28mm Foot Dragoon, New Figures and Books!

Hello everyone!

Work progresses on the command figures for the 2nd Nassau Infantry Regiment; each currently has painted pants and boots! I'll continue work on them sporadically when I get opportunities. I did manage to finally finish up the dismounted French Dragoon that I started over my New Year's holiday back home.

He turned out rather well. I then spent an evening going through my lead pile (not an easy task, especially considering that it is packed behind the seat of my pickup) looking for the mounted Dragoon figure that came with the 25mm figures I bought on eBay last fall. When I finally dug him out, to my dismay I discovered that it was not, in fact, a Dragoon, but a Cuirassier. Sigh.

Naturally, my only recourse was to purchase some new figures! An order was placed with Brigade Games, an in addition to a 28mm Dismounted French Dragoon officer and trumpeter, I picked up a pair of mounted 28mm British officers to use as commanders for my 28mm brigades (this pack also came with a pioneer figures), and enough figures to build a unit of British naval infantry in 28mm (12 figures). Most if not all of these figs are Paul Hicks sculpts and I know sight-unseen that they will be wonderful minis.

Last week I went over to the bookstore again, and, as per usual, I found some more good books for sale, including a real gem!

British Military Uniforms and Equipment, 1788-1830: Volume 1, Researched by P.W. Kingsland, under direction of the National Army Museum (London) and illustrated by Peter Henville and Malcolm McGregor. I LOVE this book; it's huge! Probably 18 x 12 inches. It features huge, full color illustrations printed on high quality slick paper; I imagine these were originally intended to be removed and framed. Accompanying each print are researched articles on the uniforms and equipment employed by the soldiers in the print. Also, the frontispiece indicates that only 2500 copies of this edition were ever printed, so it's relatively rare. What a find! That's why I love second hand bookshops.

Osprey's Flags of the Napoleonic Wars (3) by Terence Wise and Guido Rosignoli. This one features flags (both in color and in black and white) of Anhalt, Kleve-Berg, Brunswick, Denmark, Finland, Hanover, Hesse, The Netherlands, Mecklenburg, Nassau, Portugal, Reuss, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Westphalia. I mainly got this because of my ongoing Nassau project, but it will be useful for my Spaniards and Portuguese as well.  

Another Osprey: Napoleon's Campaigns in Italy by Philip Haythorntwaite and Richard Hook. To be honest I bought this book as a source of reference for a writing project I've been kicking around.

And finally Hornblower and the Hotspur by C.S. Forester. Because Hornblower.

Coming soon: More work on the Nassauers.

Also, the long lost figures that I ordered last November finally made their way to me after being lost in the Navy's mail system for two months. It is a limber for my 15mm British rocket artillery. Additionally, I put together the first test figure for my KGL Hussars the other day. I'm pleased with how he came out; he certainly went together a lot easier than my Nassau drummer!

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

Hodge-Podge: New Figures, Books and Followers

Hello everyone!

A bit of a hodge-podge post today. My holiday break is over now, and I'm settled back into my work schedule again. Today I went to my local game store and came across these:

Forty-eight plastic Perry Miniatures Austrians... at 45% off! That was a deal-maker, and even though I don't collect Austrians I snapped them up in a heartbeat, making these chaps my first Napoleonic figure purchases for 2016.

With these lads safely in my grubby paws, the task then became to find a suitable use for them in the scope of my existing collections. This quest for knowledge naturally lead me to one place: the second-hand bookshop!

Per custom, I began looking for anything Napoleonic uniform related, and soon came across this little gem hiding on the shelf:

Not a very large book, but it covers all of the armies and their various units that fought at Waterloo, complete with black and white drawings and color plates. Only $5? Sold!

However, I still needed some use for my new Austrian miniatures, which lead me over to the small section of Osprey titles. Seeing as I was looking for a French-allied nation that ideally wore Austrian-inspired uniforms, this title caught my eye:

Within, I found several illustrations of Nassau infantry not just wearing Austrian/German style uniforms, but also wearing the snazzy leather helmets. I really like these leather helmets, and even though they were discontinued from use around 1809 (don't quote me on that), my Nassauers will be wearing them. They should look something like this:

Nassau Grenadier

To top it all off, Nassau infantry saw a lot of fighting in the Peninsula, which is perfect for my needs! So, 48 miniatures and two books added to the collection. Not a bad Saturday afternoon!

On the painting front, I managed to get the dismounted French dragoon 80% done while at home last weekend, all but his face and helmet. I'll remedy this this week; Monday is a national holiday here in the U.S. and I don't have to work. I'll also get started on a mounted French dragoon officer (one of the 25mm Minifigs I bought on eBay last September. This will form a French Dragoon command stand.

I would also like to welcome another follower to my blog: Doug. You can find his blog here: http://dougssoldiers.blogspot.com/ . Thanks for following, Doug!

Coming soon: French Dragoons, and maybe some Nassauers?

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

A New Book and On-The-Fly Painting Setup

Hello everyone!

While home for New Year's leave, my mother and I stopped by the local public library where they were having a book sale. As you may or may not know, it is very difficult for me to not take a look at books for sale, and I left there with some new books for very cheap. While I hadn't expected to find anything Napoleonic-related, I was pleasantly surprised to find this old paperback hiding amongst the others:

The Causes of the War of 1812: National Honor or National Interest? edited by Bradford Perkins, is a 1965 collection of excerpts from historians examining a number of possible causes for the War of 1812. I foresee this as being an interesting read, as well as an interesting piece of historiography regarding the War of 1812. Over to the left in my "2016 Totals" bar I've added a section to track purchased books as well as miniatures, and at $0.50, this one wasn't a bad deal at all.

On he painting front, I've  prepped the only Napoleonic figure in the house, the dismounted French Dragoon I ordered from Brigade Games on Black Friday, for painting. Since my real painting setup is in California and I'm sitting on the couch in Kentucky, I had to scrounge around for some of my old paints and brushes, but I managed to find a basic palette that will work for this chap. All that was left was for me to run by the local game store here, where I picked up some Citadel Skull White primer and a pot of Caliban Green for his jacket, and now I'm all set. I'll prime him tonight and begin work probably tomorrow; tonight my parents and I are going to see "The Revenant" at the movie theater in town. Stay tuned.

Coming soon: A painted French Dragoon.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

Goodbye 2015, Welcome 2016!

Hello everyone!

I hope that everyone has had a safe and happy New Year!

As I ring in the New Year here at Chuck's Napoleonic Wargames, I thought I'd take a look back at 2015 and everything I managed to accomplish. I also think that it would be good to set some goals for myself for the coming year. But first, I thought I'd show you a few Christmas gifts that I received.

Being in the Navy and living on west coast of the United States (over 2000 miles from where my family lives) I wasn't able to be home for Christmas Day. I was able to take leave for New Years, and as I sit here writing I can smell the hogjaw, cabbage and black-eyed peas cooking, traditional Appalachian food for New Year's Day, said to bring luck for the coming year. My Christmas festivities were over the past two days, and I was surprised with a few gifts.

New Gifts for the New Year

This is an antique comic book from my Aunt. She initially bought it just because it said "Navy" without realizing that its subject matter is the exploits of the US Navy from its foundation through the War of 1812! A happy coincidence! It dates from 1958, by Stokes Walesby and Theodore Roscoe, and does a fair job of summing up the Navy's first thirty-odd years of existence. It is, however, a product of its time, complete with some interesting adjective choices; I think the connotations of the word "lusty" have changed over the past fifty years!

This one was a surprise gift from my mother and sister: Patrick O'Brien's Navy: The Illustrated Companion to Jack Aubrey's World, edited by Richard O'Neill. This book is lavishly illustrated and chock full of  information that explains the life and times of the characters from Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey-Maturin books, which I read in high school. A very, very nice book, and a great addition to my reference library.

And then there's this chap, a 28mm dismounted, skirmishing French dragoon. This is a Brigade Games figure, sculpted by Paul Hicks, which I added to my Black Friday purchase to meet the minimum price to use a coupon. He's destined to form part of a Dragoon Command stand/vignette.

2015 In Review

2015 marked the 200th Anniversaries of the Battle of New Orleans, the Battles of Quatre-Bras and Ligny, and of course the Battle of Waterloo. This year was also a very busy and exciting year for me. I started a new career, moved across the country, and there were times where I couldn't really do anything hobby-related. However, that all being said, I managed to get quite a bit of painting done, and even more purchasing done.

So here is the final totals from my blog for the year:

Painted
15mm Foot Painted: 61
15mm Horse Painted: 3
15mm Guns/Wagons Painted: 0
1/72 Foot Painted: 20
1/72 Horse Painted: 3
1/72 Guns/Wagons Painted: 0
28mm Foot Painted: 41
28mm Horse Painted: 0
28mm Guns/Wagons Painted: 1
Purchased
15mm Figures Purchased: 60
1/72 Figures Purchased: 179
28mm Figures Purchased: 174
Guns/Wagons Purchased: 5
-----------------------------------------
Total (Painted - Purchased): -288
Units Completed: 2
Command Stands Completed: 2
Casualty Markers Completed: 4

 

I managed to complete the 1/88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) and the 1st Battalion of the Pavlovsk Grenadiers, the command stands for Marechals de France Joachim-Napoleon Murat and Michel Ney, and three British and one Russian casualty markers.

 

This past year also marked my turning to the "dark side" and expanding my Napoleonics collection to include 28/25mm figures. Additionally, I expanded my Napoleonic library by 15 books over the past year and visited two museums, the San Diego Maritime Museum and the USS Midway Museum.

 

All in all, a pretty productive year for how busy I've been!

 

Goals for the New Year

1. Paint more figures than I purchase.
2. Finish 4 infantry regiments.
3. Finish 2 cavalry regiments.
4. Finish 2 artillery batteries.
5. Finish 3 command stands.
6. Finish 5 casualty markers.
7. Play a game with my figures.

This seems to be an achievable set of hobby goals for the year. We'll see how that goes...

 

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

 

-Chuck

The Last Books for 2015...

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I spent Christmas morning sleeping (I was standing guard up till the wee hours and was quite tired), then went to see the extended roadshow viewing of The Hateful Eight, which I enjoyed. Then this morning I hit the town, and ended up at the local book store. I really need to stop visiting second-hand book stores, because I always seem to leave with fewer dollars in my pocket than when I arrived!

My two newest acquisitions:

Napoleonic Wars: Wellington's Army by Ian Fletcher, part of the Brassey's History of Uniforms series. This book goes over, in detail, the uniforms, weapons and equipment of Britain's army during the Napoleonic Wars, to include infantry, cavalry and artillery. It includes color plates, contemporary paintings and illustrations of soldiers, as well as photographs of extant uniform and equipment items. This is probably the best single book on the British Army that I currently own.

 

 

Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars, 1796-1814 by Jack Cassin-Scott and Philip Haythornthwaite, two authors whose other books I currently have. This is a relatively small, quite handy little uniform guide, compete with uniform plates, of all of the major (and a few of the minor) armies of the Napoleonic Wars. A solid addition to my reference library.

 

 

Coming soon: my 2015 In Review post.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

-Chuck

Christmas, Lost Mojo, New Figures and Books

Merry Christmas everyone!

It's been a little while since my last post, and for that I apologize. I was waiting for some figures to arrive in the mail before making another post, but since the military's mail system is slow as molasses they haven't yet arrived and I wished to post at least once more before year's end.

Unfortunately, I seem to have lost a bit of my painting mojo as of late, ever since I arrived at my first command and have yet to move off the ship. Navy ships are not known for the vat amount of space they afford their crews, so I have not the space for painting. But this hasn't stopped me from picking up a few figures, here and there.

I discovered a new local game shop here in San Diego, and there I was pleased find some Perry Napoleonic figures. So I picked up a box of 28mm plastic British Hussars, which I more than likely will paint up as one of the KGL Hussar regiments.

They are very nice figures, and I look forward to putting them together as soon as I move into a bigger place.

Additionally, I found an Essex miniatures British Rocket Battery caisson on sale online, and picked it up to complement the Minifigs Rocket Battery figures I picked up on eBay a couple of years ago. This is what's currently bogged down in the military mail system.

Finally, I have picked up a couple more interesting books. While out shopping for my mother's Christmas present today, I found a nice little second-hand book shop where I picked up the following two books cheap:

 

The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships  by C. Nepean Longridge is an illustrated guide to all parts of Napoleonic Wars-era sailing ships. from deck plans, obscure bits of rigging, guns, ship's boats, you name it. I rather wish I had had this book handy whilst I was reading Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey-Maturin books in high school.

1815: The Armies at Waterloo by Ugo Pericoli covers the history and tactics of the Battle of Waterloo in its first couple of sections, but the last two thirds of the book is devoted to beautifully illustrated, full-color uniform plates of the different belligerents. While I don't game Waterloo, I am a sucker for books with uniform plates, and so I had to add this to my collection.

Well, that's about it. I get to go home for the first two months of January, which will be nice. I hope to get some painting done, hopefully. I would also like to do a "Year in Review" post, to cover what all I accomplished over 2015. Until then, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Thanks for looking,

-Chuck

New Book, Terrain Bits and Excuses

Hello everyone!

It's been kind of slow here the past few weeks, and for that I apologize. It's not for lack of painting... it's just that I've been painting a 1:1 scale Navy ship instead of my miniatures! I'm hoping that in the next month or two I'll be able to move into a place more conducive to painting productivity than on my ship.

In the mean time in-between time, I've purchased a new book:

"1812: The Navy's War" takes a look at the Napoleonic sideshow fought between the United States and Great Britain that was the War of 1812 from a Naval perspective. This is especially fitting for me, given my current profession, and is incidentally one of the subjects that initially piqued my interest in the Napoleonic timeframe. While I've only just begun this book, it certainly seems promising!

I also picked up a small, plastic, Spanish-style fountain from my local Michael's craft store which I will eventually use for a terrain base. I'm thinking it will be the centerpiece for either a "town square" or "monastery" base for my Peninsular games.

Coming soon: Not much, unfortunately. I may purchase some figures here soon (I have a couple of things  earmarked for myself) but I probably won't be painting anything for the next month or so.

Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

Battles of Quatre Bras and Ligny--200th Anniversary

Hello everyone!

I couldn't let today go by without posting something on the blog, especially as today is the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Quatre Bras and the Battle of Ligny, fought by the Anglo-Dutch/Belgian allies and the Prussians, respectively, against Napoleon's French.

The 28th Foot at Quatre Bras

Both of these battles shaped the campaign which ultimately culminated in the Battle of Waterloo two days later. For more information on both battles, check out theses links to Wikipedia:

• Battle of Quatre Bras
• Battle of Ligny

Marshal Blucher trapped under his horse at Ligny

 

Coming soon: The Waterloo 200 post will be up on Thursday. Also, I received a new book on the Napoleonic Wars for my birthday, which I'll share. I also managed to finally get some Elmer's glue for my bases, so I'll get those knocked out at some point. Since I moved literally across the country, I've been kind of busy getting settled in, so not much painting has been going on. I plan to remedy that soon enough.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

-Chuck



Welcome Aboard!

Hello everyone!

Just a quick post today welcoming Ray to the blog. Most of us who follow wargaming blogs have perused Ray's "Don't Throw a 1" blog at least once, so it's a great honor to welcome him here on my humble blog. I hope you enjoy my humble efforts!

In other news, I miss the hobby desperately! I wish that I had some of my figures with me to paint on the weekends. Maybe I can find a local games store nearby...

Anyways, welcome aboard, Ray!

Thanks for looking,

-Chuck

Aboard Once More, In a Limited Capacity

Hello everyone!

It's been a long couple of months, but I'm finally done with the first stage of my Navy career! Boot camp was tough, but now that it's over I can relax just a bit before pouring myself into my new job. However, while I'm back online, I'm not quite back into The Hobby just yet. I'm currently attending some advanced schooling before heading out to the Fleet, so even though I have Internet access, I don't have access to any of my minis or paints. So don't expect anything new for the next few months at least.

In the meantime I can post on the things I do have access to: books. For graduation my mother (a college English professor) gave me a few of the books that I had asked for my birthday (coming up in June) early, as well as a few that she had found on sale and couldn't pass up. Both of us share a love for reading, as well as a weakness for buying books on the cheap, something which my father doesn't really understand but is a good sport about. In keeping with the Napoleonic theme of this blog, here are the three books that she gave me which may be of interest to my fellow fans of the Napoleonic Era:

Any Approaching Enemy by Jay Worrall

The second in Worrall's nautical Napoleonic series continues to follow the career of Captain Charles Edgemont, captain of the HMS Louisa, a frigate in the Royal Navy, during the last years of the Eighteenth Century. The novel begins where the previous one (which I reviewed here) left off, following Edgemont, his brother-in-law Lt. Winchester and his best friend Daniel Bevan into the Mediterranean on a critical mission to find the French. I've only just begun reading it, and I really like Worrall's style. Also, with my new career in the Navy I now have a greater appreciation for nautical books such as this, and I was pleasantly surprised to receive it as a graduation present.

A Sea Unto Itself by Jay Worrall

The third and latest book in the same series. I hope that Mr. Worrall will continue to write books in this series, as I really enjoy his writing style with his intriguing characters and dialogue.

The Emerald Storm by William Dietrich

My mother found this book (along with a bunch of others) in a bargain bin at Kroger for less than five dollars. This is the fifth in a series of historical adventure novels set in the Napoleonic Era which follows the main character Ethan Gage. Now, I normally like to start series from the beginning so I don't miss out on any backstories and other major character-development, but in this case beggars can't be choosers. This novel (according to the back of the jacket) is set in 1803 in the West Indies and involves agents of the French and the British, the makings of a slave rebellion, and a cache of Spanish gold hidden from the conquistadors by Montezuma himself. Sounds like fun! If this one is good, then I'll see about getting the rest of the series.

So I'll have a few fun books to keep me entertained when I'm not hard at work studying. Thanks Mom!

I've spent the last couple of days catching up on the backlog of blog posts which I missed while I was away, and I must say that there has been a lot of good work done! I am so glad that I have found such a good hobby that has allowed me to view others' wonderful work and meet so many good and supportive people online. Speaking of which, I've gained a couple of more followers; a warm welcome goes out to Edward Devine and Ariel El vikingo dark! I hope that my continued, humble efforts will remain worthy of following!

Coming soon: Not much as of yet, but perhaps there will be something of note to post about until I can get my paints and minis in hand once more. I will definitely be checking out everyone else's blogs and ogling their beautifully painted figures in the absence of my own!

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

Off to the Navy

Today I'm off to Navy boot camp. I'd like to thank everyone who enjoys reading my humble blog, and warn everyone in advance that I won't be posting here for the next several months. I look forward to reading everyone's blog posts when I return to the world of Internet access!

In the interim, I hope you'll enjoy a brief musical interlude from the conclusion of my favorite nautical Napoleonic movie, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

Thank you all again, and I'll see you in a couple of months. Happy wargaming!

-Chuck

The Regimento de Infanteria de Linea de Espana del Rey, and Christmas

Hello everyone!

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I know I sure did... I ate way too much, but it's a good thing to spend time with the family. Anyways, I managed to finish up the Regimento del Rey today, and I took some pictures.

(Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

The four stands I finished up today.

The Regimento del Rey drawn up into line.



El Regimento de Infanteria de Linea de Espana del Rey, or "The King of Spain's Line Infantry Regiment." Under the 1808 regulations, Spain's infantry regiments were named, not numbered.

These guys are a combination of the AWI figures I bought over a year ago, the AWI figures in the lot I bought last week, and some converted Heritage French as the Granaderos. These gentlemen are wearing the white 1806 uniform faced in purple with purple collars, cuffs and turnback piping, with high black gaiters and bicornes. Due to the somewhat haphazard nature of these figures' origins, they have a bunch of different equipment sculpted on them, which isn't nescessarily a bad thing. The Spanish Army during the first few years of the Peninsular War was woefully ill-equipped and put into service equipment from mny nations, both ally and enemy alike; I've tried to reflect a mixture of French and British equipment into the mix, namely British canteens and French packs, where appropriate. Most of the figures just have a cartridge pouch and a musket and bayonet, which I would say most Spanish soldiers would be lucky to have if they had that. I've painted the Regimento del Rey in full dress uniforms; after the uprising in Madrid on May 2, 1808 I would doubt if the Regiment would ever again look this good.

Fusilier and Grenadier of the Regimento del Rey in the 1806 uniform.

This is also the last unit I needed to paint for the game that I want to play next week. All I really need to do is to finish up some small terrain items and I'll be ready.

And now, some of the Christmas presents I recieved that may be of interest to my fellow wargamers:

A new organizer box for my Napoleonic figures; the old one is in the background, and was full (note the figures sitting on top of the box). This box can hold up to eighteen units. Also note the labels.

Another, different box. It has the large drawers in the bottom for units, and a bunch of small boxes in the top. These small boxes will organize my spare figures.

Adrian Goldsworthy's newest Napoleonic fiction Novel Run Them Ashore. I already own the first four in the series and am looking forward to reading this one. Mr. Goldsworthy's novels are quite good, and different from book series such as Sharpe and Aubrey/Maturin. You can check his site out for more information.

Some new brushes, which I needed badly. The ones I got for Christmas last year were wearing out.

All in all a pretty good Christmas, and these are just the Napoleonic items. With me joining the Navy I also recieved a bunch of books on the U.S. and Confederate Navies during the American Civil War, which are pretty cool. I don't think I'll have enough time to read them all before I report in February, though...

Coming soon: I'll probably finish up the terrain I need for next week's game first; all I need to do is to base p the trees from the Toob I got at Hobby Lobby, and make a Roman bridge. I'll throw myself upon the 1/88th after the terrain is done.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

New Figures and Big News!

Hello everyone!

Today the mixed lot of 15mm figures came in the mail and I had a little time to sort through them and figure out what all I got. Sometimes buying lots like this yield some things you both expected due to the item description, as well as a surprise at times. While everything I expected was there, there were a few surprises as well.

(Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions.)

Russian Pavlovsk Grenadiers. These are of two different manufacturers, one wearing greatcoats, the other (mainly command figures) are not. I will probably base these up as is, as the painting is pretty good.

Initial Impressions

The package arrived with all of the figures crammed in together in a blister pack. The vast majority were painted to a decent standard, but some were just primed; only one was bare metal. Six of the figures had broken completely off their bases at the ankles, but there were only three broken bases, leading me to believe that the seller threw them in to get rid of them not that I mind. This belief was reenforced with the addition of a stand of three 6mm figures of unknown type or origin, though they look viking-esque.

AWI infantry that will be used as Spanish infantry. The three to the upper left (in while and light blue) are actual honest-to-goodness Napoleonic Spanish. Two of them don't have feet, but they have the bottoms of their bases.

Scaleability

All of these figures, though they are a mix of manufacturers, are all true 15mm figures. They are bigger than Heritage figures, about on par with Essex, and quite a bit smaller than AB and Fantassin.

French infantry. The four on the left are wearing overcoats, which will doom them to one of my second battalions, while the four on the right don't have feet.

Quality

There are five "groups" that I could break these figures down into: Russian Pavlovsk Grenadiers, Revolutionary War Americans (which I use as Napoloenic Spanish; there were actually three honest-to-goodness Spanish Napoloenic Infantry in there with them), French infantry, French artillery, and two "other" figures. Other than the French artillery, which are Minifigs, I cannot readily identify the makers of the other figures, though I can see at least three distinct sculpting styles among the rest. With such a disparity of manufacturers, quality is still pretty good. The painting on the Pavlovsk grenadiers is actually pretty good, with not a lot of chipping and such; I may keep them as is without stripping them and using them as is. I can't say the same for the Revolutionary War figures. There was one mounted figure, what looks like a Russian or Austrian Heavy Cavalry bugler, which did not come with a horse, but I have spare horses.

French artillerymen, all by Minifigs. These guys are wearing bicornes, which would indicate pre-1809 troops.

Price

There were 48 figures in total, not including the 6mm vikings for which I have no use. The eBay lot description only mentioned 40 figs, so I got an 8 figure bonus. At $9.00 shipped, it averaged $0.19 a figure. This is a lot cheaper than I've bought metal figures for in the past, so I think I got a pretty good deal over all.

The "others." The first is either a Russian or Austrian Cuirassier bugler, with the distinct helmet and crest, while the second is a man with a hunting jacket and a top hat. Since I don't have Austrians the first will be a Russian, while I'll use the second as an American volunteer.

I also managed to strip most of the paint from the 15mm French cannon that arrived last week. They were a pain to strip, as they had been painted with a really thick, rubbery paint that I had to scrape off with a knife blade to get in the nooks and crannies, but they're clean as they're going to be now.

The guns: two twelve pounders, an eight pounder, and a howitzer.

And finally, the big news!

I'm joining the Navy! Being unemployed sucks, especially now that I'm well out of school and have nothing to do. I ship out in February, and I'm really excited to get started in a career in the Navy. As such, There probably won't be much in the way of blogging happening while I'm in boot camp and getting settled next year, but I'll be back. In the meantime, I have a month and a half to paint.

Coming soon: I'll probably base up the already-painted Pavlovsk Grenadiers. I'll have enough for a line stand as well as the command stand; I'll just have to make some flags and base them up. Then I need to finish up those Portuguese lads, then on to the 1/88th.

Questions, comments and observations are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

New Year's Give Away at Napoleonics In Miniature

Hello all,

A quick plug for Paul over at Napoleonics In Miniature, who is going to be giving away some of his lead mountain to a few lucky winners on January 2nd, 2015! Paul does lovely work in 15/18mm and is clearing out some minis that he will probably never paint. The intention, of course, is to get those figs to people who can use them. Most generous, sir!

Pop on over to Paul's Blog, NAPOLEONICS IN MINIATURE, for more details and how to enter.

-Chuck

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties

Hello everyone!

I want to apologize for not getting more done on my blog, and it's not for want of more hobby time. Unfortunately, my computer was hacked a couple of weeks ago, deleting all of my photographs of my completed minis as well as my really big file of reference pictures that I've been collecting for literally years. They got all of my computer documents and my music collection too. Since I like to listen to music while I paint, this has really put a damper on things. Then the criminals have the audacity to demand ransom on my files! HA! They sure picked a good victim: an unemployed college grad. I don't have any money to spare, and even if I did it'll be a cold day in He... but I digress.

The good news is that it hasn't got me completely down. I'm slowly finishing the French baggage waggon and my home sculpt of Sergeant Masterston is staring at me expectantly from my workbench. So I should be able to finish up a few things in the near future, especially with Thanksgiving at the end of the week.

Thanks for sticking with me and again I'm sorry for not getting more done. Blame the cyber-criminals.

-Chuck

10,000 Views!

Hello everyone!

I’d like to thank everyone that has taken the time to look at my blog over the past 2+ years. When I started this blog in February of 2012, I had no idea if anyone else on the Internet would really care about my Napoleonic project, but I knew that I needed to have something to keep me motivated, hence this blog. And now that Chuck’s Napoleonic Wargames has over 10,000 hits, I know that my original thinking was wrong. Thank you for your support and I hope that you will continue to enjoy the fruits of my labor, however slow the progress is!

Thank you!

-Chuck

Another Book and WIP Highlanders Part 2

Hello everyone!

I've got another book to share. Not really an academic book, but The British Redcoat of the Napoleonic Wars by Martin Windrow, part of the "The Soldier through the Ages" series of children's books, is well worth a look. Richly illustrated by the venerable Angus McBride, this book, while very simplistic (though factually correct) in terms of content, is a visual masterpiece, with bright, vibrant artwork that makes great eye-candy for the wargamer. It makes a welcome addition to my Napoleonic library.

And then on to part 2 of my step-by-step walkthrough of painting my Highlanders. Check out my last post for part 1. (Remeber to click on the pictures for larger versions.)

Here I painted all of the black pieces of equipment: cartridge boxes, bayonet scabbards and Trotter packs.

Next I painted the haversacks in a beige color.

Then the canteens, in the same "True blue" color that I used as the base color for the tartan.

Here I've used a dark brown to paint the canteen strap and the buttons on the haversacks.

And here I've painted the greatcoats rolled up on top of the packs a dark gray color.

At this point I was pretty much ready to start applying the white, but first I needed to pull the Light Company figures aside and give them a coat of green for their elite company wings. I don't believe this was an actual practice from looking at all of my references, but it helps give the figures another identifying detail.

At this stage I applied the white, covering collars, cuff, turnbacks, cross-straps, backpack straps, epaulettes and elite company wings.

Next musket stocks were painted a medium brown.

Here I added gold details to the musket, cross-straps, tunic buttons and lace on the cuffs.

At this point I painted the musket locks, barrels and bayonets in metalic silver...

...before I finished the muskets by painting the slings in white.

Here each figure's hands and faces are painted in a flesh color.

The hair is added. In my British army, all soldiers have brown hair!

Here I've given the figures with queues a black bow in their hair, and some of the figures with prominent brims under their bonnets a black brim.

Here the exposed remnants of the shakoes left peeking out from under the greenstuff bonnets were painted white, acting as the bonnet's band.

The white band is diced in red.

The bonnets are then painted a dark blue, and the toories (or pom-poms) are painted according to the figure's company: line companies were given a red toorie, the grenadiers a white toorie, and the lights a green toorie. Here they all are, split into their bases and ready for basing.

Last night I cut out and labeled the bases, and began to process of getting them based. However, I hit a snag when I ran out of super glue (a rookie mistake if there ever was one!) after only sticking the Light and Grenadier company figures to their bases, so after getting a $h!t-load more super glue after work today I'm finishing them up tonight. I should have pictures tomorrow.

In other news, I would like to welcome Paul Alba to the blog. If you haven’t checked out his blog NAPOLEONICS IN MINIATURE then you are in for a treat. The work on his blog makes 15/18mm look like 28mm, and brings out the full potential of AB’s fine figures. I hope that you enjoy my own humble efforts!

Coming soon: French. I’m going to finish up the 19e so I’ll have two finished French battalions to match my two finished British battalions. Then either the British or Portuguese, and maybe a command stand thrown in there somewhere. We’ll see.

Questions, comments and criticisms are always welcomed and appreciated! Thanks for looking!

 

-Chuck