Brigade Games, Perry and Front Rank?

[NickNascati]

All,
     I am starting to put together forces for Fistful of Lead in the Peninsular War.  I ordered the chosen men, Sharpe and Harper along with guerillas and French foot dragoon’s from Brigade.  If I expand, as I probably will, I prefer the look of Front Rank over Perry.  But will they match okay?

[ARKOUDAKI]

Front Rank are generally more hefty than the Perry figs. As for Brigade Games, I have only had some of their Nap in Egypt range and the figures are slightly smaller, notably on the mounted ones.

[Arthur]

As answered above, the Brigade Games figures are generally very similar to Perry miniatures in terms of heft, bulk and height and will match Alan Perry's style quite well. I have the BG dismounted French dragoons and they work very well as dismounted versions of the Perry packs.

The Front Rank figures tend to be taller and heavier than both BG and Perry, which in itself isn't a deal breaker. IMHO, the most troublesome difference lies in the fact that the Front Rank sculpts have bigger heads and noticeably larger headgear, with their weapons being also significantly thicker and in some cases ridiculously oversized (though this is admittedly more apparent with the FR Marlburians than their Napoleonics.)

[ARKOUDAKI]

Following on, I will say that if you are going for skirmish gaming then Brigade Games are better suited due to the poses and variants. If however you are building up armies then the Perry ones are your best bet.

@Arthur, do you have the BG mtd French Dragoons, and if so, how do those compare to Perry mounts? I have the Dromedaries for both, and the BG camels are much smaller.

[Hitman]

I have all 3 - Perry, Brigade and Front Rank. I use them in skirmish and regular armies together. Yes they do vary a bit in size and heft, but I look at it as people also vary in size and heft. I am shorter (5'7") and have friends that are 6'4" tall. Do we look different? Yes, but we still look good together...

I figure if you like the figures, buy what you want and use them how you want!!!
Regards,
Hitman
 

[Arthur]

@Arthur, do you have the BG mtd French Dragoons, and if so, how do those compare to Perry mounts? I have the Dromedaries for both, and the BG camels are much smaller.

Yes, the Ebob dromedaries Paul Hicks used for his Napoleon in Egypt range tend to be on the small side compared to their Perry brethren.

Unlike their dismounted colleagues, who wear boots and can be used for pretty much anything between 1805 and 1813, the BG mounted French dragoons were sculpted with Egypt in mind, hence the turban on a least one of the variants, the blunderbuss carried by the officer figure, etc. Sizewise, they are a tad smaller than their Perry colleagues but only marginally so, the main difference being that they have small, thin legs. They also come with the wrong horses - i.e Ebob mounts with light cavalry sheepskins despite the fact that the cloth saddle with half schabraque was used throughout the Egyptian campaign (and was replaced with local Turkish saddles only rather than light cavalry ones when it wore out). I have one regiment's worth of BG mounted dragoons for my armée d'Orient, but have remounted them on Perry French dragoon horses.

Here are a few crappy comparison pics done on my mobile. My photographic skills are unlikely to impress anyone but the pics should give you an idea of how the figures look together. I have mounted them on the same horse type to keep things consistent. The figure are : left Perry French dragoon in Egypt, middle BG dragoon, right Perry 1807-1813 dragoon.



   

[ARKOUDAKI]

Thanks for the pics Arthur, those help!

[Warboss Nick]

Don‘t forget Victrix and Calpe. Both seem to mix and match with Perry quite well.