"Erewego again!" said the earwig as he jumped off the wall. As usual a wide spectrum of interesting "goodies" from Redoubt based on 25mm scale. I will begin with the AWl and continue with ACW and Napoleonic listing the figures, commenting and then drawing some of them, not to scale. To quote Dylan Thomas, "To begin at the beginning... on the sheet:
AWI cavalry!
Great! 5 figures released and 3 horses:
AWIC1 British light dragoon officer waving sword. He wears the fashionable light cavalry helmet with the plume of horsehair which will be scarlet. Silver details on back leather with the skull and crossbones on the front. One cannot paint them up as American Lt. cav. as the peak and comb are quite different on the US type, based on a French original.
References
"Uniforms of the American Revolution," J. Mollo and M. McGregor, Blandford and "Armies of the American Wars 1753-1815," Philip Katcher, Osprey] A good pose, and I've put him on AWIH3 British cavalry horse galloping, a well found horse with a clubbed tail and proper accoutrements.
AWIC2 British light dragoon trumpeter. Quite correctly the trumpet is a French style hunting horn as seen on all light troops badges. I wore one myself in the KSLI.
AWIC3 British light dragoon trooper charging, sword up. The sword is slightly forward of the position.
AWIC4 British light dragoon trooper waving sword. All these troopers have a carbine hanging from a swivel clip on their right side. The detail of the butt trap is well done. The animation of all these figures is excellent.
AWIC5 British light dragoon trooper riding sword on shoulder. A good way of keeping the blade from inconveniencing oneself or one's horse. 2nd rank rider perhaps?
AWIH2 British cavalry horse walking/trotting. I'd say the action is more a trot. The troopers would not do the "rising trot" in fact they'd encourage a running action which is much more stable and comfortable.
AWIH3 British cavalry horse galloping. A good action portrayed, not only with the legs and tail but the feed bag swaying back from its attachment to the furniture. I've put the officer on this one.
American Civil War.
Four packs: ACW65 Shirt order, ACW66 Shell jacket, ACW67 Sack Coat,
ACW68 Frock coat. All standing loading. All in different poses and with your choice of heads, the same as the rest of this ACW range. The poses are reaching for a cartridge, fitting rammer in muzzle, ramming, getting cap from cap-pouch, putting in bullet and cocking the action. Depending on the clothing the poses are not absolutely identical from pack to pack so that with the added variation of the separate heads the poses give more than six variations also. Mix these with your firing and at the ready figures and your regiment(s) will have a bewildering "real life" look.
ACW70 From "Kneeling firing indifferent dress packs." This one is in shell jacket. Six in a pack at 0.60 at the time of writing including choice of heads. A good firing pose. Well modelled, proportioned and cast - we don't look for anything else with this designer. 3 have gum blankets rolled and over their shoulders. 2 have their trews tucked into their socks. A couple lean forward into the aim, others sit on their rear heel.
Pontoon bridge and engineer sets
A CX24 Bridge section. 11 pontoon and plank and runner set. f9 at time of writing. In the past I have built my own 25min pontoons and roadways from mounting card off cuts. These resin pontoons look just right, have the correct solidity. Another great bit of equipment to base scenarios upon. Will the sappers get the bridge finished in time for the advance - or (British Army) "retire to prepared positions"?? The bag I have has 5 runners and 15 metal planks. I wonder if Redoubt are producing pontoon carts and draught horses in the future? Another set is available to finish off - or a complete bridge set ACX23.
ACX26 Chevau de Frise (spiked logs). A 65min log studded with wicked looking spikes - suitable for you to glue in. The sheet says the price is E3.60 - can that be for one log and a set of spikes? I'd stick to me kitchen match sticks at that or bits of hawthorn - the latter can pierce leather footballs, so look out if you think of that alternative!
A CX27 Engineer set. 6 engineers/sappers (as in ACX23) with spare planks. A lively looking lot. Well modeled in braces (suspenders US) and shirt sleeves. Two have separate arms with claw hammers for you to position as you will. One heaves away and three have their hands adapted to carry planks (provided separately). Heads provided were the bare kind - you can opt for another kind. To add to the choice are Havelock heads, named after Gen. Havelock, hero of The Indian Mutiny. I remember reading an enlisted man's letters home - in book form. He wrote, "Most of these neck curtains have been put to better use, straining coffee or musket cleaning." Anyone expanding into Indian Mutiny can use these figures with such heads - with different paint jobs they can be Brits revenging themselves on the Pandys. Specify the head type you want when ordering any ACW set or ACX23 or 27, they're included in the pack price.
Napoleonics:
The designer who does this Napoleonic range is definitely improving in modelling skills and these figures are full of life and movement. The casting is, as always, excellent. There are a pack of guerillas, six dragoons and four horses in this release.
Now PX21 A group of mounted guerillas. (£ 5.00) A lady guerilla with a pistol - one of Sharpe's girlfriends? Hat stung on her back, bandana round her neck. Long knife on her left hip, cartridge case slung behind. Her hair is in a pony tail. She would not look amiss in a wild west scenario. Guerilla with sword. Wears a kind of low crowned hat with badge. Could be the leader of the band. Guerilla with musket. It's more of a carbine really. He's holding it in his right hand and resting the butt on the horse's shoulder. He wears big pull-on boots and a kind of range hat. He has a sword on his left hip. He could easily be a Texican at the Alamo.
FRC1 Dragoon officer, two part casting waving sword. A two part casting is always an opportunity for personalization. Remember to always try out the bits together before gluing. Even the best cast parts can need some cleaning up. In my sample the "stalk" joining the two parts of the body was a little long and had to be trimmed to make a good fit. A much better thing than two little metal which could cause instability no matter how good your glue.
FRC2 Dragoon trumpeter with slung musket. Dragoons carried carbines when mounted and this is what this weapon looks like. He is looking round and the trumpet is up ready to peal out an order call.
FRC3 Dragoon standard bearer holding eagle standard. The standard bearer has his carbine slung on his back as the staff of the standard would get in the way of the usual clip on arrangement. He would probably be too well guarded to have to use it.
FRC4 Dragoon riding, sword on shoulder, slung musket, enjoying his ride. For these chaps in the Peninsula there were often no horses to ride and they had to trust in "Shanks's pony" in their big boots too. A neat figure.
FRC5 Dragoon charging, sword held up, slung musket. Yelling and waving the sword with which he intends to put opponents in harms way! Good action.
FRC6 Dragoon riding, holding musket across body. It has a bayonet fixed too! Various mounted men were trained to fire from the saddle but usually more for nuisance value or screening rather than marksmanship. I'm sure opponents didn't relish an ounce or so of lead whinging past their ear or showering them with leaves all the same. A belligerent gent.
Horses
These are all well modelled and proportioned.
FH1 Dragoon horse walking. Head up, stepping out proudly.
FH2 Dragoon horse trotting. Again head up, the trotting action is well shown.
FH3 Dragoon horse cantering. Usually as fast as dragoon horses went. It was unusual still at this time for dragoons to charge.
FH4 Dragoon horse galloping. With FRC5 on board these two look as if they can "cut the mustard." Altogether a fine body of men on good looking horses.
Nah then!
Napoleonic British Hussars
Maybe the Cherry Pickers (11th Hussars) or Royal Irish (8th) or the Redcaps (7th). They were all included in the 7th Armoured Division when I served in it. We have:
BRC1 Hussar officer with drawn sword, slung pelisse (over jacket). His sword is a curved sabre in the Mameluk style. Shouting, head to the right. (As Capt. Barkworth, 3rd Dragoon Guards, said to me, "You love cleaning this kind of thing don't you Barnes! " In other words, "Clean it!")
BRC2 Hussar standard bearer. A good long staff (provide your own fly).
BRC3Hussar trumpeter. Winding his small instrument out to the right, face puffed out, pelisse billowing. Great!
BRC4Trooper. Separate sword arm. All the troopers have a carbine on a slung swivel.
BRC5 Trooper riding with sword held across chest. Yelling. A good starting position for any cut with the sabre.
Horses now
BRH1 Hussar horse walking. Head up, a picket through the tiers on the rolled cloak behind the saddle. Wooly shabraque over the pointed horse blanket.
BRH2 Hussar horse trotting. Good action shown.
BRH3 Hussar horse cantering. Model full of movement.
BRH4 Hussar horse galloping. A mess tin fixed on the rolled cape this time. Tail streaming and legs bunched up. Lots of animation and modeling improving all the time.
More Reviews
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Donnington Miniatures 15mm Ancient Artillery
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Service and Adventure with the Khakee Ressalah 1857-58 (book)
Redoubt Enterprises 25mm AWI, Napoleonics and ACW
Irregular Miniatures 15mm League of Augsberg and 25mm Abbysinian
Tumbling Dice 20mm ECW and 30YW
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© Copyright 1999 Hal Thinglum
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