Highland Command

By chance I spotted these amongst a lot of old Hinchliffe, Minifigs and Prince August highlander figures on ebay. I had never seen the Ros 25mm Highland command set, but took a chance and made a bid. I was rewarded with a complete set of two officers, two drummers and a standard bearer:

Scots Greys

One of the early cavalry figures to be introduced into the Ros 25mm range was the Scots Grey cavalry man, mounted on the British heavy cavalry horse. These are 1975 originals:

Polish Infantry

A lucky ebay find was a bunch of Ros 25mm Polish infantry among a group of fat Minfigs figures. I think they are rather nice and represent either light or grenadier company soldiers, given the presence of shako plumes, fringed epaulets and short swords. As far as I am aware this is the only Polish figure in the Ros range; there being no evidence of command figures. The paint job is rather poor and at some point I will get around to tidying them up.

 

Painted Carabinier

A couple of pictures of the Carabinier after a spot of paint is applied:

Austrian Musketeer (Line Infantry)

The Ros Figures Austrian range is limited to just three figures: a Grenadier, a Musketeer and a Jager. So far I have only seen the Musketeer in the flesh. he wears the later Napoleonic uniform, with the shako which has peaks both fore and aft, rather than the earlier crested helmet. He wears gaiters, so I am guessing that he represents a German infantryman, as opposed to his Hungarian cousin. Well, that's how I have painted him!

I have seen pictures of the Austrian Grenadier, but have never seen the Jager and I would welcome any information about that figure. Here is the Musketeer:

Chasseur a Cheval

This is a figure that I had not seen before and spotted a few weeks back on Ebay. He came with another 8, although some had broken plumes and were rather forlorn. I have given him a new paint job to brighten him up!. The horse is identical to the Line Lancer horse:

French Napoleonic Cuirassier

At first glance this figure looks like a standard Ros cavalry figure but after closer inspection the seeds of doubt were sown. First off, I could not find any references to a Cuirassier in the Ros range - although I remember buying some back in the 70s. Second; the horse looked a bit odd. Most telling was the lack of reins, common to all other Ros figures that I have. The figure itself looks right though and comparisons with others convince me that he is OK, but that horse? The base of the horse had been filed and was covered in old glue, but I could make out the letters N1 - but not in the Ros style. Here is the figure:

Fortunately I have samples of Ros French heavy cavalry horses and was able to do a comparison. When the two were put together it is clear, that although there are similarities in the pose, that this horse is not made by Ros, noting the size of the tail, larger rump and presence of reins:

After some research on line my conclusion is that my Ros Cuirassier is mounted on a horse probably made by Lamming. Makes you wonder if Ros used the Lamming horse as a model?

French Napoleonic Carabinier

I thought I would take a closer look at the French Carabinier figure recently purchased off Ebay. He sits in the pose used by all of the Ros 25mm figures that I have seen, upright with his sword resting upon his right shoulder.  He wears the typical Ros enlarged helmet, in a similar style to the lancer figure.

As can be seen from the picture the French heavy cavalry horse is of a different pose to those used on the Prussian and British cavalry, and indeed the French Lancer. I suspect that this was the first moulding used and was later revised for subsequent figures. A shot of the base gives the code number H1 and the date 1975.

When I get the time I will paint him to see how he turns out.

Prussian Infantry Command

By kind permission of the Vintage Wargaming Blog (of which I am a frequent visitor - see link below), I am able to reproduce a picture of the Prussian Line Infantry Command figures.

Vintage Wargaming Blogspot

These, like all infantry command groups, came in sets of five figures.The set consists of a couple of officers, two drummers and a standard bearer. The two infantry musketeers in the picture below are not part of this set.

P1 - Prussian Line Infantry

The Prussians had few sets of figures. The first to be produced were Line infantry, modelled to represent the 1814/15 period, wearing shakos with covers. There is also a command group set, which I have seen pictures of, but currently I do not own any. Also listed, and again not seen by me are Jagers

To start off the Prussians here is a small group of Line Infantry:

Another Ebay find - French Carabinier?

I spotted a group of Ros Figures British Heavy Dragoons on Ebay a couple of days ago. As I have some of these I was not so interested, until I spotted an odd figure among them, mounted on a French heavy cavalry horse. The figure has a crested helmet similar to the Line Lancer, but is armed with a sword. I think this is a figure that I had not seen before; namely a French Carabinier - so I made a bid for the group and won. I am now looking forward to examining this figure more closely:

Line Voltigeurs

These figures are just the Grenadiers painted up as troops from the
voltigeur company, or light company of a French infantry battalion. Apart from the colours of plumes, and other uniform trimmings the cut of the uniform was virtually identical.

Another Ebay Find

Occasionally the odd Ros 25mm figure turns up on Ebay. A couple of weeks ago I was lucky to win two lots. The first is  a group of Austrian infantry from the Napoleonic wars, which I have not seen in the flesh before. The second (on the left) is a small group of Prussian infantry, which are quite well painted. I will probably repaint the Austrians and clean up the Prussians and will take some better pictures. Again no command figures were included, which is a shame. Meanwhile here are some of the figures in the two lots as they arrived, straight out of the box:

French Line Lancer - Refurbished

Over the past couple of weeks between projects I have been slowly repainting one of the French Line Lancers which I purchased off Ebay. Over the years they had become a bit battered and bruised. I kept to the colours used by the original painter and tidied him up. Nowadays I use gloss paint for all my figures and no shading, so a kind of toy soldier style which I like. I also use it on figures on my other blog Douglas Miniatures 20mm Crimean War. Here he is fresh out of the depot!

Line Infantry Grenadiers

These figures from Ros represent the Grenadier companies found within a French line infantry battalion. These are completely different castings to the fusiliers, and while not perfect are a much better model, in my opinion. Although essentially the same uniform the grenadiers had red accouterments  on their shakos and tunics, but were distinguished by a tall plume and "swallows nests" on their shoulders, again in red. The other distinguishing feature is the sword bayonet, which is slung from a cross belt across the shoulder. This means that the grenadiers had two cross-belts compared to one for the fusiliers. All of these features are captured on the Ros figures. Elite companies, which included grenadiers, tended to have more facial hair, that too is represented quite well on these miniatures. Here are samples from my old 1970s collection:

French Line Infantry

I guess this figure was one, if not the first, figure in the Ros 25mm range. In my opinion it is horrible, and indeed, on another forum it was described as the worst wargame figure. The problem is that the head is too big and the shako is the wrong shape. Anyway, like any good wargames army of the Napoleonic period I have loads of them. The uniform appears to be from the mid Napoleonic period, with above the knee high gaiters and shako cords. I have examples painted as line fusiliers and some as line light infantry chasseurs:

French Old Guard Grenadier Guards

Whilst I still have a number of British figures to add to the blog, I thought I would turn to the French figures. First up are the Grenadiers of the Old Guard. Of all the French infantry figures I like the guards the best. The uniform is pretty accurate and the figures are nicely proportioned. Here is a group from my original collection. Over the years these figures have been painted in may guises - originally as saxons, but in the 1980s they were returned to their original French blue:

Once again I did not obtain command figures for my French troops, although I am certain they were available in the Ros range.

British Artillery Update

Actually, I was wrong regarding the British Artillery Officer. The model is a different casting of a figure standing and pointing to the side, while the infantry officer is advancing pointing forwards.

British Foot Artillery

The British foot artillery set follows the same pattern as its French counterpart, consisting of a gun and five crew. The set here is an original from around 1975 and as can be seen from the picture the paint work is a little worn in places and somewhat crude. I am not sure about the officer figure. Whilst correct uniform wise he is identical to the British Line Infantry officer figure, so will need to do some more research on this one.

Note: the gun in the above picture is a 5.5" howitzer from the original Hinchliffe Figures 20mm range and not the original Ros Figures gun that comes with the set.

British Highland Infantry

I have about 60 Highlanders which have been in the collection from the outset. Painted about 40 years ago they are formed into three units, namely the Black Watch, Gordon Highlanders and the Cameron Highlanders. Ros made command figures, but I never managed to buy any. My highland troops have been commanded 25mm Warrior models. One day I hope to get my hands on Ros examples. I guess a pack of command figures would include a couple of standard bearers, an officer (probably pointing) and maybe a piper or drummer.

Here are all three units en masse:

British Heavy Dragoons

These venerable troops have been in the collection for around 40 years and they remain in their original paint scheme and mounted on a 40 year old cardboard base. They have fought many table top actions along with the Scots Greys. I believe these were one of the first cavalry figures to be released by Ros back in 1975. As far as I am aware no cavalry command figures were produced by Ros for the Napoleonic ranges.

British Napoleonic Royal Horse Artillery

In the same way that the French Artillery was sold as a set of 5 figures plus a gun, so the same format is followed for the British Royal Horse Artillery. The crew consists of an officer with telescope, a gunner with rammer, a gunner firing the gun and two standing gunners. The gun is a 9pdr piece with single trail. Here are the crew, which were a recent ebay purchase that came with no gun:

Here is an original set purchased (and painted) in 1975:

British Riflemen

These figures are from my original 1975 collection and are finished in the uniform of the 60th Rifles:

Another Military Modelling Magazine Advert

This advert gives an insight into the Ros Ancient and American Civil War ranges. It was published in the June 1975 edition.

British Naploeonic Line Infantry - Stovepipe Shako

Another ebay find was this splendid unit of British Infantry wearing the stovepipe shako. They have been neatly painted as Light Infantry, although this appears incorrect, as these are Centre Company troops. Light Infantry should have the wings in the shoulder. As far as I can tell Ros did not produce a stovepipe command group - although I cannot be sure at this stage.

The Ros 25mm Figure Range

I have been trying to find an original list of the Ros 25mm figure range without success. However, I bought a secondhand copy of Military Modelling Magazine from February 1976, which must have been quite close to the demise of the range. An advertisement gives an indication of the range and includes mention of both ancient and American civil war figures. I wonder if the ancient figures were metal versions of the old Rospacks plastic figures? Does anyone know?

Here is the advert:

Napoleonic French Line Lancers

I took a closer look at the lancer figures and happily I was able to confirm that they are indeed by Ros. Here you can see the makers stamp, with the date 1975:

The horse is very typically Ros, with the over sized tail. The figures too are of classic Ros design, with the slightly over sized head and helmet. I doubt very much that the remnants of the lance pennant are original, appearing to be made from aluminium foil:

French Line Lancers - ebay find

I saw these figures on Ebay and I am convinced that they are by Ros. The horses are of a very similar design as others in the range. The heads have that over large Ros look about them too. However, I have never seen the lancer figures before, so cannot be 100% sure yet. I will have a better feel for them when I strip them down for painting.

Napoleonic French Line Artillery

Ros artillery figures came in sets of five figures, normally an officer, a man with rammer, a figure firing the gun with fuse and a couple of general figures. The was also a four part gun, barrel, wheels and main body.

Here is the French Line Artillery set:

Beginnings

This blog covers something that I have been thinking about for some time. In the 1970s my two brothers and I populated our wargames armies with a then new range of budget figures by Ros Figures, the same company that was producing 1/300 scale armoured fighting vehicles.  Between us we amassed a load of Napoleonic figures, mostly French, British and Prussian.  By today's standards these figures are crude and in some cases ugly - especially the French line infantry. I read on another blog that the Ros Frenchman was the most ugly wargame figure produced! Those who have read my 20mm Douglas Miniatures Crimean blog will know that I am a glutton for punishment; however, for me, Ros Figures mark an era when I probably had more fun with wargames figures than any other time.

The Ros 25mm figure range was very short lived. I am not sure when they folded, but it was probably in the late 70s, when the new Miniature Figurines and Hinchliffe figures appeared.

The aim of this blog is to record this short lived range and attempt to find samples of the whole range. Occasionally odd figures crop up on ebay etc and I have a fair number in my collection. From an advertisement in Military Modelling in 1975 I can see the range was mostly Napoleonic, but some ancients and American Civil War figures are also noted. These last two ranges are a mystery to me, but I am on the hunt for samples and I am sure they will show up.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has samples of or information about these figures.