6mm: Irregular vs Heroics & Ros

Introduction

I have a fair-sized collection of 6mm Napoleonic figures.  However, there are never quite enough to form the truly grand armies I'd like for a large game.  In particular, I don't have too many French.

Virtually all of my 6mm forces are made up of models from Heroics & Ros.  However, I don't believe that H&R Napoleonics are currently available, though hopefully they will be re-issued sometime soon.

So if I wish to extend my army, what are the options?  There are other "6mm" manufacturers such as Bacchus and Adler, but I've always understood that these were rather larger (perhaps more like 8mm tall?) and stylistically rather different.  Please note that this last opinion is based on hearsay and rumour rather than personal experience; if it is in any way incorrect then I apologise profusely!

The other maker of "true" 6mm figures of which I am aware is Irregular Miniatures.  They've been around forever and have a reputation for cheap, but possibly less well-detailed models.  But at least their 6mm Napoleonics are still in production!

I thought it worth buying a battalion of infantry from Irregular to find out whether or not they are compatible with my H&R.  Here we go...

Irregular Miniatures

My standard Napoleonic line infantry "battalions" are 4 bases, each with 3 ranks of 10 figures.  Models from Irregular Miniatures are available in a number of different form factors - including blocks of 3 ranks of infantry.  However, I went for the standard 6-man strips for my unit.

This battalion is therefore composed of 19 x French Line infantry strips, plus 1 x French Line infantry command.  Because I only wanted 10 figures per rank on each base, I needed to cut apart some of the 6-figure strips into 2-man and 4-man parts.  This wasn't too hard, though it was a minor nuisance.

 

From the rear, it is clear that these French are not wearing backpacks.  That's slightly odd, but probably not too important.

Painting the Irregular figures was a little more difficult than I remember being the case for H&R.  Maybe I'm just older, more tired or have less good eyesight than before? Or maybe these models haven't got the fairly-obvious detail of the H&R ones.  Still, I think they turned out all right.

Heroics & Ros

As this is a comparison article, here are some of my existing Heroics & Ros figures.  The only real differences I can spot are that the H&R have shouldered their muskets on the left, whereas the Irregular are using their right shoulders for this and that the Irregular command figures have a moulded, semi-furled standard; the H&R just have a small square of flat metal.  Also, as mentioned above, the H&R are wearing backpacks; the Irregular are not.

From the back, you can also see that I've changed the style of the unit's nameplate for my newest models.  The 93rd Line have my older, all-white nameplates, without any specific battalion identifier.

Conclusion

OK, can you guess which unit is Irregular and which is H&R in this picture?  At first glance, without peering too closely at the image?

If you thought that the Irregular were on the right and the H&R on the left then you were correct.  But my view is that there isn't a lot of difference between them and I'll be very happy to mix units from these two manufacturers together in the same army.  In the end it comes down to which models are easier to obtain.

Of course, I've only tested infantry here.  The cavalry models might well vary rather more between the two producers.

6mm Napoleonics: Bavarians

Introduction

I'm on something of a 6mm roll at the moment, so it seems fitting to document some of my French allies.  This time it's the turn of the Bavarians.

During the Napoleonic Wars there was no Germany as we know it now.  Instead the land was split up into many different states, some larger and some smaller.  The best-known of these are probably the relatively large kingdoms of Prussia, Saxony, Westphalia and Bavaria.  Prussia was usually an enemy to the French, but many of the other states were organised by Napoleon into a grouping of client states called the Confederation of the Rhine, thus supplying his armies with a good source of fresh manpower  Indeed, I've heard it said of Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia that he planned to fight "to the last drop of German blood"!

The Bavarians

Artillery.  Either 1 large battery or 3 smaller ones...

A small unit of light infantry in line formation, with skirmishers deployed to the front

2 units of line infantry.  Bavarian line infantry are known for their pale blue uniforms and tall helmets.  One of these units has black facings, the other has red facings.

Chevaux Légère: light cavalry.  Note the French name for the troop type, even though these are ethnic Germans.

Conclusion

All the Bavarians.

As with my other 6mm Napoleonics, the figures in this force are entirely Heroics & Ros 6mm models.  I've got enough for a good division under the Black Powder rules, though the mixture of line infantry and cavalry in the same formation would be a little unusual, I think.

The Bavarians (and many other Confederation of the Rhine nationalities) fought with the French against the Austrians at Wagram in 1809.  With them and my French force (here), I can easily field enough for a decent afternoon's game - though I'm maybe a little short of being able to portray the entire battle!

Showcase: 6mm Napoleonic French

Introduction

Recently, there was someone asking on The Miniatures Page for pictures of painted Heroics & Ros 6mm Napoleonic figures.  There was very little response to the question and it occurred to me that there are indeed very few such images around.  It's a pity, as 6mm models work very well for the type of massed battles which occurred throughout the "Horse and Musket"/"Black Powder" period.

With that in mind, I thought it would be worth while documenting my relatively small 1809-ish French force.  Here goes...

The Infantry

"Vive L'Empereur!"  3 Line regiments, each in attack column formation and with skirmishers deployed forwards

 My forces are based for use with the Black Powder rules.  A standard infantry or cavalry unit has 4 bases; each base has a 40mm frontage, but the depth varies for different troop types.  Infantry depth is 20mm, cavalry is 30mm and artillery is 40mm.

Closeup of a Line regiment

Line infantry have 30 figures per base, in 3 ranks of 10, whereas light infantry (Légère) are in 2 ranks of 10.

The Heroics & Ros packs come with a goodly proportion of command figures.  I'm not particularly expert on the Napoleonic period, so I allow 1 flag per regiment.  However, many of the other, non-flag bases have an extra officer and/or drummer in the front rank.  Some bases have the colonel (on horseback) alongside the standard; to fit the horse I need to remove 1 figure from the 2nd rank.

A Légère unit in line formation, also with a skirmish screen deployed.

 I use extra bases with rounded ends to denote skirmishers, rather than trying to use bases from the main body of the regiment.  These skirmish markers have a small number of figures dispersed over a relatively large area.  Typically the skirmisher models are positioned in pairs rather than being completely random, as I have a vague memory of being told that at least one Napoleonic army's doctrine was for each skirmisher to operate with a buddy so that one man could fire whilst his mate reloaded.

The Cavalry

French Carabiniers: heavy cavalry knee-to-knee in a single line on each base, but with a few officers & standards out front.

Unlike the infantry, my French cavalry is composed of the less common types.  Rather than the ubiquitous Cuirassiers and Chevaux-léger, I have a single regiment each of Carabiniers and Hussars.  Oh, well - it gives me expansion possibilities, doesn't it?

French Hussars: light cavalry in a slightly more dispersed line, but still with officers, buglers and standards in advance.

The Artillery

I mount my guns 2 to a base; this gives plenty of room for the various crew and officers to be positioned.  For Black Powder, we would normally use a single base to represent a battery, though I suppose there is no reason why we couldn't be more generous and use 2 or even 3 bases.

Commanders

Many games require commanders to be based separately; Black Powder certainly does.  With 6mm there is plenty of room for several figures, even on a 20mm base.  I typically use 2 models for a 20mm diameter brigade command stand and 3 models on a 25mm base for the division commander.

As well as the general himself and any aides, I often include a standard bearer.  This may not be entirely historical, but it serves 2 useful purposes:

1. It allows the identification of nationality more easily in the heat of battle.  After all, one 6mm guy riding a horse and wearing a bicorne hat looks much the same as another - and I wouldn't wish to confuse my generals with the enemy's, would I?
2. It makes use of some of the excess standard bearer models from the H&R infantry packs!

Conclusion

I've got a fair number of other bases for my French army, from the days when I had it set up for DBN.  That game used far fewer models than Black Powder and so these miscellaneous bases aren't enough of any one type to form a regiment.  Still, they would provide a useful foundation when expanding this force.  One day, one day...

Lots of 6mm H&R Napoleonic French!

Vikings, Apes and stuff

Introduction

Just a quick round up of my gaming-related activities for the last few days:

Great Apes

I mentioned in my last post (The Jungle Lord) that I had a bunch of plastic animals that came from a cheap toy set.  Here are some of the apes, exactly as they come.  I'm a little unsure which type of ape they represent, as the head is somewhat like a chimpanzee or bonobo but the posture and body is closer to a gorilla.  Mind you, neither is a particularly good match.  Anyway, let's see what happens when I paint up one of these as an experiment...

Here's the 4th ape, painted and based.  I haven't converted him (or her?) in any way, though when/if I paint the other 3 then I might make some changes.  Perhaps I'll make one's head face a different direction, open the mouth on the second and reposition the arm (and add a torn-off tree branch as a club?) for the 3rd?

Finally, here's the painted ape beside Tarzan.  The animal is probably a bit too big, but maybe that's OK in the pulp world?  After all, a great ape should presumably be larger than life...

Now that I see these 2 models side-by-side, I'm annoyed to discover that I used my "dark" scheme for the ape's base, forgetting that Tarzan has the "light" scheme on his base.  That's careless!  I don't really feel like repainting it, but if I don't then it'll stand out like a sore thumb.

Vikings

As promised in the title, here are some Vikings.  These exceptionally hairy warriors are from Foundry's "Svava's heroes" set.  They're the last 2 models from the pack that I bought at Salute 2014, so at least that's one thing I can cross off my "to do" list!

My "fine detail" brush was becoming a bit ragged recently, so the names on these models are a bit rough.  I gave up using that brush and got a new one just after this, when I saw how the lettering had turned out.

Bavarian Generals

Finally, I've completed 2 brigade commanders for my 6mm 1809 Bavarian army.  I realised recently that I only had a commander in chief and no subordinates, so I rummaged around for mounted figures in my spares box.  Fortunately, Heroics & Ros packs typically have an abundance of mounted officers and foot command groups.  I've added standard bearers rather than the more likely aides, simply because it's easier to remember who is who if the base has a national flag on it.  Also, H&R supply far more flag wavers than I've ever needed, so I have plenty available!

That's all for now, folks!  I'd like to post a new game report soon, but it looks like it'll be a while before I have time to do this.  If that's what you want to see then be patient; it will happen eventually!