Waterloo Accessory Set (283/1)

The Waterloo Accessory Set, was for many years quite mythical, but in actual fact, the set itself (The Battle of Waterloo Assualt Set) had sold quite well, and as collecting overtook playing, in the late 1980's, they started to come out of the woodwork, and then had a reissue or two, and is now not mythical, but here's my take on it anyway, for completeness’s sake!

 

I've given it the code 283/1, but that's probably just a printer's thing, it's found on the instruction sheet as seen below, but in the absence of another obvious code, it'll do! You could equally use the code of the larger set - 51653, but obviously that pertains to a whole bunch of other stuff!

 

The full 'assault set' will get its own blog space in the fullness of time, so, really, for that future post/page on the set, but a quick rant - this is a mint set, please note, NO cavalry, no Highland Infantry. Now, there is a possibility the Highland Infantry were included in some sets, either in lieu of the 'new' French Imperial Guard, or in addition to them in later, or more likely (this was the height of the Oil Crisis) earlier sets, and it is mentioned in some catalogues, I think, but the cavalry sets were never included, and if you wanted to include them, you'd have to remove both Imperial's and Highlander's, as while some people try to stuff eight boxes into the larger tray, the tray's moulding only takes six boxes, but in fact shipped with five. 

 

When I worked for a dealer, we had dozens of these come-in, in all states, but mint states looked like this. My own memories of the sets from my childhood, when the better-off kids in the village were lucky-enough to get one at Christmas or for a Birthday, were as this set, no cavalry. And the fact that the photo-artwork on the box shows the Imperial Guard in a non-issued (pre-production?) white plastic, is further proof that they were always intended for the set. A mint set on HobbyDB has five boxes, but with the Highlanders, not the Imperial Guard!

 

Early imagery also shows the accessory set cobbled together from the Wild West wagon, a scratch-built cart, and some Station Accessories goods/play set barricades, suggesting that the set was in preparation for the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, before either the Imperial Guard, or the accessory set were ready. And the provision for a sixth box of figures, not normally included, may be because there was an intention to place the Accessory Set, in a standard box, it's certainly configured for it.

 

In the end, the accessory set was just slipped in a bag, placed on top of the bag containing the standard Battle of Waterloo Farmhouse mould-shot, the main runner cut into two pairs of the lesser frames, had they - the lesser frames - been further divided, the whole would have fit a standard box, and note, this is from that time before 'danger of suffocation' messages were printed on polyethylene bags!

 

A full set broken down, the flimsy barricades from the Forward Command Post (and other) kits, as shown on the box, have been replaced by more substantial tree barricades, the Station Accessories have been replaced with more farm-like tools and cargo, and the Wild West wagon conversion (it had a spare wheel!) and cart, are represented by much nicer, all-new sculpts of a larger four-wheeled dray (but with sides), and an equally heavy cart, with all new horses, not the Farm horse on the box art!

 

Around the time of the 150th anniversary, a newer set was issued (which did have the cavalry!), by Hornby Hobbies, and the accessory set reappeared. Indeed, they made so many shots of the whole runner, at least one enterprising, early eBay entrepreneur, managed to get a shed-load off Hornby, and he was selling them, uncut, for many years!

 

The above is one of them, moulded in a newer mid-brown/beige polymer, and you can see certain features clearly, four subordinate frame-runners, attached to a larger, central tree-runner, with the remains of the sprue, or 'sprue-gate' in the centre as a disc-like blemish, along that main runner, the sprue being removed in the factory. I know . . . but they are idiots, amateurs or don't know what they're talking about, there are no sprues in this image, they are frames and runners!

 

Not the best picture, and I will endeavour to replace it at some point, but this is the larger wagon, technically a dray has no sides, but the low'ish floor and heavy nature of the vehicle rather suggests the moniker, in the absence of something more obvious?

 

It's semi-fictional, compared to the various unofficial classes of agricultural wagon known to historians of such things, but, somebody, somewhere probably built something like this, at some point! But, the solid sides, provided protection for and-, meant you could fill it with-, riflemen; to break-out of the farmhouse in a 'death-or-glory' charge! They were toys!

 

This is the more accurate of the two, historically, a two-wheeled cart, with ladder-sides for hay, manure or sacks of anything! A very French-looking operator in a beret was a nice touch, and both vehicles will fill useful roles in scenarios from 16-something to the 1950's. Take the sides off, and you've almost got a costermonger's barrow!

 

The other accessories include a pile of firewood which makes a useful barricade or covered firing position, a lovely sack-barrow, and various items of cargo, or peripheral farm scenery.

 

The barricades, and some useful tools, the spade is slightly anachronistic, being more like a 20th Century entrenching spade? Farm spades tend to be oblong, or edged shovels, while a grave-digger's spade has a longer handle, but these things don't trouble kids, and ultimately they were toys!