsing, Highland Emigrants (march attack, advancing, charging), Loyalist Infantry (advancing, march attack and charging – all in soft caps), Butlers Rangers skirmishing, and Loyalist Infantry in soft hat with feather in same three poses as above. The Americans have twenty-eight packs: militia in soft hat (advancing, charging, firing), Minutemen in tricorne (same three poses), Continentals in hunting shirt (15 different packs featuring tricornes, soft hat with feather, and soft hat) and Continental light infantry skirmishing. There are Light Dragoons mounted and dismounted, heavy/medium/light gun with crew, and mounted staff. There are two available horses: trotting or charging. Very nice looking line, I must admit! If anyone is looking for a 20mm line, you won't make a mistake by selecting B&B! Highlanders, militia and Minutemen come 30 figures to a pack while Continentals and British infantry packs have 24 figures. Cavalry come 12 to a pack while artillery packs have four crew and a gun. This line should soon be available from BROOKHURST HOBBIES so check with them, or if you live in the UK, with B&B. Highly recommended!
After I wrote my article for this issue re my 20mm FPW project, I sent a copy to B&B MINIATURES for their information and received a prompt reply from Ian Bratten, the owner. Ian writes: "The range of figures and packaging are indeed based on the rules "They Died For Glory". I understand your concern regarding the packaging. In the UK this is not a problem as we will sell extra figures by mail order. This is somewhat of a problem in the USA as we sell the packs to BROOKHURST, who I am sure wouldn't want to stock piles of individual figures. However, having received your comments I intend to discuss the matter with BROOKHURST and perhaps we can come up with a system of half packs of figures without command or as an add-on to the range. I can totally sympathize with the problem of drilling the standard bearer as I think I've drilled more holes in my hand than in the standard bearer's hand when raising my own army. The problem has been solved with the next range of figures as the pole is cast into the hands of the standard bearer. I am sorry to hear there is a problem with broken bayonets. It is a problem of scale; we could make the bayonet thicker but this would make it out of proportion to the rest of the figure. It is certainly something we will look into."
I was very impressed with Mr Bratten's prompt reply and the content of his letter. It is always nice to have a manufacturer who considers comments from people who purchase his product and it speaks well for B&B! I predict very good things for this company in the future if they continue churning out quality 20mm figures and respond as they have! Thank you, Mr. Bratten!
By Hal Thinglum – REDOUBT ENTERPRISES 25MM AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
RELEASES – REDOUBT ENTERPRISES, 49 Channel View Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex,
BN22 7LN, UK (phone 01323-738022; FAX 01323-738032) must be close to having the most
extensive 25mm ACW line available – they have released ACX36 Boat Party (15.00 pounds)
consisting of midshipman, marine officer, tillerman, six rowing sailors, three marines in a ship's
boat complete with oars. The pack includes heads for the figures. The boat is a resin cast model,
done by VILLAGE GREEN, who does excellent work and measures 2" X 5". The figures fit
very well in the boat. There are six well cast oars included. ACX 37 Landing Party (8 pds) has
11 sailors with an officer armed with either pistols or cutlasses. There are five with cutlassses
drawn and five with pistols drawn. The officer has a separate arm with pistol. The figures are in
action poses and very good! There is not any flash – just run a file under the base so as to make
sure it is even. Figures can come with naval heads or REDOUBT offers straw sennet hats if
requested. The sample pack included six of each and they are very well done. ACX 38 Landing
Party (15 pds) as above, with boat. The naval heads are wearing USN/CSN naval ratings hats.
Available in the USA from MINIATURE SERVICE CENTER, 1525 Bridge St., Apt. 163,
Yuba City, CA 95993 (530-673-5169) who frequently offer 15% off on the items. Also released,
though not included for mention, is PX 27 Spanish Napoleonic guerilla gun crew (3.50 pds). As
mentioned above, VILLAGE GREEN, 17 Rotunda Road, Eastbourne, BN23 6LE, UK
(phone/fax 01323-738882; e-mail: Resinscenics@Telinco.co.uk) has been producing many items
for REDOUBT and the MINIATURE SERVICE CENTER has begun carrying the VILLAGE
GREEN items. They have released two ACW ships – the USS/CSS Nemesis, which is a seven-gun
sternwheel ironclad (19 1/2 " X 7" with a height of 3") including guns (either Dahlgrens or
navy 12-pounders) for 60 pounds (no crew) and the USS/CSS Samson, a five-gun sidepaddle
ironclad (16 1/2 " X 11 1/2 " and 4" high) for 60 pounds including guns (no crew). These are, I assume, designed for the REDOUBT figures. I am sorely tempted by these items and figures;
can you imagine – skirmish gaming with 25mm ACW ironclads which allow you to lift off the
roofs so you can see the guns and figures? You'd need a rather large playing area, but, it sure
would look nice! Someone must make fortress guns for the ACW in 25mm – let us know if
anyone does, would you? I am sure VILLAGE GREEN will be coming out with additional
ACW ships – highly recommended!
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