Napoleonics, Kiwi Style

Over the last few months, I've been putting up pictures of some of my old buildings, models and miniatures that I have been working on, having brought them back with me to Tokyo from Vancouver when I visited the family last summer.

In a comment he made on one of my posts, Paul (of the popular Napoleonics in Miniature blog) asked me- presumably in jest!- the following question: 

 "You didn't happen to find any 15mm AB Naps you want to get rid of when you were back home ;0) " 

Well...in fact, yes!  

While burrowing through my old closet at my parents home, I came across a weighty cardboard box full to bursting with 15mm Napoleonics.  

These were Russians, Austrians and Prussians, including at least some AB Russian dragoons for sure. There were also some Russian Minifigs, but most of them were from the Men-at-Arms range of Napoleonic 15's from a company in New Zealand, Military Miniatures.  

These look very much like Minifigs; enough so that I believe that there was some stink or other over copyright, but I really don't know much about it.

MAA Austrian types; line officer and infantryman, jager bugler and officer.  Got my doubts about that tall plume on the line officer, though!

The figures were okay, the worst feature being the cast-on flags and a rather limited choice of poses.  But this was the 1980's,  when the popularity of (much-missed) 2nd-generation Minifigs was at its height, so they fit the bill nicely.  

Military Miniatures are still around in Auckland, although they do not do 15mm Napoleonics any more.  They now go by the name of Battlefront Miniatures, a name which may be familiar to most of you!

I bought a whole load of these when the local retailer, Sentry Box West, was clearing out the line.  They were very reasonably priced at the time, and on top of that I got them at 50% off.  That's 50% off on top of the sticker price you see here, which means this Prussian 6pdr. gun cost me about 62 cents Canadian!

I didn't have the time while I was there to take anything like a proper inventory, but if memory serves there are Russian infantry, artillery + limbers, crews, cossacks, dragoons, Austrian infantry, grenadiers and cuirassiers, and Prussian artillery.  Most are stil in their packs. 

I ended up with a lot of command packs, and where I needed more infantry, gun crews, cavalry and the like I had intended to flesh the collection out with Minifigs. 

However, as is the way of things, our group drifted from 15mm Napoleonics to 25mm SYW, and my 15mm Naps have remained in their box- along with some 15mm terrain pieces- to this day.

They are still in Vancouver, too, as I didn't send them over this time.  I was already smarting from having spent $500.00 on posting other stuff over here, and had to draw the line somewhere.  We are not currently gaming 15mm Naps, and are unlikely to do so, so back to the closet they went, although this time packed and labelled properly!   

I did manage to bring a few samples over with me out of interest, and these are the ones you see here.  The next time I go back, I'll throw the box with the rest of the miniatures into my suitcase for the return trip.  Once they are here, I'll decide what I want to do with them all.

Finally, here they are again in front of what is bound to be a familiar building!  No, I'm not getting into colonials, but after some architectural wizardry with plastic card, foam board and filler, this  kit I had lying around of Airfix's venerable Fort Sahara will be turned into some kind of monastery or chapel in time for our next Peninsular War game.

Under the Spreading Apple Tree

The village smithy stands.  Or it may be a chestnut tree, but I don't have a lot of confidence in my arboreal knowledge.

Neither am I all that sure it's a blacksmith's, it's probably just a barn of sorts.  What's most important is that it is another building finished and ready for the next game.

This is another Resin Building of Unknown Origin that I picked up in Vancouver back in the eighties. 

The more I look at it and at the last building I completed, the less I think that they were actually Gallia models.  I also have a two-story timbered cottage that I know for a fact is Gallia, and the  moulding was a lot cleaner than was the case for these two.  

This one was covered in bubbles, oozing resin eruptions, chips, and scars; it took a lot of work just to  make it look presentable. 

Still, when placed on a base and decorated with a GW tree, a barrel and spare wheel, and a pile of cannonballs painted up as a supply of (overripe) fruit ready for plundering, it looks decent enough for the tabletop.

Rear Window!

I'm glad to get these done, as it leaves considerably more room on the painting table to work on miniatures.  

There is one more building I need to work on for scenario I have in mind for the upcoming game on the 21st, and this one will be considerably bulkier!  The good thing is that I'm getting considerably better- and faster- at making buildings.

This Old (Resin) House

My eyes needed a break from close-up painting work, so yesterday I treated myself by painting up some buildings.  I managed to finish this well-known tavern, La Belle Alliance, so that at least the boys will have some refreshments available when waiting for their turn to slap around Matt's 74th Foot.

 

When I was back in Vancouver earlier this year, I had taken the opportunity to sort out the closet full of wargaming items still in storage at my parents' place.  In the process, I came across a bunch of resin buildings of what are pretty much unknown origin.

Definitely useful for our games here, so I promptly had them shipped back to Tokyo.  I bought this one at the old Sentry Box West gaming store many, many years ago.  It may be an old Gallia model, but I wouldn't swear to it.

 

Regardless of provenance, it was designed for (back then, true) 25mm figures, and is on the small size for 25mm at that.  As such, it actually scales out very well for both our 20mm and 28mm games, as for the latter it does not take up such a large footprint on the tabletop.

It had been very simply block-painted for fast service on the tabletop, and was in this state when I bought it back to Japan.  Since then we've used it for both Napoleonic and WW2 games.   

You can see it as it used to be in the centre left of the picture below, from a game we had last autumn.

Basically it is still a good model after all these years, so I decided it was worth tarting it up a bit.  So I gave it a fresh new coat of paint and placed it on a wooden base, taking the opportunity to go for a new blue slate tile roof instead of the original dull red.  I thought this would make a nicer contrast with the brickwork.

Attaching it to its new MDF base proved  more difficult than I anticipated as the model did not sit flat on the table.  But I used lots of epoxy and a sand/ PVA mix to build up the baseboard and to fill in any gaps that appeared along the bottom edge. Worked like a charm.  I then painted the base in a raw umber and flocked it in.

"Alors, right now a glass of claret would go down well, mes amis, Non?"

Oh, and when working on buildings and terrain, I go through paint like a frat party goes through cases of Schlitz.  I really appreciate those Ceramcoat craft paints, which remain very economical for this kind of work.  

All told, I think it looks great, and Bob Vila and Norm Abrams would be proud.  I have a few other buildings which need the same treatment, too.  I'll be working on them between my miniatures.

Command Cadre of the 2/28e Légère

I've made the first significant progress with the second battalion of light infantry I've been working on.  

However, a few changes were necessary.  The original plan was to model the 1/6e Légère, under the recently-painted Major Guillaume Vendredi du Bonton.  

However,  I discovered first that the horse really wouldn't fit on the bases I had to hand, and secondly that I actually didn't have a first battalion flag.  I think I will simply promote the good major to a brigade commander at some point in the future, as I really like the horse and think he deserves a base of his own.  

So, I used a second battalion flag for the standard bearer, and the long-since finished (but hitherto unemployed) Hippolyte-Garçon de Vallée  suddenly found himself commissioned Chef-de-Bataillon of what will now be the 2/28e Regt. Légère. 

 

I won't work on the base yet, as I prefer to do that once the rest of the battalion ready to go.   

The rest of the battalion is still being worked on, but I find that the having the first stand ready to go feels a step in the right direction, and does make me more motivated to get their comrades all done.

A tip of the shako to Henry Hyde and Neil Shuck, as one of the reasons I've made the progress I have so far was that I remained task-focused to the accompaniment of past episodes of their conversation on all things wargaming in Neil's production View from the Veranda. Thanks, gents!

Finally, I have made a start on my new Front Rank Wurttembergers as one of the tasks I set myself for the la Bricole painting competition.  These are seriously nice miniatures, and should paint up both quickly and beautifully.

I'm pleased to say that I'm really getting a lot of pleasure out of my hobby recently.  Looking forward to another game, hopefully on the 21st depending on everyone's schedule.

Prosit Neujahr!

Bonne année et bonne santé,  あけましておめでとうございます, and Happy New Year!

Today I started on prepping the first of my Wurttembergers.  I'll begin with what will be either some skirmishers or part of an infantry firing line- I haven't decided yet, in large part because I'm not sure how the Wurttemburg line infantry organized their skirmishers. 

Being organized on a four-company model, the Wurttemberg line infantry didn't have a light company unlike some of France's German allies, so I'm unsure whether they called out men from the third ranks for skirmishers, relied instead on their own light infantry and jager regiments, or whether they had a different system altogether- or no skirmishers at all.

I haven't been able to find any concrete information on this, so if anyone out there can shed any amount of light on the subject, it would be much appreciated.  I've posted a query on TMP, so hopefully someone out there knows something!

Work on my French light regiment also continues apace.  The first complete stand should be ready tomorrow.  Also today I varnished the backs of the Litko bases, a necessary step to prevent warping once the  bases are textured (especially once the rainy season sets in here during July).

Here's a photo of the train wreck that is now my painting table, and you'll just have to take my word for it that there is some finished work emerging from all that chaos...

Sapeur Postma

Painting, painting, and painting.  I'm beavering away on a light infantry unit I want to get finished before I start on anything else.

Yesterday evening and this morning I spent long hours on getting this one finished, as he is quite a bit more complicated than the rest of his comrades in the battalion.

Sapeur Garrin Postma, who, as a young blacksmith's apprentice in Lille, ran away to join the light infantry after Valmy, and whose strength and ferocity on the field of battle was legendary.  Very handy with an axe whenever a gate needs beating down (or heads, in).

His colonel was clearly a fan of les Habitants.  

This was a tough one to photograph.  Lighting wasn't what it could be- too bright or too dark, and the reds and blues came out much brighter than what they actually are.  The colours are really a lot deeper than this and the shading more subtle, especially on the apron.  

But it will stand out well enough on the tabletop, which is where it counts.

A Front Rank miniature, of course, and a remarkably clean and detailed sculpt.  It was a real pleasure to paint.

Grand Strategy

Hope all of you who do celebrate Christmas had an enjoyable one.  Mine was very relaxing, with good food and (of course) wine. 

I've already posted my painting target for the la Bricole painting competition on the forum, and I'll share it here.  It's a fairly tall order, too- at least for me.  Three separate tasks to the project, which means trying to get about one done per month.  

I'm almost sure that getting all three done by the end of March is unlikely to happen.  But if I can get at least two out of the three finished and out of the way, I'll be satisfied. 

TASK #1: For the French, more cavalry- the 4e Regt. Chasseurs a Cheval. These are in the 1812 Bardin regulation uniform, and are very nice figures. Along with my 7e Regt this will give me two regiments of light cavalry (not including my Guard lancers). They will look sharp in dark green with yellow facings.  Twelve miniatures.

 

Painting cavalry (especially the harness) is always a laborious task for me, so including these as part of the painting target should give me the motivation to grit my teeth and get on with it for the sake of achieving a personal victory over my perennial foe, procrastination.  I mean there are only twelve of them, right?  How hard can that be? 

TASK #2:  Wurttembergers! These excellent new figures from Front Rank will be the painted as Regt Nr.4 (von Franquemont).  Four stands of seven figures, with three stands of two skirmishers. I've yet to order the bases and flags, but no immediate hurry on those yet. 

 

These hard-fighting fellows will be sporting the latest in fetching pink facings!  Which should make for a great looking unit, especially as they are to be brigaded with the 1st (Leib) Regiment in their yellow facings.

The 1811-pattern uniform for the 4th Wurttemberg infantry is on the right.

(Image clipped from the Histofig plate.)

I've added a new page to this blog where I will post uniform, flag and other related information about the Wurttembergers. 

TASK #3: Not related to the French, but I thought I would post it here anyway.  I really need to get moving on my battalion of Nassau-Ringgworm Freikorps.  Never heard of them?  Not surprising,  seeing as they are completely fictional!  

You can find their "history" here, with that of their leader, the Black Landgrave.  This is to be their flag, which I modified from a design provided from Not by Appointment, David Linienblatt's excellent blog on 18th C. flags.

They are actually Lützow's Freikorps figures from Calpe Miniatures, with some metal Warlord Landwehr thrown in the mix. They have been cleaned, primed, and undercoated for about a year, but as the allies have been outnumbering the French, allied troops have been put on the back-burner. 

However, all those figures mounted on bottle caps really take up space, and I really need the more room on my painting desk.  Therefore I want to try and get them finished in the coming months.   

They are all in black with orange facings, so what could be simpler?  Well, they're not so easy to do convincingly.  Some time back I had painted a test figure, but I wasn't really happy with it; since then I haven't been quite sure how to approach painting black uniforms.