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

AB's sculptor Tony Barton has just released the latest figures in this range. They consist of light infantry in skirmishing and march attack poses, foot artillery and horse artillery. In the pipeline are the cavalry, including both the older style of helmet and the newer type (the 2nd regiment of Chevaux-Legere were still wearing these in 1813 according to many sources). These will be very welcome as the offerings from Old Glory are very poor., as were the older Minifigs. Hopefully, though, they won't grow too big as has happened with the artillery. There's a bit of a sense of Mr Barton doing this range without his usual care and enthusiasm (although the detail on the figures is superb, as usual) as can be seen with the artillery. Apparently he is currently engrossed with doing 20mm WWII figures (which are very well done) and finds the Napoleonic period taxing. Hopefully he'll regain his enthusiasm, AB's are the benchmark for all other ranges up to and including 25mm as far as I'm concerned. There's still incomplete ranges and ranges yet to be done (eg Swedes) and I'd selfishly like to see them appear one day.

Firstly the light infantry. As well as two soldiers skirmishing and three in march attack poses there is also a new drummer. The officer previously released for the jäger is used for the light infantry as well. Once again these are very nicely done figures and the detail is superb. You could ask why light troops are depicted in the march attack pose but for me it's a nice change. However some different poses for the light infantry, which look very similar to the jäger, would have been a better choice.

Light infantry at march attack (you'll need these for the 6th Infantry in 1812 or any post-1812 uniforms) and skirmishing

Rating: 8 out of 10.

New 26 Jan 00. Now for the bad news. The new foot artillery are huge with one figure coming in at 19.5mm. These are still nice figures but, to tell the truth, I'm not to impressed. The helmet looks wrong with the crest support missing in some cases. It would appear Mr Barton uses Philip Haythornethwaite's "Uniforms of 1812" as a reference. This isn't always a good idea but in this case the author has used both Faber du Faur and von Schreckenstein, who were present during the campaign, as references. So there are a few differences between the uniforms depicted and those described by other authors. This is particularly apparent with the horse artillery where the distinctive girdle is missing and the tunic resembles the Prussian kollet, lacking lapels as it does. However the top of the lapels are folded back and the dress is straight out of the book mentioned. The girdle was quite possibly taken off for campaign duties but as the figure depicted in Haythornethwaite depicts a foot artillerist then it may be a mistake on AB's part

To be blunt if it wasn't that these figures were still better than the Old Glory offerings I wouldn't use them. The quality of previous ranges shows just how much attention Mr Barton usually pays to uniform details so this may be a lack of sources. However, the figures are so large that they are nearly unuseable. If they weren't artillery crews I wouldn't use them as the sight of a battalion of 19.5mm troops would look rather silly among the smaller examples on the table.

Foot artillery on the left, horse on the right. The "giants" are the 3rd and fourth figures from the left

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

Austrian Guns for the Württemburg artillery.

These guns aren't new and mark the time when AB was re-formed from the ashes of the old Battle Honours range. As such they are designed for the earlier ranges dating from before Mr Barton's decision to go to 1:100 scale rather than 15mm. Still designed for the larger "15mm" of the time, these guns are still at the top of the tree as far as artilley in this scale goes. The Württemburg artillery used Austrian pattern guns until 1812 when they were supposed to have switched to the French system. However, I've read differing accounts of this and, as I already have quite a few French guns, I decided to use a bit of artistic license. The only problems with using these guns with the troops reviewed above is size- as can be seen the 6lb field and "horse" guns here look more like 4lb types. This is where too-large figures really make a difference.

6lb barrel, kavalleriegeschütze carriage, field carriage and wheel.

Rating 9.5 out of 10.

Line Infantry

These figures are the latest release from the talented Mr Barton and comprise line infantry figures in the 1806 to 1813 period uniform. At this stage there are only the line infantry available, other figures for cavalry, artillery and light infantry will be made available in the future (I believe). Note that anyone looking for the special grenadier's helmet described in various sources will be disappointed. As there is much conjecture over this head-dress was ever actually used, it's not something that worries me.

The figures are, as usual, very detailed and these details compare well with the references I have available. Painting should be easy and the figures themselves will be spectacular when painted.

Unfortunately for anyone with the OG Württemburg figures, the two ranges are not compatible. If you wish to use both (as do I, I've already got 6 OG Line battalions painted for my wife) then they'll need to be in different units. Even then the difference in height and radically different poses could be a problem for some people.

Overall I think these are beatiful examples of the sculptor's skills. The size alone will make some people pause before buying them, though. I'm waiting for the cavalry to appear. OG really didn't do very well with them and hopefully AB will cover the different head-dress used by the 2nd Chevau-Legere as well as the more common type.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Infantryman, drummer, standard bearer and officer

Württemburg Jäger and light infantry 1812

Here's a quick look at the newest figures I've managed to buy. These are the Jäger, Jäger/Light Infantry officer and Jäger hornist. On the Ab website there's also foot and horse artillery and a light infantry fusilier in march attack listed.

These figures are, again, very well sculpted with only my previous comments on size to be conmsidered. It looks like Tony Barton has used Haythornethwaite's "Armies off 1812" for one of the references- the Jäger standing en garde is straight out of that book. Everything is there from the half-lapels to the cockade on the right-hand side of the shako. The figures are carrying rifles which means they're Jäger. Presumably the light infantry will have muskets.

These figures fill a huge gap in the market with only Minifigs making a comparable figure and, if memory of their 25mm and older 15mm ranges serves me correctly, theirs is based on the erroneous Funken books or the 1806 uniform. Well done, AB.

Officer, Jäger, hornist and two more Jäger.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

Dallas Gavan