Book 1 of Napoleon’s Battles offers some generic formations for the main combatants. Shown above is a Russian corps with two brigades of infantry and a separate artillery force. Commanding officers’ ranks are indicated by the number of figures per base as well as the size of the base. Each regimental group includes a command unit with ensign, commanding officers, and musician. I have used larger bases for artillery than shown in the rules as it was difficult to cram all those pieces on the base size the rules specified.
The total number of figures here is 124 which gives some indication of just how many of these little guys is necessary for a game. A corps sized formation would likely be as small a force as one would field using these rules. Also worth considering is, that for infantry, the scale is 1 figure = 120 men. To recreate any reasonable size battle from the Napoleonic era would likely require hundreds of figures on either side.
Most of the figures shown above are Heritage/Empire, the artillery and crews and most of the mounted officers are Battle Honors, and the figures on the regimental command bases are by Stan Johansen.
The quickest way for me to tell which figures are Battle Honors and which are Heritage is to see which ones fall off their horses. Battle Honors cast horses separately while Heritage present a single piece. One thing about miniatures rules is that as time went on, the rules provided roles for every kind of figure. Napoleon’s Battles demanded a command unit in every regiment, a command figure for every battalion, 2 command figures for each corps and 3 for an army.
These first were released sometime in the 70s and include hussars, dragoons, and cuirassiers. Based for Napoleon’s Battles which uses a high proportion of men per figure, the number of figures needed for a respectable army is large. The figures are well proportioned though a bit toy-like. Produced after the merger of Heritage and Custom Cast, they continued to be distributed under the Empire label for several years but are now difficult to find.
Smaller in stature than Old Glory, AB Miniatures, Battle Honors and others, the figures do best by themselves. Mores the pity that they are no longer manufactured.
For its time, a major source of miniatures including licensed figures for Star Trek, Conan the Barbarian, Lord of the Rings, and John Carter of Mars. They offered figures for any number of periods including ancients, ACW, and the American Revolution. The company was run by Duke Seifried who also sculpted figures and has been a perennial figure at the summer HMGS convention in Pennsylvania. Shown above are some packages of 15mm Napoleonic figures. The figures may also be found in Empire Miniatures packaging.
The Royal Guardsman appears to have been the primary agent for Heritage and the various lines of miniatures from Duke Seifried as well as Hinchliffe figures. Custom Cast put out their own catalog as did Hinchliffe so perhaps this was aligned most closely with Heritage figures.
