Yesterday I arrived home to find a package on my doorstep from Nottingham - two boxes of
Perry Brothers Dragoons! The first thing I noticed is these kits are packed! There are enough sprues to build 13 mounted dragoons, 8 dragoons on foot, and 6 casualty figures (3 French and 3 British)...
There are enough spare heads to make a six model elite squadron in helmets or fur caps. Of course there are enough bits to make an officer, eagle bearer, and musician. The separate heads and right arms will make assembly slightly slower than some of their kits, but will give you a wide variety of poses to make a very dynamic unit. The foot dragoons come with three different sets of arms - with the combination of two different bodies and again separate heads, you should be able to make eight unique models that would be perfect for those Sharpe-style skirmishes.
These are great models. I am a huge fan of multi-part plastic minis and have been very happy with the releases from both the Perrys and Victrix. My only gripe with this kit is that the models are in 1812 uniforms and it's doubtful many of these new uniforms found their way to my favorite theater in the Peninsula. Now, since I'm the guy who used Victrix early French to make a couple of 'close enough for me'
Spanish battalions for my collection, that's not going to stop me from adding a couple of regiments to my 1810 French army. If I have the time to paint them, I plan to add a couple of squadrons of these models for my game at Historicon.
More terrain stuff is on the way in a couple of days...
Hi Clarrie - I see you got a present from the Nottingham Easter Bunny too! Aren't they great figures? There's only six casualties as there's three horse sprues - the same as those for the heavy cav box. Don't like the idea of Brit dead'uns in a box of French - more French casualty figures would have been my choice - but being plastic they are always amenable to a bit of quick scalpel work! There are 13 mounted but I've noticed they are a torso short if you want to do a full command and a two-figure elite company. Again scalpel work will transplant the required epaulette!
ReplyDeleteVon P tells me the hussars will soon be on the way too - I noticed the artwork (and product number) on the side of the dragoon box so I put an order with Perry's in anticipation.
I'll look forward to seeing you paint these up. You'll notice on my blog that I've started with a dismounted regiment - plenty of conversion work too!
Cheers from Down Under,
Doc
You're correct about the number of casualties and I corrected the post. I agree that I would have rather seen a dragoon casualty, but I suppose in the long run if you use the models on the table, you won't need nearly as many as regular infantry. I intend to paint up casualty figures for WAVER markers in my REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE games. I converted half a dozen Brits from Victrix models already, but the acquisition of some more off the sprue doesn't bother me, even though they are in a French box. I'll probably try to convert a couple of dragoon casualties.
ReplyDeleteNice work on you're dismounted conversions and you'll note I've added a link to your blog (so everyone go check it out)!
Nice review, greatly appreciated... I can hardly wait to get my hands on these :) So, I am no Naps expert or anything, but I heard that there were no heavy cavalry in the Peninsula... I was going to do the peninsular war, but I really wanted Perry's heavy cav, so I went with Russian instead :) I have the 1812 overture ready for my first game! Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing you put these together :)
ReplyDeleteThanks,
n.
Yes nice review. I've go 4 boxes of dragoons 2 heavy cav and 2 hussars coming along with 5 infantry 1 victrix old guard to start my new 28mm french army can't wait to it turns up on my doorstep.
ReplyDeletecheers
Galpy