"Which figures for SYW?" Topic

I am planning to start building up forces for a European Seven Years War campaign but would appreciate a bit of guidance. I am planning on using 15mm (or 18mm) figures but am unsure which manufacturers will work together, I have seen Blue Moon figures described as both 15mm and 18mm, does this put them closer to Essex or Eureka and will they match with either? Also I want to include Hanovarians in a British Army, does anyone make actual Hanovarians and if not what is the closest match?

Finally which rules do most players prefer for large scale engagements?

The best 15mm 7YW I painted were Essex. One drawback were the flags. They were cast with standard bearers and needed to be hand painted. I've painted other companies also, but Essex were my favorites to paint.

Stick with one company and you won't have to worry about matching figures. If company you choose makes all the figures for your army – why match?

Have a look at QRF true 15s and hard to beat.

Have a look at the new Blue Moon – I have their ACW and they are wonderful and I believe they are moving into SYW

We have the Old Glory 15's range in stock. The range covers all of the major nations and Hanoverian's are included.

Regarding the size of the figures I would say they would match in with both Essex and Eureka, being somewhere in between – I have all three makes in my own Napoleonic armies and am happy with the match.

As for rules we use the Age of Honour variant of the popular Age of Eagles rules, which are of course based on the Fire and Fury rules.

Mark
TimeCast

Old glory 15s have Hanoverians.

The Old Glory 15s are a very nice range and pretty complete.

Mine are all Old Glory 15s from Time Cast.

You can see some pictures here on the Wargamorium Blog

link

We use our own home made rules.

Regards

theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=341352

If you scoll down you can see the comparison of the cav sizes. Ignore the Blue Moon cav size as I was told the WSS cav are smaller than there current generation of horses.

Blue Moon's new SYW range is 18mm. Like other 18mm stuff it is marketed with 15mm lines. You will find that Old Glory 15mm SYW figures are closer to 18mm then they are to any 15mm.

I am very impressed with the new Blue Moon SYW. I have both the Eureka and Old Glory SYW Russians, and having seen the new Blue Moon Russians, which should be available shortly, I would use the Blue Moon, very nice figures, good detail.

Now, some might consider me bias towards Blue Moon, but I purchased Eureka's SYW figures because I use to handle the line. I do like the Cavalry from Eureka – though I have not painted it yet, the infantry in winter uniform skirmishing had some drawbacks, such as few figures with rather large hands and some of the turnbacks on the coats seem to disappear.

Age of Reason is an old school set of rules having a special place for me, since they were the first miniature game I played 10 years ago. I still like them. Lots of good info. Lots of die roll modifiers as well!

Black Powder is also a good choice and can be used for many periods of gaming.

I've painted Minifigs, Essex, QRF, OG15 and Eureka in the hunt for a range of 15mm figures I was happy to paint.

All have drawbacks of some kind, some have positives and in the end for me, the range that won out was Minifigs. They look the period, a large range and importantly, easy to paint.

I haven't regretted my choice….

When I think of SYW in 15mm, Minifigs come to mind. They are a kind of 15mm "toy soldier look." Not very animated (but that is how I like my SYW to be…or want to believe it to be so.)

Link here.

link

Another vote for Minifigs. Kind of toy soldier-ish, but they are clean figures with good detail and they look great on the table.

We use a lot of Freikorps 15mm figs. A great range

For cheapness, Lancashire miniatures are hard to beat in 15mm. They paint up quite nicely and fit in quite well with OG15s

Our group has a lot of Minifigs and Old Glory 15s in separate units.

Have not seen Blue Moon SYW (since we have loads of figures in that period) but I have some Napoleonic Blue Moon infantry and they are sweet.

Left to right, Blue Moon: French Inf., Saxon Grenadiers, Old Glory: Lorraine Rgt, Eureka: Grenadier du Roi, Essex: French Inf..

url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/29483647@N00/13954926066/]

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15/18mm l to r Blue Moon(2 stands), Old Glory, Eureka, Essex by Tom Loback, on Flickr

url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/29483647@N00/13998021513/]

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15/18mm l to r Blue Moon(2 stands), Old Glory, Eureka, Essex by Tom Loback, on Flickr

As to compatablilty, if you're not too fussy they all work pretty well, but Blue Moon, Old Glory & Eureka Infantry go best together. Cavalry in another matter, Eureka Horses are HUGE. I reduced one group of Cuirassiers du Roi:

url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/29483647@N00/8184033613/]

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Grenadiers de France and Cuirassier du Roi 15-18mm figures by Eureka by Tom Loback, on Flickr

OG Hanoverians are neat.

Thanks to all who contributed. I think I'm likely to start with Blue Moon and OG.

Good choice – have fun!

Don't know anything about the BM figures, but with the OGs, take a look at the legs first. The stomping forward position does look a little unnatural…It put me off them…

I used to have Essex but didn't like the stumpy legs and they are a bit pricey. I thought the OG ones were nice at the time and if you are happy with the mono-poses the Minifigs are nice too. The Eureka ones are also very nice too.

If I was starting out in 15mm again though I think I would be waiting for the Blue Moon ones as they look very good from Tom Lobacks pictures. The new Blue Moon poses seem less energetic compared to the OG ones and I like the look of them. Not listed on webpage so no idea when they will come out?

For large scale games I think Shako would work well or a Fire and Fury variant.

I guess it depends on what you mean by large scale. I did my own rules for SYW, Pro Gloria, from Elan which were a WRG derivative with some Empire mechanisms which is essentially what Elan was. Old school though with 12 figure battalions and casualty removal. Played a few big games though with around 25 battalions a side which worked well.

Black Powder might offer a good game too with sufficient players.

I stand corrected, some SYW stuff has been released by BM. A lot is 'coming soon' though.

I've built up considerable SYW forces in 15mm over the years starting with Minifigs when they came in strips of 5 and every conceivable range is in there except the latest Blue Moon.

Quite frankly, in terms of infantry, en masse on the table top, the mix neither matters nor shows. Different interpretations of what constitutes a horse's backside calls for a little more care.

For large scale engagements Koenig Krieg works very well. Has all the feel of a SYW game, with the national idiosyncrasies to boot!

volley and bayonet rules work for me – as does Black Powder. Have all mini lines mentioned above. Started with a lot of old glory, but am now buying Blue Moon and Eureka.