Field Marshal von Blücher and Prussian Generals of the Napoleonic Wars
Minifigs 15 mm Figure Review
A Prussian infantry officer briefing Fieldmarshal von Blücher about the local battlefield situation. The two 15 mm miniatures are from the series Blucher and Generals manufactured by Minifigs. Blücher is wearing the typical grey raincoat with cape, and the blue field cap with red band. Miniature sculptors often model Marshal Forward in the raincoat, because several contemporary pictures show him in this attire. The officer next to Blücher looks a lot smarter in his Prussian Blue uniform. The figures are mounted on an Empire III corps command stand, suitable for Napoleonic simulation games, which may also be used as an army command stand.
Evaluation
Good choice of subject, Blücher may be deployed as a Corps or Army Commander in Wargames. Horse and rider are anatomically correct, and they are easy and fun to paint.
Blücher is wearing the coat and field cap often portrayed in contemporary pictures of Blücher’s Rhine-Crossing at Kaub and the Battle of Waterloo. This uniform is practical, but not very pretty. At the Battle of Ligny, 16 June 1815, Blücher apparantly did not wear a coat, but the more attractive blue officer’s uniform and the bicorne. Blücher’s horse was killed during the battle, the fieldmarshal was pinned underneath it, and he could only be recovered safely from the battlefield after nightfall. Blücher’s aide-de-camp, Graf von Nostitz, had the presence of mind to drape his coat over the stricken fieldmarshal to hide Blücher’s conspicuous medals, thereby averting certain capture by French cavalry.
Compatible with Heritage, Hinchcliffe, Old Glory, Ral Partha, and similar 15 mm figures.
Minifigs was founded by Neville Dickinson of Southhampton, England, in 1964, and it is the oldest established manufacturer of wargames miniatures on the market today. Over time, Minifigs figures have been updated to modern design standards.