Thursday 23 January 2014

15mm / 18mm Austrian Napoleonic Comparison - Old Glory and Blue Moon

With the great selection of 15/18mm Napoleonic miniatures that we have nowadays we are almost spoiled for choice. Almost, but not quite. Early Austrians in helmets are well supported with most manufacturers having these in their range. But they're not all compatible. So far I have Austrians from Warmodelling, AB, Old Glory and Blue Moon. Campaign Games also have these in their range, and although I have some Artillery crew on order, I haven't seen any of their miniatures in the flesh.

Old Glory are the most common manufacturer in my collection so far, mostly due to the cost, but as you'll see from the photographs, they are considerably shorter than the others I have mentioned. I do like these figures, and they certainly paint up better than their reputation had suggested.

Blue Moon are the newest range in my collection of 15/18mm Napoleonic Austrians and the second most common, again as they are economical to purchase. They are taller than the Old Glory, and very clean sculpts. The poses are slightly too similar in my opinion, with the positioning of the head the main difference between poses. My main gripe would be that the cross belts and other straps don't seem as well defined as could be, especially when compared to the likes of AB. Also the backpacks, cartridge boxes, water bottles and blanket roll are all quite small. They may be more realistically proportioned than other figures equipment, but they felt small when painting them. The bayonets are also quite short, but this seems an issue through the range. I've heard a few comments about the thickness of the "telegraph pole" that the standard bearer is carrying, but as you can see, once the flag is attached they look fine, and will last longer.

I will be mixing Old Glory and Blue Moon within my collection, but they'll not be mixed within the same battalion or regiment. I'll probably even try to keep them is separate brigades. Anyway, here's the comparison shots so you can judge for yourself...

I nearly forgot to mention. The Old Glory are IR23 Toscana, as shown in previous posts. The new battalion will be IR47 Graf F. Kinsky Regiment, which will be represented by two battalions, with grey green facings.

Left base: Old Glory, Centre base: Blue Moon, Right base: Old Glory. Mounted figures are; Left: Warmodelling, Right: AB Miniatures.

5 comments:

Paulalba said...

very nice figures Colin!!!

LittleArmies said...

Hi Colin,
Very nicely done. I rejected those OG Austrians because the bag I bought was so terrible (although the chap I sold it to on eBay seemed very happy with them) but you've done a good job.

On the BM figures did you find flash on the space between the swept back right arm and the body? I had that on their British and was annoyed by it as it was clearly an issue with the pose rather than the casting (which was otherwise fine).

I'm such a lead snob!

Malc

Colin Baillie said...

Thanks Paul. They're nowhere near as nice as your figures.

Malc,
Yes, the flash is pretty bad there. Strangely I have another set that don't have the same issue.

Vive l'Empereur said...

Great to see some comparison being done. I'm not fond of the Old Glory poses that tend to make the soldiers appear fatigued and sluggish. I've got some AB Austrians I'm about to begin working on for Lasalle games and I had wondered how well Blue Moon might work for some units. Seeing your comparisons, I think I'll just have to keep my collection homogenous. Thanks for posting.

Mark Cowley said...

I thought Austrians had a reputation for being sluggish. ;-)

Nice job on the figures.