Great month for the wargamer so far as new figures are concerned, particularly when I say that it is now possible to buy in the shops boxes of Airfix Waterloo French Infantry! The same firm's British Grenadiers of the American Revolution period are also available, there are exciting additions to the Hinchliffe 25mm range whilst Miniature Figurines continue to remorselessly turn out new figure 8 with a rapidity that almost baffles recording - I doubt if they even know what they have themselves!
Appearing out of the blue, the Airfix Waterloo French Infantry will come as a boon to the Napoleonic wargamer. The box contains 45 scale pieces made up of a mounted officer, a standard bearer, a bugler, a drummer, two casualties and six men standing firing, six men kneeling firing, six man re-loading, six man 'on guard', six men marching, four men running and a character with what looks like a sack on his back. The British Grenadier box of 44 pieces makes up into two mounted officers, a standard bearer, a drummer, six kneeling firing, six kneeling 'on guard', six standing firing, six re-loading, six marching and six advancing. These should paint up very colourfully and will convert into a number of other types of infantry of this and later periods.
Peter Gilder has just sent me down a box of additions to Hinchliffe's 25mm August list which includes French, Brunswick, Bavarian, Prussian and Dutch infantry, Included among them are drummers for all of the countries fighting in the Napoleonic Wars - I found these figures to be superb and I strongly urge everyone to look at the Dutch drummer carrying his drum over his shoulder. These may be wargames figures but they have a collectors touch about them. This applies even moreso to the cavalry men who show a detail which would not disgrace a 54mm figure. Sold separately from their horses, at the moment there are British, French and Prussian cavalrymen with horses in six different positions.
Its a bit frightening when one thinks of Dick Higgs and his assistant at Miniature Figurines and Peter Gilder in Hull, all working flat out designing figures of every conceivable type in all positions known to mankind. And now I hear that that incomparable model soldier maker Les Higgins of The Square, Earls Bartont Northamptonshire, has come into the field of 25mm Napoleonic and Colonial campaign figures plus a range of artillery pieces. Even model soldier manufacturers themselves praise Les Higgins work so that one can truthfully say the wargamer has never had it so good.
I am told that the quarterly Naval Wargames Journal "Broadside" carries news of a new range of plastic 1/1200 ships costing 60p each. The first ones available are the carriers "Enterprise", "Lexington" and "Yorktown" all with differences of detail.
The German firm of Natham R. Preston and Company, P.O. Box 2388, 86 Bamburgh West Germany, turn out the Mercator 1:1250 model ships and also a fine range of m;tal tanks in 1:200 scale.
"Seagull Model" G.B. Ltd., P.O.Box 62, London SE19 3EDO are importing the famous J.F.Schreiber scale models in cardboard and have a range of castles, cathedrals and buildings at varying prices. Perhaps not entirely of wargaming interest although they could be used very well for American Civil War is their Canyon City - a complete set of 20 buildings for a period Western town, based on originals used for films and T.V., in 1:87 "HO/00" scale at £ 1.75.
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© Copyright 1971 by Donald Featherstone.
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