15MM Napoleonic advice

[jambo1]

Hi folks, need a bit of advice here, after much thought I am going to do Napoleonics in 15mm, I have done them in 28mm and 10mm before but neither floated my boat. So what I am looking for is some advice on what range to go for, just what in your opinion would be the best one to go for. Many thanks in advice.

[sukhe_bator]

It very much depends on what period/part of the conflict you are interested in, the nations and sorts of battles you prefer - big engagements or smaller brigade actions. There's a lot of scope in 15mm and there is more space and scope for interesting scenery. You can opt to go mainstream and pick certain campaigns or scenarios. Or if you want to something a little different, there's the wars in Egypt and the Med, as well as the conflicts in the Caucasus between the Russians, Qajar Persians and the Ottomans to consider...
Don't rule out the Greek Wars of Independence or the Wars of Liberation in S America either - though strictly speaking these are post 1815, but essentially Napoleonic in character.
I chose the British Expedition of 1807 to Alexandria vs Mehmet Ali's Albanians/Mamluks

This led me onto the Egyptian War against the Wahhabis in 1811-15, which included exotic factions like these Sharifan camels…

Mamluks and European Turkish auxiliaries

Wahhabite Arabs… drawn largely from Minifigs Napoleon in Egypt period ranges

Ottoman Janissaries for the wars vs the Persians and Russians

Greek War of Independence or Wars in Greece vs the Turks

Qajar Persians

The world is pretty much your oyster, and most ranges, even the more unusual ones, are much better supported both in terms of figures and interest groups out there than when I started...

[jambo1]

Lovely work there!! I am planning going more basic, French vs Austrians, Russians maybe or the Waterloo campaign, not made my mind up a hundred percent yet on period. Certainly the periods you are doing look very enticing!!

[grant]

The very finest in 15mm are, hands down, AB Figures. In the UK they are sold by Fighting 15s

http://www.fighting15sshop.co.uk/ab-figures--flags-218-c.asp

To get a better look at the range, the US Eureka site is handy:
http://eurekaminusa.com/# - hit menu, scroll to bottom, click AB on left.

I have a fledgling collection for Leipzig that I am going to start painting today in fact. And there is nothing finer than AB.

[baxterj]

Heres what you can do with ABs:


They are the finest wargaming figures in the world.

[grant]

Gorgeous! Well done sir!

[jambo1]

Superb stuff there!! Yes I had a thought about going down the 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.

[sukhe_bator]

I agree with AB. My Mamluks are in part ABs. Stock levels would not put me off. It'd take me that length of time to paint up a batch...

[Ray Rivers]

They are the finest wargaming figures in the world.

For 15mm Napoleonics... there is no competition.

[jambo1]

Many thanks for the advice gents, I think I will now go down the AB route, I am going to invest a fair bit of time and money on this so go for the best!!

[baxterj]

Jambo, pm me your email address and I will send you a pdf of the catalogue. Its a bit old, but it has lots of stuff in one place rather than flicking through the web pages.
John

[jambo1]

Nice one John!! will send you my e-mail now, many thanks.

[Fighting15s]

Superb stuff there!! Yes I had a thought about going down the 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.

It's part of the hazard of sourcing stock from Oz. Sometimes demand can wipe out stocks of a code and it therefore takes time to get new stock as my shipments arrive in 25 to 30kg parcels.

For a number of common codes, I have licensed moulds and cast them to order in the UK.

Ian

[jambo1]

Thanks for that Ian, shouldn't be too much of a problem for me as it's basic stuff I will be buying first anyway, Prussians some Austrians and French to get me started.

[Gunner Dunbar]

AB, if stocks are low at fighting 15s Eureka Australia always has good stocks, lots of ABs on my blog under the Napoleonics tag.
http://gunnerswargamming.blogspot.com.au/