"British Union Brigade" Topic

From Warlord in 28mm…
Nice!

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Also the British Household Brigade…

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British Light Dragoons 1808-1815
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Do you like them?

Amicalement
Armand

Plastics, so not for me.

Armand, the Light Dragoons are Perry brothers

So, are there 12 or 13 figures? The ad says:

This box will allow you to make a unit of 12 cavalrymen of the Horse Guards or either of the Lifeguards regiments.

Contains:

12 plastic British Household Brigade heavy cavalry.
1 metal officer miniature.
Metal bugler arm.
Background leaflet.

Anyone?

I'll be getting both. They do look good.

A little disappointing that while there will be bicornes and watering-caps in the Union Brigade set, there's no pre-1812 torsos. The jackets are quite different.

Still, it'll make it a bit easier to convert them.

d88: it looks like six sprues of two riders/horses each, with enough parts to exchange one for an officer and make one a bugler.

Warlord plastic cavalry are, afaik, always two per sprue. Some kits have an extra metal horse, but that's usually when the officer's horse is different, like the saddle cloth on the French Lancers kit (which has 13 minis, one being a separate metal horse and officer)

There is still no variety in the Warlord horses. Only two fixed poses, that are very similar.

@Footslogger, with you on the disappointment with the lack of pre 1812 torsos. Bought Front Rank instead, can't be bothered with converting when correct figures are available elsewhere.

Glad you like them my friend.

Amicalement
Armand

Tango, I think the responses largely suggest the opposite…

The horse poses/proportions are disappointing frankly, when compared to the light cavalry ones.

The illustrations are clearly at an early stage, pre release. We see the RHGs twice, but no Lifeguards, we see Scots Greys twice but no other dragoons (beyond a trumpeter in a covered helmet).

The website is very confusing in how it presents products. The box art tells you when Perry, but many figures shown without attribution.

Well… my comment was for Footslogger… (smile)

I understand the "observations"… (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

They should take a look at 1/72 and learn about human (and equine) proportions

I agree with Marc: they look almost fantasy. They are just good enough for historical given the subject matter but…
The expense! Their guard artillery is $20. USD!!!
That's twice Perry prices(same gun and same number of crew).
Warlord's plastic cavalry is $2.67 USD apiece. Free shipping over $50. USD
Perry plastics is $2.5 USD apiece from Warlords (again free shipping over $50 USD) or $1.90 USD direct from Perry (cost includes 25% shipping charge).
I know that companies have to make money, but come on…

I agree. Bless them for producing what we have sought for ages……Imagine the investment for plastic moulds.

But do they "work"?

Will we see them en masse amongst the fraternity that chucks dice and drinks Real Ale?

There is something going wrong with the designs here. It is not just the lancers with the cloak over the wrong shoulder. It is not just the new highlanders, with arms thicker than their legs. It is not just these heavy cavalry horses, that are genetically very strange………

I think the Household figures would be fine on Perry horses…but then why not just buy the…….?

Let's see them once released

"They should take a look at 1/72 and learn about human (and equine) proportions"

I am not disagreeing, and they should look at Perrys for research

I cant hide my disappointment, I cant put my finger on it but these just look horrid, nothing there to stop me buying the Perry Metal. Worse than their lancers and chasseurs which were also on wooden looking horses. :( Only positive I can draw is the price

One of the horse poses I am not keen on.I think I will be going for the Perry metals.

Why does one have a black nose and facial stripe? I have never seen that on a grey. OK, I accept it is the painting not the moulding but……..

The horse poses and their anatomy are truly awful.

Warlord tends to overprice their stuff nowadays, especially metals.

rather wooden looking poses for the riders, and the lower of the two horses looks like something out of a Tom and Jerry cartoon. What a shame. These are important regiments and deserve better. The Warlord light cavalry are significantly better figures imho.

I think for the small price premium metals win hands down for these units. The website doesn't help. The Blues were a small unit, and how many 2nd (RNB) Dragoon units do they want you to field!

By 1815 these were some of the best mounted troops in Europe. The horses should reflect that.

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Wow, those are the best Perry RNBDs I think I have ever seen, in that second link above. Images saved from there!

Warlord Games British Heavy Cavalry Review

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Amicalement
Armand

I knew they where going to be poo poo.
Warlord now has their style. Mass produce figures on the cheap. (Hence the he metal command stuff) Then sell for a higher price than all other plastic producers.

But they must appeal to someone. They seem to be prospering, to judge by the continued expansion of the range. I cannot understand why they seem so careless about attention to detail. It is just as easy to do it right if you just bother to ask…….

I'm unsure how many of these go to proper wargamers. I almost feel like they are trying to capture the old 1:72 thing. Lots of young'uns buying what they can get their hands on. In brick and morter stores.
Given how pedantic you average Napoleonic wargamer is(me definitely included) I don't see how these will entice them.

My vote goes for the new generations… (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

and I would concede, after being very sceptical, that very recent postings have shown me what some folk can achieve with those old 1/72 Airfix figures.

but I will never accept the French guy, carrying his mate, as being of any value whatsoever. Almost as bad as the Hussar kettledrummer on a charging horse.

As for the modern German made 1/72 in metal, if I was starting out again, I would wonder Outstanding.

The horses faces? Did they use the nag from Rentaghost as the model?

Slightly off topic, but Liam started it…

The Airfix guy carrying wounded mate makes a great casualty marker in games of Black Powder

As to research etc – sadly, despite the costs of moulds, the manufacturers still seem to get it wrong. Us 1/72 fans have the weight of Plastic Soldier Review to try and keep the manufacturers honest. But we still get odd things. For eg – check out the latest Waterloo1815 French (W1815 the Italian company, not the period). In the set we get gaiters above or below the knee, and no grenadiers. Odd…

But I am I agreement with the thoughts above – Warlord know their market. It is not grumpy grognards – it is fanbois. They will see these in the shops and buy them BECAUSE they are available. Sad but true. I love that companies want to make Naps, but sad that they get it wrong.

So in metal, at least you have the Perrys. I have Franznap and Hagen and Art Miniaturen etc

Do these actually appear in shops? I mean the kind of place I went into in the late 60s and 70s and paid Pounds shillings and pence (well I did until Feb 15th 1971) for Airfix in Woolworths or Hinchliffe in Beatties once I was earning some money?

I thought such shops were dead now and everybody relied on Putin's controlled Internet thing and "on line". This Facebook/Chatsummat/twitter/share my rude photos idea.

In all seriousness, when did you last pass over cash, in a store, to a human being, for model figures you could fight with?

A few years back. My local nerd store tried historic. Made an attempt at flames of war, warlord, victrix and perry plastic. Lasted about a year. Than they sold of what was left and it never came back. And since then they have stuck with fantasy and sci fi. But even that has been scaled back.

The market is saturated with supply and demand is falling add to that all the while 2nd hand goods remain margins are tight at best. All I ever see is the quality of new releases getting poorer, and it is only going to get worse. Thank the god of Wargaming that the Perry twins are not driven by profit and dont need the money unlike Warlord games :(

I rathered fancied getting these, but one of those horse is perhaps too bad. Still Perrys in metal are £34.00 GBP, you can get these from wayland games(eventually) for £16.00 GBP so thats a big price difference. Perrys sell "French Napoleonic Dragoon command sprue 1812-1815" for £2.00 GBP for 2 horses, so I could just replace the dodgy 6 horses with Perry horses for £16.00 GBP + £6.00 GBP Would that work do you think ?

Could I suggest that US cavalry of ACW are much closer to British Heavy cavalry than any French unit. The French have sheepskins and very distinctive laced shabraque. The British have a simple blanket, a round portmanteau….much better

Sadly I Cant find a separate sprue for acw cavalry, but I take your point about the french sheepskin.

Perry do a specific light dragoon horse sprue though

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Any better?

Sorry….again you will have to do much filing/sanding to remove the sheepskin with the toothed edging. You would indeed have to buy a whole box of ACW, rather than lots of accessories at £2.00 GBP a time. Work out the economics….

By far they are the nearest to British Heavies….in plastic.

It is indeed years since I bought figures anywhere other than at a show or online. Mostly the latter.

At the weekend I went to Tankfest at the Tank Museum and bought some goodies from trade stalls there. Airfix Waterloo RHA £3.00 GBP, Hussars £2.00 GBP, French infantry £4.00 GBP All off sprue but all present and correct. Some stonking bargains to be had that I regretfully passed up, eg 1/32 Airfix Bus for £10.00 GBP, 1/32 17-pounder for £5.00 GBP

I also bought an Airfix 1/72 Dinah and Hellcat for a DIY dogfight double plus a Swordfish for another, when I can find a Fiat G50 to go with it. Dogfight Doubles That Never Were is a thing with me.

If I could be bothered I'd buy and build a few Airfix 1/76 as well but a/ I'd feel the need to accurise them, eg not have the Panther on collapsed suspension and b/ I know not what I'd do with the results as if I were gaming in this scale today it would be 1/72 not 1/76.

In all seriousness, when did you last pass over cash, in a store, to a human being, for model figures you could fight with?

Several of my local Stores (Department and toy) sell revell/Zvezda/airfix kits and sets of figures. They usually have stuff thatīs been taken out of production ages back, boxes of "hard to find online" Zvezda figures for example.

I always keep an eye open in local shops and try to buy whenever I can, to show support. And my mail order is generally from an actual shop (F&S Models near Manchester) – mail order because not local to me

Marc

"In all seriousness, when did you last pass over cash, in a store, to a human being, for model figures you could fight with?"

Recently. All hail Transport Models, of Preston, Lancs.

OK, I do admit I could (often do) go to Monkbar Models in York…brilliant place for scenic accessories. Loads of weird plastic figures from Putinland to fight WWII and a selection of Italian etc plastics. But not the hard plastics in 28mm and not a metal figure to be had anywhere in the country, that I know of, (other than Games Workshop and not to much Napoleonic there)

Orcs Nest, Earlham St, London.
Perrys, Victrix etc hard plastics and some metals.