I have been wanting to make a manufacturer comparison on Russian Napoleonic artillery for some time. When I started building my current Russian army I already had a few Essex guns laying around. But I knew I was going to need a lot more guns but found it difficult to get a feel of which to go with.
I am no expert in Russian Napoleonic Artillery. I have to admit I don’t know the actual dimensions of the different guns (height of wheels etc) so this comparison is much more based on the look on the table and mix with the figures.
I have taken 4 manufacturers for this comparison Blue Moon, AB, Essex and Warrior.
I first did some rough measuring of the different parts:
This gives a rough idea of the differences, but to really get a feel of what a difference of 3mm means in reality I took a series of photos. I have used an AB Russian Artilleryman as the guide in each photo. This keeps each photo pretty much in proportion.
(The view from above shows the gun mounted on a 40mmx40mm base.)
Blue Moon
Firstly, the Blue Moon piece is a pretty big gun barrel, it dominates all the others in terms of size. However, the carriage is not as large as the Essex one. The Blue Moon carriage seems to have captured the distinct Russian carriage look (compared to the French hockey stick look, the Russian seems to be straighter and less bent at the end). The Blue Moon gun captures this look quite well. The wheels have good sculpting to represent the metal work on the wheel rims too. Overall I like the Blue Moon guns. On the downside there is no riveting detail or sculpting to represent the elevator apparatus for the barrel.
Essex
I notice that Essex miniatures sometimes get a hard time on line. Maybe because these were my go to figures 35 years ago I still have a soft spot for them. Their figures are always clean sculpts and the bayonets are small but are not going anywhere, even after handing. If only my AB Russian infantry were the same! Merely sneezing could see an entire battalion looking like rifleman. The Russian artillery piece I am comparing is actually their 12pdr. This is partly as I have had this model for over 30 years and it looked similar in size to the 6pdr Blue Moon one I had bought. The barrel is a little shorter and the detail is suffering as my example involves a number of layers of repainting. The carriage is more "Russian" like than the Blue Moon one, but it flares more when viewed from above, more like the French Gribeauval guns. The wheels have a some sculpting of the metal work around the wheels but not as defined as the Blue Moon gun, but it does have some simple depressions to represent the riveting.
Warrior
Warrior miniatures are company from Glasgow and I think been around for 40 years, I am sure I bought some figures from them in the 1980's. Their site has some interesting models on it, unfortunately they dont have pictures of the whole range so it is hard to determine what all the figures are like. I think they are also on the real "15mm" size. However I was drawn to their artillery pieces as they looked pretty good on the website and I wanted to see how they sized up. The carriage is Russian in look, very little hockey stick curving at the end. The carriage is also a good size, smaller than the Blue Moon one, but larger than the AB one. The barrel is the only standout negative, it is the smallest one looked at. Dimensionally not far off the AB one, but as it lacks dome detailing of reinforcement rings, it seems to look more like 4pdr rather than a 6pdr. The carriage also has no flaring at the end which oddly seems to make it look a little too straight compared to the others. It does however come with a ram rod sculpted on the side that adds a nice detail and overall you could probably get away with blending this one in. Also the gun is a really nice clean sculpt, hardly any flash or misalignment on the wheels (a big relief).
AB
The AB gun has by far the most detailing. Rivets, sculpted elevator, accurate metal work all over it. But the carriage is the smallest of the four. The carriage also seems to lack that Russian look, from the side it really looks French (but I'm no expert). It is also probably the easiest to get the figures around if you basing on 40mmx40mm.
Overall you could say all four are good, depends what aspect you are keenest on. If cost is a driver then there are also some big differences. (time of writing 26/04/21)
The Blue Moon gun works out at £2.67 per gun (based on a £16 pack of 6)
The Essex gun comes in at a rather hefty £3.50
The Warrior gun is an amazing 63p (based on a £2.50 pack of 4)
The AB gun is £2.70
The Blue Moon guns can also be frustrating as you will need to buy the howitzers (Unicorn) guns also in a pack of 6. This is okay if you need 3 batteries, but adds to the cost if the howitzers just end up at the bottom of the lead pile.
For me, I am using mostly Blue Moon (you can get a good discount if bought at shows). I am also using the Warrior guns to represent abandoned artillery pieces (as all my guns are glued on the bases). At 63p a gun you cannot go wrong and John at Warrior is really helpful.
