Author Topic: 2014 : a good year for the Great Northern War (Read 4231 times)

Arthur · « **on:** 30 December 2013, 02:11:11 PM »

With 2013 drawing to a close, now seems like the right time to look at what next year has in store for us. Judging by what several manufacturers currently have in the pipeline, it looks like the Great Northern War is shaping up to be one of the 'in' periods for 2014. And why not : the armies are smaller than those of the War Of the Spanish Succession, making battles more manageable on the tabletop. Painters bored with generic grey coats have plenty of colourful uniforms to choose from, from the blue faced yellow of the Swedes to the diversity of the Russians who weren't a solid wall of dark green coats faced red yet and offered some interesting colour combinations, red coats being common in the pre-1720 Russian army.

So far, we have Musketeer Miniatures expanding their existing GNW range with marching Russians and Swedes, along with some personality figures such as Charles XII :

As a result of his successful Kickstarter campaign, Nick of Ebor Miniatures will be bringing out a full range of GNW Swedes in about six months time. Paul Hicks is in charge of the putty pushing since he's already sculpting the Ebor WSS range. No pics yet as the figures are still in the development phase, but I suspect most interested parties will already be familiar with the two samples below painted by Steve Dean :

Should you wish to know more about the upcoming releases, the link below will take you to the Ebor Kickstarter page :

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/eborminiatures/swedish-army-of-the-great-northern-war-by-ebor-min

Finally, Barry Hilton is threatening to unleash a very comprehensive range of Swedes and Russians under his Warfare Miniatures banner. The figures are being sculpted by Clibinarium, and a few Swedish cavalry troopers are already available for sale, while previews of the infantry were unveiled a couple of months ago :

http://www.leagueofaugsburg.com/fightingtalk/viewforum.php?f=34

In terms of compatibility, the Musketeer castings tend to tower over their Warfare colleagues as the comparison pic below shows - the casting on the right is an old Foundry figure :

The upcoming Ebor Swedes - left hand figure - will also be more compatible with Warfare than Musketeer :

TheBlackCrane · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 December 2013, 02:31:10 PM »

Hmmm, I'm not sure I like that!

The GNW has always been a bit of a niche, surprised if it's going to go mainstream. Still, most of the new releases seem to be going 28mm, my own 'upscaling' has been from 6mm to 15mm.

Wonder whether these ranges will also see Danish, Brandenburg-Prussia, Polish-Lithuanian and so forth too.

raif · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 December 2013, 03:59:21 PM »

Quote from: TheBlackCrane on 30 December 2013, 02:31:10 PM

Wonder whether these ranges will also see Danish, Brandenburg-Prussia, Polish-Lithuanian and so forth too.

Good point!

Centaur_Seducer · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 December 2013, 04:12:56 PM »

I know that there is a certain General on the forum who is frothing at the moment

TheBlackCrane · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 December 2013, 04:29:03 PM »

Hopefully if GNW does take off then the Acedia Press Great Northern War uniforms and colours books will become available in the UK again - I'm not sure whether Baccus sell them anymore as they're always listed as out of stock (though I while I think of it I may send off a quick email and enquire).

Arthur · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 December 2013, 07:31:39 PM »

Quote from: TheBlackCrane on 30 December 2013, 02:31:10 PM

The GNW has always been a bit of a niche, surprised if it's going to go mainstream.

'Mainstream' is quite relative in this instance. I would rather say that from now on interested parties will have three sources of figures to choose from : the period is just going to become a slightly larger niche, that's all.

Quote from: TheBlackCrane on 30 December 2013, 02:31:10 PM

Wonder whether these ranges will also see Danish, Brandenburg-Prussia, Polish-Lithuanian and so forth too.

Depends on how well the Swedes and Russians sell, I guess. That said, The Ebor range has already been financed via its Kickstarter campaign and the Warfare figures are funded by a small but apparently growing group of investors/enthusiasts, so you never know what may follow.

LCpl McDoom · « **Reply #6 on:** 04 February 2014, 08:48:10 AM »

<< Big Sigh! >>

These do indeed look fantastic - but my collection of Russians, Swedes, Livonians, Danes & others are all 15mm.

Still, my best wishes for every success.