As I write this, Fall is here; the season when we start moving indoors and have more time for painting and hobby activities. I always kept track of my painting activities and my production went down in the summer and started raising in the fall and peaked in the winter months. MWANer Rob Westbrook recently related to me how he views three day weekends as an opportunity to get some major painting in. When I did a lot of painting, I felt the same way and always looked forward to getting a lot of figures off the painting table! There's something very exciting and motivating about knowing you have three days during which you can paint yourself silly if you wish! I just reviewed the 25mm new releases from REDOUBT ENTERPRISES Napoleonic line French Lancers and British Heavy Cavalry! Boy, are they nice! For years now, I've wanted to do the Peninsular War and have collected Spanish irregular figures from a variety of manufacturers and had them painted up. They are based on single bases and look very good. I was undecided as to which approach to use with this period/scale: regular "units" (six figure bases) or "skirmish" (individual figure bases). MWANer Bill Stewart of Seattle told me he has embarked upon a Napoleonic 25mm project using a THE SWORD AND THE FLAME type approach in which he will mount his figures individually and have twenty figures per unit. This got me thinking about Bill's approach - you could have your twenty infantry figures represent a "company" or a "battalion". Wouldn't a "battalion" of six 20 figure companies look great on the table-top? You could add a "company" of twenty light infantry and squadrons of twelve cavalry figures. There have been a number of "skirmish" type rule sets published for the Napoleonic period most of them in the wargames press - THE COURIER had a set sometime ago that I keep filed away in my "Peninsular War" folder. It would be quite easy to "modify" TSATF" rules to fit the Peninsular. There are many manufacturers of 25mm-28mm figures appropriate for this period you wouldn't have any trouble finding figures for any nationality! Years ago, when the Sharpe books first came out, one of them dealt with Sharpe holding a church against a large number of French infantry and this particular scenario appealed to me greatly! I envisioned building a large Spanishtype church for Sharpe to defend and painted large numbers of French line infantry from Peter Gilder's FOREMOST and Connoisseur line but eventually sold them off. These were great figures and are still fairly state of the art and available from J&T MINIATURES, by the way. The thought of this scenario can still get my wargaming juices going! If I were to take the single figure basing approach, I'd want the following: Battalion of French Line Infantry of six companies including four Fusilier (4 X 20 = 80), one of Grenadiers (1 X 20) and one of Voltigeurs (1 X 20) for a total of 120 figures with an additional mounted officer as battalion commander. Company of French Light Infantry (1 X 20). Several squadrons of French Lancers and Dragoons (12-figure squadrons) with dismounted figures available for the Dragoons. There were many instances when French Dragoons were used against Spanish irregulars and dismounted to fight. A three-gun battery of French artillery with limbers, a crew of four figures for each gun total of 12 gunners), and an ammunition caisson. A group of three to five mounted command figures. Perhaps four 20-figure groups of Spanish Irregulars on foot and one or two 12figure mounted Irregulars. REDOUBT has a great Spanish gun and gun crew available. Four 20-figure companies of Spanish line infantry; I think they used four companies per battalion. One or two 20-figure companies of British Riflemen. A British line battalion - what did they use? Ten companies per battalion? That would be a little large; I'd probably want to stick with the twenty figure units instead of sizing down the company on a ratio basis. A couple of British cavalry squadrons. A British three-gun battery. Mounted British and Spanish officers. REDOUBT has personality figures for Sharpe and Sgt. Harper which are very well done. They also offer a number of Spanish civilians. OLD GLORY has 25mm buildings for their Pirate line which would go very well for the Peninsular and HOVELS has a 25mm Spanish line of buildings. Every time I've started a wargaming project in 25mm with the intention of using the single figure approach, I've been sorry as I end up with so many figures that it becomes impractical to move them around the table. I've mentioned in the past how I think it is possible that this phenomena is what happened to many gamers who were crazy about TSATF; our armies outgrew the rules set and there wasn't another rules set available which could handle so many single figures. This is something which I really have to consider before making a choice of approaches. It sure is, however, a tempting period and scale! If someone out there does Napoleonic wargaming with single figures, I'd love to hear from you as to your approach, organization, and rules. My 20mm B&B Miniatures Franco-Prussian War Project is coming along nicely. I set them out on the tabletop last week along with the 20mm period buildings from Colin Rumford and Sentry Models. The sight made me realize that my 15mm trees are too small and my 25mm trees are too large! I'm going to have to get some of the K&M trees from the UK that will fit in with 20mm. Thus far, I have fifteen French infantry battalions and four guns and twentyfive Prussian (and Allied) battalions with three guns. They do look nice. After viewing them, I realized there were nine French infantry battalions which appeared to be lacking in the usual French "elan" they didn't appear anxious to advance and be defeated by the Prussians as the other six French battalions were! Then I realized I had terrained them with a honey brown static grass compared to my usual green with some yellow sprinkled in! No wonder their spirits were down! Now I had a problem - I had super-glued them on their metal stands and the static grass was painted on. What would happen if (1) I attempted to "pop" them off the metal stands, and, (2) I tried to "scrape" off the honey brown static grass and repaint the stand(s) green and drop my green static grass on them? With much hesitation, I tackled a battalion of sixteen figures; it took a little effort with my exacto knife but I was able to remove the figures without personal injury to either the figures or my fingers. Now the real test - I scraped as much static grass off the individual figure stands as I could and it wasn't bad. I was able to repaint the figure stands green and dip them in the green static grass without them looking bad! Whew! Took me several nights but I finished all nine battalions. When I placed them back on the table, they were itching to charge those nasty Prussians - success! I also had to remount two battalions of Prussian Jaegers which I had mounted in "open" order resulting in an inability to put them in "close" order. Oh well, not the first time I've done something foolish and had to redo it! Won't be the last either Although my painting has slowed down considerably, I've managed to finish eleven French 18-figure battalions and seven 2-gun batteries for my 15mm Malburian Project. I've got another nine battalions of grenadiers in various types of mitres and Austrian and Dutch line infantry primed and on painting sticks. It's gone pretty well using the black primer method and I'm going to keep on utilizing this approach. It goes quickly and you really end up with a "campaign" type look for the uniforms. OLD GLORY has released a new 15mm line of Franco-Prussian War figures which I understand will be expanded to include the 1866 conflict. They are being manufactured by Battle Honors USA, 346 River Street, Coopersville, MI 49404. This promises to be quite an extensive line and they are following their usual packaging approach of 100 foot/30 cavalry/6 guns with crew for, I believe, $21.00, a real bargain! Thus far, I think they have French and Prussian line infantry defending and attacking and artillery available. I'm thinking the release of this line may prove to be a real "boon" for wargaming this fascinating period of history! I'm anxious to see what they look like; I like OLD GLORY's approach of having multiple figure poses. The Terminal Hobby Shop, PO Box 3039, Milwaukee, WI 53201-3039 (1-800487-2467) offers a full range of terraining materials and N Gauge/HO scale items which we are frequently looking for. In addition, they carry the Rocco Mini-tanks line. I recently referred to AB Figures from the UK as AB "Miniatures" , which was incorrect. I also stated in a review of their products that I wish they would make British Napoleonic foot limbers in addition to their horse artillery limbers. I was also incorrect on this statement; their limbers/riders were used for both foot and horse artillery. You can check out AB Figures website at www.abfigures.demon.co.uk. COMBINED ARMS, INC., 5132 E. Princess Anne Rd., Norfolk, VA 23502 (phone/fax: 757-8577698; e-mail: combinedarms@yahoo.com) is now carrying the entire BRITANNIA line from the UK. I see this as a real plus for wargamers. In addition to their excellent WWII 20mm line, which we all are aware of, they offer 20mm WWI and 25mm Sudan, Crimean War, Waterloo, Little Big Horn, Pancho Villa, Plains Indians, Wild West, Ancients and Dark Ages, and North West Frontier, and a 20mm Vietnam line. Prices have decreased considerably, which I am glad to see; good luck! They have a nicely done catalog available. OSPREY has released Marengo 1800, a special expanded edition in their Campaign series. Dr. Paddy Griffith has a website at htti)://ourworld.compuserve.com/home vages/PaddyGriffith. He also informed us of Richard Madder's free kriegsspiel site at http://www.henridecat.freeserve.co.uk. SHQ Miniatures, available through BROOKHURST HOBBIES, 12188 Brookhurst St., Garden Grove, CA 92840 (phone: 714-636-3580; website: http//www.brookhursthobbies.com; e-mail: info@Brookhursthobbies.com) has released some 20mm WWII items including SS30 officers reading map; SS31 Flakpanzer 38T 20mm AA crew; SS32 US Command Normandy 1944; GD30 German staff group; RT18 Russian anti-tank dog/handler. GRIPPING BEAST, 15 Field View, Bucklesham, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP10 0EE has released a line of 25mm Vikings (29 packs of eight figures each for 5.50 pounds/pack). ESSEX MINIATURES, Unit 1, Shannon Square, Thames Estuary Estate, Canvey Island, Essex, SS8 OPE (available in the US from WARGAMES - see address on last page in this issue) has a website: www.essexminiatures.co.uk). GLADIATOR GAMES, 11 Derwent Ave., Biggleswade, BEDS, SG18 8LY, UK has released a new 15mm line of Samurai consisting of eight packs which they report will be expanded to include all Samurai war types. Available from REGAL MINIATURES (1116 Broadway, Polk City, IA 50226 (phone: 515-984-6470). QUALITICAST, 29 The Quantocks, Flitwick, Beds., MK45 ITG (available from Brookhurst Hobbies in US) has released additional 20mm Napoleonics consisting of Scots Greys, Brunswick Hussars, French Dragoons and Chasseurs a Cheval. PETER PIG, 34-36 Knightsdale Rd., Weymouth, Dorset, DT4 OHS (available from Brookhurst Hobbies) has released 15mm "accessory heads" of 16/pack ($3.65). They report you can twist off the old head, drill a hole in the body of the figure and replace the head. They offer heads in French kepi, beret, bare, early Russian helmet, Russian helmet, sailor heads, Adrian helmet, Fez, small brimmed hat, Australian/Gurkha, PLO scarf, skulls, soft peaked cap, and German WWII helmet. Handy items for wargamers needing special figures which arent available on the market (is there anything not available on the market?). FRONTLINE WARGAMING, Gibraltar Farm, Ham Lane, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 3JJ (available from RLBPS, 4827 Treeview Terr., Rockford, IL 61109; Phone: 815-874-5351; email: rlbps@)earthlink.net) will be adding to their 25mm WWII scenics line. This is good news! IRREGULAR MINIATURES, 3 Apollo St., Heslington Rd., York, Y01 5AP (phone/fax: 01904-671101) have added 20mm WWI, 20mm ACW, and made some additions to their 10mm lines (Russian Dragoons and Cuirassier and Sarmation cavalry). They also have a new 6mm Vietnam range of 34 items. THE FOUNDRY LTD, 24-34 St. Marks St., Nottingham, NG3 1De, UK (phone: 0115 841-3000; web-site: www.wargamesfoundry.com) released a 25mm line of Camerone 1863 (always wanted to do this!) and will soon be releasing 25mm Aztecs and Vikings. The Camerone 1863 line has eight packs currently available; seems like six-eight figures pack including personalities. SKYTREX LTD (e-mail: sales@skytrex.com) has released more 1:200th modern Russian items: BMP 3 APC and UAZ 469 Utility truck. In 15mm (1:100th scale), they've added Sexton 25pdr SPG, Priest 105mm SPG, 150mm sFH 18 Field guns. In 20mm (1:76 th), they added Sherman tanks with a British bias M4A4, M4 Hybrid, M4A2 diesel. For their 1:700th Trafalgar Napoleonic ships, they've added the Agamemnon 64 gun 3rd rate and Orion 74 gun 3 rd rate as well as five new Spanish ships. For their 1:700th WWII ship line, they offer 11 new British cruisers. Website is www.skytrex.com. HEISER'S MODELS INC., PO Box 6187, Lakewood, CA 90714-6187 (phone/fax: 1 562-860-1362; e-mail: heisermodels@earthlink. net) is offering newly obtained vehicles from the Czech Republic and the Ukraine. They report some of their vehicles can be viewed on the WALTHERS website (www.walthers.com) - THE TERMINAL HOBBY SHOP mentioned previously in this column - HEISERS carry a wide range of plastic military kits. I haven't mentioned WARRIOR MINIATURES, 14 Tiverton Ave., Glasgow, G32 9NX, Scotland for a long time but they have an extensive offering in 15mm and 25mm. Would like to see an updated catalog from them. MUSEUM MINIATURES, 28 Long Lane, Driffield, Yorkshire, Y025 5HF, UK (carried by THE COLONIAL CONNECTION, 226 Wareham's Point, Williamsburg, VA 231858923; phone: 804-229-4547; e-mail: colconx@webtv.net) has released a new line of what I assume are 15mm New Kingdom Egyptians and Myceneans. Website at www.wargaming.org.uk. KENNINGTON MINIATURES, 4 Church Vale, Forest Hill, London, SE23 2UW (phone: 020-8291-6675; e-mail: Miniatures@rephoto.co.uk) have released 20mm Bavarian Napoleonic line/light infantry and grenadiers (7 poses for each). They are also now carrying the 54mm NEW HOPE DESIGNS figures as well as the 20mm accessories and equipment line of FINE SCALE FACTORY from Germany. Id be curious to see what items are available from this company; I've heard of them before. Rob Westbrook has an interesting method of painting mounted figures. He glues the riders to a wooden dowel, thus making it much easier to hold and access the figure. Think I'll give this a try as I don't like painting riders and much prefer one-piece castings. This issue has Colonel Wilbur E. Gray's THE AGE OF EAGLES - NAPOLEONIC FIRE & FURY rules based upon Rich Hasenauer's FIRE & FURY. Id like to thank Bill Gray for allowing MWAN to publish them - I know they will be very popular. I had copies of Bill's notes for this rules set for many years and am pleased to see that he has finished them. The print, unfortunately, is a little small. I am hoping it shows up well within MWAN. I tried increasing the font size; however, once I do that, it throws off everything within the text so hopefully it will be all right. I'd suggest photo-copying this rules set and increasing the size if it is a problem as to readability. In his introduction, you will note that he is planning on using the FIRE & FURY rules set to produce rules for the Malburian/Seven Years War and the Franco-Prussian War in the future. This is good news and I'll be anxious to see the results! Bill will soon, I understand, have a website for the rules complete with scenarios. I'll pass on such information when I receive it. Back to MWAN #108 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum 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