BN 28s, 29s Marine advancing, and officer

Small but very versatile and useful unit of Marines with an officer.

Uncoded - packs for mules 1-4 and the rocket's red glare

The photos above show (L to R) - head on and then sideways on:

Pack 1 Wheel Pack
Pack 2 Body Pack
Pack 3 Ammunition Pack with Ammunition Boxes and Poles
Pack 4 Rocket Pack with Ammunition Box and Rocket Containers

These were listed without codes as Packs for Mules @ 5p each without Mule & Gun (this was to distinguish them from the Colonial Artillery set  CFA 4s Pack Set of 3 Mules with Barrel, Wheels, Body and Ammo Packs). This included one each of Packs 1,2 and 3, along with 23 mules (I am currently unclear whether this was the same animal as NFAH 2s pack Horse - from the single model I have, compared to the catalogue photo of CFA 4s below it seems to be the same model but with two different descriptions).

CFA 4s - from L to R Packs 2, 1 and 3

NFAH 2s

Unfortunately taken from the other side but I think clearly enough the same animal

If you bought these items (the packs) separately you also had to provide your own animals and gun model separately.

It was also possible to use Pack 4 along with BNC 10s Mounted Rocket Batteryman and normal cavalry horses to form a mounted Rocket Troop, as below.

The photo below appears in the catalogue but isn't ;listed as a set so I think this was put together from these other components..

There was one specific foot Rocket Batteryman figure listed, BN 34s carrying rocket.

To complete your Rocket Units, S range also offered:

NFA 7s   Rocket Launcher
NFA 17s British Rocket Battery Caisson
NFA 18s Siege Rocket Launcher
SFA 8s    British Rocket Battery Caisson Set of Caisson, Limber, 4 Horses and 2 Drivers
SFA 13s  Rocket Battery Set of Launcher and Three Crew
SFA 14s  Siege Rocket Launcher Set of Launcher and Three Crew

Clearly there were two further Rocket Batterymen on foot which were only available in the sets (as I have seen a figure firing the rocket which does not appear in the BN lists). I think the difference between siege and standard rocket launcher models may have been been the angle of firing, the regular being lower than the siege ones.

These are both marked NFA 7.

Miniature Figurines "Intermediates"

Miniature Figurines British Foot Guards Grenadier Advancing in Shako

BN 54 (intermediates) in centre, BN 54s (S Range) on flanks

To my knowledge very little has been written about what has come to be called (or at least I think of) the Miniature Figurines "intermediates" range, These filled a gap between S Range and the later (and still current) fat a*sed chunky dwarves.

I haven't found any mention of them in any catalogue, in any review, and have no recollection of them ever being issued or seeing them with a chance to buy them.My local wargames shop (imagine such a thing) went straight from a display of S Range figures to the new (current) range with nothing in between - this would have been around 1973 or 1974.

Having said that you do see a fair number of them on the second hand market so they must have been in at least restricted circulation for at least a short while. The Intermediates are much closer to the S range figures (with which they work quite well to bulk out original S Range figures) than the later (and current) ones.

They seem to have been Napoleonic foot figures only - I haven't seen any examples from other ranges. They are very slightly larger proportions that the S Range figures but haven't gone what I will call full chunky dwarf. They can be recognised by this but most clearly that the codes are embossed in the top of the base, like the current figures, and not scratched on the bottom of the base. It also gets confusing when you find some examples of S Range figures with codes on the underside of the base where the S has been omitted from the end of the code, and even one or two which seem to have been given completely the wrong code.

Goya has kindly sent me some photos of S Range figures and their intermediary counterparts, but I need to have a further think about how to present these, and to take some photos from my own collection which will take some time and a lot of rummaging about in the loft ,and then a fair bit of photographing and posting. So this will happen it just may take some time. Ideally I would make a number of posts with three photos for comparison - S Range, Intermediate, and Current - for each figure, but I am unlikely to have current ones and these are mainly available in the Miniature Figurines on line catalogue with Caliver Books..

So this post is half a pace holder and half a statement of intent. If anyone has any more information on Intermediates in the meanwhile I would be glad to hear from you via comments.

BN 29s Royal Marine Officer

I have been reviewing my assorted Royal Marines, mainly Hinton Hunt, which have been posted on the Hinton Hunter. These odds and ends are (I think) two Minifigs 20mm Marines plus an S Range Marine Officer. I think the officer is a superb figure a fop under fire.