Lee494 | 07 Aug 2020 6:08 p.m. PST |
Starting an army. Want to go first class. Cheers! |
nsolomon99 | 07 Aug 2020 6:29 p.m. PST |
No question, AB. There are other good brands but AB is the pinnacle if you really want to go first class. They are more expensive but you only buy them once, the real cost is in the labour in the painting, and then you can use them forever. |
cavcrazy | 07 Aug 2020 6:54 p.m. PST |
I have always been a big fan of Minifigs. |
Rudysnelson | 07 Aug 2020 7:03 p.m. PST |
You are in America. If you can find them, Empire. Blue Moon from Old Glory is a company that you should check. Battlehonors/old Glory 15 is another company to check. |
alan in canberra | 07 Aug 2020 8:01 p.m. PST |
Another vote for AB. A comprehensive range very detailed and consistently to scale. Painted 000s of them including the Waterloo period Prussians. Alan |
McKinstry | 07 Aug 2020 10:14 p.m. PST |
AB or Blue Moon but they are truly 18mm. |
Artilleryman | 08 Aug 2020 3:05 a.m. PST |
Have AB as the core of your force. In my opinion they are the best 15mm figures around. Then go to Blue Moon to fill in the gaps in the AB range. Hope that helps. |
von Winterfeldt | 08 Aug 2020 3:49 a.m. PST |
none, the Prussian Army was in transition, still old style uniforms, open collars, higher shakos, in contrast to the new one, lower shakos, closed collars, different equipment belts, old units as Lützow or Russo German legion still carrying their old uniforms, cavalry regiments made up form different old units etc. |
14Bore | 08 Aug 2020 5:52 a.m. PST |
Been doing Blue Moon and AB, still think no point if making a whole army to stick with 1 maker but that's me. |
torokchar | 08 Aug 2020 10:01 a.m. PST |
Old Glory – great price and selection – join the OG Army and get 40% off!!! Also some excellent service from them. |
jwebster | 08 Aug 2020 10:57 a.m. PST |
+1 AB. Unless you have a problem with 18mm compared to 15mm. There are other very good 18mm ranges as well if you want things that are not covered by AB Before I started buying AB figures I read that you won't really get it until you have painted a few, and I have found that to be true As I have painted more, I have found that the consistency is better than anything else. I have ranges where there are some excellent figures, and some that have warped faces or weird geometry. I have found no disappointing figures in Mr Barton's range. The proportions are elegant and amazingly consistent. The horses in particular are highly recommended, to the extent that I have heard of people that have used other mounted figures, but thrown away the horses and gone for AB Napoleonics is a huge step, it's not something you can dabble with. It's in my blood (Airfix initiate talking), so I am compelled, but otherwise I prefer smaller forces, skirmish, DBA etc. So think carefully about how you are going to get into Napoleonics, what kind of rules (I haven't seen a generally accepted rule set, so I'll play any rules), what scale and so on. I like 15/18mm as the figures are large enough for older eyes to see, but larger actions can be fought on achievable table sizes I started out by painting samples in different size to see what I enjoyed painting. My results were
- 28mm. (Victrix) After painting 4 figures – you've got to be nuts
- 18mm (AB) Gorgeous
- 10mm (Pendraken) Much more fun than I expected, very nice
- 6mm (Baccus) Yuck. I know I'm insane, but painting the detail was too much for me
- 3mm (Oddzial Osmy from Picoarmour) Booyah. Slap, slap and it's done. Even painting the details was fun. Maybe best scale for huge games
Best of luck John |
Redcurrant | 08 Aug 2020 12:37 p.m. PST |
AB are certainly the best available, and comprise the majority of my own collection. Blue Moon and Campaign Game Miniatures are also highly recommended. Sometimes some of the smaller specialist units, and Generals, can be obtained from Sho Boki. |
JMcCarroll | 08 Aug 2020 2:30 p.m. PST |
I still love my Essex minis. I not sure if you can still get them? |
Alcibiades | 08 Aug 2020 10:47 p.m. PST |
AB are indeed the best sculpted range out there and they are lovely figures. But, their bayonets and to a lesser degree sabres are very fragile and susceptible to damage during gameplay. Blue Moon are very nice and don't overlook Campaign Games Miniatures. Essex are still going strong and have a large range of consistent and very cleanly cast figures. Battle Honors are well past their prime and Old Glory seems to be suffering from mould wear. |
Timmo uk | 10 Aug 2020 11:29 a.m. PST |
The quick answer is AB. The longer answer is that any Napoleonic project is a huge undertaking in terms of painting time. I always think it's best to buy some samples from a few ranges to see which you like painting the most then go with those, as you'll stand the most chance of succeeding in getting an army on the table. I started with Minifigs and they were easy to paint but I soon switched to AB as the sculpting is so fantastic. They take me a bit longer to paint than Minifigs but in the grand scheme of things that doesn't matter to me. Equally it doesn't bother me that they are more expensive to buy than other brands. You only need to buy enough figures for a month or two of painting time. Get them done then buy more and repeat month after month, year after year. |
Fredloan | 13 Aug 2020 9:38 p.m. PST |
AB all the way, I have roughly 4,000 AB figures |
ReallySameSeneffeAsBefore | 09 Sep 2020 2:54 p.m. PST |
AB without any doubt. In a different class from all other makers. They are beautifully detailed and very well proportioned (IIRC, Anthony Barton is a trained anatomist). Because they are so well detailed they respond very well to stain and wash techniques- a wash over even a fairly basic point job can make ABs look brilliant. |
Tassie | 16 Sep 2020 6:55 a.m. PST |
So, von W, you wouldn't use AB Prussians for the 1813-15 campaigns ? Really ???!!! |
The Tyn Man | 23 Sep 2020 7:41 a.m. PST |
You did say 15mm not 18mm….. right. Then I'd go with Tony's Battle Honors which are 15's and look very good. Old Glory 15's sell them, and they are much cheaper that AB. Yes I will agree AB are the best, but they are 18mm. Cheers Dean |