Napoleonics in (not) Lego - update - 3D prints and companies

[Macrossmartin]

Greetings, all!

With my painting mojo currently at an all-time low, ( ), I've found a way to get figures to table with very little paint required: (Not) Lego Napoleonics!!



Now, before you ask, while these ABS antagonists are from China, they are not direct clones of Lego designs; They sport shakos, swords, muskets and printing unique to them. Chinese block manufacturers are getting more into doing their own thing now, including some excellent sets based on Eastern history and mythology.



And by thunder, they are pretty cheap; Shop around and you can find 'em on AliExpress for around AU$2.00 each. And with suitable baseplates, plant elements, and some 3D printed standards and details, I can build a whole battalion in a couple of hours. 

The photos are of a game of Chosen Men (Osprey) I recently had with a chum.
French vs Russians, 1813. The French handed the Czar's finest their жопа, although I did manage to wallop some Dragoons with a smaller number of Hussars before the end.





I sculpted and printed the standards, Eagles and the carriages for the cannons. More to come soon, including some detail shots of these martial minifigs.

[Grumpy Gnome]

Loving it mate! Little GG is getting into Lego lately, mostly Ninjago and Minecraft but looking at the LOTR Lego I did remark to Mrs. GG that if we were not so committed already with our gaming I would have been tempted to play MESBG Battle Companies with Lego. Napoleonics never crossed my mind but your game looks great!

[Roo]

Wow simply awesome!  Love this more please

[Bloggard]

great stuff.

[blacksoilbill]

That is fun!

[Macrossmartin]

Thank you, all for the encouraging words.  These little plastic chaps make me smile, and I'm having a great time collecting them.

I recently came upon these images by a Chinese minifig fan who went to the trouble of painting the shako cords and musket furniture, etc on their minifigs, and taking some pics of the results in a diorama. I think their efforts speak for themselves, and had to share:







I think these are fantastic, but they're encouraging me to paint all the details, the avoiding of which was a major incentive for collecting Nappy minifigs in the first place! 

In other news, it has just been announced that French and Russian arty crews are inbound, along with a new cannon which is more period-correct than any released by Lego:





I think this might be a potential growth area in wargaming... imagine Waterloo or Borodino in Lego at Salute or Historicon...?

More of my own stuff to follow very soon.

[Macrossmartin]

Some new photos of my Lego-style Napoleonic Minifigures; I thought people might like to see some close ups of the figs based up, plus some of the printed parts I've sculpted for this project.



Before the (official?) cannon was released, I sculpted my own carriage, and mated it to Lego wagon wheels and a spring-loaded barrel. (This opens the possibilities of Little Wars with nigh-indestructable ABS Minifigures!)



The French Aigle and the finial are also prints, attached to 3.2mm tube standard poles. The actual standards are again sculpted and printed, finished with laser-printed stickers.







The companies are based as 4 figures for French, 6 figures for Russians, but these pics just show a couple of 'colour parties' to give an idea of how I base them up, and 'flock' those bases.

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at my figures. I've been going through a bad painting funk since earlier last year, and these chaps have helped to keep me enthused for the hobby. I've also found a few fellow Minifigure gamers, and think I might be expanding my French and Russian divisions to corps level, if I'm not careful... 

[Grumpy Gnome]

Absolutely brilliant! 👍

Little GG loves Lego… making this tough to resist! Mrs. GG and I even discussed how we might have gotten into minifigs for MESBG and Frostgrave….

[Calimero]

Fantastic stuff. Also these kind of "miniatures wargaming" could be a good way to get kids into the hobby... Especially if presented at gaming convention and shows.

[MaleGriffin]

Looks like an incredible way to introduce kids to historical wargaming! And they are prepainted! I've been getting a lot of ads for Temu and AliExpress etc. and I may just get some for my grandkids!

[Macrossmartin]

Thank you for the comments, folks. 

While I definitely agree that Minifigures could be a great means of bringing the young 'uns into the hobby, I submit that children of any age, from five to a hundred and fifty (to paraphrase Wells), can enjoy Minifigure wargaming. There's definitely some Lego-oriented rulesets out there which are as complex as the sets we use with more serious(?) toy soldiers. (Take a look at Brikwars when you have a moment. Hilarious, but quite a tome.)

Anyway, I am hopeful of putting on a medieval game with Minifigures at a local history festival later this year, and have my Nappy figs on display, too. In the meantime, I'm loving the fact I can get a whole battalion completed in an evening, with no problems aside from some slightly sore fingers. (Some of these ABS parts are sharp! 

More pics to come, and hopefully a batrep or two if I can draw my local club's members into setting aside the space marines and warjacks, and discovering historical gaming can be fun. 

[Bloggard]

couldn't agree more.