First of all, we'd like to thank the South London Warlords for putting on Salute - we had a great day. It was fantastic to meet up with our customers again.
Plastic Napoleonic Austrian (German) Fusiliers 1808-15
I've always had a soft spot for the Napoleonic Austrian army, and in a way, these will be the last main army to complete the 1815 range. The Austrians were fighting against the French and Neapolitans in Italy up until August 1815, no less than 27 encounters and battles, not including sieges! The accompanying metal and additional plastic sets in the range will cover the 1808-15 period.
As mentioned before, these are in the 1808 jacket which was quite distinctive with its swept-back turn-backs, but if you're not concerned about that, they could be used from 1805 when the queue was abolished. The officer is in the Oberrock, a typical campaign look, usually worn without the sash as I've done. There will be a choice of bicorne, helmet and shako. Officially, fusiliers were meant to be clean-shaven, but contemporary pictures and Ottenfeld do show them appearing in the ranks, so I've made a few heads with mustaches. There'll be 48 figures in the box, including one officer, one drummer, one standard bearer, one pioneer, and two NCOs. There will be enough helmets and shakos for all the figures in the box.
Going back to 1815 Italy, many of the French 1815 range (including the plastic infantry) can be painted as white-uniformed Neapolitans, an army I've just started to put together myself in anticipation of the plastic Austrians. At least the battles should be aesthetically pleasing due to Murat's over the top color scheme for his army!