What are ESR Miniatures?
ESR Miniatures is a new line of 1:160 scale (aka ‘N’ scale, aka 10mm) thermocast plastic miniatures for gaming the Napoleonic Wars from The Wargaming Company.
When will ESR Miniatures become available?
Pre-orders are open today (8 May 2023). We expect to have stock available for purchase at Historicon (19-23 July 2023) and ship pre-orders immediately following the convention.
Can I have my pre-order delivered to the convention?
Yes. Just select “free delivery to Historicon 2023” as your shipping option.
What’s available?
French and Russian Mid-War Force Packs are available for pre-order today.
Additional Force, Attachment, and Reinforcement Packs will be rolled out ASAP.
How will ESR Miniatures be packaged?
ESR Miniatures will be available in Force Packs, Attachment Packs, and Reinforcement Packs. What the heck are those you ask?
Force Packs: Each pack contains all the necessary parts for a player’s Force in ESR Napoleonics where a Force is generally equivalent to a corps. That means 2-3 Formations (brigade or division-sized elements) made up of the appropriate mix of Units including generals, artillery, and Reformation Areas. Most include infantry and cavalry and many include Assets like sappers/pioneers. Force Packs generally have 300-400 figures.
Attachment Packs: An Attachment is a Formation-sized element that can be added to a Force to enlarge it, a good example is a grenadier division or a cuirassier division, etc… Each one is a complete Formation so it includes the appropriate mix of Units, a Formation Commander, and a Reformation Area. Formation Packs vary widely in figure counting depending on what each represents.
Reinforcement Packs: Reinforcements are groups of individual Units (i.e. Battalions, Squadron Groups, or Artillery Batteries) that can be added to existing Formations to customize them or increase their size/strength. Each pack includes the correct variety of figures for the Units it offers as well as bases and flags (as appropriate).
All packs includes bases, flags (where appropriate), Force & Formation Packs include order markers (Objectives, Directives, and Statuses) and appropriate Stat Cards, and Force Packs include a Force Commander Stat Card.
What will they cost?
The French & Russian Mid War Force Packs are $79 during the pre-order period and have a regular MSRP of $99. Attachment and Reinforcement Pack prices will vary based on their sizes.
When will there be more?
ASAP. We’re launching with French & Russian Mid War Force Packs and intend to follow them as soon as possible with rolling releases of additional Attachment Packs so that players can customize their Forces as much as possible. Once we are able we intend to publish a public release schedule.
TWC originally announced these miniatures a year ago, what’s taken so long?
Will there be XYZ [Nationality/Faction, Troop Type, etc…]?
Yes. Likely. We’re planning on producing the most extensive line available. So whatever XYZ is, it’s *probably* on the list.
We have a very extensive list of sculpts already developed and we’re continuing to develop more, just a question of timeline for release.
Update: We’re already getting a lot of questions about this, so here is where things stand in terms of each development and production.
Where and how are ESR Miniatures manufactured?
ESR Miniatures are manufactured of thermocast plastic using SiOCAST in the United States.
Are ESR Miniatures available pre-painted?
Unfortunately, no.
ESR can be played at any ground scale, what ground scale are ESR Miniatures setup for?
1″ = 150 yards where 1′ = 1 mile.
Will ESR Miniatures be available for sale as individual figures or in other package configurations?
Not initially, but it is something that we are considering for the future once production is a bit further along. We’re happy to hear feedback on how you’d like to see them available so that it can inform our plans.
Can ESR Miniatures be used with other game systems?
Certainly.
That said, the configuration of miniatures in the ESR Packs may not be exactly appropriate for other systems. If you’re interested in purchasing ESR Miniatures in a different configuration than our ESR Packs, contact us and let us know the details of what would work for you so that we can consider it for the future.
Are the new ESR Miniatures size/scale compatible with the previous line of ESR Box Sets (2018-2020)?
Ultimately this is a judgment made in the eye of the beholder, but we worked very hard to ensure that ESR Miniatures are as scale compatible with the previous ESR Box Sets as possible.
Are ESR Miniatures size/scale compatible with other major 10mm miniatures lines?
We have attempted to make ESR Napoleonics as scale compatible with other popular 10mm lines as possible. Every 10mm Napoleonic miniatures line varies a little bit, so ultimately you’ll need to compare them to decide what you’re personally happy with.
How should ESR Miniatures be prepared before painting?
Generally no preparation is required. ESR Miniatures can be painted without washing them or priming them. That said, there is no harm in either washing or priming the figures so do what best works for you.
How do I fix a bent flag stave (or other similar issue) on a figure?
The easiest solution to straighten a bent part is to place that part in warm water (be careful not to use too warm of water, we don’t want you to burn yourself) and as the part becomes pliable bent it straight. After holding it for a couple moments the part should retain its straightened state – this can be sped up by shifting from the warm water to cold once the part has been straightened.
How close do Force and Attachment Packs match historical orders of battle?
As close as we’re able. Force and Attachment Packs are “typical generic” configurations for each nation/faction and then they can be customized using Attachment and Reinforcement Packs to better match specific historical corps, divisions, and brigades.
Will new Campaign Guides be released and will ESR Miniatures be released with them?
Yes, now that we are beginning to crest the hill of getting ESR Miniatures released we’re thrilled to get more ESR Campaign Guides available in-print again. Our plan is to move towards releasing ESR Miniatures along side corresponding Campaign Guides – so when we launch a new Series 3 Campaign Guide for 1809 and the War of the 5th Coalition, players can expect we’ll be releasing Austrians along side it!
Can The Wargaming Company recommend any painting services for ESR Miniatures?
We’re only willing to recommend painting services we’ve used ourselves and unfortunately we aren’t able to recommend any at this time.
SO MUCH DETAIL! Do I have to paint it all?
Of course not. It’s your hobby. Paint them to the level you are satisfied!
Where can I find painting guides?
We publish the most comprehensive Napoleonic painting guides available included in our ESR Campaign Guides.
What paints are recommended for ESR Miniatures?
We recommend acrylic paints due to their fast drying and easy water-based cleanup. Both inexpensive craft paints and high end modeling paint brands work great on ESR Miniatures.
How are ESR Miniatures sculpted?
The ESR Miniatures line is digitally sculpted primarily in ZBrush by a variety of highly talented artists exclusively for The Wargaming Company, LLC.
Are ESR Miniatures available for sale digitally, i.e. as STL files?
Not at this time.
Will ESR Miniatures be available in the UK? The EU? Australia? Canada? Elsewhere?
The Wargaming Company ships worldwide but we are also working to make our products, including ESR Miniatures, available locally within the far-flung regions of the world. Checkout our resellers to see if we have a partner nearer you!
Update: North Star Military Figures will be handling our UK distribution so if you want your local UK, EU, or Australian game shop to carry ESR Miniatures, encourage them to reach out to North Star!
What about the previous ‘ESR Box Sets’ with metal figures?
From February 2018 to early 2021, The Wargaming Company, LLC offered ‘ESR Box Sets’ in the US and UK using a pre-existing line of 10mm metal figures traditionally hand-sculpted and produced by a UK company. That arrangement ended 25 March 2021 and The Wargaming Company sold its last remaining ESR Box Set in July of that year.
Any ‘ESR Box Sets’ still on the market are presumably old stock of that discontinued product line and are unrelated to ESR Miniatures which is an entirely new line of digitally sculpted plastic miniatures manufactured in the United States from The Wargaming Company. ESR Miniatures have been designed to be as scale-compatible with other 10mm manufacturers including our previous ESR Box Sets.
Unanswered questions?
Write us and inquire. If appropriate we’ll even add em to this FAQ.
