Experimenting with paper soldiers for Jacobite Rebellion

[Arteis]

I’ve decided to try something different – paper armies! For the last couple of years I’ve been keeping my eye on the rapidly growing range of books that Peter Dennis has been pumping out, each one covering a different campaign using 2D paper soldiers and scenery.

I finally decided to give these paper figures a go. I've started with one of the periods I’ve always fancied, but couldn’t face starting to collect and paint from scratch: the Jacobite ’45 Rebellion.

So far I'm really pleased with the results. Last week I pumped out two completely finished 100+ figure units, one for each side. Each unit, from prep to basing, took just a couple of two-hour sessions. To prep, paint and base this many figures in plastic or metal would've taken me a couple pf months!

From the front and back, they look pretty impressive. In fact, at a glance you’d be hard put to tell them from metal or plastic figures. This illusion even remains when seen from an angle, but obviously a side-on view gives it away. However, most wargames are seen from front or behind, so that’s not a problem.

I've even had time to post a few times about this experiment on my blog:

• Initial thoughts: https://arteis.wordpress.com/2018/05/11/im-going-to-try-out-paper-soldiers/
• Review: https://arteis.wordpress.com/2018/05/15/four-hours-to-make-a-112-figure-regiment-in-28mm/
• Progress: https://arteis.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/paper-highlanders-for-the-45/

Here's some pictures of my finished units from the blog:

[jambo1]

Lovely!! I enjoyed reading your progress, I have looked at these myself but not bought anything yet, this may be the impetus I need!

[Plynkes]

That's really cool. I would never have imagined paper minis could look quite as impressive as that.

This may well be a completely unfamiliar cultural reference here, but they remind me a little of the humans in the old Paddington Bear animations. They were done with cardboard or paper cut-outs (the style is very similar, or would be if Paddington had been set in the 18th Century).

[vodkafan]

I can't even cope with plastics 

[Arteis]

I started this new unit only a couple of hours before the Royal Wedding so I could work on it while watching the event on TV ... but I had finished the 100+ figures before even the bridal party arrived at the chapel! So I had to watch the whole wedding without anything else to do (luckily it was pretty impressive to watch, anyway!).

PS: This is the way they look if you don't flock the bases. These will be all flocked later today. The officer on the right was a late addition - I simply glued a little base to the main base. 

[Jacksarge]

Really enjoying seeing the progress of your project. I've decided to get snipping & gluing too - ordered myself the AWI paperboys book, a period I wouldn't collect & paint an army for normally, but I can see myself dabbling in it with these paper warriors :-)

[Belisarius]

Well , I think they look splendid. I,ve made up the Trafalgar ships , from the same company and we use them with the “ Kiss me Hardy Rules “ . I,m waiting for the WSS publication and may use them with C.S.Grants the Wargame rules .  Printing unto photo paper gives you better resolution and makes them sturdier , btw .

[Arteis]

Those ships appear to have sailed to the Far Side of the World, where everyone walks upside-down.  ;-)

[DintheDin]

Well, they look so beautiful! With bases flocked, even more!
I'm carried away by these pictures... When I was a boy, I was copying on cardboard Napoleonic soldiers, painted them with crayons and was creating paper armies (to be killed with marbles) - sooner or later I will give these new paper armies a try, thank you for sharing!

[Arteis]

Wait till you see the paper Napoleonics that Peter Dennis is currently working on, DintheDin! Check out his FaceBook page for pics: https://www.facebook.com/thePaperboysPage/

[DintheDin]

Thank you! Peter Dennis' drawings have a special character!
Really great!  Cheers!

[Jacksarge]

Wait till you see the paper Napoleonics that Peter Dennis is currently working on, DintheDin! Check out his FaceBook page for pics: https://www.facebook.com/thePaperboysPage/

The pictures of Napoleonics he's been putting up look amazing. I think it might be my way back into this period, having played & collected at three different scales in the past I couldn't bear painting armies for it again, but these lovely paper figures might be just the thing :-)

[Lysandros]

I like the idea of this, sort of a classic Victorian wargaming if there was such a thing

I think P Dennis work is very good but the style l would like to capture is the SYW plates in the Mollo Blandford books . They just say elegance and would be glorious as card soldiers . That would certainly make me start collecting.

[Arteis]

I'm up to five units now - they've been coming out about one unit every two days on average! Latest update here on my blog: https://arteis.wordpress.com/2018/05/24/five-large-28mm-regiments-in-eight-days/

[DintheDin]

You are doing a great job and I wish you many hours of happy wargaming with them - and some more hours of therapeutic figure cutting out too 
Also your basing is very efficient! Cheers!