And, more importantly: where are they from?
I just completed an interesting deal with a very fine gentleman from Texas, who just delivered some unpainted Marlburian figures. I received the package today -- and I am having a ball to sort through the goodies! In the lot, there are several Roundway Miniatures, mostly British with a few bags of Bavarians. I have never seen Roundway figures before, and I have been pleasantly impressed: they appear to be on par with Dixon and Minifigs, and they will provide a very welcome addition to my expanding armies for the period.
Included in the package, there were also several Edition Brokaw miniatures. I understand this is a very "old school" range, and many may well turn their noses to figures who are, at best, a little cartoonish in their features, and who require a lot of care and cleaning because of the flesh they carry. That said, these are also among the cheapest miniatures for the period, come in a relatively large assortment, and "paint well and fast." Thus, I welcome the opportunity to add some more of them to the several EB miniatures already in my painting pipeline.
Nevertheless, there is a little puzzle I am now facing. The gentleman from Texas was not able to identify the miniatures from Edition Brokaw. I did some comparison with what I already own, and I came to the conclusion that the larger part of the lot, about 100 figures (I have yet to count them properly), are generic musketeers, which EB recommends for use as British, Dutch, and Austrian, plus as troops of some of the Holy Roman Empire. Here's a (very) bad picture of sample of them.
Unfortunately, I have been less successful to properly I.D. the following two groups. I am posting here some pictures, ad I hope some of you may help in recognizing what they are. The first group looks like line infantry with musket at waist, one belt across the the chest and the back, and cartridge box on the right flank.
By carefully reading the catalog provided by Edition Brokaw, and by comparison with my other EB infantry, I can exclude they are Palatinate units. They are not "generic" musketeers: they miss the waist belt and the small sword (a bayonet?) that the generic units carry. So: who are they? Maybe Danish? Saxons? Swedish? Any one? Bueller? Bueller?
Finally, there is a mysterious unit of guard or grenadiers. Here's the picture.
They seem to sport what appears to be a short mitre, a feature which helps, but only to some extent. As they do not wear a bearskin, Austrian and Bavarian grenadiers are out of question. Maybe British? Or Dutch? I have no idea what Danish grenadiers would wear; I would rule out Saxons (and Swedish), as they are suggested to wear a tall mitre.
Bottom line: I'll buy a drink at the first occasion to the ones who will help in a positive identification of these new additions!