I've been planning a 15mm Russian Napoleonic army for some time, particularly as my regular opponent (Geoff) has various 15mm figures including French and Austrian, as seen in a number of One Hour Wargames AAR (see
here and
here). Having never had a Russian army (I was always the French since our early Bruce Quarrie days) I thought this would be a good opportunity to try something new. Also, green uniforms are cool.
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| 15mm Warrior command on left, Roundway command on right |
As Geoff's 15mm French are generally early period, I thought that matching Russians (i.e. pre-1812 reforms, no kiwers) would be best. Having decided on a period I started looking for figures, and consequently I decided to do a comparison between suitable figures from Warrior, Roundway and Minifigs.
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| Warrior (L), Roundway (M) & Minifigs (R) 15mm Russians |
A quick review of the infantry indicated that the Minifigs were not for me, being too skinny and for some reason cast in exceptionally light order (no packs). What was interesting, however, was that the Roundway figures (grenadiers in this case, with massive busch) represent the 1805 uniform with the unreinforced shako and cylindrical valise carried diagonally across the back. Nice.
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| Warrior (L), Roundway (M) & Minifigs (R) 15mm Russians - rear view |
Meanwhile the Warrior figures are slightly later (1807-1809 reforms) with the reinforced shako and square backpack. These figures are a bit stockier (and shorter) than the Roundway figures but do have a lot of character.
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| 15mm Curassiers: Warrior (L) & Roundway (R) |
As for the cavalry, the curassiers (and dragoons for that matter, because at that time Russian curassier regiments did not in fact wear cuirasses) are very similar. Both figures have the 'caterpillar' type crest representing the pre-1812 period. However, the helmet of the Roundway figure is oddly bulbous compared to the Warrior trooper.
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| Cossacks: Warrior (L), Roundway (R) |
The cossack figures are really quite different, with the Warrior figure equipped with a sword and wearing a long kaftan and wide busby compared to the Roundway figures with lance.
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| Russian generals (Warrior) |
Finally here are some Warrior Russian generals which are quite serviceable.
Overall, it came down to a toss-up between Roundway figures and Warrior. I liked the early Russian infantry from Roundway with the valise instead of a backpack. The Warrior cavalry I really liked, particularly the cossacks. Overall, the Warrior figures are good and let's face it are considerably cheaper than Roundway, so they will form the bulk of the army.
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| Warrior RUS2 - true 15mm |
Subsequent posts will show how my army has shaped up (with the addition of jaegers and artillery), and they might even feature in an AAR or two...
4 comments:
Always liked Warrior figures. Very underrated
Yes, I like Warrior figures and I think they've a lot of character and they paint up well. I also recently bought some of their Austrians (the ones with the helmets) to paint as Wurttemburgers to supplement Geoff's French), so it will be interesting to see how that turns out.
Cheers WW
Dont forget that the pre-1805 uniform was still hanging around until after the close of the 1807 campaign do bicornes and mitres are a welcome variation to this army.
Thanks Drew, good point. I do have the Pavlov regiment in the works but some musketeer regiments in bicorns (if I can find suitable figures) might be fun.
Cheers WW
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