It has probably already been said that the Excel venue is like an aircraft hangar, with as much character. However, I wasn't there for the ambiance (or the £5 vege burgers!), I was there for Perry ACWs! Picking up the plastics (Infantry and Cavalry) from the Perry's themselves & delaying while I admired their demonstration game, I then went to pick up some metals from Dave Thomas. Unfortunately by the time I got there, all they had left were limbers! I picked one of those up, but then they found a Generals pack they hadn't sold. The day was saved(
!)I have seen a number of posts about the compatibility of the old Foundry range, and as I'm sure you can imagine, this was certainly an issue for me.
As you'll see, the fears were unfound(ry)ed. The Perry sculpt is on the left. I picked two similar looking miniatures to compare, and although the Foundry sculpt is slightly 'chunkier', they are by no means incompatible. The new Perry miniatures have more realistic proportions (horses do too!) and the detail if anything, is even finer than before, although this may be due to the respective ages of the moulds. Suffice to say I am very happy about these new models - and can't wait to pick up the rest of them. The artillery they had on display looked superb.
In terms of the models themselves, this pack is most suitable for the Union, due to the sculpted shoulder boards, although they were used down South (Wade Hampton for one). A needle file would sort them out, but I think I'll keep them as Blue Bellies.
Once I've painted some of the plastic horses, I'll do another side by side post, although apart from the benefit of more realistic horses, I don't see too many problems.As for the rest of Salute, I picked up some bargains at the Foundry stall - 4 complete (and a few extras) ECW artillery crews plus guns for £5!
I also picked up the interesting Touching History terrain building guides. I'm off to Gettysburg in two weeks, so hopefully some of the tips will come in useful!
