Saturday, November 27, 2010

More AWI Light Infantry & Comparisons

British Light Company Man standing firing
British Light Company man - rear view

Here is another one of the British light company figures that Richard Ansell sculpting for our new AWI range of figures. This is one of my favorite figures because the figure seems so natural in his pose and it is visually very elegant.

Several people on TMP asked for some comparative photos of our figures and some samples from the Perry, Eureka and Front Rank ranges, all of which are very nice figures, with each having its own unique style. In the first set of pictures below, I have placed a Eureka Ragged Continental, a Perry AWI Hessian Officer, and a Minden SYW Prussian Officer (a proxy for the Ansell-sculpted AWI figures) on the review stand together. The Perry figure is 1-2 millimeters taller than the Eureka and Minden figures, but the difference does not seem to be significant. In the second picture, I added a shim (using a US Penny) to the Minden figure to bring it up to the same height as the slightly taller Perry figure. This is a little trick that I use in my 1:10 ratio BAR armies for the SYW whenever I want to use figures that are a little shorter than the rest of my 30mm figures. Once you cover the shim with basing material, the difference will not be noticeable.

Eureka (left), Perry (centre) and Minden (right)

Same figures as previous picture, but with a shim (US Penny) added to the Minden figure to add another millimeter to its height in comparison with the other two figures.

I think that the pictures above indicate that the three ranges, Eureka, Perry and Ansell can all be used together on the same table top, with little discernable difference, as long as you don't mix ranges into the same unit.


Hinchcliffe X-Range (left), RSM (centre) and Minden (right) figures are very compatible in terms of height and the heft or build of the torsos. Both the Hinchcliffe and the RSM figures were sculpted by the late Steve Hezzlewood back in the 1980s.


The final line up of figures showing all six AWI ranges (from left to right): Hinchliffe, RSM, Minden, Perry, Eureka and Front Rank. You will need to click this picture for a closer view.

I think that the final picture, above, illustrates that one can use a variety of figures in the same army. In some cases, you might be able to mix in a figure or two from one range into the other without a discernable difference. Any more than that, it starts to become noticeable, in my humble opinion. I am not averse to using different ranges of figures in my BAR SYW armies, it is just that I do not mix brands into discrete units unless I need a specific figure that nobody else produces.

*****
I will post some more pictures Sunday night or on Monday so that you can see the rest of the British Light Infantry poses that are completed.


6 comments:

  1. Very nice figures all round. I find it is not necessarily the height that bothers me with different miniature ranges, but rather the build. Some are proportionally so different.

    Frank
    http://adventuresinlead.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jim
    This is all tooo tempting. I have John F. Luzader's book on Saratoga coming for Christmas and I have long nursued a AWI project ( in fact I have started/stopped a couple of time ) and have kept a set of 2 page rules "Gentleman Johhnie's war" waiting for the great day - although I am tempted by The Shrpe Practice awi stuff I downloaded recently...

    How would your figures slot into the Saratoga Campaign?

    I await more greens with mounting interest and fear and trepidation with regard to my wallet!

    best wishes
    Alan

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have found that mixing 2 styles together ina unit often makes looks both look odd but mixing 3 or 4 styles makes them all look, more natural. Bulk of head size is what I find more noticable than height (but then at any gathering of wargamers, I'm the old 25mm one in the group of 28's and occasional 30mm)

    -Ross Mac
    gameofmonth.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alan: the British line infantry in Burgoyne's army allegedly wore what looks like a light infantry cap with a front brim and a front plate and the back side turned up. While the coats of our figures will look ok, the headgear will not be correct.

    The American Continentals and militia would probably be OK for Saratoga.

    Our plan is to cover Philadelphia first before venturing into other theatres such as the Saratoga or Southern parts of the war. I want to get the basics done (infantry, artillery and cavalry and command) for Philadelphia so that gamers will have everything that they need to build an army and have a wargame.

    That said, I do have an interest in adding Butler's Rangers and some Iroquois to fight against our militia figures, though we'd also have to add some fellows in buckskins and hunting shirts for the frontier Americans.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello "Alter Fritz",

    maybe you could help me with a question:
    how can i get miniatures SYW from RSM?
    It seems that their site ( or whatever they call it ) is not functioning. I cant even get a contact mail.
    Maybe you canhelp me as i understand you're buying their miniatures.

    Thanks a lot
    Elmar Roethy
    Vienna
    biggls@chello.at

    ReplyDelete
  6. As Always Herr Fritz, you do us a service. I agree with Ross, above, that it is the proportions more than anything else that make the figures [in]compatible. The Perry office looks huge, as does the Front Rank. But certain figures do work together from different lines, takes some experimenting.

    ReplyDelete