Just before Sue and I went on our pre-Christmas cruise, Tim Gow delivered a large box of painted Napoleonic figures to me. They had belonged to a recently deceased wargamer, and his family wanted them to go to someone who would use them. Knowing of my recent growing interest in Napoleonic wargaming, Tim thought of me ... and I was only to glad to add them to my collection.
Tim had already sent me some photographs of the figures so that I had some idea what the collection contained, but when the figures arrived, they were very soundly packed in sealed boxes. I resisted the impulse to open them before we went on our cruise as I wanted to spend some time cataloguing what they contained. As I had very little to do on New Year's Day, I decided that it was an ideal opportunity to begin that task ... and I began by opening the boxes labelled 'British'. What I found inside can be seen below.
Rifles
There are:
Infantry
There are:
Officers
There are:
Cavalry
There are:
Artillery
There are:
This represent a massive increase in the number of the British troops in my collection (an additional 267 figures!), and it will take me some considerable time to integrate them into my collection. Most of the foot figures are Staddens, which makes them slightly bigger than most of me existing figures, but once renovated, varnished, and based, they should not stand out as being too different.
I have yet to open the boxes labelled 'French' ... but if what I have already seen is anything to go by, I have more delights to come!
Tim had already sent me some photographs of the figures so that I had some idea what the collection contained, but when the figures arrived, they were very soundly packed in sealed boxes. I resisted the impulse to open them before we went on our cruise as I wanted to spend some time cataloguing what they contained. As I had very little to do on New Year's Day, I decided that it was an ideal opportunity to begin that task ... and I began by opening the boxes labelled 'British'. What I found inside can be seen below.
Rifles
There are:
- 24 Riflemen
- 1 Bugler
- 3 Officers
Infantry
There are:
- 139 Infantrymen (including 15 Fusiliers)
- 13 NCOs
- 2 Drummers
Officers
There are:
- 12 Foot Officers
- 3 Mounted Officers
- 2 Standard Bearers
Cavalry
There are:
- 22 Heavy Cavalry Troopers
- 20 Light Cavalry Troopers
Artillery
There are:
- 6 Royal Artillery Gunners
- 2 Royal Artillery Officers
- 12 Royal Horse Artillery Gunners
- 2 Royal Horse Artillery Drivers
- 2 Royal Horse Artillery Foot Officers
- 2 Royal Horse Artillery Mounted Officers
This represent a massive increase in the number of the British troops in my collection (an additional 267 figures!), and it will take me some considerable time to integrate them into my collection. Most of the foot figures are Staddens, which makes them slightly bigger than most of me existing figures, but once renovated, varnished, and based, they should not stand out as being too different.
I have yet to open the boxes labelled 'French' ... but if what I have already seen is anything to go by, I have more delights to come!
.jpg)
Hi BOB,
ReplyDeleteThis is a spectacular Stadden Collection of the the British Troops- and along with the French you will certainly have an enviable Collection...very treasured too. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteThe majority of the figures are Staddens, but there are other maker's figures as well ... including a few Willie figures.
I'll be featuring the French figures on my blog tomorrow, but when combined with my existing collection, I now have a huge number of Napoleonic figures to wargame with.
All the best,
Bob
These Stadden figures are really nice. Are they about 25mm in height?
ReplyDeleteI'd be quite happy to acquire some of these but I presume that the molds for these have long ago disappeared into the Ether and no one makes them today?
Red_Cardinal,
DeleteThe Stadden figures are closer to modern 28/30mm figures in height, but are far less chunky and more anatomically correct. They will look large alongside some of my existing figures, but as not all people and horses are the same size, I think that I'll be able to live with the difference.
I'm not sure what happened to the original moulds (I think that Spencer Smith Miniatures might have some of them), but I am sure that the figures would sell if they were brought back into production.
All the best,
Bob
Actually both ranges are still in production and can be had from www.traditionoflondonshop.com
DeleteRoss Mac,
DeleteThanks very much for that information.
All the best,
Bob
A wonderful Christmas gift! But, you're going to need a bigger table! :)
ReplyDeleteWell, anyway the reinforcements should set you up for a van-portable Napoleonic wargame at a future COW session.
Ross Mac,
DeleteNot just a bigger table; I think that a bigger room (or even house!) might be necessary!
All the best,
Bob
A fantastic windfall - well done!
ReplyDeleteStryker,
DeleteI have been very, very lucky to acquire this huge collection.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteThese look exquisite and will increase the potential of your existing Napoleonic collection enormously. Once they have been 'Corderyed' in respect of basing etc they will look fine alongside the Del Prado figures. I am sure I am speaking for a number of your blog readers when I say it will be fantastic to see this lot in action although I suspect an 8 x 8 grid may be a little restrictive....:-)
All the best,
DC
David Crook,
DeleteMy collection was already quite large, and is still in the process of being renovated, varnished and based. These additional figures will gradually be integrated into it, and when that has been completed, it would enable me to fight huge battles ... if only I had the space. I suspect that the only 8 x 8 grid that they will fit in would require 1m x 1m squares!
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteYou will really have to become a Napoleonic wargamer now! What a splendid addition to your armies.
A great start to 2019.
Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteI suspect that you might well be right ... and my collection is going to be much larger than I ever thought that it would be.
All the best,
Bob
Hey - stop blaming me!
ReplyDeleteTim Gow,
DeleteI'm not blaming you ... but Sue might be!
All the best,
Bob
Give you joy of your new figures! I look forward to seeing them in action...
ReplyDeleteAlan
Tradgardmastare (Alan),
DeleteI am finding the sudden increase in the size of my collection of Napoleonic figures quite daunting, but once I've got over my initial shock I'm sure that it will spur me on to get them to a state where I can use them on my tabletop.
All the best,
Bob
Hello Bob, what a lovely gift and glad they have gone to such a good home. Would you say the Staddens are 25mm or 30mm as both are listed on the Tradition site? Whichever they are fine figures.
ReplyDelete‘Lee,
DeleteIt’s probably a good thing that I did not acquire these figures earlier in the life of my Napoleonic project. If I had, it might have taken a somewhat different course.
I think that the majority of the figures are 30mm... which makes them closer in size to modern 28mm figures. They do look rather large when put next to my Del Prado figures ... but as I’m not likely to field units of mixed figures, I’m hoping that it won’t be too noticeable. After all, I have had small 20mm WW2 Russian fighting large 20mm WW2 Germans alongside 1:87th-scale ROCO Minitanks and no one has ever mentioned the apparent disparities in size/scale.
All the best,
Bob