"New releases from Brigade Games Miniatures for the Peninsula" Topic

I do know that Brigade Games Miniatures work is often regarded as in accessible, to those of us this side of the Pond and, no bout adout it, postage is an issue! It has proved far easier to import them than I used to say on this forum and the quality of casting is incredible.

I have heard some call them slender, but I have mixed them with Perry metal and Victrix plastic seamlessly. My latest Chasseurs a Cheval de la Garde conversions sit happily beside my earliest work, the Perry 1815 version.

New releases shortly. Sneak preview. Those British heavy dragoons carrying a proper sabre for once, a straight blade with the correct guard. Light dragoons in the typical Paul Hicks style. Light Infantry Skirmishers with backpacks (amazing the difference the packs make to the "slender" perception) and some elite Ligne Chasseurs a Cheval, of course.

We want these in Europe do we not? Even with a No Deal Brexit or whatever lunacy faces us…

I am with Deadhead on this. My favourite figures are Perrys but Paul Hicks' works of art come a close second. It would be really nice to be able to easily mix these Brigade Games figures in with the Perrys especially when they do quite esoteric individuals such as the recently offered exploring officers. Currently I have to save my coins for 'once in a blue moon ' orders.

Lon Weiss/Brigade Games is a very good trader and I would love to be able to buy his figures ! But, like Deadhead said, the cost of mailing plus the risk of taxes is killing that opportunity.

I was a bit premature posting these. Lon tells me they are not in stock yet, but a sneak preview is only going to whet your appetites, I hope.

Paul Hicks has an amazing talent for superfine detail and anatomical proportions. We need to keep stressing that it is just the huge postage costs that deter us all.

I'll be honest, if I think of the investment in time, thehours and hours that went into my Chasseurs a Cheval of La G Imp conversions, the postage was well worth it!

They are indeed superb figures and I totally agree with your assessment of Paul Hick's sculpting talents.

Wow, they look great and I would buy as many as poss of the light inf and light and heavy dragoons if they were available easily in the UK.

What do the horses look like? There have been some other makes who had excellent cavalrymen sculpts but were let down by the steeds (Essex and renegademiniatures.com spring to mind)

It would be nice if the heavy dragoons could come on standing horses – this would be a nice option/addition to the Perry's, whose heavy dragoons are all charging. Just a thought.

I would imagine the Light Ds anyway will come with the same horses that are currently provided for the same gents in the earlier uniform and Tarleton helmets. Equally, for the Heavy Dragoons, as for their earlier versions.

Although a huge fan of the figures, I am less convinced by the horses. I think they are a bit slender (ie narrow faced,) in the head and their rear end is much less muscular than their deep thoraces. Let me show a poor quality photo just taken with a flash to try to explain what I mean. Personal taste maybe.

The company has just released standing horses (which look very nice indeed) for a LD horse holder, so, if Lon reads this he might take the hint and follow your suggestion!

Those horses look nice, I think. They remind me a bit of the old Les Higgins/Phoenix 20mm Napoleonics that I started out with as a boy – and there's not much higher praise than that.

I really need to get some of those British light infantry – they look gorgeous. Are there plans to sell them in the UK or will we always have to pay the huge postage from the US? I wish I were wealthy enough for this not to be an issue but, for the massive project I'm working on, the equivalent of a couple of boxes of converted Victrix would cost a small fortune from Brigade.

I certainly agree there is some great moulding work on the horses and their harness. I just have the impression that in front of the rider is a very heavy cavalry steed, behind him is a light cavalry mount. Not a mare amongst them I notice!

Once seen in ranks and files any disproportion seems less obvious and I suspect other makers use the same masters. I do recall when they were first shown on this forum years ago.

Postage? Yes. Massive but might be less in proportion for larger order. But the real answer is a European distributor…..even a UK one! It is a big challenge to set up something like that. If it doubles your market though………..

For parcels 8-32 ounces, which most overseas orders seem to be, postage is $23.50 USD. Yes, we get orders in the higher two rate bands and above.
(These are USPS rates)

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Must select International Promo shipping for orders with miniatures only*

PLUS FOR EVERYONE:

ORDER A MINIMUM OF $125 USD IN

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So, what he is saying is basically what I suggested. Bigger orders work out cheaper for postage…. relatively…per figure.

I am no use to manufacturers as my orders are miniscule, as I am a collector. I do not throw dice.

But the Paul Hicks sculpts from this range are superb. I have loads undone! They are slender but I still say mix perfectly well with the more sensible 28mm ranges, not the Hobbits.

But I will say it again. This range is too good to not have a European outlet. The new releases continue. We do have to remember of course that there is a massive range way beyond Napoleonic. Could be tricky

Bigger orders are always better for postage generally no matter where you go.

And yes, I subsidize the shipping on the international orders $125.00 USD and above.

For orders of a few packs, generally this are in the up to 8oz postage band and the cost is $14. USD Again, USPS post rates, not some number plucked from the air.

Q – Why not a UK/European distributor?

I have been quite upfront about this in past posts. I could not handle the casting myself to meet orders as I was barely doing it as is. I do have a daytime job so my casting is confined to the weekends. Yes, I had been casting my ranges myself since TLWR blew up many years ago and I had to take on the work myself as well as buy the equipment to do so.

Three years ago this upcoming WInter I started down the path to move most if not all BG items to contract casting. This has entailed making brand new production molds for all codes, clearly not an inexpensive or short-term undertaking. The caster/moldmaker only wanted responsibility for molds they knew would work and produce superior castings from the start. Every new code released the past 32 months has been contract cast. This also required the codes that had already been released to have master metals spun up and new production molds made.

Everything in the BrigadeGames Readi-ship section is contract cast. Unless there is a heavy run on items here I generally have good stock on hand, hence "Readi-ship."

It is safe for me to say that I am down to about 20 codes remaining to be transferred to the contractor in the Napoleonics/1812 ranges.

Everyone will notice that due to what has been in the master molds and other codes that are more popular or were a pain in the bum to cast, there are many other codes in our ranges that are already contract cast.

So, yes my intent to to get product over to the UK/EU. I have spoken with Nick at NorthStar. With Brexit coming, I will probably need to reach out to some potential EU based companies. He has brought in some ranges in the past, but it was my workload that hindered a more regular offering. It will however, take time to bring in the ranges as the BG range is quite large. As our Napoleonics/1812 is pretty close to ready these are the first two which would make sense. Our Western is close, and our King Philips War, Spies and Patriots, and Post-Apocalypse ranges are totally ready.

And lastly, one has to rationalize the trade sale income vs the decline in direct income. The volume increase must be worthwhile to make up for the lower direct sales. One would expect to see a growing sales volume as time progresses otherwise it would be crazy to do.

I hope this helps to explain the situation.

Lon
BrigadeGames.com

Thanks Lon, That's very interesting. We are mostly like children "I wanna!! I wanna!" and have little or no idea of what goes on behind the scenes to bring us our shiny goodies.

Could not have put it better, than Lord Hill did.

I have guilt, as I order maybe a dozen or so figures at a time. I see photos of wargames, with literally thousands of figures and realise these are the folk who keep manufacturers in business.

I think it is great that Lon has responded at all, let alone in such detail.

As for trying to deal commercially with the UK/EU after next March…God help us all. The BGM range is superb quality.

The problem is this side of the pond. As I understand it, under revised HMRC regulations anything from outside the EU with a declared value of around $19 USD or more is now liable for taxation on entry – at least 20% VAT. Because tax needs to be paid, the package is taken from the original courier service (which you've already paid for) and passed to the UK Post Office as they gather the tax on behalf of HMRC – and put a £8.00 GBP service charge on top for the privilege of doing so. That said, the system isn't foolproof (probably because it's run by fools?) and I've had some small packages from BG come straight through without extra charge. A large order might be cheaper on postage from the USA but you're going to get stung when it arrives here.

It might almost be better to delete the above message. It might be an error to highlight any error in any system that adds far more to cost and to delays in delivery.

Let us just say that I have had huge problems with desert boots from USA, but none with BGM figures…and leave it at that. Do not rock the proverbial boat

Thanks all.

Just to give you an idea of the magnitude – I am spending as much as I can every month for new molds for the codes that were already molded. I have to be careful as I have a lot of new releases as well and those are always higher priority.

I totally understand the "I wanna!! I wanna!"

If I had the option, I would not be spinning metal anymore and spending it being more productive.

And TBH I would actually like to get back to painting some figures once and a while. I haven't done that in way too long.

Onwards and upwards,

Lon
BG