Quatre-Bra-less Napoleon at War Game at the Rat Palace Redux!

We got together to play Napoleon at War on Saturday. We played a game loosely based upon Francisco's (from Austin group) really cool Quatre Bras scenario.  After the first turn, the game turned into one of our usual tabletop "brawls" but was quite fun all the same. I won't bore you with a long, drawn out AAR but will hit some of the highlights of the game.  If you've not played at the Rat Palace Redux, you should give it a try. It's turned into a nice place to play and relax. 

My sister in law sent an appropriate birthday and re-opening present to me. Nothing like a Napoleon Bobblehead to "open the ball". THANKS!

The game centered on the village of Quatre Bra-less to the left and the stream in front of the village. There was a large dense forest to the right flank of the Allies. The British commander assigned the following forces to the battle: 2 Divisions of British and Brunswicker Infantry and the Heavy Cavalry division (without supports but with Horse Arty.) in reserve.

We played on a 8x6 table. The RPR can accommodate up to
a 12x6 but for a Saturday game with 3 players per side, an 8x6 is sufficient. It gave good figure density/visuals at least to me.

The buildings are all Crescent Root. I don't know how old they are or if they're still available. I'll just say several years old and you'll need to check out their site if they're still in business.  I usually use these for France 1940 Flames of War games. They work quite well for Napoleonics as well. I've still got over 25 years worth of 15mm/25mm buildings and stuff. I like the Crescent Root stuff best right now.   The forested areas are pretty cool to work with as well. The trees have pins attached to the bottom of their trunks. I can make a forest or woods look like a woods instead of using crappy felt pieces.  Players can "open and close" the wooded sections as they move through.

The French advanced quickly with Legere and occupied the wooded areas. The British resigned themselves to countering with the Brunswickers on the flank.  The Legere froze the Brunswickers in place while French Line Lanciers began to cross the stream.  The Brunswickers remained in column rather than deploying into line. Britsh Line infantry supported the Brunswick contingent.  No reserves on turn one.

French Lanciers got across the stream but the Brunswickers managed to form square and repulsed the Lanciers.  A French general was shot from the saddle at this time. This built the confidence of the British team.  The French just gave a typical Gallic shrug and muttered C'est la guerre!  

The British commanders were non plussed by the exhibition of l'audace by the French lanciers. They were just glad to see one less French general. 

The bridge in front of Quatre-Bra-less became a focal point as the French tried to assault across the entire width of the battlefield; pressing the flanks and demonstrating in the middle.  French Heavy Artillery cleared the field with very little response by the British and Brunswicker artillery.  It is my opinion that the British artillery are a weak link in the current Napoleon at War army lists. I understand that the French had a technological advantage in artillery shot weight but that should be countered by an extra gun in the British artillery batteries.  Using three gun batteries seems to be a game issue. They die quickly and do not have the staying power of the heavy artillery. This is just a whine on my part since MY French artillery is "under construction".

There are a lot of Frenchmen here. Not so many Anglais! The French were methodical in their approach but could not force the bridge.  You can see the French reserves having a "smoke 'em if you got 'em" break behind the walled chateau.  The British/Allied players were stoic in the defense throughout the game.  The British flank commander held a brigade in reserve at this time. This proved a wise choice as the French were pressing both flanks.  The Brunswickers gave as good as they got however; the Legere were shot down in due course.  As you can see, the field where the Brunswickers were is becoming more barren on both sides. That is a telling point.  This game and rules set is quite "bloody" and gives the players a quick resolution of both shooting and melee.

The Brunswick infantry and artillery have left the field after a force morale check.  The French have also cleared the bridge to the approach of Quatre-Bra-less.  My British Heavy cavalry division (Scots Greys, 2 regiments of Dragoons) finally got onto the battlefield. We randomized their arrival. Of course (another whine by me) they arrived 48" away from the place in which they should have arrived.  "Good Clay" surveys the big hole where the British cavalry should have been last turn as his Brunswick Uhlans and Hussars screened the British race down the road with their swords.  We finally got the the cavalry reserve sorted out as I fouled up the formation  by not moving down the road in line. I didn't do that because it looked stupid to me to do so. My bad. Sorry "Good Clay". 

Here's a kinda' close up of the Napoleon at War Scots Greys. True to their reputation, they were big men on big horses.  Again, true to the reputation in the "Waterloo" movie, they were the best cavalry on the field but the "worst led". They got smacked down by Lanciers (not Guard either).  It was one of those days for the British!  

The Napoleon at War cavalry are giants compared to my CGM Dragoons. I ended up purchasing another NaW Dragoon box set to match up with the Greys.  It's a major wart to me that these figures do not match well with other manufacturers.  Yeah, I'm the consumer and can buy what I want; but, once I started painting NaW figures, I wanted to complete the collection with NaW figures. Now, if Man at War in Spain would hurry up and put more figures into their ranges, it would be a lot more palatable.  I wonder if some of us could invest some USD into this company and move them along.  I did find that Newline Designs makes a great 20mm Napoleonic line that fits just fine with NaW figures. I've painted a load of Brunswickers and plan to order whatever Men at War do not carry such as Legere, French Dragoons, Hussars (both sides), and Guard Lanciers (Dutch and Polish).  This is an economic issue rather than a "want to" but is still a major irritant for me and could be a sales headache for NaW.  I don't want to see this rules set go the way of the dinosaur because the miniatures line could not compete.  

Here is "Evil Scott" pointing out that the British should probably pack up and get on down the road to Waterloo. He's probably right too!

I've read multiple posts on the Napoleon at War forum whining that the attacker cannot win a NaW game.  I don't see this in our games. Sure, one takes attacker's losses and the attacker WILL lose the game if they attack without proper "preparation".  Use the Heavy Artillery, use the cavalry to "pin" units either into square or into other formations if the player is either incredibly brave or thinks "the odds are in their favor" not to form square (dumb idea). After the units have been whittled down, then attack. It works as the French forces I've seen on the table usually outnumber the British by 1 or 2 batts. per brigade.


Looking at the game from the French side, it looked pretty strong for the French and not so much for the Brits.  The game ended up with the British cavalry getting whacked as the British infantry moved down the road to Waterloo.  

The French commander apparently had an easy time of it as he multi-tasked and beat the British at the same time.

My observations and lessons learned? Get more Brits on the field sooner. I'd better re-read the OBs for Brits and put them on the table correctly.  I should also paint a Light Infantry Division and more "fodder" allies such as Dutch-Belgians, Nassau, etc. to soak up some of the quick advancing French.  I don't know, I'm thinking my collection is big enough for me to play.  I've got a couple of batts. of Highlanders too. I put them up and quit painting them when I had to paint kilts in 15mm. They're a P.I.T.A. on a larger figure. I just don't want to deal with them on a 15mm.  They might help but not much.  All in all, we had a good game, and good day. That's what our hobby is all about! We're planning on playing Might of Arms ancients on the Friday after Thanksgiving. No "Black Friday" madness for us. 

My game house-The Rat Palace Redux-Gettin' It Ready For Saturday's NaW Game

I've got the Rat Palace into playing shape finally. Here's a quick set of shots of the Quatre Bra-ish table we're playing on this Saturday.  8x6. I've got another 6x4 under the table (visible) if we need to expand. I can expand the table comfortably up to 16x6 and still move around.

The stream is fordable in one place plus the bridge. Looks like it will be a "hard morning".

One of my favorite Brits oversees the British reserve entry point.  Thanks Clay Smith for the poster!!!

I've got 16' of mirrored display cabinets. I'm slowly deciding what to put in them.  My 54mm AWI collection is pictured.  The little lumps are my Napoleon at War British and Brunswickers. I've got two large hutches and a lawyer's bookcase to fill. I've definitely got the figures to fill them.

I'm stoked to have my game house and feel good enough to have people over.  I'll post an AAR on Saturday evening. Keep checking back or if you're in the DFW area, get your lazy butt down here and roll some bones with us! You're always welcome!

Scattershooting while getting the Rat Palace Redux Ready for Semi Prime Time

I'm getting my game house ready for a Napoleon at War game next weekend. I'm stoked about being able to play here again. I'm just posting some generic "scatter shooting" types of shots of stuff that makes my collection special to me.

Here's a shot of one of my ECW/18th/19th/whatever century you want to use it for buildings. It was constructed by Sandy Botond. Sandy is a member of the Katy/Houston gaming group, and a master artiste! 

This is my Steve Barber Miniatures "not so colossus-eum" This was a BLAST to paint. Each spectator is just a little bit different. That's the beauty of Steve Barber's work.  I just set it back up for display this evening. I'll put gladiators, tigers, oh my back in it when I dig them out of the storage garage.

I think this is a Warlord Miniatures rocket battery for the Zulu Wars.  I painted this up for my Victorian War of the Worlds game. I used to have several of Herb Gundt's H.G. Walls Martian War Machines. They literally melted some years ago in the hot Tejas summer. The legs bent just like they were hit with the "heat ray". I have no idea where to go to replace the models. I've still got the bodies and the superstructures. The legs were just jacked up. Any help on finding these miniatures would be appreciated.  I think I bought the originals from RBLPS but I'm old and sometimes have "senior moments" (you call them brain farts).  Anyway, I've got 200+ classic Charles Stadden Zulu Wars British to fight the Martians and needed (yeah right) a rocket battery to get smoked by the Martians.   Hopefully, I'll find some more of the Martian War machines. None of the new stuff fits my 1970s Jeff Wayne's War of the World theme.  Nothing else will do.

I'll post up an AAR and gallery set of the NaW game next week. Stay tuned...and yeah...your mileage may vary!

54mm All the King's Men Weekend at M-Con, Austin, Texas

Had a great time at M-Con this weekend. I spent most (all) of my time either playing, game mastering or kibitzing 54mm All the King's Men games.  Players were introduced to the game; not a negative vibe was heard about the rules set.  54mm collecting and wargaming is relatively new for me.   I enjoy painting All the King's Men figures by Ken Cliffe.  I don't work for him but am an avid collector, painter and yeah....a fanboy! So sue me already!  Here's some shots of the weekend's festivities. The photos are all taken with a phone camera so the quality won't be that of Ansel Adams.

I put on several ATKM (All the King's Men) games this weekend.  My collection is primarily American Revolutionary War at this time.  My games were played on an 8x6 table with custom terrain squares I've had for years.

Ken Cliffe released American Civil War 54mm miniatures. He also was able to get Del Prado artillery models for this and his Napoleonic line. I'm sure the purist and collector geek will pick this line apart but they're fun to paint, and look great in units either in the display case or on the wargaming table.

In the background of this shot is All the King's men buildings. I've got a few of these buildings.  They're foam/resin/I don't know.  They paint up really nicely and are scaled to fit the figures. No more dinky buildings for a 54mm game.

We played a six player BFG at MCon. We played on a 6x16' table with 18 units per side.  Ken ran a great game. The rules handle multi-player games well. The game is card driven. That turns some players off as there is a perception of a lack of fairness as cards are turned.  Using only two suits of cards works just fine. Ken also used secret objectives for each player so working together got a bit more difficult.  This shot is my British contingent. Two line infantry battalions and a Highlander battalion "without trews".  Flanking them is a Hessian medium gun battery/crew. The general didn't use them correctly and proceeded to get the only artillery piece on the British side silenced much to the frowns of his fellow generals.

I painted a unit of Hessian Jagers recently.  I finally got to use them personally.  They were fun to paint and pretty cool to use on the game battlefield.  They held their own throughout the game as the Patriot general tried to take the hasty works position.  In the background, my Continentals and militia are moving up to take the works.  The red "bead" by the Jagers is part of the game system.  The unit is out of functions and gives/takes casualties with a roll of "6" on a D6.

Wargaming with 54mm figures is a definite visual treat. The games draw young and old gamers.  The older gamers tend to reminisce about "those games I played as a kid" and the younger gamers tend to just want to know if they can play. This shot is one of my British Line Infantry units. In the background are my Fusiliers and Highlanders.

We pushed the Patriots away from the clearing to the right. It was quite costly for both sides.  Multiple units were wiped out by fire and by melee.  The game handles both extremely well.  It looked like a clear flank to turn.

British Arty-ATKM

A shot of my British artillery.  More All the King's Men figures and artillery models. Great stuff!  Fun to paint

Continental Infantry-ATKM

A shot of one of my Continental infantry units advancing. In the background is a shot of a Patriot militia units. The Continentals are All the King's Men figures while the figures in the back are plastic Accurate Miniatures.  Both lines paint well with no chipping of paint to date using a Rustoleum white primer, Vallejo Acrylic base coats, Minwax Royal Walnut brushed on, flat sprayed, highlighted with Vallejo colors and flat sprayed again. Easy to do, fast to complete, and they look good!

Not so good shot of General Fop. This is another All the King's Men miniature.  Looks as if he had a reins malfunction.  That sucks. I thought I had fixed all of them before the game!

Hessians and that pesky Anhalt depot battalion advance under fire.

More BFG....Hessian Fusiliers and Grenadiers move up to fill a gap "if you please, sir".

American militia....all we're asking for is two good shots! That's two GOOD shots.

British Light Infantry. I like these figures. Fun to paint and look cool on the table!

I'm well on my way with the Napoleonic 54mm project. I picked up a box set of Victrix French Grenadiers, two battalions of French Line infantry (ATKM of course), British Line infantry (1812 stovepipes), French artillery and Britsh RHA.  The journey continues! You should join me! The figures are not expensive, they paint quickly and are consistently fun to paint.  We've got a small (very small) cadre of players and folks beginning to paint their collections. Drop me a line here or at pilum40@sbcglobal.net if you're interested in learning more or playing a game or three!

Tying Up Some Loose Ends-Men at War 18mm British Foot Artillery Box Set

I was organizing (relative term for me) my Men at War box sets to see how I wanted to paint my VIII Corps (1812) Westfalians for Napoleon at War. I "found" a British Foot Artillery box set. I don't know about you but, I dislike getting older. I am tending to forget where stuff is located. Oh well, no harm-no foul right? Got these guys done and ready for the M-Con in Austin next weekend.

Here's a quick review and pic set. I took the pics with my phone camera and edited them using iPhoto.  iPhoto I really like; my camera phone not so much. Enjoy....they were fun to paint as usual.

The box set was a later purchase. I've found the Men at War figures a mixed bag. The last sets were flashy but no more flashy than an Old Glory miniature.  They're chunky little guys with a well fed look.

I do like the separate limber that is "representative" rather than trudging through multiple limber sets that tend to get broken, lost or just left at home when the game starts. I used my "oil rub" painting technique for the limber horses; using Windsor and Newton Water Soluble Oil paints.  I like the speed of the "rub" and the quick drying time for the paint.  As I get older, I've less patience with long term painting projects. I want to get things completed and on the game table. These box sets make things easy.

I used the following steps in painting this box set.

1. White Primer-Rustoleum (I NEVER Black Prime)
2. Block paint the crews after gluing them down to the bases.  That's a change from my usual but hey, sometimes is a good thing to cut cards with the Devil right?
3. Paint all the guns. I hot glue them onto some spare Windsor and Newton Series 7 round plastic brush holders.  The brushes come with them. Why waste them?
4. Hit all figures, horses, limbers with a light BRUSHED (not dipped) coat of Minwax Royal Walnut. I like the finish, it's not stark like a black when painting dark blue plus works as a sealer for fat wargamer's fingers!
5. Highlight all figures and paint faces and hands. I use a simple "Three Dot" technique for 15-18-28mm faces. Place a small dot on the nose, cheekbones and middle of the chin on the faces of the minature.  I use an old version of GW Dwarf Flesh or Vallejo Rose Beige for skin basecoats. The Minwax settles into the faces making it easy to paint and fast to do.  I use an 18/0 pointed brush from Princeton-available from Asel Art Supply for highlighting faces and hands. It allows for individual knuckles and digits on 28mm and larger miniatures. Makes a difference for me. 

Basing is a simple task. It usually takes 2 sittings to get done. I base everything as it gets painted so it doesn't get left on the painting table.

1. Paint bases with Vallejo Game Color "Beasty Brown". Make sure you get the edges of the base.  Let dry.
2. Put a coat of Elmer's Glue on the top of the base. I use an old crapped out brush to help get this done. 
3. Run the base through a mix of Woodland Scenics medium and fine brown color ballast. If you foul up the glue process, the brown undercoat works just fine.
4. Dry brush the top of the base with a flat brush after the ballast dries. with either GW Bone or Vallejo Game Color Bone.  
5. I then put several drops of Elmer's Glue on the base and draw the base through a small container of rock ballast from Woodland Scenics. I mix up fine and medium rock and whatever sticks works for me!
6. Paint the "rocks" Vallejo Basalt Grey and let dry. Drybrush the "rocks" with Vallejo Sky Grey.  I further hit the "rocks" with a White highlight to draw the eye to the miniature. It works.
7. Mix up a 50/50 Elmer's Glue/H2O solution and paint it "WW2 Camo" style onto the base. Sprinkle on some static grass. Let it dry. You're done! 

Ok...that's it for this session. Hope it wasn't TOO pedantic for you. Will post after M-Con next week. I'm putting on two (2) 54mm AWI games using All the King's Men rules by Ken Cliffe. I just like seeing the "big guys" on the table.   Adios all........

54mm Victrix Voltigeurs Project Completed

Finally completed the Victrix 54mm Voltigeurs project. It was definitely a load.  Ended up using 15 different print references and lots of time on the net pulling prints, and going back and forth as to what I wanted to paint versus what one usually finds "out there".

Just a few points about the box set. They were pretty easy to put together in contrast to a set of 28mm plastic Napoleonics I attempted to put together several years ago. I swore off plastics until I put a couple of cool Warlord 28mm ECW box sets together.  The Victrix 54s do suffer the slings and arrows of most injected plastic figures. I kept finding small mold lines needing clean up and a weird "no mans land" crease between the coat, facings and pants on some figures. Y'all can snicker but I just cleaned this up a little with an X-Acto and painted in the anomalies.  It's a bit of "artist's license" but hey; they're for my collection.  The only other issue that irritated me was that the figures weren't "cut" deep enough in contrast to metal figures.  I'm a "contrasty" painter so I like to use folds and so forth to make the figures a little more campaign style.  Ok, I'll quit whining now and put some pics up. My camera is dated but hopefully my iMac helped the quality a bit.

Here's the unit. Note the non-professional photographer's attempt to get it right. My thinking on this unit was to have a "rogue's gallery" versus a traditional wargamer's unit for the game table.
The Victrix 54s did the job quite well. I'm very pleased with the result. I've also got several gaming options; one is making two (2) units of "Light Infantry" for Ken Cliffe's All the King's Men rules; two is just painting infantry units and inserting the voltigeurs into the units. It would make a hodge-podge of units but would be ok in the more "toy soldier" style of gaming.

The reader may notice I use a different style of shading white. I like a very light brownish tint versus a stark grey most wargamers and painters use. I've found the brownish tint to work quite well for me. To each his own. I do NOT black prime figures, no matter the scale. I use Rustoleum Flat White primer. It's worked for 30 years and old farts like me don't like changing what works.

I was digging around my reference library and found several copies of Haithornewaithe, several Mollo "little books", tons of Osprey comic books, my trusty dusty Knoetl Uniforms of the World, LT Schick's Battledress, multiple Funkens in French and English, plus a really cool copy of "Military Dress of the Peninsular War" dated 1971. I pulled a lot of painting inspiration from the print references. Looks as if I need to splurge on some Uniformology CDs if this Napoleonics project gets any larger. Sure, I've got good print references but any wargamer/collector worth his salt just "needs" more reference materials right? Old teacher's habits just die hard.

The Cleve-Berg Voltigeur-1811 on the right, was taken from Haithornewaithe's Military Dress of the Peninsular War, p.151

The voltigeur to your left was taken from the Funken's Arms and Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars (will be abbreviated AUNW below), p.35, #3.  This reference may seem a bit pedantic but hey, why not do the reference work right?

I use a cool Artist's Color from Asel Art Supply here in the DFW area for the base coat of yellows on all the figures.  It's called Diarylide Yellow. It's made by Golden Arts Centre in NY.  It cools down quite well using my Minwax technique. I DO NOT dip my figures but brush a light coat onto the figure. I can then use a Vallejo light yellow for highlights. The Vallejo paint is just transparent enough to not kill the depth of the deeper yellow. I've tried Vallejo's Golden Yellow and GW's deeper yellows.  They don't get the job done like this yellow.

My attempt at a Voltigeur "cornet" (trumpet to we publicly educated Texans) came from an Osprey comic book. I really don't care for Osprey softcovers but they get the job done.  I didn't attempt the lace work on this figure. There should be alternating red, blue and white lace. I'm just lazy and this figure was at the back of the "git 'er done" area; so sue me!

Every self respecting wargamer and collector "needs" a voltigeur from the Regiment Irlandais. This guy is my attempt at an 1809 version taken from Haithornewaithe's Peninsular War, plate #59. I'm sure the green should be either lighter because of fade or darker because it hadn't faded yet in the field.  I do like the pose from Victrix and played around with three different shades of green in the process. It was a fun figure to paint and stands out on the game table or display case.

This guy was taken from Knoetl's Uniforms of the World, p. 293.  The figure depicts a Voltigeur from Murat's Kingdom of Naples, 6th Regiment.  The photo doesn't do the colors justice however; the facings ARE Orange but turned out looking Red in this photo.  I also probably violated painting protocols by using brass on the musket. I like the contrast it provides and looks ok at the same time.  One can see the effects of Minwax upon the shako cords. All I had to do to finish them out was to put a small dot on the cords to "pop them out".

I like the head and face variants on the Victrix 54s. This breaks up the monotny of painting larger scale figures that are all the same.  I'd like to have an arm that has a shako or an opponent's shako molded in to give a little spice to the figure.  I'm too lazy to convert or gut another figure so if it happens; it will have to be from the manufacturer. I took this figure from Funken's Arms and Uniforms, p.35.  It is more of a "Fantassin" rather than a direct copy of a subject in the print. I like the way the French blues work on the Victrix figures as well. I use a Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue as a base coat, Minwax fills the folds with a softer brownish tint and then I can highlight in the "Dallymore fashion (blob) the highlights of the sleeves.

Another "Fantassin" French Line Voltigeur taken from Funken's Arms and Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars, p.35. The plate has a group of shakos that illustrate the "brush" style of pompom.  I used a bit of artistic license again on this figure; adding some patches for a little campaign look.  I like the variant of the figure catching a quick smoke break. "Smoke 'em if you got 'em!"
I'm using a combination of Liquitex Medium Viscosity White with a topcoat of Vallejo White for belting, pantaloons and vest.  The medium viscosity covers any mistakes and the Vallejo richens the color. I don't know if anyone really cares how I paint or what techniques I use but these techniques have been acquired over the years from master painters. Just wanting to share lessons learned.

The Prince of Neuchatel fielded troops for Napoleon's venture in Spain. They were derisively called "Canaries" for their yellow uniforms. I've seen different interpretations of the "yellow" while researching my rendition. I took this from a plate in Embleton.  Again, the Golden Deep Yellow was the the base color, toned down quite well by the Minwax Royal Walnut, then highlighted in Vallejo Light Yellow.  As I've posted previously, Victrix figures come with an assortment of arm and head choices. This really gives the painter good variations with which to work.

Another Swiss Line Infantry Voltigeur taken from Embleton.  I use a three color combo for reds. This picture just doesn't do the depth of colors justice.  I'm looking forward to painting some Swiss to go with my Napoleonic 54mm collection.

This is a depiction of a Legion Hanovere Voltigeur, 1810 from Embleton, p.97.  Following the French occupation of Hannover, a large flood of Hanoverians went to England and formed up as the King's German Legion. Napoleon and his staff weren't going to let an opportunity to pick up some more fodder slip by.  The British gained about 15,000 troopers/officers. The French did not get 1/10th of these numbers. They served under General Loison between 1808-1810.  They missed the carnage at Vimiero but were present Bussaco as a brigaded force with the Legion du Midi.  The Legion Hanovere were thrown back with significant casulties.  This was a fun figure to paint.

Napoleon ordered uniform changes that some regiments followed but some regiments just tended to "ignore".  This figure represents one of the changes.  Taken from Funken's Arms and Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars, p. 33, figure #3. White uniforms are difficult to get right without either laying on a heavy shade or using the "wash" technique. I don't do that. I use Minwax Royal Walnut and then paint the highlights where necessary. Saves me time when I want to get a project completed in a timely basis.  I don't like to take months to paint a single figure.  My war gaming bud Clay Smith tells me "it would look better if I took more time."  He's right as usual but I am a devotee of the "git 'er done" school of painting projects.

This is an example of a Westfalian Volt. circa 1812. The figure is painted according to Knoetl's Uniforms of the World, p.241.  I've painted Junot's VIII Corps in 15mm, 28mm and now starting to paint it again in 18/20mm as a Napoleon at War army. My friends are definitely not surprised. I can crank out lots of infantry quickly when I paint VIII Corps. I also like to play a less trained Corps to see if I can do better than Junot.  Most of the time, my tactics echo poor Junot.

Here's another Funken "fantassin" Volt. As I've previously gone on and on about; I like the different head variations in the Victrix box sets. This is the first time I've painted full faces on a war gaming figure in years. I used the old Model Soldier Guide step by step technique modified by using acrylic paints and a .03mm permanent ink roller ball pen by Pentel. Yeah, I cheated on the eyes but I don't like to paint them, am not patient when painting them and view the process as a pain in the butt.







The bottom line is that these figures are a super bargain for the 54mm war gamer and collector. They're consistent across the box set and once painted, provide the collector with a strikingly nice looking set.  Highly recommended. I got mine from Ken Cliffe at All the King's Men. His business is highly recommended as well. He does business the right way. I'm looking forward to adding his Cuirassiers, Carabiniers and Line Infantry to my collection soon.  Will post up photos of how they look as a work in progress and completed unit.  It did take 21 days to complete.  This is way more time than I like to paint a project. Hopefully, I've learned how to improve and reduce the painting time. Please keep checking back as this project matures.  I'll see a few of you at Millenium Con in Austin

Victrix 54mm Voltiguers Project-Work in Progress

Ken Cliffe from All the King's Men Model Soldiers twisted my arm severely (not really) to start a 54mm Napoleonic journey.  I've recently returned to regular life stuff after a month in hospitals. It sucks to get old but at least my hematologist nailed why I kept having recurring issues.  For the past 20 years, I was being treated for the wrong issue. Resolved now and set on the right path.  I'm learning to walk again and will translate from my pimped out walker to a cane. It is my intention to walk on two feet again as my leg can't figure out how to follow instructions from my brain to move my foot.  Hey, it coulda' been worse!  Enough about me, now moving on about what Ken Cliffe "made me do".

I've painted some Warlord 28 mm ECW plastics previously and was a bit wary of painting 54mm plastics because I felt the Warlord figures weren't "cut deeply" (folds, etc.) enough to work with my painting style.  When I got the Victrix figures, the old wariness set in again. I was put off by having to assemble each figure.  No fault of Victrix mind you; the box set contains a multiplicity of arms, heads, swords, and "stuff".  I am spoiled to the quality of ATKM figures so there it is...I posted it.  

My concerns were alleviated after putting all 16 of these figures together.  They glued together easily, had a lot of mold lines/flash to scrape and cut,  but the final product was OK.  I also like the idea that the box set produces enough figures to fill out 8 battalions of line infantry volts. or two units of "Light Infantry" if played in the ATKM rules format.  Good value. 

Here are several figures in the process of basic block painting of colors.  Shading and lining will happen once I finish out the other figures in the unit.  I've glued the figures down to an ATKM line infantry base instead of a circular ATKM light infantry base. Again, my thinking is to put these guys straight into my French line battalions.  Looks as if I'll "need" another box set to paint the Grenadier companies.  Darn the bad luck right?  My current plan is to paint a brigade of French, a brigade of British unless Ken brings out Russians or I find the address of the manufacturer that does them in plastics heh heh heh, a brigade of light horse for both sides, a brigade of heavy horse for both sides and artillery for both sides.  Yes Virginia, I AM an addict! 

You might notice the different plumes on the figures. I'm taking a different tack (go figure...I NEVER follow the leader on much of anything) on this collection.  I've been a collector of Napoleonic reference materials since 1980.  This box set just begged to be painted as a "series" or a rendition of a "change and continuity" of uniforms over time.  I pulled out my old Funken series, my copious collection of Osprey "comic books", an old edition (1974) of Military Uniforms of the Peninsular War, just had to pull out my "Otto von Pivka" (sic) Armies of 1812 and hit the Internet to gather enough plates and pictures to paint each of of these figures in either a different uniform or as an evolution of uniforms from 1809-1812.  I'm also including several allied contingents such as Westfalians (because I like them and can), Swiss (because they are red), Neuchatel (because they're the Canaries), Italians (I don't know why but I'm basically lazy and the majority of their uniform is white).  This little project is going to be a blast and will lend some color to my collection when plonked on the game table.  

Here's what started this mess....I'm sure you purists and Napoleonic experts in the ethersphere will snicker, laugh derisively and flame me for "trusting" Funken, Osprey, ad nauseum for painting references. OK, now that all that is done; I wanted my collection to be different than a standard wargamer's collection. 54mm collecting is a little different than my 28, and 15mm collections. The ideas of producing vignettes, constructing figures using themes,  and just having a little fun is intriguing and has kept my interest while painting mass quantities of 54s.  

Here's that old copy of Military Dress of the Peninsular War. It was copyrighted 1974.  It's been one of my best friends for years. I like the campaign look of the plates. That's why some of my figures will have patches on the knees and will sport "appropriated" brown pants (taken from monk's cassocks) in Spain.  

I'll post more regularly now that I'm feeling better and hopefully you'll be able see some progress on this project.  Now how to squeeze in completing my Napoleon at War British, French armies, paint more 54mm AWI, complete the terrain/buildings/table eye candy to paint.  Lots o' projects, lots o' time.  Keep checking back for updates.  That is all!