Painted Figures - comparison

Here they are then. From the left, Mr White Undercoat, then Mr Black Drybrushed white undercoat and finally dull old Mr Black undercoat.

Personally spraking, I think the two blck undercoats look to work the best for this type of figure. I'll try three of my RSMs next and see how they go.

The Gardes Francaises need a new draft of troops.

Undercoats

I decided to do a little experiment in the past few days to try out the competing “undercoat” models we have available.

I took three similar miniatures (WW1 Russians from HLBS) and undercoated them. One I did in white, one in black and one in black, heavily dry-brushed white.

I painted all three using exactly the same techniques – base-coat, first and in some areas, second highlights. Some areas got a wash of my favourite brown ink.

The HLBS castings are heavily undercut and have many a nook and cranny.

The black undercoat and the dry-brushed one let me paint the “visible” detail, while the white undercoat made me want to stick my paintbrush into every semi-accessible crevice in the figure. This is for me always a frustrating exercise and I wound up washing those areas with ink to hint at painted detail. The dry-brushed undercoat let me wash over raised strap detail without having really to paint it. I followed this up with a thinned wash of brown ink again to define the detail and it came up looking pretty good.

For comparison purposes, I ought to paint three RSM figures for comparison. They are much less heavily undercut and would make an interesting point of comparison.

Images of the HLBS figures will follow in the next day or so.

Touching History Terrain Book review

I received in the mail of a copy of the first volume of the Touching History series on terrain making last night, the Peninsular War one.

It’s a magazine format book with a great many illustrations showing the buildings and terrain. I was greatly impressed by the quality of the photos, but not too impressed by the information presented.

I did not feel that the book really presented me with tips on making “Spanish” terrain. The section on making the terrain boards while nice enough presented some nice grassy scenery that might not have been out of place in any generic European layout. There was no discussion at all of the differing terrain and climate conditions that one might encounter in the Peninsula. I always had the impression that Spain is rather diverse, and a bit more arid!

The buildings as describes are very nice to look at, but the emphasis seemed more on describing the finishing of the buildings than on the techniques used in making them. That’s fair enough – it’s always seemed to me that war games terrain is mostly about the finish, but a few more tips might have been useful. Some tips that were mentioned were new to me – using brass sheet to represent pantiled roofing for example – but most were pretty unremarkable and frankly could have been gleaned from the Terragenesis website or past issues of White Dwarf.

The book contains a great deal of padding and irrelevance – double-page spreads of scenery layouts, close-ups of single miniatures, close-ups of scenery layouts from irrelevant periods and an astonishingly self-indulgent couple of pages on re-enactors of the 95th Rifles. Surely some of this wasted space (and surely there’s not much space to waste in a 75-page publication) could have gone towards fleshing out the descriptions on building some of the more complicated buildings.

The problem today with this sort of publication is that there is so much material available on the internet. This material is filled with excellent, well-illustrated articles on virtually every aspect of terrain design. To produce a book on terrain building that is actually worthwhile, you may need to pitch it as being someone’s “master class” with perhaps tips on advanced techniques, perhaps some material on designing buildings from conception to execution.

I think that if you wanted to take a more useful look at creating the terrain of the Peninsula War, you might be better off hanging onto the GBP18.50 this cost me here in Australia (and spending it on some Connoisseur miniatures) and go here instead: http://www.fusiliers.net/wargaming6.htm

West Melbourne Regiment

I'm taking a little time off the Seven Years War to paint up something a little different.

I have a small cache of Britains recasts from Soldier Pac and got around to cleaning up one of these already pretty clean castings. They are very light on detail, so most of what you see (buttons, piping &c) are all painted on. I'm fairly pleased with the result, but think I'd have benefitted from a brush with a better point! He represents a private from the West Melbourne Regiment c1882-85. I will do a few more in the next couple of days to go with my gun crew.

At the same time I am painting a dozen Mahdist cavalry in an attempt to cut into my lead mountain. I bought these in January at CanCon and I think they look very promising so far.

Feathery Hats

Odd title for a post?

I suppose it is. I was looking at some of my 7YW miniatures the other day and was struck by how well the feathery hat edges I'd added to a couple of mounted officers looked.

I'm the sort who likes sometimes to repeat what he regards as a success, so I started thinking that I'd like to do a few more and began casting around for a couple of units where I could have a shot.

I started thinking of the Cuirassiers du Roi in the 1740s and thought, "good, I'll do them - got a good collection of miniatures to represent a troop or two already". Then I remembered some chit chat on OSW or 7YW about Prussian IR15, the King of Prussia's own regiment. The Officers and NCOs wore feather edging in their hats.

Aha! thinks I, let's take a quick trip to Osprey-land.

One trip later and I'm a little confused. Don Fosten's magnificent plates show effectively two uniformsThe first battalion (of three) had a lapel-less coat - as some Prussian regiments did. Battalions two and three who saw a fair old bit of action had a coat with red lapels and white buttonhole edging.

Here is the question(s):

Battalions two and three can be readily modelled using RSM miniatures which come with the lapels and cuffs appropriate to battalions two and three, but did their officers and NCOs have the feathery hat edging, or was that confined to the gala-uniformed lads of the first battalion?

If they didn't, do I care and will I give them their feathery hats anyway because they look so good? Heresy!

HE/RSM Comparison Shot

Interestingly, the two look much the same size. I had always had the impression that the HE were the smaller figures.

If anything, they are pehaps a little taller and lankier.

HE Infantry Figures

I finally got around to photographing some of the sample HE infantry I promised for Stokes.

Npt the best image, but they do get the "look" of them across, I think. I'd say they were as close to a "true" 25mm as you are likely to get. They look very slight against Foundry, and by comparison the detail is very unrefined.

But beautiful to me.

One for the Kids

I'm currently painting some more Prince August homecasts for my nephew Max. He doesn't know it yet, but he's getting some Great Northern War Saxons and Swedes to bulk out the tiny force of Saxons he already has.

I decided to write some simple rules so he can do more with them other than line them up an roll marbles at them. After all, I painted them, and want them to stay unchipped for a while yet!

1. Move
Guns – 1dice in inches
Men – 2 dice in inches
Riders – 4 dice in inches

Men or Riders with an Officer or a Drummer or a Flag Bearer get to add another dice to their move.

2. Shoot
Guns – throw 4 dice. Each 5 or 6 is a hit.
Men – throw one dice. Each 6 is a hit.
Riders – throw no dice.

Each figure that is hit but has not fired is laid down on its side and may fire once before it is removed. Riders that are hit are removed. A gun needs two men to shoot.

3. Fight
Guns – throw no dice.
Men – throw one dice.
Riders – throw two dice.

Highest score wins.

4. End of the Game
The first player to lose half of his soldiers loses the game.

von Bruhl Ensign

Converted from the RSM casting of a Prussian officer with a walking stick, he's had the walking stick cut away, that arm has been bent into a new pose, the hand drilled out and a wire flag-pole inserted. I also drilled a hole in the base to take the butt-end of the flag-pole for extra strength.

The flag is by RSM. That for the British Officer in yesterday's post is from the "Warflag" website; I chose a generic English flag and hand-painted the rose wreath and inscription. Our man is from the 51st Foot who fought at Minden.

RSM Ensigns

Over the weekend, I decided to convert a couple of RSM Officer figutes into more appealing ensigns than the "Cadet Standard Bearer" currently on offer.

I took the English Infantry Officer and cut his arm away from his body with a sharp blade and repositioned his arm (just a gentle bend done with my fat fingers) to take a piece of wire that would be a flag-staff.

I'm nearly finished doing another for the Graf v. Bruhl Saxon infantry regiment - I'll get an image up tonight or tomorrow.

Break points and assymetric fighting styles.

It’s spring, the time of year when a young man’s fancy turns to kleine kreig.

I think that my sub-conscious must have been grinding away at this topic in the background. because I was cycling to work this morning and (as seems to be the case with me) apropos of nothing in particular I started thinking about Croats and Prussian Infantry.

Lets say a battalion (or any formed, regular unit, has six break points. Let’s also assume that a unit of Croats would be furnished with only five. I’m only plucking that number out of the air because it works agreeably with dice. The name “break points” could just as easily be substituted for “cohesion” points or “disruption points”.

What if, thought I, a commander of line Infantry was able to choose to open his order out at the cost of two break points? They could then act just like those rascally Croats and counter-skirmish but would be much closer to the point (let’s say three break points) where they would start to suffer unlovely consequences such as at the start of every move a dice is thrown and the number indicated is equivalent to the number of figures who have decided that now is as good a time as any to abandon the ferocious discipline of IR13 for a more felicitous regime.

Break points could be lost as a result of line losses and Officer casualties. Chaps lost to the flight to the rear would be counted as casualties. A large number of casualties in a move would lead to the loss of a DP. No officers left would equal another lost DP. Being exposed to cannon-fire might be worth a DP over and above the casualties caused.

Fleeing/ fled troops could be rallied by being joined by an officer.
Going back to our infantry sacrificing a couple of DPs to get to grips with the Croats, they’d find their advantage lay in having a higher starting number of DPs to play with. Also, as things got tricky for the line infantry, they could re-form their ranks and recover the sacrificed DPs. The Croats would not be allowed to form ranks, and would be at a fire disadvantage against formed troops in the open.

12 days without a post!

Unbelievable! You'd think I've run out of things to say! Or had been really busy.

Well, having set up that straw man, let me knock him down by saying I HAVE in fact been rather busy. Does that work?

Just in the past week-and-a-bit, my Eureka 100 Club submission (one I'd just about given up hope on!) has gone live.

I'm really waiting on Eureka to get a prospectus out to all those folks who expressed interest in my Arquebusiers de Grassin (and thanks to all of you who've hung in there) to confirm their interest and we are on. I spoke to Nic today and he expects three comand, and 4 or 5 skirmishing poses. I remarked to him that his line of skirmishing "ragged continentals" had greatly impressed me, so those are the spread of poses we'll be looking at.

I've also been swapping info via TMP (under the byline "jetboy" - it's a short story with no place here!) with another gent here in Australia on the Saxon Army in the mid-18th Century for another Eureka 100 Club submission which has also just about gone live.

Eureka will be getting very used to sculpting tricornes, I'd say! If anyone out there has an idea for some unique project they want to get off the ground, there are worse places to start.

I promise to get on with the Alzheimer-Vulgarian skirmish soon. Donald? How's your availability?

Border Troubles 5

Voleur des Coeurs looked steadily at Manstein and said: "No. No head cracking. That is not proper military behavior. Besides, it's unfashionable. We shall behave in a proper military fasion and defend this ruin."

Theo, in a voice that surprised him by quavering only a little spoke: "Ought we not retire to the boat?"

"Ja, das vould be der gut idea" agreed Manstein, nodding vigorously, oak leaves showering from his hat.

"Oh, good heavens, I can never understand you people! No! We shall stand here and fight. Like Leonidas at Thermopylae, we shall fight our position and stand our ground!" Voleur's hand stole inside his jacket. He stood very erect and Theo thought he looked very noble.

He couldn't bear to remind him of what had happened to Leonidas.

Doings in the Dutchy

Just quietly painting away at my Volontaires. I'm hoping to get the final few finished off by tomorrow so that I can start doing a troop of dragoons to go with them. My eventual target is to get three eight figure companies of fusiliers , a company of grenadiers and eight dragoons. My intermediate target is 16 fusiliers and four dragoons.

Does anyone else build their units this way? For my line infantry regiments, my next upgrade (as it were) will be to take out the officers and musicians and stand them behind the line of battle and beef up the five constituent companies to ten figures from the current eight. This will probably be my "job on the side" while I'm working on something else.

I'm really looking forward to Battlegames 4 coming out - today's teaser from Jerry L concerning a Beowulf game has me rather intrigued! I'm rooting around for my Gollum fugure to paint up as Grendel. I'm realy enjoying researching the period; currently my interest is taken very much by the idea of building a "Middle-Saxon" army to represent King Offa's army. I've also been reading snippets of Beowulf for flavour. The Saxon invasions of about the middle fifth century also have an appeal that I can't deny. Those GB "Arthurian" figures appeal strongly, especially in the context of the warlord Arturus...

Does this strike a chord with anyone?

Dark Ages Diversion

I feel terrible. Instead of painting light infantry or gunners, I've gone and painted a couple of Dark Ages Horsemen. I was guessing I could use them as couriers or Army Standard Bearers (in WAB-speak) for my Anglo-Saxons...

Feeling like I've let the side down...

Volontaires du Dauphnie

A bit of an update photo - we are now up to 10 figures out of a projected 16. Forgive the photo - I tried and tried last night to get a decent image and this was the best of them.

You'll notice that the bases are a bit larger than for my regular troops. The idea is to enforce the looser order I imagine the lights would have, and to ensure they cannot put the volume of fire onto a target that the regulars could with their closer order.

World Alzheimers Day

Today is of course World Alzheimers Day and marks the 100th Anniversary of the identification of the condition by Dr Alois Alzheim.

Please give where you can.

Border Troubles 4

Like a police patrol the little party roceeded up the pebbled shore where the twain were deposited along with their many goods by the patient soldiery.

"Very good, you fellows. Now, follow me, and boldly, now!"

"Eggskusink me meine Captain, beggink to report."

"Egad, you can speak! Yes, fusilieer? (and let not this sudden affability between me the master and you the man be taken as indicative of anything more than what it is) What is it? Speak up!"

"Ja, vell, meine Captain, vehn I vas in der service of the Erbprinz of Hesse-Hotpantz, ve vere inztrukted to make not der noise and to the creeping being."

"What? Theo, I can never understand the patois these chaps in the foreign regiments speak. Can you make anything of it?"

"Voleur, I think he is of the opinion that caution may be called for."

"Opinion? Ha! Bah! I have never heard such nonsense. They'll be wanting a representative assembly next. No - now see here fellow, Manstein, or whatever you call yourself, I have the blue blood, the utterly in-bred ability to lead men in battle, not just this picnic - now, boldly, on!"

So boldly they went on, stepping boldly out at a regulation 75 paces per minute as measured on the watch given him by Theophraste's mother. The silence was broken only by their noisy passage through the woods and Voleur's insistence on dressing the ranks at regular intervals. Every now and then a twig would crack with a loud report; violently disturbed woosdcocks would clatter into the air; a bayonet would impact with a branch with a musical "blink".

In the end though, it was all worth it, for at leangth they found themselves in a very large clearing and facing what was without a doubt a ruined Roman villa. If it was not, well, who was there to gainsay them, anyway? Although the insects bit and the sun scorched, Voleur and Theophraste were content to make amateur poetry and to sketch the tumbled masonry.

Manstein gathered an armful of fallen branches and soon had a merry blaze burning on the tiles remaining on the floor.

A branch snapped.

Theo looked around in some anxiety. "What was that?"

"Oh, just one of the lads. Probably gathering more firewood. It's for the best - I'm thinking of spending quite a while here. You know, I could do with a cup of good English tea, too." He was trying to render the stones of the wall. His charcoal was not co-operating.

Theo stood up and cracked his back. Equally abruptly he squatted down again.

Voleur asked in amazement:"Whatever are you doing? You've gone bright red. And you're hissing!"

"That was a Vulgarian fusilieer!"

Abruptly Manstein appeared - he was covered in field signs and had apparently fallen over in a puddle - his face was covered in streaks of mud. Theo was impressed with how well he blended into the background. "Meine Captain, you vahnt I should be making with the head-crackink?"

Border Troubles 3

Although the Sun had yet to shew his face, already a pearlescent light had begun to finger the sky. By this light a jolly little bum-boat was stealthily being rowed along with muffled oars toward the Vulgarian shore.

Captain Voleur des Coeurs struck a pose in the pointy bit of what he had taken to calling "the bows of the ship" and peered - not without melodrama - ahead. "You know Theo, I've often thought about taking up a Naval career."

Behind him sat a small, nervous figure. This figure shrugged it's shoulders with a regrettable lack of perceptibility (should the word exist), hampered as it was by a large greatcoat, scarf and ermine muff. "Have we a Navy? I'm sure my dancing master once told me that Alzheim is completely landlocked."

"Details. I'm sure that cousin Georgie over in chilly Britannica would lend me a Man 'o War should I feel like asking."

"But the inconvenience. The rats. The rum, the ..."

"Hist! We approach the shore!" Were it possible, the golden-tressed Captain's pose grew even more urgent. "Ship oars you men! Theo, get the sketch-books and foolscap together! We debark!"

With a bump and a scrape, the jolly little bum-boat slid up the shore. Two fusiliers leapt splashing into the shallows to draw the boat up and make it's painter fast to a convenient tree root. The remaining pair hopped over the side.

"Where do you two think you are going? Deserting? Hm? We'll have none of that nonsense in MY company, by G_d! Now, make a bench with your muskets. No, no, no! That will never do! Whith a cushion, with a cushion. One of the good ones d__n your eyes! That's right. Now. Ferry your officers ashore. Smartly, now! And no crafty dropping us in the drink either. I'm alive to all your soldier-games!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

Volontaires du Dauphnie

The Volontaires du Dauphnie were, according to my Osprey, raised at the end of the War of the Austrian Succession to retain the body of light infantry skills developed during that conflict. A mixed force of fusiliers and dragoons - later a company of grenadiers was added. They served with distinction throughout the Seven Years War. The Infantry uniform was as illustrated here. That of the Dragoons was similar although the cap was a blue bag with a fur turn-up, later replaced with a brass helmet. They also had the white laces on both sides of the coat, not just on the buttonholes as was the case with the fusiliers.

The upcoming "Arcadian Skirmish" has moved me to get on with these troops!