The Assault Group Napoleonic Austrians

The Assault Group is coming out with a line of 28mm Napoleonic Austrians, and they're trying for better proportions than most wargames figures have traditionally had.  Alban Miniatures is working on a similarly proportioned French line to oppose them.

I was intrigued by the idea of toy soldiers that looked like real human beings, rather than little dwarves with huge heads and hands, so that when Austin ordered some ECW figures from TAG, I tacked a few packs of Hungarian Grenadiers onto the order.

TAG Hungarian Grenadier Command

Here they are.  My ruler doesn't start until the figures' ankles, but they do stand about 28mm from sole of shoe to eye level.  The proportions are indeed very nice, but a couple of the poses (officer and sergeant) have odd angles of the head.  I didn't get any shots from the side, but the figures are walking in a kind of goose step, with the leading knee locked straight.

The overall effect is of awkward movement.  It's not easy to see from photographs, but in the flesh, the figures do have a strange quality about them.

HäT El Cid Spanish and TAG Hungarian Grenadier

So how do the TAG figures compare to the other anotomically correct 28mm figures I just painted?  The TAG figures are slightly taller, though that may be because they're standing more upright.  The TAG figures are, if anything, even leaner than the HäT figures.  But when HäT releases their 28mm Bavarian infantry, I think I would be comfortable mixing HäT and TAG on the table.

Old Glory and TAG Austrians

I already have a large 28mm Austrian army for Piquet: Field of Battle.  My Austrians are all Old Glory figures.  How will the TAG figures mix with them?  As you can see, the figures are exactly the same height, but the TAG figures are much leaner than the Old Glory figures.  I'll save the final determination until after I paint the TAG grenadiers, but I don't think the two styles will mix well on the table.

Foundry Russian and TAG Grenadier

So is it just the OG figures that are so bulky?  In fact, the OG figures are considerably taller and leaner than Foundry's Napoleonic line.  Here you can see a Foundry 1812 Russian musketeer, and he's even more out of scale with the TAG figure.  I don't think I have to wait for paint for this one.  Foundry and TAG will not mix.

Front Rank and TAG Grenadiers

Of course, Front Rank are the beefiest of them all.  I wish I had an unprimed Front Rank grenadier to compare, but even with the detail obscured by primer, you can see how odd these figures look together.

So the TAG figures, while certainly in proper scale, won't mix well with any of my metal brands.  Since I already have a large Austrian force, that's kind of a big deal for me and will most likely keep me from buying more TAG.

Were I starting from scratch, would I use TAG?  Probably not.  The figures have a strangely wooden quality to them that I don't care for.  It's a purely subjective decision, but there it is.  And that's not the only reason.  Because the TAG figures won't mix well with any other manufacturer, I would want to field only TAG figures for my army, and the range isn't anywhere near completion yet.  They do have German and Hungarian line infantry in helemts and shakos, German and Hungarian grenadiers, Grenzer, and Jäger.  But they lack Landwehr, any cavalry, artillery, and mounted officers.  It's likely to be years until the line is complete.

Were the line complete, my answer might be different.  Just from looking at the images on TAG's website, I can tell that not all the figures have the same ungainly posture as this pack.  I do like the proportions of these figures very much, better than any other 28mm figures.  Could I field a whole army of these figures, complete with hussars, lancers, cuirassiers, dragoons, landwehr, artillery, and generals, I might very well do so.