30mm Prussian fusiliers available at Fighting 15s

I know a number of you out there are probably wondering what on earth has happened to my traditional 30mm project. Janet’s illness and her long recovery has taken a lot out of us as a family, and finding time for my own projects has proved much harder than anticipated. None the less, I have at long last found time to put the production masters for the first of the Prussian fusiliers into a mould, and the basic version of the fusilier for the army of Frederick the Great is now available.

The basic version of the fusilier has Swedish cuffs, no lapels and no collar, and has a matching officer, NCO with cane, drummer and standard bearer. The drummer has had the laced stripped off his uniform to suit the more basic uniforms used by the fusiliers, and the burly NCO – undoubtedly the fear of the other ranks – has been changed so his cane is under his arm. They’re available at www.fighting15sshop.co.uk – no pictures as yet, but they do just involve a change of hat.

Figures are still priced at 70 pence each including tax. They are likely to have to rise to 75p each in the new year when VAT increases. Mould making and variant costs are quite low, which is why I can keep the price at this level for now, even in the face of a doubling of metal costs.

Work will start soon on the variants with jackets with collars, and jackets with collars and lapels.

I’ve also spoken to the sculptor about starting work on the artillery. I’ve had a number of requests for a small field piece and therefore I aim to produce a 3pdr battalion gun at a price to suit the range, plus four crew. With luck I’ll have the briefing done this weekend.

Huzzah! Miniatures 30mm SYW range at Salute

Fighting 15s will have pre-release versions of Huzzah! Miniatures’ 30mm old-school Seven Years War Prussians at Salute. Because we are still hard at work making master and production moulds, in-between a host of other tasks for Salute, what we have available will be limited.

In short, we will have the following codes:

OSM-P01A Prussian musketeer marching
OSM-P02AP Prussian musketeer command set
OSM-P21A Prussian grenadier marching
OSM-P22AP Prussian grenadier command set
OSM-P31A Prussian mounted officer

All the codes above relate to our “A” variant of the Prussian uniform, which is a jacket with Prussian cuffs, no collar and no lapels. Versions with coat collars (“B” variant”, or collars and lapels (“C” variant”) will be available shortly, but the A variant is currently what we have in production moulds.

Musketeer, grenadier and command packs contain 10 figures and cost GBP7.00 each including VAT; the mounted officers are two to a pack including horses at GBP4.00 inc VAT. Command sets comprise two officers, two drummers, two NCOs with cane, and four standard bearers. And while we are aware that Prussian grenadier battalions didn’t carry flags, the Prussian-influenced imagi-Nations of the world may well do, and we have structured the packs accordingly.

All are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

In addition, we will also have 30mm flags for Prussian foot regiments 1 to 12 available. Sheets contain four flags for one regiment, and cost GBP3.25 inc VAT. The flags have been designed to wrap round the poles of Huzzah! Miniatures figures.

We hope to have more codes available by the time Carronade rolls round in Falkirk on 10 May, which is the show we have marked for the range’s official release. Salute is just a chance to see and buy the figures before they even go upon the Fighting 15s website.

Bringing it on old style

I’m probably rare in wargaming circles: I don’t like the trend for the fat-fingered wide-bellied 28mm model soldiers that pass for today’s historical wargames figures. It means I don’t like the output of Foundry or in particular the Perrys, who recently seem to have mastered the art of figures that are 1/56th scale in height, but 1/32nd scale across (see their Carlist War output and the new masters for the plastic ACW figures).

That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate the vast talent and skill that goes into designing and making the figures. The Perrys have far more talent that I will ever have, and their ability to work detail into such small creations is incredible. I just don’t like the mis-proportions of the figures, and personally the animation has always seemed lacking: the figures have no life. Character, yes; life, no.

The style is ideally suited to fantasy and SF characters where caricature gives distinctive figures for roleplaying games and skirmishes. From what I recall, this is where the trend for caricature started, as fantasy and SF figures from Citadel Miniatures grew in stature from 25mm to 28mm, and detail became more exaggerated. I still think it suits this background well.

I may be biased because I sell them, but I have always liked the life, animation and detail in 15mm AB Figures. Painting them has always been a joy, but eye problems have got in the way and like many wargamers of a certain age, for figures that I paint myself I felt the need to move upwards in size. With most ranges of 28mm figures simply not appealing I simply began to look elsewhere.

A visit to Don Featherstone in Southampton in August 2007 crystallised my thoughts. Don, 90 this year, had just sold most of his collection of books and soldiers. But he still had a few 30mm Stadden figures in a box. They were not exactly beautiful, but they were graceful, and it got me thinking. I remembered about the classic 30mm Spencer Smith miniatures that figured in so many books and magazines when I got started with wargames, and I toyed with the idea of a new range of classic 30mm figures priced to suit large unit sizes. The old school wargaming movement had gained considerable ground that year, and so I mentioned the idea to Battlegames editor Henry Hyde.

Henry, I discovered at that point, can get rather excitable. It is his enthusiasm, along with others from the old school, that has carried me to the point where, a good number of months later, Huzzah! Miniatures is about to be born: the first new range of classic 30mm figures for some time. The birth has been brought on early because of the enthusiasm of those to whom I have shown the figures, and so rather than launch the range as a complete item, I will be trickle-feeding in new releases after the initial infantry figures become available.

The first figures may make Salute, but failing that I hope to have some at Carronade in Falkirk, which will no doubt please near-ish local Charles Grant, who has an impeccable wargames pedigree with a leaning towards the old school. It seems only fair that with his father’s books inspiring me in my youth, that I am able to give something back.