PERRY Prussian Foot Artillery. 1813

 ABOVE: The Howitzer about to be fired and a gun being run up into the 'In Battery' position.
Hi All
Continuing on from my last post and  keeping with a 'Napoleonic' theme I recently finished off a 28mm Prussian Foot Battery.
The miniatures are PERRY. I've based them on 50mm wide by 100mm deep bases.
I'll use them for playing LASALLE and Field of Glory: Napoleon.
I'm a huge fan of PERRY MINIATURES. In 28mm scale I think only CALPE can rival their Prussian range.

There are 3 different types of poses with the PERRY Prussian Artillery. Firing, Loading and Running Up.

 BELOW: These guys are my favourites. As a Gunner myself I can really identify with these guys hauling their gun back it the 'In Battery' position in preparation for another shot. Maybe the next one will be for the devil,...

As usual comments are welcomed.
Cheers

READY FOR INSPECTION: Eureka 28mm Polish

ABOVE: Polish Infantry Officers, Eagle Bearer and Eagle Guards.
 Hi Guys
I visited EUREKA MINIATURES yesterday after work and purchased some of the recently cast POLISH INFANTRY and ARTILLERY (1809-14).
These are 28mm miniatures and are a recent addition to EUREKA's expanding Napoleonic range. EUREKA has a very good French Revolution range, but with the these Poles (together with their very nice Saxon Heavy Cavalry -1812) EUREKA seems to be moving into the 'Napoleonic Proper' period of 1805 -1815.
I must say I'm not sure if these Polish will be in the 'EUREKA MINIATURES' stable, or simply cast and sold by Nic at EUREKA. I believe they are sculpted by Paul Hicks.
I guess all that 'industry stuff is of interest to some, but I must admit I don't really care who owns the range at the end of they day, I just want to know where I can get them from, and it appears EUREKA has the selling rights.
Lets look at the infantry first.
They a produced in FULL DRESS and CAMPAIGN uniforms. I purchased my Poles in Campaign dress.
As expected you have available the elite company troops (Grenadiers and Voltigeurs) and the Line or Center company Fusiliers. The command types consist of Officers, Drummers, Eagle Escorts / Guards and Eagle Bearers.
BELOW: Pioneer and two Drummers

 The detail and sculpting is very good. As for compatibility with other manufacturers I can report they will mix very well with Perry Miniatures.
There is anything from 3 to 6 variants for the infantry, and at least two different Drummers.
There are two different variants of Eagle Guards. I'm unsure how many different types of officers there are. I think you only get one option for a pioneer, (though you should only need one anyway).

 ABOVE and BELOW: The Colour Party. Eagle Guards and Bearer.

 You also have 'Skirmishing' variants to chose from.
The posing is first rate, and there are no silly poses to be found here.

 As you can see below, these miniatures have plenty of character. Most have on their heads the traditional 'Czapka' Shako, but some are bareheaded, and some wear 'Bonnets'. Grenadiers in Bearskin caps are available for those who like their Grenadiers in fur hats.

ABOVE: Fusiliers 
BELOW: Voltigeurs 

 BELOW: Grenadiers

 Now for the Artillery.
As for the actual cannon you get a choice of Austrian 6 Pdrs (captured and handed over to the fledgling Polish Grand Duchy, or French 8 Pdrs.
As with all of EUREKA MINIATURES artillery, you get all the bibs'n'bobs. Rammers, Buckets, stacked muskets and ammo boxes to name just a few.
The detail is very good and very little clean up was required. I purchased the Austrian guns, (mainly because I'd only purchased French cannon in the past).

 The Gunners a available in either 'Loading' or 'Firing' poses. As with the infantry, the gunners have heaps of character. Poses are excellent as is the accuracy of their uniforms and the detail and quality of the sculpts themselves.

 All in all these are excellent miniatures in my humble opinion and I highly recommend them to you.
BELOW: The Gunners: Loading and below them, Firing.

 BELOW: A mounted officer

My only criticism is there are no 'Casualty' variants (as yet), and the poles for the Eagle Guard Halberds and flag pole are rather thin but I'm being very picky.

UPDATE:
My mate 'Gunner Dunbar' has also done a review of these miniatures (well, the Infantry at least) some time ago. You can read his comments here LINK
You can see painted examples here: LINK and here: LINK
It has come to my attention that the Poles were originally a commission job by Roger Murrow and they are also available from him as 'MURROWSKI MINIATURES'. There are Krakus Cossaks, ADCs and Generals available. Good Times good times!

Oh, and if you're in the market for a Giraffe riding a unicycle EUREKA MINIATURES can help you with that.

Cheers for now.
Comments welcomed.

Westfalia Miniatures Review

Hi Guys
I recently placed an order with the guys at Westfalia Miniatures. I ordered some Rude Highlanders, (a pair of miniature), a set of eight Hanovarian Kiemannsegges Jaegers, a set of three French Engineers in body armour and a set of four Prussian Medical staff.
Lets have a look at the Highlanders first I think:

 They are called 'Rude' Highlanders and they certainly are that. Both miniatures are sculpted in the act of taunting their French enemies with uplifted kilts. The miniatures are excellent sculptures. There is plenty of detail and the posing is excellent. They really appear to taunting their opponents in the time honoured fashion we have come to expect from the Scots. The uniforms are historically accurate  and if something is not how is should be I'm not aware of what could be missing. I'm really impressed with the detail in the faces of these lads. They are clearly having fun. If I had one criticism it's that the Scot on the left hasn't got a musket. A loose musket that could be placed at his feet or resting against a fence post or wall would have been a nice touch but I'm really just being picky now. Overall these two lads a a must for any serious (or not so serious) collector of a Napoleonic war British army. There was no flash on the miniatures at all. What you see here is exactly as I received them out of the pack. For 3 GBP I think they are very good value for money, (after all, it's not like you will need an entire battalion of these guys).

 They are certainly compatible with Perry Miniatures (my prefered manufacturer of Napoleonic Brits).
How you pose / base them is umm up to you.

 The 3 French Engineers / Sappers are real gems. They consist of one fellow swinging a pick, one creeping forward with some tools and the third, (not pictured sorry) firing his musket, (probably covering his two comrades as they work). These are unusual (but welcomed) miniatures sculpted in the process of doing what engineers / sappers do.  They have helmets and body armour on (a 'must have') if sapping or doing other engineering tasks close to the enemy lines or fortifications. Again the detail is excellent and there was no flash to speak of. At 4.50 GBP they are good value for money. I'm sure you can think of plenty of 'Skirmish' type actions where these guys would be very useful. I'll be basing them for SHARP PRACTICE.

Let's now look at the Hanovarians.
There are eight miniatures in this set, consisting of an Officer, Hornist, one Sharpshooter, (the chap with the fancy epaulette on the right shoulder) and five Jaegers either shooting, dashing forward or loading.
Sculpting and posing is first class. All thedetail is there, and these chaps, like the others, look as if they will paint up a treat.
The subjects are a rather obscure unit, and I'm not sure if any other manufacturer is producing them. 12 GBP for these eigth miniature is I think good value. You'll only need one packet of these lads, and eight is a good number for a skirmish unit. Again, I'm think of SHARP PRACTICE for these guys.
Again, as you can see no flash to speak of.
The Officer (Captain) is a very serious and grim faced chap. He means business.
You can find details on this unit during the '100 Days' HERE

Now for the Prussian Medical Staff Set.

You get four miniatures. A Battalion Surgeon, two Company Surgeons and (I think) a 'Squadron' Surgeon.

Again, sculpting, posing and detail is excellent. The uses for these miniatures is limited only by your imagination, but casualty markers immediately springs to my mind. I particularly like the kneeling chap. He has a sword at his feet, (just the thing for defending himself and his patient). The Surgeon with the apron and saw in hand would look nice in a little diorama at the rear of your army.

Priced at 6 GBP they a good value for money in my humble opinion. 

 I suspect the Doctor with the Bicorn hat on the right here could be painted as a British Surgeon.

All these miniature are very robust. The French Sapper with the pick was of concern, as the pick handle is rather thin, but I was able to bend the pick without fear of it snapping.
All these miniature have real character. They are amoungst some of the best sculpted miniatures I've seen.

Finally I was also sent a French Ammunition wagon \ Cassion. You can see an assembled version at the Westfalian Miniatures website HERE
Assembly is very straight forward and all the parts fit together without any dramas.
This will look the biz indeed as part of my Gun Park directly behind a batter of cannon.
PRICE at time of this review: 8 GBP.

In Summary I would HIGHLY recommend Westfalia Miniatures to you for excellent quality miniatures.
They are certainly a producer of quality miniatures offering those 'unique' miniatures you probably will struggle to find anywhere else, but will add that vital bit of 'character' to your army.
Comments welcomed.
Cheers

Royal Artillery Officer and a Romano-British Lord.

ABOVE: "I say, double shot lads! Boney is coming on in the usual manner"!!!

 Hi Guys
I've finish two 'Characters'. The first is a Royal artillery Officer for my Napoleonic British army for 1815. He's one of three mounted officers from PERRY MINIATURES 'Battery Commander's' set.

 I'll use this chap for LASALLE, FoG:N and SHARP PRACTICE games.

 As you can see the PERRY's have produced another cracking good miniature here.

 The other fellow is a Romano-British 'Lord' I'll be using in my Dux Britanniarium 'British' force.
I think he's either a Gripping Beast miniature or maybe a ESSEX miniature. Not sure,... He is nice though and just right for the period. I painted both using the Army Painter method with a bit of 'extra love' to bring out a bit more detail.

Dux Britanniarium is a new set of rules from the chaps at Too Fat Lardies and an excellent set of Skirmish rules they are. I HIGHLY recommend them. I've played two games thus far. One was a practice game and the second one is the first game in a 'campaign' I'm playing with my usual gaming buddy, Stan.
I'm playing the Saxon's, which I'm finding quite the challange. Roman 'Shieldwalls' are well hard.

Comments welcomed.

Dutch Belgian Artillery

ABOVE. The Infantry officer arrives with fresh orders.
 Hi Guys
Time for another update. I've added artillery of the 'Horse' type to my growing Dutch Belgian forces for 1815.
These are the very nice PERRY MINIATURES Dutch Belgian Horse Artillery firing their 6 Pounders.

 I've based them on 50mm X 100mm bases. I've based them for Lasalle, but I can also use them for FoG:N.

 My only gripe with these miniatures is the Perry's only did them in a 'Firing' pose. Most of the other Perry artillery sets come in 'FIRING' and 'LOADING' poses and some even have 'RUNNING UP'.
I'm a Gunner by trade, so really like to have a mix of poses for my Artillery sets.
All the same, these are very nice miniatures.

 I added an Infantry officer arriving with orders for the Battery. You can see him to the rear of the central gun, orders in hand.

As usual. All comments are welcomed.
Cheers!

French Battery In Action!

ABOVE: "No.1,... LOAD"!
Hi All
I've finally finished my French Battery in 28mm.
I've base the figures individually, so I can use them for 'SHARP PRACTICE' and 'SONG OF DRUMS & SHAKO' games, as well as LASALLE.
For games like 'Lasalle' I will simply place the Guns on bases with a 40mm frontage, or two or three guns on a base with a 160mm frontage to represent the '4 gun' battery used in Lasalle.

The miniatures are from EUREKA MINIATURES; 'French Revolutionary Wars' range, but They will do for Early Empire also I suspect.
Below: You can just make out a young General Napoleon laying the gun on the left,..

I painted them using the Army Painter method, and am quite happy with the results.

One of the nice features with the EUREKA MINIATURES Artillery is the swag of equipment you get with each gun. All manner of rammers, and sponges, buckets, and musket stacks, ammo boxes, (both open and closed).

As a gunner myself, I really like these models.

You can see more of EUREKA MINIATURE artillery at my IMAGI-NATION Blog, HERE! and

HERE

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Trailape Out!