HäT Industries has sent another 28mm Napoleonic infantry set for me to review. This time the HäT sculptor has turned his attention to the Prussian army from 1813-5. Three sets are represented here: 28013 Prussian Infantry (Marching), 28014 Prussian Infantry (Action), and 28015 Prussian Infantry (Command).
The figures are very similar in style to the previous HäT 28mm Napoleonics. Once again, HäT has made it possible to field armies of marching units, my preferred pose for horse and musket armies.
The figures are cast in two pieces. Once piece comprised the bulk of each figure, while the other piece consists of backpack, half the rolled greatcoat, and saber. This allows for some nice detail on the back of the figures.
These Prussians scale very well with the Bavarians and French HäT has already released. The Prussians may be a bit beefier, or it may just be the modern cut of the Prussian uniform.
Once again, the HäT figures scale out to about the same height as metal 28mm figures, but they are much more slender. Here is a Prussian next to an Old Glory French Légere.
And here are some Prussians next to some Crusader French line infantry. I'm not sure I would mix HäT with other manufacturers on the same table, but it's certainly possible.
HäT has Spanish, Austrian, and Russian line infantry, as well as Prussian landwehr, in the pipeline. They may also have some French line infantry on the way, which will sure be the most useful set.
Should HäT decide to release cavalry, artillery, and generals to go with these infantry figures, I'll certainly start switching over to HäT for all my 28mm Napoleonic armies. Until they do so, you may have to settle for mixing metals with plastics. Alban Miniatures would be your best bet for a good fit.
Great painting as always. Hmmm, I don't think I can mix them with my Victrix & Perrys, but they do look good, and quite a bargain for 28mm-ish ;) Dean
ReplyDeleteGreat figures. Nice paint work. I just finished up some HaT Bavarians (3 16 figure units). The Standard bearers, with the flags cast on were a pain but the figures look good. Although they don't mix in the same units with my Foundry French and Old Glory/Crusader Austrian, they look fine on the table top in their own units. I am getting used to the more realistic proportions of the figures but I sort of wish the faces were larger.
ReplyDeleteGreg C., Denver Co
Nicely done. Makes me want to do some 28mm Napoleonics for Sharpes Rifles rules.
ReplyDeleteThe Hat minis look surprisingly good!
ReplyDeleteLovely painting and thanks for another very useful review.
ReplyDeleteI too would consider migrating to HaT if they did some cavalry, artillery etc. It's a case of wait and see I suppose, as to whether some critical mass builds; the Alban output seems to have stalled for now.
Steve, I asked, and their response was to use other manufacturer's guns and horse. Nothing quite mixes, though. It's a shame HäT won't make them themselves.
ReplyDeleteThis has got me seriously thinking about fielding a Prussian 1813 force. Would need Landwehr though before I dived in.
ReplyDeleteI wish they would add to their 28mm stuff!
DeleteLong time since comments were made in here, but I've recently had a chat with them about this. They aren't producing any new sets because 1) they don't want to spend a lot of money on something they aren't sure will sell well and 2) they heard the complaints that their sets were too slim compared to other 28mm models in general and from what I understood, they aren't going to make something if it is only going to be ridiculed.
DeleteThey themselves admit that they don't have the experience at making 28mm, but after a long conversation through email, I want to say that maybe they will look into experimenting with the scale of their models and try again when they think it's suitable. Though at first they would probably release British and French sets as they are the most popular nations.
Another big problem I see is that when they broach the subject on their own forums, they are met with a fair amount of backlash from those who only use 1/72 scale sets. They aren't getting enough or any real amount of encouragement from the wargaming community who use 28mm scale models to justify any real investment into the scale.
The last thing I was asked was about would I invest in a 28mm set for ACW models as they are in development for their other scales. So it is encouraging to hear that at least.