Painting for May

Another good month for me.
I've completed two of my Hungarian battalions for the 15mm Austrian Napoleonic project (no pictures of them but they can be seen in the last Napoleonic battle report I think).
Even better than that I've also now finished a second Front Rank battalion for the WSS. So I present the French regiment Limousin.

As always I've given them drummers in the royal livery coat but with breeches & stockings as for the rest of the regiment. I'm not sure that's historically accurate but I've don it from the tart and so all my French battalions have the same dress code. Also as a change from the usual quartered lag, Limousin have a distinctive scheme and my thanks to the Warflag site for allowing it to be used for free.

So points for the month: - 160 (2x32 French + 2x48 Austrians)
Points for the year so far:- 742

Brushes & Paints

I had an interesting conversation at Partizan regarding paints and, as it was put to me, my obsession with having uniformity across my figures.
I don't know about you but when I paint figures I have a picture in my mind of how I want the finished unit, and the army, to look. Amongst those features that I want is the necessity that each colour is the same in the unit and, if applicable, to other units. For me it's part of that old school look where ranks of identical figuresmarch across the table, and it's less about the wear and tear of campaigning causing variation in dyes and bleaching by sun and rain. I want that red to be the same when any unit has its facings of that shade. I want a pale grey to be the same pale grey whether it's worn by Champagne or Limousin. Of course my painting style will cause some variation in highlights and such, but essentially I open a pot of paint knowing that it was the same as the old tin.
Indeed I tried painting a variation of unform colours and shades into my first stab at the Great ar Germans I had. I found that I didn't like them and sold them in order to start again. Now my Germans all have the same shade of steel grey and I like them much better.
For this reason I am not inclined to experiment with a wide range of paint manufacturers. I use GW paints because of their consistency and to that end I am willing to pay a little more (plus the convenience of just nipping into town to buy a pot rather than mail order it and have to wait).

However, I am much more willing to try different makers of paint brushes.
Indeed I bought two more types on Sunday at Partizan. These had a moulded finger grip that made holding the brush easy and more akin to using a pen. Nothing new in that I suppose except that I have other brushes that tried to do the same thing (rubber "soft" grip sleeves, triangular brushes, finger grips and such) but with rubbish bristles. Few brushes nowadays seem to hold a point for long. Perhaps it's me and the way I paint, but it seems that many of the brushes I have bought recently - cheap or expensive - lose that fine tip and begin to splay. This was something I used to see only after wearing the brushes down but I find that it is happening far more frequently today.
The odd thing is that if I'm honest I only ever use the same three brushes, moving onto a new one when I can't get the finish I want.

I suppose that this is just a long winded way of saying I'm a creature of habit with a magpie tendency to horde things.

Partizan May 2009

I'd like to share some things that I really liked about the games at this years show, along with somethings I didn't.
Firstly the good.
In the most recent issue of Battlegames there was an interesting article on the depiction of artillery on the tabletop. Nothing new in that, I remember something similar in an old issue of wargames Illusrated, but though provoking nevertheless. So in the first photogrpah I give you an artillery battery deployed with an assortment of paraphenalia to go with it. It goes someway to show how deep the tabletop representation of artillery could be (should be?).

Next something cool.
Cotton wool smoke has been around a long time. So how about inserting small flashing red lights in side the "smoke" to represent muzzle flashes? Sounds tacky doesn't it? But it works and looked pretty cool - better for long lines firing then the odd skirmisher they also used it on but it certainly raised the imagery of the game.

There was also a game for my most favourite period. Purporting to be the attack by Salamander Cutts on the villages across the Gheet at the Battle of Ramillies, the game had some very nice modelled buildings, bridges and figures. All the figures were Front Rank and were painted and based to a very high standard. I particulalry liked the watermill and villages.
The downside was the battalion size. Battalions were represented by 18 figures as determined by the use of the ruleset ("Beneath the Lilly Banners"), which is approximately a 1:40 figures ratio. This contrasts starkly with the horse who are in 6 man squadrons (a 1:20) ratio. The game for me showed the flaws of using different figure ratios. The infantry units look diminutive compared to the horse and the balance is off. Just my opinion and a reinforcement of thought to our use of "Old School" big battalions.

As a footnote I would like to pass my thanks to the Bluebears for yet another fun game. These guys give me a regular boost of fun wargaming that helps to keep the hobby in erspective. It is meant to be fun and that's why I enjoy playing games. Thanks Neil & Phil.

New Regiment

A new French regiment is ready to take to the field.
Languedoc were finished this morning. Figures by Front Rank & flags from the ever useful Warflag site.
I made several changes to the style of painting for these. First more use of GW foundation paint rather than triple layers. So the red is just a two coat process, except for drums and officers who get an extra highlight of GW Blazing Orange. Secondly more use of washes. So the grey coat is blocked in with Codex Grey, washed with black ink and then highlighted with Fortress Grey, the officers getting an extra highlight of Dove grey (from the Anitas paint range). I also washed the sash & flag ribbons with black ink after painting but with no extra highlights.
Finally I did away with basecoating the flesh areas with GW Dark flesh as has been my practice in the past. Instead I blocked in with GW Bronzed Flesh and then GW Flesh Wash before highlighting with GW Elf flesh.
Very pleased with the result. I just hope they can shoot straight.

In the background you can see more figures ready fro priming. I'm already half way through a second battalion so hopefully you'll see another regiment before the end of the month.

Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

Monday night saw the Austrians turn almost certain victory into a catastrophic defeat.
With fifteen baatalions facing twelve the odds were in my favour. Addmittedly the enemy had far more horse but all on one flank and all, hopefully contained by my dragoons. The plan was to overwhelm his right flank before the enemy horse could manage to get amongst the infantry brigade protecting my left.
Things looked good at the start. Advancing across the table I forced the enemy brigade facing me to withdraw into the center. This in turn allowed me to attack the enemy battery on this flank. At the same time my central brigade had advanced far enough to support them and attack the enemy center.
Here it all went wrong.
The enemy kuirassiers cut down the Austrian dragoons in a savage series of melees.
The grenadier briage in the enemy center routed the superior numbers of Austrians.
The enemy battery repulsed the infantry attacking it.
Stunned I saw the Austrian army disintergrate in a single move. From a position where I had the numbers in the right place and in position to overwhelm the enemy, they counterattacked and struck at the heart of the army. The carefully laid plans I had were for nothing.

Whilst it may have been a defeat, the game was played in an excellent manner and throughly enjoyable.
Rules used were the clubs own and the figures for the Austrians are all Chariot Miniatures and Lancashire Games.

Recent Reading

Billed as a novel of naval adventure during the French revolution this story seemed to have a lot going for it.
Sadly it falls well short of the mark.
There are only three brief descriptions of any naval action, including Howe and the glorious first of June. Life on board any ship is skimmed over and the reader had the impression that the author was uncomfortable in having used a naval officer as his hero but had no other contrivance to get the story across.
The main thrust of the story are the efforts of the Pitt administration to undermine the revolutionary government. To do this we have a British naval officer walking the streets of Paris whilst the French governemt is in turmoil. Enter Danton & Robspierre, both of whom we meet during the story and who make their mark in the lives of our main characters.
Add in Thomas Paine from the American revolution and we have a complete who's who of revolutionarys.
The tag line is misleading for the novel and it is a disappointment if you're expecting a novel in the vein of Kent or O'Brien. Well written and well thought out though the story is not what I wanted. As in insight ot life in Paris during the turbulent times of "Madame Guillotine" it is excellent.

Purple Patch

The hobby is in a purple patch. As gamers we've never had it so good.
There are more figure ranges than at any time in the past. These figures are, in general, of superior quality than at any time I've known. Okay they may be more expensive and prices have risen but so to has our buying power.
We have more resources at our finger tips then we've ever known. A few clicks of a mouse and a whole world of information opens up to us without recourse to the library or having to wait for a new book to arrive. Of course at the same time the number of books on any given subject has blossomed and our shelves now creak under the sheer weight of tomes on them.
There are people out there making bases for us, gaming aids, a plethora of dice in all shapes and sizes, and we can choose from a wealth of paints and not just be torn between Humbrol enamels and oil paint.
But this purple patch has a dark side to it.
It is my perception that the hobby is ageing. Most gamers are in their middle ages and there are more of us at the far side of forty than the near side of twenty. Newblood is hard to find and when found difficult to keep.
We live in a plug and play age where everything has to be instant. Time investment for many projects is short and is marketed as a quick solution. There are no long term solutions being sold out there to the young. From school to university, everything has to be done in a short time scale with no long term considerations. Even qualifications are now broken into short segments through the year rather than a two year study for one sitting. As a result we find that when it comes to investing months if not years for a few hours of enjoyment they find it hard.
Our club is no exception. We have more members than at any time in recent years. We have attracted more new members this year than in the previous five combined. But the average age is over forty and rising.
I have no answers and I certainly have more questions, but in the end does it matter? The hobby will survive in some form or other as it has in the past.

Painting for April

Another month gone by and what to show for it?
Well I've now finished all the German regiments for my 15mm Napoleonic Austrians. Four more battalions to swell the ranks so that's 192 figures.
Add in that I've also now finished rebasing all the light cavalry - 192 figures rebased this month. With your permission I'll count a half point for each so that's 96 points.

Total for the month - 288
Total for the year so far = 582