Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Age of the Big Battalions => Topic started by: olicana on November 28, 2017, 01:12:38 PM
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Looking back on my blog I've done nothing for my Peninsular project in over a year – how time flies.
Considering the lead is all there to paint – I did my usual thing and bought almost everything at once (about 60 units) – I'm not sure how I've allowed this to happen.
Losing one's mojo is easy done but, that's not what's happened, I've just moved on to other stuff to avoid doing it. This is not usual for me because I'm generally quite dogmatic when it comes to projects.
Why do I struggle with Napoleonics? I want to game it, I read about it all of the time, I'm inspired until it comes to raising a brush. Then I raise a brush easy enough to do commissions without a second thought. I don't dislike painting Napoleonic stuff for others – JUST FOR ME! WHY?
Now I'm back on the horse and I need to get motoring. I need to get enough painted to play with. I've just finished a new unit and started on some French.
Here are the 50th Foot – as you can see they even come out OK when I can be bothered.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fQPaokxhcas/Wh1TQ82UEuI/AAAAAAAAMdY/8VEf_NHV1xkzKGyHTRHEB0arX4pHQ5QKQCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_1671.JPG)
More pics here:
https://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/back-on-horse.html (https://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/back-on-horse.html)
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I think it is the detail - lacing etc - that looks daunting but is really no different than any other period.
Your Renaissance armies are very colourful which takes time. Maybe cut down on the number of figures you do at a time and have on the painting table so that they get done quicker and the looming lead mountain is not visible?
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Numbers isn't a problem. I paint for a living so batches of 50 + are not uncommon for me. I paint a lot of Napoleonic commissions every year and I do so without a murmur - it's painting them for myself that seems impossible to gain any traction on.
I hope to do better over the next 12 months. I hope to break the back of it by painting a unit a week. Fingers crossed - well legs anyway, my fingers might be better employed and with my legs crossed I'll not need to get up as regularly :D
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I have the same issues with a lot of historical periods. I find the desire to get it right makes the process more daunting. Hence I gravitate towards more esoteric periods where there is more guesswork involved, or go fantistorical - like my Game of Thrones, or LotR.
I find I have to be invested in the unit(s) to want to get them done. I start off with the basic colours first en masse, jackets, trousers, muskets, shakos and water bottles and then start concentrating on the more detailed parts in smaller numbers. That way I get a colour party completed, or a unit of Light infantry, etc. (the smallest portion of the unit/regiment I can get away with). Then I gradually add up the finished units and it encourages me to go on and complete the whole unit...
This only works if you have all the figures you require marshalled/assembled for painting, so not as helpful a method if you have large armies to do.
Don't get me started on cavalry :? ;D
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I dont paint for a living or even come close to your skill levels... <sigh>
But for me I find painting is a feeling 'thing' and done for relaxation and interest. I have to be in the mood to do a project 'well' to my standards not yours <another sigh when I look at your work> and enjoy it. If you don't enjoy it you won't want to come back to it. As you are painting for a living I suspect that the same may be the case for yourself. You can motivate yourself to paint commissions as that's paid work, but just to do it for the joy of doing it will be very hard if you are not in the mood for it.
Having a target or a project goal which you need the figs for may help, or reading around the subject/watching tv shows of the period (Sharpe etc.). Something to make it interesting and spark the imagination is my suggestion. :)
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If you are painting for others, including Napoleonics, and regularly have batches of 50 on the table perhaps your own are just a Project too far? Too much of the same might just prove the straw to the camels back?
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I have the same issues with a lot of historical periods. I find the desire to get it right makes the process more daunting. Hence I gravitate towards more esoteric periods where there is more guesswork involved
This.
Don't get me started on cavalry
Definitely this! (And I like cavalry armies...)
I've tried getting into Napoleonics myself. Likewise I want to game it, I read about it all the time, but when it comes to constructing armies and doing the painting...
I think I've got it down to 2 things. Firstly is rules. I can't find any I click with. GdeB I tried once but for the life of me I just could not get my head round having different numbers of figures on bases and different numbers of bases to battalions depending on the period of the Napoleonic Wars. The idea that I had to have say 8 figures on an early Russian base but then only 6 on a later one, for whatever reason it just stumped me - so that killed off my foray.
The other is the sheer number of variations, even your standard British redcoat - different lacing for different units, but then I can't re-use a unit for a battle if it wasn't there because it's got the wrong facings (well I can, but my brain says I can't!), and flank companies, centre companies etc etc. It just gets too complicated. I'm sure it isn't, but it seems like it.
So. I have a plan.
The fringe wars. (Ok, not so much fringe in some cases, but less mainstream at least). Trying to get into Napoleonics by doing bits around, for example early Russians versus Ottomans, and then add some early French and I can do French in Egypt or Suvorov, that sort of thing. At the other end of the period, the Belgian Revolution. In the middle, Swedes, Danes etc. Still Napoleonics but possible esoteric enough to maintain interest, and small enough that one doesn't get bogged down.
That's the plan at least!
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Perhaps you view Napoleonics as work. Maybe try some variation, like French Revolution or War of 1812.
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If you are painting for others, including Napoleonics, and regularly have batches of 50 on the table perhaps your own are just a Project too far? Too much of the same might just prove the straw to the camels back?
I find that doing uniforms for the day job my First Carlist War stuff as definateley took a back seat whilst my dark age and 3rd century stuff has jumped to the front of the queue
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Because they’re boring, repetitive and also fiddly. Fatal combination.
How on earth people turn out these huge, beautifully painted Napoleonic armies is completely beyond me. I just can’t cope with them. You are not alone!
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Because they’re boring, repetitive and also fiddly. Fatal combination.
How on earth people turn out these huge, beautifully painted Napoleonic armies is completely beyond me. I just can’t cope with them. You are not alone!
+1, only marching poses to paint is like eating beans for month. But as a skirmish like Sharp it works and some napoleonics are avaible as action poses.
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Perhaps you view Napoleonics as work. Maybe try some variation, like French Revolution or War of 1812.
It's an idea, but I'm financially past that stage.
Unfortunately, when I order a first order I tend to go 'all in'. I've done this before and it's worked every time until this project.
This is what came in the first 28 Kg (61 lbs) box.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VOoCWjsrNVA/VXXXKsUH2sI/AAAAAAAAJm4/eyspTBYHeek/s320/IMG_9613.JPG)
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5qg5l6cx69I/VXXXS0D1lnI/AAAAAAAAJnY/iyqUi8Wvr5I/s320/IMG_9617.JPG)
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qOlVa-xPaiE/VXXXNxqP_mI/AAAAAAAAJnI/_FsHvnx0We4/s320/IMG_9615.JPG)
I've ordered a few more since...........
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Oh my, just had a rabbit in the headlights moment.
You are a braver man than me by far.
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I think Captain Blood is right, it is the repetetiveness that is the problem. When painting Naps was brand new I knocked out a good few battalions, then things became a struggle and now I can't bear thinking about painting any more.
I don't know what you have, but perhaps try alternating between nationalities and between infantry, cavalry and artillery to keep some variety.
Black Crane, I also have not really found Nap rules I like and suspect I am unlikely to get my armies out again for a very long time. However, the last rules I tried were General d'Armee. These are good. I probably would play them if I hadn't come across them when I was already thoroughly disillusioned with wargaming and Napoleonics in particular.
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I think your better self is telling you that you should be doing SYW. ;)
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I feel your pain, I have 10 regiments of ACW union troops done with another 10 to go, my god Blue is boring....so boring ....... ;D
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I feel your pain, I have 10 regiments of ACW union troops done with another 10 to go, my god Blue is boring....so boring ....... ;D
But they do paint much faster than the rebs, don't they?
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I'd have to agree with TheBlackCrane that the more unusual campaigns hold the key to my interest in the Napoleonic period. If I recall correctly, for many years the Peninsular War was considered more off the beaten track than the grand Napoleonic slogs between nations. To use a Railway Modelling analogy, concentrating on modelling branch lines rather than mainline railways.
The plethora of skirmish level games and figures have spiced up the period no end, particularly in 25mm, but the logistics of fielding adequate forces to recreate the feel of the period in this scale remain considerable.
In 15mm my interest in unusual Napoleonic sideshows prompted me to research and field the British Expedition to Alexandria in 1807, Various Ottoman forces including European Ottoman, Egyptian Mamluks and Albanians, Greek War of Independence, Wahhabi Arabs, Qajar Persians, and at the cusp of the Napoleonic period Marathas and Sikhs. These arose out of my interest in the fringe conflicts and I also considered the wars of Independence in S America, but I have yet to find a gaming mechanism I like so opted for modular stands along the DB* system, with one base representing a Company to make the forces of manageable sizes.
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Oh my, just had a rabbit in the headlights moment.
You are a braver man than me by far.
You should say this, when he painted all the blank tin.... ;) lol
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I always find it difficult starting a new project as I know that I am going to have to read around it a fair bit, to gain the confidence to get started and try to pick up any potential vagaries in uniform between the units I have planned.
I then spend hours looking at other people's work to see if I can pick up any patterns while trying to confirm why people have done what they have done, all of which borders upon procrastination until I am brave enough to finally prepare the figures and pick up a brush.
I then spend three times as long as I normally would on the first few figures trying to work out the best colours to use and approach to painting them, all the while wondering if I have missed something or made an incorrect assumption (usually finding out that I have).
While this is somewhat enjoyable in its own way, it feels very uncertain and is like floundering around in the dark for a while.
Once I have the first couple of units done though, I find that I am on a roll to the extent that I become too afraid to leave the project, for fear that I may forget some of the detail such as the colours or workarounds I have used. This means I usually end up having to paint hundreds of the same type of figure, to the point where the novelty has well and truly worn off and I start rushing toward the end.
Once completed, the process starts all over again with either the next part of the army or a completely new project.
It is definitely a struggle at times, but I have come to love the researching and painting part of the hobby as much as the gaming.
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The golden rule is simple: do something every day, however small.
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The golden rule is simple: do something every day, however small.
Amen to that, even if its just gluing or basing
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A little and often goes a long way.
To be really brutally honest I don't think there is an easy solution, it's a case of just getting on with it and you are, historically speaking, brilliant at that as your collection demonstrates. Perhaps you've decided that it's a tough one and the thought is the thing that is stopping your progress.
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I don't have an answer. But I do know the feeling. I have armies that I have bought (not on the scale of this, but probably because mine are 10mm!) that I have then struggled to get anywhere with for years.
Its always easier to do something else, for some reason.
I think the hardest bit is getting started, so take FKs advice and do something (although that something must end with a change in state of the figures). Simply taking the figures out of boxes, counting them, putting them in other bags, and then putting them back in the boxes doesn't count. Not that I do this sort of thing you understand.
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The golden rule is simple: do something every day, however small.
Echo
I always imagine what its going to look like when its all painted - that provides me with the inspiration
Paint in blocks of 100 - get some paint on every figure - I always start with the boots and work up. Its amazing how many pairs of boots you can paint in one night
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Interesting thread. I'm this way with samurai- I've started several projects in different scale, gave up, and sold the stuff off.
I have however, painted samurai for other people...
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Despite what everybody else has said above, we know that what some people would consider to be vast amounts of lead has not phased you in the past.
As for Napoleonics being repetitive, I'd say no more than SYW and you've done plenty of them.
So the block must go much deeper, I'd put them away and go back to them when you feel you are up to it even if this is a year away.
I don't paint huge armies anymore as I tend to skirmish more than battle, but I always enjoy painting more when I want to paint and not when I feel I have to paint.
Another option is that you now know we are all aware of your problem and we demand that you paint a unit a week and post the results here, if you don't then somewhere a puppy dies :o
Now if that doesn't motivate you nothing will lol
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For myself I came to the conclusion that I cannot paint in big batches, even a battallion of 24 is too big. So I now paint in max 12 infantry figure batches, with a cavalry squadron, artillery piece or vignette between the batches.
As said,, I try to do something each day and then I can see things finished as the batches are small.
Just my humble experience
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Agreed, whilst I will base, undercoat the whole unit in one go. I keep to a maximum of four cavalry figures, eight foot, or two artillery crews on the painting tray at a a time.
Then I do something different, such as sic-fi or medievals, before coming back to the next batch. That methodology saw me crack a French Heavy Cavalry Division c.1812 in a year, i.e. 87 cavalry and 4 horse artillery teams with limbers :)
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Well, I've done that French unit I mentioned. It's the first Napoleonic French unit I've ever owned - though I've painted quite a few.
(https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lzf6yT81J7E/WiFsrtyETCI/AAAAAAAAMeI/TJ58IHsjibEoWoG3r14UXmbELfyPd2fzwCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_1678.JPG)
It's the 1st Battalion of 36th Ligne (next up, 2nd and 3rd Battalions). I think I know now why I don't particularly like painting these figures - it's not the belts and equipment - which was a possibility but it's not that much more complicated than 7YW stuff which I've painted plenty of - it's the piping. I figured this out because of the easy satisfaction I achieved painting the French in greatcoats.
More pictures here:
http://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/the-first-french-battalion.html (http://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/the-first-french-battalion.html)
I hope you like this latest addition. I undercoated the next unit this morning - hopefully I'll get it done this weekend
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Good progress
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Is it all about inspiration?
I've managed to paint lots of Napoleonics in both 15mm and 28mm with relative ease and it would be a rare moment when I felt fed up or uninspired
However painting some 28 SYW Austrians is a real struggle and feels like a grind
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Well, I've done that French unit I mentioned. It's the first Napoleonic French unit I've ever owned - though I've painted quite a few.
(https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lzf6yT81J7E/WiFsrtyETCI/AAAAAAAAMeI/TJ58IHsjibEoWoG3r14UXmbELfyPd2fzwCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_1678.JPG)
It's the 1st Battalion of 36th Ligne (next up, 2nd and 3rd Battalions). I think I know now why I don't particularly like painting these figures - it's not the belts and equipment - which was a possibility but it's not that much more complicated than 7YW stuff which I've painted plenty of - it's the piping. I figured this out because of the easy satisfaction I achieved painting the French in greatcoats.
More pictures here:
http://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/the-first-french-battalion.html (http://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/the-first-french-battalion.html)
I hope you like this latest addition. I undercoated the next unit this morning - hopefully I'll get it done this weekend
Very nicely done!
What flags and eagles do you use?
And what colour do you undercoat with.
Thanks Zippy
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Oooh, nice!
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If you don't like painting piping leave it off. It's impossible to paint it in scale anyway. I don't bother on my 18mm AB figures and think they look better without it as the figures can get messy easily with too much fussy detail, that wouldn't be visible if you were viewing a real soldier, at the distance to make him appear 28mm tall.
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Good job!
Keep the mojo high!
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The completed units look lovely!
I understand where you are coming from re the missing mojo. I’ve had two failed attempts at Peninsular War. I have loads of Spanish terrain (SCW games) and was desperate to get the most out it. Stocked up on the beautiful figures out there and then hit the invisible brick wall. In the end I just had to admit; the history of it just wasn’t grabbing me? I can read ECW, AWI and ACW histories till the cows come home but, somehow, Wellington in Spain just didn’t fire me up?
Your SYW figures are beautiful (and your Italian Wars figures, well, oh my!) so you clearly have no problem painting uniforms or detail. Perhaps it’s just the history that doesn’t work for you? I know this will be scandalous to a lot of great Napoleonic gamers out there (my regular opponent is a Wellington nut) but we can’t all be the same? (It would be very boring if we were?) .
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Thanks for the kind words.
I will crack the painting because well, I can take the pain....honest. >:( :'(
Eagle is Front Rank.
Flag is by Flags for the Lads. I don't think he has the full range any more (no new print runs?) but someone kindly gave me a stack of them and I got hold of what FftL still had in stock. They come six flags to the sheet (usually by brigade), in a 'dull' finish, and were very cost effective. I actually prefer them to the GMB flags, which are also excellent, in some respects.
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Another French battalion - 2nd Battalion 36th Ligne
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_kpap8LEOg4/WipsaPs3f7I/AAAAAAAAMfU/yRhgcpSUPU08fMWDWVz0phUNd-tQi5cpgCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_1680.JPG)
More pics, and the plan:
http://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/second-french-battalion.html (http://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/second-french-battalion.html)
It's going to be slog but, I've rolled my sleeves up and...........
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Excellent painting from you as always.
And a good discussion on an age old topic. Apart from what has already been said (in particular too many napis already for customers and napoleonics having a „work“ feel to them) maybe the answer is as simple as your heart is all for the emperor. But painting no british (or potuguese instead of british) is not an option, is it?
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I must have started these after the 28th November because that's when I did a blog post on the British unit that started this thread. Since then, I've ploughed (word chosen carefully) through three battalions of French for the 36th Ligne. I think this qualifies as significant progress.
(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8T4HnJryvgI/WjATuDvr93I/AAAAAAAAMf8/HXyd3mc12_wji6-4TVGmW_AFRYc8z4taACLcBGAs/s640/IMG_1686.JPG)
What I need to do is keep going towards the first goal - the first game.
The days have been very dark here lately and I've struggled with my desk lighting long enough. Even with nine feet of florescent tube just behind me and an angle poise lamp things have felt a little dark - perhaps it's eyes and age. New light fitted, and I'm very happy. See link.
http://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/first-french-regiment-completed-some.html
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That's probably a year's progress for me! :o They look fantastic.
Can I ask, what is the base size? 40 x 40mm?
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Thanks. Yep, 40 x 40.
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Looking very good. That’s 40 years progress for me!
I share the pain on Nappy’s, which is why I opted for 1814 and lots of greatcoats ;)
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14th Light Dragoons done:
(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_-DwgN6550/WjVcfxdZWwI/AAAAAAAAMgs/IjcYDmGOC-ogDokxu9FGNQAYQELSbkjhwCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_1689.JPG)
More pics and stuff here:
https://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/14th-duchess-of-yorks-own-light-dragoons.html (https://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/14th-duchess-of-yorks-own-light-dragoons.html)
I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere with this project. I hope you approve of progress so far. Thanks for looking.
James
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Nice looking unit!!
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I've just added some riflemen to my British force and done a blog post on goals and progress.
main page:
https://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/project-management-british-starter-army.html (https://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/project-management-british-starter-army.html)
My British starter force:
(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fyiPct8E5WI/WjpzK9UDB9I/AAAAAAAAMhI/tRTOyvDu_TQ8vLnGzbSCy8Y1lPUdL6gygCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_1692.JPG)
A shot of the my 95th Riflemen:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LstGTMI4JDs/Wjp0OiNVV4I/AAAAAAAAMhU/Sbt53ppEeioKCQtz_pYSZl2MGxZN0jyqwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1694.JPG)
A shot of the my strange pack (see blog) of 2nd Btn KGL Light Infantry:
(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AOht2odxae4/Wjp0PYUXNZI/AAAAAAAAMhg/KfMh2-VG3QQABt6JGrcNPzBC7Bm0kS0iwCEwYBhgL/s400/IMG_1696.JPG)
I hope you approve.
If I don't post again before, Merry Christmas to all,
James
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I approve, and Merry Christmas to you too.
Posting more to let you know you've got my moral support in this journey.
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I know you paint for a living but producing that British Peninsular starter force of such quality of painting in, for what I work out as, about a month is very impressive. Especially as you were doing French at the same time :o
There are plenty of of examples on this and other forums of awesomely painted figures and units but I am most impressed by those who can tenaciously keep focused and knock out an army especially to such a high standard. Bravo!
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I am baffled at your quality and quantity.
I would never get past the first base!
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I am baffled at your quality and quantity.
I would never get past the first base!
Didn't you manage a base of Austrians ;) ;D
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I'm going to be very busy with commissions this month so over the holiday period I decided to get ahead with the first batch of figures for 2018.
I give you, three battalions of 27th Ligne. I just love the voltigeurs for this regiment.
(https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4H9kM35QiDk/WlNmfqKsgPI/AAAAAAAAMiI/XKfeQhn5hCEXgZZhFdojHk6iEAstNDCEQCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_1702.JPG)
(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jKNcICzo1MM/WlNmzF5pZ1I/AAAAAAAAMiY/XCzULS3Y8wkXjnDB8MvDgD9Dkb_bAL1xgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1706.JPG)
more pics (that will enlarge) here:
https://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/first-batch-for-peninsular-project.html (https://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/first-batch-for-peninsular-project.html)
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Lovely looking figures. :-*
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The yellow on the shakos really makes them pop.
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When I finally start my own Peninsular project, your standard is what I am going to aspire to, and then fail miserably :'(
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Having seen your work Vodkafan, you will not fail to produce great stuff.
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Quality and quantity together... Your job is really prolific!
Eager to see them in battle!
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Having seen your work Vodkafan, you will not fail to produce great stuff.
Thanks for the vote of confidence! But first the ECW big game...
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Superb work James! 8)
Christopher
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First battery of French artillery.
https://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/french-foot-artillery.html (https://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/french-foot-artillery.html)
I've decided on two gun batteries with a single 'train' piece to represent the battery when limbered.
(https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QWesYWUyNpI/WlukvBUd5xI/AAAAAAAAMjQ/sySvazU_oQ4n1XrhU-RPKVS92JGI94nkwCEwYBhgL/s640/IMG_1708.JPG)
(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zm9KBKd_tsw/Wlukxbt8RxI/AAAAAAAAMjo/IForW0Y-5cU_FZ4XZHizTiDGvVhI9hgtQCEwYBhgL/s640/IMG_1711.JPG)
Though it would be nice to have a limber per gun, possibly with a caisson added too, I think one train piece will be adequate for game purposes. In some games I've played, where the full panoply has been fielded, they end up being put back on the shelf because their footprint takes up too much room on the table - so I wonder if having more train pieces might be a waste of money and painting time.
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Very nice, I do like the look of these.
I don't know much about the period, was it usual for the gunners and the riders of the horses to have different uniforms? I'm probably more used to seeing British horse artillery, where everyone wears the same uniform.
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Hi Fred,
In the case of French foot batteries of the line, at least, it would appear so. Some pics show the top of the plume in red, but as pom poms were plain blue, I'll stick with this until I hear otherwise.
I doubt Alec over at Front Rank will mind me using this picture from his site of a French artillery limber "Line Limber set 1807 to 1812."
(https://www.frontrank.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/5695.jpg)
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Ta, interesting that within the same unit they had such different uniforms. Obviously being on a horse was more important and meant you needed a very big plume!
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Lovely stuff.
Re. limbers - I usually use the footprint approach. My 15mm Napoleonic French have a 40x80mm limber model for each pair of 40x40mm guns.
I guess it's whatever looks right (subjectively granted) for the amount of models on the table and the size of the table. While you have a large table, you'll have several hundred (eek!) models on that table. Several limbers will get in the way. Personally, I think your one limber per pair is about the right balance in 28mm.
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Very nice. Those blue plumes look odd somehow; I think I've always seen the team riders depicted with red plumes.
I recall an old article by Peter Gilder where he had an ACW battery (I think of three guns) which was replaced by a single gun + limber + horse team when limbered. It looked very good.
Generally what I do, being a cheapskate, is paint up teams, and replace the unlimbered battery (usually 3 gun models) with a single team plus one of the guns. Obviously it depends on the rules you are using how many models represent a battery.
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Oh it's not being a cheap-skate, it's also practical, as in the gun (medieval to moderns) stays on the table and just the limber gets added when the gun is being used (this is what my 15mm medieval and Renaissance armies have in place).
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Those blue plumes look odd somehow
They do; as do the light blue coats. I have pictures of guard cavalry with red plumes, all those I have for the line have light blue plumes, sometimes just light blue pom poms, and sometimes light blue plumes tipped red - though I wonder if the latter are for line horse artillery (?).
The thing about the troops of the train is that, if they followed the British pattern, were not always on the muster. The British only raised drivers and horses (at least for foot artillery) when the artillery unit went onto the 'active' list (to save money). The British drivers of foot artillery units also wore a different uniform (so did the Portuguese, with piped pockets and cavalryman's sword). I've pictured my British ones before but, rather than have you search back:
(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qtv3M-DlFv8/V12plTUX-sI/AAAAAAAAKx8/7r5wk64_-p8CrtLOs3jXFhXq3gQooCLJQCPcBGAYYCw/s640/IMG_0540.JPG)
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Fantastic looking unit :-*
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Oh it's not being a cheap-skate, it's also practical, as in the gun (medieval to moderns) stays on the table and just the limber gets added when the gun is being used (this is what my 15mm medieval and Renaissance armies have in place).
In my case, one of the guns stays on the table and has a limber added - the other two are removed. Limbered batteries don't take up that much space.
They get put back on when the battery deploys (and the limber is put behind, as wargamers often forget how much depth a deployed battery took up - caissons were often deployed 100 metres or more behind the gun line)
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wargamers often forget how much depth a deployed battery took up
That is true, or wargamers prefer to ignore the fact. Personally I fall into the latter category.
I know that batteries were guns up front, limbers and ready ammo some distance behind, then more reserve ammo even further back, and woe betide any commander who accidentally put troops between front and back to prevent the artillery getting hold of what it needed.
However, it is also a firm belief of mine that depth, especially in games using larger figures (28mm +), is the first thing fudged. I've seen who knows how many battles laid out on tables of magnificent length (16', 20'. 24') but all only six feet deep. Depth, IMHO, is something of a vagary in a wargame, like the time span of a wargame move, best left flexible, stretchable and compressible.
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Amen! At the end of the day it's a glass of smooth rum that wraps around your brain and makes you enjoy the beautiful things in life.
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That is true, or wargamers prefer to ignore the fact. Personally I fall into the latter category.
I know that batteries were guns up front, limbers and ready ammo some distance behind, then more reserve ammo even further back, and woe betide any commander who accidentally put troops between front and back to prevent the artillery getting hold of what it needed.
However, it is also a firm belief of mine that depth, especially in games using larger figures (28mm +), is the first thing fudged. I've seen who knows how many battles laid out on tables of magnificent length (16', 20'. 24') but all only six feet deep. Depth, IMHO, is something of a vagary in a wargame, like the time span of a wargame move, best left flexible, stretchable and compressible.
Oh, I agree. I just like the look of the limbers on the table. It's the same reason I deploy the my infantry two figures deep. A single line of figures may be more to scale, but it looks like a skirmish line.