Friday, January 31, 2014

Napoleonic Cossack Cavalry and Sledge Gun (75 points)


Whoa, what a week. Am I ever pooped. I was really hoping to get this submission in by the end of last weekend but the 'Poll Bot Attack' hit the blog below the waterline and I was in damage control for much of Sunday and Monday. Then the workweek kicked off at a furious pace and I also needed to catch up on other folks' entries. Nonetheless, I now I have a bit of a breather before the Hero round so I'm thought I best sneak these in while I can.

Anyway, enough whining, right? Continuing with my 1812 Retreat diversion, I thought I'd get some more Cossacks done as I'd like to put on a small skirmish game with this stuff next month. So here are 4 mounted Cossacks, a light gun mounted on a snow sledge and a Cossack commander.


The cavalry are all Perry Miniatures, a mixture of Don and Ataman Cossacks. Later I plan to add some Moscow Opolchenie (militia) riders for a bit of variation to the mix (not to mention I love their whacky hats).


I've decided to give these Cossacks relatively uniform saddle blankets and lances to better tie them together as a unit. As per my usual MO I've mounted the officer on a hex base so players can better identify him on the tabletop. (Junior leaders will be on rectangular bases.) I ultimately want around 30 of these fellows (three 'troops' I 'spose) so this is going to be a bit of a slog as I'm complete crap at painting cavalry at any real speed. Nonetheless, when they get done they should look the business careening around the tabletop, creating mischief for the French.


Also included is a sledge-gun manned by a trio of Cossacks. This is a very nice little set from Kawe's Westfalia Miniatures. I kept it pretty grungy looking and dirtied up the muzzle with expended powder to give it that rough campaign look. I can easily envision many interesting scenarios with this as the focus.



I've also added a few pics which include the other three Cossacks that debuted with the French sledges. I thought I'd include them here, rolling out with their buddies, to give me some encouragement to get the next batch done.



This group of Cossacks will give me 75 points to add to my tally. 

With a bit of luck I might get one more submission in before the onslaught of the Hero round.

38 comments:

  1. These guys are fantastic you've captured the colours and feel perfectly i just love them
    Cheers
    Kent

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    1. Thanks very much Kent. I made the colours vibrant as I really wanted them to pop from the white setting of the tabletop. These guys need some more frost on them which I'll add this week sometime.

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  2. What a fantastic group of Cossacks Curt :)

    I'm loving this project

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    1. Cheers Tamsin, I'm delighted you're enjoying this little frosty foray of mine!

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  3. Absolutely marvellous! I'd say that's a lot more than 75 points' worth of work there!

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    1. Thank you Lord Hill but the book-keeper must keep to the books!

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  4. Curt, these look really splendid - the sledge gun is terrific. Great stuff, Sir!

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    1. Thank you Sidney! The sledge gun was good fun to work on (and very atmospheric).

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  5. Superb work (as usual!). The Perry retreat from Moscow line is very, very tempting but I just don't think I could do the figures justice

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    1. Oh, I think you'd do great with it Miles. Pick up a pack and give it a whirl to see what you think.

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  6. Might not be fast work but it looks GREAT, love the tracks in the snow

    Ian

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    1. Cheers Ian. Yeah when I was doing the gel groundwork I remembered just in time to put in the tracks through the snow otherwise it would've looked rather odd.

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  7. Lovely stuff Curt.
    I think your sledge gun would work from Ivan the terrible onwards!
    Cheers
    PD

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    1. You're absolutely right! It does have this antique look about it, doesn't it?

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  8. Brilliant work again dude - lovely.

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    1. We get to play with these in a few weeks - can't wait!

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  9. Stop it!!!!!! I really do want to see a game with these lads now..

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    1. Me Too!!!! :) (Curse it, for painting sooo slooow.)

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  10. Replies
    1. Dey wuz fun to wurk on!

      Thanks for producing that wonderful sledge gun Kawe!

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  11. Thanks Andrew, it was a bit fiddly to first work out but now goes pretty quick (as I'm sure you know from your excellent work).

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  12. As ever, you've captured this campaign perfectly. Great painting Sir, but I have to agree with Lord Hill, 75 points is far too low!

    Pip pip

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    1. Thank you Provost Marshal, much appreciated.

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  13. Absolutely outstanding work! While your Cossacks are great I really love the little vignette you created with the sledge gun.

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    1. Thanks Nick. Yes, the sledge gun was a fun little set to work with and I'm happy how it came together.

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  14. Every time I see a new post on this project I go "woohoo!". Each post contains something special and these are no different. Your stuff should be on the Perry site mate as inspiration. Just beautiful...

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  15. Just beautiful Curt! I'm really loving you "Retreat" figures Top marks my good man!

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    1. Thank you Mr. Rousell, I'm delighted that you like them.

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Thanks for your comment! As long as you're not a spam droid I'll have it up on the blog soon. :)