Russian Project: 1

It seems modelling the Russian campaign of 1812 is all the rage, as well as having new ranges coming out. Having been focused on the Peninsula for some years and never having done any Russians I thought it was about time! I also thought I would give the Lasalle battalions from Eureka and Warmodelling a go. I also got the 36 figure battalions from Campaign Game Miniatures.

My orders are as follows:

Campaign Game Miniatures

1 x 36RUS002 Musketeers / Jagers Advancing with Command 36 figs

1 x 36RUS004 Musketeers / Jagers NO Backpack Marching with Command 36 figs

1 x 36RUS001 Musketeers / Jagers Marching with Command 36 figs

1 x 36RUS005 Musketeers / Jagers NO Backpack Skirmish / Firing Line 36 figs

1 x 36RUS007 Grenadiers / Guard Advancing with Command 36 figs

1 x 12RUSC001 Hussars Charging with Command x 12 figures

1 x 12RUSC006 Dragoons at Rest with Command x 12 figures

1 x RUSA002         Foot Artillery Crew Loading x 8 figs (4 variants)

1 x RUSG002         12lb Russian Cannon x 2

1 x FOFW001         Napoleon, 4 Marshals & 2 ADCs mounted

20496H Plastic W/Magnetic Bottom (Thick) - 40mm x 30mm- 12 per pack

128.81EUR (there is a standard postage added, I used paypal. Postage is calculated on posting and the difference was refunded to my account), plus local tax in Europe.

Infantry: about AUS$0.57 per man or 0.45EUR

Cavalry: about AUS$1.26 per man and mount or 1EUR

Artillery: about AUS$0.57 per man and AUS$2.27 per gun or 0.45EUR and 1.80EUR respectively.

Generals/mounted officers: about AUS$2.02 per man and mount of 1.60EUR

Eureka Miniatures (AB)

1 x Foot artillery - heavy limber team (AB-RA10) 

4 x Foot artillery, loading (AB-RA02) 

1 x 12pdr gun (AB-RA07) 

1 x Russian Staff Officers mounted (AB-R25)

1 x Russian Generals (AB-R26) 

2 x Infantry Battalion (Empire, Liberation) (AB-LAS-R04) 

1 x Cuirassiers (Empire, Liberation) (AB-LAS-R12)

I also received three sample early Russian artillery in greatcoat. This is not the first time I have received free samples (some long before I started this blog, it is not related, they just do it sometimes I think to advertise new lines). This is much appreciated!

AU$108.18 plus postage (at cost, calculated and charged to my account at posting), plus local tax in Australia.

Infantry: about AUS$0.80 per man

Cavalry: about AUS$1.60 per man and mount

Artillery: about AUS$0.91 per man and AUS$3.64 per gun

Generals/mounted officers: about AUS$1.82 per man and mount

Warmodelling

1 x NG-14 Unicorne (10 Pounds)

1 x RN-60 Mounted Officers

1 x RN-72 Kutuzov & ADC

1 x RNA-01 Foot Artillerymen

1 x RNA-05 Artillery Limber Team & Riders (4 Horses)

1 x xBB-114/32 Jägers Firing / Loading

1 x xBB-130/18 Uhlans

1 x xBB-132/12 Cossacks

1 x xBB-142/32 Paulov Grenadiers

1 x xBB-147/32 Musketeer in Greatcoat

92.70EUR plus 12EUR standard postage, plus I paid local tax it seems. If you look at the price on the warmodelling site the prices are roughly 20% less than above. Not sure why they charged tax. I don't really care as they are still cheap but I will ask them and tell you what they say.

Infantry: about AUS$0.55 per man or 0.34EUR

Cavalry: about AUS$1.27 per man and mount or 1EUR

Artillery: about AUS$0.74 per man and AUS$2.22 per gun or 0.59EUR and 1.75EUR respectively.

Generals/mounted officers: about AUS$2.54 per man and mount or 2EUR

These have not arrived yet as far as I can tell. I will go down to the post office Tuesday to see if they have the package there (Monday is Queen's Birthday holiday here in Ozland).

The Army

8 x infantry battalions

2 x grenadier battalions (1 is Pavlov grenadiers, I know they stopped wearing their banana hats by the 1812 campaign but they look so cool!)

1 x Hussars

1x Dragoons

1 x Cuirassiers

1 x Cossacks

1 x Uhlans

4 x 12lb guns, 2 x Unicorn guns, 4 x men per gun

1 x foot artillery limber. I thought I had grabbed more. I might get one more from Campaign Game Miniatures and Warmodelling.

Plus assorted generals and officers because you can never have enough of these :)

Price Comparison

The price comparison is something that is really only relevant for when I bought the models. And that  was about two weeks ago. The Australian dollar has been strong, being on par with the US$ for some time, but it was not that long ago it was around US$0.70-80 (and a long tome ago it hovered around US$0.50!). We are not quite as strong against the Euro, which is similar to the $US against the Euro.

What also has to be taken into consideration are that I bought Lasalle packs which might have bought down the prices a little. 

So for what it is worth here are the price comparisons. The Campaign Game Miniatures come out on top in Infantry and artillerymen, and roughy equal on cavalry and guns. For generals and mounted officers Eureka comes out as cheapest and Warmodelling as quite expensive. The surprise result are the artillery guns from Eureka (AB) being roughly 160% more than from Warmodelling or Campaign game.

                    Infantry Cavalry Artillerymen Guns Generals/M.officers

Eureka (AB)         $0.80 $1.60 $0.91        $3.64 $1.82

Campaign Game     $0.45 $1.26 $0.57        $2.27 $2.02

Warmodelling         $0.55 $1.27 $0.74        $2.22 $2.54

Coming up next is a comparison of the models, then we move on to painting.

15/18mm napoleonic modelling companies

Want to know what models to buy? Where to buy them? Well I don't have all the answers. But below you will find links to all the companies that manufacture 15/18mm Napoleonic figures.

The best place to go to see a comparison of many of these brands is Deep Fried Happy Mice. Second, I personally love AB figures and Warmodelling figures for Napoleonics. I throw them into units together to get more variation. Rarely do they clash (no pun intended). I should add Eureka Miniatures Napoleonic figures in to this list as they compliment the AB/Warmodelling figures perfectly.

Campaign Game Miniatures
These are up there with AB as the best you can get, but if you consider price and the service they win hands down. A great range and it keeps growing. They are called 15mm but are really grand 15mm and fit very well with AB and Eureka.

AB
The best you can get. Sold through Eureka Miniatures since 2006. These are generally around the 18mm mark. Anthony Barton still does new lines for Eureka Miniatures when an interesting enough project comes up. So it is still slowly growing.

Eureka Miniatures
Eureka have a range of complimentary figures to the AB figures. These are top notch and compliment the AB models perfectly. They also have the 100/300 club which is fun to get in on. Essentially, it is a wish list club, you wish for it, if they get enough preorders, they will model it.

Warmodelling
A spanish company, with a huge range. I have never bought direct because the postage was exorbitant. But it may be better now. I order through Scale Creep Miniatures in the US. These figures generally mix well with the AB and Eureka figures from above, all being generally around the 18mm mark.

Napoleon at War
Another new company. It has a limited selection of French, British and a few Prussians. They sell their models in brigade size boxes and are designed to be played to their own set of rules. I have some of these models and will paint them up. They are bringing blister packs and you can buy their bases (the rules work of their base sizes). I am tempted to base all my models to this rule system as I get the impression it is popular and you could still use the models in Lasalle and other systems with ease.

Essex
I painted a lot of these when I was younger. They are alright but don't compare to the AB, Eureka and Warmodelling figures.

Minifigs
Minifigs have been around a long time and there have been multiple generations of sculptings. I remember sitting down with the Minifigs catalog as a child, going over each page again and again. It was fun dreaming about putting an order together.

Old Glory
Big bags, cheap price. French, Austrian, British, Prussian, Russian. Thats as much as she wrote.

Vexillia Miniatures
Vexillia bought the quite lovely looking One Tree Miniatures Ottoman range. I have a post on the Ottomans and I might get some and paint them up! Fight the Russians :)

Chariot
Now trading under the company Magister Militum.

MJ Figures
Deep Fried Happy Mice reviews some MJ french but looking at the MJ website I see no Napoleonics. Hmm, maybe discontinued?

Museum Miniatures
British, French, Prussians. Limited lines.

Naismith

Tabletop
Not sure where you can get these.

Warrior Miniatures

Wildly Inspired Miniatures
Now owned by Battleline Miniatures.

Black Hat Miniatures
French and Prussians.

Falcon Figures
They have Napoleonics, no webstore.

UK Frontier
War of 1812. They look a bit varied and blocky, touch of the gnome. Very limited.


Battle Honours
These were once my favourite models. Many were sculpted by Anthony Barton of AB, so that explains their quality. They are usually a little smaller than the AB lines however.

Purchashing

I did buy mainly Warmodelling, AB and Eureka but discovered Campaign Game Miniatures. I purchase my models through Eureka Miniatures (Australia) and Scale Creep (US) as well as Campaign Game Miniatures. I have always gotten great service at all these sites. I also get my Vallejo paints from Eureka. I plan to have a look at buying straight from Warmodelling (Spain) again for my next order and see what the postage will be [ed. I bought direct and the postage was very reasonable, the formula they use has changed].


Last updated 1/2013