Oh no, not more figure comparisons! Perry visitation and a new blog

The Perry twins are, or at least were, back in Wellington on one of their pilgrimages. But they do keep themselves busy with the local film in-crowd of Peter Jackson, Weta Workshop etc. They even managed a spot of acting during some Hobbit filming. Apparently they played a couple of humans … which just goes to show how far prosthetics have come if they can make the Perry twins look human! Ha ha ha. von Peter himself was overly proud of this rather clever quip. The twins smiled politely and drunk their beer!  8O)

Despite their busy schedule the twins found time for a couple of meetings with some of the gaming locals. von Peter himself and The son & heir went along on the Friday night of the 5th July. Much enjoyment and anecdotes were shared along with several beers in the noisy environment of the Mac’s Brewbar on the Wellington waterfront. Not a lot of the future for Perry Miniatures was gleaned despite several cunning and frankly underhand attempts to divine such! And what was divined would probably be a betrayal of trust for von Peter himself to splurge here. Sorry.

But von Peter himself did have the presence of mind to ask about the comparative figure sizes of their first and last Napoleonic sculpts for Wargames Foundry. And yes, as postulated in the prior An illustrated comparison of Napoleonic Russians – Front Rank vs. Foundry post, the figure size did increase from the start of their Napoleonic sculpting (Austrians, Bavarians and French) for Wargames Foundry to the end (Russians).

So a couple more illustrative pictures of Napoleonic figures from Wargames Foundry (early sculpt and late), Front Rank Figurines and Perry Miniatures. As usual a few disclaimers first.

1. The figures are, with the exception of one undercoated by someone Austrian grenadier, as they come from the manufacturer. Usually von Peter himself would ink or wash the figures prior to photography to enhance the definition of the figures. But in this case von Peter himself was just too idle and the point is not the fineness of the sculpting but the size of the sculpting.
2. The Wargames Foundry Russian samples are taken from the unused remnants of the RN43 Musketeer/Jager in Greatcoat Marching pack. It was with some surprise, some delight and because of the context some annoyance that von Peter himself discovered that one of the surviving / unused figures from that pack is shorter than the others! And shorty was used in both pictures below. Damnation. For the record the other unused figures from the pack are all of the taller stature.
3. The Perry Miniatures Russians are represented by standing figures from their RN16 Two horse apothecary wagon with wounded and surgeons and orderlies (militia and non-combatants) pack. I have no ‘fighting’ Russian infantry from the Perrys so hopefully these are representative of the Perrys size wise.
4. Likewise von Peter himself has limited figures to choose from as representatives of the early sculpted Napoleonics from Foundry. Most of what he does have are casualties which are lying or sitting down and so not that useful for our purposes. von Peter himself does also have a solitary early sculpt Frenchman … somewhere!!! But the little critter is eluding all attempts to discover his where-abouts. Undoubtedly he’ll turn up tomorrow. <Grrrrr>

With all that said typed … on with the show …

First up are Russian infantry from the three companies. Please pay close attention to the photograph above. From left to right are presented …

1. Perry Miniatures from RN16 Two horse apothecary wagon with wounded and surgeons and orderlies (militia and non-combatants)
2. Front Rank Figurines RN43 Musketeer/Jager in Greatcoat Marching
3. Foundry Miniatures from pack RN1/4 Pavlov Grenadiers in Winter Dress Marching
4. Foundry Miniatures from pack RN2/3 Infantry, Oilskin Covered 1812 Shako Marching. This figure is the aforementioned shorty from the pack
5. (Both joined figures) Perry Miniatures from RN16 Two horse apothecary wagon with wounded and surgeons and orderlies (militia and non-combatants)
6. Foundry Miniatures from pack RN1/4 Pavlov Grenadiers in Winter Dress Marching
7. Perry Miniatures from RN16 Two horse apothecary wagon with wounded and surgeons and orderlies (militia and non-combatants)
8. Foundry Miniatures from pack RN2/3 Infantry, Oilskin Covered 1812 Shako Marching
9. Front Rank Figurines RN3 Musketeer/Jager Marching

The most surprising revelation is the difference between the Foundry generic Russian infantry and the Pavlov Grenadier figures. Perhaps it’s just that the Pavlovs only selected big strapping lads!

Next up are early sculpted (Austrians) vs late sculpted (Russians) Perry handiwork for Foundry Miniatures.

1. RN2/3 Infantry, Oilskin Covered 1812 Shako Marching. This is the shorter figure from the pack
2. Austrian Grenadier from an unknown pack – von Peter suspects that he was from an Austrian captives pack
3. RN1/4 Pavlov Grenadiers in Winter Dress Marching
4. AN72 Austrian Hussars Mounting Up
5. RN2/3 Infantry, Oilskin Covered 1812 Shako Marching
6. AN72 Austrian Hussars Mounting Up
7. AN72 Austrian Hussars Mounting Up
8. RN2/3 Infantry, Oilskin Covered 1812 Shako Marching

The short figure Russian infantryman on the far left queers the pitch a little and that Pavlov is still a standout but one can make ones own decision on the differing sizes of the earlier and later sculpts.

And here endeth the ongoing saga of figure size differences. In truth it should have started and finished in the prior post. I blame it all on those Perry twins!!  8O)

Carl Pagano starts a blog

von Peter himself received an email from an old acquaintance Carl Pagano. Now as a point of clarification it is not that Carl is overly old of himself. It’s just that Carlo and von Peter himself made their first acquaintance many years ago. Carlo had an envious reputation as a man with a seriously fine Napoleonic collection. And if von Peter himself remembers correctly a loving wife who would buy him wargames units as presents all of her own volition. Now where is that Fraulien von Peter herself  – I have here something that she needs to read … preferably while von Peter himself is out of harms way!!  8O)

Anyway Carl has started a blog http://withpyjamasthroughthedessert.blogspot.com.au/ which in his own words …

This particular blog will join a host of other wonderful sites which pay homage to the Gilder Games in the Sudan.  We have spent many years playing the rules and recently I have spent a good deal of time putting it all on paper, taking out some of the ambuguities, inserting explanations and examples so that the rules can finally be available in a wargamer friendly format that hopefully will get more people playing this wonderful period with 60 man battalions and hordes of Fuzzies coming over the hill intent on carnage!  Fantastic stuff.

So if you’re into the Sudan, Peter Gilder’s rules for the Sudan, some great pictures of games based in the Sudan or just an interesting read then von Peter himself suggests that you should make the electronic move over to With Pyjamas through the Desert with haste and promptly book mark the site!

Enough said.

The heading picture – Cossack and Hussar Outpost – was found in the dusty archives of von Peter himself. Now that cossack obviously has his horse well under control. Either that or he is a very rash or brave cossack indeed!

And don’t forget to click on the images for an enhanced view.

Until we meet again …

Salute

von Peter himself