Homegrown Miniatures is a new company that started to provide 25mm and 54mm American Civil War Miniatures. Designed and sculpted by Darrell Combs, these offer some of the most ambitious poses I've seen. Sent in for review was the 25mm Command Figures: 6 foot, 1 mounted, 1 two-figure foot stand, and 1 killed mounted stand. The casting quality is above average--almost non-existent flash or mold lines. A little on the horse, a little under the stands and that's about it. The horse seemed the worse for wear (shipping) with a broken off rein on the left side and broken ankle. As for the poses, two stand out: the two-figure foot stand and the mounted killed stand. The former shows one man struggling to hold up another man who has started to crumple to the ground. Both are leaning about 45 degrees off vertical. I can see these as perfect disorder markers. The latter shows a dead horse collapsed atop its rider, who looks equally as dead, the leg pinned underneath the horse, the other crooked across the saddle, and the hat nearby make this an effective diorama style stand. Another excellent disorder or casualty style marker. I say disorder style marker because I can't imagine fielding a regiment of dead horsemen. The others are average in attraction. A couple of officers hold pistols in the air, a fife player look a little awkward in holding his fife, but it's a nice idea that goes along with the flag (furled) holder. When I see fife players, the both hands are playing the fife to one side of the mouth. This figure has a hand on each side of the mouth. Oddly enough, the drummer seems to be at rest, or at least not drumming. The mounted figure (saddle molded to rider, horse separate) is at somewhat of an odd angle. If I had to take a guess, I'd say he's pulling back on the reins with his left hand just below chin level and holding his pistol in outstretched right arm for balance. The least attractive figure in the group is the fellow bent over at the waist and leaning on his sword like a cane while his other hand rubs his eye or left side of forehead. When I showed the figures to a friend, he took one look at this fellow and said, "Look, he's got his finger in his ear!" I have to give points for being different in posing. Finesse the paint job and you could probably make this an exhausted marker of some sort. As for detail, the figures can claim enough for brushes to pick out, although not overly so. Some are finely wrought with distinctive faces and great beards while a few, the drummer especially, look like the head is a relatively bowling ball smooth with two holes for eyes and one for a mouth. The figures stand 28-30mm tall (measured from bottom of boot to eyeballs). For a first effort, this is a promising start. I think the other command figures will be fine with other figures of similar size, and would have to think carefully about the musicians and Col. Finger. But I really like the diorama style stands--not only innovative, but well executed. Send 'em an e-mail (click below) for pricing info. Homegrown Miniatures, 914 Curlew Rd. #357 Dunadin, FL 34698 (813-277-9024) homegrown figs@excite.com (homegrownfigs.hypermart.net/home.htm) Back to MWAN #110 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2001 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