Croation Sensations ready for the table

Well, I have been off for a couple of weeks on a wonderful trip to France. We got back on Saturday night (although it felt like Sunday afternoon) and thanks to the fog of jet lag, I was able to finish off the ground work and complete my Grenzer unit, part of the Napoleonic Challenge.



This unit is another big sucker - 38 foot troops and one mounted officer. The models are all Foundry castings. Foundry does not make command for Grenzer units beyond the chap in the bicorne hat, so I bodged by painting up some later period Hungarians in Shakos with Grenzer type colours. That provided a musician, standard carrier, an additional foot officer and a mounted officer. The Shakos of the Hungarian impostors look a little different, and I was guessing when painting some of the officers, but overall the uniforms are not that different and in the end I'm pleased with the effect.



The "advance" pose, with the musket held to the front and the bayonets sticking off to the side, made basing this unit a little trickier than that stolid "march attack" poses of the Austrian line units I have painted. The Grenzers ended up a little more ragged, but not too much, and I think it still suits their character well.

Up next is some artillery. I'm going to paint two six-pounder guns with some crew. The challenge only calls for a single gun, but two guns will make it closer to a half-battery needed for some other rules, and I am thinking doing two guns can't be much more of a burden than one gun.

It will be a challenge as I see the f***ing clowns at Foundry did not include key components in the cannon pack - specifically the axles to hold the wheels on the gun carriages. So I'll have to improvise a bit there. But watch for more progress over the coming month.

It's too bad the painting challenge kicked in for October - since I started this project in July, I have painted 114 25mm foot castings as well as three mounted officers. Not too bad a rate of progress.

I will also be diverting a bit toward finishing off the infantry component for my 40k Elysians - there is a squad of guys with shotguns waiting to be painted, and I need to add a few more odds and ends like troops, advisors, a commissar etc. to round out command squads needed for an Imperial Guard force. I am also going to add some punch by painting up missile launcher teams. I don't know if I will add them to the squads, or keep them as a separate heavy weapon section of three teams, but I'll figure that out later. I will try and get these done for October, as well as the Austrian artillery. Should be fun.

Grenzing away

I'm still sawing away at the Black Powder project, and I'm pleased to report pretty good progress on my Grenzer unit. I made it to the half-way point last night and now have 20 of the troops painted. Here is a little update picture:



I found a pack of mounted infantry officers wearing shakos in my Foundry pile, so this unit will have a mounted figure in the mix as well. A mounted, shako-wearing Hungarian officer should stand in reasonably for an officer without it being too silly.

That will leave 18 infantry and the mounted officer left to paint before the unit is ready for basing. I don't think I'll be able to get it done before an approaching vacation dents my momentum, but we'll see what progress I can manage this weekend.

Roll Over Beethoven

Okay, Greg has been going great guns on his Napoleonic Austrians and I thought it high-time to show that I've not been doing nothing these past few months since I issued the Challenge. I have a ton of Foundry metals from past purchases but I also bought a schwack of the Victrix plastics as they have the early French in their bicornes and long coat-tails which I like the look of. The Victrix stuff is great but putting them all together can be a little crazy-making. Nonetheless, I do like the ability to build unique units without too much hassle. Here are a few 'raw' unpainted figures which have been arranged for a command stand concept.

The cool thing about the multi-pose plastics is that you can build a unit incrementally to flesh out an idea for an overall theme. The box came with a couple mods for guys raising their hats and I thought I'd do a whole battalion that is in the midst of a impromptu salute. I envisioned a scene where the Colonel is passing along the praise of the brigadier to the battalion and particularly the colour party for covering itself in glory in the past engagement. The men are loving it, with lots of back-slapping, musket-waving and shouting out "Vive le Starbucks" or something.

I have a hard time getting used to how light these guys are. It kinda freaks me out as I'm used to a certain heft with a unit of this size. In retrospect I'm happy I went with metal bases as I'm thinking they would otherwise blow away with a good sneeze. I also prefer the lower profile to the bases - the figures seem more part of the playing surface.

The other thing I wanted to try with this unit was to place figures and groundwork into the 'dead space' at the front of each base. I reason that this way when the battalion is placed into column it looks a bit more integrated between the lines. Technically this would be rated as a 32-figure battalion in Black Powder or Republic to Empire but it has a few more models in it as I prefer a more packed-in look. There are a couple light conversions in there with guys holding their bicornes, bearskins and shakos. There is also the obligatory bald guy to commemorate my own follicle-challenged status.

I wasn't really sure on the autumnal groundwork colours but I think I like it now. It seems to give more variability to the overall colours instead of just seeing a mass of blue and white. I've got a bunch more models painted (no, really) but I'm waiting for some more 'filler' NCO/junior officer castings from the Perry's, Foundry and Sash and Saber to act as file closers. I'll post another update once I have a brigade's worth based and their groundwork completed.

Next up: French Dragoons!

It's officially a brigade!

Well, two units plus some kind of command base = a brigade! I finished the basing and flags for my second battalion of Austrians, and also based up the two officers I had painted.

Here are some photos. The latest unit is the one in front, with the green facings.





Here is the brigade-level command base:



Now, it is on to the Grenzers. I finished my first "stick" of these guys on Thursday night. Four down, 36 figures to go...



The Grenzers are Foundry figures as well. I will dig through my Foundry pile in the hopes of finding a pack of mounted officers with Shakos...the Hungarian one could stand in for a mounted officer for the Grenz battalion. Failing that, we'll go with all foot-sloggers for this unit.

Black Powder update

I continue to chug away with my Black Powder project. The pile of Austrians is large, but I am excited to report that a second battalion is now closing in on completion. They have been based, and I'm just waiting for paint to settle before doing the final dry-brushing and groundwork and then finally adding the banners. Here are a couple of interim progress shots.



This unit is another monster - 38 foot figures and 1 mounted officer. The figures are all from the Foundry range. I find the Foundry castings to be much leaner (especially on the legs) and way less varied than the Sash & Sabre castings from my first unit. But the Foundry castings are very sharp, with excellent detail. It's still an excellent range.



I am also trying to get some officers ready. Curt's magnificent wedding gift has given my Austrian lads an overall command, but nearly all of the game systems require that brigade and/or division commanders of some kind be represented as well. So I have finished painting a general and a flunky, and will try and base them together on a command stand this weekend.



I found the generals pretty tricky to paint, as I was uncertain on the colours and details that show on a 25mm figure which I would never concern myself with on the 15mm or 6mm figures. Still, with enough gold-ish stuff on their saddles, cuffs and sashes, they look like they should be in charge of something. That seems about right for a brigade-level command to me.

Another thing I have found is that I am also really struggling with the horses - I find painting them in 15mm and 6mm to be a breeze, but the furniture etc. is stumping me at the 25mm level. Fortunately there have been very few mounted models so far. I am going to try and get some artwork to inspire me once I get to the cavalry.

No cavalry for now though - still going to work through the infantry. The Grenzer unit is up next - a beefy grouping of 40 models. Stay tuned for more progress. Long weekends are often a good time to paint, so I'm hoping I can get some good progress on the Grenzers through to Labour Day.

First Black Powder Austrian battalion completed

Well, the progress was a little slow at the outset, but I have managed to complete my first Austrian unit for Black Powder, part of Curt's Napoleonic challenge. The figures are all Sash & Sabre castings, with the exception of the mounted officer, who is from Foundry.



The unit is comprised of 38 foot models and one mounted model, all in 25mm scale. The unit is mounted on a total of nine bases. Eight of the bases are 30mm x 50mm, while the command base is mounted with eight models on a single 60mm x 50mm base. The bases are all thin steel, for extra heft. The extra depth (an inspiration of Curt's) allows for less risk of wreckage when units charge each other on the table, while also giving extra room for things like the banners, the mounted officer etc.



Still a long way to go, but getting the first unit done is definitely an inspiration. The next unit will be all Foundry figs - another "German" unit in march attack pose. Watch for more progress here on the blog.

Slowly but surely...

I love long weekends! Great time to make some painting progress while sitting outside in the gazebo with a cold beer.

Here is a progress photo for my first unit of Austrians for Curt's Napoleonic Challenge.



Each of my infantry battalions will have 38 foot models and one mounted model (which takes of up two slots on the bases) for a total of 40 models per unit. They will be impressive displays of Hapsburg might, and will look great on the table while the Austrian commanders gnaw their fingernails off wondering whether they should actually be committed...

The standard bearers and musician are under the brush right now. After that, another officer and a pioneer are the last models to be finished for this unit. They can be seen above in the very front, with their black primer and basic shadow grey drybrush, waiting for their turn on the assembly line...

First steps on a loooooong project (with crummy photos)

Devoted readers (hey - there are a few of you) will recall from February that Fawcett-Conscript-West Consigliere Curt has outlined a challenge where both he and I will build up a 25mm force to play a game of Black Powder - a new and rather grand set of rules for the horse & musket era.

I certainly love Napoleonics, and the proliferation of new rules as well as new figures in the 25mm/28mm scale (especially plastics!) has for some time now been causing me to do a few figs here and a few figs there. I have a huge hoard of metal Austrians from Foundry, and some others from companies like Front Rank and Sash & Sabre.

I had always thought one day I would paint these up and base them for Shako. And the Perry French I have painted so far are also based for Shako. Shako is not perfect, but it's pretty good, and I hoped that one day these models would see action with our group.

New rules like Lasalle and Black Powder are certainly changing the calculus. Lasalle offers real battalion-level battles, and an infinitely larger scope of scenarios. It also has drawbacks, but is pretty innovative. Black Powder is another game that does away with the pretension of representing all or even half of the very large battles which are so often a feature of Shako, and instead allows for you - even encourages you - to focus on a smaller action.

The spirit of these games is great. But they also challenge you in another way, especially if you want to do 25mm. The units are much larger - and in the case of Black Powder, really large. An average battalion in Shako is 18 foot models. An average one in Lasalle is 24, and in Black Powder, an average battalion can be as many as 36 foot models!

I have divided feelings about this. No question the large units look really, really cool. And I salute the desire to move away from "Let's do Quatre-Bras" and toward "let's do part of the advance guards from two armies clunking into each other one day in 1809". But wow - so many figures.....Black Powder (the rules are beautiful - I recommend getting them just to see the book) is really a rules set for people who have studio armies. And full credit to the authors - they don't think they are better than you, and they tell you to go nuts with any scale or basing size you want, as long the sides are consistent. Lasalle also goes out of its way to present ways to play in different scales with different base sizes. But to really capture the rules, you need to go the way they do. I'm just not sure that is practical for the long term.

Nonetheless, I have undertaken the challenge with Curt to do the units for a scenario that is small - three foot units, two cavalary units and an artillery battery. Even so, scaling for Black Powder, I will need to paint 120 foot castings just to represent the infantry! Then there will be cavalry, skirmishers and artillery....but I said I would do it, so time to start.

I already have a unit of Foundry Napoleonic Austrians based for Shako, but that won't work for our approach to Black Powder, so it's back to the hoard-o-metal, and square one.

My first unit will be 39 models - 38 foot and one mounted officer. The foot lads will be Sash & Sabre, and the mounted officer will be from Foundry. I mounted and primed 24 foot troops for painting, and polished off four of them last night. Sorry the pictures suck.



The above picture shows the 24 models - just over half of one unit.



Here is one of the "sticks".



This close-up is not too bad. The battalion will be "German" and has red facings. Unfortunately Sash & Sabre do not sell "Hungarian" troops in helmets, but I have some Front Rank guys that will do there. But one unit at a time! I like to think I can paint pretty fast, but this will take awhile. Especially because I struggle to focus.

I am going to try and post a little "counter" of some kind of the blog, to share progress and hopefully maintain some peer pressure on myself to keep at it...and hey, it's a chance for Cam to pile on.

Napoleonic Challenge - French Artillery & British Line

Well, I've been slowly building steam on the assembly/painting of the plastic Victrix stuff I picked up last autumn. I hope to have enough done-up to show a few pics in a couple weeks as I am waiting for a schwack of custom cut metal bases from the U.S. (the plastics are so light that I thought I'd base them on metal stands to give them a little bit of heft). I've been splitting my time with working on those and doing some stuff in good ole metal. Above is a French medium artillery piece and its crew reading to give the Austrians a good pounding. Figures from Foundry. Uniform-wise I prefer the early Napoleonic period as the lads often wore the high gaiters, longer tailed coats and dressier waistcoats. I was thinking of putting these guys on a single base but thought I'd get more use out of them for skirmish games (i.e. 'Sharpe Practice') if I based them singly.

Next is an almost-complete battalion of British infantry (again Foundry castings). They are out of the scope for our 'Challenge' but they were very close to being done so I cracked on and got them based-up. These boys are wearing the early 'stovepipe' shako which was worn in the Peninsula (which I've always preferred to the later, somewhat lumpish 'Belgic' shako). I've painted their trousers in a variety of shades to reflect them sourcing whatever local fabrics from being on campaign. I still need to get two more bases done for the colour party and a few for the Flank companies and then they'll be ready to dust it up with the French. I've chosen to base all my stuff in a compressed frontage (15mm per figure for the infantry) which I think gives a more realistic impression of how the lads would be crammed together in the firing line. Of course it means more figures are required for a comparable 20mm frontage but I quite like the look of it.

Ok, back to the priming booth!

The Napoleonic Challenge

Where's my parking space! I'm glad you guys brought scrapers. F&%#ing Regina winters...

For Greg and myself Napoleonic wargaming is the absolute bees knees of the hobby and unless you have been living under a rock this past year you will have noticed that there have been a plethora of rules and minis released for the period. A veritable orgy of plastic figures are now available from the Perry twins and Victrix, along with more rulebooks than you can wave a marshal's baton at (Shako II, Black Powder, Lasalle, Rank & File, etc.). Yes, Virginia, its a wonderful time to be a Napoleonic geek. So, while Lasalle looks to be a great set of rules (and I will probably be a complete whore and do it in 6mm) Greg and I are both smitten with the 'Grande Manner' style of wargaming proposed in Warlord's Black Powder. Its completely unapologetic about its loony mega-sized units (30-60 28mm figures per battalion/regiment!) and has relatively straightforward rules. So as Lord Flashheart would say, "LETS DOOO-OOO IT! WOOF-WOOF!" We thought we'd pick a battle and use it as a target to build/paint towards. Lasalle has a nice little affair at Venzone in northern Italy depicting the early moves of the 1809 campaign. Greg is going to get the Austrians up and running and I will come up with the French. Six or so battalions each plus a few regiments of cavalry and some guns to bang away with - pure bliss. We've set a tentative date of April 'something' to do this by (come to think of it, as the battle occurred on the 11th of April maybe this is as good a date as any to aim for). The gauntlet has been thrown so now its time to get busy!

Last autumn I had picked up three boxes of Victrix French when they were promoting the Black Powder rules (it was a wee deal that was too good to pass up, what with the free shipping) and so I eagerly cracked them open the other day to start the race. Holy crap! I was completely gobsmacked when I discovered that there are around a zillion separate pieces to these guys! Each figure is composed of around 6-8 separate parts, with options galore - its completely mental. Anyway, I girded my loins, got out my sprue clippers, sniffed some plastic cement and started in. Well, to be sure they are a bit of a pain in the ass to assemble, but the variations in poses help to make up for it. I found that it will not be too difficult to create units where the soldiers look like they are interacting with each other which is pretty darn cool. This project will be a much harder slog than I first thought but the results could be well worth it.

Here is a pic of some preliminary layout options I'm working on for one of the command stands... I really like that the Victrix figures are quite slim and that you can easily trim the bases around their feet. This will allow me to pack them in shoulder-to-shoulder for a nice massed look (I plan to pack another three figures on this base). Anyway, Greg and I will try to keep you up to date on how we are progressing with the challenge and hopefully we'll have a game to show for it in the spring! Cheers! Curt