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Review of 28mm Napoleonic French by Companion Miniatures
Fusilier Roly Hermans is always looking for variety for his wargames armies. And that is certainly what he got when he recently purchased a battalion of Napoelonic French infantry from Companion Miniatures.
There's no shortage of French infantry figures on the market. As they were the main player in the Napoleonic Wars, any company that produces a range from that conflict has to include the ubiquitous French infantryman. But there is sometimes a certain sameness about many companies' offerings - full dress uniforms, or campaign uniforms that are only barely different.
So when I saw an advertisement for a new range of 28mm French infantry who were not only in campaign uniform, but also wearing waistcoats rather than the more normal jackets, my interest was piqued. So off went my order to Companion Miniatures.
When they arrived, my first impression of the figures was very favourable. The castings were clean and crisp, and the figures well proportioned and animated. In stature they fall somewhere between Perry Miniatures on the one hand, and Front Rank on the other.
This is a picture from the Companion Miniatures website. To
give an idea of size, the figure on the left is 28mm from the soles of
his shoes to the top of his head-scarf, while the figure on the right
is 30mm to the top of his shako.
As mentioned, the figures are in waistcoat order. They also feature lots of different types of headgear, including covered shakoes (some with neck-cloths), head-scarves and fatigue caps. Companion Miniatures also provided me with some samples of other variations which they are going to add to the range, including men wearing civilian bicornes and straw hats.
The command figures included an officer, NCO (who is wearing clogs!), standard bearer, second eagle bearer, sapper and drummer. All are very nicely animated and look the part. They are not in waistcoat order like their men, but I think this is probably quite realistic.
I also recieved a special edition figure of a mounted colonel on a donkey, which is a decidely different touch. The colonel figure comes in two parts, which are joined at the waist.
Painting the figures was not as easy as painting Front Rank figures, as the detail is quite fine. But careful perseverance paid off in achieving a result which I was pleased with. I used Foundry paints, though I am certainly not an expert with their 3-colour system yet (as can be seen from some of the close-ups of my painting below!).
A panorama of the Companion Miniatures battalion (click on the picture
to see the whole battalion.
Each of the soldiers carries his equipment in a different way. No
more neat lines of exactly the same pack in exactly the same position!
I noticed an odd thing while I was painting these figures - some of
the faces came out looking like famous people! Can you see former British
Prime Minister Harold Wilson, "Young Ones" star Nigel Planer,
and actor John Thaw from "Inspector Morse" and "The Sweeney"?
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| This is a green of the officer from the Companion Miniatures site.
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The same officer, now painted, can be seen on the left of this picture.
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| The command group includes the eagle bearer, second eagle bearer and sapper. The mounted colonel came as a special edition figure. |
Here's the mounted colonel again. Note he comes with a donkey, not a horse - a nice touch for the Peninsular War!
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| Overall, this is a wonderful new range of French infantry. Paul Hicks' sculpts will certainly compare very favourably with some of the other big name manufacturers such as Foundry, Perry and Front Rank. The one (and only) very minor quibble I have about this range is that the command figures appear slightly bigger than the rank-and-file figures. But this didn't prove to be noticeable once I had painted them up and attached them to their bases (though I've saved the rather large drummer to join a Front Rank battalion at a later stage). If their future products are as well thought-out and different as these ones, Companion Miniatures are definitely going to appear in my collection a lot more! Note: Companion Miniatures threw in a limited edition figure of a British rifleman lying on his back firing his rifle (presumably Rifleman Tom Plunkett who shot General Cobert in this manner in 1809). As Companion Miniatures also produce Napoleonic British, this range will bear further looking into if they are even half as nice as the French.
4 Delamere Drive * Stratone Village
* Swindon Phone: 01793 821124
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