Perry Napoleonic's March Update

We had to wait a few days for Alan's March update but it was worth it!
From his announcement:

Well, I'm getting there!

The main elements of the French Army of 1815 are just about covered, although still quite a few smaller units to do. I'll be going back in time slightly with the French, so units around in 1813-14 will be covered (i.e., the second regt. of Chasseurs a Cheval of the Guard, Scout lancers of the Guard, Mamelukes, etc.).

There will be a plastic update very soon.

French Napoleonic Army 1815
28mm figures designed by Alan Perry

Grenadiers a Cheval of the Imperial Guard:
FN 138 - Command in campaign dress, galloping - GBP 8.00
FN 139 - Galloping, in campaign dress, swords shouldered - GBP 8.00
FN 141 - Galloping, swords shouldered, in campaign dress, and bonnet de police - GBP 8.00

Hussars:
FN 140 - Hard Plastic Hussar box set (14 hussars) - GBP 18.00

Dragoons of the Imperial Guard:
FN 142 - Command in campaign dress, galloping - GBP 8.00
FN 143 - Galloping, in campaign dress and Minerva helmets, swords shouldered - GBP 8.00
FN 144 - Galloping, in campaign dress and helmets of the Ancient Regime, swords shouldered - GBP 8.00

Well a great collection of new releases. Love the Grenadiers a Cheval, I have wanted to replace my Foundry Grenadiers for a long time and here is my excuse! I would though have really liked to see them standing rather than galloping, somehow to me the Grenadiers are just supposed to be standing stoically in reserve with shot flying round their ears!!

Personally for me the best news in this release was the news of what is coming, Scout Lancers! I don't know why but this unit has always been my favorite, I have forever wanted to do a skirmish game involving the Scout Lancers but have lacked the figures, I can't wait!

The forthcoming plastic update will cover the British Hussars and the Prussian's no doubt, which we have seen before but have been quite for a while as they work through the molding process. Wonder if there will be any surprises, probably not as they do have a lot on their plate at the moment don't they?


You might have missed this, but earlier Michael announced some new Carlist figures, I think the Cabrera's Staff Guard in frock coats will fit in very nicely as Spanish Somatens for the Peninsular War.

CAT 32 - Cabrera's Staff Guard running, frock coats (A)

CAT 33 - Navarre Guides, advancing (A)

Alban Miniatures Update

Alban Miniatuures seem to be quite active at the moment, new releases and a new website.

Their figures are what I would label 'ultra realistic proportioned' 28mm  and although I can appreciate the superb quality of Richard Ansell's sculpting they are really not my cup of tea unfortunately. They are fairly unique because of the sculpting style, so unfortunately there is little they are a good match with I think except maybe HaT's plastic 28mm figures.

But for those of you who are into them, from their announcement:

I can't hold it in any more as I'm too excited!

2011 is a year of change for Alban Miniatures. Not only have we just updated our website with the aid of the very talented Mr David Watts from Juicy Lime Studios and added more character packs to our ever growing skirmishing range (Rifles and British Light Infantry), but we are now commissioning French Line infantry as the next part of our range expansion.

For many this has been a long time coming but I was always told 'The best things come to those who wait'.

In a few months time we hope to start releasing splendid quality Alban French figures as will be sculpted by the fantastically talented Mr Richard Ansell.

This will give our Austrian and British figures some real enemies to deal with.

Each figure that Richard produces for us seems to be an absolute work of art and so it is with great joy that we take this next step.

My British troops are already starting to paint themselves in anticipation!

Happy gaming all.
:-)

Oooh, I hope its ok for me to also quickly plug our new website and various feeds so here goes..

Check us out at albanminiatures.com and join our facebook, twitter or newsletter feeds.
You can then post your painted examples to our facebook wall or send in your painted examples so we can share them on our facebook page. If they are really great we will even add them to our web gallery!

Cheers all.

Now something that does interest me from their website is their decals

They do two packs DE1 British rifles back pack and canteen decal packs containing 47 canteen and back pack numerals for both the 95th and 60th regiments and DE2 British Line knapsack and canteen decal packs containing numerals for both the 1st, 23rd, 27th and 88th foot regiments.

I think they are superb and would greatly enhance my Perry and Victrix figures and they are not a bad price either.

I tried ordering some today but seems they are not currently available, will keep you informed if this situation changes. I received an email to confirm they are currently 'out of stock', actually this is the second time I have tried to order the decals, last time was about six months ago and they were also 'out of stock' then, so I don't know whether I should hold my breath. Pity.

Perry Prussians to arrive in April

News from Alan Perry on the arrival of the Prussians which as expected will be in time for Salute.

From their announcement:

This is just an update on the Napoleonic Prussian range. The plastic Prussian box will available for the first time at Salute (16th April), although you will be able to pre-order. Peter Dennis has produced the excellent box cover art for this set, as he has done with all our other plastic sets.

Around the same time of the plastic release, maybe a little before, the companion metal range will start to appear. The first releases will be commanders and artillery, some of which are shown here. Alongside the Prussian pieces, there will be British (loaned) pieces and French (captured) pieces. The Prussian guns here were made by Tim Adcock, and the British 6-pounder by Norman Swales. The range will cover the 1813-15 period.

As soon as we get the sprues in, we'll bung them up here.

The return of WSS

Not exactly 'new' news but the magazine WS&S (Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy) is scheduled to return shortly.

For those that don't know WS&S was a Spanish wargaming magazine which had an English 'translation', despite it's quirks and various problem's it was an excellent magazine but for various reasons the English version was stopped last year, a sad loss.

But now it has new owners (the people behind the Ancient Warfare magazine) and returns as a true English magazine (for better or worse), from the new Editor's blog:

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM THE NEW WS&S?

There has been much deliberation and planning which has gone into the re-launch of Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy. What sort of magazine should we be? The answer was obvious, the way we had been in the past, with a few improvements. When WS&S first appeared, it was a breath of fresh air to the hobby, fresh and exciting. So much so that other magazines took notice, after all imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Some of the zeal of the early magazines had faded slightly with later editions. With my term as editor, I wanted to return to the passion that I read in the earlier issues of WS&S, a true passion for the wargames hobby. However I stopped the magazine after there were issues with paying my contributors and Revistas put WS&S 'on hold'.

The rest you know. Karwansaray have bought WS&S and we have been carefully planning issue 54 for a while. I asked my friends in the hobby what they wanted in a new magazine. One replied, "I want a wargames magazine about wargaming". Never a truer word said.

Now we have a new team in place and it is very refreshing. Issues where I'd wait days or even a week for an answer are either responded to directly or are sorted out via Skype. Much of the original magazine will still be there in the new edition; the contributors will mostly be the same, with a few surprise additions to the team. The Dutch team at Karwansaray probably speak better English than I do, so the quaint 'spanglish' of past editions is now truly history. The dossier format will stay, but will never dominate the magazine as it occasionally did - there will be plenty of content which is 'off the dossier theme' besides. Also expect a new twist on the dossier...

Right, now off to playtest some Blackpowder ideas for a scenario for WSS 54. Bye for now!

Well I don't want to dwell on the past, enough to say I am someone who likes non-english sources and don't mind the 'quaintness' of translations for the expanded insight you get and I have a lot of time and respect for our Spanish wargaming brothers-in-arms. However that IS the past it's now a new magazine and the quote "I want a wargames magazine about wargaming" stands for exactly what I think and is one reason I don't subscribe to a lot of the magazine's. So I look forward to the first issue and hope it lives up to the Editor's expectations, if it does it will I am sure be a success.

BTW Issues 1-11 of the old WSS are available in digital format from the new site. It appears to suggest all the issues will eventually be available which is very welcome, other than that you can get print versions of back copies from Caliver.

BTW2 - Digital Issue 2 is a 'Napoleonic Feature' available for EUR2.25.

Perry Napoleonic Catalan Somatenes/Spanish Guerrillas in 28mm

Sorry but you can ignore this post, nothing new here this was previously in the El Bruc related section.

This is just meant as a reference for DPS who I am asking for a quote to paint these for me.

Catalan somatenes for the action at Bruc (or for that matter Spanish guerrillas in general) in 28mm.

Perry Miniatures:
Officially tagged for the Carlist Wars but they will do just as well for Napoleonic era.
Check out CAT23-CAT29 (Carlist Wars - Carlist Forces).
42 figures GBP1.00 each (but you buy as a set of 6).

When they are done I will post some pics on this blog....

New British Napoleonic Flags from Flags of War

Flags of War have just announced the release of some new Napoleonic Flags. I am not 100% but I think this is a new range from them as I don't seem to have had them on my Napoleonic Flag list before. I assume they are all 28mm though I didn't see they explicitly say anywhere other than they are NOT 15mm.

The flags look quite nice, maybe a bit hard to see because they have got a bit paranoid with the watermarks on their site, they should rethink that. However if you look at their gallery the examples of non-Napolenics look very good so you would expect the Napoleonic to be of a similar quality I guess.

There are currently 16 British flag sets in the range priced at GBP1.50 for a set which consists of one King's Color and one Regimental Color. Nothing earth shattering just the common ones hopefully they will expand into other nations at some point.

The range:
BNW001 1st (Royal Scots) Foot Regiment
BNW002 1st Battalion 1st Foot Guards Regiment
BNW003 2nd Battalion 2nd (Coldstream) Foot Guards Regiment
BNW004 2nd Battalion 3rd (Scots) Foot Guards Regiment

BNW005 2nd Battalion 30th (Cambridgeshire) Foot Regiment
BNW006 3rd Battalion 1st Foot Guards Regiment
BNW007 3rd Regiment 'The Buffs' East Kent
BNW008 4th 'Kings Own' Regiment as carried at Waterloo

BNW009 4th 'Kings Own' Regiment pre-Waterloo
BNW010 14th (Buckinghamshire) Foot Regiment
BNW011 23rd Foot The Royal Welsh Fusiliers
BNW012 33rd (1st West Riding) Foot Regiment

BNW013 42nd (Royal Highland) Foot Regiment
BNW014 69th (South Lincoln) Foot Regiment
BNW015 73rd (Highland) Foot Regiment
BNW016 79th (Cameron Highlanders) Foot Regiment

Flags of War also do custom flags, though no indication of price, I was thinking yesterday my El Bruc Catalan's could do with a flag, so maybe I will give them a try if I can dig out a picture from somewhere.

Here is a selection of flags, you can see the full range here.

Below is an example of an ECW flag from their gallery (sorry currently no Napoleonic example), pretty nice I think.

It's amazing how we went for years and years with seemingly GMB the only real choice and in the last couple of years there has been an explosion of new companies producing very good quality flags, though to give GMB it's due, no one even comes close to matching the breadth of GMB's range.

Victrix Release Schedule Update

Some news from Victrix about the release schedule for this year.

From their release:

Brief update on release schedule

This is a bit of an update to keep you informed of where we are up to with the forthcoming Austrian, Ancient Greek and 54mm French plastic sets. 

We did expect to release most of these sets last year, but had a few issues to deal with that caused delays to our tooling and release schedules. Our tooling company moved to a larger location in the summer, and had to move a lot of tonnage of machinery to their new premises, taking time and causing delays in stock supply and tooling.

The effects of the economic downturn last year also made us take a step back and have a rethink of our release schedule. We thought it best to consolidate for a few months rather than run the risk of overstretching ourselves in uncertain economic times. This has proved to be a wise decision and we are starting to forge ahead again with our planned releases from a secure footing.

We have been busy during this period finding new sculptors, artists and tooling sources (all within the UK) so we can regain momentum. We have some lovely new test pieces from some very talented sculptors that will be turned into new sets later this year.

Our apologies to customers who have been eagerly waiting for these new sets to arrive. We didn’t expect the delays we encountered in getting them released and for sometime were unsure of start and finish dates.

The Austrians are now in the tooling stage. We expect them to be released by the end of May. This will be all four sets released at once. We will have some great multi box deals to go along with these new sets plus some new metals to supplement the range. We will be able to show you a few more shots in the next few weeks and the box art has been started.

The 54mm French sets, both Grenadiers and Voltigeurs are being tooled at present. They are about three quarters through tooling and we should have them on full release by the end of April. We will have some pre-production packs ready in early April for release at Salute but they will not be in their boxes until the end of the month.

The Greeks will be following the Austrians in the Summer.

We have had a few emails from confused customers who have seen pre-orders for Austrians, Greeks and 54mm French on some retailers’ and distributors’ websites. Unless you see the release date on the Victrix website it is not accurate! If you are at all in doubt please look at our news pages or send us an email and we will confirm if a pre-order time is correct or not

Well little to argue about here, I agree with their comment about needing to refocus and consolidate, one of Victrix's biggest issues. I still think they are spreading themselves a bit thin but if they think they can do all of this well good luck...

Anyway we can look forward to the Austrian's, I think they are going to be a real big seller, however one of the problems with Victrix is still the lack of depth. IMO they really need to do more than just issue a couple of boxes of Infantry, you have got to round out the range with Artillery and Cavalry instead of jumping of on to something new.

Sorry to keep on about Perry but they do get it, when they do a new range they make sure that it is rounded out from the start, or at least there is a plan to develop it in the very near future, like with the Prussian's where as well as Infantry they have already shown us Artillery and who can doubt the cavalry are lurking around somewhere in the background.

Victrix need to take a leaf out of the Perry handbook.

But at the end of the day the survival of Victrix is first and foremost in these tough days, Wargames Factory should stand as a lesson to everyone of how not to run a plastic soldier company.

As and when I see any new pics of the upcoming releases I will put them on the blog.

Hmm, anyone want to buy my Foundry Austrian Pygmies?

Smoothbore Ordnance Journal Issue 3

Dr Stephen Summerfield has announced the release of the 3rd issue of the Smoothbore Ordnance Journal, see below for details.

Smoothbore Ordnance Journal
Issue 3
Edited by Dr Stephen Summerfield

This issue has three main themes.

Theme One: Austrian Artillery
• Digby Smith explains in his introduction to his translation of Dolleczek (1887) the innovations since the 15th century to the mid 19th century when the Liechtenstein System was finally abandoned after a century. The translation is split into 6 parts.
• The Liechtenstein system kept up with the innovations including reducing windage, the reduction in decorations and the introduction of shell guns [long barrelled howitzers]. These are illustrated by photographs of extent gun barrels and carriages by Dr Stephen Summerfield.

Theme Two: Saxon Artillery
• Dr Martin Klöffler explores Saxon fortress ordnance in the context of the Prussian siege of Torgau in 1813. [Translated by Digby Smith]
• Gerard Cronin and Dr Stephen Summerfield discusses the Saxon M1810 ordnance, uniforms and at Gross Beeren (23 August 1813).

Theme Three: British Artillery in the Peninsular
• Anthony Dawson explores the use and equipment of British Mountain Artillery in the Peninsular War.
• Sir Alexander Dickson RA wrote in 1823 "Answer to Questions on the Royal Artillery in 1823" that is reprinted in full with additional notes by Dr Stephen Summerfield.
• Seven reports and memorandums from Volume 1 of the Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institute on the organisation and equipment of the Royal Artillery.

Dr Stephen Summerfield
Editor
2 February 2011

Section 1: Dolleczek – Austrian 15th to 19th Century Artillery
S1-Dolleczek.pdf
Translated by Digby Smith (Mar 2011)
Issue 3 (01): "Period I: Dolleczek – 15th to Early 16th Century Artillery Material"
Issue 3 (02): "Period II: Artillery of Emperor Maximilian I to the 30 Years War"
Issue 3 (03) "Period III: Dolleczek – 30 Years War to Liechtenstein"
Issue 3 (04) "The Influence of the French School on Siege Warfare in Austria"
Issue 3 (05) "Dolleczek (1887) on Fürst Liechtenstein's New Artillery System"
Issue 3 (06) "Dolleczek (1887) on the Reorganization of the Austrian Artillery in 1772"

Anton Dolleczek, (1887)
Geschichte der Österreichischen Artillerie von den frühesten Zeiten bis zur Gegenwart,
[Can be viewed at the "Austrian Literature Online" [ALO]
link

Section 2: Austrian Artillery
S2-Austrian.pdf
Dr. Stephen Summerfield (Mar 2011)
Issue 3 (07) "Evolution of Austrian Field Ordnance (1753-1853)"
Issue 3 (08) "Austrian Garrison and Siege Guns (1753-1853)"
Issue 3 (09) "Austrian Mortars (1753-1853)"

Section 3: Saxon Fortress and Foot Artillery
S3-Saxon.pdf
Dr. Martin Klöffler [translated by Digby Smith]
Issue 3(10) "Saxon Siege and Defensive Artillery 1810-1814"

Dr. Stephen Summerfield (Mar 2011)
Issue 3(11) "Saxon Foot Field Ordnance 1810-15"
Issue 3(12) "Saxon Foot Artillery Uniforms (1810-15)"
Issue 3(13) "Saxon Artillery at Gross Beeren (23 August 1813)"

Section 4: British Artillery in the PeninsularS
4-RA.pdf
Anthony L. Dawson (Mar 2011)
Issue 3(14) "British Mountain Artillery (1809-14)"

Dr. Stephen Summerfield (Mar 2011)
Issue 3(15) "Sir Alexander Dickson's Answer to Questions on the Royal Artillery in 1823"
Issue 3(16) "British Naval Gun Locks"
Issue 3(17) "Sir Alexander Dickson"

ADDITIONAL CONTEMPORARY PAPERS
S4A-RA.pdf
J.H. Lefroy (1819) "NOTES on the Establishments of the British Field Artillery since 1815, with the Report of the Committee of Revisions of 1819,"
Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution, Volume 1, pp164-175
William Millar (1820) "Equipments of the Royal Artillery,"
Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution, Volume 1, pp176-190
Anon (Feb 1807) "Establishment of Royal Artillery,"
Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution, Volume 1, pp252-156
William Millar (1821) "Equipments of the Royal Artillery,"
Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution, Volume 1, pp191-225
William Millar (1820) "Royal Artillery Siege Train,"
Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution, Volume 1, pp191-225
Anon (1825) "Memorandum for Artillerymen for the Siege of a Fortress,"
Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution, Volume 1, pp191-225
Sir Augustus Frazer (Dec 1826) "Memorandum on the Embarkation of Ordnance Equipment, prepared in reference to the expedition to Portugal,"
Minutes of Proceedings of the Royal Artillery Institution, Volume 1, pp257-260

The Hougoumont Cross stolen!

The celebrated wooden cross, which miraculously survived a raging inferno during the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, has been stolen from the battlefield. Fears were expressed yesterday that the 400-year-old cross, about 6ft high and 6ft wide, might have been stolen for a wealthy collector obsessed by Waterloo or Napoleon.

The battlefield curator and a retired British general appealed for the return of the "irreplaceable" but "unsaleable" historic object. Interpol has circulated photographs of the oak crucifix to antique dealers all over the world.

The Hougoumont Cross was wrenched from a locked commemorative chapel on the battlefield site, south of Brussels, some time in the past two weeks. It originally stood in the chapel of the château at Hougoumont which was burned during fighting between French soldiers and the Grenadier, Coldstream and Scots Guards on 18 June 1815.

Apart from the feet of the statue of Christ which were severely charred, the crucifix inexplicably survived the flames. The cross, described in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables, has become one of the most emblematic mementoes of Waterloo. Its disappearance has outraged the battlefield's curator and historians.

"We know that the cross must have been seriously damaged by these wicked people," the battlefield's curator, Yves Van der Cruysen, said. "We found large splinters of wood which must have come from the figure of Christ itself."

To break into the alarmed chapel, the thieves dismantled stonework around the door and removed the bolt. They then restored the lock and masonry, disguising the theft for several days. At about the same time, a commemorative stone to the Allied troops at Quatre-Bras farm, in another part of the battlefield, was also stolen.

"The cross has no particular value, except infinite value as a memorial of the battle," Mr Van der Cruysen said. "To sell such a well-known artefact would be impossible. This is not the work of art thieves but of vandals – people who just want to draw attention to themselves."

Belgian police have alerted Interpol in case an attempt is made to smuggle the huge cross – which weighs 200kg (31st) – to another country. Major-General Sir Evelyn Webb-Carter, the chairman of Waterloo 200, an Anglo-Belgian group planning bicentenary commemorations in 2015, said yesterday that he suspected that the cross had fallen victim to a "targeted theft".

"Enormous trouble was taken by these people," he said. "The cross is unsaleable publicly but there are some very strange people out there, who are obsessed with the battle of Waterloo. I fear that the cross may have been stolen on the orders of some very rich person who fancied having it in his own possession." If so, General Webb-Carter said, the "chances of ever seeing the cross again are very slender indeed".

The fighting around Hougoumont was "an iconic battle within an iconic battle", General Webb-Carter said.

The Duke of Wellington said that his "near-run" success had hinged on the defence of Hougoumont by the three British Guards regiments. If they had failed, he said, the French army could have outflanked his position.

"The cross has come to symbolise a site which is, to many people, the most memorable part of the whole battle. Its loss would be an enormous blow," General Webb-Carter said.

Taken from:
Outrage after theft of Waterloo battlefield's 'irreplaceable' cross


Hmm 'some time in the last two weeks' they're obviously not a particularly observant lot then in Belgium, anyway if someone offers you a big cross on the cheap.........

British Field Artillery Newsletter from Victrix

The Victrix newsletters are fixed (once again) and can be now downloaded!

This month there is a real gem - British Field Artillery Part1, well maybe I am biased because I like Artillery.

From their announcement:

British Field Artillery Newsletter

British Field Artillery Newsletter is now available as a free download. This newsletter covers the equipment, organisation, and uniforms of the British Field Artillery during Napoleonic times.

Please see our Newsletters page for further details, or better still, subscribe to all future Newsletters!

The January Newsletter is the one on Artillery, a nice four page pdf covering organisation, ordnance, officers, gun crew, ammunition and uniforms. There are some nice color pictures of their models and a few nicely done full color uniform plates, well beyond what you would expect in a 'newsletter'.

In addition there is a special offer where they will throw in one extra sprue for each box of Artillery you buy in February, can't complain about that can you!

Well of course I can..... where is the limber team!!!!!! Yes you have heard me complain at least once a month since last May about this, I wont buy a limber if there aren't any horses or at least a release date for the horses otherwise however much I actually like your pieces you are wasting my money!

In my opinion the color used for the British Equipment is too light:

It should be noted that gun carriages and limbers were treated with pitch tar to protect the wood and this would leech out of the wood and cause discolouring to the paintwork.

As you may recall if you have been following this blog for a while Dr. Summerfield confirmed that the actual paint used at the time also reacted with the gases given of when the gun was discharged and therefore would darken considerable with use in the field. The old Humbrol British Equipment Grey being based on tests with paint made to the original recipe is in my view spot on.

Obviously I haven't bought any of these pieces yet, but from the pictures I have seen the Victrix set looks like possibly the finest ever pieces produced in 28mm. The only issue and it is an issue not a fault is that the we are so used to chunky cast metal wheels these scale wheels look very odd and won't match to anything you have, again I repeat they are right we are just used to something wrong. That's what make the issue with the limber team so damn frustrating, I want to buy these but can't.

Anyway these are the newsletters currently available, note they tend to go AWOL from time to time as the links get broken, keep trying if this happens as eventually they fix them:

Newsletters

Victrix will aim to produce a monthly Newsletter as a downloadable PDF. This is the same Newsletter that is sent out to our subscribers.

January Newsletter

Victrix Price Rise 2011

November Newsletter

Old Chasseurs Pre-order

October Newsletter

September Newsletter/Victrix Regiment - The 11th Foot

June Newsletter

A good deal, just not a super deal!

As you may or may not know Crusader make a tiny 28mm Napoleonic Line, really it's just a few French Line Infantry but they are nicely done and can make a nice addition and add some variety to your existing army.

Well over at NorthStar they have a "Super Value deal" running until midnight on Tuesday 3 * 24 Man units plus 3 flags for GBP45.00 plus pp. They claim the normal price is GBP89.20 but forget that it's just marketing speak (that's the price if you decided to buy it all as individual packs and no one in their right mind would want to do that) come Tuesday night the pricing will revert to its normal price of GBP55.00 so it's about 20% off. Still 72 quality 28mm figures plus flags for GBP45.00 is a good deal in my books.

Worth taking a look at.

This range has been around for years and there is no sign of it going any further so just view this as "padding" for your main vendor don't expect to be able to ever add to it.

Victrix Update

Victrix issued a short update, their first of the new year!

28th January - Old Guard Colonels on sale and other news

We appologise for being a bit slow with news updates so far in 2011, this does not mean we have not been busy However!

The Old Guard Colonels and pioneers pack has been added to the shopping cart. This 4 figure and 2 horse pack retails for £10. These are great sculpts made for us by Paul Hicks. We should have some painted versions to show very soon.

Last year we had a disaster with the Marine heads pack we were making. The heads were ruined beyond repair in the moulding process. It was very disheartening to see Pauls work and our money turn into shrunken peas! However Paul has started on a new pack for us which he reckons will be ready in a couple of weeks. There will be 30 heads and an officer, drummer and sergeant figure in the pack.

Also Paul is working on Russian Chasseurs/ jaegers and Russian Cuirassiers in metal at present, we will keep you posted as and when we receive them.

Not much to add here, we have seen the Guard Colonels a few months back when they first announced them, very nicely sculpted by Hicks. Though I would say that if I want Colonels, then I want Colonels not Pioneers or other figures however nice they are but then again I am more a gamer than a collector so I am thinking of unit building, you may feel differently.

The Marines would be interesting and I might pick these up but they tend to be expensive if the Hanoverian and the Light's heads are anything to go by. I did pick up the "Light's" heads previously they were OK but some people commented they were a bit small, it is a neat idea to add a variant but as I said I think pricing is the issue unless there is no other alternative (like Perry for the Hanoverians).

Nice to hear they are progressing with the Russians though I don't personally have an interest in early Russians. They did say previously to expect the Austrians in 'early 11' but their is currently no news of them and as ever no sign that we will ever see a horse team for the British Limber they released last May, will we hit the one year anniversary of their release and still be in this state.

Anyway I daren't criticise Victrix too heavily, they need to do whatever they need to do to survive because as we have seen with the recent and on going troubles at Wargames Factory "plastics" are not necessarily an easy way to make money. That said, IMHO the problem with Wargames Factory was the product was very poor quality in the first place, something Victrix has nothing to worry about, with Victrix I think it's an issue that they seem to have spread themselves very thin and without a clear message as to what they are covering and the depth of that coverage. Gamers tend to prefer to buy a range that has depth or where that depth is scheduled to appear "real soon" otherwise they risk having an army with no Cavalry or no Artillery

Command & Colors:Napoleonics - First Impressions

Yesterday I had opportunity to play C&C:Napoleonics Richard Borg's latest offering from GMT Games with my friend Andrezj. I hadn't had a chance to read through the rules in advance but I was already very familiar with C&C:Ancients and had read a one page summary of the differences provided by another friend, so I wasn't too concerned and assumed it would be easy to pick up, and so it turned out.

We played four scenarios Corunna, Talevera, Coa and Bussaco, I played the British in each scenario. After winning Corunna I lost the remaining 3 games though the final battle of Bussaco came down to a nail biting finish where a 50/50 throw of the dice could have won it for me but it was not to be.

So what do I think of it?
Productions value are up to the usual standard for C&C games and as I have said if you know one of the variants you will have no problem in picking this game up. As a game it was thoroughly enjoyable, of the four scenarios I played all but Coa were reasonable well balanced. I would recommend this boardgame to anyone and plan myself to get a copy at a later date, an easy game, lots of fun, what more can you ask for?

But what of it as a 'Napoleonic' game as opposed to yet another C&C variant?
Well here my feelings are mixed, first compared to lot of tactical Napoleonic games it didn't feel like I was playing PanzerBlitz which is a major plus but at the same time I didn't really find it had a strong 'Napoleonic' feel to it either.

I had difficulty in making effective use of the 95th Rifles, in one game they were attacked by cavalry forced into square and destroyed over the next two turns, in another they occupied a town and a couple of rounds from an artillery battery destroyed them as an effective fighting unit. I have a hard time imagining my getting into that position in a 'miniatures' game.

The British get a +1 die when firing, the French get a +1 for melee but that was it and I didn't find that did much to add any flavor, though it did 'mix things up' a bit, you didn't really get much feel of the French coming on in columns to be met by the volley and bayonet charge of the British. The reverse slope tactic seems to be non existent, if the British occupied the first hill hex then they would take hits from the French artillery, if they occupied the next hex back the French could approach without taking fire and when they did attack there melee advantage had the Britsh just retreating and the only way to stop the rot was to go on a general offensive and engage in a melee in which the British had no advantage and simply relied on being able to concentrate numbers in the right place at the right time. You can argue all that has been abstracted and then factored in to the dice throws, that is the usual answer to any criticism of a Borg game but for me it left the game with little real Napoleonicness.

Add to that I felt far too many times my batteries were charged (successfully) by cavalry, I would say frontally as well but there is no 'front' as such  in C&C games. If it had been Mercer at Waterloo he would have been ridden down on the first cavalry attack without having got off a single round.

Now on the subject of Cavalry, when they attack all they need to do is to force the unit they are attacking to retreat and then they can advance into the hex and attack any adjacent unit, again to put this in a Waterloo context the Scots Grey charge the French who turn and run at the sight of them and then the Grey's instead of continuing on and plowing through them they stop on a dime, turn over 90 degrees to their right and roll up the line, don't expect to ever see your Union brigade way over the other side of the ridge way beyond control, sabering the Grand Battery.

The game "work's" as a game, in fact exceedingly so, it "work's" in replicating a battle, it work's as a beer and pretzel game for none Napoleonic grognards but I just didn't feel much flavor was there for a true Napoleonic fan, my metals and Lasalle or BP can rest easy they are not threatened by this game.

One caveat, this was the first sitting and Borg games are notorious for taking several sittings before you begin to appreciate them and realize the mistakes you were making, so I am hesitant to suggest that it would improve with some rule changes, even if I think it would!

So in conclusion, at this point I would say, great game, worth buying, you will have fun with it but not really that "Napoleonic" in feel.

A few more Prussians from WG

A little bit 'old news' now but Warlord Games have added a few more metal Prussian packs to their site, first up WGN-PRU-25 a pike/musket combination, then WGN-PRU-24 an 'at trail' set..

Prussian Landwehr with Pike / Musket

From their site:

We have sculpted some metal Landwehr with pike and with musket so that you can give yet more variety to your brave Prussian battalions. A good few thousand pikes were issued in the early days of their existence when muskets were short, and units certainly drilled and marched with them. It’s unlikely that many units got to use their archaic weapon in anger, which is probably just as well.

The front ranks only were issued with the pikes, the remaining two would have been musket armed.

Note that these models come with separate heads and allows for a lot of variety and conversion opportunities.

This set contains 10 metal bodies, 10 metal heads, 5 with pikes and 5 with muskets. Models supplied unpainted.  

This pack is priced at GBP12.00 plus pp.

Prussian Landwehr at Trail

All Prussian infantry were well-trained and drilled, and the Landwehr were no exception, if time allowed infantry could advance in a manner of ways, but advancing “at the trail” seems to have been the favoured mode, allowing a quick pace, whilst keeping the temptation of stopping to fire away from a nervous soldier under fire.

These models come with separate weapon arms allowing plenty of diversity and positioning within your regiment.

This set contains 10 metal models. Models supplied unpainted. 

This pack is priced at GBP12.00 plus pp.

Pretty nice sculpts, maybe bordering a little bit on the 'cartoony' side but doesn't stray over the limit like they have done on some of these metals recently. I particularly like the 'at trail' poses, these will make a nice addition. 
Personally I don't like the pikes, I am disappointed they made the set half pike/half musket, I would have preferred to pay a little bit more and have enough to make either 12 pike or 12 musket, mainly so I could then just forget the pikes. Yes I know they did exist, but I don't believe it was of any significance for tabletop action's even if we are recreating very early 1813 and certainly it ceased to exist by May. However with only 5 muskets in a 10 figure set it makes this set a bit of a waste of money for me so I will give it a miss for now which is a shame as the figures themselves are a good match pose wise for the plastic Landwehr they released in October last year.

New UK Napoleonic Comic Strip

If you have followed this blog last year you will recall a couple of post's I made about Spanish Napoleonic comic's, Spanish Napoleonic Comic's and la Guerra de la Independencia en los tebeos, sadly there is no equivalent in the UK (or anywhere else on the planet outside Spain as far as I can see), well I was very surprised to hear that there is to be a Napoleonic comic strip to be launched in the UK in 2011!!

The strip is to be published in a magazine, called appropriately "Strip Magazine" by Print Media Productions, but they will also be publishing it as a graphic album which I think will be of more interest to us gamers. Could make for some great skirmish scenario's, maybe next a xmas stocking filler (remember I am the first to mention xmas) !

The strip is called Lawless and tells the incredible story of Jack Lawless and the Irish Legion, a band of renegades and outcasts who fought against against the British in the tumultuous era of the Napoleonic wars.

Written by Ferg Handley (Commando, GI Joe, Spider-Man) and drawn by Kev Hopgood (co-creator of Marvel's War Machine, artist on Games Workshop's Darkblade), Lawless is a creator-owned tale bringing historical action adventure back to British mainstream comics with a vengeance.

Lawless creator Kev Hopgood says of the tale: "I’ve been a huge enthusiast for the Napoleonic period since I can remember, but have never had the chance to tell a story with that setting before. Now is the time!"

"When Kev approached me with the concept, I bit his hand off," added Ferg. "I’ve always been fascinated by the Napoleonic era, and the Irish Legion angle made me think 'hmm, The Pogues in uniform…'"

Ferg Handley's first professional comic was Commando 3102 published in December 1997. Since then, he has written over 250 Commando titles and carved a name for himself largely as a popular comics writer for UK comics such as Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Heroes and GI Joe.

Kev Hopgood has a long a varied career in comic books and children’s illustration. Starting out with such strips as Zoids, Action Force and Night Zero for UK publishers he went on to went onto a three year run on Iron Man for Marvel Comics. During this time he co-created the character War Machine. Following a stint in the computer games industry he went to work on the Darkblade strip for Games Workshop.

Nowadays he splits his time between comic strip work for publishers Panini UK and Eaglemoss and children’s illustration for companies such as Oxford University Press, Barrington Stoke and Franklin Watts.

Offensive Miniatures new 28mm Napoleonic's

This one almost passed me by, I didn't see this anywhere until I was browsing their site today.

Offensive Miniatures make a small range of 28mm Napoleonic's under the title of 'Follow the Drum', the range is focused on the Peninsular War with British, French and Polish Infantry as well as Polish Cavalry included in the range. The Riflemen pack is particularly outstanding well worth buying. These are 'Perry Compatible' and all very nicely sculpted, though the cavalry are I think rather poorly posed.

Well not much has happened on this range for a very long time, to be honest nothing since the range was first announced I think but a couple of weeks ago they released a British Peninsular Casualties pack comprising of 9 figures, from their site:

"Give your unit some variety with this pack or just use them as casualty markers. Contains 9 figures, 4 lying dead and injured on the ground, 5 falling or sat on the ground, comprising of a mix of drummer boys and young soldiers to provide a variation to your unit. Also included are two muskets to position as you want and a pile of equipment (drum,backpacks etc)."


Priced at GBP12.00 plus pp for 9 figures, postage varies between GBP1.20 and GBP1.80 depending on location.

I think they look nice and would make a nice addition to any collection, the wounded drummer is particularly good! Oddly some of the poses remind me of the recent WG Prussian casualties pack.

Perry Prussian Artillery Greens

OK first its been a very, very long time since my last post, moving house at the start of December, work, xmas, and an illness all combined to stop me from posting for the last 7 weeks, anyway did you really miss me LOL, but now I am back and their will be a lot to blog about this year!!

So first up, Perry Miniatures have posted pics on their site of greens of their forthcoming 28mm Prussian Artillery. If you recall this is the range we first heard about last September which will be a mix of plastic and metal and will complement releases from Warlord Games.

The usual fare from the Perry's LOL. Nicely sculptured, love the running up poses particularly, somehow Prussian's should always be rushing around, hardworking and active don't you think!!

The guns look nicely executed as well and as this is Perry and not a certain other company, I have no doubt that the limbers will be along fairly shortly.

When will the plastic's appear? Hopefully it's not too far away, they did say last September that maybe the metals might be released first but I suspect they are going to be released at the same time now.

As ever I look forward to these and lots more in the Prussian range this year, these in particular are a must have.

I have no doubt this is going to be a fantastic year for Napoleonic's.