15mm AB / Blue Moon / Xan French Guns

The Query
So this post is (slightly) a warning to myself to do proper research before buying figures. Back in April when I began my (slow) Spanish project I started out by buying a Spanish Line Infantry brigade from Fighting 15's - this gave me four 32 figure battalions of Spanish Line Infantry fusiliers (the grenadiers are assumed to have been detached) but my Spanish infantry needed some artillery support. I went to the appropriate page for Spanish artillery and there were crew with a comment - "For suitable guns, we recommend French 6pdrs (AB-F42)". I had some AB guns so just bought some Spanish gun crews at Salute (a pre-order packed by Mr Marsh at the last minute!).

I think AB's Spanish gunners look fine - but they needed French Gribeauval 6lb guns to crew - Spanish artillery adopted the French Gribeauval system in 1783. AB make French artillery pieces (including a 6lb Gribeauval) but there seems to be a consensus that the "track" (the distance between the wheels) is too wide. I've got to say this is a view I have some sympathy with. So when I saw some nice Blue Moon British guns on JJ's blog I thought I'd investigate further.

I had some AB French guns already, and had bought the Xan Miniatures French Artillery piece from Empress Miniatures (along with crews - packed rather oddly in sixes; there are only four crew figures - you get a couple of random doubles as far as I can tell) at Salute. So, I dragged poor Giles ( Tarleton's Quarter ) over to the Old Glory stand to get a set of Blue Moon French 6lbers. Obviously, what I should have done, was do some research, and then bought some guns.

On the basis that figure manufacturers cannot agree on what "15mm" actually means when it comes to their figures, it isn't surprising that scale models of artillery pieces should vary too. The situation is complicated by the fact that the French made several changes to their guns during the Napoleonic period (starting out with the Gribeauval system, introducing the An XI system from 1803, and a bastardised version incorporating elements of both shortly thereafter - where the Gribeauval didn't soldier on unaltered).

French 6lb Gun History
The Gribeauval system of field artillery essentially specified that there should only be four calibres of tube employed: 6 inch howitzers, and 4lb, 8lb and 12lb field guns. Further, the components of each gun, carriage  and limber within it's calibre should be standardised - the first large scale instance of the use of replaceable parts. Other changes included assigning gun crew to a particular gun (previously gunners were part of a pool - so could be assigned to a six inch howitzer for one campaign and a 12lb field gun for the next) and battery.

The system was a big success and French artillery was equal to or superior to their rivals across Europe from 1780 onwards - but the system was subject to some criticism within the French army. It was said that the 4lb gun was too small for firing canister, and the 8lb gun was too heavy for mobile field artillery. In Italy, in 1800, Marmont utilised 6lb guns cast locally, and made changes to standardise fewer wheel sizes for the carriage and limbers. Upon his return, Marmont sent a report to Napoleon, who decided to appoint a commission to look at the subject.

In 1803 the Commission made a number of recommendations that were incorporated into a revised system (called the An XI, or "Year Eleven" system in English). Field artillery would have larger guns - the 6lb gun would replace the 4lb gun, and the short 12lb gun would replace the 8lb gun. Alterations were made to the gun carriage - the most visible of which was the removal of the travelling trunnion and the change of shape to the end of the trail (the "ski" kicks up more on the An XI).

There was fierce debate about the changes (not least because there were hundreds of 4lb and 8lb gun tubes cast, and literally millions of rounds of ammunition in storage). In practice, the 6lb cannon was liked but the carriage wasn't (it was alleged it had a tendency to break up on campaign).

As you can see from the above, very brief, version of events, the really anal wargamer can have a field day with French cannon (and you thought it was just shakos v bicornes and long tailed coats v Bardin jackets...).

So in summary, the anal wargamers guide to the French use of 6lb guns:

1789 - 1800: No 6lb guns in your Revolutionary War French Army (if you are intent on 6lb guns you will need to argue for the local use of captured artillery tubes).

1801 - 1803: Limited use of 6lb guns with Gribeauval or original foreign carriages.

1804 - 1808: 6lb guns with An XI carriages - according to the sources I've looked at Napoleon ordered construction of new An XI carriages suspended in 1805 after criticism of the new carriages. So there would also be 6lbers with older Gribeauval carriages serving alongside the new carriages.

1808/9 - 1810: 6lb guns with adapted Gribeauval carriages (1810 saw official re-adoption of the Gribeauval carriages).

So, this is one of those areas where the "official position" and the reality clearly differed.

The Models
Before we go any further the grid on the photographs is 5mm - also as I don't possess calipers I just used a ruler for the measurements and did them by eye.

Anthony Barton: AB-F42 - French 6lb Gun @£2.60*
This is a 6lb gun on a Gribeaval carriage. So some basic measurements - the outside diameter of the wheels should be 4 feet 6inches (146cm) and is 15mm in the model (so bang on 1/100), and the iron axletree should be 6 feet 5 inches (206cm). There is a 20mm "track"in the model (from one wheel to the other) so 6 feet 6 inches - now the question arises, did the measurement of the axle include the wheel and linchpins? I'd submit that it should - on this basis the model measures 27mm at it's widest point. The wheels have a slight indent (which is wholly accurate) but the hubs are much larger than in real life with the result that the wheels look (and are) too far apart. I'd surmise this is one of those moments where the anal wargamer has to decide whether he wants a playable piece or a wholly accurate model. The strapping on the cheeks of the carriage all looks in the right place - this is a very nice model, if one can get over the overwide look of the gun.

Blue Moon: 15 FE 02 - 6 Pound Gun @£2.00 (Six models for £12.00)
Looking at the carriage, it seems fairly clear that this is a 6lb gun mounted on a An XI carriage. Irritatingly, I can't find the detailed dimensions of the An XI carriage but it's size would appear to be closely related to the Gribeauval 4lb carriage. The diameter of the wheel on the Blue Moon 6lb gun is 16mm (5 feet 3 inches), the "track" is 20mm and the axle is 22mm wide including hubs (the indented spokes are more pronounced than on the AB gun so the effect of the wide hubs isn't so pronounced. So, the diameter of the wheels is possibly a tad big but on the width issue the Blue Moon carriage is much better. The carriage looks bang on in terms of shape and details - this is a nice model and is the equal to the Anthony Barton gun. Packaging six models together in one bag seems a bit odd though

Xan Miniatures NFA10 - Cannon 6 & 8lb @£3.00
Back to the Gribeauval pattern carriage - although this one has a wider trail than the AB or BM. 15mm wheels, 17mm track and 22mm wide including hubs. On this model the indent of the spokes is barely there, if at all. The hubs seem much smaller with the effect that, of the three guns, this looks most like it should from the front. In terms of the carriage itself the detailing is less exaggerated than on the BM model. I'd use this gun nevertheless, it looks "right" except for the width of the trail - if an opponent were rude enough to point this out I think I'd just suggest this was one of the multiplicity of captured guns in the French arsenal, and that Spain appeared to regularly draw the short straw in supply terms for the French army. If you look closely, you can see that the trail spikes are still mounted on the carriage. One comment I'd like to make - I bought this gun eight months ago and it has been sitting on my desk unassembled for most of that time - I'm embarrassed to say, I'm unsure whether this is the 6 or 8lb barrel!

*Unusually, the price of AB has been falling over the last year as the Sterling to Aussie dollar rate has moved in our favour - AB guns were £3.00 in January 2013 (I'm slightly disturbed by this as it means my leadpile has dropped in value over the last 12 months - although as I've been supplementing my stocks that should make up for it, I've been adopting the same attitude to my pension plan over the recession).

Spanish Use Of 6lbers
This exposition has clearly drifted away from what guns I should offer my Spanish crewmen to serve - logic would indicate that they should be serving a gun with the Gribeauval pattern carriage - I'm unaware of any evidence that they switched to the An XI carriage and there weren't many instances of the Spanish capturing French guns - generally it was the other way round! Furthermore, as I actually started to research this a bit (I bought a couple of very nice books on Napoleonic artillery while searching for information), I couldn't find any evidence the Spanish actually used 6lbers - at this point I felt confident enough to email Ian Marsh and ask what sources he'd used to back his suggestion, I also posted a query on TMP.

I got a very prompt response from both. Dr Steven Summerfield who said on TMP that the Spanish didn't use 6lb guns until 1811 - and Ian Marsh also quickly replied as follows - "The issue is largely that AB doesn't make 4pdrs, so to have a small looking gun you have to use the 6pdr. It's a long time since I made the suggestion on the site, and I suspect I assumed the Spanish, being somewhat prone to losing their materiel, would probably make good losses at some point with captured French guns after successful British actions and sieges.

However, your email has encouraged me to read around, and I will change the advice on the website.

As for limbers, you are currently stuck. Ideally you'd want oxen pulling a French limber, and that isn't a possibility." 

I'd asked what Ian what he suggested for Spanish limbers and caissons etc - logic would indicate French pattern equipment but the limber riders would be an issue. He responded as an afterthought that Eureka do oxen pulling carts, but that as he didn't have the moulds in the UK he couldn't offer the oxen separately.

This would rather disqualify the Blue Moon AnXI guns from service with my Spanish army - which is a shame as I actually liked the look of this model the most in just about every other respect. So, given the options, I could use AB guns and just have to try and overlook the overwide look of them - which will bug me, I know.

The question of guns therefore went into a hiatus for a few months - about a month ago I looked at the Blue Moon website and the French 4lb and 8lb guns both have Gribeauval carriages - I emailed BM and a very kind lady, Teresa, forwarded my question on to the designer (Gregory) who confirmed this was the case within a few hours of my asking the question (so top marks for customer service to BM). I therefore bought some 4,8 and 12lb French guns from Old Glory UK (if you have been counting, you will realise that this post has caused me to buy 25 guns of one sort or another!) which took about a week to arrive and very nice they are too.

Blue Moon 4lb, 8ib and 12ib Guns

Ok, so here we have the BM 4lber gun (BM reference 15-FE-01). These fellows appear in several GdB OOBs being served by French Horse Artillery crews, and also by the Spanish (so the guns that I originally thought would get least use when I ordered these a few days ago will probably be used the most, initially at least). I used an Osprey, Napoleon's Guns 1792-1815 (1) for the measurements quoted below.

The first thing I thought when I saw this model was "gosh that looks small" - and the first thing I measured were the wheels which are 11.5mm in diameter (so, at 1/100 that is equivalent to 1.15m or a shade over 3 feet 9 inches) - this is small as the Osprey quotes 1.35m (or 4 feet 2 inches). And in 15mm scale a couple of millimetres rather stands out. The carriage is 25mm long (and the Osprey gives a "cheek length" of 235.5cm) so not too far off the original. Now the common problem with gun models is that they look too wide, so how did the BM 4lb gun do? The Osprey quotes the iron axletree length as 197.4cm (or 6 feet, 5 inches give or take a fraction of an inch) - measuring from the inside of each wheel (so including the inner hub) gave me a figure of 1.5cm so way too narrow (remember those mm stand out at this scale) - the equivalent of 19 inches. If you measured to the outer hub (so at the gun's widest point) it would be pretty much bang on.

So, overall, this gun is out in a couple of respects - height of the wheels and possibly the width of the track and length of the carriage. But if you are looking to represent the smaller guns on the table this model works well overall - one of those instances where the look of the thing is better than the sum of the parts.

Next up, the BM 8lb gun (BM reference 15-FE-03). At first sight this gun and carriage is very similar to their 6lber. The most obvious difference is the "kick up" at the end of the trail of the 6lber is more pronounced (although not as pronounced in the book "Napoleonic Artillery" by Duncan, Duncan and Summerfield, page 71 - I'm surmising that the BM 6lb model is an M1808), and the Gribeauval 8lber carriage has two trunnion positions rather than the single position on the 6lb An XI carriage. The 8lber has the same size wheels as the 6lb carriage (so 16mm diameter, or 5 feet 3 inches), and the track is 18mm. The axle is 22mm wide including hubs. Frame length is 26mm.

Finally, the BM 12lb gun (BM reference 15-FE-04). My first thought after putting this thing together was that it is one big carriage (36mm long) dwarfing the other guns. Wheel height is again 16mm. Track is 20mm, and hub to hub width is again 22mm. My next thought was that the "kick up" at the end of the trail was quite pronounced making it look like an early An XI gun (the 12lb An XI retained the travelling trunnion so this isn't a point of difference like it is on the 6lber). Actually - re-reading my correspondence with the BM people, I didn't actually ask about the provenance of the 12lb gun so it may well be a An XI.

A few general comments about the BM guns: The castings were pretty clean - I didn't do any preparation to any of guns before assembling them for this review. One minor issue I noticed with all the BM barrels was that the mould looks to be poured via the righthand trunnion (as you sight down the barrel) and the casting is a little rough here which means that the barrel doesn't fit cleanly into the carriage "pulling" the barrel to the right as it sits on the carriage. But this is nothing that a few minutes with a file won't fix.

I'd also point out that all the guns came with ammunition boxes despite my neglecting to photograph them!

And here are a couple of pictures of the guns lined up together:

Ok, From left to right: Xan Miniatures, AB, BM 4lber, BM 6lber. 

From left to right: BM 6lber, 8lber and 12lber.

From left to right: BM 6lber, 8lber, 12lber and a BH 4lb (?) gun I had laying around.

From left to right: Xan Miniatures (and before anyone comments I haven't stuck the barrel on this one), AB, BM4lb gun, BM 6lb gun.

In conclusion, I'm sure I've made some errors in terminology and detail - if anyone wants to comment on my ignorance feel free and I'll make the appropriate edits! Anyway, I hope this is useful. 

Addendum

I was asked on TMP to add some more manufacturers guns - to be honest I'd thought about doing this but the above post was originally started about eight months ago and I'm now pretty fed up with it! Anyway, I've looked though the Bollinger LGA (that is La Grande Annee - not La Grande Armee) box where all the unpainted French lead is stored and I found some more guns.

Old Glory 

Now, I think these are OG (long time readers of this blog will be aware that several years ago - back when the US Post Service still let their citizens send goods by surface post - I bought a very big box of French, Austrians and Russians from a chap in California and these guns are from an unmarked bag from the box). Looking at the website of the current UK agents, TimeCast, just shows labels such as "Foot Artillery, Full Dress" with no mention of gun size or carriage type - so its difficult to review how close they are to the original. Both guns are cleanly cast with good levels of detail (I'm not really sure if that big barrel goes with the carriage to be honest - there were also some howitzer barrels in the bag too). So here are a couple of photos with some measurements.

Gun "A" - wheel diameter 11mm, track 16mm, hub to hub width 22mm, cheek length 25mm.

Gun "B" - wheel diameter 12.5mm, track 17mm, hub to hub width 23mm, cheek length 26mm 

Fantassin (Warmodelling)

After saying on TMP I didn't possess any Fantassin artillery I found a gun and crew. Again, I'm unaware of what calibre it is supposed to be (I bought a "division pack" from Dermot at CGM in Spain a few years ago after hearing good things about their figures from TMPers - and that was really poor advice...) as it is in an unmarked bag with some French foot artillery figures. I'll do a photo and give measurements - but frankly this was the worst casting of any of the guns with softness and flash in the area below the trail spikes on the left hand side of the carriage, more flash at the front of the carriage, and rough areas on the wheel rims (which also didn't fit neatly to the axles). The transom appeared to me to out of true giving the carriage a slightly twisted appearance. Finally all the other guns had an indent at the mouth of the barrel - not the Fantassin gun. Also the two wheels were of different thicknesses. All in all, it was a chunky mess! 

Wheel diameter 15mm, track 18mm, hub to hub width 23mm, cheek length 28mm.

And just to show how awful the Fantassin gun is here are two shots - the first from the rear showing (hopefully) how the transom is out of true. 

And secondly how the wheels vary in thickness.

Battle Honours

Now this is from a really old pack (back when they were Kitney & Company and included a cardboard stand along with the gun and figures) labelled ART5A - I looked back through my earliest Wargames Illustrated magazines and I think this a French 8lb gun. It is much smaller than the 6 or 8lb offerings from BM (or AB) but then so are the crewmen - this gun is much closer to the BM 4lber in terms of the carriage size. There is a clear mould line running horizontally down the middle of each cheek which is a bit obvious but apart from that is a very clean casting. I think it is one of the nicest guns of the lot - there is detail but it isn't exaggerated. I guess if you pair it with the appropriate figures it would look fine. 

Wheel diameter 13mm, track 17mm, hub to hub width 23mm, cheek length 24mm.

  

The above are from left to right: OG Gun "A", OG Gun "B" and the Fantassin Gun.

Left to right: Battle Honours, OG Gun "A" and BM 4lber.

15mm AB French Line Infantry And A Minor Disaster

I had a minor disaster yesterday. I subscribe to Miniature Wargames / Battlegames now that Henry Hyde has taken on the editorship and the new issue arrived on Friday morning. I left it on the coffee table whilst I went and did the grocery shopping and Archie (the younger of my two dogs) decided to eat it for lunch - here are the results:

Obviously Archie is severely in the doghouse - although he doesn't seem too upset about it:

Clearly he isn't a fan of the new editorial direction at MW/BG!

I haven't done much painting over the last few weeks So, with little further ado, here are a couple of photos of the other super-duper unit I bought from eBay along with the Highlanders. I think it is a really beautiful unit - whomever painted these added patches to the trousers of some of these figures and you can actually see the stitching painted on the patches. And the faces just look wonderful - way more brush control that I have ever been able to manage.

This one is again based on four bases - this time though there are four grenadiers and four voltiguers. This means that I could just break it up and rebase it as a 24 figure battalion, but I have a few painted French Line that I did some time ago that I think I could possibly try and match in. I'm thinking that if I took all these great figures off their current bases they could make up the front rank of the unit, and my inferior efforts could fill out the rear rank (which would only become a concern if they were forced to retreat). I have some AB greatcoated flankers that need painting so purloining four of those would give enough figures to make up the grenadiers and voltiguers to full strength.

And today it just bucketed down this afternoon. We had a small flood in the street outside as the excess water flowing down the hill from High Barnet popped the manhole covers:

42nd Highland Infantry (The Black Watch) aka The Collaborators*

Apologies for having gone a bit quiet over the last month - a few work related customer visits impinged on my hobby "stuff". The result of this is that I've done very little painting of anything over the last few weeks. However conscious that I haven't posted anything I thought I'd post some pictures of these figures that I bought from ebay some time ago.

Now they were labelled as Highland Infantry, and looked quite nice in the auction photos but it was quite hard to tell just how nice they were. I also couldn't tell how they were based, or the make up of the battaion. Anyway, I decided to go for it and got them for a bargain price. When they were arrived I was blown away by the quality of painting - easily up to the standard of the best I've seen, and much better than my own amateur daubing. 

However they aren't without issues - they are beautifully based on four 40mm x 30mm stands that don't match the rest of my "army" (I put inverted commas because I'm not sure you can call a couple of battalions of British Line an "army"!), and there are only four flank company figures - two light and two grenadiers. Although very nicely done I don't think the painter has quite caught the "Black Watch" tartan - the tartan on the figures is a shade or two too pale. The final problem is that 24 figures in GdB terms is only 480 men - and the 42nd (mostly) had rather more men under arms than this throughout the Peninsular War (see this link for a fascinating history of the battalions in the Peninsula, including their numbers at each significant point - PUA = Present Under Arms: 42nd Numbers ). 

Nevertheless, these figures look superb. The painted figures are AB, and I have some unpainted Highland centre company infantry (an ancient Battle Honours blister pack of twelve figures bought from Duke Seifried on Ebay which match perfectly). I'm currently contemplating whether I dare try to replicate the style - I'm fairly confident I can do them to a "good" standard but not so confident I can paint to this standard - whomever it was did these they even painted the lips on each face - and did it in a subtle way. Perhaps I can slot the additional figures into the rear rank where my incompetence won't be too obvious. Obviously if I add in some centre company figures, I'll need to add some flankers too (can't have a "project" that doesn't require buying some more figures!). 

* My mother, an occasional Jacobite and full time Scot, always referred to the Black Watch as "The Collaborators" - a reference to their origins  " In 1725, following the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, General George Wade was authorised by George II to form six 'watch' companies to patrol the Highlands of Scotland, three from Clan Campbell, one from Clan Fraser, one from Clan Munro and one from Clan Grant. These were to be "employed in disarming the Highlanders, preventing depredations, bringing criminals to justice, and hindering rebels and attainted persons from inhabiting that part of the kingdom." The force was known in Gaelic as Am Freiceadan Dubh 'the dark' or 'black watch' "

Of course my mother said the name was not a reference to the dark plaid they wore but to their "black hearts" in keeping down the Scots. My mum was not alway logical but there was always something of the rebel about her! 

15mm Xan Mimiatures & Campaign Game Miniatures British Line Infantry

Well, last week the big news for me on TMP was that Xan miniatures had produced some new British Line Infantry in stovepipe shako suitable for the Peninsula. Now, I adore the AB sculpts and painted a battalion (in a rather poor fashion) last year ( http://tenfiguresaweek.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/57th-regiment-of-foot.html ) but I'm always looking for some new figures. And these are much cheaper than the superlative ABs.

It so happens that I've been looking around at British infantry suitable for the Peninsula lately. I rejected Old Glory because of their inconsistency between ranges (or indeed bags within ranges), Fantassin (Warmodelling) were kicked into touch for the same reason. I don't like the stumpy Essex figures. Which rather left AB and BH in the quality 15mm field. Until recently that is.

Many Americans are admiring the Blue Moon 15mm range and I took a look at the British Line Infantry in Stovepipe here last year ( http://tenfiguresaweek.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/blue-moon-xan-miniatures-review.html ) - if you recall I was fairly underwhelmed by the sculpting.

CGM
While browsing the Campaign Game Miniatures (CGM) website for some cavalry (CGM specialise in the 100 days Campaign so most of their stuff isn't suitable for earlier campaigns) I discovered that they had added a few codes from other nationalities, and some British infantry in stovepipes (there were a few battalions in the old gear at Waterloo). Now CGM don't have early command groups - typically the officers wore bicorne hats up until 1811 when the order was given for officers to use the shako (initially the stovepipe and after March 1812 the Belgic pattern) - although they continued to wear the bicorne with their undress uniform.

With that in mind I only ordered the rank and file marching and advancing packs, just to have a look at. You get eight figures in each pack (four variants repeated twice) for £3.60 (they are sold in the UK by QRF). Now lets get my big issue with these figures out of the way first - I'm convinced their legs are too short! Standing them next to an AB Brit it is clear that, while the torso and head are about the same size, the legs (even allowing for the fact the CGM figures legs are bent as they walk) are one or two millimetres too short. Added to this, the heads are broader than the AB figures, and the heads appear to have been jammed down into collars that look taller and stiffer than most illustrations I've seen of the British infantry in the field. Now, I know that a millimetre or two here or there can't be seen from a couple of feet away but the impression I get whenever I look at CGM figures (with the exception of their French Line in greatcoats) is that some giant wargamer has been pressing down on their heads! Having said that, the faces are very nicely sculpted and I think they seem to go well together with the Blue Moon infantry that I have (which, regardless of their other failings, appear anatomically "correct" to me) - both ranges feature the figures leaning forward so I think, once they have been painted, they'll do.

Now having having slagged off their basic posture, these are nice figures in many other respects, generally the detail is well sculpted. The sculptor has sketched in the lace on the jacket and cuffs, there are one or two areas which are a bit weak - I think the water bottle and rolled greatcoat are a bit small on the figures and there is no sense that the greatcoat is rolled up on some figures, it just looks to be a tube strapped to the top of the pack (I refuse to believe that a soldier in the field would be able to roll their greatcoat that neatly). The Trotter pack looks to be about the right size. The faces are nicely done. Essentially, these are good, workmanlike figures and I think they will paint up very well - I just can't find it in myself to get excited about them. And if you want your British officers in bicornes you will need to look elsewhere for a command pack.

Xan Miniatures
Now, I saw the news on TMP that Xan Miniatures had released a number of British Line Infantry packs and I got very excited. While his figures are generally not a perfect match height or build wise with Mr Barton's, his French Legere have the same sense about them (I think his Legere skirmishing pack is simply excellent) - so I had high expectations with the British.

So, how are they? Well, overall, they are very good - anatomically correct with facial detail nicely suggested, the packs and blanket rolls look the right size (possibly a tad large in the context of the size of the figure but not unduly so), the water bottle looks a touch small on one or two figures to me. On a couple of figures the cross belt sculpting is a little too fine but still workable. While the figures are anatomically correct in the sense everything is in proportion a number of figures that have the legs extended also have the torso at an angle to the line of march (so left leg extended to the front, right leg trailing about to be brought forward, and the torso facing to the right at an angle) - which isn't how I walk.

The only issue with flash was that a good proportion of figures had flash between the plume and the musket but this was easily cleared with a little care and a sharp knife. Unlike AB these figures have the musket joined to the side of the head and shako - where the join occurs there is the risk of a bit of difficulty concealing this when painting the figure, but as the shako will be black I don't think it will be a problem.

My big problem with these figures (and generally with the French figures too) is that Xan have taken the OG approach to bases so, instead of the big square base you get on an AB figure, the bases vary in size and are just big enough for the feet of the figure to meet the ground. What this means is that on some figures the bases are very small - so you will need something fairly industrial to stick the figures to your stand without them coming loose again.

One figure in NB2 (like CGM, Xan packs their figures in eight figures per pack with four variants included twice) is bareheaded and has a bandage wrapped over an earlier injury. It is well done but I'd have preferred a figure in forage cap to be honest (I think the bandaged head wound is both a bit of a cliche and that, given battlefield surgery of the time, not many guys would walk away from a head injury).

I had one niggle though - the shako looks too tall to me - it certainly looks taller and thinner than AB, Blue Moon or CGM (all of which look fairly similar to one another). So I embarked on some research.

I got out my ruler and the Xan figures look to be about 16 mm from foot to eye, perhaps 17mm to the top of the head - the figure with the bandaged head is 18mm to the top of the head - but if you look at the picture he looks tall compared to the others. So, if one assumes a 1/100 scale (risky I know) these chaps are remarkably average for the British Army of the time - the bulk of recruits were between 5 feet six inches and five feet eight inches tall (five feet seven inches is 1.70m - so 17 mm at 1/100 - 1mm = 4 inches in real life).

Measuring the shako height it looks to be between 3 and 4 millimetres tall and two millimetres across at the crown - this translates at 1/100 to about 12 inches tall and eight inches across at the top. Looking at Mr Franklin's book on British Napoleonic Uniforms he says that the stovepipe shako introduced in 1800 should be "some eight inches tall and seven inches broad at the top" - he also says a couple of paragraphs further on that "the improved second version of this shako was introduced for wear by other ranks about 1806. It was a lighter pattern, made of felt and slightly shorter, being about eight or nine inches high with a top diameter of seven inches" (my emphasis in italics). I've seen other statements that suggest the shako got shorter as time went on. So something seems a little awry with Mr Franklin's suggestion about the 1800 pattern shako, I think.

I also think in reality it probably wasn't Horse Guards laying down regulations that probably decided this kind of thing but the pattern book of the tradesmen supplying the regiment that had more influence. So, I think somewhere between 8 and 12 inches is probably good enough - use these guys for early arrivals in the Peninsula with early pattern shakos. I think the issue is also partly down to the Xan figures being a bit slighter than the other makers and having smaller heads - I think this makes the Xan shako look a bit taller and thinner than it really is.

Anyway, this is by the by - the Xan figures will make a fine looking battalion. The officers are very nice indeed (I thought their French counterparts lacked elan) and will fit nicely in with AB battalions if, like me, you like to mix different makers figures a bit. The command pack, NB7 contains two standard bearers, two drummers and two officers - each figure is different. As there are two packs of centre company marching (NB1 & NB2) and one pack of flank company marching (NB3) this means that a General de Brigade player can field a typical 30 figure British line battalion with four packs (and with no figure repeated more than twice).

I really like the marching pioneer figure (although he seems a tad short to me) and he will definitely be entering the ranks of my marching AB units. The skirmishing flank company troops are workmanlike rather than inspired but they will certainly do the job. Overall, these are another very nice set of figures from Spain.

So, next the comparison photos:

First up - the command figures from NB7 plus the Pioneer (NB11) - from left to right: Xan, AB, Xan, BH, Xan, AB, Xan, OG, Xan, Blue Moon, Xan, AB, Xan Pioneer - to the right are some British AB figures (awaiting standard bearers),

Next - NB2 (the Xan Flank Comany figures) and the CGM figures, from left to right: AB, Xan, Xan, Xan, Xan, BH, CGM, AB, CGM, CGM, CGM, AB

Finally, NB1 (Centre Co) and NB3 (Flank Co), from left to right: Xan, Xan, Xan, Xan, BH, Xan NB10, AB, Xan, Xan, AB, Xan, AB, Xan.

So, there you have it. I've actually done very little painting at all over the last week. I was distracted by a night out with Giles tasting South African wines, followed the next evening by a work night pouring champagne for some very appreciative customers (and once we had got the customers out the door at 10.30, we started on some very fine Bordeaux indeed - with the result I didn't get home until 2am). It was a very special evening - and I'm still tasting the 1986 Mouton Rothschild in my head. Friday (feeling very tired) I took my wife into hospital for a small procedure and then spent most of the weekend keeping Archie the dog away from her (my wife was grumpy from the anaesthesia so Archie and I spent most of the weekend in the spare room playing Total War on the PC - Archie won't let me paint).
  

15mm Old Glory SPN5 Spanish Militia

After May 1808 Spain was fragmented with several different regional centres of power (juntas) - most of these were united in one thing, they didn't like the French. Unfortunately they were also not keen on one another, and for that matter were frequently suspicious of the English, who rather reciprocated that feeling.

The Juntas, in an attempt to resist the French, raised a huge number of militia units. These initially used Spanish equipment, and, as time went on increasing amounts of British made uniforms and muskets. Unfortunately, prior to 1808 most Spanish defence expenditure had gone into the navy - the army was definitely the poor relation. Also the conflict between church, state and nobility prior to the war meant that the Spanish officer corps had undergone little formal training, was stultified in its practices, and generally incompetent. What this meant was  that when the Juntas sought officers for the new militia units they naturally looked at former or serving officers from the army - on paper these people looked qualified to train and lead, but unfortunately all too many were useless at both.

The men, saddled with poor equipment, hopeless officers and a lack of training, behaved as you'd expect when thrown into action before they were ready - given a fixed position to defend they were competent but all too often their officers sought to manoeuvre battalions whose soldiers couldn't manage basic drills. When Spanish militia went into battle they frequently ran like rabbits in the face of the French - the lack of Spanish cavalry meant that the French horse could ride down fleeing Spanish with impunity leading to horrendous casualties. The survivors would melt away or be reformed into a new battalion. Conflicting information, continual destruction and reformation of battalions mean that it is almost impossible to produce a comprehensive list of units created in the Peninsula War.

And yet, when they were given time to learn their drills, and were properly led, they could be steadfast in the extreme. It should be remembered that, even though they were thrashed time and again, the Spanish kept coming back for more....

The 15mm Old Glory SPN5 Militia bag allows you to build these ephemeral battalions of inexperienced, badly equipped, ill fed and ill led men from the first years of the war. As you would expect there are the usual 50 figures in the bag. My initial reaction upon seeing them was that they were very nice by OG standards - there are eight different figures in the bag. The figures are wearing bicornes and the "top hat" favoured by the Spanish (which looked very similar to that worn by Royal Marines of the period) and are wearing a smock-like jacket. All of the figures are in that rushing forward high porte sort of pose that OG favour. Amazingly, to me, the rank and file actually had faces that looked human (I've had figures from the OG ACW range - and OG Austrian Napoleonics - whose faces were shapeless lumps of lead). The musket detail was a bit rough, and weak points meant there is a good chance of losing a figure or two as the musket (not the bayonet, the musket) breaks apart.

Here are the four options for ranks and file - two in top hat, and two in bicorne. I've no idea whether the packing in these is consistent or not but there are twice as many top hat guys as bicorne chaps.

And here are the same figures from behind.

I think the command figures are weaker sculpts (see above). The top hat standard bearer, to me, doesn't fit with the mad charge of the other figures in the bag, and the left arm on the bicorne standard bearer looks like it has just been stuck on the torso (also the flagpole goes right across the face of the bearer - which means if you are planning on removing it to replace with brass wire, you'd best have a steady hand). The officer in top hat works pretty well but his bicorne counterpart looks awful to me. There is only one drummer  (in top hat) who looks okay. In all there are 4 command groups included (two bicorne officer and standard bearers and the same again with top hats - plus four drummers in top hats).

And the same figures  from behind.

So, overall, these weren't bad figures - nice energetic poses, some nice details but let down by the usual OG niggles of poor finish and occasional iffy sculpting. Thinking about it, I'm inclined to ditch some of the command figures and replace them with AB. Two options occur to me. First, as many of the militia units were commanded by officers seconded from regular battalions or brought back from retirement, use regular line infantry command figures, and secondly, as AB do some Spanish militia packs buy a pack of officers for those.

Next, a picture of the rank and file with the usual AB French Line figure, his Blue Moon French counterpart, and a Xan miniatures French Legere figure.

And the command figures with the same figures for comparison. I've also slipped in an AB Spanish Militia officer who seems, to me, to work quite nicely.

All in all, I liked these figures, in some respects they are the nicest OG figures I've yet seen. I think they'll be simple to paint and work quite nicely. Of course,

French Ligne Taking A Pounding Part Deux

About a year ago I posted a picture of an unfinished French Ligne Battalion in a firing line - I'd simply dug into the "big box" and looked through it looking for something I felt like tackling (like tackling the numerous half finished battalions was too much for me). I'd painted the AB French in firing loading poses I had but needed to bulk out the unit to thirty figures by using some casualties - I don't care what anybody says, if I've spent this long painting them the casualties are going to "count" for firing or melee purposes.

Anyway, it occurred to me that I'd not posted a picture of the completed unit. So here you go:

And what is the first thing I see - that I forgot to paint a musket barrel and bayonet on one of the figures!

And the sharper eyed amongst you will have realised I didn't paint the full 30 figures I intended to either.

But I'd like to think that this captures a unit that well into a firefight, as the ordered ranks start to get broken up by casualties and the regular volleys give way to each man firing as fast as he is able. I'd also like to think that this is a response to those people who say that AB Miniatures lack pose variety. They took ages to paint  and involved lots of colourful language - but I'm pretty pleased with them. And even more pleased that I can count them as done (okay, I know the wounded chap on the command stand needs a little bit more work).

Battle Honours BSP3 Spanish Infantry Defending Review

Apologies for not posting for a few weeks - I had ten days in Scotland visiting my Uncle, and I've had a lot of work on.  Just a quick photo review of the first of the Spanish infantry packs I bought at Salute. This one was BSP3 Spanish Infantry Defending - £15.00 for 50 infantry including three command sets (although I got 10% off because I'm a megalomaniac who couldn't resist spending more than £90 at the show with the chaps at Timecast).

I've bought one or two bags of Battle Honours troops in the past that have been a bit rough (and I'm not the only one - after the show, Giles and I had a few glasses of wine with Dave Brown and some of the chaps from Loughton Strike Force and at least one of them had had the same issue previously) - the moulds seem to be coming to the end of their natural lifespan on some of the more popular bags and are rougher castings than they used to be. I'm pleased to say, these Spanish are very nice - not as clean as AB castings but generally fine. They all seem to have an issue with a bit of roughness on the lower side of the bicorne, particularly where the bottom of the bicorne and the figure's shoulders are in close proximity - but this is nothing that a few moments with a file can't fix. Apart from that it is the usual vent scrap, a little bit of flash on the bayonets (which seem to vary between quite long on some figures and quite short on others) and a few chunks on the bottom of the base. The metal isn't super hard so clean up is no problem.

So, the first thing to say is that BH don't do separate packs of grenadiers (which is odd as the Spanish generally used grenadier companies in converged battalions) so there are grenadiers wearing their distinctive bearskin mixed in with the regular line infantry in bicornes. Out of the 50 figures 16 are grenadiers. This is also a somewhat haphazardly packed bag (more on this later) in another sense: Spanish Infantry "Defending" made me think of chaps preparing to receive a charge, firing their muskets and so on. And I did see some of those in the pack (8 grenadiers and 12 chaps in bicornes) - the balance of the bag are troops standing with their muskets on their shoulders, and the command groups.

First Picture shows the two different standing grenadiers you get (6x of the one on the left, 2x the one on the right) - I really like these, good detail, a bit of character, nicely cast, excellent figures. The standard bearer I'm not quite so keen on - there's nothing terribly wrong with him, it's a good pose that will work with both the "standing around" figures and the "defending figures" - but he doesn't grab me (as I only got two of these I guess that is okay). And that flagstaff will need to be replaced as it is rather weedy. The drummer is another fine figure (3 of these in the bag) - the black wash really brought out the character on this chap - you can see the flash on the bicorne (I've removed excess metal from air vents and the small amount of flash from the bottom of the base on some figures but, otherwise, these are as bought). And finally the officer - when I first looked at him I really didn't take to him - frankly, I thought the pose looked a bit effeminate (which, given the poor calibre of so many Spanish officers, might be rather apt) but again, now that the wash is on, he is rather growing on me.

And the same figures from behind.

Next up, more rank and file including the two "defending" poses. As far as I could tell there were no pose variants with these two - you just got 12 of the bicorne defender, and 8 of the grenadier. The figures are very similar in pose but aren't just a head swap - the grenadier has gaiters, his cartridge case has a grenade symbol on it and he has the sword bayonet in it's scabbard. And finally we have the three "standing around" poses to finish off the pack - I got nine of the middle figure, three of the chap with the musket over his right shoulder, and two chaps smoking a cigarette.

And the same figures from behind.

Now if you've been keeping pace with the numbers of figures in each pose I've been mentioning, you will see that, while I got exactly 50 figures in the bag, only 20 were actually in what I'd term a "defending" pose - and of those you'd need to use the 8 grenadiers separately. So, unless you wanted to mix in the "standing around" figures with the defending figures (perhaps in the second rank? I have a mental image of the front rank being braced to receive cavalry while at least one chap nonchalantly smokes a fag), you won't have enough figures of any one style to make up a 24 figure battalion. And another problem - grenadiers had officers and drummers who wore bearskins, not bicornes - so the 20 grenadiers in the bag have nobody to command them.

All this means that, for me, the packing of this bags is a bit of an issue. At first glance, without counting figures you'd think "50 figures, 3 command groups - okay, two 24 figure battalions with a spare officer and standard bearer" - and you would be dished once you opened the bag and found what you actually had. Obviously, for me, the solution is to simply buy more (when the maths gets tough, the wargamer goes shopping). So, having a second bag of BSP3 in the drawer, I opened it and had a headcount. Now the chap from Loughton had warned me there was some variation between bags (ie it isn't like Wargames Foundry where there was one mould for each pack, and each spin produced one pack, so no variation in what you got each time). This time round I got the following (1st pack count in brackets):

Officer x3 (x3)
Drummer x3 (x3)
Standard Bearer x3 (x2)

Grenadier Defending x9 (x8)
Grenadier Standing Around x8 (x8)

Bicorne Defending x6 (x12)
Bicorne Standing Around x18 (x14)

So, you can see the proportion of grenadier figures is fairly constant, as is the command element, but the mix between standing around and defending varies a bit. Now, looking at the Deep Fried Happy Mice review of BSP1 Spanish Standing & Firing it looks like you get the same command, and standing around figures, along with some guys loading and firing. It would also appear he got some chaps defending too. Plus he got 16 grenadiers. Whether there was a kitchen sink in the bag too he didn't say.

I should also say that the second bag was much more cleanly cast than the bag I used for the photos - little or no roughness on the bicornes and mostly just vent metal on the rest of the figures.

I'm therefore thinking that you have two options with the BH figures. First, just take the bag and paint what you've got, and then use the grenadiers with bicorne command (they were a slovenly lot, the Spanish) and damn the historical accuracy, and mix up the standing and defending guys in bicorne. Secondly, buy three bags and separate the figures to make the best units you can. The AB grenadier command would work with either the standing around or defending poses so you should be able to get two grenadier battalions from three bags, and a 24 figure bicorne defending battalion and a couple of bicorne standing around units as well.

And, just to complicate matters even more, it seems that the foreign regiments didn't necessarily detach their grenadier companies (irritatingly I can't find the thread on TMP that I saw this), so, if you are painting a nice Irish or Swiss unit you could mop up a few grenadier figures by including a stand of those.  

And a picture with an AB French Ligne figure, a Blue Moon French Ligne figure and a Campaign Games Miniature figure, a Xan Miniatures Voltigeur and an AB Spanish marching figure for comparison purposes. Sadly, the AB and BH figures don't work terribly well together in my eyes - I think you'd need to slip a thin shim under the BH figures to make them go well together.

And this is a rather more "wordy" photo review than I originally intended - I do blether on!

Xan Miniatures Legere

So, as a couple of people have expressed interest in these new figures I thought I'd give a brief review, along with some pictures of the Xan Miniatures next to a few of their competitors. I have to confess I've had these for some time just sitting on my desk looking at me - since I got them Empress Miniatures have become the main agent Xan Miniatures in the UK and USA ( http://www.empressminiatures.com/page13.htm ). Anyway, here we go...

So, just to re-affirm my position on 15/18mm Napoleonic figures (for anyone who doesn't already know it), I regard Anthony Barton as pretty much the Chosen One where sculpting is concerned. A few people manage to get in the same ballpark every so often - but in terms of consistency of output he is the daddy. So, my test of a figure is will it work with AB (either on the same table or, every once in a while) within the same unit? And, are the figures consistent enough to buy sight unseen?

Now, as you can expect, most figures fail one or both tests.

Old Glory have some nice packs within their 15mm Napoleonic ranges - unfortunately other packs are dire looking sculpts, so I'd never buy a pack sight unseen.

Minifigs don't really appeal (although they are cleanly cast, and more in proportion than many other makers out there) because of the lack of pose variation.

Battle Honours figures, many of which were sculpted by Mr Barton more than twenty years ago now, are showing their age a bit based on the examples I've seen, and were clearly sculpted by Mr Barton while he was still learning his craft - but these can work with the current AB range for obvious reasons.

Fantassin (now Warmodelling) are extremely variable in sculpting quality - you can get superb figures and monstrosities in the same pack - and are made of a really hard alloy that makes cleaning them up an awful task. I've rather given up on them for those reasons - which is a shame because they've tackled subjects that others haven't.

Blue Moon -the new kid on the block - I have only seen a four packs of these in the flesh (see my last review http://tenfiguresaweek.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=4 ) and was fairly underwhelmed - on the other hand some packs look like they may be very good from the photos I've seen. I'm rather tempted by their artillery.

Campaign Game Miniatures (CGM) - previously they concentrated on the 100 Days campaign so lots of nice figures but not many that interested me. I own a few packs and can say the figures are nicely sculpted and cleanly cast. In pictures their legs always look a bit odd to me but aren't so bad in real life - apart from that quibble I'd say they were very good. Over the last few months they have begun to add new ranges (1812 Russians and British Line Infantry suitable for the Peninsula to name but two) that have caused me to take a bit more notice - in fact I've ordered a few bags of each  to have a look.

So, for those of you too lazy to look at the last review, Xan Miniatures are sculpted by JAGomez Bautista. Now this chap used to be the sculptor for Fantassin so, given what I said about their figures above, why buy Xan Miniatures? Well, so far, Mr Bautista has exercised rather more quality control over his output - all the figures I've seen were as good as the best Fantassin figures but with none of the problems. So, cleanly cast, made in a softer alloy, the French infantry packs are a much better size (Fantassins were tiny), better proportioned and generally just a big step up in quality over his Fantassin work.

So, the picture above shows three rank and file from Xan Miniatures (NF21) alongside a painted AB French Line Infantry figure, and in the background are some Blue Moon British Infantry from the Peninsula. As you can see (hopefully) two of the figures are a tad shorter and more slightly built than the AB figure but not unduly so, and the third is a very good match. The sculpting is crisp and clean and there are plenty of details there to work with.

And here we have the same AB figure with the two Xan Carabiniers in bearskin (NF23), and two figures from the command pack (NF24) - I don't know why but Xan doesn't seem to do command packs with much elan.

And the AB figure with two of the three figures from the Carabiniers in shako pack (NF22) - these are really nice.

Finally, a pack which seems to appear on Xan Miniatures own site, but not on the Empress website - above are the six skirmishing voltigeur you get in NF28. These are probably my favourite figures from Xan Miniatures to date.

Overall, I suspect that once painted up alongside some AB Legere and based together Xan Miniatures would fit right in (which is about as high a compliment as I can give a 15mm figure). I'd rate these a solid 8 or 9 out of 10. Some of the Xan figures are possibly a bit shorter (and more slightly built) than their AB brethren but probably not enough to worry much about and other figures would fit right in.

Empress are selling them at £3.75 for a pack of eight figures (£3.50 for six command) so you can pick up rank and file for just under 47p each. Now with AB weighing in at £6.00 for eight figures (so 75p each) that is quite a saving (obviously it works out a bit cheaper to buy unit or brigade packs from AB). In summary I think these are nice figures at a competitive price - I think they'd paint into a very nice battalion, and the skirmishers are cracking figures.

18mm Spanish Army Painter Applied

Okay so two posts in one day - and this isn't an April Fool!

I brushed on the Army Painter Dark Tone as suggested in the instructions. At first, I thought I'd made a huge mistake as it basically came out as a big black puddle on the first figure but as I spread it around the figure it became more bearable. And then all of a sudden it was "wow" this actually works!

I really don't think that actually dipping the figures into the can is a great idea as you'll get way too much onto the figure and need to brush it off. And this stuff is horrendously expensive for a tin - £18.00 for 250ml - so you don't want to waste it. On the other hand of course it will do hundreds of 15mm figures - on the tin they say it will do 200 figures if you dip - so I'm assuming if you paint it on to 15mm figures you could double that. And 400 or so figures is about five years production for me.

Of course as I brushed it on a couple of things became clear to me - my assumption that this stuff covered everything was obviously bonkers and I should have done the small detail bits before slapping on the Army Painter. The other was that I missed a few bits (am I the only one who always finds he has missed the cuffs on a figure or some such?) and will need to go back and retouch. I'm not sure how this will work after I've done shading with the AP.

If you look in the background you'll see a French Line Infantryman has sneaked in - I wanted to see how a finished Frenchie would work. I'm not entirely convinced - I am convinced Army Painter improved my efforts but I don't think Dark Tone is the way to go. On the other hand, at £18 a tin I don't really want to experiment with the lighter shades and find they don't work so well.

So, right now I'm thinking perhaps just a highlight on the crossbelts and these figures might be done. I used a really bright red for their facings and the Army Painter dulled it down very nicely without killing the colour. Clearly, the system works best where the figures have plenty of folds and crevices for the liquid to gather in but even the fairly smooth areas of the Spaniards britches showed some results. 

I'm feeling pretty hyped up by this - all of a sudden those masses of Austrian infantry in the big box look a bit less daunting! Of course, first I need to bash out some more caballeros!

As usual, apologies for the poor photography!