Napoleonic & ECW wargaming, with a load of old Hooptedoodle on this & that


Wednesday 28 April 2021

Slow and Steady Does It

 I have a number of refurb jobs on the go at the moment - quite a lot of them, in fact - and I find it satisfying when I complete one, but increasingly I find that the unfinished ones nag at me. It's not that I was better organised when I was younger, it's just that I seem to worry about it more now. Perhaps I have less confidence in there being plenty of time? - Let's not go there.

I'm spending a few weeks - during the start of the Spring temperate painting season - clearing off some of the Napoleonic backlog, to clear the mind and free up some boxes for re-use. One of these has been on the go for about 4 years - a pile of old, rather bashed figures I got very cheaply from the worthy Steve Cooney, which I lined up for one of my "cannonfodder" projects. This is not intended as any kind of a poke at Steve, I hasten to add - I knew exactly what I was getting into when I took them on! This batch consisted of old Der Kriegsspieler castings, and - Steve being Steve - he had taken his soldering iron to bayonets, gaiters, bases...

 
Five additional battalions; the rank and file are mostly tweaked Der Kriegsspielers, from many years ago. There are SHQ, Hinton Hunt and Schilling among the command figures. I was short of grenadiers, so recruited some Alberken Old Guard to make up the numbers - I had some misgivings about these, since the castings are relatively crude, but they came out all right, I think!

These chaps are never going to win any prizes for beauty, and have actually been quite a lot of work to paint up, but in the end they are pretty much what I was aiming for - hoping for the old Featherstone objective of "looking good in the mass".

During the intervening 4 years, I have had an occasional peep at their current state, noted that the Refurb Fairies had once again failed to come to help out, and I had rather quailed at the prospect of resuming work on them, but this has all been cowardice. Since I set my mind to finishing them, I've rather enjoyed the painting sessions, though I've listened to an awful lot of BBC Radio 3 and drunk a lot of black tea in the process.

So I have added 2 battalions of the 65e Ligne and 3 battalions of the 22e to Brennier's (Sixth) Divn of the Armée de Portugal, circa 1812. I already have one battalion of the 17e Léger and a solitary battalion of the Regiment de Prusse, so I only need the missing light battalion, a couple of groups of combined voltigeurs and some staff, and I need to allocate one of the spare foot artillery batteries to them, and the Division is done.

In the unlikely circumstance of anyone being interested, I must explain [to myself, really], that it has taken me about 3 months to break my new house rule of no 3rd battalions. The 22e really do need a 3rd battalion, or their brigade will be a runt. I have, however, stuck to my existing rule that 3rd battalions don't get flags [that'll teach them].

Finishing little projects is good - even sub-projects. Must nurture my enthusiasm... 

Thanks to Steve for supplying the figures back in 2017 - worked out fine, and his boys will fight on.

 

17 comments:

  1. They look very nice Tony - I’m impressed that it only takes you four years to complete a project, well done that man!

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    1. Thanks Ian - over my entire wargaming career, 4 years is not one the longer ones, so it's all good!

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  2. Agreed! They look very good in fact. In addition, I have always admired your preference for including mounted officers with infantry units. As is only right and proper.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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    1. Thanks Stokes - I liked the pictures of infantry with mounted officers in Charge and the Charles Grant books, so decided very early to adopt that as a standard. It also serves as a useful reminder to the rank and file that they are inferior. These things are important, I think.

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  3. They look really nice, I’ve just decided that none of my projects will ever be finished as I can always find a reason to add more. It also avoids the stress and worry of working to an end game whatever that may be

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    1. Thank you Graham - I'm happy with my crowds of little soldiers really! In my quieter moments, I have to admit that I got a fright a few years back, when I helped a lady to clear her house after her husband had died - in fact i didn't do much clearing, just helped identify what needed to be cleared. This chap (who had plenty of money, in fact) had always been a keen modeller (especially aero kits), all his life. In his last years of illness he was no longer able to do any modelling, but he kept buying big boxes of Japanese plastic and filling the loft with them. Most of them unopened when he passed away - I guess he still got some pleasure out of buying the stuff, and imagining that he would build it eventually, but the sight of his house after he died was a real shock to me - like a shrine to hopelessness, or something. Very sad.

      To be honest, i don't brood about this at all, but sometimes a big project (by my standards!) is a little daunting. I can see merit in keeping all projects open-ended - I think that's great - but actually finishing bits off is important to me, so my open-ended projects usually consist of smaller sub-projects that I can put a tick against when they're done!

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  4. There is a certain satisfaction to completing a postponed task...or at least I can imagine there would be, haven't put it to the test.

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  5. Those are a grand sight to behold indeed. Refurbishing older DK castings is quite the task, not to mention to do so with such dedication to the task 4 years in. I am in awe of your decision to include third battalions even!

    Your story above is a reminder of how I really need to start channeling my inner Zen Buddhist, and just let go of those projects that are nagging me for attention, and yet I know realistically I will never get to.

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    1. Thank you David - I am pleased with them - they'll be well employed in my campaign armies, as soon as I get them organised.

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    1. Thanks Peter - they either got rescued or they went in the bin (or, I suppose, they could have just lain in a spares box forever). Good result.

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  7. Geez Tony, you are a hard man to please, they look bloody marvellous to me! :) As Stokes noted, the mounted officers really add to the overall effect too.
    Beautiful stuff.
    Regards, James

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    1. No - hey, I'm pleased! This is me smiling - it looks like a spasm, but I'm smiling. I am very happy with how they turned out. I feel good about the empty project boxes and the sudden increase in the bottletop count too.

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    2. "Increase in bottletop count"; you are a gem Tony! :)

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  8. Very smart indeed, Tony.
    They're interesting figures, those DK French 1809ers. I have a theory that the Duke used slightly adapted HH Young Guard Tirailleurs for the fusiliers and Young Guard Voltigeurs for the line voltigeurs. Whatever the case, you've created some lovely battalions with them.
    Best regards
    Matthew.

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    1. Thank you Matthew - I find DK pretty much unfathomable. I am pleased that they are now mentioned in polite society though - I think that's progress.

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