"28mm Napoleonic plastic set most surprisingly missing?" Topic

I think the post title says it all gentlemen. Many have been done. What is missing that surprises you?

For me it is Russian, Austrian, and Prussian cavalry.

RHA

Real French dragoons (not the fake 1815 ones)
But but yes I agree none British/French cavalry seem missing.

Spanish Infantry. If there is an army you need a lot of guys for, it's Spanish.

I agree with you Dave. Cavalry for the nationalities you've mentioned. Spanish infantry would certainly make collecting for the Peninsula a bit easier as well.

A little more obscure, but the so-so equipped War of 1812 US Infantry are troops which would benefit from the "build-a-soldier" approach.

hello,
if i may::
dutch/ belgian ?
Russian, Austrian, and Prussian cavalry & Spanish infantry is a very good idea .
best

Early Prussian and Russian, plus cavalry for them and Austrians'

cheers
Matt
Mayenne
France

A Prussian Cavalry set with a mix of headgear, long/short coats and sabre/lance arms and horse gear to make Prussian Dragoons, Uhlans or Landwehr Cavalry.

If the non-French cavalry won't sell enough to support multiple sets, how about one set with a sprue that has 1 or 2 of each type for a given nationality? Then you only have to tool one set, and people will buy a lot of it since you'll need six boxes to get whole units done.

For me it's Prussian and Russian cavalry and arty of the 1812 to 1814 period.

I'm sure I'll get into Austrian eventually as well but for now it's Prussian and Russian.

Often discussed and well worth raising again nonetheless.

Economics dictate this and remember those manufacturers out there are the professionals in the market place. By definition, they are the ones who kept their financial heads above water.

I guess what I mean is, if there was a glaring omission, they might just have spotted it by now. Plastic kit figures require a massive set up investment. However, once the machinery is ready to go, the operating costs are relatively (compared with metal anyway) dirt cheap. But you can only recoup your investment by selling vastly more of your new figures, than would be the case for metals.

The ideal subject is, then, both a huge and popular army. British and especially French of course. Prussian and Russian, because they are less "colourful" and ideally suited to huge numbers of identical figures.

My choice. Black Musketeers of Louis XVIII, purely because my plan to convert Black Hussars Zastrow Cuirassiers is simply not working!

I Victrix would produce another set of French line infantry with long-tailed habits, NOT with overalls, as animated as the British line sets, I'd buy more.

I do 36-figure French battalions, and need to do the 8eme de ligne; the 54eme de ligne; the 94eme or 95eme de ligne from I Corps in Spain. That's 3 units of 36 each.

For II corps, I need only Light infantry. I might use line for Legion du Midi! 1 of 36 figures.

For IV Corps, I need to do 4 French units as representative of the Ist Division. My 2nd Division is German, and 3rd is Polish.

This would also allow me to add inexpensive units of 3 Italian line in Spain; King Joseph's Fusiliers of the Guard; and Brown-coated Foreign regiment faced hello.

Stop me please! That would be the core of a new 12-battalion Reserve Division!

GdeP

Ten years ago, when the first historical 28 mm plastic sets started coming to the market, many people would have probably been surprised to hear that in 2018 there are over fifty such plastic sets out there for Napoleonics alone.

Definitely Austrian Dragoons/Cuirassiers. All you'd have to do is swop the torsos. :-)

almost everything pré waterloo

Another shout for RHA.

I've been droning on about British heavy cavalry for years but I now accept it's not going to happen.

Personally, I've got my fingers crossed for ANY plastic cavalry which have pointed saddlecloths because I could then do all the conversions I have in mind.

I agree with Glencairn,
There were more Austrian Dragoon regiments than any other sort of cavalry and they were pretty good too.

I agree with Griefbringer – it's pretty remarkable what we do have.

Cossacks!

Not a bad suggestion, because I suspect could fit in any conflict over a few centuries, up to WWII.

We need to come up with something that will sell thousands and thousands of boxes, just to break even, and is not too challenging to sculpt and mould.

I will stick with Louis XVIII's (Orson Welles') Household troops. Grey and Black Musketeers, Gendarmes du Roi, Chevaulegers and Gardes du Corps du Roi etc…I would buy two boxes. No one else would though.

My order is in with Perrys for my next project, to show you what you are all missing. The First Restoration produced the best uniforms and worst cavalry (much worse than Duke of Cumberland's Hussars) of the Napoleonic Era

Watch this space!

As a manufacturer myself it's a no brainer, the first set i would do is British riflemen. ( yes I know Perry have two) sales is king. And quite sadly you are all at the whim of the Perrys and/or Warlord.

Help me understand where I would even get started if I wanted to create Spanish infantry. It's probably one of the areas in history I know the least about. (from a battle and uniform perspective)

Is it so simple as picking up: Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars (2) from Osprey publishing and start designing from the plates provided, or is there a better reference that I should go to, to start?
(That book covers the years (1808-1814) roughly the same time as the Peninsular War (1807-1814). That is why I am thinking that might be the place to start.)

Sorry, I don't want to jump straight in to cavalry, as much as people were needing them, just horses and people are more than I would work on at the same time (for now).

And yes, I probably will need to create another thread if I move forward on the idea.

Try the Getting Started Forum, just above Napoleonic Discussion?

You are planning to model, scuplt and cast some Spanish Infantry, in metal and 28mm I presume? Remember everyone above is wanting them in plastic, to reduce costs of large numbers.

Would it be worth checking out the competition before you start, because it will affect the commercial viability of any investment and release of a new product?

I am talking about making them in plastic. Not metal, not spin cast resin. Good old (or is that new) high impact polystyrene.

Sailors
Royal Marines (popular)
Civilians (lots of multiple use for non-Napoleonics here)

And that is why I love 1/72. I can get boxes for the three musketeers, and the Cardinal's guards.

Let alone Russian cuirassier, hussars, dragoons, cossacks, artillery and infantry

Or Bavarian, or Wuttemberg, or Spanish etc etc.

Whereas all I see on wargames sites are people using 28mm, and yet you cannot buy a fraction of the needed troops in plastic. Odd economics at work here.

I assume the size and a lack of poses in 1:72 for the more popular ranges play their role. Once covered by posable hard plastic, no amount of 1:72 sets can offer the same variety.

@Eccentric Todd,

Much better than the Osprey are the various books by Jose Maria Bueno:
El Ejercito y la Armada en 1808
Uniformes Españoles de la Guerra de Independencia
La expedición española a Dinamarca 1807-1808

Also of course in English the books by Gerard Cronin & Stephen Summerfield:
Spanish Cavalry of the Early Peninsular War
Spanish Infantry of the Early Peninsular War: Uniforms, Organisation and Equipment of the Line and Militia

Prussian cavalry in Litewka coat will be most universal, uhlans and landwehr (maybe dragoons) from one box will be good deal.

You all have it wrong.

Louis XVIII Restoration troops are totally ignored by Modelling Companies and by Osprey….just because they never drew a sword in anger and were as useless as their patron….and would not sell more than one box (actually I would buy two and the horses would sell better than the troopers. Seriously, we need standing, or at least walking, horses in any medium)

Mine are in progress…. (forgive the hand held flash photo with no depth of focus)

Some brilliant greenstuff modelling there. Very inspirational!

Let me see how the riders work out.

I did four from the Perry Carabiniers command set before, for Louis XVIII's flight from the Tuilleries, in a carriage.

Had thought to use the Black Hussar Cuirassiers but the helmet simply does not convert. Six packs of Perry Command sprues should do it. The Horses above are Bavarian Generals'! Perry Colonels would have been so much easier, but I thought I wanted standing, not walking. A big mistake…….

Cropped tails, fringed lace all over to file off, the lower pistol holster almost vestigial….never again