What's Next?

[Bismuth Dirigible]

Dear Prince August (or Mike O’Brien),

Any news on any upcoming releases in the near future?

[Prince August]

bismuthdirigible said:

Dear Prince August (or Mike O’Brien),

Any news on any upcoming releases in the near future?

We plan to release in the next few weeks a new mould, aimed at families. 'The Brave Tin Soldier' 40mm mould will contain the tin soldier, dancer and heart based on the story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen.
The Tale is really heartwarming and the mould is easy to cast with so even young kids can get quick results.
I am making the packaging now.
I will announce it on the next newsletter.

[Steve]

Hum, the dancer looks to be half-flat. Is the soldier fully round? If so is there any chance we're going to see some more soldiers in the same style? 40mm classic tin soldiers would make great gifts.

Stephen

[Prince August]

Steve said:

Hum, the dancer looks to be half-flat. Is the soldier fully round? If so is there any chance we're going to see some more soldiers in the same style? 40mm classic tin soldiers would make great gifts.

Stephen

The soldier is fully round. The story has the Dancer supposedly made of paper and so we made it flat. The heart is half round (flat on one side).
This mould is an excellent gift and will be very affordable.
I should have it up on the website mid July. The tin heart can be left unpainted (gloss varnished) or undercoated and painted a shiny metallic.

[lensman]

While I absolutely love Prince August figures (I have almost all the 54mm Napoleonics, Prussian 7 Years War and Traditional Toy Soldier moulds) I sometimes wonder what the powers that be at PA are thinking when they release new moulds. While the Civil War and WWII sets at least have enough figures on both sides to field a fair wargame (with perhaps just a little help from other manufactures (boo!!!) in the three areas I cast the collections are, at best fragmentary. I mean French Grenadiers up the ying yang but only one set of Line troops and those in that silly crouching pose, like they have a load in their drawers! Please! Almost no opposition figures except two sets of British (same silly pose). And yet you persist in releasing moulds that I have to believe can only have a very limited appeal such as the “at ease” line (lovely but useless) and the brave tin soldier (what is up with that?). Full points for artistic sensibilities but a big zero for practicality.

The Prussians, on the other hand, are absolutely gorgeous with not a bad pose among them and with a few head swaps from a different company (again boo!!) I was even able to field Fusiliers and Hussars (the Napoleonic Chasseur with a Merliton head). Great!!! Now how about someone for them to fight??? Of course I would love Austrians or Russians but you would probably be wise to do French instead since there is a large “French and Indian Wars” fraternity out there and they could do double duty in games set in America and Europe.

Heck I even wargame with my “Traditional Toy Soldier” figures (ala H.G. Wells) and have managed to convert some of the British into passable 1880 Germans in full dress but a few extra heads (Pickelhauben and Jager hat) would sure come in handy.

I recently took my 54mm armies to a major wargame convention and everyone went wild over YOUR figures. I even had offers by other gamers to “help out” by painting up some units for me! These guys would love to wargame with Prince August 54mm figures but unlike me they are not willing to spend hours converting figures to fill the gaps in your line. So to the advice portion of our entertainment. Pick a line, ANY line and concentrate on filling the gaps. Offer simple dignified poses that can be used for mass units and for Pete’s sake design with an eye to multiple uses! An example of this would be a uniform that can, with either a simple paint job or a little conversion become a different figure all together. For example, with a little paint your 7 Years War Prussians make passable Austrians and with a little filing and milliput they can even work as Hungarians.

One last bit of advice. How about offering a set of wargame rules designed for use with 54mm free on your web site as a download? There are numerous free sets out there and I will bet that their authors would jump at the chance to see them get wider circulation through you. If you can’t find a set then either write one yourself or contact me, I’ll do it for you!

John

[General Davout]

As a bit of a Roman fanatic, any news about the development of the new figures? I have most of the old Holger Eriksson moulds and have cast some nice figures and converted one or two more.

[slackandowski]

lensman said:

One last bit of advice. How about offering a set of wargame rules designed for use with 54mm free on your web site as a download?
John

That's a great idea! I've primarily gamed in scales under 54mm but could be easily convinced to try a larger scale if there was a ruleset readily available.

[lensman]

There are several excellent rule sets for 54mm that work particularly well with Prince August Napoleonic and Seven Years War figures. One set, which I have played and enjoyed myself, comes from Ken Cliff and are available free at this site: www.allthekingsmentoysoldiers.com/ I am currently building Prussian and an Austrian Seven Years War Armies for these rules made entirely of Prince August figures or figures converted from Prince August figures. The nice thing about this set of rules is that since each 3X3 inch stand represents one battalion or regiment one can put on a really big battle using 54mm figures and not feel cramped on the game table.

Other free sets of rules using 54mm can be found at the Skirmish Wargames group, an English group which plays exclusively in 54mm Their site is at: www.rottenlead.com/pMachine1/galleries/view.php?id=25_0_5_0_C They have a particularly good set for medieval wargaming which would go very nicely with Prince August’s new medieval figures.

For the hopelessly romantic there is always H.G. Well’s Little Wars rules available at www.gardenwargaming.com/wargame/intro.html For them I recommend the PA Classic Toy Soldier line. One could wish that PA would add an artillery piece and crew to round out this excellent line (hint, hint) but even without that I have been able to field Red and Blue Armies that are a lot of fun to play with.

There are many other sets available out there but I will finish up with a set of WWII rules that go very well with Prince August WWII figures. They come from the Forces of Valor site, which also offers WWII figures at very high prices (compared to casting your own from PA). On the plus side the money you save casting your own PA WWII figures could be used to buy some of FOV’s very nice vehicles. Anyway their site is at: www.forcesofvalor.com/gamecards.aspx

Hope this helps people see the advantages of gaming with PA’s 54mm figures, “the one true scale!”

John

[General Davout]

Hi,
How is the development of the Roman moulds going?
Any Updates?

[Prince August]

casso said:

Hi,
How is the development of the Roman moulds going?
Any Updates?

The roman molds are not yet in development, the setback with the fantasy molds has upset our schedule.
We have a new Viking release planned in the summer. Next month we will release another Knight mold.

[Christopher]

Hi,and what is with new napoleonic moulds??
greetings Christopher

[General Davout]

Hi,
With the Westphalian colours, I will be painting some figures cast from the French Grenadiers mould, as the uniform was quite similar in effect. Has anyone any links for this uniform?
Thanks

[Prince August]

christopher said:

Hi,and what is with new napoleonic moulds??
greetings Christopher

Sorry, Christopher, I have no news in this regard. Our schedule got seriously messed up this year with the delay in the fantasy. I am urging my boss and Chris Tubb for some deadlines but things keep changing every time I ask. I do not want to raise hopes until I know more.

[lensman]

Here is a link to some very excellent information on Westphalian uniforms.
www.histofig.com/history/empire/uniformes/westphalie/westphalie_fr.html

Hope it helps.
John

[carl]

Hey how about some moulds to make a full size cannon? I'd like to put one on my front lawn just to irritate my nosy neighbors.