Over the years, Playmobil has produced toy soldiers from several different periods of history. Some have lent themselves very well to HG Wells Little Wars. We have called them the gunpowder armies and we've grouped our favorites into five somewhat vague historical periods.

• The Late Medieval Period (c 1500s) - Knights and Landsknechts
• The Musketeer Period (c 1600s) - Thirty Years War and English Civil War
• The Tricorne Period (c 1700s) - Seven Years War and American Revolution
• The Shako Period (c early 1800s) - Napoleonic, War of 1812 and Mexican War
• The Victorian Era (c late 1800s) - American Civil War and Imperial Colonialism

The Shako period of our Gunpowder Armies begins sometime around the early 1800s and continues up to the mid 1800s.

Europe trembled at the sound of his cannon and his marching armies. Some have said that he overshadowed all of the great leaders before him. Some have said that he was the greatest military strategist of all. Then there were those who said that because of him they lost their homes and families as well as their entire way of life. Napoleon may have been the most loved, the most hated and the most feared man of all time.

A very young United States of America once again stepped on the toes of the mighty British Lion. And, once more, France helped to stretch Britain's military resources so that their full force could not be used against the Americans.

The War of 1812 was a naval war with several interesting land engagements. The Battle of New Orleans is probably the most famous for two reasons. First, the United States gave England a thorough trouncing and second, unknown to the participants, the battle was fought after the war was already over.

The United States, now full of confidence, marched west. The Republic of Texas had just won its independence from Mexico when the United States declared war on the Mexicans. The Mexicans paid dearly for their defeat with the loss of nearly one-third of their country.

In the second half of the 1800s (the Victorian Era) the political world would continue to be changed forever.

The following images from the Napoleonic Wars only give a hint of what David Hamer is able to create with his Playmobil figures. Watch these pages for even more of David's fantastic Playmobil conversions. You can write to David at [email protected].

Click HERE to see what Playmobil has offered the Shako Period Garden Wargamer in the past and what they have available today.