15MM Napoleonic advice

[grant]

Also I can HIGHLY recommend Nic Rob at Eureka USA. You get to see the stock levels, pick the figures you want individually, and it makes life very easy.

http://eurekaminusa.com

Most of mine have come from Nic, some from Australia.

I literally just started my project last night ...  

[jambo1]

Just put my first small order into Fighting15s for a Bavarian unit just to see how I get on, could be the start of something big I think!!!

[von Lucky]

Psst. Nic's in Australia. Rob's in the USA.

And yes, AB all the way. The reasoning (for others who need convincing)? If you're going to spend all that time painting the little guys, you might as well make your effort worth it.

There's also the AB site:
http://abfigures.com/

[jambo1]

That's exactly what I thought so decision has been made, the painting guide on AB site is very nice too!!

[Fighting15s]

That's exactly what I thought so decision has been made, the painting guide on AB site is very nice too!!

Painting guides I can also do. :-) https://oozlumgames.com/painting/ My technique differs from Tony Barton's, and our different approaches provided a topic of conversation earlier this month when I dropped in for my annual chat.

Nic at Eureka in Oz (abfigures.com) is the master source of figures for both Rob in the US and me here in the EU. Unlike Rob, however, I cast some codes under licence to reduce shipping delays. Of course, I use a different metal from Eureka, and have just made the switch to lead-free pewter. Eureka uses a traditional tin-lead alloy.

Ian

[jambo1]

Cheers for the link for your painting guide Ian I will be looking at that tonight, I ordered  a unit pack of Bavarians last night but will be ordering more very shortly, they look just too good to resist and the advice here was great.

[grant]

Psst. Nic's in Australia. Rob's in the USA.

And yes, AB all the way. The reasoning (for others who need convincing)? If you're going to spend all that time painting the little guys, you might as well make your effort worth it.

There's also the AB site:
http://abfigures.com/

Lol. Totally got them backwards. Yes; Rob is excellent to deal with in the US, and so is Nic!

[jambo1]

Now there is service for you, got my Bavarian unit from Fighting15s today, I only ordered them the other day!!! First time seeing AB figures in the flesh and I am impressed, they are lovely, great detail on the figures as much as you see on 28s. That's me converted, now to do some planning on my next purchase!! Great service and a great product, very happy!

[Bunny]

Whilst I do like and have used some AB figures I do prefer Old Glory 15mm, nice ranges and a good price.  Also there is Blue Moon a smaller selection but great figures and a good price.

I'm on a slow process of collecting the French allies of the Grand Armee' of 1812.  Great variety of German states, Polish, Italian, Neapolitan, Spanish, Portuguese, Swiss and Croatian....all good fun!

[jambo1]

Nice units there!! I have purchased some Blue Moon recently just to see what they were like and they are very nice and will fit in nicely with AB.

[Paddy649]

Figures:  I can't agree more that AB are the figures to use.  They are awesome sculpts and a comprehensive range.  Minor irritations is that they don't do Horse Artillery for some of the minor nations (i.e.  Saxon Horse artillery) but that is just a minor niggle.  Their range for Waterloo is not perfect yet - but I understand that they are coming.  I stated a long time ago and have 10,000+ (a mix of Minifigs, Old Glory, Essex, Battle Honours and AB).  I started with Minifigs as a kid and they are OK.  Old Glory and Essex are also OK.  Battle Honours are compatible with AB.  AB are slightly more expensive but are simply stunning so are worth it!

AB route as everything I have seen before looks stunning, they certainly set the bar for 15/18mm figures. The only worries for me are stock levels as they say if they are out of them it can take up to eight weeks to get them over from Oz.

Absolutely no problem.  Ian at Fighting 15s delivers quickly and on the rare occasion where stock levels are a problem a e-mail to Ian will allow them to be substituted for an alternative.  Also with Fighting 15s the customer Service is excellent.

Rules:  I use Age of Eagles which are a good balance between playability and size.  I also use Napoleon's Battles which are similar. 

Nation & Period:  I play 1813 Central Europe and Peninsular.  I would recommend chosing a battle and collecting the figures for that - but choose one where the figures can be reused in another battle in the same campaign - so you build bigger and bigger armies.  I would strongly advise getting a matched pair of armies French and either Brit, Austrians, Russian or Prussian.  I dislike the Brits as they just line up and shoot it out (yawn!) but luckily I have a regular opponent who collects them and can give me a game.   I note that for 1813 many people have Prussian armies - they are lovely uniforms but this means that if yiou join a group for bigger games your figures don't get used.  WE are always short of Austrian vs Russian - and here it is just a choice  is just a choice between white and green.  THe alternative is to chose a minor nation and build up that army.  Saxons for 1813 would be fun.

[jambo1]

Many thanks for your words of advice, much appreciated. I certainly will take on board your advice about building up armies to fight a particular battle, now which one to choose!!

[Paddy649]

Well if its Bavarians you are into then its either Wagram 1809 or Bautzen 1813.