Monday 24 June 2013

New Xan British - Peninsular War

Presenting the new Xan Peninsular War British Line infantry, available in the UK from Empress Miniatures

I was really excited about this range of figures when I saw them at Salute this year. So imagine my joy when they recently launched the new British infantry figures. I have been very keen to paint these guys, and have been working on this first unit in recent days.

Xan miniatures, 7th KGL with AB mounted colonel, Colours from GMB Flags
These models are a very welcome addition to the ranges of 18mm Napoleonic figures now available for us Peninsular War fans. They are very well proportioned with plenty of detail to pick out and a good variety of poses to form a complete unit. I really like them and I can see myself using a lot of these guys to complete my British collection.

Not only that but I also have some of their lovely French Legere on the painting desk so will aim to have some pictures of them with some comparison shots next to my ABs.

If you are thinking about collecting in 18mm then I would strongly recommend looking at Xan as a range to have in your collection.






As part of helping to illustrate how well various ranges compliment each other I have pictured the new Xan battalion next to my AB, CGM and Fantassin units. I think they all work well together and I am happy to have all the ranges together on the table adding variety to the overall look of my army.


Xan on left, CGM on right with AB Colonel, Colours from GMB Flags

Xan on left, CGM on right with AB Colonel, Colours from GMB Flags

Xan on left, CGM on right with AB Colonel, Colours from GMB Flags

Xan on left, AB on right with Fantassin skirmishers and AB colonel, Colours from GMB Flags

Xan on left, AB on right with Fantassin skirmishers and AB colonel, Colours from GMB Flags

Xan on left, AB on right with Fantassin skirmishers and AB colonel, Colours from GMB Flags

Xan on left, Fantassin on right with AB colonel, Colours from GMB Flags

Xan on left, Fantassin on right with AB colonel, Colours from GMB Flags

Xan on left, Fantassin on right with AB colonel, Colours from GMB Flags
All the manufacturers links can be found on my Links section

8 comments:

  1. Excellent brushwork and from your photo review Xan seem to compare very favorably to AB.

    Appreciate the comparisons.

    Jon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jon,
      Yes these little chaps fit in very nicely with AB. I'm really looking forward to the cavalry.

      Delete
  2. Dorothy Goodbody24 June 2013 at 11:21

    Love the painting , Can I ask if you use special basing sand on the bases ?
    However Napoleonics is not really my thing , do you plan on doing any more Ancients?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Dorothy and thank you.

      The sand I use for my bases is bulk standard builders balast that I got a huge bag of from the DIY store, that will last me for ever. You might have seen my basing tutorial with my mini supply that I keep near the painting desk.

      Yes I will be doing some more ancients. I have some Greek hopolites and some German cavalry types in 15mm to do plus some larger dark ages stuff for SAGA.

      Delete
  3. Hi:
    Wonderful painted.
    Thank you very much.
    Best regards:
    Xan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Xan,
      The pleasure was all mine. Thank you for sculpting some great figures
      Kind regards
      Jonathan

      Delete
  4. They look great, how do they compare for price with the other companies?
    I think someone made a comment on a blog about the shakos being somewhat tall, what do you think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi John,
      Price wise, in the UK, Xan £3.75 for 8 figs, AB £6.00, CGM £3.60 and Fantassin £2.93, which for the quality of the sculpts makes them very competitive. Empress Miniatures, like the other suppliers are also offering deal prices for complete units for Lasalle and Napoleon at War rules.

      Yeah I saw Malcs comments on the shako height, which I only noticed after reading his post. I think you can see from my pictures that it really isn't that prominent and they stand in very good comparison to the AB's which are probably the standard to measure by in most peoples eyes who collect in this scale. I'm going to be adding more units to my collection from Xan.

      Delete