By Hal Thinglum - REDOUBT ENTERPRISES 28MM ACW LINE NEW RELEASES Redoubt Enterprises, 49 Channel View Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN22 7LN has released two new items for their excellent ACW line - ACX49 Ambrose Burnside and Stonewall Jackson mounted and dismounted. The figures come with separate heads and there are two differently posed horses in the pack. Burnside has his characteristic hat with the brim pulled down and is holding a cigar (separate left arm pointing on horseback and reading a message on foot. Jackson, in kepi, is looking forward in the mounted pose and has a separate right arm dismounted. Excellent figures, great sculpting/casting, just plain great figures! Cost is four pounds. Redoubt has fantastic horses in my opinion!
Secondly, ACX Punishment set consisting of a wooden trestle horse with soldier w/arms tied behind him, a marching figure with musket, a third figure marching through camp with placard around his neck, and an officer, as Redoubt puts it "having been ordered to wash the men's unmentionables." Cost is four pounds; all figures have separate heads. Great for a camp scene or diorama! Available from THE MINIATURE SERVICE CENTER, 1386 Portofino Drive, Yuba City, CA 95993. Web site: www.redoubtenterprises.com. I need to add that Doug of the Miniature Service Center recently sent me his catalogs and they are numerous and impressive: Redoubt Enterprises encompassing British Colonial (Sudan, Zulu Wars, and Victorian Period), English Civil War (makes my mouth water'), Trojan Wars, Three Musketeers, Pirates, French Foreign Legion, Vikings, American Civil War, Napoleonic Wars, American Revolution, Wellington in India, Renaissance, and Abbotts Miniatures (Napoleonic Royal British Navy & Marines, French Navy & Marines, Wars in the West Indies, and 18 th C. Pirates & Smugglers) all in 25mm; ICON HISTORICAL MINIATURES consisting WWII, Zulu War, and Ancients, CALPE MINIATURES (25mm Napoleonic Prussians 1813-15); FRONT RANK (Napoleonics, Seven Years War, French & Indian War, Jacobite Rebellion, Wars of the Roses, and Hundred Years'War); P.M.C. The Missing Link (Queen Victoria's Secret Weapons); VILLAGE GREEN, BUSHI FIGURES (25mm Ancient Japan); and BATTLEGROUP FIGURES (25mm WWII). An impressive selection. I especially like the REDOUBT catalogs because they provide line drawings of many of the figures. Also VILLAGE GREEN just offers so many quality buildings and terrain that it knocks me off my feet!
By Hal Thinglum - WORLD WAR II BOOKLETS by TAC PUBLICATION - Tac Publications, 22 Mead Way, Kidlington, Oxford, 1GB, UK (phone: +44 1865 370083; email: chris@kidlington66.freeserve.co.uk) has released two new booklets to their excellent range of publications. "Comrades In Arms - The Organization of the Russian Army 1941 to 1945" (10 pounds/about $14) by Bob Mackenzie, a 116 page bound booklet (about 8 1/2" X 11") crammed with information about the Russian Army during WWII. Both of these booklets are intended to go along with their rules set, Tac-WWII, which cover brigade actions. There is an amazing amount of information in this booklet - this is a "saver" for me as eventually I want to do the Eastern Front in probably 15mm! Covers infantry, cavalry, armor, artillery, captured tank units, partisans, Punishment Battalions and companies, anti-tank, AA, ski units, fortified regions, and much more! There is also a section on equipment data which covers all of the Russian weapons and vehicles used during the war and then provides Tac-WWII information from their rules set. The second booklet is "Axis Allies on the Ostfront", also by Bob Mackenzie (110 pages, same format/price as above) which covers TO&E information (as above) for Finland, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. There is also a section on conversion to other rules sets including CLASH OF ARMOUR, SPEARHEAD, TAC-WWII and COMMAND DECISION III - a real plus in a booklet of this nature! The introduction reports they deal with units at "full strength" and they suggest it be used as a guide. I am very impressed with these two efforts and find them invaluable. They combine the ability to be helpful to the "newcomer" to WWII gaming, such as myself, as well as the experienced WWII gamer. Most highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum - TESTUDO WARGAMES FIGURES - Testudo, di Gianluigi Forte, via Canaletta 79, 48013 Brisighella- RA, Italia (e-mail: testudo@libero.it; website: www.go.to/testudo; FAX: 0039054681984) is an Italian manufacturer whose advertising I became aware of about a year ago when they advertised a 15mm line of ECW/TYW command figures. Their line of 15mm ECW/TYW is very extensive and interesting! There are five sets of personalities and commanders, each with five mounted figures and horses ($4) featuring King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, lean Tserklaes, Count of Tilly, Louis II Bourbon Conde, Oliver Cromwell, and Prince Rupert of the Rhine or Palatinate. Each pack has the named figure, two general officers, a cornet, and a trumpeter. Sounds good, doesn't it! Check out their website as it is really outstanding! The infantry section has two command packs and have 12 foot ($4) featuring a mix of officers, ensigns, and drummers. As to the "foot", there are three packs (10 foot/$3) of pike (breast/back/tassets; B&B, and buff-coat or skin jerkin) and each pack has different type headgear. For example, TYF103 Pikemen in B&B and tassets has helms, Dutch helms, and Cabasset Morion helmets; TYF102 has felt hat, helm and Morion; and TYF105 has Dutch helm, Cabasset Morion, and felt hat. There are four packs of musketeers (two firing or ready to fire, advancing, and preparing the arms - again a mixture of headgear; one of d ismounted dragoons (officer, standing and advancing), one of Scots Pikes with three of musketeers (all in bonnet), one of English pike in pot, and three English musketeer packs. There are two packs of artillery ($6/2 guns and 6 crew) - medium/heavy and light with crew consisting of officer and three different poses of artillery. The cavalry listings are equally impressive! Three cavalry command (6/$4) and consist of officers, cornets and trumpeters; one pack has 3/4 armor w/closed helm, another has B&B with Zischagge (can't wait to see what my spell check does with this!) helm, and in hats. There are five packs of cuirassier (5 cavalry/$3) in closed helm/pistol and 3/4's armor; 3/4 armor/pistol; B&B w/pistol; B&B w/sword I and II. Several packs contain some figures w/moving arms (not sure I like this in 15mm). Two packs of cavalry in hat/pistol and buffcoat/sword; one of Harquebusiers with B&B; one Dragoon (hat/felt-hat), one of Croatians charging; two of English Harquebusiers (B&B w/pot) and one of Spanish or Imperial Lancers in 3/4's armor with open and closed helm. WHEW! Prices seem very reasonable with postage to the USA being 40% (20% for orders over $130). Army packs for TYW and ECW combatants are also available. I received three samples from this promising looking line - a Cuirassier w/pistol raised across his upper body, a musketeer w/rest firing, and a pikeman in Morion helmet. The foot measure a consistent 18mm from top of base to eye level. Detail is very good as is animation; the horse is well proportioned though it seems "thin" for a Cuirassier's horse. After running a file across the bottom of the stand, you would be finished removing flash. Pikes are separate and are apparently supplied - the pike which came with the figure is well proportioned - not a telephone pole(!) - and has a pike head (I don't know what you call it!). The pikeman is standing with pike upright. Very nice figures. I have once more been "pushed over the edge" to obtain figures for a period for which I don't need any more figures! Outstanding work, Gentlemen! They also produce a 15mm "De Bello Civili" (The end of the Republic) line for the Roman Army during the last Republican period. There are two personality packs, two of command, legionairies, and auxiliaries. They come with separate shields and two samples were provided. I won't pretend to know what they are; however, they are nice looking figures. The shields are very well done! They also have a 15mm Celts line intended to represent the II Century B.C. with packs consisting of General on light chariot, one infantry and cavalry command each, slingers, javelinmen, archers, infantry running and advancing, Gaesati, and two running light chariots. They also list a 28mm line for the Battle of Tannenberg (1410 A.D.) with the first releases being the Teutonic Knights (8 figures) and sergeants (7 figures); apparently they come with separate weapons. Their goal is to follow this up with personalities, Germanic knights & Crusaders, Teutonic infantry, Polish, and Russians & Lithuanians. I am looking forward to hearing more from this new manufacturer of wargames figures as they are off to an outstanding start! I am very impressed by the 15mm TYW/ECW offerings and it is great to see figures being produced for the TYW!
By Hal Thinglum - CLOSE ORDER DESIGNS PAINTING SERVICE - MWANer Chris Bennett, 5591 S. Valclai Way, Aurora, CO 80015 recently painted some British 15mm Malburian infantry for me consisting of Guards, Grenadiers, and line infantry. They were very well done with nice bright colors, great detail on the Grenadier's mitres, belts outlined in black, and very nice looking flags - the figures Id sent to him for painting had attached flags, which can be a bit of a nuisance as far as painting, as it is much easier to attach paper flags than to paint them! However, I was very pleased with his work on the flags. My interest in this period was beginning to wane but with Chris' fine painting, it has been revived! Nice cuff and weapons work. Highly recommended painting service! Thank you, Chris!
By Hal Thinglum - IRREGULAR MINIATURES 20MM AMERICAN CIVIL WAR RELEASES - Irregular Miniatures, 3 Apollo Street, York, Y010 5AP UK (e-mail: email (email@irregularmin.fsnet.co.uk) has released a line of 20mm ACW - a fact which I was very glad to see as I am in the finishing process of completing this period and I needed a lot of artillery and some more infantry to fill in the gaps. They offer matching Confederates and Union figures in the following poses: running w/shouldered musket, advancing, standing firing, kneeling firing, loading, officer, standard bearer w/separate metal pole, drummer, and bugler. As per mounted figures, thus far they have released cavalry in boots holding saber and in trousers holding carbine. There are also Zouave poses standing firing and standing loading as well as one casualty figure. The Confederates are in slouch hat and shell jacket while the Union are in kepi and sack coat. They offer a gun and four crew and limber with four horses/2 outriders/2 seated figures as well as a caisson. The infantry measure roughly 19mm from top of base to eye level. Detail is sufficient and they would paint up very quickly because of this. In addition, they all have light equipment with variations within the same pose. The guns/limbers are well done with wheels fitting easily so there is no drilling required. The limber horses are nicely done being larger than the cavalry horses. I was disappointed with the cavalry as they seem to be "smaller" to me than other 20mm manufacturers while the infantry and artillery fit right in. Prices are as follows: 24 figure battalion/7.00 pds; 8 cavalry/4.50 pds, and 100 figures/24 pds. Very reasonably priced indeed! I obtained these from EUREKA MINIATURES, 10 Woorayl Street, Carngegie, Vic 3163 Australia (website: www.eurekamin.com.au) and Nic Robson always provides me with great service! This should be no reflection upon IRREGULAR MINIATURES of the UK (www.irregularminiatures.co.uk) as they provide the fastest service of any wargames company in the world! I have great admiration for Irregular Miniatures because of the wide variety of periods and scales they produce - you have to see their website to really understand how many figures/scales they have! In addition, I have always, as with Nic, found them very cooperative to deal with. I can vouch for the infantry and artillery highly, order a sample of the cavalry if you are interested and make up your own mind as to size. Great work from Irregular Miniatures again!
By Hal Thinglum - FREIKORPS 15 NEWLY REDESIGNED 15MM SEVEN YEARS WAR CAVALRY I have long felt that FREIKORPS15, 12 Beechfield Ave., Conlig, County Down, BT19 7ZY, UK (new phone #: 0044-2891471368) produce the finest 15mm cavalry on the market even though there lines were released some time ago. I've always like the one-piece cavalry castings, which they do, and it just seemed to me that the proportions of horse and rider were "just right!" Years ago, they used to have a "breakage" problem due to the mixture of lead and tin (I assume), however, this has been resolved for sometime and no longer poses a problem. Antonio Matassa assumed ownership of this company sometime ago and has done a very good job. The SYW cavalry have been redesigned and initially this concerned me as I always liked their SYW horse and wondered why they had bothered to redesign them. Antonio sent me a group of eight SYW cavalry samples and I am sorry to say that I can not tell you what nationality or type of cavalry they are aside from being troopers, officers, standard bearers, and trumpeters. This is no reflection on the quality or detail of the figures - I just plain can't see very well! Anyway, these are excellent little toys! No flash between the horses legs, the same one-piece casting (thank you, Antonifl, the same fine proportion and detail as before, and, in general, outstanding figures! If you do SYW in 15mm, check out FREIKORPS15 cavalry! If you haven't seen them before, you are in for a surprise! The standard bearers need a metal pole (that's good as far as I am concerned) - love those FREIKORPS15 horses! Prices are very reasonable: 8 foot/4 horse are 1.30 pds while 5 foot/3 mounted command are .90 pence. See their website at www.freikorps.com or e-mail them at freikorp@globalnet.co.uk. Carried in the USA by OUTLAND OF OHIO (e-mail: outland@erinet.com). Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum - GRAND MANNER 25MM RESIN BUILDINGS - MWANer Bob Bowling, RLBPS, 4827 Treeview Terrace, Rockford, IL 61109 (phone: 815-874-5351; email: rlbps@earthlink.net) carries the Grand Manner 25mm Resin buildings and they offer quite an extensive line of Dark Ages , Late Roman, Darkest Africa, Trojan, and just recently, Spanish style buildings. In addition, they offer some 20mm WWII buildings as well as an interesting listing - Stalingrad sewer system in 20mm; would love to see how this is done! Anyway, there are two Spanish buildings - LS1 Store House ($72.95) and Double Fronted Merchant house ($85.95) and I obtained the merchant house. This is a large, very beautiful, heavy resin building on a resin base measuring 8" X 8" with an overall height of 5 1/2". There is a two story main building with plenty of windows and two doors (one window is a "picture" window) with vegetation growing on the sides. The roof for this building is one piece with tiles and removable. Once you remove the roof, there are two rooms and you can easily remove the first floor flooring to show the two rooms on the first floor. Each room has a stairway leading up to the second floor (the removable second floor flooring has two sections cutout for entry via the stairs). The bottom two rooms are detailed, especially one of them, with dishes etc. There are two adjoining buildings to the main building, each with separate roof. The smaller of the two has no inside detail (there is a door from the main building to the small building which has an outside door) while the larger of the two is perhaps a stable with windows, two round doorways and very nice inside detail - looks like my grandfather's feeding stalls for his cows! The smaller building has an enclosed wall with an open approach and stone floor. The detail on this set is outstanding and it fits in very well with the OLD GLORY Spanish Village in 25mm. It was my intention to use these buildings for either the Spanish Civil War or Peninsular War and they will look great together! Highly recommended! Great for skirmish gaming because of the removable roofs and many doors/windows! By the way, the roofs fit very well on the buildings.
By Hal Thinglum - TCS ITEMS - TCS, PMB #155, 545 Newport Ave., Pawtucket, RI 02861 (new phone number: 401-474-0059; e-mail: leowalsh@aol.com)) produces a plethora of wargames accessories in all scales, though mostly 5mm, 15mm, and 20mm with some 25mm items. They have a new catalog available so check it out. Brand new from TCS is a 25mm large Euro stucco & wood farm complex ($85.00/$150 finished). This is a nice set on a base 11" X 11" with four buildings, two of which form the foundation for a second story (there is something like an "underpass" between the two buildings) and a front wall section with entry way. The largest of the buildings is the second floor section and measures 8 1/2" X 4" X 4" high. All buildings have separate roofs. The windows are not meant to be open so you will have to do some carving if you wish to have them open for figure placement. All of the roofs are tiled. The area inside the complex is terrained to represent a muddy courtyard and is effective. There are two buildings facing each other, each with smaller attached buildings (and roofs). Could be used for any European/Eastern European farm complex from the Middle Ages on up. #201 Dragon's teeth (3/$3.50) are listed as 15-20mm although I wouldn't hesitate to use them for 25mm (although, please note, TCS has just released 25mm Dragon's Teeth!); they are 1 1/4" by 4" with four dragon's teeth on each. Very nice for WWII! For some years I had seen TCS's river sections in hobby shops and never really paid them much attention. Then I got some last year and had them painted/terrained and they look great. I used them for my 20mm FPW wargame last spring and Len Brewer liked them so much that he is getting some for himself. I got another package of #601 Straight River (30" total) - seven pieces listed for 515mm for $10 - they look fine for 20mm as well, in my opinion. The banks are raised and there are scrubs along the banks and debris or rocks in the river section. They measure 2 1/4" X 6" long. #617 rocky narrow river section ($4.50) has four pieces of various lengths with scrubs along the shoreline and rocks in the river. #611 bridge piece and ford piece for narrow river for 5mm ($3.50) has a 2" X 3 1/4" ford piece and 2" X 2 1/2" bridge piece. The bridge piece has three trees on it. Very nice pieces and highly functional. To keep them together during a game, I used some clear wrapping tape on the bottom of each section. PT-02 palm trees (3/$3.25) offers you three metal palm trees (you need to superglue the palm section to the trunk) and they are simple, but effective (and inexpensive, I might add!); you can also get 1 1/2" to 2" and 2" to 3" palms. #112 Cheval-clefrise (4/$6 in 15mm or 25mm - item #113 for 25mm) provides you with four 3" sections which are very well done. TCS has a huge selection of 25mm "hollow houses" for wild west, Mexico, etc (I've used some for the NWF). H1 ($6.50) is a 4" square stucco house and roof. This is one I've used for the NWF for villages. H11 ($8) clapboard western building with two doors needs a separate roof and H12 wood and shingle roof ($5) came with it. Fits easily on to the main section. These buildings paint up very well with a black priming. I should add that TCS is once again producing their micro buildings and they have a large selection. Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum - THE SKIRMISH LINE PAINTING SERVICE - MWANer Charles Van Norman, 347 Maple Ave., Green Bay, WI 54303 (phone: 920-435-6337) recently finished off a 20mm FPW French Guard foot artillery gun, limber, limber team and five crew members for me. Charles has done quite a few of my 20mm FPW units and I am always pleased with the results. He puts on a fair amount of detail and the painting technique is very clean with the result sometimes resembling a wash of some sort . Reasonable prices and very friendly to work with. Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum - SKIRMISH CAMPAIGNS - NORMANDY '44-FIRST HOURS This is an 8 1/2" X 11" bound 60-page effort by Scott Fisher and Nathan Forney with the goal of recreating the Normandy '44 battle on a skirmish level within a campaign format. Morale, leadership and troop training are generally stated so as to allow use of other rules systems. There are six possible training levels and morale. Each of the nine scenarios has several squads and vehicles and there are three campaign games and a campaign map. Nine different WWII rules sets (Battleground WWII, Beer & Pretzels Skirmish, Overlord, Skirmish '90, The Face of Battle, Battlefront WWII, TAC: Skirmish, And in the Beginning, and Cross of Iron) are supplied with conversions, a very helpful feature for WWII gamers. The maps, both campaign and scenario, are very well done. There are historical sections offering a background to the campaigns and scenarios. Each scenario offers the setting, rules, aftermath, options, notes, a map, and a base force and variable attachments for each side. This set is just another excellent example of what is available nowadays in the WWII area of historical wargaming. Available from BROOKHURST HOBBIES (see their address in their ad in this issue). Published by J&D Publications, 10419 Stallworth Ct., Fairfax, VA 22032 (e-mail: fisherts@mindspring.com). Highly recommended and a good job!
By Ken Hafer - CANNON FODDER MINIATURES YANGTZE RIVER PATROL RANGE IN 25MM - There are two USN officers; USN5, a little ship board dictator, ;tanding with his hands behind his back, looking down from his bridge, and USN1, an officer on shore patrol in gaiters and tin hat, firing his .45. The first is a very snooty fellow, and the second, very earnest. There are two CPO's, the first in shorts, shirt and cap, gesturing with his left hand. The second, USN4, is on shore patrol, with a pot belly, gaiters, tin hat, pump shotgun, and holstered .45. He's pointing off in one direction and looking back at his poor swabbies, giving comands out of one side of his mouth (how easy to stick a stogey in the other!). There are sailors in action, holding Springfields across their bellies. They come in caps, USN2 tin hats, USN2c with feet spread apart or close together, USN2b very useful on wargame boats, where space is at a premium. There are a number of deck crew in shorts and caps, or tin hats. Most of these have their left arms out and feet together. There's even a 20-year gob, with a pot belly. They'll do nicely for crew and gunners. They have clean-shave faces and a mustachioed one, USN6. There are two black crew, Steve McQueen, USN7 and Frenchie. They're wearing the dungaree work clothes. CFM offers his BAT gunner with helmet, USN3 or in cap. He's loaded down with extra magazines in pouches. But the creme-de la-creme is the two-man Lewis gun team. They are in tin hats. The gunner himself is in a pose reminiscent of those old 20's and 30's semi-round figures, but his Lewis gun lays across the shoulders of his #2, who is gripping the bipod with both hands near his right erar. Both figures have extra magazines and holstered .45's. All of the armed figures are wearing web belts with ammo pouches, and a very nice touch, the tiny first aid pouch hanging from the left front of the belt (who is going to paint the tiny black cross on it?). All figures with .45's have the proper leather holster for the period. The one thing that CFM's excellent site doesn't show off well is the character in the faces of the figures. There are wide-eyed innocents, shifty shirkers, and determined warriors. At this writing, their opponents are limited to three figures: WL1 - a Chinese Warlord advancing with a broom-handled Mauser pistol. WL2 - his bare-chested, bare-handed bodyguard, with a sword slung over his back (easy enough to add one of CFM's excellent weapons to his hands) and WL3 - a soldier in soft cap, ammo pouches, and uniform advancing with his rifle to his stomach. CFM plans to add two more Warlords, another soldier, and an MG team Oust the thing to mount on that Atlantis truck). The USN figures are too good to limit to the YangPat. They would be equally at home in the Carribean, South America, or the Pacific - anywhere the US Navy had to go ashore armed. Of course, since I've been slowly putting together a China-Burma-India force in 25mm figures from BATTLE HONORS, they would be great fighting against the Japanese in very early WWII or in "didn't happen but coulda" confrontations helping the Nationalist Chinese battle the Japanese before the official US entry into the war. The CFM figures are very tall, but that's no problem against the Japanese. I can't recommend this line highly enough. The figures are excellent and the period is definitely not overdone. I've made a couple of Paypal orders and receive them from OZ very quickly. And if, like me, you are in the US, you get not quite 50% off the Australian dollar.
By Bill Widirick - THE WARGAMES FIGURE COMPANY www.wargames-figures.com Located in Scotland, The Wargames Figure Company offers secure online ordering for most major manufacturers and some minor ones as well. Of interest to me was the extensive line of Pendraken Miniatures in 10mm. This includes my new interest in the 10mm WWII line. I was not disappointed in what the line has to offer. Never having ordered from a European company before, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was not let down. I had my complete order from them in about three weeks. The service continues to be wonderful. They offer a shopping basket type setup, and once finished shopping, secure credit card transaction checkout. A confirmation of your order is sent via e-mail and you are notified when your order has been shipped. I have ordered from them four times so far and have not had one problem. They are also set up to answer any questions that you may have with the e-mail addresses on the site. I highly recommended this site for their impeccable service and extensive offerings. Drop by and check them out!
By Bill Widirick - PERRIN MINIATURES - www.perrinminis.com - This company, located in Wisconsin, offers 10mm lines that include Franco-Prussian, ACW, WWII and others. My interest is in their line of WWII vehicles and infantry. The castings are very well done and nicely detailed. I prefer the Pendraken infantry, but that is just personal taste. The Perrin infantry are very nice and fit in well with the Pendraken infantry and even the Minifigs 12mm WWII line. Minifigs advertises their line as "12mm-1/160th N Scale." Actually N scale is 9mm, and all three lines, Perrin, Pendraken and Minifigs, go very well together. If, like me, you are thinking of changing scale, or are looking for a scale for your first dive into the WWII era, check out this scale/line. Perrin offers outstanding quality and service. I have ordered from them about half a dozen times and have always had my order in about one week. Perrin also offers secure online ordering with a credit card.
By Bill Widrick - CONNOISSEUR MINIATURES 25MM NAPOLEONICS FROM J&T MINIATURES, 31216 County Road 112, Pequot Lakes, MN 56472 - send $2.00 for a full catalog of these absolutely beautiful minis. I have the French light infantry in campaign dress, Cuirassiers, Dragoons and 8lb and 121b artillery. All the castings are great with lots of detail and various poses within the bulk bags. The light infantry are very well done with little cleaning needed in preparation for painting and have about five different poses. This includes shakos, forage caps, and bandaged heads. The cavalry horses are a bit thin for my liking but are very nicely done. As for the artillery, it is the best that I have seen in this scale. Each bag of artillery contains two guns and one howitzer plus four crew figures for each gun. Very highly recommended!
By Len Brewer - TRUE NORTH PRODUCTIONS - P.O. BOX 579, MERRICKVILLE, ONTARIO, CANADA, KOG-INO (phone 1-613-269-2557, e-mail davidjackson@fcmail.com or I received NRI-14 the command pack of Russian Napoleonic Guard infantry. Included in this pack are four officers; four drummers and four standard bearers. These figures are about 16 or 17 mm in height. The officers have the short overcoat with a backpack. They are carrying a sword a waist height. Their shako has the cording and the large plume on them. The drummers are advancing with backpacks, blanket rolls and the other necessary equipment. The standard bearers are standing with the like accessories from the other figures. This pack of figures had very little flash on any figures. The Russian command pack retails for $3.00. NRI-9 contains 32 Guards advancing. The figures are about 16 or 17mm tall. These figures have the typical Russian uniform. Short jacket and pants. The figure has a backpack with the necessary blanket roll. The belting, short sword and musket are very well detailed. The shakos are detailed with the right cording and plumes on them. This pack of 32 figures retails for $8.00. All of these figures fit in very well with the other major line of figures.
NTA-1 is a series of resin terrain accessories. The first on is a copy of the Raevsky Redoubt in 15mm. This is a very nice looking piece. At the widest point it measures 12 inches by 8 inches and is 1 1/2 inches high. There are two artillery emplacements on this. In the front outside and inside there are gabions filled with dirt and debris. The sides are sloped while on the rear of this piece the gabions have some logs tried together on the top of them. There are places for the infantry to support the artillery on this position. This piece goes very well with the similar model that is available from Scenic Effects. This one-piece resin casting is a real beauty. You can have one for only $39.00 this is a very worthwhile addition for the Napoleonic gamer. NTA-2, is a copy of the Bagration Fleches. This is a one-piece resin casting close to 10 inches long, 1-1/2 inches wide and 1 1/4 inches tall. This is a very simple terrain piece. The floor is textured to represent dirt. The front of this casting looks like an irregular fence that varies in height and appearance. The front wall stands straight up. The back wall is a copy of the front with the major exception is that it slants about 30 degrees. Your basic single rank stand will fit in this very nicely. Both of these pieces are high recommended.
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