New Figures and Some Updates

Hello everyone!

It's been a long while since my last post, and even longer since my last proper wargaming post. Shame on me! In my defense, I've been rather busy at work lately, and since I still haven't been able to move off the ship (hopefully this will be accomplished before summer's end) there hasn't been much for me to post about.

I did end up purchasing every book in the Hornblower saga, as well as another Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin book and "The Letters of Captain Coignet," a first-person account of the Napoleonic Wars from the perspective of a solider in Napoleon's Old Guard. There might be a few other books I've bought too, but I can't remember right now.

Also, the article on the Ancient Irish Regiment of Fencible Infantry that I mentioned I was working on in my last post has ballooned considerably, and is now entitled "The History, Organization, Uniforms, Colours and Awards of the Irish Fencible Regiments, 1794-1802" and is currently over 50 pages in length. It's quite close to being done, and I'll post a link to it in a new tab at the top of the page when it's complete.

Enough dithering, and on to the minis!

I picked up a mixed lot of 15mm figures off of eBay the other day for relatively cheap. They were marked as being Russians, though when I received my parcel I found that it wasn't just Russians, but quite literally a mixed bag of troops. To be fair, though, they're mainly Russians.

(Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

The Russians

The majority of the lot consisted of these chaps, 26 Russian infantry in soft caps. As you can see, the vast majority of these have already been primed by their previous owner. The 24 lads at the bottom of the photo are musketeers, while at top are a standard bearer and a drummer.

The lot also contained 8 Russian infantry in kiwer, 4 of them already painted! The other 4 consist of a pair of officers and a pair of standard bearers.

Finally, we have 14 mounted and dismounted Russian officers. The 5 at top left have had their coat and hat colors blocked in; 2 wear kiwers, the rest wear bicornes, and there was only one horse for them. At top right are three Russian mounted officers with their mounts, two wearing bicornes, the third wearing a soft cap. I'm fairly certain these are old Minifigs. Finally at the bottom are two sprues of three Russian dismounted officers, all wearing bicornes. I believe these are old Minifigs as well.

The French

Also included was 11 Frenchmen. At top left we have three French officers, possibly generals or Marshals. At top right we have Napoleon himself, along with Roustan and a dismounted Chasseur a Cheval. In the middle of the picture are four dismounted French infantry officers, as well as a Frenchman in a bearskin, making him either an Old guard officer or a member of the Grenadiers a Cheval.

The Hussars

Four Hussars were in the bag. Due to the Hussar uniform being nearly identical in every warring nation (at least in 15mm, that is), these guys could work for any nation. At left is a Heritage figure, with the two at the right (with separate horses) I'm pretty sure are from Essex. The little one in the center I have no clue as to the origins.

The Prussians?

I'm pretty sure the dude at the far left is a Prussian artilleryman, but he'll probably be pressed into service in another army, along with the heavy cavalryman and the lancer in the center. The lancer at the far right might be a Prussian, but then again he could be a Cossack. I'm not sure.

The Broken/Not-In-My-Wheelhouse Figures

Up top is a self-propelled artillery piece: maybe 6mm? Something small, anyway. At top right is a 28mm radio set sitting on a stump, while along th bottom are 4 invalids: Two Russian standard-bearers with their flagpoles clipped off, a Russian mounted officer without a right hand, and a French infantryman without any feet.

All told I ended up with 71 figures, not including the stump radio and the self propelled gun. I paid less than $25 for the lot, so it wasn't a bad deal at all.

Coming soon: a new "Articles" tab at the top of the page with my completed article, and hopefully soon I'll be able to sit down and get some painting done; I still have my Nassauers to work on...

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

The 2/4th Foot Colour Party and New Old-School 25mm Figures

Hello everyone!

There have been several developments hobby-wise that have happened here recently, namely the arrival of a big lot of figures off of eBay. I also managed to get a little painted done yesterday, this time some more British: the start of the 2/4th Regiment of Foot (remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions).

The drummer and both ensigns are old, true 25mm Minifigs that came in a large mixed lot of figures that I bought off of eBay (more pics of these below), and as such they are just a tad smaller than the larger 28mm Foundry and Knuckleduster figures I own. They are all wearing the post 1812 uniforms, with short coatees, grey trousers and Belgic shakoes. They are painted in the dark blue facings of the 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot; this will be the 2nd Battalion, as my greatcoated battalion is the 4th's 1st Battalion.

I really like the dashing Battalion commander figure; he looks like he's rallying his men to push on despite the storm of steel around him. He seems kind of old school, even compared to the Minifigs, like some Hinton Spieler or Der Kriegspieliers figs I've seen. I tried looking him up myself, but my Google-fu was weak. Does anybody have any idea who made him? The code on the bottom of the base was BN28.

The Colours are my usual hand painted creations, as per usual. I actually did two sets at once; these as well as the Colours for the 1st (Whyte's) West India Regiment.

I'm planning on finishing the command stand for Whyte's W.I. Regiment before the weekend is out, you'll be seeing these flags again shortly.

So I picked up another large lot of figures off of eBay, this time a mixed lot of seventy 25mm Minifigs (and others) miniatures. There are both British and French miniatures, with a mix of different troop types.

The entire lot of 70 figures, cleaned up after unpacking. Unfortunately, several bayonets didn't survive the journey through the US postal system.

The French: Clockwise from the rear, 13 Old Guard Grenadiers , 4 French Artillerymen, 1 mounted French Dragoon, and 11 Line Infantrymen.

The British: Clockwise from top left, 7 Scotsmen, 28 Line Infantry, and 6 Foot Artillerymen.

Again, these are true 25mm figures, and so are smaller than my other 28mm minis. They are still large enough however that only four figs will fit on a 40mm x 40mm base, meaning a regiment of these lads will be 24 strong, just like their large 28mm cousins. The bulk of the British Line Infantry above will form the 2/4th Foot, which I started last night. These guys are very old school, which I like, and, though they are not the most detailed or dynamic sculpts in the world, as you see they paint up very nicely.

Coming soon: The figures for the command stand for Whyte's W.I. Regiment and those of a stand of the 1/4th Foot are on painting bases right now, and I expect to finish them before the weekend is out.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

French Old Guard Chassuers a Pied 15mm Figure Review

Hello everyone!

A promised, here's the review of the latest miniatures that I received, some 15/18mm French Old Guard Chasseurs a Pied figures from Napoleon at War and Essex.

 

Napoleon at War French Old Guard Chasseur a Pied Battalion

&

Essex French Old Guard Chasseur in Greatcoat and Bonnet de Police Review

The blisters as they arrived in the mail.

Initial Impressions

As has been the case recently, I purchased these figures when I found them on sale at very good prices in the bargain section of one of my favorite online retailers. While I've bought Essex figures in the past and knew about what to expect from them, I was curious about the Napoleon at War figures, which are produced by a Spanish company called Man at War Miniature Games. These figures are bulk packed with included bases, I'm assuming to be used with Man at War's own proprietary ruleset, but the large number of figures per pack piqued my interest: it was nearly enough for one of my 36 man battalions. The pack was advertised as containing 32 figures, but when I broke it open and started counting, it turned out to contain 33! Bonus! At the price they were on sale for, I couldn't resist the deal. Unfortunately, in my opinion, these are the few positive points I've found regarding these figs.

The contents of the Napoleon at War battalion pack: A selection of bases for Men at War's proprietary rules, 20 marching figures, 8 skirmishing figures in four different poses, and 5 command figures, including an Eagle bearer, an Officer, two sergeants (one with a porte fanion), and a drummer. So 33 figures in all, of an advertised 32. Bonus!

Scaleability

The Napoleon at War figures are approximately 18mm or largish 15mm; it's hard to say for sure, as the minis are sporting the rather large bearskins worn by the Old Guard. I believe that these figures would fit in height wise with AB and Fantassin figures, but never stylistically; these figures are definitely from the "rough and ready" school of sculpting. The Essex figures are the same old same old. They may be Napoleonic dwarf lords, but at least they are consistent.

The more mundane contents of the Essex pack: 8 standing or marching French Chasseurs a Pied in greatcoats and bonnet de police.

Quality

As I mentioned, the Napoleon at War minis are very rough and ready. The sculpting on these guys makes the Essex figures look like masterpieces; overall, they are kind of lumpy, with mushy details. The metal is also really, really soft; I could see the rifles and bayonets on these lads bend and break quite easily if they were mishandled or dropped. In my humble opinion the quality on these guys is severely lacking and probably one of the worst things about these figs.

Other than production values, the figures are wearing the appropriate equipment and uniforms to represent the Old Guard Chasseurs a Pied. It's also neat that the Essex figures are wearing the bonnet de police fatigue cap, which from what I've read was quite popular amongst French troops of the era.

Size comparison between the two manufacturers. The larger overall size of the Napoleon at War figures (18mm vs. 15mm for the Essex figs) plus the tall bearskins make them tower over Essex's Napoleonic gnomes.

Price

The good price I got on both of these packs of figures is why I bought them in the first place. Frankly, if I hadn't have gotten the Napoleon at War figures at a deep discount (I paid $7.19 for them--$0.21 per figure--when they normally run $25.88), I would have felt sick paying $0.78 per figure for them: that's higher than AB figures, and with much lower quality! The Essex figures were also slightly discounted as well, but their prices have always been consistent for what you get from them.

All in all I'm a bit disappointed in the quality of the Napoleon at War figures for what they charge for them. They do come in large packs which is nice for guys like me who have large numbers of figs per unit, but the high prices for low quality is not good. However, I got mine cheap, and if you can too, then you'll have some decent figures to flesh out your armies. I'm looking forward to having some Old Guard to protect the Emperor from the damn Ruskies!

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Coming soon: I should be getting my 12 pounder for my American artillery from Brigade Games sometime this week, and I'll post some pics when it arrives. I'll also be on the lookout for my Knuckleduster figs as well.

Questions, comments and criticism are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck