Napoleonic & ECW wargaming, with a load of old Hooptedoodle on this & that


Tuesday 4 June 2019

Old Friends

I was dredging through my "Generals & Staff" spares box, looking for some suitable French ADC figures, and I found these fellows hiding in a corner.


They obviously came from eBay - Lord knows when - they look as though they were painted by the same collector and they have obviously seen some action. Minifigs S-Range figures - they do have a certain battered charm. I recalled that the Lone S-Ranger blog once tried to identify which of these chaps was which, according to the S-Range catalogue (which means VINTAGE20MIL these days, of course), so I checked that out and the results seemed inconclusive. I'm keen not just to go round the same loop again, so though I am casually interested to identify the figures, the main excuse for this post was to feature these three old friends, as a token of my respect. It looks as if they have been together for about 50 years - they are presently resting in my spares box, but no matter.

As far as I can make out, the candidate figures are:

NS 2s - French Marshal
NS 9s - Ney
NS 10s - Murat

though it does seem surprising that Minifigs didn't attempt a more spectacular uniform for Murat. I confess I have no idea; whatever, here they are.


I'll maybe get them a gig in the Guard Division, now that I have one.

***** Late Edit *****

With thanks to Goya, here's an example of post-S-Range "Intermediate" Minifigs celebrity figure - this is Nansouty, who was FNCX5, apparently (and probably still is in the current range, but without a saddle).


And here is a uniform for Murat which appears consistent with the right hand fellow in my original photos...


My thanks to Goya and Alan and everyone who contributed!

*********************

6 comments:

  1. Interesting. The right hand figure - as we view it - looks very like the later Minifigs Marshal Bessieres figure. I know it isn't because Marshal Bessieres is the only S-Range Marshal I have, and he don't look like that. The later Minifigs figure for Murat depicts him in a Polish-looking outfit, presumably derived from this painting:
    https://history.info/on-this-day/1767-marshal-murat-napoleons-decorated-officer/
    Maybe they could stand in for lesser known corps commanders...

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  2. Oooh, I like them. How do they compare with your other generals in terms of noggin-size? I have a S-Range Prussian general with a head so huge that he looks like one of the Mario brothers.

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  3. This trio has seen hard service by examining the state of their uniforms. Really tough times since they seem to have lost their mounts. I sm sure you will give them the once over and they look like new.

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    1. I also have the chap waving his hat...he is very nice but wonderfully nondescript... I too thanks to Lone S-Ranger have taken him to be French Marshal A N Other...
      I may use him to represent me on the battlefield... ;-)

      All the best. Aly

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  4. Gentlemen - thank you all for comments. I think I am pretty sure now that the general on the left is NS 2s (the generic marshal) and the one in the middle is NS 9s (Ney), but the one in the right is still a bit of a mystery. He's definitely S-range - the extension of these "staff" figures to include further celebrities seems a bit uncertain. I know the "intermediate" Minifigs which came immediately after the S-Range included a lot of extra celebs - these were mostly numbered FNXC... (for the mounted French) - I include a late edit with a chunky Nansouty (picture kindly supplied by Goya). This is definitely not the current series, since the rider has his saddle attached, but it is not S-Range.

    In the absence of any other ideas which appear likely, I'll assume that the right-hand figure is a rather passive Murat (NS 10s), and keep an open mind.

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  5. Hello Tony, nice find. By the way, I have a number of unpainted S-range unsaddled horses in my spares box, so if you require mounts for these gentlemen, let me know.

    Regards,

    Iain

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