Serf and Turf

 These figures came when I got the other Tontenanz horsemen. They are really nice figures but not really Napoleonic so sat in a draw for some time. The other week I thought I would get them painted and added as some sort of serf artillery unit. To be honest they are very smart looking serfs. The gun is a Russian 3lb Blue Moon gun. 

French Napoleonic Baggage Wagon

 The figure is a converted from a Eureka guy who was totally sat down. I managed to get him into a sitting position via the wonders of Milliput and a paper clip. The wagon is Blue Moon and the horses again Eureka but from the SYW range. The horses are really big by the way. 

I have a number baggage and limbers that have piled up over the years and I have been blitzing them this last month and now have quite a lot of completed sets. I just have a few to finish off and then I will post them on the blog. 

Russian Napoleonic Artillery

 Seem to be on a roll at the moment. Have finished by Eureka artillery men with Blue Moon Russian 6lb guns. I bought these when Fighting 15’s was swapping over from Eureka/AB. They are actually Eureka Crimean War Russian Artillery. There are some historical differences on close inspection with their 1812 counterparts. The Crimean figures have trousers and not gaiters. The sword is a bit bigger and has no bayonet with it. There is only one cross belt as they have no cartridge box. The officers coat is a little shorter with more a belt looking waist than a sash (maybe there are more differences, but at 18mm not sure anyone will notice too much). 

French Old Guard Chasseurs a Pied

 A change from the artillery, some Chasseurs a Pied of the Imperial Guard. Figures are Blue Moon with an AB drum major and AB sappers (because the Blue Moon pack is 30 pcs, a few short of the 32 needed). The flag is from an excellent flag set from TBW. In the set you get the entire French flags for the battle of Waterloo (150 flags). I even received a revision in the post the other week which was a really kind gesture. 

Napoleonic Young Guard Artillery

 Wheeling out the big guns with this one. French Young Guard Artillery (AB) with 12 pounders (Blue Moon). Looking a bit more blue in the photos compared to on the table. These 12lb guns from Blue Moon are big. They really make the 6lb guns look like pea shooters.

French Cassion

 This is a Blue Moon 18mm French Cassion with a Eureka Miniatures horse team. The Eureka figures have some great personality. 

Russian 15mm Napoleonic Artillery -

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.  

Russian Forge and Apothecary Wagons

 Some more Russian wagon train additions. Wagons are Blue Moon, horses Eureka SYW and the seated chaps modified CGM. Probably a couple of things wrong with these, firstly I don’t think they rode on these wagons in this way and secondly have no idea about the uniforms. But, pretty sure that from time to time the wagon train drivers would shake things up and maybe get a rest on the wagons.....

Russian Horse Artillery

 Russian AB horse artillery with Blue Moon 6lb guns. 

Russian Dragoon’s 2nd Division

Painted these 72 Blue Moon Russian Dragoons over Christmas and New Year 2019/20. It was a bunch that I was worried might linger and was pleased to get them all done in one go. I have been trying to organise my Russians to cover from 1812+ and these are actually pre 1812. But, I liked the poses with the shouldered sabre and thought the pre 1812 helmet crest would not be too noticeable. For some reason Blue Moon cavalry always seems smaller to AB than the Blue Moon infantry. Although horses look similar and on the table with my eye sight I’m quite happy.

Russian Grenadiers

I was on a roll after finishing eight of the Blue Moon line battalions so immediately completed the two grenadier battalions I had in the pile. After finishing 256 figures in one go doing these 64 extra seemed to just fly by (counting mounted officers as two figures). The paint job is far simpler than the one I am doing for the AB figures, but I do appreciate the sturdier bayonets of the Blue Moon figures. Was very pleased with myself as I worried these Russian Blue Moon grenadiers could have sat gathering dust for a long time on the pile.

Kiev Grenadiers

Moscow Grenadiers

Arakcheyev Grenadiers

Russian Cossack Artillery

I had been umming and arring over this set from Blue Moon. I had beeen wanting a Cossack artillery battery because..... actually for pretty much no justifiable reason. But I had been uncertain with the Blue Moon set as the figures looked a bit odd on the website. The heads and hats looked out of proportion and the artillery gear looked out of scale too. The ram rods look the width of a good quality Swiss Roll. But in the end I thought, sod it let’s add it to the order. So I did, another 12 figures added to the lead pile! But I have been determined not to let these small units purchased on a whim fester like the Russian Unicorn Ammunition wagons (really must get on with that). Instead I cracked on with them. I painted them up, based them and added 3 Blue Moon Russian 6 pounders.

I have been fairly pleased with the outcome. Am now convinced my eyesight is totally gone (the figures look great on the table, rubbish on the photos). With the paint on I didnt notice the large ram rods so much or their tiny faces as they just want to mount up and run away. In fact those giant Swiss Roll ram rods are going to prevent any bends and snaps. They will never fit down the cannon muzzles, but they are always going to be there. Unlike the AB figures who will only have bent or snapped stubby ramrods (but probably still be looking like a million dollars). 

Russian 18th Infantry Division

Have been creating my Russian army along the lines of the Russian order of Battle at La Rothiere.
My starting division to get me warmed up is the 18th, all the figures are Blue Moon for line regiments and artillery (apart from the mounted officers which are AB and they seemed to have blended pretty wel). The Jaegers are a regiment down, the figures are CGM figures. They have a good variety of poses and look much better on the table than on this photo. The artillery is all Blue Moon, the guns are 6 pounders. The flags are GMB and the paints Vallejo. The Blue Moon are a nice table top figure. Some limbs are a bit large (such as ankles) but they are sturdy. They are also quick to paint. The detail is enough for a nice look on the table without slowing the paint production line down too much.

Vladimir Regiment

Kostroma Regiment

Tambowsk Regiment

Dnieper Regiment

Napoleonic French Cantinier Wagon

I have my own little Monsier Thénardier on this stand.

Just completed a French Cantinier Wagon. All the figures plus the Wagon are from Blue Moon (They supply some great extras).

The buildings are scratch built in the background (apart from the timbered one right at the back, Supreme Littleness). But you probably didn’t need me to tell you the front lot are scratch built.

 This set had been rattling around for over a year but probably took only an hour and a half to complete. I should maybe build him his own tavern let him be the master of the house. But, nothing gets you nothing, everything has a got a little price....

Napoleonic Russian Wagons

Okay, maybe enough with the wagons already, But, there is just something alluring about those Wagon packs. The way you frustrate yourself painting all the spokes. The fiddling around with the traces, superglue all over your fingertips, the boredom of painting the horses and harnesses. Just so they can make a brief non strategic appearance and I can imagine them ferrying potatoes from one side of the table to the other.

All the wagons are Blue Moon. The horse teams with outriders are also Blue Moon with the Kiwers cut down to caps. The two wagons with the cover are pulled by Eureka SYW horses. The seated drivers are Campaign Miniatures with their shakos cut down and a lump of milliput stuck on in a cap shape’ish.  I’m not sure if the Wagon covers should have been black. They look very bright in the photo and have whited out a bit. In reality they are not that bright but the camera is pretty bad identifying And doing a good job of contrast changes. Again runners and riders are in grey uniforms. I’m not 100% sure about the colour arrangement and unsure about the added red bands. But they needed a splash of colour. So please no one ruin it for me : )