By Hal Thinglum -- EUREKA MINIATURES NORTHWEST FRONTIER 25MM -- Eureka Miniatures, run by my friend Nic Robson, 10 Woorayl Street, Carnegie, Vic 3163, Australia, has released some interesting 25mm figures for the NWF gamer -- 25mm Sikh infantry for 1846/48 -- running, kneeling, three different poses of advancing, and standing firing. These are very handy for the Sikh War as only the Foundry makes Sikh War figures and although there are plans to bring this line back next year, they have been unavailable for some time. These are excellently detailed and poses figures; however, they have "slot" bases as with many of the fantasy figures. This means that the base is separate and the bottom of the figure has a "slot" which fits into the metal base. I noticed there is a fair amount of "room" available when the figure is fitted into the base and I wrote Nic about this. His reply is as follows: "Best thing to do is to 'kink' the bar with a pair of pliers, this bend in it makes for a much snugger fit." Three of the six figures also come with separate hands/weapon. I will admit that the separate hands/weapons (the hands are cast on to the weapon) fit very well into the arm holes. I still do not like separate weapons and I like "slot" bases even less. However these are really high quality figures AND welcome additions to the period. Foundry is too expensive for me and if I want to add to my Sikh army, this is THE way to go for me. Nic tells me that once they sell the current supply of slot based figures, they will redo the figure with a cast-on base. Thank you, Nic! The figures fit in very well with my Foundry Sikh War figures. I contacted Brookhurst Hobbies yesterday about obtaining Foundry Sikh War command, as Eureka doesn't offer command, and they had about six of each pose left so I am in luck! There are two other NWF releases -- Punjabi Indian Pioneers (1880) and Sikh Indian Pioneers (1880) -- each set has five differently poses figures -- digging with shovel, kneeling w/rifle at ready, standing firing, and two on guard/advancing with rifle. These sets also come with slot bases and separately cast shovels and picks to be attached to the side of each figure. Again, top quality castings! No one in 25mm makes Indian pioneers and I needed some for the Battle of Maiwand; I especially like the fact that Nic armed these pioneers with rifles (except for one pose) -- the Martini-Henry, I believe -- as I don't like my pioneers to be swinging picks and lugging shovels -- I want them to be armed. Excellent items, Nic! Check out his web site: www.eurekamin.com. They also have a line of 28mm Aussies in Vietnam including an M113 APC and an ox cart with a load of thatch or baskets for the period. Highly recommended items!

By Hal Thinglum -- Feudal Castings 15mm Sikh Wars/Indian Mutiny -- Steve Shaw of Feudal Castings (e-mail: feudalcasting@netscaneonline.co.uk; www.wargames-figures.com), 15, Quarry Park, Kirriemuir, Angus, DD8 4DR UK, has a most interesting and useful line of 15mm Sikh War/Indian Mutiny figures consisting of 19 different packs (4 cavalry/10 foot for 1.50 pds/pack). Included is Skinner's/Sikh irregular horse (2 different packs); Madras, Bombay, Sikh, and British (in peaked forage cap and covered havlock) infantry; Sikh gun crew (in bearskin) and Bengal Horse Artillery; three packs of Sikh Ghorchurra cavalry and Sikh Dragoons, Lancers and Cuirassiers, and Sikh Akali infantry. I find this little line fascinating even though it is incomplete if one wants to do the Sikh War -- or the Indian Mutiny -- I've done some thinking about where one could obtain other figures to fill the gaps. You could use Musket Miniatures excellent Mexican-American War line for additional British infantry in forage cap as well as British artillery in forage cap; perhaps even use their American Dragoons as British cavalry. Essex has some excellent "Indian" lines which can be used; especially as Ghorchurras and irregular Sikh cavalry. It's been years since I saw the Gallia line, available now from Warrior Miniatures (do a search on the internet for their website), however, I think I recall them having a 15mm NWF line with tribesmen which could be used for the irregular Sikh infantry. As for limbers -- if there is artillery, I have to have limbers(!), one could use the excellent British limber sets from the Dixon Indian Mutiny line; I think Gallia has limbers for the NWF and these could be used as Sikh limbers. Could you use 15mm French Polish Guard Lancers as British lancers for this period? They sure would look great, wouldn't they! The Feudal Castings line is nicely done; I am impressed with the castings and actually, for such a small historical period, Steve has made quite a few figure types available. If I could still paint 15mm, I'd love to tackle the Sikh War in 15mm! A very nice line which fits in well with Essex; highly recommended and good job, Steve!

By Hal Thinglum -- J&T MINIATURES New Releases, -- Long-time MWANer, Joel Gregory, of J&T Miniatures, 31216 Country Road 112, Pequot Lakes, MN 56472 (www.Jandtminiatures.com) not carries a very nice line of 15mm and 25mm ships as well as the still excellent Peter Guilder Connisseur 25mm lines, but has added 25mm buildings over the years. Before I go any further, let me state that Joel's pricing is very reasonable; we have seen Americans import UK products and charge what I feel are unreasonable prices -- Joel does not. Let's see what he has!

Dwarf Britannia 25mm - OK, not my cup of tea! Four packs of Regular Infantry (4/$6), Dark Dwarves of Nazulwandia (wonder what my spell check will do with this), Royal Guard, and Personalities ($1.50 each); these are designed for "Colonial" actions (Zulu War) and are truly excellently done little figures(!). There is a Dwarf Mounted scout/explorer mounted on what would appear to be a very large boer-like animal; each of the packs contain four differently posed figures. Joel also has a "walking monitor" called "The Warrior" for this period which is a seven-piece resin kit with an ACW naval gun and two Gatlings ($25) -- beautiful workmanship -- if you are into this type of "wargaming" -- this is an excellently done line! He also offers (not submitted for mention) an Erickson Land Monitor in 25mm for $55 which is a "large land ship with rotating turret, large naval gun, and crew of five in resin and metal.

Bicorne 25mm English Civil War -- I've wanted to see this UK line for some time and I was not disappointed! At present, there are four packs (8 foot/$10; 6 foot command/$9; 3 cavalry/$12) of foot command (no description), 14 of pike (unarmoured and armoured) and musketeers, two of cavalry command, and five of cavalry troopers (back/breast, buff coat, doublet). Joel reports this line was designed by the same sculptor who did the Renegade line so they will match up well with them. Joel doesn't actually identify this line as 25mm or 28mm, but they are closer to 28mm in my opinion. Figures within a pack have different types of heads/headgear and equipment and are very cleanly cast and well detailed. Horses are in different poses and the cavalry/horse are very good. There are separate weapons for the two officers in the foot command pack and the pikemen do not come with pikes; their hands are very "clean" for placement of a pike. The mounted cornet has a cast-on pole which is very sturdy. An excellent line which impresses me greatly! Highly recommended!

25mm Bicorne Colonial Line -- Was very surprised to see this line listed in Joel's catalog as I hadn't heard of it before! I was in for a treat! Cost is 4 foot/2 cavalry for $4.00 with artillery crews of three with an ammo box for the same price. "Bagged" figures can be purchased for most of the Colonial lines offered with 24 foot/$20 and six cavalry/$15. Well.... 1896 Italians and Abyssinians! Sounds interesting, doesn't it! Italian infantry, casualties, Bersaglieri infantry, Askari and Italian artillery crew, and Askari infantry. Ansar and Hadendowa (1885-98), British infantry (1879-80 and 1898) and Highlanders (1879), Sikh infantry (1879), Indian Dogra Sikh/Bombay infantry (1879; great!), Afghan Regular Infantry from the Kabul Regiment (1879; fantastic), and a nice range of colonial equipment including a 7-pd mountain gun, Abyssinian MG/crew and Royal Party, as well as a number of "desert stalls" with Arab civilians. Great additions for the Colonial wargamer. My aim is to get a few more units of Afghan regular infantry for my Afghan army of 1879; these figures are smaller than the Bicorne ECW line and fit in perfectly with the Foundry Afghan War line. The NWF tribesman command pack is great -- a mounted chieftain, standard bearer (w/o pole) and foot chieftain -- I can use the foot chieftain as a Sikh War regular infantry officer as they dressed as they pleased, I understand. Nicely detailed figures and perhaps some of the best Ansar I have seen. Except for the command packs, the figures within a single code seem to be identical. Oh, there are also NWF mounted tribesmen so I can fill some of the gaps in my Foundry NWF tribesmen units! Other unusual items include Ansar in rifle pits (1898), and casualties for most of the figures listed above -- great for morale markers in games! Also a Sikh infantry (1879) stretcher party for skirmish gaming. I also want to get a few more units of Sikh and Bombay (1879) infantry; I believe the Bombay infantry were at Maiwand. A most pleasant surprise and a highly recommended line! Thanks, Joel, for making these available to us at very reasonable prices!

Merrimack Miniatures 25mm Equipment -- HCC2 is a Maxim machine gun w/ship mount; cleanly cast and very useful for the Colonial or Space 1890 gamer! Cost is $3.50. This is from what is described as the "new" Richard Houston colonial artillery line with eight different guns. The "old" Houston guns are also available. This line had extremely useful items which could not be found anywhere else. Check out his website!

EUREKA Items Available from J&T -- Joel carries quite a few listings from Eureka Miniatures including the NWF figures mentioned before in this column. Submitted were 28mm Aussies in Vietnam -- Pack ANAM-1B the Royal Australian Regiment which seem more like 25mm in size to me -- ten differently poses well done infantry -- great stuff!

Seven Year Picnic Bears(!) consisting of 29 packs of SYW attired bears (Nic, what on earth are you doing down under?) encompassing infantry, grenadiers, cavalry, artillery & crew, Teddy Bear General on Rocking Horse(!), and Teddy Bear Balloon with crew. Beautifully done figures, I must add! I should, I suppose, have a battalion in my SYW collection! 25mm Pax Limpopo, which is Victorian Sci-Fi, and has some very useful items for the Colonial wargamer. A very extensive line with personalities (check these out for colonial figures you can use), cavalry on unicycles, and British and Highlanders (slot bases but historical figures). Excellent figures which can be used for historical games! Not included, but available from Eureka through J&T, are two 25mm FrancoPrussian War figures -- a French and Prussian infantryman; III bet these would fit in great with the Foundry 25mm FPW line.

J &T Buildings -- Not listed in their catalog but now available is a fantastically done 25mm Stone Storage building MW115 (price unknown) with separate roof and metal doors/windows appropriate for many periods -- what comes to my mind is the Spanish Peninsula, Europe, AWI, ACW, etc. Joel reports it is intended for their western line as part of the new "Cowboy Wars to be available from West Wind. 4x6 inches by 4 1/2" high. Nicely cast resin. Highly recommended!

By Hal Thinglum -- BRIGADE GAMES AND HOBBY SUPPLY -- Brigade Games & Hobby Supply, 35 Brookvale Road, Kinnelon, NJ 07405 (phone/fax 973-492-0347; www.brigadegames.com; e-mail: brigadegamesAyahoo.com) carries some very interesting and useful lines for the wargamer (see their ad in this issue). They are the US distributor for the UK RENEGADE MINIATURES line (which I was interested in seeing) and they report that Renegade now has lines in ACW, ECW, Early WWI and Celts, all of which are done by ex-Foundry sculptors as well as the CRUSADER MINIATURES line (also by ex-foundry guys) of SYW, WWII, and Normans. All of the above are 25mm lines.

First of all, one of my favorite periods, 25mm (actually 28mm) Seven Years War -- Crusader's excellent(!!)) line of SYW is starting with Austrians (everybody else starts with Prussians) featuring Austrian and Hungarian fusiliers and grenadiers infantry and command, Grenz (advancing and skirmishing), and Austrian Dragoon (including grenadiers) and Cuirassiers (no cavalry command yet). Eight foot/three cavalry for $12.75 (reasonably priced, thinks I). I have a pack of Austrian grenadiers at march attack -- the eight figures seem to be identically posed to me -- which could easily pass for Foundry SYW figures. Excellently done re detail and casting measuring an exact 28mm from top of base to eye level. Secondly are the Crusader Fall of France 1940 WWII line which has British and French infantry (11 packs at same price as SYW); again 28mm figures -- I have British Bren Gun teams of Bren Gunner advancing firing from hip with marching team member. Good stuff!

Renegade Miniatures has seven packs of musketeers (8 foot/3 cavalry for $11), six of armoured and unarmoured pikemen, one foot command pack, and six packs of cavalry (officers, cornets, trumpeters, cuirassiers, heavies (back/breast) and medium (buff coats). I have six sample infantry; pikemen and officers have separate weapons with the officer's pike being supplied. These are GOOD! 28mm in size and very attractive, finely detailed/cast! ECW builder packs (12 figures in same pose/$13.25) are also available. They also do an ACW line of ten packs (shell jackets/sack and frock coats in kepi) at the same price. I received four different infantry samples and again, extremely high quality figures in the 28mm scale! Brigade also carries an Italian company "Strategic e Tattica offering a 28mm WWII Italian line of twenty-one packs and a Bersaglieri on motorcycle. There are "XAMAS (I don't know what this is) infantry, storm troopers, SS, Fusiliers, Militi, Legionnaires, Alpini and Arditi figures offered as well as 12-piece set ($20) of Italian WWII personalities and specialty figures. Price is $6.75 per pack of four figures. I have RS102 XMAS infantry advancing which has four figures in the same pose w/SMG's and helmets. I'd been looking for Italian figures for the Russian Front and here they are. Very interesting line! Lastly, Brigade has it's own line of 25mm figures to supplement their GASLIGHT rules set. These are apparently 28mm ACW-type figures for GASLIGHT scenarios. Three samples were provided -- one has a separate weapon and they all have non-historical ACW GASLIGHT equipment. There are four packs currently available: jump pack infantry, fire-rifles, steam rifles sharpshooters (all 10/$18), and airship crewmen/sailors and gatling gun (5 crew/gun for $13.50). They plan on adding figures for other periods covered within the GASLIGHT rules.

By Hal Thinglum -- HCH PAINTED FIGURES -- TIN SOLDIER (UK), 18 Lion Lane, Billericay, Essex, CM12 9DL, UK (e-mail: managernatinsoldieruk.com; www.hchfigures.com) is the distributor for HCH Figures 2002, offering painted figures in 25/288 scale. Their newest releases are French line infantry (officer, standard bearer, and drummer) and Classical Greece Hoplites. Also available are Ancients figures including Early Roman Imperial and Macedonians. Prices are $4.00 US/2.80 GBP. They sent three sample painted figures for mention in MWAN -- French line infantryman at march attack, a Roman Legionnaire, and a Greek Hoplite. I can't tell the manufacturer of the figures, however, they are of very high quality -- what I am very surprised at is the quality of the paint job(!) -- $4.00 for a wargames foot figure and what I would describe as an "8" (or higher) paint job?! That is hard to beat! The shields are beautifully done; seems to be a lot of shading and outlining -- very high quality painting! Highly recommended!

By Hal Thinglum -- WWII BATTLEFRONT BLITZKRIEG CARD SUPPLEMENT -- Fire and Fury Games, PO Box 360, Burtonville, MD 20866 (e-mail: contact ,FireAndFury.com; website: www.fireandfury.com) has released the Blitzkrieg card supplement ($21) which has 134 unit full color cards (great for a painting guide!) including French (35), Polish (21), German (36), British (16), Russian (20), one generic card, and five updated/correction cards. Tables of organization and additional information for this card set is offered free of charge on the website (a nice touch, wouldn't you say!). I haven't played this system, but I love the cards(!) -- a great idea to have a color card with all of the vehicle information on it! Great stuff!

By Hal Thinglum -- PRAIRIE PRODUCTS 20mm ACW/25mm ECW FLAG SETS -- MWANer Orv Banasik, 395 West 33rd Ave., Marion, IA 52302 recently sent me some 20mm ACW infantry and cavalry flag sets for my 20mm ACW project and I have to mention to you that Orv offers what I believe is the most extensive and least expensive (with no reduction on quality) wargaming flags available! The variety of ACW flags is just unbelievable! Then if you add that they are available in any scale -- WOW! Generic and specific unit flags -- most highly recommended! I hadn't seen Orv's 25mm ECW flags before -- there are four pages (12 color flags per page) of foot regiments, two pages of Royalist cavalry (15 per page), and four pages of Parliamentary cavalry (12 per page). There are some "unknown" listed flags, however, the vast majority are for specifically named units. Outstanding stuff, Orv!

By Hal Thinglum -- TUMBLING DICE 1/600 SCALE AIRCRAFT -- Brookhurst Hobbies, 12188 Brookhurst Street, Garden Grove, CA 92840 (phone: 714-636-3584; email: Brookhobby(a)aol.com; website: www.brookhursthobbies.com) imports this new line ("VAPOR TRAILS AIRCRAFT") of 1/600th scale WWII aircraft from TUMBLING DICE in the UK. Aircraft from six countries are available: British (23), German (20), USA (38), Russian (24), Japanese (20), and Italian (5). Cost is $2.98 for packs of 3, 4, or 6, dependent upon aircraft size, or $4.50 for two large bombers. Tumbling Dice also offers Mini-starter packs for $21.98. Approximately twenty unidentified metal aircraft were sent along as samples of the line -- I recognize P-38's, Flying Fortresses, Liberators, Messerschmitts, but not anything else -- I do recognize, however, the quality of the aircraft in this scale! There have been several articles within MWAN as to rules sets and ways to mount aircraft for wargames as well as one on terrain. Highly recommended items!

By Hal Thinglum -- QUALITICAST 20MM VIETNAM RANGE -- Brookhurst Hobbies, see above for contact information, also carries the excellent QUALITICAST line of 20mm figures. They have released a new 20mm Vietnam line and sent along two packs of figures for mention in MWAN -- NAM29 tripod mounted M60 with two crew and 81mm mortar with three crew, each for $5.25. My good friend, Len Brewer, is starting a 20mm Vietnam project and these will reach him -- nicely cast/detailed figures with no flash; I haven't seen the complete listing, but knowing what QUALITICAST does to their figure lines, they will have a complete line available. Highly recommended!

By Hal Thinglum -- VENEXIA MINIATURES 17MM RELEASES -- VENEXIA MINIATURES, Via dei Gelsi, 15 -- 36050 Sovizzo (Vi), Italy (e-mail: venexiaminiatures@libero.it; website: http://go.to/venexiaminiatures) has released two new lines: The Wars of Louis XIV and Warriors of the Old Testament. They are also preparing a third line -- Ottoman Turks. Their lines are available in the US from Historical Collectibles Associates, David Clayton, POP Box 574, Kennesaw, GA 30144 (email: dacelan(agatewav.net). Prices are as follows: 6 foot or 3 cavalry command/8 foot/4 cavalry at 2.90 Italian. The Warriors of the Old Testament features Israelites and Philistines (28 packs of infantry and chariots) and two sample packs were received: the infantry seem to have separate shields and weapons; the chariot pack is of very high quality re the figures, horses, and chariot. Assorted samples of the Wars of Louis XIV line were received as well -- this line has 34 packs of musketeers, Guards, grenadiers, dismounted dragoons, horse holders, pikemen, heavy and light artillery, cavalry, and militia. They also offer French, Savoyard, British and Dutch flags. They provide regiment packs of 24 figures including command for specific period regiments as well as DBR 100 point armies for many countries. Pikemen have cast-on pikes; the figures have an "Irregular Miniatures"-type of look to them (the UK figure company) with increased detail. An interesting line -- good stuff!

By Hal Thinglum -- TAC-SKIRMISH 'ARC OF FIRE' RULES -- MWANer Scott Fisher co-authored this set of rules along with Chris Pringle -- they are subtitled "Squad to Company-Level Infantry and Armor Battles from 1900 to 2000. They are priced at $20 and carried at many hobby shops (see their website for listings: http://fisherts.home.mindspriniz.convaof). This is a 77-page 81/2" x 12" professionally printed bound booklet. Chris and Scott write..."AoF is intended for games employing forces up to company level, with from one squad to three platoons on each side using 10mm28mm miniatures, often with armor or artillery support." They further add..."One of the prime design goals of AoF was to find a level of detail that was fun and easy, but still captured the flavor of skirmish gaming." This is something I'd like to do with my 28mm WWII and Peninsular War projects! 1" = approximately 5-10 yards; figure scale is 1:1; 4, 6, and 10-sided dice are used as well as a deck of playing cards (time scale is approximately 5-30 seconds per card). Units are given a rating of 4-8 with lower being better; these ratings reflect training, experience, drills, provision of signals equipment, and command problems. Units are activated by a random playing card system in which each unit is assigned two playing cards (one side takes the black while the other side takes the red). The sequence of play is as follows: Card Sequence (spotting, attempt to change mode of the unit, and action), Rally, Unit Morale, and Reorganization. I find the card system attractive as the authors state you may want to give an elite unit three cards and a very poor unit only one card; I tend to like the random result of cardgenerated games. Examples of move distances are: normal move for infantry is 4", slow tracked vehicles move 4", and cavalry move 8". Units fire during the action phase with infantry having a 360 degree (!) angle of fire. There are rules for opportunity fire, cover fire and direct fire. They offer well written examples of play and the charts are very well done. There is a section on artillery with illustrations of blast radius, terrain effects,, weather, obstacles and engineers as well as airborne and amphibious operations. There is an excellent "Optional Random Events charts -- I tend to like these kinds of things, a two-page designer's notes, and six (4-pages each) scenarios encompassing the Boxer Rebellion, WWI, WWII, Vietnam, and Angola. Lastly, there are four card-stock "cheatsheets" included. A nice looking effort and one worth studying for gaming at this level. Nicely done, Scott! Personally, I like this approach -- a step up from skirmish gaming because so many of us start skirmish periods which "grow" into "unmanageable" skirmish games because of our "collecting" tendencies! Good effort!

By Hal Thinglum -- PERRY MINIATURES 28MM WARGAMES FIGURES -- I have long been fans of Alan and Michael Perry and was pleased to note they had started their own figure company -- PERRY MINIATURES, PO Box 6512, Nottingham, NG7 1UJ, UK -- They currently offer a growing number of figure periods including: Napoleonic Brunswick Army of 1815 (27 packs of line/light infantry, lagers, Hussars, Uhlans, foot and horse artillery, casualties, and personalities), Samurai Armies 1550-1615 which has 22 packs of Ashigaru, Yari Ashigaru, Samurai, and personalities, English Civil War (31 packs of musketeers, pikemen, artillery, cavalry, dragoons, and mounted staff -- including offering separate pikes for sale), Scots of the Civil War with 10 packs of musketeers, pike, and mounted command), and the American War of Independence (17 packs of Highlanders and British Light Dragoons). Check their website out at: www.perry-miniatures.com. US prices are as follows: 6 infantry/$8; 3 cavalry/$9; gun and crew/$11. Postage to the US is 15%. Very reasonable prices and postage rate! These figures are 28mm in size from top of the stand to eye level; as would be expected, the quality of sculpting and casting is very high -- run your file under the stand and remove a bit of flash from the end of the bayonet and they are essentially cleaned of flash. Detail is outstanding! Although I love the ECW figures and Scots of the Civil War and don't have an interest in Samurai, one has to see the Samurai range to believe how good they are! The packs contain different poses and the animation is very good! One of my favorite packs is NBK26 Brunswick horse artillery limber with six horse team and gun with five figures (15 pds); beautifully done limber horses; an easily assembled limber/gun -- GEEZ! The variety within an individual range is very good -- for example, the Brunswick line infantry have two command sets (standing and advancing; each with two officers, two standard bearers, and two musicians) and packs of Marching and firing line (3 standing, 3 kneeling) -- all with different head positions. All cavalry and infantry units have command. The ECW range has two foot command packs (again, standing and advancing), various types of armored (tassets, back & breast) and unarmored (half are wearing helmets in one pack while in the second pack, none are wearing helmets) pikemen in advancing, marching, and standing positions. Musketeers firing, loading, advancing, and marching (this pack features musketeers w/rests); Dragoons or forlorn hope skirmishing; a dead/wounded pack; demi-culverin and minion guns with crew firing or manouvering the gun; and a wonderful mounted staff pack. There is a Cuirassier pack along with a command pack. I also like the Scots -- two infantry command packs, a mounted command pack of three mounted officers -- they wear bonnets although some have helmets, three packs of musketeers (firing, loading, and advancing), and three of unarmoured pikemen. The AWI Highlander range has seven packs in flat bonnet and full plaid (the early uniform) and five of stiffened bonnet and overalls/trews (later uniform). The British Light Dragoons have the 17th command as well as attacking and picket duty packs and the 16th are represented by command and troopers in Tarletons. Also available is the 1st Crusade 1095-1099 which at present has seven packs: mounted commanders, cavalry command, and five packs of knights. Highly recommended!

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