German Special Teams - Sniper and Panzerschreck

To the most recent Chain of Command game, Jake brought along a few figures from the latest Brigade Games' 28mm WWII kickstarter project.  "Surplus to demands," says he.

Figuring I could use a few German weapons and teams, a sniper/spotter and panzerschreck were offered up as an offering to The Lead Pile.

Well!  These fine figures did not linger in The Lead Pile long.  This trio jumped the long painting queue and went right onto the painting desk.

Expect these to see action in the next CoC game where I field Germans.

Thanks again for the figures, Jake!

Napoleonics- 28mm Figure Comparison +2

Having recently completed a figure comparison of 28mm Napoleonic figures (see earlier review, here), I should not be surprised that that review was quickly made obsolete. Why?  I received a sample Britannia British Napoleonic figure from a fellow I have been buying Elite Miniatures from and a package from Front Rank arrived this past week loaded with new models.

To update the earlier comparison, both Britannia and Front Rank Reinforcement Pack (Front Rank RP) have been added to the line-up.

To my eye, the Britannia figure seems more on the caricature style of sculpting and the anatomy looks odd to me and quite chunky.  Head seems oversized compared to the length of arm and torso.  Also, the legs look too short but that could be an illusion because of the deeply bent knees.  With knees bent that deeply and head and pack so large, the poor chap may not be able to stand under such weight!  He might fit in ok with Front Rank and Elite since they are on the chunky side but might look odd with the others.

The package from Front Rank contained one of the Reinforcement packs of French infantry in bicorne.  Really terrific figures with crisp detail and good anatomical structure.  These are exquisite figures.  The anatomy is better than some earlier Front Rank figures and the sculpting style is very close to Paul Hick's Brigade Games' figures.  I have been eyeing these Reinforcement packs for awhile now and finally decided to give them a try.  I am glad I did!

Napoleonic Spanish Officer

This solitaire Spanish officer has been lingering in The Lead Pile without any like-minded Spanish Napoleonics.  I liked the look of the figure so added him onto a Brigade Games' order when I was filling out the ranks of British and French infantry.

He is really exquisitely modeled but cannot seem to find a place in my current Peninsular War project.  Rather than leave him unpainted, I figured why not paint and base the officer?  Perhaps he could be used as a special character figure in one of the games?  Perhaps add a mounted figure and make a two figure command stand?

Of course, this will likely lead to fielding a small Spanish contingent.

Napoleonics - Old Glory 2nd Ed. Comparison

Scott dropped by to deliver my portion of an Old Glory order and to get in a couple of games of Commands & Colors: Ancients (CCA).  

The box of lead Scott delivered contained several bags for my Spanish-American War project and a few sample packs of Old Glory's 2nd Edition Napoleonics.  I have a number of manufactures in the 28mm Peninsular War project but no Old Glory.  Scott's positive comments about 2nd Edition figures convinced me to give them a try.

As a comparative exercise, I lined up the different unpainted manufacturers used thus far in this project.  Well, all unpainted save for the primered Sash & Saber figure!  I added a AWI Perry figure since I have no Perry Napoleonics and a Fire & Drum (ex-Minden) SYW Prussian. 

25/28mm Napoleonic Figure Comparison

With regards to height, all figures in the comparison photo are similar with Eureka being a little less than half-a-head taller than the others.  If the Bicorne dragoon was standing erect, he would likely be the tallest of all.

Even within manufacturers, size differences exist.  Compare the size differences of the two Brigade Games' French figures on the far right.  Even the Front Rank French legere looks larger than his British comrade.  If one manufacturer is not consistent within its own line, how can we expect different manufacturers to exactly match?  I don't think we can.  Besides, soldiers come in varying heights and weights.  It would be nice if the equipment size was consistent.  

For stockiness, Elite takes top honors with the Front Rank French legere coming in a close second.  The Old Glory Brit is so slender, he probably would not cast a shadow!  Upon close inspection on the gaming table, the Front Rank legere looks noticeably larger than the Sash & Saber figures but the Front Rank Brit does not.  At gaming distances these differences disappear.  I suppose part of that could be an illusion due to the larger shako and massive plume.  The Old Glory Brit standing alongside the Elite Frenchman makes the Brit look puny.  The slender build of the Old Glory figure reminds me of the proportions of the Fife & Drum SYW Prussian.

When I opened the packets, first thing that struck me was how slender the figures are modeled.  Legs and arms are especially scrawny.  To me, the proportion of the arms-to-body seem slightly out of whack.  That is, the arms appear too short.  Otherwise, the detail of the figure is quite nice.  We will see how they look on the gaming table once painted and based.

Old Glory 2nd Edition British

Oh, and I was beaten 2-0 in CCA in two replays of Cannae.  Even switching sides after Game 1, I could not pull out a victory.  I recall losing 7-5 as Varro and then getting beaten 7-4 as Hannibal.  The one victory had I for the evening came with my dinner choice.  That was a success!

Gendarmerie a Pied - Brigade Games

Continuing with 28mm Napoleonic theme, off the painting desk comes 18 Brigade Games' French Gendarmerie a pied.  This range of figures is sculpted by Paul Hicks who seems to be sculpting for everyone...and for good reason.

The sculpting on these models is as fine as I have seen.  These gendarmes are truly exquisite models.  For my battalion, I have 16 gendarmes in close order with two singly mounted skirmishers.  The firing pose is fantastic!

Could these same figures be used as early Consular Guard?  I think so and as such they would be useful in many of Napoleon's early battles such as Marengo.  The Lead Pile does not contain sufficient figures to fill out a second battalion so fielding the Consular Guard is on hold until my next order with Brigade Games.  A sample of the ex-Victrix Portuguese might be in order too.   

French Grenadiers - Brigade Games

There are currently two Brigade Games' early French infantry battalions in my 28mm Napoleonic project.  When these two battalions first mustered from the painting desk, the 18 figures in each battalion wore bicorne.  While work is progressing on a nifty French Gendarmerie a pied infantry battalion, I decided to  add two grenadier figures in bearskin to each of the previously completed line battalions.

The French in Brigade Games' Napoleonic line are expertly sculpted by Paul Hicks and really are a pleasure to paint.  As the photos show, these are long and lanky Frenchmen and look like they have been on campaign for some time.  The first photo reminds me a bit of an impressionistic painting so I included it even though the details and colors are a little over-exposed.

With the reorganization of the two French battalions to include grenadiers, four painted infantry have been released for other duty.  Eight additional infantry are in The Lead Pile so another order to Brigade Games is required to bring a third battalion up to full strength.  With a few more figures, I could field a second battalion of gendarmes a pied too.  I just missed the free shipping promo but I can wait for the next sale.  As an aside, I really need to keep a list of figures needed to fulfill requirements so that when a sale pops up, I can respond quickly.

State of the Painting Desk

On Saturday, the desire and opportunity to descend into the game room for a lengthy painting session materialized.  With some spring yard work done, 35 miles on the bike in my legs, and weather turning dismal, I sat down to the desk for a leisurely afternoon.

After the session, I had made progress on three different projects.  First, the two Austrian grenadier battalions for the 1799 project were nearing completion.  I have been working a little on these figures in short bursts the last couple of nights.  After a few more hours, the AB Austrians were ready for the dip.

AB Austrian grenadiers

After the the Austrians, I pulled out one battalion of Blue Moon AWI Hessians to be painted as SYW Prussian musketeers.  By late afternoon, the finishing touches were being placed on these figures.

Blue Moon SYW Prussians

Finally, with still a bit more painting energy remaining, I pulled 22 28mm  Brigade Games' French gendamerie from the primered pile.  Work just started on the faces before I quit for the day.  Originally, I considered painting and fielding these French as Consular Guards but the uniforms of the Gendarmerie have convinced me to paint them as sculpted.

Brigade Games' French gendamerie

Still much work on the French remains.  Both the Austrian grenadiers and Prussian musketeers will get a spray of Dullcote on Monday and then move onto the basing phase.

French Infantry on Campaign

Wanting to include French in bicorn into my French ranks, I opted to pick up several handfuls of Brigade Games' 28mm early French.  Brigade Games' early British have seen service in my Peninsular project so I was familiar with the quality of these sculpts.  My British have also seen service in Maida replays.

I figured some French would still be wearing the bicorn during the early years of the Peninsular War and almost certainly in 1806 Italy.  With Kevin's interest in the Egyptian campaign, these French in bicorn could see service there too and in many of the earlier campaigns.

Two battalions of these Frenchmen with 16 figures in each march off the table.  The models exhibit much character in the face and appear to have been campaigning for some time.  The facial features are really quite amazing.    Uniforms have a mix of trousers and the models are cut very slenderly.  These are long and lanky soldiers slimmed by the rigors of the march.