Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Age of the Big Battalions => Topic started by: Alan Mercer on April 20, 2020, 05:09:23 PM
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Finally finished, US 11th Infantry ready for action at Chippewa. 40mm Sash and Saber.
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Lovely to see some 1812 stuff in 40mm, very nice indeed!1 :)
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Beautifully painted and based! I really like how you have dressed them elbow to elbow, which is the way they were formed.
I wish Sash and Sabre would make figures for the War of 1812 in 28mm.
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Wow! An impressive unit!
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A very impressive unit, what size of collection are you planning for your 40mm collections?
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I keep changing my mind. For 1812 I think the Niagara campaign would be the simplest, although I am still tempted by the St Lawrence Campaign (Crysler’s Farm etc) as the US uniforms are more varied, and there’s a Cavalry element to make it more interesting. I would use historical oob at 1:10, so I suppose US would have anything from 24 to 48 per Battalion and the Brits around 40, sometimes more.
For AWI, I want to try to follow the South from the capture of Savannah onwards and build it up gradually. So for Briar Creek, 80 or so NC Militia in 4 units, 20 Light Infantry, couple of guns, against, British forces of 2/71st 40, Light Infantry 28, Grenadiers 10, 2 guns. I would add in later, the SC light horse as a random factor in the scenario. This isn’t exactly the oob, but not too far off.
I would want to add in some Germans, Continentals and French at some point too. So it’s a bit of a wish list at the moment.
Both of these conflicts have fairly small forces and lend themselves to a 1:10 figure ratio.
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They look very good .
In my opinion these sash and Sabre work well as a unit . They are more uniformed as a unit and form a structured marching battalion.
Interested to see more.
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Always interesting to see how other 40mm collectors go about things. Personally, I am still unsure about my Naps, do I go for traditional 36 fig battalions, or use "Charge". I think 40mm really lends it self to "Charge" and when you look into Suchet's campaigns in the East there are many small engagements (very similar to AWI in the south). Having fewer but larger units may well work. Look forward to seeing more of your wonderful work.
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At long last, some progress on my War of 1812 figures. The start of an effort to work up some forces for Wilkinson’s Campaign in 1813. I decided to break off from painting walls of red and blue for a while, so started with Canadian Voltigeurs and US Regiment not in blue (12th) they might have been in blue by late 1813, but i like the idea is a mix of light brown, black and blue for this period. First 6 figures ready for varnish and basing, next 6 ready by the end of the week, then on to the next 12. This makes up a 24 figure unit at 1:10. There will be 16 Voltigeurs.
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Looking good Mr Mercer !
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Excellent looking figures, well done sir.
Paul
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I could never get into this period. Maybe I never met an inspiring book on the subject. It seems like AWI redux but with less interesting battles.
In any case, lovely work here.
I noticed Sash and Sabre advertise men of color heads/regiments, a Marines artillery crew and rocket. That and some British flank company in firing positions. You'd think they could mange to release those.
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I bought Field of Glory by Donald Graves a few years ago and that hooked me in. The period is a bit of a mix as it includes some set piece battles through to some rough and ready skirmishes and raids. Some of the battles were grinding matches with proportionally high casualty rates, others were much less sanguine but decisive all the same, and nearly all were infantry and artillery, so none of that annoying cavalry popping up anywhere on the table, forcing everyone into square and slowing things down. The only 2 proper cavalry charges were small and deflected by lines. The forces were small so are more achievable on the table top and are more suitable for 1:10 so the units look better in line. It’s more Napoleonic in nature, I might be generalising too much but the formations were tighter than the AWI. It is pretty much red against blue, but throw in some state militia and some of the Canadian units and the uniforms have a little bit more variety. You can probably tell, I love it!!
I would love S&S to finish the range off, the West Indian regiments would be a really niche addition and also fit for some of the Napoleonic Caribbean campaigns.
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They look Fabulous Alan!
Cheers
Matt
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Very nice work!! ;)
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Which Ruleset(s) are you using?
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I'll try it with General de Brigade first as I'm familiar with that set and it scales up to 1:10 easily. I'll have a few trial runs to work out the best movement rates etc.
I'm not a fan of Black Powder, not sure why, it just isn't my kind of rules I suppose.
There's plenty of others out there, if I can't make one set work, I'll try another.
While we're still in some form of lockdown/restrictions, I'll be playing against my youngest son (22) whose gaming experience is Warhammer 40k, so it will need to be easy to pick up and move along fairly rapidly - maybe BP is the one to go with after all! We'll see.
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I have been using General de Brigade, for many years along with a growing addendum to reflect War of 1812 aspects. I understand the fast play attraction of Black Powder but it does not have enough granularity to satisfy my needs. British Grenadier (in the same family as GdeB) is also suitable for this period but I do not like the concept and tracking of disruptions points. Otherwise it has same look and feel of GdeB.
I agree with your reasons as to the enjoyment of War of 1812 gaming. I particularly like the fact that all battles are sized at division and below, which makes it easier to accumulate enough figures to game any battle.
I am really enjoying watching your steady progress of your outstanding collection. Thanks. BTW the West Indian battalions will be suitable for the Battle of New Orleans.
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I wouldn't hold my breath for the Sash and Saber West Indian figures. The sculptor seems to have thrown in the towel. I think there have been 4 new 40mm packs in the last three years.
I have the British Grenadier rules but I have to say as much as I want to like them, they put my mind to sleep. It could be I do too much reading for work to want to read a lot of jargon for ply-time. I am more of a Neil Thomas man.
Also, recently looking at Osprey Honours of War. Might be good for War of 1812 because there weren't to many columns to worry about. Although we would need some rues for Indians etc.
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The 1st Foot. Slightly grainy photo, but interesting for me as they were painted over a period of about 12 months in between other things and there’s about 4 different flesh tones and several reds where i couldn’t remember what I had used to start with.
I find it difficult to paint a whole unit before moving on. I must start taking notes on what I have used at the start!!
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And a nearly complete 12th US. I have a love/hate relationship with the Sash and Saber figures. Sometimes I love them, sometimes I find them frustrating.
These have come out ok, but I didn’t enjoy painting them, it kind of shows in some of the details, like the lace. I can’t explain it, just one of those things I think.
Flags or War flags, scaled up for 40mm. Iain is very helpful and will scale things up.
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great paint-jobs.
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This is super, I am just starting out on an 1812 project in 40mm so this is heaven!! :)
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Excellent, any particular campaign?
I'm veering back to the Chesapeake 1814, so Bladensburg etc. Although the US militia were largely in blue, there's enough variation to make it interesting, and their performance varies from steady to shocking, so quite similar to Napoleonic Spanish! The figure choice is pretty much Sash and Saber, there are a few gaps, so I'll need to be creative, and maybe get some small stuff commissioned, heads mainly, possibly a couple of figures.
Looking forward to seeing yours develop.
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The 1st Foot. Slightly grainy photo, but interesting for me as they were painted over a period of about 12 months in between other things and there’s about 4 different flesh tones and several reds where i couldn’t remember what I had used to start with.
I find it difficult to paint a whole unit before moving on. I must start taking notes on what I have used at the start!!
Super stuff Alan
I sympathise re different paint colours - I paint six at a time then have to go back to the previous 6/12/18/24/30 - no wonder it takes forever !
Ian
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Excellent job Alan, they really do look the part.
Paul
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Excellent, any particular campaign?
I'm veering back to the Chesapeake 1814, so Bladensburg etc. Although the US militia were largely in blue, there's enough variation to make it interesting, and their performance varies from steady to shocking, so quite similar to Napoleonic Spanish! The figure choice is pretty much Sash and Saber, there are a few gaps, so I'll need to be creative, and maybe get some small stuff commissioned, heads mainly, possibly a couple of figures.
Looking forward to seeing yours develop.
Nothing hard and fast at the moment but possibly the Niagara campaign but not a hundred percent sure yet. :)
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Yes, the Chesapeake campaign has a lot of scope for a variety of scenarios from small raids like Havre de Grace, Caulks fields and St Leonards, to the slightly larger raids Hampton Roads and Craney Island and then the full scale battles of Bladensburg and North Point. Pre Covid I hosted all of these games and they were a pleasurable variety of scenarios to play.
There is a lot of random what ifs you can inject into the scenarios to say nothing of the many amphibious operations that allow for a lot variety. For example, what if at Bladensburg LCol Tilghman exercised his initiative and brought his 300 cavalry out of the hidden dead ground and attacked the advancing British who were working their way up the Georgetown Pike. As you and others have stated there is such a variety of uniforms at play.
Superb painting and basing and again I really like your tight formations. Please keep us updated.
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The 1st Foot now has a light company. Sash and Saber Belgic Shako heads on Perry figures. These come under the category of ‘just get the bloody things done’ as they’ve been sitting unfinished in a box for 18 months or so, there’s a few areas I should have done better.
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Great job Alan - you are too modest !
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Thanks Ian. I have a major issue now as I found these in my to do box at the weekend. My wife saw them and said “those are interesting, I like the hats, are you going to get any more?” I saw her visibly pale as I explained the potential costs of Austrians - 48 figure battalions, 3 battalion regiments, at least 2 regiments to a brigade, 48 figure cavalry regiments etc etc. So my mind went into overdrive.
Austrian Napoleonics in 40mm!!! Dare I! That way bankruptcy lies.
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All that white ! 😩 plus you have to do the French to fight them - don’t do it - stick to Peninsular and 1812 - nice little conflicts
Ian
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Good job on the light company, things seem to be coming together.
Paul
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Thanks Ian. I have a major issue now as I found these in my to do box at the weekend. My wife saw them and said “those are interesting, I like the hats, are you going to get any more?” I saw her visibly pale as I explained the potential costs of Austrians - 48 figure battalions, 3 battalion regiments, at least 2 regiments to a brigade, 48 figure cavalry regiments etc etc. So my mind went into overdrive.
Austrian Napoleonics in 40mm!!! Dare I! That way bankruptcy lies.
Did you ever paint more of these up? Would love to see them. Also, I am considering these heads on Sash and Saber Napoleonic Prussian bodies to serve as Peninsular Badeners; maybe with a little putty added to the combs. Can you spare a side shot of the helmet?
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I didn’t get any further mainly because I have so many other things in the queue that, if I bought some today, they would still be in the bag this time next year, maybe the year after too. Not saying never, but it would be a long time before they saw any action.
I’ll dig them out and get a shot of the helmets.
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Final line up of 5th Maryland, now including a base of the Volunteers of York - with the black belts and straps. I should also include a flank company with lapels, shoulder wings, and a blue turban on the Shako, but it’s taken so long to get to this stage I think i’ll put that under ‘nice to have’. Any other Maryland Militia units I add will be more uniformly uniformed.
The flags (from Flags of War) are fairly conjectural, i’m not entirely sure that they would have carried the old yellow flag at this time. I have seen a war of 1812 re-enactment group using one though, so that makes it more acceptable to me, and it makes the unit identifiable.
Work has started on British 44th.
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Fantastic painting on all of these
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Great paintwork and a superb unit.
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splendid work Allen!! :o :-* :o :-*
best regards
Ged
www.gringo40s.com
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Lovely work Alan, like the mix of uniforms. Are they all S&S figures?
Paul
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Paul,
yes, they are all S&S, the rank and file are all actually from the same basic pack of figures. Just some different heads which they supply separately. The 2 bases on the right of the photo are different by way of black straps and belts for one and some lapels added to the other.
Because they don't have lace or other decorations and there are very few regimental differences, they are dead easy to paint. Which reminds me to get on with the next batch!! Wish I could say the same for the British, which are full on laced uniforms and so take much longer.
Doing this at 1:10 is the real bugger though, so many more figures to paint (some British battalions will have 60 to 80 figures!!), but they will look right on the table - eventually.
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Alan, it may take time but large units really do look the part in 40mm.
Paul