Still a lot to do before this gets seriously underway, but this weekend I've started cleaning up some infantry figures for painting, as part of my Napoleonic Bavarian project. The chaps in the picture make up two battalions - most of them are Der Kriegsspieler, though the command are a mix of Hinton Hunt and Falcon.
The first batch should yield three painted battalions - not sure of the timing, but at least things are moving now.
The infantry will be provided by castings from DK, HH, SHQ (provided the castings are better than the batch I received recently - legs missing etc) and the Hagen-reissued Falcon range. The gunners will be SHQ (since I can't afford the Franznap ones) and the cavalry are still to be worked out. Since the cavalry of my target period of 1809-12 all wore variations on very similar uniforms, it should be possible to recruit nearly all the cavalry from the Hinton Hunt chevauxleger OPC figures, with conversions based thereupon.
My target OOB is in two stages:
The "halfway-house" target is Deroy's 3rd Division of Lefebvre's VII Corps of 1809 - this comprises two brigades of infantry, plus one of cavalry, plus a couple of batteries for the Division. The cavalry brigade is of two regiments (1 Chevauxlegers + 1 of dragoons), and the infantry brigades each comprise 2 x 2-bn line regiments plus a light battalion - that's 10 battalions total.
The longer-term objective is to add Wrede's 2nd Division, which has a very similar structure.
The accumulation of figures proceeds - I have them organised into tubs within crates, as you see, but there's a fair amount to obtain still.
I confess to some nervousness over the small matter of painting HH or DK type figures. It's been a while since I did this on any non-trivial scale, and I am uncomfortably aware that the glories which we see weekly from the blogs of Stryker, Wellington Man and Mark D show how this should be done. I don't anticipate getting even close to that quality, so I'll just have to take refuge behind the old "effective in the mass" policy embraced by some of the wargaming pioneers.
Problem with DK and similar (obviously) is that the detail of the figures is to some extent implied rather than set out in crisp relief in the manner of more modern castings. It'll be fine, I'm sure, but I'm not going into this with any level of arrogance, I can assure you! Doubtless you will see some painted figures emerging fairly shortly, but if my painting is disappointing they may be standing in the distance, slightly out of focus, in Old School black-and-white.
Tony I've seen enough of your painting up close to know you'll make a great job of these. I'm really looking forward to seeing the first few units!
ReplyDeleteAgreed! Very eager to see these take shape beneath your brush.
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
Tony, whatever you produce will be well received. Looking forward to hordes of painted Bavarians.
ReplyDeleteGentlemen - I really didn't mean to sound quite so pathetic - sorry about that! I'm not really frightened about HH/DK-painting, but it does get into a world which has its own lore and its own standards. The advantage with Les Higgins figures is that everything you need to paint is right there on the casting, so once you have the hang of the uniform it isn't necessary to have the uniform plates open in front of you. It's easy to get used to that - and my work with Art Mini, Falcata, NapoleoN etc has all been along the same lines.
ReplyDeleteOne big issue here is speed - if I am to progress at a pace similar to that achieved with my 1809 Spaniards, then there just isn't time for a collector-standard job. I shall not be painting lines alongside any belting, whatever the tradition!
The other chaps are quite correct nonetheless, Tony. There's nothing wrong with your painting standard. Your new army promises to look magnificent.
ReplyDeleteThank you - just don't anybody hold their breath.
DeleteThese will be most interesting! Bavaria is in the news right now; a museum dedicated to the Bavarian Dachshund dog has opened in Passau. Could one of the Bavarian commanders perhaps be accompanied on campaign by his faithful 'sausage dog' - a sort of echo of Prince Rupert (from the nearby Palatinate, of course) and his 'Boye' ? Just a thought..
ReplyDeleteInteresting - naturally I checked with Wikipedia, and was impressed to see that the list of famous owners included Kaiser Wilhelm and Pablo Picasso, though as far as I could see they were the only non-Americans ever. Funny, that.
DeleteI'd also be very interested in ensuring a supply of Uli's "Dampfnüdeln" (from my Regensburg visit) to feed the troops. No - in fact never mind the troops - for me.