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.
I had these figures knocking around for a while (25 years). Decided to get them painted up with some guns from Warrior Miniatures. The Essex figures always paint up easily. Maybe proportionally they are quite stocky, but I do enjoy the ease. Clear details, clean casts etc.
I think the manufacturing composition of anyone’s French Old Guard tells a lot about when they first got into Napoleonics! For me my figures are Essex first generation. This means I think they are dating back to around 1989? I decided to tidy a little bit of the old paint job (level of repaint was entirely dependent on my enthusiasm level) and a rebase. I thought these figures were going to look odd next to the newer 15mm/18mm figures, and to be honest they do. But I like them. Even though they are really short for Old Guard Grenadiers, they look more like a bantam regiment for those undersized for the main regiment. But I’m keeping them.
I thought the photos were pretty much the same as before so I jazzed things up by putting them walking through my small town building arrangement. I also focussed on the chaps in overcoats as these have some nice variety in the poses (unlike the bread and butter line infantry marching not in an over coat). Again Essex are so straight forward to clean and paint. Their stocky frames and stubby bayonets will still outlast any AB figure on the table, but they will never look as good!
Small conversion needed on these AB figures. The lance was removed from one and some lace removed from the officer figure. The limber horse...
