Collecting and Modelling the Armies

Collecting any of the ten Armies that I have written lists for is very easy with a wide range of excellent 25/28mm figures available from a number of Manufacturers, and the following figure ranges are just some of my model preferences and is in no way complete. The largest variety of figures presently on the market can be found amongst the Eastern Renaissance, Ottoman Turk and Cossack ranges by Old Glory miniatures, indeed the collector could build his complete collection from this source and be very satisfied with the result, just be wary of their smallish cavalry figures. Then there is the brilliant range of Polish, Muscovite and Ottoman figures sculptured by Nick Collier and marketed by the ‘The Assault Group’ (TAG), the only minus I can see with range is that they are slightly more expensive than their competitors (but you can buy them in unit packs which are very good value for money, drop them a line). The range of ECW figures designed by Nick Collier for Renegade and Bicorne Miniatures are superb and can be used at a pinch to represent European style cavalry and infantry units in many of the armies. Redoubt Miniatures produce a small range of Polish armoured and un-armoured Hussars and armoured Pancerni which are slightly larger than the TAG figures and positively dwarf the Old Glory horse, however these figures have to be some of my favourites on the market but just don’t mix them with other manufacturers. Redoubt also do a very large range of Ottomans which are very nice especially the heavy cavalry and they even include a nicely detailed wagon with small cannon, ideal for a Turkish wagon tabor. The ECW and TYW figures made by Redoubt miniatures are also some of my favourites and include all sorts of vignettes such as command groups, punishment scenes, gallows and a beautiful coach (I bought the three musketeers varient two weeks ago). Wargames Foundry make a small range of Polish figures as well as a larger ECW and TYW range which are very useful for our period, additionally a small Cossack range has some very beautiful figures which are truly inspiring. Perry Miniatures have a well designed and extensive ECW range, the two brothers also designed the Foundry Polish, TYW and ECW ranges. Essex Miniatures produce a surprising variety of figures for all ten armies listed above including ECW, Polish, Tartars, Ottomans, Cossacks and Muscovites, the Persian Islamic range is an excellent source for heavy Asiatic cavalry figures used in Ottoman, Tartar and even Muscovite armies. Finally there are several manufacturers of SYW/Napoleonic Cossacks that can be used to represent Regimented units of mounted Cossacks. I use several units of Cossacks from Elite miniatures Russian Napoleonic series and the SYW Cossacks from Front Rank Miniatures are also very good to represent the more uniformed regimented Cossack units.