Warlord Epic Scale Waterloo French a photo review

       This month's edition of Wargames Illustrated featured a sprue of Warlord's new "Epic Scale" (known in other terms as 15mm) Napoleonic infantry. I managed to convince the good folks at Michigan Toy Soldier to give me an extra copy of the sprues so that I could review both. You can find the British review here, and a look at the associated mounted troops here. The minis are cast in a dark blue plastic that is standard hard styrene which holds detail very well. I would have preferred gray plastic but this allows enthusiastic beginners to play the army right out of the box.

       The eight stands of infantry are accompanied by eight skirmishing infantry, a mounted officer and an artillery piece.The groups of soldiers are cast joined at the elbows (as period drill regulations would have them) with their rifles at shoulder arms while the skirmishing infantry are modeled in active poses of firing and loading their guns The figures are cleanly cast with no flash and only the slightest hint of mold lines. The level of detail on the figures is very good, more detailed than many of the metal miniatures that I have seen. They are slightly larger than my old Minifig 15s so they ought to mix well with the new larger figures that fill the market but I would hesitate to try mixing them with the 18mm subjects that some companies produce.

 

the front of the sprue

 

 

the back of the sprue 

 

 

a closer look at the skirmishers;

 good active poses with well proportioned anatomy

 

 

the front of the skirmishers, a good mix of overcoat and uniform 

every bit as good as most metal miniatures  

 

 

 

the mounted officer and gunners, 

I do like the lad with his hands over his ears

 

 

 

the front of the mounted officer displays an excellent amount of detail as do the gunners

all of which is raised enough to make painting easy 

 

 

 

the rear of the infantry block, the figures aren't all exactly in step and there are small variations in the uniform and equipment, all of which really bring the models to life 

 

  the front of the same troops, some have oilskins covering their shakoes, others do not and there are small variations in hand position, excellent sculpts

 

 

 

 the back of the command stand; which features a drummer, an eagle-bearer and a sword-waving officer

 

 

 the front of the command stand; the sculptor was smart to place the sword of the officer toward the center of the base thus minimizing the risk of breakage, but I would be tempted to replace the pole of the standard bearer with a bit of steel wire

        This is a real testament to how far the plastic soldier end of our hobby has come in the last five to ten years. These figures are better detailed than 28mm models were just a decade ago and are so affordably priced that even a beginner can obtain an entire army without suffering financial hardship. To anyone contemplating entering Napoleonic wargaming this set (the Warlord boxed army contains a complete French army infantry/cavalry/guns including rules and some terrain for $145US) should seriously consider getting this. I only wish that items like this had been available when I was building my armies.

     Very Highly Recommended!