There are a number of exciting new releases in miniatures to talk about. Hard to believe that so many can be coming out at the same time!
RAL PARTHA, 5938 Carthage Court, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45212: Ral Partha has released additions to their fine 25mm British Colonial line and as usual, they are superb! These include dismounted British cavalry (10), British infantry-post 1897 (10), British cavalry-post 1897(4), dismounted British cavalry (10), command group for infantry (2 NCO, 2 infantry & one mounted general), British artillery crew (10), Boers advancing on foot (10), Boers firing on foot (10 figures with two different types), Mounted Boers (4), Boer artillery crew & mounted officer (8 crew & mtd. officer), Dismounted Bengal Lancer (1), Dismounted Egyptian Cavalry (10). These figures are shown with bandoliers dressed in the second Sudan period/ Boer War. I like all the figures with the exception of the infantry officer who seems a little "stiff" although this is certainly a minor observation. All are at the same low price of $4.00 per pack of 10 infantry or 4 cavalry. A very welcome addition indeed! Also included for review were two packs of Samurai, Ninja Raiders and Shigaru Arquebusiers with gun shields. These are intended for the BUSHIDO role-playing game from Fantasy Games Unlimited of which I know nothing about. As usual, the figures are well done. Ral Partha also sent a Samurai officer with sword and standard, a Samurai pikeman, archer, and a gong! Interesting stuff!
GREENFIELD HOBBY DISTRIBUTOR: Kevin Fitzpatrick of GAMES, CRAFTS, HOBBIES, and STUFF, 9220 Lackland Road, Overland, Missouri, 63114, was kind enough to forward GG6002, an eight gun sloop in 25mm produced by Greenfield Hobby. I had never seen this range before (check out Games, Crafts, Hobbies & Stuff ad on page 11 of this issue for the full range) but think it would be quite interesting to game in. The ship is 10" long, 4" wide and nearly 21" high. Made of polyurethane, it seems very durable. It also has masts. Kevin sent along a pack of RAFM 25mm U.S. Marines which are very well done and fit in well with the ship. Although 25mm figures would fit with this range of ships, 15mm would probably fit a little better I would think. The ship is listed at $7.50, a most reasonable price in my opinion. Check it out!
FALCON MINIATURES, Suite 102, 1 High Street, Medford, MA 02155: I recently received the 25mm SYW line recently released by Falcon. These are great figures fitting in well with Minifigs though possessing more detail. Rich Black and I looked at them under a magnifying glass and the detail on the hats is unbelievable! The poses are SYW types, no flash, in general, very fine figures. Right now only the Prussians are available (see Falcon ad on page 47 for complete line. I'm looking forward to having a Falcon unit in my SYW army and look forward to more additions.
LYZARD'S GRIN, PO Box 14522, Oklahoma City, OK 73113: Richard Houston recently sent me some variants of his Frontier Light Horse cavalry figure with four different heads as I told him I was going to build a large unit of FLH (80 some figures) for the Zulu War. They match very well with Ral Partha. He is also making a dismounted FLH figure so look for that soon. He has new Zulu weapons which are very good, a plain Zulu with only a headring (quick and easy to paint up) which one can not find elsewhere, casualty figures for British Colonial and natives (only .25 each). Also sent me a mule wagon ($4.95) which is very nice assembled and painted and has four figures for the Colonial period riding a wagon (enlisted man, commissary officer, mule driver at only .35 each), these come in very handy. He has tons of good stuff for the gamer!
RAFM COMPANY INC. 19 Concession St., Cambridge, Ont. Canada N1R 2G6: Greg Principato of Dice & Men (see ad on page 42) was kind enough to provide me with some RAFM figure additions to their FLINT & FEATHER line for the French-Indian Wars. These include British light infantry, British infantry in North American kit 1759, British infantry of Braddock Campaign, British North American Command Group, American Infantry in Hunting shirt, American infantry in regimentals, French Infantry in waistcoat, Compagnie Franche De La Marine 1759, French North American Command Group 1759, and Female Settlers. This is a 25mm line and is a welcome addition to their early output of Indians & settlers, etc. Figures are well cast, good detail, and in general, very good! Prices are $4.00 per pack of six figures. Highly recommended!
STONE MOUNTAIN MINIATURES, Box 594, Broomfield, CO 80020: Stone mountain recently released Campaign's 15mm English Civil War line. This line encompasses 6 musketeers (felt hat/stocking cap advancing, marching f& firing), 9 pikemen (felt hat/stocking cap/morion marching, advancing & charging), an infantry command group, two guns (saker & demi-culvern), and 8 cavalry, one dismounted dragoon and one mounted command. Packs of figures are $3.95 for 18 foot, 8 mounted or guns (2 guns & 8 crew) or .35 per individual foot figure, .50 for a flagbearer, .75 for mounted figures, and $1.25 for a gun. The samples included a mix of foot, cavalry and a gun & crew. The cavalry are exceptionally well done and I think the horses are among the best in 15mm I have seen. The riders are also well done as are the gun/crew. The foot figures are good although the pikemen included (ENG 15 and 7) seemed to be a little thin although still presentable. A nice line of figures. Did I mention previously that Stone Mountain has a nice terrain line available including fence kits, stone walls, earthworks, sandbags, mealybags, bridge kits, haystack & wheatstock & corr.shock kits, trees and a palisade kit ($12.95)? If anyone has any of these products, I'd like a review if possible.
FRONTIER MINIATURES. 7343 Branding Iron, Canutillo, TX 79835: This amazingly productive company has released a new line of 15mm Plains & Indian War figures as well as 15mm Boxer Rebellion figures. The line thus far includes 7 Apaches of which four are mounted and two foot figures. The foot figures were included for review and are well done for this scale (8 mounted for $4.00 and 20 on foot for $4.00). The accessory packs include cowboys mounted, longhorns, buffalo, a buckboard wagon and covered wagon with man, woman, child and 4 oxen, and a stage coach. The stage coach was included for review and is great! It comes in kit form with one driver, one shotgun rider and 4 draft horses. You won't believe it till you see it! It costs $6.95, the buckboard is $5.95 and the covered wagon is $6.95. The Boxer line has Americans (2 Marines, 2 artillerists, and two cavalry), Chinese (Boxers, Tigerman, Imperial Chinese Infantry and artillerymen, Irregular Chinese cavalry as well as regular Chinese cavalry and Chinese command), Japanese (infantry, artillerists, cavalry and command), Russians (infantry, sailor, command and cavalry) and Germans (Infantry & Artillerists). 20 foot figures are $4.00, artillerists are 18 for $4.00 or 9 for $2.00, command packs are different prices depending upon which nation, and cavalry are 8 for $4.00. The figures included for review for this range look quite nice and should serve gamers in this period very well.
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© Copyright 1986 Hal Thinglum
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