It occurs to me that the marvelous 1/300th models (6mm) put out by Ros-Heroics Ltd. are well known by modern armour enthusiasts in the wargames hobby, but that their vast range of figures of the pre-20th century armies are less well-known to the general run of gamers. This seems a shame since they are superb little fellows, nicely sculpted and cast, carrying an incredible amount of detail; they are quick and easy to paint to a high standard, are ideal for large-scale actions, and cost little more than four cents each when 40% airmail is added. So lets give 'em some deserved free advertising! While I possess a number of their excellent ancient figures - marvelous little chariots and elephants - and have seen some Heroics Napoleonics painted to a very high standard - the range I am most familiar with are the American Civil War and Colonial Period lines. The ACW figures include Federal and Confederate infantry in four poses (advancing, attacking, firing and skirmishing - a mix of different positions), cavalry, artillery, generals, horseholders, Zoaves, mule-drawn wagons, even a pontoon train. These are ideal for recreating the big civil war battles involving a lot of men and space; you can have the kind of groundscale suited to army level games without having the regiments consist of four or five figures! Or, alternatively, you can have tiny regiments of single strips of figures - the infantry are in 5's - and have areas on you kitchen table. Our group in Savannah has a riverboat converted from one of those ghastly metal novelty pencil sharpeners of a side-wheeler - you've seen them at Woolworths - and a train made of a loco from a doll's house range, and scratch built wagons running on about five feet of Heroics track. The Little Mini Shops also make a C19th American train and track in 1/285th scale - close enough. My particular enthusiasm is the Heroics British Colonial range. This is not the most complete of liens, but in the scale conversion is very simple. They produce British infantry, highlanders, lancers, gatling guns, sailors, ghurkas, mountain guns, elephant funs and what-no-else. The Mahdits get five packs (Hadendawoh, Ansar foot, guns, cavalry and camelry), Zulus and Pathans only one apiece. Boers are easily made from Confederates, using the R.N. gun detachments for artillery. Ambitious conversions have proved surprisingly easy; British Camel Corps come from Roman Dromedanii, while Egyptian infantry and Bashi-Bozouks are from Ghurkas and ACW Zouaves respectively. My experience has indicated that 1/300th figures can be painted in bulk very quickly; I simply start by painting the figures black or dark brown, then dry-brush basic uniform colours on. Then, with a fine brush, faces, belts, packs, etc., are touched on. The detail is such that it is apparent that the Naval landing party has cutlass-bayonets on their Martini-Henrys! And yes, you can paint mustaches on your veteran redcoats - - - The figures come in packs including either 50 infantry, 20 cavalry, or six guns at 1.05 pounds per pack. Surface mail is 20%, airmail 40%; Heroics accept Visa and Mastercharge for those who, like me, hate changing currency at huge cost via bankers checks. Alternatively, send them a ten pound note and ask for half a dozen packs of your chosen period together with lists. Miniature Wargames usually comes with an ad for their complete line, which covers Ancients, Dark Ages, Crusaders, Renaissance, ECW, Marborough's Wars, SYW, Napoleonics, ACW, Colonials and 20th Century. Highly recommended!! The address is: Heroics and Ros Figures, Dept MW26, Unit 12, Semington Turnpike, Semington, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 6LB, Great Britain. Alternatively Enola Games in New York have the ancients, Napoleonics and ACW ranges for, I believe, $3.00 each. It is therefore comparatively cheaper to buy direct from England, though wargamers will undoubtedly get quicker service from New York, and may, indeed, prefer to support a company that has gone through the trouble of importing the line. Then again, you may feel that a company which has the doubtful taste to call itself "Enola Games" isn't something you'd like to endorse; maybe that's just me being sensitive about these things. Players who have a few score of Colonial figures for, say THE SWARD AND THE FLAME but would like to look at larger actions also might consider that a whole Anglo/Zulu setup in 1/300th costs less than a handful of baggage wagons in 25mm!! Back to MWAN #17 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1985 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