A 'Century' for JohnM: 28mm Perry 1er Regiment de Carabiniers in Later Uniform

Holy cow! The guys just keep coming in with fresh entries for the Painting Challenge. Its only been a day since Greg's Austrian Dragoons made their grande review and now we have an answering volley from John in the form of the 1st Regiment of Carabiniers resplendent in their later uniform. These are 28mm Perry plastics painted with Vallejo alcohol-based metalics and Quickshade varnish.

I really like these models and John's paintjob has done them justice. I particularly like the characteristic reddish gold he's achieved with the cuirass, and the sky blue for the shabraques/porte-manteaus. Brilliant stuff, literally.

With this unit JohnM reinforces his lead with another 16 points and he achieves a 'century' for total points! Congrats John!

From Greg: 28mm Foundry Austrian 5th Dragoon Regiment

Straight off of Greg's painting table here we have a beefy regiment (24 models) of Austrian Dragoons - the 5th Regiment - Prince Eugene of Savoy's Moravians.

I asked Greg to give me a run-down of how we painted these lads and here is what he passed along:

"The colours are my usual pile - a mix of GW and craft paint ("Americana" from Michael's) acrylics. The white on the uniforms starts with a base of GW Fortress Grey. For straps, to give them some more "pop", I go straight to a Americana white. For the cloth parts, the base is the same (GW Fortress Grey), but then I put a highlight of GW Bleached Bone, before a final highlight of Americana white. The facings were GW Dark Angel Green as a base, then GW's Snot Green (hate their names). The shabraque and other red horse furniture started with a base of GW Red Gore, then GW Blood Red, and a final highlight of Americana Cadmium Red. On the shabraque, there is an eloquent “F II”, with a crown on the back corner of each side.  I can’t do detail like that 48 times, so I just did a metallic gold squiggle. The gloves for the troopers were base colour of GW Codex Grey, with a highlight of GW Fortress Grey, and then a final touch of GW Bleached Bone. The gloves on the officer started with GW Snakebite Leather, then GW Kommando Khaki, and a final highlight of GW Bleached Bone."

"Skin tones start with a base of GW Bleached Bone, then a main highlight of GW Vomit Brown, and a final touch of GW Elf Flesh. Generally, I have found a personal preference for the "yellow"er side of skin stones (as opposed to using Dwarf Flesh, for example) but I am going to experiment a bit to get into a colour progression that maybe provides a bit more warmth. I am so stubborn..."

"Any yellow parts (the lining of the shabraque, the comb) started with a base coat of GW Snakebite Leather, and then got GW Golden Yellow. On the shabraque, I painted in a thin line of GW Regal Blue between the two yellow stripes...I didn't quite capture the detail I have seen in some of those blankets, but it added enough. For the comb, I like to create some contrast/context with the colours, so I would only dab the yellow over the base colour, and would let the yellow "fade" before refreshing the brush and dabbing more, to create a contrast. I would also dry-brush GW Shadow Grey over the black part of the comb, to give it definition too."

"The horses were just various combinations of browns with highlights. The musician's horse was GW Shadow Grey, the GW Kommando Khaki and finally GW Bleached Bone."

There you have it. This regiment will give Greg a hefty 48 points to the 'Spring-Thaw Painting Challenge'. Greg has now completely closed the gap with JohnM and myself. Excellent stuff, Greg!

From JohnM: 28mm Front Rank & Perry British Foot Artillery

Here are some very nice new arrivals from JohnM: three bases of British Foot Artillery.  

The two flanking sections below are Perry sculpts (Hanoverians technically) while the center gun and crew are from Front Rank. For those interested, John says he used GW Fenris Grey for the gun carriages and the Quickshade Dark Tone varnish for the shading. Great job, John!

John is busy getting forces together to run a La Haye Sainte scenario using his solo-game modifications to 'Lasalle'. Judging from the Hougoumont game that he ran over the Christmas holidays this upcoming game, focusing on the assaults on Wellington's center, should be both exciting to follow and a feast for the eyes.

These lads will give him 15 points to the Painting Challenge, pushing me aside for the lead. Nonetheless, I hear the drumming hoofbeats of Greg's Austrian cavalry approaching so we should soon have some more action on the scoreboard!

6-10mm Scale Terrain from 'Forge World', 'JR Miniatures' and others

A resin 'Forge World' castle tarted up with additional buildings and trees.

I was reorganizing the shelves in my storage cabinet the other day and noticed some 6-10mm terrain that needed a bit of touching-up since our move.  I dragged them out, repaired them, got a little nostalgic (sniff) and thought I'd put up a few shots of them. 

Check out the whacky door and walkway out of the upper tower: 'Watch out when you go out to the loo, the first step's a doozy.'

There is nothing more picturesque than a burned-out village...

I always liked the rips and patches sculpted onto the sails of this windmill.

I put this stuff together several years ago for my 'Grande Armee' and Warmaster collection. The castle and windmill are from the sadly, now-deleted Forge World range of terrain for Warmaster. I'm not entirely sure about the other buildings, but I think at least a few of them are from JR Miniatures.

'Berthier, after you write out those orders, get me a couple of fresh croissants, some butter and a non-fat latte from that village. Oh, and mind the artillery fire, I don't want you to spill...'

As an aside, these are Adler 6mm which have incredible detail. You can even see the bespectacled bald head of Marshal Davout! (He's on the horse to the right of that strange little Corsican chap.)

To give a sense of scale I've placed one of my 'Grande Armee' command stands depicting Napoleon's headquarters next to the windmill.

Bases placed together to depict a town with very poor zoning bylaws.

I mounted the buildings on 4" square plywood bases in a manner where I could mix-and-match them to form a larger town (or towns) if needed. Well, now I feel like dragging out my 6mm stuff to have a game of Grande Armee!

From Curt: 28mm Foundry and Victrix French Voltigeurs

These eight fellows have been shuffled around my painting table for several weeks and so I thought it high time to get them done and ready for duty.

The four above are from Foundry (Perry sculpts) in 'mid-period' uniforms (ca. 1809).  I particularly like the guys with the high gaiters and tall plumes - quite smart looking.  I find that the GW 'Scorpion Green' really adds a bit of punch to the base-tone green, but you have to use it sparingly or it can get a little too bright.

The other four are Victrix plastics in the 1804-1807 uniform. As I've mentioned before these models are kinda fiddly to assemble, but the variety of poses and possible conversions are a huge bonus.  I'm going to add a couple more models to each of these two groups as I plan to have several batches, composed of six models each, to serve as skirmishing screens for my various battalions. They'll also come in handy for 'Sharp Practice'!

Product Review: 'Architects of War' 28mm 'Garden Kit'

I picked up a bunch of stuff from 'Architects of War' about a month ago and promised that I'd post the finished results as they came off the hobby table. Well, here's a charming little vegetable garden from them that I assembled and painted pretty much stock out of the box.

The vegetables, scarecrow, sack of weeds and water pale came as white metal bits, while the base is a single piece of resin. (There is also a hoe that I decided not to put in.) There was no warping in the resin and all of the white metal pieces were relatively clean. I did use a bit of Liquitex gel medium to fill in some of the gaps where the foliage is inserted into the base, but any gap-filling glue would do the trick as well.  Bernie from 'Architects of War' has great assembly and painting instructions on his website for each item which is a great help. The whole thing painted-up pretty fast as it has a deep defined texture for quick dry-brushing.

I embellished the base with some grass tufts and flock for a bit of added texture.  I particularly like the scarecrow and footprints in the soil - kinda whimsical. I think it'll be a nice addition to the table for skirmish gaming.

From JohnM: 28mm Front Rank British Heavy Dragoons

'Well, I do say. Who are all those foreign chaps with the pointy sticks? Haw! Haw! Oh dear.'

Well, JohnM didn't let my smack-talk go for too long unanswered. Here is two thirds of the Union Brigade, the 1st (Royals) and the 6th (Inniskillings) to be precise. Each stand represents a squadron. He just has the 2nd (Scots Greys) left and the brigade will be ready to dash itself to pieces with a snuf-snorting Ponsonby at the lead!

These are 28mm Front Rank castings with a GMB flag with nice cords. A great unit!

This unit will bring John a respectable 24 points for the Painting Challenge. Enough to put himself in first and shut me up, to be sure.

From Curt: 28mm Old Glory British 42pd Rocket Section

 

JohnM was kind enough to trade to me an extra pack of Old Glory RHA rockets that he had left over from his own project. 

I have to thank John for doing all the hard work researching and tackling these guys first as I'd be clueless on how to proceed with all of the parts that were in the bag. I based this stand up pretty much the same as his own. Quality-wise these Old Glory figures are OK castings with good animation, and they paint up quite well, but they are nowhere near the same standard as the top-flight stuff from Perry, Front Rank, Victrix, etc. Nonetheless, they fill a niche that is not represented by most (if any) manufacturers.

I put them out in our last scenario. True to form they basically did nothing, but every time they fired it caused the French a little consternation as when they decide to hit, they can hit very hard - and they can cause particular havoc against cavalry. 

Oh, and these lads will give me six points for the Challenge! So, c'mon guys, buck-up - I'm leaving y'all in the dust!  ;)

'When Things Go Boom' - The Conclusion(s)!

First, Happy St. Patrick's Day! Ok, for those who may be interested in how my hypothetical post-Waterloo scenario ended up, feel free to check out the battle report in the 'Past Games' section. We've since played it over several separate occasions and have had interesting results each time.

New From Curt - 28mm Perry KGL Light Dragoons (1st Regt)

I hosted a game last night and in preparation for it a few weeks ago I had decided that I wanted some British cavalry to help change the scenario's dynamic. So here is the game-equivalent of a couple squadrons of KGL Light Dragoons (1st Regiment). I would have liked to have more to show here but I ran out of figures and am waiting 'resupply'. The cavalry are 28mm Perry castings with a few French  casualty figures by Foundry placed in to 'conceal' the fact that I didn't have enough dragoon models for a full 10-man unit.

I used Army Painter Quickshade on this group and find I'm getting a little more comfortable with the technique. I think I'd still prefer the 'dip' to be darker in tone but I managed to work around that for the most part.

Unlike most new figures that I put on the games table these guys were complete rock stars on their first outing. They charged a full battery of French medium artillery, to the front, survived the canister fire and sabered the gunners. Later in the game they were charged by a full regiment of Dragoons, which should have vaporized them on the spot, but they gave a good account of themselves before being overwhelmed.

I'm looking forward to getting this group up to a full 24-figure unit in the future. As it is, this contingent will count for 20 points in the Spring-Thaw Painting Challenge. Ok JohnM, I await to receive your return volley! 

Naval Action off San Domingo, 1806 - 1:1200 GHQ by Sylvain

Allan's British squadron going into close action.

 Sylvain was kind enough to host a great game last night using his redux version of the 'Trafalgar' rules. The scenario was the 1806 naval action that was fought off the coast of San Domingo. Due to atrocious rolls on my part I spent a good portion of the game waiting in the wings with my squadron, spouting pithy (read: useless) advise, while Allan took it in the teeth for King and Country. That being said he did a very handsome job in not only tying-up the majority of the French squadron but by also gutting their flagship and mauling another 74-gun ship-of-the-line. By the time I leisurely cruised into the action, with pennants bravely waving, it was pretty much last call for the French (by saying this I do a great disservice to Stacy who actually played a very good game as the unfortunate Admiral Leissegues). 

The HMS Spencer bashing it out with two French 74s.

Please excuse the crap photos as they were snapped with my iphone as I tottered over the table. Nonetheless, it should give you a good idea of the beautiful models in Sylvain's collection. I especially like the wrecked vignettes he's done. Great stuff, Sylvain - Bravo!

'Keep rowing, Pierre, Haiti is only 200 miles away. Can someone please pass the bilge water...?'

New from Curt: 28mm Foundry, 2e Regiment de Ligne (2nd Battalion)

Here is another French battalion to add to the collection (and the Painting Challenge). This is the 2nd Battalion of the 2e Regiment de Ligne.

This regiment has the unique distinction of having served as ship-borne troops in the Battle of Trafalgar. In the 1809 campaign the first two battalions fought as part of Molitor's Division defending, against steep odds, the village of Aspern in the two-day battle of Aspern-Essling.  They were heavily engaged again during the Battle of Wagram less than two months later. The 3rd battalion lost it's colour standard, much to their shame, to Tyrolean rebels under Andreas Hofer (and is now on display in the Army Museum in Innsbruck). The regiment participated in most of the major engagements right up to the Hundred Days Campaign.

The core of this unit existed before as the beginnings of a 20-man battalion, but I have since brought it up to a more strapping 40-man-equivalent unit with some fresh recruits, a couple junior officers, a few casualties and a mounted commanding officer (by Victrix). All in all that makes it 42 figures with all the extra trimmings. The battalion standard is by Flag Dude. 

So, another 22 points to the pot! It does not bridge the gap with JohnM but at least I'm a bit closer...

Test Models from Greg: 28mm Foundry Austrian Dragoons

Greg's next unit for the Painting Challenge will be a regiment of Austrian dragoons, namely Dragoon Regiment No. 2 "Prinz Eugen von Savoyen" - a unit which recruited out of Moravia.  He's kindly forwarded a few shots of some finished models that he's used for testing colour composition. These are 28m Foundry castings.

Greg says he's still trying to find his sea legs with painting 28mm cavalry but I think these lads look great. I'm eager to see the entire regiment of twenty-four when its done!

Hmm, it looks like I'm going to have to rack up some Perry French cuirassiers or carabiniers to help sort these fellows out when we next meet for a game. The escalation continues...

New Side Project: 'Architects of War' Terrain

When I first saw some of the 'Architects of War' stuff online I was quite intrigued as it seemed like high quality, well thought-out terrain. Then I saw JohnM's review of the their brilliant Tree Bases on his blog and that sealed it - I wanted to get some of this for my own table. Over the Christmas season Barb and Bernie at Architects of War had a great 'North American Terrain' deal which I was quite keen on. As it turned out, in the chaos of the holiday season I completely missed the deadline for placing an order.  Nonetheless they were kind enough to fill it after the fact and even allowed me to fiddle around with swapping in substitutes. Thanks very much guys!

Behold, a crap-load of resin and white metal!

The shipping box was very well packed and packaged and the same can be said for the individual items. I haven't had time to go through each of the boxes yet but the ones I have examined look very good.  The resin is very clean, crisp in detail and most importantly, not warped. The white metal looks well-formed and the castings seem quite clean. 

The pig sty - very reminiscent of my bedroom as a teenager...

I think with this order I have a decent sampling of products from their General Purpose range. There's two sets of trees, a large plowed field, a turnip field, tobacco field, garden, family burial plot, dung heap, farm implements, a well and a pig sty.

An example of a finished piece from the website.

I'll post photos of each of the pieces as they come off the painting desk.