Originally Published on the Spanner and the Yank Web Site. Used by permission.

10 August 2003

NOTE: If you want to see just how well these figures can paint up, and how nicely they look en masse, check out [Note May 1, 2005 Update: Site closed] Boris Megorsky's Great Northern War units. And the flags, before you ask, are more of Baccus' offerings. Dal.

INTRODUCTION

Mike and I haven't covered 6 mm figures very much at all. It's unfortunate, because in many ways 6 mm are the perfect scale for gaming, enabling you to refight large battles such as Austerlitz, not division sized actions. And anyone who saw the large games put on by the CWS at Can Con in the late '80's will know just how impressive these scale of figures look en masse. True, you can't paint in the exact regimental lace pattern on these, as you can on a 28 mm British Napoleonic infantryman (if you want to- and some do). But you can't refight a major action on a 2M square table with 28 mm figures, either, and still have a reasonable number of figures per unit (say 30 for an infantry unit).

Pete Berry of Baccus 6 sent me some samples of his new Archemaenid Persians (Click Here for the review), some SYW French and a couple of new Napoleonic packs. I was surprised at how much detail is included in these figures. Even my wife was impressed, saying simply "They're very nice, aren't they? Are you going to paint them?". And for me that's the problem- painting them. I've tried 6 mm before, without much success. (The main reason being that I put some bamboo through my wrist 20 years ago, cutting the nerves to my hand and making the wrist very stiff. I can barely paint 15 mm figures these days. If you want to see what it's like, put your wrist in a splint and wear a pair of thick, stiff gloves next time you try to paint some figures. Not easy, is it? Add in failing eyesight and?) For most people, however, the opposite is true and 6 mm is easier to paint once you've tried.

When I win $30M on the lottery I will be going into 6 mm for the WSS- bought painted of course! Can you imagine it? Battalions of 60 figures, dressed in three ranks, flanked by cavalry squadrons of 30 figures. At last the units will start to look like they should......

NAPOLEONICS

Pete included some new Austrian generals and ADC's as well as some French Chevaux-Legere Lanciers. For a look at Pete's Napoleonic range, see his review here.

Austrian staff (NAU 10) and French lancers (NFR 14)

SEVEN YEARS WAR

A nice selection of French infantry, cavalry and artillery were sent, along with some very nice infantry flags. The first thing I noticed is that the flag staffs and spontoons are in scale, not the usual cabers you see in this scale. The different sorts of coat are included and the detail is surprising. I'll let the figures do the talking, though:

French hatmen (full skirts, front and front and rear turnbacks) and Grenadiers (SFR1, SFR 2, SFR 3 and SFR 4)

Horse, hussars and horse with bearskin (SFR 5, SFR 7 and SFR 8)

Artillery (SFR 9)

6 mm isn't for everyone. But then neither is 15 mm, 28 mm or 54 mm. It will depend upon what you want from your figures. Are they primarily meant for gaming, for display or are are they models in their own right, with gaming just a minor adjunct? If you're a gamer then you should look at 6 mm figures. They have a lot of advantages and, these days, are as good as most larger ranges. With units dressed in the correct number of ranks and where a battalion has more than 10 figures, 6 mm allows you to have realistic looking "battles". They may not have the individual impact of a well painted 28 mm figure, but then again few people have the space or money to field battalions of 28 mm figures that are 100 figures strong, either.

Even the flags are catered for by Baccus 6:

French SYW infantry flags- there's 12 regiments represented on this sheet.

These are recommended. Why not think about 6 mm for the next army or period you do?

Have Fun!

Dal.