tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58585565187722114222024-03-18T02:48:13.490-07:00The (Adopted) Son of AusterlitzMusings on miniatures and miscellania from MoraviaChris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-49398858551258838282017-09-15T02:08:00.002-07:002017-09-15T02:09:36.776-07:00WSS - Livgarden til Fods<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am just about to start painting the Livgarde til Fods for my reboot of my WSS project but I have a couple of questions that need answering, so I am making this post so I can link the pics to TMP and hopefully get my answers from the hive mind there.<br />
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Firstly, it appears that the guard did not have the double-breasted jackets that other Danish regiments were issued with, as shown below:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bMYAphh8Ffg/WbuXYQYqspI/AAAAAAAAN-A/ezk6xOqOxoc2H24-I87USLqt5yd66mp8QCLcBGAs/s1600/Danish%2Btroops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="564" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bMYAphh8Ffg/WbuXYQYqspI/AAAAAAAAN-A/ezk6xOqOxoc2H24-I87USLqt5yd66mp8QCLcBGAs/s320/Danish%2Btroops.jpg" width="218" /></a></div>
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I know the first image is of a much earlier period, but it does tally well with the second.</div>
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Secondly, what was the headgear of the grenadiers? Clarence Harrison has his in bearskin <a href="http://leagueofaugsburg.blogspot.cz/2013/07/featured-regiment-den-kongelige.html" target="_blank">here</a> but admits that this is probably not accurate. I can't seem to find any images anywhere...</div>
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Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-85429923409701798402017-09-15T01:39:00.004-07:002017-09-15T02:09:06.500-07:00WSS Project - Reboot<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A WIP of IR Pallandt. I'm having a few problems working out what the "shoulder strap" is. Posting here for TMP linkage (again).</div>
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Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-36774921999803181932015-12-08T13:16:00.001-08:002015-12-08T14:10:23.034-08:00The WSS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Just adding a couple of recent test paints, mainly so I can link them for advice on TMP. They are Webb's Regiment at Ramillies - a grenadier and hatman (if that's the right terminology)</div>
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Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-53685929506371792692012-04-27T08:15:00.000-07:002012-04-27T08:15:49.922-07:00Sir Allen Apsley's Regiment of Foot<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Those of you who have read this blog before (for which I thank you) will probably know that I had a demo game of <b>Pike and Shotte</b> at Salute last weekend. I had been looking forward to getting the rules (which I have now had a chance to read) and I have to say that I enjoyed the game immensely. The ECW is another period that I feel drawn to, but unlike the others which interest me most, I don't have such a "personal" attachment to it. My interest in Napoleonics stems from going to a school founded by Old Nosey himself and having busts of the likes of Picton and Uxbridge staring out at me during my school days. The Anglo-Zulu War interests me because when I was a lad, my father was posted to South Africa, and I spent 6 years of my childhood in Jo'burg. But the ECW has a different kind of appeal to me.<br />
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You see, I like flags. Lots of them. And nothing gives a gamer a better excuse to go all out with loads of flags on a unit than the TYW and ECW (well, maybe excepting the Italian Wars, but I just couldn't bring myself to paint that many Landsknechts - I'd go mad). It's not a very sensible reason to get involved in a period, but I make no claims to being sensible.<br />
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After playing the game I decided to finish off and base one of the many regiments that I have near completion for this period. While I may not be quite as personally involved, I still had to pick the Royalists when I started (I will be providing both sides, as per usual, but you have to start somewhere), as I am a West Country lad, uni in Oxford and now living in Prince Rupert's old stomping ground. Plus I don't have much time for Puritans.<br />
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Anyway, I give you Sir Allen Apsley's Regiment of Foot (still missing 2 flags). The figures are mainly Bicorne and Renegade with a smattering of Redoubt and Warlord:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The whole regiment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The man himself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Without the command base.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The pike block. I think I will expand this by two more bases.</span></div>
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Originally the plan was two more command bases for the shot sleeves to be used with the Perfect Captain rules, each of which would have a flag. I think, though, that I may just add two bases to the pike block to widen it, and add the two ensigns to the new rear centre base's front rank. The regimental command base will just be for dressing up the table, as it will play no part under the <b>Pike and Shotte</b> rules.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The "right" shot sleeve. The officer is Redoubt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The "left" shot sleeve. This time the officer is a Warlord plastic.</span>
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My shot are in 4 ranks, too. I know this is not the commonly accepted way to do things, but if you look at contemporary engravings, the shot units are very often portrayed as being as deep as the pike.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Battle of Naseby</span></div>
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It is needlessly more expensive this way, but I like it, and I guess that's all that counts. It also gives me a chance to stick a drummer and a sergeant "dressing the ranks" in the back rank, too. I may also slip a flag into each shot sleeve as well in future.</div>
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Now I just have to finish of Hopton's and Talbot's foot, which have been languishing in the half painted pile for ages, and I'll have my first full battalia.</div>
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Comments and criticism welcome as usual (as well as any advice on how to learn to use a camera properly - the new one I have is great but I fear the photographer is not).</div>
</div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-48053144881807324622012-04-26T04:01:00.002-07:002012-04-26T04:20:38.015-07:00Salute 2012: Part 2 - Pictures and reviews<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have had a few days since getting back from Salute in which to enjoy toothache (!) and start putting things together and painting. I thought I'd share a few of my pictures from the day (I know people are probably sick of them by now but hopefully I'll have one or two new shots), as well as giving a closer look at some of what I bought.<br />
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First up is the stuff I bought from <b>4Ground</b>. I bought a Saxon house (the middle sized one), a general wagon, and the water cart. So far I have assembled the first two. Now I am not what you would call a skilled modeller - I consider myself to be a bit ham fisted at the best of times, so I was <i>really</i> surprised at how easily these went together. I puzzled over the instructions for the cart for a few seconds, but that was really just my stupidity, and once I had figured it out, the whole kit went together easily enough. I have chosen not to add the hoops on this one for ease of figure placement (you can get 2 figures mounted on 25mm washers on the wagon bed), but I shall be getting a couple more of these, at least one of which will have the hoops and a covering applied. For me this is far better than an expensive metal model, or indeed a cheap plastic toy. Highly recommended.<br />
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It is sold as a 19th century wagon, and I can see this wagon doing duty from the Peninsular War through the Wild West to Zululand without any trouble at all, but I might stretch it as far back as the ECW. I have no idea if it would be wrong, but it doesn't jar on the eye (well my eye at least), so why not? I guess I'll have to paint the wheels at least, but, to be honest, it doesn't bother me as it is.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Perfect for a wagon train</span></div>
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An even bigger surprise was to come, however. I also picked up their <a href="http://4ground.co.uk/Default.aspx?page=268&pid=310" target="_blank">painted Saxon dwelling</a>, the middle sized one of the three they offer. This was even easier to put together than the wagon, and the next one I get (and I will be getting more) will be a project I will do with my son, as he'll easily be able to cope. If it weren't for the need to let the teddy bear fur dry, you could have this up and on the table in half an hour. I think it looks amazingly good for something put together so quickly.</div>
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And here's the surprise, the "painted" interior. Why they don't actually advertise the fact that there are separate painted internal walls I really don't know. Note the opening doors, and fireplace (not glued in place yet). I now have to work out how exactly to "decorate" the inside of a Saxon house.<br />
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I have been looking at all sorts of resin buildings for my Dark Age terrain, and I must admit that there are some very nice ones out there, but this is the way I am going to go now. These are cheap, easy to put together, light (a serious consideration when I have to get everything shipped to the Czech Republic) and quick to get on the table. It's the dawn of a new age for scenery with the likes of BattleFlag, Sarissa, Warbases and these guys putting out new kits all the time. I really hope that 4Ground put out a Saxon church and/or a Lord's Hall in this line; I'd be all over those "quicker that you can say cobbler" as they say in Czech.<br />
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Next up, some more laser cut buildings, this time from <b>Warbases</b>. I bought the outhouse, and the stable block. Neither of these are very complicated builds (just as well, as there are no instructions), but I have to say they don't fit quite as well as the 4Ground kits. While the floor keeps the Saxon hut's walls at right angles, the stable block has nothing like that to aid during drying (an easy enough fix, I know) and it seems the wooden posts will need to be glued in place after the roof in order to get them straight and at exactly the right height. While none of this is all that difficult, it isn't as easy and I don't think Seb will be helping with this one.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The stable kit</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Just propped up</span></div>
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All in all I think the 4Ground kits are finished better and easier to put together, but I like the Warbases ones too, and more choice is always good. And 4Ground don't produce SAGA measuring sticks and nice tokens like these...<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Shaken (not stirred)</span></div>
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Another thing that is taking a bite out of the resin scenery market is the injected plastic products produced by Renedra. Responsible for all the lovely plastic figures sold by the Perry brothers, Victrix, Gripping Beast <i>et al.,</i> they also produce a nice range of scenics under their own name. I picked up a set of Saxon tents, some palisade, and wattle fencing. I'm not sure how to paint the tents, 2 of which are open and 2 closed, but I have done a trial run on one of them as just plain (and dirty) canvas. I'm not sure how many people <i>need</i> Saxon tents, but they do add a bit of colour and interest to the table top.<br />
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I picked up a double pack of the wattle fencing and have just given it a very quick and messy dry brush. I was originally intending to mount the sections on card, but I am not sure I'll bother now; I could just disguise the supports with a tuft or two. Quick, easy and well worth the price.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">One sprue's worth (I think)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">With a figure for size comparison (Renegade ECW)</span></div>
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I don't have the palisade painted up at all yet, so that will have to wait.<br />
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And on to Salute.<br />
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First up is the deserved winner of Best in Show. The Corunna display (it wasn't a game) was absolutely breathtaking in real life - photos (especially mine) can't do it justice. It was huge, but also incredibly detailed.<br />
Just look at the rigging on the ships below, and some of the little vignettes they set up. The only problem (in my eyes) is that it wasn't a <i>game</i>. I admit it's a pretty churlish objection, though.<br />
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A beautiful demonstration of how effective the Kallistra hexes can be (10mm ACW)<br />
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A nice board for Freebooter's Fate, which just shows that effective terrain doesn't have to be huge.<br />
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The Crimean War game put on in connection with Wargames Illustrated.<br />
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Victrix put on a 54mm participation game, which was also absolutely stunning. I had no idea that Italeri also made 1:32nd figures (such as the Mamelukes below) - perhaps there are enough sets out to play a game or two of something - a Song of Drums and Shakos springs to mind.<br />
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Finally a game set in I believe Matabeleland, which I liked for its cheeky details.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Feint, pin and flank 'em. Simples!</span></div>
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I took a load more photos, but as you can see the quality wasn't so great (new camera with the wrong lens, added to a photographer who doesn't know what he's doing), and others have taken similar shots far better than I did, so no more from me I promise. Salute 2012 was well worth visiting and I'll definitely be back again next year.</div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-57220307982502118472012-04-22T08:12:00.001-07:002012-04-26T04:19:57.499-07:00Salute 2012: Part 1 - Pike and Shotte & other purchases<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So <b>Salute</b> has come and gone again this year. It's only my second trip, but I have to say it has already become the gaming highlight of the year, if not so much for purchases (although I made far too many, I can get most things over the web), then for the sheer range interests that the hobby inspires. I have heard a few people saying that perhaps it wasn't as good as last year's show, but it didn't seem that way to me. Lots of good demo and participation games and plenty of traders, all of whom seemed to be doing some brisk business. To me it seemed that wargaming was most definitely alive and well.<br />
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I got to the queue quite early, so was within the first 100 or so from the door. Yes, I had to wait but I was up and about anyway and it gave me a good chance to read through the guide, goodie bags having been handed out early. Then there came the inevitable stream of flyers and special offers (yes, the golden tickets did exist - a guy just behind me in the queue had one), all of which I tried not to read too closely. At about 9.45 the doors were opened and the first of us allowed in.<br />
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I headed straight for the <b>Warlord</b> stand to get my copy of <b>Pike and Shotte</b>:<br />
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I know this is not one of my "projects for this year" but I still wanted to grab a copy and grab a place in the participation game to see if it played all that differently from <b>Black Powder</b>. I was given the Royalist centre to play with, and I have to say I had a lot of fun with it.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I have a feeling someone with Parliamentarian sympathies painted these figures, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">just look at the colours on Gerard's Regiment...</span></div>
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This was my battalia - 3 pike blocks and 6 musketeer units. In the rules these are treated as separate units but all musket units within the battalia can be protected by any pike block within 6" (provided it is not already giving protection to 2 other musketeer units). I also had a cannon off to my right, and the good fortune to have the C-i-C, who was a good commander with a leadership value of 9.</div>
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I only played for about an hour or so - not enough to give the rules a review, but first impressions were good. I was faced by only 2 "regiments" of Parliamentarian foot, but they did also have a gun and some cavalry support.</div>
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I was also able to keep a bit of an eye on what was going on on my flanks so I got some of the flavour of cavalry combat, too. At first all seemed to be going quite well for the Royalist cause; the cavalry opposite me was redirected to the left flank and if anything I was the one was was bogged down a bit in the attack.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The foot to my immediate right move forward</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Royalist cavalry charge on the far right</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Things not looking too good for Parliament on the left either.</span></div>
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But after wailing on each other for a while, the Roundhead horse on the left broke the Cavaliers due to a lack of support for the Royalists and the same happened on the other flank due to woeful die rolling on one side and inspired dice on the other. In the meantime, thanks to a Parliamentarian blunder, I had very luckily managed to catch one of their pike blocks with flanking fire, removing it and effectively putting its "attached" musketeers out of the game by shaking them. But despite the centre holding, it would have been all up for the Royalists had we played to a conclusion, as by this time both flanks had collapsed.</div>
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So what did I think? The game is <b>very quick</b> to pick up. All of us were pretty much up and running within 10 minutes. Basing seems to be the standard 20mm frontage per foot figure, 25mm for horse, and although some people have mentioned being concerned that the rules mention 2 rank and 3+ rank foot, I can see no reason at all why I can't continue to use my shot mounted in 4 ranks as well; it's not as if a unit's combat values are based too closely on the number of figures - it's the usual small, standard or large. It's perfectly possible to "model" the Swedish and Dutch systems without getting too precious about it, too.</div>
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From what I could tell with the horse, the options there seem to be right as well. Some cavalry can counter-charge, some can't according to doctrine, and they can even charge pikes - but at such suicidal disadvantages that you'd have to be mad, desperate or both unless the pikes are really disordered. Morale and break tests are similar to <b>BP</b> and <b>HC</b> so if you are familiar with those rules these will be exceptionally easy to pick up. There are a few "advanced" rules: Hedgehog formation,Fighting from buildings, Dragoons, and then the list of unit characteristics (or "Useful Rules") that we have come to expect. I suspect that much like <b>BP</b> and <b>HC</b>, how much you get out of these rules is going to very much depend on what you are prepared to put in in the way of preparation.</div>
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Conclusion? Well, I admit it's still early doors, but I like them. The ethos of a <i>gentleman's game</i> very much comes through, both reading the rules and in the way the demo game was put on, for which I must say a big thank you to the Warlord guys, whose names I have all promptly (and shamefully) forgotten. They seem to be designed to be used from the beginning of the 16th (in fact the first example period is the Italian Wars of 1494 - 1559) right through to the end of the 17th century (with rules for <i>plug bayonettes</i> for example), so you can get plenty of mileage out of them. Are they sufficiently different from <b>Black Powder</b> and <b>Hail Caesar</b> to justify buying them? Sure, you <i>could</i> work out all the factors and so on yourself, and come up with rules for musket taking cover with the pike, but why re-invent the wheel. Bottom line, they are fun, and for me that's the best recommendation of all.</div>
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So what else did I see at Salute? The first thing I noticed was the number of laser etched kits on sale. <a href="http://www.wargame-buildings.com/index.html" target="_blank">Battle Flag</a> had some mightily impressive buildings on sale, and I will be making a few bespoke orders when my <b>Blackwater Gulch </b>sets come through. They had a particularly nice funeral director's, which I was told would be out in the next couple of weeks. I also saw some amazing stuff at the <a href="http://www.sarissa-precision.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sarissa</a> stand; the new System Infinity looked great as did the Old West stuff. I did buy some tokens and the stable block and outhouse from <a href="http://www.warbases.co.uk/#/generic-buildings/4538696169" target="_blank">Warbases</a>, as well as picking up 3 kits from (a water cart and wagon, which will both do generic 19th century duty, and a mediaeval house) from <a href="http://4ground.co.uk/" target="_blank">4Ground</a>. As you can see, I couldn't resist starting the dry fit on the stable block...</div>
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<b>4Ground</b> had the stall next to <a href="http://renedra.co.uk/webstore.html" target="_blank">Renedra</a>, from whom I bought some Saxon tents, some wattle fencing and some palisade. I also managed to pick up some more tufts from <b>Antenociti's Workshop</b>.</div>
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This really is a golden age as far as terrain is concerned, and had I not had to fly back with such a small bag and a 15kg weight allowance, I'm sure I'd have picked up far more. There was some fantastic looking scenery from <b>The Last Valley</b> for example, and <b>S&A Scenics</b>. I wish I'd taken more photos, but I was using a new camera and didn't really know what I was doing!,m </div>
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I've already mentioned <b>Pike and Shotte</b>, but I also wanted to pick up <b>Northern Fury</b>. The <b>Gripping Beast</b> stall was as busy as last year, but I didn't feel quite the same buzz as last year. They did have a very tempting box of <b>Skraelings</b> for £50, which I only just managed to resist, but more interesting for me was the battle board that I saw by the demo game, which was mocked up for Byzantines...</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The lovely Skraeling figures (not my photo)</span></div>
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Since I have decided to move ahead with my <b>TSaTF</b> project, I needed a few more d20s.</div>
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All this and no miniatures? I did pick up some figures as well, if not too many. 4 packs of unmarried zulu from <b>Empress</b>, as well as 2 packs of unmarried heads. I actually went to <b>Salute</b> with the intention of suggesting unmarried heads for conversions, and there they were, ready and waiting! And I'd thought I'd had such a clever idea... I also grabbed 5 loose <b>Foundry</b> zulu from Dave Thomas's stand for just a bit more variation.<br />
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Finally, I also grabbed a Prince Rupert and Hopton from <b>Bicorne</b>. I think I may have been inspired a bit by my game. These, along with the new <b>Eureka</b> French field bakery and cantiniere made up the last of my purchases, to which must be added the two freebies I got: the <b>Salute </b>Maya chief (an absolutely amazing figure!) and the <b>Warlord</b> ensign.<br />
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Although it doesn't feel like I bought all that much, I still managed to spend far more than I wanted to - and that was without the <b>Victrix</b> hoplites I wanted (not out yet). </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The complete Salute haul</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(the Foundry box back right was picked up from my brother's)</span></div>
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Another great day out and a whole lot of fun. My only regret was having to leave before the blogger meet up, as my father was in town for a meeting and so it was off to the RAF club I needed to go. Even cut short, it was worth it, and I'll definitely be flying in again next year.</div>
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<br /></div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-62682527642741445712012-04-18T10:45:00.001-07:002012-04-18T11:32:16.265-07:00SAGA objectives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, it's been a while since I posted anything. March was a horrible month. Actually I take that back - it was great in many ways, but not for painting. I had a visit from my bro' (over for an extended weekend), which just happened to coincide with a rebuild of my PC - no more <i>circling cursor of doom</i> for me or that lovely phrase <i>not responding</i>, a particular favourite of Outlook. Of course a new CPU and gfx card means I can use more RAM too, all of which means I can run <i><b>Skyrim</b></i> without smoke pouring out of the back of the PC. And with all the graphics settings on max too!<br />
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I can't blame it all on <i><b>Skyrim</b></i> though as I did manage to catch the dreaded man-flu that was doing the rounds and, having been sent home by my students (fair enough really, I have never understood the "never take a day of work attitude" if all you achieve by staying there is "spreading a bit of happiness" - ie the bug), spent several days in bed, or more accurately on the sofa under mounds of duvets, watching all 3 series of <i><b>Black Books</b>. </i>Again, fun, but not conducive to getting much done.<br />
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It's not all doom and gloom. At the beginning of the month I went over to a friend's as we had just discovered our mutual interest in board games. I played <i><b>Memoire 44</b></i> for the first time, along with <i style="font-weight: bold;">Battle of Westeros</i>, both of which were fun. When Chris came over to mine at the end of the month we had a game of <i style="font-weight: bold;">C&C Napoleonic</i>, which was fun too, but even better than that, he got quite excited when I showed him my SAGA figures, and definitely wants to give it a go. I might have found an opponent who only lives 10 minutes away! Having talked to him about his preferences in gaming I think he's more into simpler, skirmish type games, so I have reassessed my priorities from the beginning of the year. I'm still going to go ahead with the 4 projects I started with, but the SYW has been put on slow, as has the 15mm Sc-Fi. I have added 28mm AZW, as I think TSaTF might be just down his street, and I have a fair few figures waiting to be painted up.<br />
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This doesn't mean I have given up the other stuff though. I have some Normans started and I am just about finished with some more berserkers and some Viking archers (they just need basing properly - roll on Salute and some more tufts!). Last time I painted up a single berserker as part of the group of Bondi - so here are the other 3 and the single "normal" Viking to take the first one's place among the Bondi. No boss on the shield, so I tried a hand painted motif. I think you can see now why I am such a fan of LBMS transfers...<br />
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Now I have enough Vikings to do some damage, they need something to steal; after all there's no point in raiding if there is nothing to take. Here are the first of a few of the things I'll be using as objectives for raiding scenarios when playing SAGA.<br />
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First up is the pigsty by Architects of War. This is a really nice model. Unfortunately the liquid water I used in the puddles seems to have clouded over, but when the weather is warmer I'll apply another layer and see if that sorts it out.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The pigsty</span></div>
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There's no point in a pigsty if there ain't no pigs. And we all know those Danes like their bacon...</div>
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Some more livestock to nick (from Gripping Beast)...</div>
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A while back I got a load of stuff from Ainsty, including some barrels, bales and boxes. Cheap and they work perfectly for just about every period you can think of.</div>
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And last but not least, the church. Every self-respecting Viking made a beeline for the church to steal the plate, and anything else they could get their hands on. </div>
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This is the GB resin church. Since all my other scenics are based I've decided to base this one too, and to add a few bits and bobs, such as some gravestones from the Renedra set. I'm going to have a go at weathering using oil filters, I'm not too sure how that'll work out so I wanted a record of when it looked ok ...</div>
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All I need now are a few Saxon houses, and I'll be looking to get the new fencing and "Saxon tents", whatever they are, from Renedra when I get to Salute this weekend. We're getting there, slowly...</div>
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<br /></div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-13557937271255459942012-03-05T23:53:00.000-08:002012-03-05T23:53:42.266-08:00French Artillery, 10th Co, 6th FA Regt.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It has come as somewhat of a surprise to me to realise that for a blog named after Austerlitz there has been little if any Napoleonic posting going on, what with all the SAGA and SYW stuff. So it's time to fix that. I do paint Napoleonics as well ...<br />
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This is a battery I painted up not too long ago. Although the guns are finished, I still have to add on the limbers and train, and the hangers-on. Ever since I saw one of Barry Hilton's batteries for R2E I have been wanting to do the same with mine. I have some suitable figures and I've made a start on painting them up, so I hope in the next month or so they might get done, but with so many other "more important" things needing to be done first I'm not sure I'll be able to sneak them in. The figures are Foundry and are in the old pre-1812 regulations uniform.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The whole battery</span>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The battery from behind</span></div>
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You can see the ruts from the guns running back here, which have filled with water. If only these were in the later uniform they'd be perfect for Waterloo! They are in fact going to be used as 10th Co, 6th FA Regt. for my Waterloo project. I will get round to replacing them eventually, but not until I have every unit I want painted up, wrong uniform or not. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Gun ready</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The howitzer</span>
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Looking at the pictures, some of them look a bit chalky. I hope it's just dust, they don't look like that to me "in the flesh". Perhaps it's just my less than stellar photography skills...</div>
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Anyway, the next battery will be a foot battery by the Perry brothers. I really wish Victrix would do a French artillery set; I'm sure it would be a great seller - and I have more than a few more batteries to do for the master plan ...</div>
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As usual, comments and criticism welcome.</div>
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<br /></div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-5665156195916816682012-03-04T12:09:00.001-08:002012-03-04T14:16:18.854-08:00Wikingas cumað!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
OK, so my Anglo-Saxon isn't up to much, but I think that's "The Vikings are coming!" I've finally got around to painting up the first of my Vikings for Saga It should be 2 points worth of Bondi and their Jarl for SAGA, but a single berserker cheekily sneaked in there among them. Most of the figures are Gripping Best plastics, but the Jarl and the pointing horn blower are from Foundry, and I have no idea where the banner bearer and berserker are from - they were part of a lot acquired from Simon of BigRedBat fame. Shield decals are the lovely LBMS ones again, with just one hand-painted shield on the last unidentified metal bod, the one swinging his sword over his shoulder. These were really fast to paint up (for me); again, nothing fancy, just basic colours and the dip. It's so much easier than Naps or SYW ...<br />
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Here is a group shot of the whole lot, against a background of a GB Saxon church that still needs a lot doing to it (of which more anon). I tried to choose a different palette for the Vikings from the Saxons, a lot more bright colours, some blues, which I had generally avoided, and far fewer browns. It seems to have worked ok.</div>
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The Viking Jarl. This is a great figure by Foundry that I picked up off eBay - I also have a mounted version of him that came in the same blister. In some ways I wish I'd spent more time over him, but he needs to blend in with the rest of the figures.</div>
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I love the shield design even if I did mess it up a bit overcompensating for the white showing last time. It almost looks like a self-portrait with that helmet!</div>
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The Raven Banner. I finally found something sold here in the Czech Republic which uses the old fashioned toothpaste tube material, so I tried out one of the LBMS banners I have. The colours are brilliant, and the foil makes the flag easily manipulable. Just great - I <b>will</b> be buying more.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The <i>baerserk</i>. </span></div>
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I've just ordered 3 more of these lunatics by Crusader from NorthStar, having discovered that you can order individual models from the blisters from them. I also picked up some Normans so I can make a start on my third SAGA faction.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The shieldwall.</span></div>
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Again, I think it's the LBMS transfers that really make these figures. They look amazing. Now I just have to paint up some Thralls, a few berserkers and a few more Bondi and I can have my first game of SAGA at home. I've even found someone locally who's willing to give it a try. Life is looking up... </div>
</div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-86232721616048506602012-02-16T23:52:00.000-08:002012-02-17T01:22:54.263-08:00More Saxons<div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There's been a bit of talk on TMP recently about the <b>Gripping Beast</b> plastic Vikings and Saxons. I bought a box of each way, way back on pre-order, and while I haven't got the Vikings done yet, I finished a bunch of the Saxons off a couple of weeks ago. I am intending to use these as Ceorls for the minute, although when the new unarmoured plastics come out, I'll buy some of them and use these as spear and shield armed Huscarls; all my Huscarls so far have 2 handed axes. I think they are lovely figures, they paint up well and look great with LBMS decals on them. Anyway, here they are:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The whole lot, 16 Ceorls or 2 points' worth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">In smaller groups - I appear to have forgotten one figure as 16 / 3 is not 5!</span></div>
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The great thing about taking these photos is that it shows up all the glaring faults. These were all painted quickly and using the dip for a "fast and dirty" result, but that doesn't mean I don't care at all about how they turned out. The white around the shield rims has since been cleaned up.<br />
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Some shots of individual figures, showing just how good the plastics are; if you didn't know you would never be able to tell which of the 4 figures above is metal (and for those who don't know it's number 2 - it came with the pre-order).</div>
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Finally a shot of how I store my figures. A long time ago now, Simon of BigRedBat fame posted about Really Useful boxes and how he uses them, so I took a look. He's right, they're great. This box will eventually be my "Huscarl box".</div>
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Thanks for looking, as usual, comments and criticism welcome.</div>
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I recently made a purchase of some flags for my SYW project from <b>Vaubanner</b> in Canada. Since I haven't seen much of them on <b>TMP</b> (it was a sort of sight unseen buy for me) and people on this side of the Atlantic at least may not have had the opportunity to see them, I thought I'd post a quick review for you.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The complete order</span></div>
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When I started my <b>SYW</b> project the first the around, I cast around in the hope of finding a manufacturer who would be able to supply me with everything I need for both sides. My first stop for flags, <b>GMB</b>, has an incomplete SYW range, and I don't think it's likely to be filled out any time soon. I did make enquiries about whether more flags would be done, but Grahame Black let me know that it wasn't likely in the near future. It was the same problem at <b>Maverick</b>, and while Stuart is exceptionally quick to respond to customer requests, I didn't really know how long it might take him to do everything I needed. I discovered that the <b>Flag Dude</b>, though, has a very comprehensive range, so I bought just a few of his excellent flags to get me started. Shortly thereafter, however, I got seriously sidetracked, and the project got put on the back-burner.<br />
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This time around, when starting again, I re-examined all my plans, and decided to take a look at the flags again. I wasn't unsatisfied with what I had, but I stumbled cross a couple of threads on <b>TMP</b> about this company I had never heard of before, <b>Vaubanner</b>, out of Canada. There were a few, indistinct, pictures, but there was a lot of praise, and most importantly a complete range, so I decided to take the plunge and order everything I'd need in one go. Brian Homenic, the owner of <b>Vaubanner</b>, was polite and easy to deal with and even registered the delivery for me for just a few extra C$s. 2 weeks later an envelope arrived, <i>sans </i>duty (hooray!), and I got my mitts on what can only be described as miniature works of art. I'll let the pictures do the talking...<br />
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Here are the Prussian flags, with a couple of Foundry figures to give you an idea of the scale of them. The fantastic detail is absolutely clear.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Prussian flags</span></div>
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Below are the Russian flags I purchased, along with a couple of other flags from other manufacturers for comparison.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Russian flags</span></div>
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The red French Napoleonic 3rd battalion flag on the left is by <b>GMB</b>. I have a lot of GMB flags and I love them; they are a sort of gold standard for a lot of people I think. Here you can see the difference between Grahame's and Brian's flags. While the <b>GMB </b>flags tend to have shading worked into the design, you can see that this is not the case with the <b>Vaubanner</b> ones. On the other hand, the colour saturation of the <b>Vaubanner</b> flags is amazing, much higher than the <b>GMB</b> one. I really like the look.<br />
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On the right is an instantly recognisable flag from Rick, the <b>Flag Dude. </b> Rick's flags come prepared already on the flag staff, with finials and ready to go. They are also a lot larger than the flags from <b>Vaubanner</b>, as can be seen above. All of these things score points for the <b>Flag Dude</b> in my eyes. Some people may not like the animation he gets into his flags, but I love it. I'm also in favour of oversized flags - I want them to be seen not hidden away. And any work done by someone else is work I don't have to do, so it's all good.<br />
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Why then have I decided to swap and go with <b>Vaubanner </b>flags for my <b>SYW</b> project? Quite simply, the beauty of these flags is the main reason. The print quality from <b>Vaubanner</b> is just outstanding, and the difference is noticeable. I also found a few discrepancies between the <b>Flag Dude</b> flags I received a while back and my (admittedly very limited) sources. Finally, while the <b>Flag Dude</b> range is undoubtedly less work, I can put flags on poles and paint finials myself, although I admit that I have yet to get anywhere close to the motion that Rick captures in his flags. That's something to work on. The only regret I have is the smaller size (the Russian cuirassier colours are <i>tiny!</i>), but I know that's in line with what they should be - I just like large flags.<br />
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I hope this has been of use to someone. If you're vacillating over which flags to get for your own SYW troops, don't! Order up some of these little beauties. You won't regret it.</div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-26271387753968930732012-02-08T00:35:00.000-08:002012-02-08T01:36:45.100-08:00IR19 - WIP<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Despite having a fair few distractions, I have managed to start work on my SYW project by painting the first 6 figures in
<a href="http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Markgraf_Carl_Infantry" target="_blank">IR19 Markgraf Carl</a>. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have decided to choose regiments on the basis of having an interesting mix of facings and colours. IR19 has an interesting set of colours with a Maltese cross, and I have the added interest of having seen the originals in the <b>Heeresgeslichtliches Museum</b> <span style="font-family: inherit;">in Vienna. The waistcoat and breeches are also straw rather than white so this has given me the chance to try getting the colour "right" there. I used the two darker colours of the <b>Foundry Canvas</b> triad, and then washed with <b>GW Gryphonne Sepia</b> to give a bit more depth of colour. I think it's come out ok. I also had to paint on the collar as the Foundry figures without lapels come without collars too. I didn't actually realise (well, ok - look) until I'd started painting, or I might have tried some greenstuff to make collars, but I am happy enough with the result. I have not bothered with the shoulder straps - so sue me!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway, painting the figures has made me realise that I still have a load of unanswered questions, so I'll be posting on TMP later in the hope of getting some answers. Here is what I have done so far; if you see any glaring errors, please let me know. Bear in mind that the figures are not finished yet. I have yet to tidy up and highlight the black, the buttons on the gaiters are unpainted, and I seem to have completely disregarded the fact that the tip of the scabbard should be brass. Luckily they are all quick fixes.</span><br />
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If we have a look at a close up, it'll show the areas which I am not too sure about...</div>
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Not being able to find out about sword knots is driving me crazy. I know that it's a small detail (like the shoulder straps) but I don't care - I want to know. I can't seem to find anything on <b>Kronoskaf</b>, <b>Mollo</b> and my <b>Greenwood & Ball</b> reprint don't have anything either. So, do I buy the <b>Pengel & Hurt</b> (I hate the (dis)organisation of the ones I have about the Russian and Austrian armies) or do I splash out on <b>Englemann & Dorn</b>? I am also making assumptions about buttons - I have interpreted "white" as white metal and painted them a pewter colour. Would that be right?</div>
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Here I have more "problems". The musket sling should be red - I have seen many very bright reds on peoples' figures on the net, but I can't quite believe that this was the case. I have painted them terracotta, and given them a wash of <b>GW Baal Red</b>. It looks ok to me - but perhaps someone who has actually seen a sling might be able to put me right. The next problem is the cartouche. I'd read in <b>Greenwood & Ball </b>that the plate was in brass, but then I noticed this:</div>
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As can clearly be seen in the bottom right, the cartouche plate is in silver. Was this just a special feature of the I. Leibgarde, or were all cartouche plates in the "colour" of the regiment's buttons? Enquiring minds wish to know (well, this one does at least).</div>
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Finally, I have the problem of basing. With units of 24, I have 18 privates, 1 officer, 1 sergeant, 2 ensigns, a drummer and a fifer. The question is how to base them. I want to have 4 45mm x 40mm bases of 6 figures, but I have a feeling that overloading the command base with 5 or even all 6 of the command figures will look horribly unbalanced. How do others get around this?</div>
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On an unrelated note, I have just taken delivery of my first ever <b>Winsor & Newton Series 7</b> brushes - unfortunately too late to do most of these figures. Oh. My. Word. I've been using Foundry, Army Painter, GW and able brushes from |Maelstrom Games up to now. No longer. The paint actually goes <b style="font-style: italic;">exactly where you want it to! </b>And you can load the brush up with paint without getting a huge blob of it anywhere. I wish I'd bought some years ago; quite simple, astounding!</div>
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As always, thanks for looking, and comments, suggestions, criticism and advice most welcome.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-18234044652702843642012-02-02T04:40:00.000-08:002012-02-02T04:41:27.708-08:00Scheltrum Miniatures<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last year at Salute I got to play SAGA. It just confirmed that my Dark Age project was what I wanted to do, so in addition to my <b>Gripping Beast</b> figures, I trawled the hall, looking for some terrain pieces to buy, as I had little in the way of appropriate table decoration. In addition to the <b>Architects of War</b> pig sty and some more stuff from <b>GB</b>, a stall run by Scheltrum Miniatures caught my eye. Well, I'd never heard of them before (they do have a website at <a href="http://www.scheltrum.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.scheltrum.co.uk</a>, but it doesn't really do them any favours), but I liked what I saw, and decided to add some stuff to my pile of purchases.<br />
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I picked up these terrain pieces, along with a couple of the houses in the range (which I have yet to paint up). Both are painted mainly with craft paints and a few oils. These are a little different from the run-of the-mill A Frame houses provided by most manufacturers and I think add a bit of character to the table. See what you think.<br />
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First up is the cookhouse. I'm not sure the "kiln" is the right colour, and I don't like the thatch - it's not grey enough - but I'm pretty happy with it otherwise. I added some Vallejo pigments for soot and ash which I think worked out ok.<br />
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Next the latrine. This is my favourite piece of terrain ever! It's just so ... I don't know, cheeky. This really was an age when men were men - there's no way I'd be happy using these "facilities" in the dead of winter (I type this as it's -21 outside with wind chill, so I know what I'm talking about). No weathering here as I think you can take things a bit too far...</div>
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So there you go. I hope these are of interest - I like them and I don't think they have the exposure they deserve.</div>
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<br /></div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-39974664338208721622012-01-31T02:26:00.000-08:002012-01-31T02:34:58.118-08:00SAGA quick dip<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In a desperate attempt to clear the painting queue so that I can make a proper start on my SYW project, I finally got around to painting the archers I'm intending to use as 1 point of Levy for my Saxon warband for SAGA. These were what was effectively for me "speed painted" in a couple of hours (not including drying time) and unfortunately it shows; I won't be making that mistake again. I had already made the decision to dip everything for this project anyway, as it's only a side project and the Dark Ages lend themselves to dark and stained clothes, but I was in a rush with the Army Painter dip on these before shooting off to work and didn't do things properly. I also need to keep my work stations tidier as I am sure that 50% of the problems just come from the mess I manage to generate.<br />
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So, I brushed the dip on and brushed it off again - but not so successfully. I'm not overly worried; I have just re-watched <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087432/" target="_blank">The Raven Flies</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095346/" target="_blank">The Shadow of the Raven</a> and the costume departments must have had a field day working all that grime into things! Even so, it is a little irritating, as you can see blotches of dip where they shouldn't be...<br />
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So here are all the fyrd archers together. They are a mix of <b>Gripping Beast</b> and <b>Black Tree Design</b>.<br />
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I'm also experimenting with basing - I may have gone a bit overboard with the flowers... Here are the first 4, note the big splodge of dip on the left-hand archer's tunic. I'll have to do something about that later.<br />
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The second group came out a bit better, I think.<br />
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Just look at the size of the bow hand on this guy though: I put the flowers on the base in an attempt to draw the eye away from what must be the biggest pair of hands in early Christendom! His hand is bigger than his head!<br />
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Last group:<br />
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I like this lot best - especially the one on the right. He really reminds me of Grim in <b>Shadow of the Raven</b>.<br />
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Since I'm posting this I thought I'd add some pictures of my (mad?) axe wielding Huscarls and one of my two Saxon lords. Also dipped, but a little bit more time taken over them (I hope it shows!).<br />
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The huscarls. There are 9 of them as two were in the same pose, so I added a plastic one so as to have 8 different poses.<br />
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Gorgeous shield transfers by LBMS:<br />
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Now I have worked out how to use the camera well enough to take a semi-decent picture, I'll have to get the rest of my SAGA stuff photographed. For example, I have a couple of terrain pieces from <b>Scheltrum </b>that I don't think many people have seen, and which are definitely worth taking a look at. I'll try and get that done over the next couple of days.</div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-75571736927005722042012-01-23T05:32:00.000-08:002012-01-23T05:32:41.076-08:00SYW Project: Planning and Beginnings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After a somewhat interesting weekend of travel to London and back (how did I manage to pick the only day of the year so far when Brno airport had to be closed due to snow? It turned a 3 hour trip into an 8 hour one via Bratislava ...), I finally have all of my Seven Years War figures in one place and can sort out what I have. I placed several orders with Foundry over Xmas and the New Year while they had their sale on, but had some of them delivered to my brother's place in London to take advantage of the UK prices. I won't go into a long anti-Foundry rant, after all, I do like their figures and nobody is forcing me to buy from them, but I will never understand their pricing policy and am amazed that they make any direct sales in what they term <i>the</i> <i>Rest of the World</i> at all. At the prices they charge though, it'd be nice if they got the orders right - they have already sent me two of the wrong regiment packs (which I kept and just reordered as it appears they are all definitely disappearing), and there was a problem with a third regiment pack this time around.<br />
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Anyway, I picked up the Prussian army I ordered along with a few other bits and pieces, and brought them back to add to the orders delivered here and my eBay purchases. A bit of sorting out produced this:<br />
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This is what I have to work on at the moment. As you can see some of the Russian (nearer) stuff has had a start made on it - well, some of it was started a couple of years ago but then life got in the way. Anyway, it's all sorted by unit - 24 foot or 8 horse, although some have a few missing or extra at the moment.<br />
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<b>Russian Foot:</b><br />
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This is the Russian foot and artillery. There are 4 regiments of musketeers in coats and 2 in kamzol, as well as a regiment of grenadiers in each - though I need 6 more grenadiers in kamzol to complete the unit. The gap in the box is for 16 figures which are in the painting queue at the moment. This is only 8 units of foot; I'd like to add some observation corps (2 x musketeers and 1 x grenadiers), but I'm not sure whether the figures will ever become available again. I hope so, or that I can find some on eBay. If not I'll possibly take a look at Sash & Sabre to fill out a few more units. Either that or just buy some Crusader Austrians and turn this into an Allied army.<br />
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The artillery consists of 3 Front Rank pieces, with Foundry observation corps crew, and a Front Rank caisson. I'd like to add another 3 pieces with normal artillery crew - at the moment, the Russians have no more artillery than the Prussians - that can't be right!<br />
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<b>Russian Horse:</b><br />
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The Russian cavalry has been started on too. I painted up 12 cuirassiers a while back, which have been split into 8 and 4. I have enough figures now to make a second unit with 2 left over - so another 2 blisters for 3 units of cuirassiers. I'm not sure whether that might not be too many, though.<br />
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There's only 1 unit of dragoons, 1 of horse grenadiers, 2 of cossacks (with a little help from TAG) and some TAG Tartars, which will be used as Kalmuks. Yes, I know, too heavy on the cossacks and too light on the dragoons. I may have to buy a few more dragoons, but the cossacks stay!<br />
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So there's the Russians, now moving swiftly on...<br />
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<b>Prussian Foot and Artillery:</b><br />
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10 units of foot: 3 musketeers (2 with lapels, 1 without), 4 fusiliers (nearly 2 of each), 2 grenadiers (1 of each) and some Frei Korps (still need 6 figures). There are more fusiliers than musketeers (not good) but that's because I was sent extra by Foundry in one of the orders, almost enough to make the second unit without lapels. Unfortunately they also sent me a unit pack of grenadiers without lapels as part of the army deal in which the command figures were all replaced by grenadiers <i>with </i>lapels. Foundry have promised to send a pack on, but it's irritating all the same.<br />
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There are also 3 guns with crew.<br />
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<b>Prussian Cavalry:</b><br />
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And the Prussian cavalry. 3 units of cuirassiers (one Garde du Corps), 2 of dragoons, and 1 of hussars in fur busbies (though I guess I'll have to buy a Front Rank trumpeter in mirliton). I definitely want to add a unit of hussars in mirliton for the Death's Head Hussars, and probably another unit of cuirassiers - I just need to add a command blister.<br />
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So there it is. This is my other major project of 2012 - and I think it'll be more than enough to keep me going this year! Any comments and criticism on force composition gratefully received. And if anyone has any spare Prussian Frei Korps, or Russian observation corps figures they want to sell, please let me know...</div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-33403881468706745132012-01-10T10:13:00.000-08:002012-01-10T10:14:38.603-08:001st Cuirassiers - WIP<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I don't really have much time this week for painting, we have a new member of staff at the Faculty with whom I'm sharing courses so that needs to be sorted out and there are one or two other things going on as well that are conspiring to keep me away from the painting table. I also don't and can't paint at the speed of some of those whose blogs I follow, so that means if I only get an hour here or there, not a lot gets done.<br />
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I am determined to keep this blog up and running though, so I shall make posts even when I don't have a "finished product" as it were. Here's a WIP - hopefully having it up on the blog will motivate me to finish the next 6 figures at least. I'll need 18 for <b>Lasalle </b>but I'll probably paint at least 6 more for <b>R2E</b>. That seems a long way off at the moment though...</div>
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So here they are, Mesdames et Monsieurs, the 1st Cuirassiers so far:</div>
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Since I am doing the 1815 campaign I decided to paint the trumpeter still in Bourbon livery, as per the Osprey and the <a href="http://centjours.mont-saint-jean.com/">Cent Jours</a> website. The epaulettes have no fringe in the Osprey, and red ones on the website; I have compromised by doing neither until I can find out one way or the other! I also intend to paint another trumpeter stand in Imperial livery to use in 1814 and before. The lovely flag, which you can't see unfortunately, is by GMB, the figures Perry plastics of course.</div>
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Flocking will wait until I have a load to do - but otherwise, these are pretty much done now. Perhaps this post will spur me on to get them finished at last.</div>
</div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-60080230736173444112012-01-08T10:15:00.000-08:002012-01-08T10:15:56.635-08:00A Cossack Interlude - TAG and Foundry comparison<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have just discovered that Jason over at <a href="http://derfeldmarschall.blogspot.com/2012/01/cossacks-pals.html">Der Feldmarschall</a> is intending to do things very similar to me - namely both Seven Years War and Napoleonic projects, and that the SYW armies in question will be Prussians and Russians from the Foundry ranges. When I mentioned in a comment on his blog that I am intending to use some TAG Tartars (excuse the spelling - I am a linguistic dinosaur and prefer the two 'r's), Jason commented that he thought the TAG ranges were very hit or miss. Well, although they are smaller than the Foundry sculpts, I don't think it is an insurmountable problem, and I like them, so I have decided to put up a few comparison pics in the hope it might be useful for someone.<br />
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I started off with the less extravagant of the Foundry Cossacks and their TAG counterparts. Here they are:<br />
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While the TAG riders are smaller than the Foundry ones, here the difference isn't all that great, at least in my opinion. Where it really is noticeable is between the larger (than life?) Foundry sculpts for the officer etc. and the smaller TAG ones where the rider is stripped to the waist. The Foundry rider is literally head and shoulders above the TAG one.</div>
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TAG Foundry</div>
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On to the horses. I have to admit that I am not a big fan of the shape of the TAG horses' heads, but in my book, the Foundry horses are some of the best out there. Surprisingly, the TAG horses seem to be every bit as large as the Foundry ones - so they should work well together.</div>
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And finally a comparison shot of one of my Kalmuks next to a Foundry Cossack when mounted. I think sizewise these are perfect together - the Central Asian pony has the weird head again, but I'll just have to live with that...</div>
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TAG Ta(r)tar Foundry Cossack</div>
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Well I hope that's been of help. Now I must get back to some painting...</div>
</div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-21975794887331997552012-01-05T05:11:00.000-08:002012-01-05T05:11:19.821-08:00SYW Test Paint<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
With the release of <i style="font-weight: bold;">Maurice</i> this year, now is as good a time as any to revisit (read: actually start properly) my Seven Years War project. I have a fair few rulesets that I'd like to try out already: <b style="font-style: italic;">Might and Reason</b>,<b style="font-style: italic;"> Die Kriegkunst</b>,<b style="font-style: italic;"> Black Powder</b>, but the fact that <b><i>Maurice</i></b> will encourage the Imagi-nation side of things has really caught my interest. While I don't want to create an Imagi-nation of my own at the moment, I fully intend to play fast and loose with army composition, in the sense of choosing units for their uniforms and flags rather than modelling a snapshot of the Prussian and Russian armies at any particular time.<br />
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As will become apparent, I have thus ordered rather a lot of the Foundry SYW range before it all disappears (sob). There is a kind of method in my madness, but just how much remains to be seen. Anyway, some of it has already arrived and I decided to do a test paint of a Prussian fusilier, as I had a couple of extra figs lying around. <b>IR 38 von Brandes</b> being the most "typically" Prussian (red lapels, collars and cuffs with white waistcoat), that's what I went for, just to see how it would look. This is the result:<br />
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My inability to get the camera settings right notwithstanding, I think this looks OK, despite having missed a button. I used the same white palette for the clothing and the cross-belts, but I think I'll do what I do with my Napoleonics and use the Foundry <i>Austrian White</i> triad for the waistcoat etc. when I get down to unit painting. The sword knot is white as I don't know what colour(s) to paint it. I have ordered the 18th Century Press Prussian uniform guide to add to my Mollo and obligatory Ospreys and am hoping the info will be in there - otherwise I'm going to have to order another confusingly organised Pengel and Hurt or two. No weathering either - a Lace Wars soldier needs to look a little smarter than a French conscript of 50 years later.<br />
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Thanks for looking and as always, comments and criticism welcome.</div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-13756328601270114412012-01-04T07:37:00.000-08:002012-01-04T07:37:13.301-08:00Inside Out or Outside In?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Since I first started thinking about these kind of things, I've always painted my figures from the inside out, by which I mean that I start with the skin and then the clothing and accoutrements closest to it, working my way outwards. A recent post by <b>DeanM</b> on <a href="http://wabcorner.blogspot.com/">http://wabcorner.blogspot.com/</a> and a reread of of<b> Kevin Dallimore</b>'s first guide to painting made me decide to try it the other way around to see if it were any easier or faster. I also decided to try and document the process, although, as can be seen below, I shan't be winning any painting or photography awards any time soon. The question was though, what to paint? It had to be something reasonably simple, and something I was familiar enough with to be able to compare the process with my normal way of doing things.<br />
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At the moment, I am in the throws of repainting and 'upgrading' a couple of Foundry French units that were painted many moons ago, in an attempt to refurbish them for a game I hope to hold in the spring. They don't really fit in with the style of my more recently painted figures, especially not since I have abandoned the painting of eyes (if mine are going then so can my troops'!). I have also changed my standard French battalion from a 35 figure unit - 34 infantry plus 1 mounted colonel - to 40 strong - 6 companies of 6, a command stand of 3 with eagle/fanion and separate mounted officer. So I basically need a few extra troops to fill in the gaps and a pack of 8 French infantry in greatcoats would do the job.<br />
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Here is a brief run through of what I did. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.<br />
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<b>Stage 1</b><br />
First off, the metal work on the muskets. Painted with <i>Chainmail 35A</i>, highlighted with <i>Metal 35B</i> and then washed with <i>Badab Black</i>.<br />
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<b>Stage 2</b><br />
The white cross-belt, shoulder straps and piping, all done with the Foundry white triad. I tend to use this for belts and the <i>Austrian White</i> triad for trousers, jacket fronts and the like.<br />
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If there is one thing I positively hate painting on French Napoleonics, it's the piping on the backpacks. It drives me mad. This time, however, I didn't have to worry too much about getting the white paint in the wrong places and it was easy to clean up any mistakes.</div>
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<b>Stage 3</b></div>
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The next stage was painting the flesh, musket, back pack and canteen strap. I always like to paint the face; each one turns the figure into an individual and makes it easier for me to paint somehow.</div>
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<b>Stage 4</b></div>
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Now some bigger areas of the figure get covered: the trousers and the shako covers. I used 2 different colours on the covers, Foundry <i>Canvas</i> and <i>Boneyard</i>, for a bit of variation.</div>
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<b>Stage 5</b></div>
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This is the reason I will never be a photographer! Despite taking 3 photos, I managed to get all of them out of focus. You might just be able to make out the addition of the brass buttons and stock plate and the canteen...</div>
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<b>Stage 6</b></div>
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Finally, I got to paint the greatcoats. I wanted to really see how much faster I could paint here, with all the "detailling" already done, so I used a size 4 brush. It really wasn't hard to do at all - and it was much faster! 3 different triads here, as my French are a ragtag bunch, but only the shade and base colour, as I find the highlights just too stark. I also painted the black items: shoes, cartridge box and shako peak.</div>
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<b>Stage 7</b></div>
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The last, and easiest, stage of all. I had already washed the shako covers, now it was the turn of the greatcoats. In future I'll do both at this stage to speed things up. <i>Devlan Mud</i> and <i>Gryphonne Sepia</i> were used and then the bottom of the great coats, the trousers and the shoes were given a quick going over with the weathering stick.</div>
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So here we have the (nearly) finished product. They still need varnishing and basing, of course, but I tend to do that all in one go if I can.</div>
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So, was it quicker and easier? Well, as to the first, despite using the big size 4 brush, I can't be absolutely certain, as I was painting some other figures in parallel, but I'm pretty sure that if I'm clear on the order and what I need to paint when, using this technique will significantly speed my painting up. As for easier, well I think it is. Getting all the fiddly bits out of the way when you can correct them without fear of going over something else makes for a much more relaxed process too. I'm definitely going to be giving this a try with my SYW project.</div>
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</div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-37639793080541630262011-12-30T12:50:00.000-08:002012-01-04T06:20:23.381-08:00A new start for 2012Well, it's exactly 2 years and a day since I last posted anything, and as is clear, I didn't get much done when I started blogging last time. 5 posts in and then the start of a new term hit harder than I had expected and it all fizzled out. I've found my feet at the faculty much better since then and have managed to sort my timetable out, so no excuses this time.<div><br /><div>I've decided to give it another go, in the hope that it will motivate me to get more done this year than last. 2011 was a difficult year for most, and especially in the first six months I found myself taking on any work that came my way, just in case. While things got easier in the second half of the year, I had house guests almost perpetually, with a friend who'd been made homeless staying here for the last 4 months. I have got some painting done over the last couple of months, but nowhere near as much as I'd like. Restarting this blog is a way of making me do better, and structuring what I do a bit better.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>So, first of all, projects for 2012. I know I suffer from "Oh shiny" syndrome as much if not more than others, so the idea of me sticking to one thing and one thing only is just not going to happen. However, I can't have no plan, for that way madness lies. So I will allow myself 2 major and 2 skirmish projects for 2012, and no more!</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><u>Main Periods</u></b></div><div><b>1.</b> <b>Napoleonics:</b> My first wargames figures ever were some 25mm Minifigs Napoleonics bought from a shop in Winchester in 1977 when I was all of 8 years old and there is no way I could go a whole year without them. The good thing is I have bought almost all of what I need to get my two starter forces up and running. The first 4 battalions of infantry for Donzelot's 2nd Division at Waterloo are now done, and 2 proxy divisions for the 13eme Legere have been repainted, so I just need to do 2 more battalions (17eme Ligne) and that's done. Captain Cantin's foot battery is painted and based, and the 7th Hussars are primed. All that's needed on the French side is the 3rd Ch. a Cheval, and a couple of units of Cuirassiers - one of which (the 1st), is half painted. </div><div><br /></div><div>On the British side, everything is bought, apart from the cavalry. I'd been waiting on the Hussars, but I still have so much to do that I think I'll wait some more and see if the Perry twins' British dragoons appear before the end of the year; it's still a long way away after all. I need to get a few of the infantry units and the artillery battery done before the end of March as I am hoping to host a game for <b>Texas Jack</b> from <b>TMP</b>. The rest, the cavalry, the French and British limbers etc etc, can all wait till later in the year.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>2. Seven Years War: </b>I've had a lot of Russian SYW troops for a while now, but nobody for them to fight (live in the Czech Republic and you <i>have to</i> provide both sides). Foundry having a 30% sale - making their figures nearly affordable - and my dear ol' Da' flying out from Blighty making the offer to carry stuff out for me meant I decided to take the plunge and buy some of the beautiful Prussian range, and at UK prices. A few days later and another order was placed - hey, it was Xmas! And then when my father arrived, I discovered that two of the regiment packs I had ordered were the wrong ones: Cossacks and Prussian Cuirassiers instead of Musketeers with lapels and Fusiliers without. When I phoned up I discovered that all the packs that were disappearing were being withdrawn for good, so I just reordered them instead, and will keep what they sent me. I can't believe they are removing all the packs just when I am getting into SYW... I guess there will be a lot of trawling of Ebay from now on. This project is where my money will be going this year.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>Skirmish</u></b></div><div><b>3. SAGA: </b>Like many others I have caught the SAGA bug. I was lucky enough to get in a test game at Salute last summer, and despite the game ending with mutually assured destruction, it was a blast. I've bought quite a lot of scenery and enough figures to do warbands for the Anglo-Danes and Vikings. When the Conquest infantry come out, I'll buy some packs of cavalry and one of infantry (I want shields with bosses and I'm too lazy to bother with converting them) and make up a Norman band too. I already have some Foundry crossbowmen and some BTD Norman bowmen waiting. The only other purchase I envisage here is a pack of the Gripping Beast unarmoured plastics when they come out, but you never know.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>4. 15mm Sci-Fi:</b> The final project for 2012. It should have been 2011's skirmish project but it got sidelined. I have found a good set of rules in <b>Gruntz</b>, and the unit cards are easy to use for my son, who is the main reason for me getting into this in the first place. I have bits and pieces from Khurasan, GZG, Rebel Minis and Combat Wombat and am sure that I'll be adding bits and pieces throughout the year. The beauty of this is it is free-form, everything works with everything else and I can pretty much add anything I want (or more properly Seb wants) into the mix. It doesn't hurt that it is so comparatively cheap either!</div><div><br /></div><div>So, those are the projects. I am going to set myself a target of 50 painting points a month (28mm: infantry -1, cavalry - 2, gun + crew - 5 / 15mm: 1 squad/tank/walker etc - 5 points). It's a high target, but it's better than setting the bar low - and I<b> </b><i>have to</i> get things ready for <b>Texas Jack </b>come the spring. This blog is primarily going to be a motivational tool for me - but if anyone stumbles on it and finds it interesting then that will be an added bonus. And it's great to have my first follower in <b>DeanM</b>, especially since he is one of my inspirations.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, it's been a long post. Next time I hope to get a couple of piccies up as well. That beats a wall of text any day.</div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-39339563850807969982009-12-29T04:21:00.001-08:002009-12-29T06:20:05.666-08:00SYW Russian Cuirassiers<div align="center"><br /></div><div align="left"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 140px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420634274289637650" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/Szn2JxhXWRI/AAAAAAAAAI0/MY_ugA0NVLk/s400/49130027.JPG" /><br />This is the start of a new project for 2010, painting up a Russian SYW army. This is the first complete unit I have actually based, the 3rd Curiassiers. I was unsure about the coat, as my sources (the ubiquitous Osprey, Pengel and Hurt and Mollo) don't agree, the first giving red collar, cuffs and turnback piped white while the latter two give buff with a 6" red border.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 265px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420633143020915058" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/Szn1H7N4iXI/AAAAAAAAAIc/rHYhrE9piOc/s400/49130006.JPG" /> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">I really should make sure all the flock has been brushed off when I take a photo.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;"></span></div><div align="left">Having asked on <strong>TMP</strong>, I was directed to the fantastic <a href="http://www.kronskaf.com/">http://www.kronskaf.com/</a> , which seemed to provide support for both, a Knotel print agreeing with the Osprey while the templates agree with the others. Since I shall eventually paint up 3 units of cuirassiers, I have decided to do one of each with the last unit still in "dragoon uniform" under their cuirasses.<br /><br /></div><div align="center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/Szn0uQEfYeI/AAAAAAAAAIU/zqpo6EPsM9I/s1600-h/49130003.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 265px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420632701942063586" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/Szn0uQEfYeI/AAAAAAAAAIU/zqpo6EPsM9I/s400/49130003.JPG" /></a> </div><div align="left">Something else I will change on the next unit is the colour of the cuirasses themselves. Next time they'll get the blackened iron treatment.<br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 265px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420633343592093618" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/Szn1TmZx17I/AAAAAAAAAIk/Ut9QdLivnQA/s400/49130007.JPG" /> <div align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">Ooops - a bit of a gap there. Something to remember for the next unit.</span></div><br />They were fun to paint and made a change from what I usually do. I don't really know much about the Seven Years War, but a lot of the battlefields are within easy reach and I think I shall be making trips to several this year, starting with Kolin.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 265px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420633787366407698" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/Szn1tbl0fhI/AAAAAAAAAIs/I5C1JLos3tI/s400/49130030.JPG" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">The unit together.</span></p><span style="font-size:78%;"></span><p align="left">Still missing a standard. Unfortunately GMB don't do the 3rd Cuirassiers, so I'll have to find one from somewhere else, or just leave the pole bare and wait and hope.</p><p align="left">Thanks for looking, and best wishes for 2010.</p>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-3348553176479151102009-12-15T12:09:00.000-08:002009-12-15T14:04:14.285-08:00Náměšt' na HanéDespite the symbolic value of starting my blog on the anniversary of Austerlitz, I can see that the idea was not thought through particularly well. The approach of Christmas and all that that entails (end of term marking, the obligatory Xmas parties, the horrors of Christmas shopping and suchlike) has meant I have had little time to sit down and sort through further pictures, let alone take the photos of my minis that I wanted too. <em>Ach jo, </em>as the Czechs would say (it's so much more expressive than <em>Such is life</em>).<br /><br />Anyway, the weekend before Austerlitz there was a small display of militaria and reenactment at Náměšt', which is just down the road from where Sebastian, my son lives. Only a few hundred people there, and a very funny talk by the Uhlans I later took pictures of at Tvarožná. The display was very small, a few helmets, muskets/rifles and sabres ranging from c. 1750 to the Second World War, a couple of uniforms, and an Austrian flag.<br /><br /><br /><p align="left"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415564474205623938" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SyfzMkdAVoI/AAAAAAAAAGs/UZP9Y1nGCEY/s400/P1000670.JPG" /></p><br /><br /><div align="left">Detail of the Austrian flag. I see the Bohemian lion, the eagles of Silesia and Moravia, the Hungarian arms and the Austrian - I really should identify the rest ... Austria is not really my <em>forte</em> but I think Seb will make me change that.</div><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415567994253593282" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/Syf2Zdp1ysI/AAAAAAAAAHM/IIpkyGRxjiY/s400/P1000669.JPG" /></span></p>There was a uniform there labelled as French, 1810. Not very helpful. The czapska makes me fairly sure it's Polish, but I can't find the leaf pattern anywhere in my limited library (which includes this lovely book I just have to mention)<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 291px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415570707431910306" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/Syf43ZB9a6I/AAAAAAAAAHU/7DHOudk9jVM/s400/ScannedImage.jpg" />If anyone could help in identifying it I'd be very grateful...<br /><br />The reenactment itself was more a demonstration of drill and an explanation of the uniforms. I was quite impressed by the turn out; they were almost all locals from the looks of things and showed a genuine interest in everything.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415566316587190066" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/Syf03z3ABzI/AAAAAAAAAG0/fcHId1UTn-A/s400/P1000671.JPG" /><br />I, of course, gravitated towards the French. This gun got me thinking - it looks very light to me; I had always been lead to believe that they were painted a darker olive than this. <p></p><p></p><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415566685288405634" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/Syf1NRYOGoI/AAAAAAAAAG8/4EME6QMwKps/s400/P1000667.JPG" /></p>Seb showed where his loyalties lay, preferring to spend time with the "Austrian" reenactors. In fact, they were all from Ostrava...<br /><p></p><p>Here's a final photo of the French infantry reenactment group. There were only 9 of them in total but what they lacked in numbers they more than made up for in enthusiasm. The youngest there was 14, a real Marie Louise! </p><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415567253688450674" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/Syf1uW1WfnI/AAAAAAAAAHE/hjA1ZepF8xE/s400/P1000674.JPG" /><br />Thanks for looking - hope it was of interest.</p><p></p>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-72203089477087989282009-12-10T05:08:00.000-08:002009-12-22T10:25:05.428-08:00Neapolitan 1st Line<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SzEJpH81yuI/AAAAAAAAAIM/ZSp49MleRvY/s1600-h/49130024.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 212px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418122428816935650" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SzEJpH81yuI/AAAAAAAAAIM/ZSp49MleRvY/s320/49130024.JPG" /></a><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div align="left">These are some of the first examples of a new unit being painted up for <strong><em>Lasalle</em></strong>. I have a rather large pile of French infantry waiting to be painted - both in the 1807 and Bardin uniform, and I need to decide which to concentrate on. I have painted a few of the lovely Perry figures up, now it's the turn of Victrix. Instead of painting up another French line battalion, however, I decided to paint them as the 1st Line Infantry of the Kingdom of Naples, sometime around early 1810. </div><br /><div align="left"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 212px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418121403522083634" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SzEItcbf6zI/AAAAAAAAAIE/Cl0jixTNa3g/s320/49130019.JPG" />Since I've got the Victrix 1804-1807 box as well (impulse buy - what else?), I was also looking around for a unit that might still be in the bicorne. Plate 58 in <strong>Uniforms of the Peninsular War, 1807 - 1814</strong> has long been a favourite, and sprang to mind. I also wanted to practise a bit of painting white. I have long been a fan of the beautifully painted figures of <strong>ArchiducCharles</strong> and others on <strong>TMP</strong>, but have never really managed to capture the white they achieve. I have also been to a couple of re-enactment events recently, and have seen quite a variety of "whites", so I wanted to see if I could get close to any of them.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413599880149258610" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SyD4aJRk0XI/AAAAAAAAAGc/QVwvaeBQ-Mc/s400/P1000676.JPG" /></div><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Notice the differing shades of white and cream in evidence here.</span></p><p align="left"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 199px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418120131169227746" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SzEHjYi8E-I/AAAAAAAAAH0/p2iK8wr7NRY/s320/Neapolitan+2.JPG" /> Another reason I chose the Neapolitans is the fact that I imagine they were rather low on the food chain when it came to resupply. Quite apart from the venal nature of the contractors of the period (I remember reading somewhere of one such who only escaped execution on the Russian campaign by crawling on hands and knees, grovelling at Napoleon's side over a distance of several kilometers!), I don't imagine that QMs then were much different to those today, their credo being "These are Stores. If we were meant to issue things, they'd be called Issues, wouldn't they?" This gives the perfect excuse for a bit of variety.</p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418119490146873074" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SzEG-EjTLvI/AAAAAAAAAHk/9Q9ns1arksQ/s320/Neapolitan+1.JPG" /><span style="font-size:85%;">Pointing at it won't help, <em>mon brave</em>, it says here I don't have any shakos, so you can't have one. Come back in a few weeks and I'll see what I can do, <em>hein</em>?</span><br /><br /><div>The Neapolitans are thus a perfect choice. The unit is in a wide range of headgear, with some of them having secured the new shakos, others not. There is also a variety of cloth in use for trousers, waistcoats, and even a couple whose jackets have had to be replaced with the ubiquitous brown Iberian cloth. </div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 194px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418120683138329218" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SzEIDgyoKoI/AAAAAAAAAH8/ZyTG4S8R3E4/s320/Neapolitan+4.JPG" />I'm still not sure about the basing. I have some 60mm x 40mm Litko bases , but I'm not sure whether I should mount them on a 15mm or 20mm frontage. I'm a slow painter, and it's obviously cheaper to mount them 6 to a base, but I am leaning towards the 15mm. We'll see...</div><div> </div><div></div><div>I'm still relatively new at this malarky, so any hints, tips or criticism (constructive or not!) most welcome. One thing I will say is the camera is the scariest critic of all - these figures seemed ok to me, but now I see them up close...</div></div></div></div></div></div>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-2335994896093360502009-12-01T00:24:00.001-08:002009-12-05T06:45:05.986-08:00Austerlitz 2009 continued<div align="center"><br /></div><div align="left">More photos from the re-enactment. Again, apologies for the less than spectacular photography - I did ask for an idiot proof camera when I bought mine, but that does mean it's not equipped with the most powerful of lenses. Anyway, better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick (I hope!) </div><div align="left"><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410181484580042610" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTTZVbJ93I/AAAAAAAAAC0/O3lDVF5DAKE/s320/P1000729.JPG" /> <div align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">Preparing for the attack.</span><br /><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410185436652143794" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTW_YCkhLI/AAAAAAAAADk/a58T6S6zyVk/s320/P1000752.JPG" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">When the skirmishers can't stop them...</span></p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410184739791662578" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTWW0CFbfI/AAAAAAAAADc/txtTbm0DhNo/s320/P1000751.JPG" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">...it's time to plug the hole in the line.</span><br /><br /></p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410193002240648178" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTd3wDbo_I/AAAAAAAAAE0/YEQ6eyxzfhU/s320/P1000768.JPG" /><span style="font-size:78%;">"For what <em>you</em> are about to receive..."<br /></span><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410181814375369122" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTTsiAfSaI/AAAAAAAAAC8/6MandQ645Ro/s320/P1000730.JPG" /><span style="font-size:78%;">Although the Austrian line disappears behind a wreath of smoke</span><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410190923287416258" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTb-vWWzcI/AAAAAAAAAEc/3FMeQ3FHcM4/s320/P1000732.JPG" /><span style="font-size:78%;">The French come on "in the same old fashion", well, it works!</span></p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410182878019899266" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTUqcZGz4I/AAAAAAAAADE/uMooUo9Vkvk/s320/P1000737.JPG" /><span style="font-size:78%;"> Cavalry on the flanks of the attack.</span><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410183341747795298" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTVFb6c9WI/AAAAAAAAADM/ShDIRIwBe7c/s320/P1000742.JPG" /><span style="font-size:78%;">The attack goes in</span> </p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410188763971366162" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTaBDRSrRI/AAAAAAAAAEE/YEK-wTLcHTo/s320/P1000735.JPG" /><span style="font-size:78%;"> It looks touch and go for a while, but it's sound and fury signifying...</span></p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410189414596450850" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTam7CZmiI/AAAAAAAAAEM/9NaEClOw3Cw/s320/P1000750.JPG" /><span style="font-size:78%;"> ...nothing; the Allies hold and the French are forced to retire.</span><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410189860299018722" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTbA3aLEeI/AAAAAAAAAEU/Zzy4a0axtCk/s320/P1000761.JPG" /><span style="font-size:78%;">The French fall back to remove that disruption.</span><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410186184843305554" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTXq7RPolI/AAAAAAAAADs/EEzZJs38-FY/s320/P1000753.JPG" /><span style="font-size:78%;">While they do so the French guns open up again.<br /></span><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410187434910401298" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTYzsIdwxI/AAAAAAAAAD0/K8qW7c91mQ0/s320/P1000756.JPG" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">Loading.</span> </p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410184322663618786" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTV-iHAmOI/AAAAAAAAADU/3a16YNO1TBg/s320/P1000744.JPG" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">The Austrians prepare for the next attack...</span></p><span style="font-size:78%;"></span><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410188052247932802" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTZXn5M74I/AAAAAAAAAD8/ZnK5dHLkBrc/s320/P1000757.JPG" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">... as do their Russian allies.</span><br /><br /></p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410191759173135442" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTcvZRCrFI/AAAAAAAAAEk/pKOnrvzLhx8/s320/P1000763.JPG" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">Redressing the ranks.</span><br /><br /></p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410181098632766642" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTTC3qJ5LI/AAAAAAAAACs/OyifdOuGD7Q/s320/P1000783.JPG" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">Some Grognards - veterans of Italy and Egypt?</span></p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410192321933245634" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTdQJtgfMI/AAAAAAAAAEs/410rJ5ODx6k/s320/P1000770.JPG" /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">The French line is now reorganised.</span><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410193002240648178" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxTd3wDbo_I/AAAAAAAAAE0/YEQ6eyxzfhU/s320/P1000768.JPG" /><span style="font-size:78%;">And the Allies are ready to meet them again.</span><br /></p><p align="left">More later and I'll put up some piccies of the 2005 show - snow, burning villages and many more participants.<br /></p>Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858556518772211422.post-9147326971144197932009-11-30T11:39:00.001-08:002009-12-05T06:45:30.582-08:00Austerlitz 2009<div align="center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxQj4F8A2CI/AAAAAAAAABk/sonxhPAzjE4/s1600/P1000738.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409988498952345634" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxQj4F8A2CI/AAAAAAAAABk/sonxhPAzjE4/s400/P1000738.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:78%;">The battle in full flow</span><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><div align="left"></span>Hello and welcome to the first post of a new blog. Given the name it must be fairly obvious that I am interested in a) Napoleon and all things Napoleonic and b) miniatures and miniature gaming, and I will admit that this blog is as much for me as it is for others; it is an attempt to make me more focussed in my painting as well as an opportunity to share my efforts with others. I don’t intend to limit myself solely to my passion for gaming though and I thought a good way to start off would be to post a report on Austerlitz 2009. </div><br /><div align="left">I live “next door” to Austerlitz. It was obviously not a reason for me to move here to Brno (the Czech Republic’s second city) but it is an added bonus – I could walk if I really felt like it as it’s only a few miles. I have spent a fair amount of time wandering up and down the battle field, but to be honest there isn’t all that much there. The Pratzen heights are now covered by the village of Prace, and the fish ponds between Telnice (Telnitz) and Měnín (Menitz) have been drained and replaced by the villages of Újezd u Brna and Žatčany, and a lot of the middle of the battlefield now lies under the D1 motorway. It is possible to walk down the banks of the Řička (Goldbach Brook), but much of the terrain has changed almost out of all recognition since 1805.<br />On the extreme left flank of the battle, however, it is still possible to climb the Santon hill and look out over a few fields, just to the south of the village of Tvarožná, imagining that one is seeing the advance of Bagration as Lannes did. And it is here every year that the re-enactment of the battle takes place. This time my 7 year old son, Sebastian, was keen to go, so after a hiatus since 2005 we caught the bus last Saturday and rode all of 15 minutes out to the site. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><br /><iframe height="350" marginheight="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Tvaro%C5%BEna&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.946584,67.5&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Tvarozn%C3%A1,+Czech+Republic&ll=49.19175,16.772278&spn=0.152389,0.263672&z=12&output=embed" frameborder="0" width="425" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /><small><a style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; COLOR: #0000ff" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=Tvaro%C5%BEna&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.946584,67.5&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Tvarozn%C3%A1,+Czech+Republic&ll=49.19175,16.772278&spn=0.152389,0.263672&z=12">View Larger Map</a></small><br /><div align="left">This year it has been unseasonably warm, with temperatures in the double digits, so no mud or snow was in evidence, and turnout was lower than it has been, both of re-enactors (about 800 this year) and spectators, almost certainly for financial reasons– but this was not necessarily a bad thing, as there was more space to see things. No Mark Schneider as Napoleon this year either, which was a shame. But what was missing in numbers was made up for in passion from all involved. It was loud and smoky and chaotic and above all fun. </div><br /><div align="center"></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 226px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409985595287254690" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxQhPE8TtqI/AAAAAAAAABU/WdAiJ4M-nEY/s320/P1000788.JPG" /> <span style="font-size:78%;">The French firing line in action - literally the fog of war.</span><br /><div align="left">Unfortunately the photos aren’t great. I had hoped to borrow a friend’s camera instead of using my little thing, but couldn’t get hold of the friend at the last moment. With Seb in tow I couldn’t charge around taking photos all the time either, and then, to my horror, my camera died (or the batteries did to be more precise). I suppose it was just as well, because after initial enthusiasm for the booming guns of the Austrian battery, Seb’s interest was beginning to pall and he declared that he wanted to leave. “After all,” he said, “it’s not like we don’t know who wins in the end!”<br /></div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409983954911146434" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxQfvmEKscI/AAAAAAAAABE/aLyux_bxuz8/s320/P1000682.JPG" /> <span style="font-size:78%;">We saw these guys in Náměst na Hané the week before...</span><span style="font-size:78%;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409987534817024946" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxQi_-QPW7I/AAAAAAAAABc/f08CF8BsH-8/s320/P1000685.JPG" /></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">A view looking North over Tvarožná<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409989093612989522" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxQkatOKLFI/AAAAAAAAABs/HxTsbsd_vc8/s320/P1000687.JPG" /></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:78%;">The first of the Austrian guns being prolonged into position. The hill sloping up on the left is Santon, Tvarožná is down to the right.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409990684050859234" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxQl3SEGJOI/AAAAAAAAAB0/k9-NGaNbV64/s320/P1000691.JPG" /></span><span style="font-size:78%;">A few of the guns from the Austrian battery. Note how sparse the spectators are on the hill behind, not like 2005 at all.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409992387534773714" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxQnacCT3dI/AAAAAAAAAB8/65E26HvbpVo/s320/P1000702.JPG" /></span><span style="font-size:78%;">The Austrian Grenadiers take the field.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409993285353988306" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxQoOsrF4NI/AAAAAAAAACE/OXsiY9EJilw/s320/P1000716.JPG" /></span><span style="font-size:78%;">As do some slightly anachronistic Russians.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409995571861882770" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxQqTylDh5I/AAAAAAAAACM/M2D29leseOo/s320/P1000721.JPG" /></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">Some more Austrians (well Hungarians) some of whom look remarkably well fed on army rations...</div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409996977271620162" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxQrlmI2QkI/AAAAAAAAACU/K0bGTinhDn4/s320/P1000701.JPG" /> <p align="center"></span><span style="font-size:78%;">The skirmishing starts...</p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409997951572952114" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxQseTsYxDI/AAAAAAAAACc/OdjvBDciku4/s320/P1000725.JPG" /></span><span style="font-size:78%;">... as the French position themselves. In reality, the French were at the top of the hill and Bagration approached from below.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409999490222266690" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6TKHGrTfOu8/SxQt33m-GUI/AAAAAAAAACk/ZOyQcZ86owE/s320/P1000728.JPG" /></span> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">The French battery prepares for action.</span></p><br /><br />More photos in the next post...Chris Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581970952319043734noreply@blogger.com1