SHQ & Kennington vs HaT, Napoleonic French Foot, Part 2

The photo above compares three HaT French chasseurs (in blue plastic) with a similar number of French gunners from SHQ (unpainted metal). Click on the image for a larger version.

Manufacturers’ designations:

The HaT figures come from box 8170: “French Guard Chasseurs.”

The SHQ figures come from their Napoleonic range, and are designated “ART 2 Napoleonic French Guard Horse Artillery Crew.” The range is also available from Kennington.

Height compatibility (measured from sole of foot to eyes):
HaT – 22mm
SHQ / Kennington – 22mm

Overall conclusions:
Although there is still a very slight difference in height and build between the two sets, it is almost unnoticeable when the figures are deployed side by side, and disappears altogether when they are used in separate units. Again, the SHQ figures are a suitable complement to those from HaT.

Note: The HaT figures were kindly supplied by the manufacturer.

Outland Games Update

After my last post on Outland, I have been able to correspond with Tom Dye of GFI, the distributor for Outland. Tom has confirmed that the Outland ranges did start out as the Battalionfeuer range. Chris von Fahnnenstock purchased the ranges several years ago, and has expanded them.

Chris is currently on active duty in the US Army, and so doesn’t have time to do his own moulding, casting, or order fulfillment. He has outsourced those tasks to GFI.

Tom tells me that he has remoulded the World War One in East Africa range, and worked on the additions to the SYW range, as well as some artillery pieces.

The pictures that I posted earlier are not yet in production, but do provide a good example of what is coming down the pipe. Tom expects to have 20mm Turks on hand soon, which have been sculpted by the same designer.

I hope to have more information on Outland and GFI releases as they come out. In the meantime, if you are thinking of picking up some 20mm figures for one of these conflicts, take a look at what Outland offers. It would be nice to support Chris as he serves his country.

Outland SYW Prussians

Outland Games manufacturers several ranges of 20mm and 25mm figures. I am not clear if these are all original designs, or if they are also rereleasing older ranges which have come into their hands. (Their distributer’s website uses the name “Minifigs” but the connection to the Outland figures isn’t clear.)

Whatever the provenance of the other figures, Outland has recently announced the release of several 20mm figures for the Seven Years War, which do seem to be completely new designs. The images above have been taken from their site, and give a sense of the detail available on these castings. They are identified as “Austro-Hungarian Grenadier” and “Prussian Grenadier Sapper.” Click on the images to see larger versions.

Outland sent some of their samples to Will McNally, who runs a dynamic wargaming blog, which includes numerous posts on the Seven Years War. Will has put together his own comparison of the Outlanders with Revell SYW figures, and Airfix AWI troops. You can see his comparisons here.

http://willwarweb.blogspot.com/2009/06/outland-games-syw-figures.html

The Outland website is here:

http://www.outlandgames.net/

Outland only sells through GFI, which is at the following website:

http://www.minifigs.com/catalog/

GFI is selling these troops in packs of 8, at $4.95 (US). At current exchange rates, that works out to the following cost per figure.

$0.62 US
$0.77 AUS
$0.70 CDN
0.45 Euros
0.38 UK

Les Higgins Marlburian Infantry & Command

An earlier post introduced the reissued and extended line of 20mm Marlburian figures from Les Higgins. In that post, the Grenadiers from this range were featured. Now it is the turn of the regular infantry figures, as well as the command.

The bottom image shows the infantry sculpts, as follows:

MP 10 Musketeer loading
MP 11 Musketeer march attack
MP 12 Musketeer firing
MP 13 Musketeer kneeling firing
MP 14 Musketeer thrusting
MP 15 Musketeer at east

The top photo includes various command figures, including:

MP 17b Musketeer Officer with sword
MP 18a Musketeer drummer
MP 19a, b, c and d Officers and NCOs (4 figures)

Although most of these figures measure 20mm, from the sole of the foot to the eye, there are a couple of shorter figures in the upper picture.

The range is sold as individual figures, which can be ordered from CunnJoh@aol.com

Forces of Valor vs SHQ, WW2 American Infantry

The photo above compares three SHQ US GIs with two pre-painted figures from Forces of Valor. Click on the image for a larger version.

Manufacturers’ designations:

The FOV figures are included in set 85242 “US Landing Craft LCM 3.”

The SHQ figures come from their “WWII American Infantry, 1942-44” range. The figures come from several of the packs, as follows:

Far left: GI 23 Wounded and Two Medics
Middle: GI 25 Surgeon and Two Orderlies
Far Right: GI 24 Stretcher Party

Height compatibility (measured from sole of foot to eyes):
Forces of Valor – 20mm approximately (neither of the figures are fully upright).
SHQ – 21mm.

Body Build compatibility (from 5 categories):
Forces of Valor – D (Somewhat Heavy)
SHQ – C (Average)

Overall conclusions:
Forces of Valor troops are sold mainly as complements to their vehicles, although a few packs of just figures have been released. As can be seen, they match up fairly well with the SHQ troops. The FOV figures do look a little heavier, but not outside the range of normal human variation.

HaT vs SHQ & Kennington, Napoleonic French foot, part 1

The photo above compares three Hat French grenadiers (in blue plastic) with a similar number of French gunners from SHQ (unpainted metal). Click on the image for a larger version.

Manufacturers’ designations:

The Hat figures come from box 8166: “1805-1812 French Line Grenadiers.”

The SHQ figures come from their Napoleonic range, and are designated “ART 2 Napoleonic French Guard Horse Artillery Crew.” The range is also available from Kennington.

Height compatibility (measured from sole of foot to eyes):
HaT – 21mm
SHQ / Kennington – 22mm

Overall conclusions:
Although the SHQ figures are a tiny bit taller, the bearskins on the HaT figures disguise the difference. And of course if a gamer wanted tall grenadiers, he/she would be able to add some height in the base to achieve it. In other words, these two sets work very well together.

Note: because of the wide range of HaT French Napoleonic infantry available, there will be further posts featuring other sets. The HaT figures were kindly supplied by the manufacturer.

Newline vs Waterloo 1815, Colonial British Infantry

The photo above compares three colonial infantry from Newline Designs (unpainted metal) with three figures from Waterloo 1815 ( in gray plastic). Click on the image for a larger version.

Manufacturers’ designations:

The Waterloo 1815 figures are found in box AP-03 “Anglo-Egyptian Army.”

The Newline Design figures come from their Zulu War Range. The pose shown second from left and second from right is designated “ZW6: British Infantry at Ready,” while the third from the left is “ZW2A: British Advancing Firing.”

Height compatibility (measured from sole of foot to eyes):
Waterloo 1815 – 22mm.
Newline Design – 20mm.

Body Build compatibility (from 5 categories):
Waterloo 1815 – B (Slender: some of the poses are quite flat)
Newline Design – C (Average)

Overall conclusions:
A 2mm difference in height doesn’t sound like a lot, but it does represent 10% of the height of a figure. Therefore it can make a significant difference, and this can be seen in the current comparison. These two sets do not mix very well together.