Front Rank Figure Review.

The New Horse Artillery & Duchy of Warsaw Range, (including The Polish Vistula Legion).

By Steve Crofts. Mosborough and District Wargames Club, (M.A.D).

Before I get down to the nitty gritty let me put you in the picture....

Some five or so years ago Whilst building my second division of French, I asked Alec at Front Rank a question, well two actually, "Have you any plans for a Duchy of Warsaw or Vistula Legion range, and also when do you intend to fetch out a range covering the French horse Artillery?".

Alec’s reply was to the point and with his usual cheery grin was simply, "Yes in the future, but I can’t exactly tell you when, you’ll have to be patient and bare with me".

With that I purchased my usual French infantry battalions and left straining under the weight of the lead!

A year rolled by and again I asked and received the same reply, so I purchased my Cavalry and the guns, for the eventual Horse Battery.

Then after a further few years I asked the same question at Partizan 1 Earlier this year, and to my complete joy came the answer that I had been hoping for,.... "September this Year!". My heart leapt and I left Alec’s stall with a spring in my stride!

Then about two weeks before the Partizan II show I received through the mail a mouth watering sight, His update to the catalogue, and yes you’ve already guessed it what they are!, That’s right the figures which I’m now about to review.

It just shows that patience is a virtue and that Alec is true to his word.

It was with great pleasure that I agreed to do this review for John here at the wargames forum.

So less of the waffle and on with the review.

Artillery

FNA 20 Old Guard Foot Artillery Officer at ease.

First thoughts.

Looking at the miniature, the casting was fairly free of flash and needed only limited de-flashing.

The model itself was well detailed, as you would expect from Alec.

Nicely posed with hands behind his back, and well proportioned and standing 37mm from the bottom of his boots to the tip of his plume.

Anyone who has not seen one of Front Ranks figures before will be pleased with their first view of any of the miniatures in the ranges as all are of a very high standard and superbly detailed.

Facial features are well defined and not disproportionate to the face.

Painting

After the usual wash in lightly soapy water, and thorough drying, the figure was sprayed in my usual colour of undercoat and once dried I began painting.

The detail of the figure is such that unless you go really silly with the undercoat all the detail is their for the painting.

The figure was a joy to paint, and I think this can be seen in the result.

Guard Horse Artillery

FNA 26 Gunner with portfire

FNA 30 Officer

First thoughts

Both miniatures again needed only needed a little de-flashing.

It was a joy to see the detail of the miniatures in their raw state. The only blemish on one of the miniatures was a slight mould line on the officer, and this was a doddle to remove and didn’t really need much attention at all.

I feel, I must point out that, in my personal experience of purchasing Front Ranks figures, I have never had a miss cast figure, and if their has been any mould lines, they are so slight, that they were so easy to remove that they are not really worth mentioning.

Again the detail of the braid, buttons everything is depicted well on the figures giving the attention to detail on the models a must.

Painting

Well what can I say that I haven’t already said, Sheer Pleasure!

Line Horse Artillery

FNA 21 Gunner with Portfire

First thoughts

Again a joy to behold, with very little de-flashing required.

The detail is all their and begs to be painted, right down to the figures moustache.

The brading is beautifully re-created on the jacket and breeches. As with all the figures in this and other ranges provided by Front Rank, it seems a pity to paint the figures as the sculpting is unbelievable. But don’t let this put you off! A clean and spray with undercoat brings out the best in these miniatures and once undercoated, I can’t wait to hit the paint cans and begin the process of bringing the colour to this already lifelike model.

Painting

Lets put it this way, if you don’t like painting this, You need your bumps feeling!

Duchy of Warsaw Polish Line Infantry

Fusileers in Czapka

DWN 1 Marching

DWN 5 Advancing Low Porte

First thoughts

Once again little clean up work was required to these miniatures.

The detail on the Czapka is stunning, right down to the eagle plate on the front of it. Both Figures are well animated with lots of folds and creases in the correct places. Musket detail as always is well defined, as are all the detailed features on all the miniatures in the review. There are I feel I must point out 8 variations to these figures and all in different poses, although one is lying dead, but do not dispair!, if you don’t like them in your units , they are excellent casualty markers and it is worth buying them for this use and also for vignettes.

As for painting well do I really need to say any more on this subject that I haven’t already said?

Voltigeurs in Czapska

DWN 24 Voltigeur Cornet.

First thoughts 

Flash what flash?, none existent on my example, except that is, the usual bit on the bottom of the base.

It is a figure that screams animation and detail and a really nice paint job!, take your time painting this one and really do this wondrous model justice.

This model will look great in a closed company or in a skirmish screen.

The cheeks on this guy are great and give the impression that he is really blasting away on his cornet!, lovely animation and superb detail!

Grenadiers in Bearskin

DWN 16 Advancing High Porte

First thoughts

Although only three models to choose from in this part of the range, you can’t really complain, as knowing Alec, he will most likely expand these further.

The casting was very clean, and again needs little work to tidy it before painting begins.

Moustache, bearskin plate detail what can I say, Well worth the wait.

Officers and Standard bearers in Bicorn

DWN 20 Officer in Bicorn pointing

A little work was needed to level the bottom of the base and to rid the model of the mould line under the left arm, but again not a lot of work to rectify.

Again loads of detail to work with, and the face is great. 

Yet again the painting brought an excellently modelled figure even more to life.

Vistula Legion

Fusileers in shako

DWN 27 Marching

First thoughts

Five figures in this part of the range including a falling wounded and a dead figure.

Very little clean up was required.

The sunrise plate on the front of the shako is well sculptured, as is the rest of the figure, can’t wait for the range to expand further, (Are you planning on doing this Alec?).

Voltigeurs

The range of Voltigeurs / Grenadiers in shako contains six figures of various poses, including kneeling firing so your skirmish screens should look the biz! With this assortment of figures, although I would have liked to have seen a lying dead and falling wounded figures in the mix and would have complemented the range.

Again as always very little preparation work was required, and yes once again the figures cry out for that lick of paint to bring them more to life.

The detail is as you would expect from Front Rank and fans of the company will not be disappointed.

Officers and Standard bearers in Shako

DWN 38 Officer Marching

this range consists of 4 officers, 1 of which is mounted and requires the purchase of his horse, and one standard bearer.

As on all the figures in the Front Rank ranges and these are no exception, the designers talent floods out of models, all the details are cut into the figure just at the right depth and proportionate to the size of the model, and guess what, yet again a marvellous model to paint!

Summing up

a beautiful set of miniatures that deserve the highest praise, could anything be done to improve them?, well yes, even more variation of poses for the Artillerymen would be nice, and hopefully forthcoming as for the Infantry, well, more variation again of poses for the Voltigeurs and command base models, (I don’t know if you have noticed but, when someone asks to look at your figures the command base is usually the one they look at).

A kneeling Voltigeur loading in a crouched/ kneeling loading pose would be nice as would a crouched running pose. These additions would look great with a skirmish line and really bring it to life, and also widen the range of figures for vignette purposes.

Well done Alec a marvellous job! And what new range would I like to see next in this period?

You did ask!

A seated and a standing Napoleon would be great along with Rustan and the rest of the Marshall’s. And a version with Napoleon looking through his telescope would also be an excellent idea in my opinion.

For the Artillery ranges, Limbers, Caissons as well as limber riders and horse team riders, now these would be excellent and would complement and finish off the existing ranges, as would wagons ect for this period.

Again, well done Alec keep up the good work, we all appreciate the amount of work and effort you put in!

Please remember to mention Wargames Forum when contacting traders!

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