I took a little break from painting figures this weekend and spent some time finishing off the bases of all of my command figures for both French and Prussian armies. That worked out to 15 different bases needing spackle, brown ink wash, a dry brushing of tan paint, and finishing off with some static grass.
Each brigade will have one brigadier general on a round base plus one Aide-de-Camp on a rectangular 1-inch by 2-inch wooden base. The shape of the base will instantly identify the stand as either that of a commander or that of his ADC. Each figure will eventually have his name printed out on a piece of paper and glued to the base. Thus the gamer will know who his command figure represents, and who knows, maybe over time, some brigadiers will perform incredible feats on the battlefield, while others may turn out to be cowards, slackers or poltroons (or all three!).
Setting the command figures and the brigades out on my home table top also gives me a better idea of what I need to do to get the army into game shape. The French are doing fairly well as I now have General de Division Gudin and his ADC painted, as well as those of his two brigadiers Generals de Brigade Petit and Gautier plus their ADCs. The French light cavalry commander, General de Brigade Jacquinot and his ADC in hussar mufti are completed and based, but my heavy cavalry command figure of d'Hautpoul needs his own ADC. I can see that I also need to paint an artillery commander and an assistant.
On the Prussian side, I have three infantry brigadiers, one division commander and one cavalry commander. However, all of the Prussian generals need ADCs. So I spent some time this afternoon selecting the appropriate figures to use for Prussian ADCs and then doing the prep work so that I can prime them later this week. I have yet to select names for the Prussians, other than Blucher, who will command the Prussian cavalry in 1806.
The command stand basing looked so good (and thank you again to Frank Hammond for teaching me his method of applying static grass to bases) that it had me thinking about creating some "vignettes" to place around the battlefield. These will include such things as men and horse casualties, a prisoner of war stand, a vivandiere or two, etc. So I will eventually be working on these items as well.
Finally, I opened up the packet of Front Rank French artillery limber teams and attempted to assemble one of the sets (I bought 8 of them). I made a number of mistakes in the assembly, the first being gluing the limber trail (center pole) upside down. It wasn't apparent to me untill I tried to glue on the front harness bracket that attaches to the limber trail pole. So I filed it down a little bit to make the fit better. I should work out all right. It looks like the most difficult step in the assembly process will be the limber traces that connect the harness to the limber. Front Rank provides some pieces of copper wire (steel plated). You are instructed to cut the pieces to the "proper length". It would be helpful if FR would give you a precise measurement for the "proper length". You then insert one end of the wire into a little notch on the horse and bend a loop in the opposite end of the wire. The loop is then supposed to fit around a horizontal bracket on the limber, afterwhich, you close the loop with pliers. This will be the hard part. I will let you know how it turns out later in the week after I get the pieces painted.
Each brigade will have one brigadier general on a round base plus one Aide-de-Camp on a rectangular 1-inch by 2-inch wooden base. The shape of the base will instantly identify the stand as either that of a commander or that of his ADC. Each figure will eventually have his name printed out on a piece of paper and glued to the base. Thus the gamer will know who his command figure represents, and who knows, maybe over time, some brigadiers will perform incredible feats on the battlefield, while others may turn out to be cowards, slackers or poltroons (or all three!).
Setting the command figures and the brigades out on my home table top also gives me a better idea of what I need to do to get the army into game shape. The French are doing fairly well as I now have General de Division Gudin and his ADC painted, as well as those of his two brigadiers Generals de Brigade Petit and Gautier plus their ADCs. The French light cavalry commander, General de Brigade Jacquinot and his ADC in hussar mufti are completed and based, but my heavy cavalry command figure of d'Hautpoul needs his own ADC. I can see that I also need to paint an artillery commander and an assistant.
On the Prussian side, I have three infantry brigadiers, one division commander and one cavalry commander. However, all of the Prussian generals need ADCs. So I spent some time this afternoon selecting the appropriate figures to use for Prussian ADCs and then doing the prep work so that I can prime them later this week. I have yet to select names for the Prussians, other than Blucher, who will command the Prussian cavalry in 1806.
The command stand basing looked so good (and thank you again to Frank Hammond for teaching me his method of applying static grass to bases) that it had me thinking about creating some "vignettes" to place around the battlefield. These will include such things as men and horse casualties, a prisoner of war stand, a vivandiere or two, etc. So I will eventually be working on these items as well.
Finally, I opened up the packet of Front Rank French artillery limber teams and attempted to assemble one of the sets (I bought 8 of them). I made a number of mistakes in the assembly, the first being gluing the limber trail (center pole) upside down. It wasn't apparent to me untill I tried to glue on the front harness bracket that attaches to the limber trail pole. So I filed it down a little bit to make the fit better. I should work out all right. It looks like the most difficult step in the assembly process will be the limber traces that connect the harness to the limber. Front Rank provides some pieces of copper wire (steel plated). You are instructed to cut the pieces to the "proper length". It would be helpful if FR would give you a precise measurement for the "proper length". You then insert one end of the wire into a little notch on the horse and bend a loop in the opposite end of the wire. The loop is then supposed to fit around a horizontal bracket on the limber, afterwhich, you close the loop with pliers. This will be the hard part. I will let you know how it turns out later in the week after I get the pieces painted.
Nice to see your progress Jim. Well done!
ReplyDelete---
A courier arrived two days ago saying my next two battalions are aboard ship (par avion actually)and en-route to me. All I need to do is base them when they arrive. Thus the depots back in France are reinforcing faster than anticipated.
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En avant,
Bill
Bill: this is why I was priming Prussian last evening. :)
ReplyDeletei just saw in the most recent WI that Victrix is releasing a box of 60 French Infantry 1805-1807.
ReplyDeleteThe quality of their line seems to get better with each new release and when I saw this thought of your project immediately.
hope it is of value to you.
Chris