Review: Napoleon at War - French Infantry Brigade

So I picked the Napoleon at War French Infantry Brigade a while ago and have finally gotten around to working on them and I thought you might like some feedback. I will update this post as I work on the models. However, some first impressions: the sculpting is nice, a tad stocky but I like the look of them; the detail is likewise pretty good; the variation in poses is limited but acceptable, for instance there are two officer sculpts, plus the mounted officers, there are four voltigeur sculpts and I think three grenadier sculpts. There is minimal flash, I just clipped some off the bayonets. The metal is fairly soft and pliable, so it bends easily but does not break. Always a compromise I guess.

In my opinion I give them an A-/B+, I really like them actually so far. I will see how they paint up. In comparison I would say they are up there with the AB and CGM, but not quite as good. Still, they look a nice fit if you want to mix and match.

What do you actually get? The box says 4 infantry battalions, 2 mounted officers, unit bases for a total of 114 foot figures, 2 mounted figures. which is incorrect. You actually get 4 battalions of 29 foot each (116) plus the 2 mounted officers. They mix of figures was good and it was obvious they had packed to give the maximum number of variations. The box is really set up as a brigade with two regiments. That is there are only two eagles with the alternate battalions having a standard bearer. Each battalion is made up of 18 line infantry, 4 grenadiers, 4 voltigeurs, officer, drummer, standard bearer (29x4) and one mounted officer for each regiment (1x2) and accompanying horses (1x2).

Some photos out of the box before cleaning them up:

Irresistible Force Miniature Games & Hobbies

I have been researching different Napoleonic wargame rule sets for my next project. I have been looking at Napoleon at War, their models, blogs and chat pages. It seems interesting. That led me to look at Hovel buildings (I need to have some scenery to kick it up a notch!). Looking at distributors for Australia I came up with Essex miniatures (wasn't impressed with their website) and Irresistible Force Miniature Games & Hobbies (very impressed, huge range!). Then I noticed they were in Brisbane, only about 120km from home on the Sunshine Coast. Three of the kids were keen so we jumped in the car to go check it out. Boy was I happy I went there!

There was some drama on the highway (came to a dead stop 10km from the joint). But we took a back road and bam, we were there! 

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Gavin Clarke runs the shop (@IrresistibleF) and he was fantastic. He answered all my questions, had everything I wanted, and assured me that although they can't carry everything in the store as there are simply too many lines these days, they have a quick turnaround even when they have to order in from overseas. I will be putting him to the test very soon! Some pics of the shop:

I was very impressed that Gavin took the time to answer my questions, helped find what I was interested in, gave useful advice and was generally very approachable. He even took the time to answer my questions about what games and systems were most popular. He was also very knowledgeable about Napoleon at War and had obviously spent the time to learn about the line and had played a couple of games using the rules. All in all I was very happy I made the effort to go down. Always nice to put a face to an email and website!

So here is what I got:

• The Napoleon at War rules.
• A French 100 days line brigade.
• Army Painter dip.
• Vallejo wash pot.
• Mininatur grass tufts
• Gale Force Nine basing kit
• Hovel large bridge (15mm)
• Citadel gaming grass (I actually got this from Games Workshop down the road but just wanted to chuck it in cause I love it!)

I was keen to have a look at the Napoleon at War models and read the rules. So I will keep you posted :)

I have been looking at the AP dip because I was interested in how well it would work for me. But I forgot to get a can of matt topcoat! First thing on my order. I saw Glenn Lamprecht painting some Victrix for Vallejo using their pot of wash and wanted to try it out as well. So I will post some pick of my next painting project.

Useful Books

I am fortunate to have a nice sized library. However, there are some books I go back to again and again. This is a short list of books you may find useful as well. I really love digital editions as well and I wish these books were all available in a digital format.

The Napoleonic Source Book  by Philip J. Haythornthwaite
I love this book, it is jam packed with lots of very useful information for the military modeller. Sadly it is out of print but I am trying to track down who currently owns the rights to the book to see if it can be republished.

A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars by Vincent J. Esposito (Author), John R. Elting (Author)
Again, this book is out of print. Buying it second hand can be an expensive affair. But if you want a good overview with lots of fantastic maps you can't go wrong with this.

NAPOLEONIC UNIFORMS: 2 Volume Boxed Set by John Elting and illustrations by Herbert Knotel
This is a 4 volume set that you can still pick up, 2 volumes form Amazon or similar and the others on the second hand market. There is simply no other sets like these to compare. They are absolutely beautiful, inside and out. The range of units covered is massive.

Soldiers and Uniforms of the Napleonic Wars by F. Hourtouille
I really love this book, interesting illustrations, some odd choices. You can see the full list of units in my review.
Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars by Digby Smith
Not my favourite book by a nice introduction covering lots of units with lots of plates. See my review here.
The Peninsular War Atlas (General Military) by Nick Lipscombe
Wow. This is a beautiful book, as the title suggests, focused on the Peninsula War.

The Campaigns of Napoleon

Osprey Publishing.

The major publishing house when it comes to military history. It is also very useful for military modellers. They also are starting to publish digital editions which I am about to try out. The quality can be a bit mixed, some of the titles need an update to incorporate new data as well as some titles that have poor illustrations. Look at reviews around the web and make your choices wisely.