Update

It has been several months since I wrote my last post on this blog. Lack of time and other projects unfortunately limited playing time, which was however compensated by more painting of Napoleonic 1:72 plastic minis.

After the last battle, I focused especially on Russian troops, with one unit of Grenadiers (Zvezda), one of Cuirassiers (Zvezda) which is useful as Guard Cavalry too, 3 artillery batteries (again from Zvezda), 2 units of Dragoons (Hat) and 2 of Cossacks (Hat again). A single unit of French Old Guard infantry (Esci) rounded up my painting effort during these last few months.

 

I think I now have a completely painted Russia Army, except for the officers' stands (Army CO and Sub-commanders). Maybe just a single Hussars unit would be good to have too, and I have some “reserves” (extra figures from boxes I haven't fully utilized yet) too in case they are needed.

 

Some of the painted units have been used in a recent small game based on OHW's scenario 12 ("An unfortunate oversight"), with Russian attackers vs French defenders (the French won), but I still plan to play something more structured.

 

In the meantime, I've bought some more minis too: a Prussian Infantry Sampler set from Hat, that has one sprue each of Marching, Action and command figures – the 1813 Prussian Army is one I really lack minis of, so this is a nice addition and the sample will let me decide which kind of poses do interest me more.

 

Then I bought a Italeri set of French Horse Artillery with prepared positions. I lacked Horse Artillery and this set has excellent sculpting, while the accessories are very useful for redoubts – I'm very pleased with my purchase. I also bought a box of French Young Guard by Hat: the sculpting is fairly good but honestly not exceptional, but the fact they're in greatcoats makes them useful for many roles and there are enough for 4 full units.

I have painted 3 units with blue greatcoats that will mark them as Young Guards (I need 2-3 of these for battles like Dresden, or La Rothiere), and one with grey greatcoats for generic infantry or for some of the less-well equipped Young Guards in 1813-1814. I've also painted an old Airfix French Foot artillery gun + crew. It may look strange, but almost no-one produces French foot artillery (only Guard artillery), except for the old Airfix and for Zvezda... and it looks like the Zvezda set too is impossible to find (out of production I guess...). Which is a pity because the Zelda sets are usually excellent and this is no exception. Unfortunately, it's not the only one I can't find (the Russian Hussars are not available anymore too...).

However, I now have all the painted units (except the general officers) I need for a scenario inspired to the Battle of Dresden in 1813, which I recently played. This will be the subject of a future post.

Painting update March 2019

Still almost no gaming and just painting... However, I'm fairly satisfied with my painting: I could still do better both in quality and speed, but somehow I manage to paint 4 bases/units each month (barely), which is the fastest I've been in years (I know I know, my standards were really that low...)...

Last units painted since last Christmas have been 3 units of French Line Infantry and 1 of Russian Line Infantry (all ESCI), 2 of French Guard Artillery (Esci) and 2 of Austrian Artillery (HaT). All based for my version of Grande Armee.

2 units of French Line Infantry

1 unit of Russian Line Infantry (left)
and 1 of French Light Infantry (right)

Artillery units "mixed" by my kids

A more "martial" view of the 2 Austrian (left)
and 2 French Old Guard (right) artillery units

Currently on the painting table are

• 2 units of Austrian Cuirassiers (HaT)
• 1 unit of French Cuirassiers (ESCI)
• 1 unit of French Voltiguers (Zvezda)

The Austrian Cuirassiers are the easiest and quickest to paint, while the Voltiguers are a real challenge due to the excellent Zvezda sculpting that brings out lots of details. Looking forward to finish them all!

A wargaming Christmas... plus 2018 reflections and projects for 2019

2018 is ending and it's time for a small tradition I've seen over the various miniature wargaming blogs... that of reflections on what has been done in this year what projects are ahead for the next one!

First of all, I'm closing the year with a truly "wargaming" Christmas... a short illness prevented me from actually setting up and playing a game these last few days, but this truly was  a Christmas where presents took the form of wargaming minis and equipment...

I received several 1/72 Napoleonics sets from various manufacturers (Plastic Soldiers Review for each is linked so you can see what's inside):

2 from Zvezda: Russian Grenadiers and Russian Guard Heavy Artillery.

Zvezda is surely doing some outstanding job, producing excellent sets that truly stand out in terms of historicity and sculpting... I already had their beautiful French Voltiguers, and I'm sure to take more sets from them in the future.

3 from Italeri: French Dragoons, French Imperial General Staff and Prussian Light Cavalry.

The Italian company has its headquarters near my home city and I visited them once. The French Dragoons are a truly excellent set and the French Imperial General Staff is a nice addition (too bad the other command sets aren't up to this standard, even if I'll take them sooner or later anyway...). The Prussian Cavalry (actually dragoons) set is described on PSR to have several sculpting and size issues and I had some doubts before, but they cover an interesting subject that isn't easy to find elsewhere and after seeing them in my hands I feel they are not bad at all. Probably the only real thing that stands out negatively is the horses' poses - some are a bit ridiculous, but that won't be enough to stop me using and painting them anyway!

All these sets complement the ones I had taken in November (Waterloo's 1815 very good Prussian Hussars, Hat's Austrian Artillery and Austrian Cuirassiers), I feel I'm reaching a very good stage in variety and quality.

Plus, I also received a modeling kit (I never had a complete one and used less-than-perfect means for cutting sprues and flash...) that is already being put to good use!

Finally, since this remains a blog that started over Risorgimento Wargaming, I've recently purchased this book on Risorgimento battles. Not many details over each single battle, but a good, quick overwiev of the campaigns and some very interesting reflections on the armies and how they fought.

Reflections on 2018...

I rediscovered miniature wargaming in 2017 (IIRC) thanks to Neil Thomas' One Hour War-games and started this blog in February this year... 24 posts (25 with this one) were written, with a lull during the summer months due to other commitments. Not bad for a first year... I started some projects, continued some, left others and started some more; overall it was satisfying because it build a small niche for personal fun. I discovered more rulesets I didn't know and lots of wargamers that play great games and paint even better. My blog is small, just a reflection of the few time I can devote to this hobby nowadays, but it was really exciting because, as they say, the best is yet to come...

...and projects for 2019

And speaking about what is to come, what are my projects for 2019?

I will probably leave the Colonial project aside, at least for a while. I'm currently concentrating on Napoleonics and want to playtest my ideas for fast Grande Armee. I aim to recreate the battle of Dresden (1813) this year, I already have most minis (I just really miss some French Young Guard, Austrian Grenzers and Grenadiers and a few other smaller bits) but I need to paint them. As usual, I'll play even if not everything is painted and even if not everything is correct (I prefer playing with proxies than not playing... because after all playing remains the real aim!).

Still, most of my time will be about painting the minis for that - and in the meanwhile play smaller games to test the rules and see if they really fit my needs.

Finally, I hope to at least write some more scenarios for Risorgimento battles, maybe continuing the Barolo campaign I have started this year...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!

Small painting update

A short update on my painting. Sometimes it takes quite a lot for me to finish a units, while in other times it takes me just a few sessions: this time I got both things, as I started painting two cavalry units and then left them aside for some months... only to take them back to the painting table and finish them quickly.

Recently painted units

Recently, my painted units included 2 units of French Line Infantry, 1 unit of Polish Lancers and 1 unit of British Hussars. 

Polish Lancers (Esci)

French Line Infantry (Italeri)

The Hussars had a complicated painting sequence... I knew very little of British Hussar uniforms during the Napoleonic Wars, and I started painting them as Crimean War hussars, since that's how they were labeled in their box image (Lord Cardigan's 11th Hussars). Then I read their entry on Plastic Soldier Review and found out the sculpts actually were more accurate for the Napoleonic Wars, not Crimea, but the uniform colors were wrong... especially the trousers. In short, I made a quick search or the correct colors (this mainly impacted the trousers, the bugsby and a few other details and repainted the relevant parts...) and I managed to convert them to the 5th Cavalry Brigade during the 100-jours campaign, with half painted as 7th Hussars and half as 15th Hussars.

British Hussars 1815 (Esci)

Now I will probably turn to artillery, in particular Austrian Artillery. I also have French Hussars, and French Voltiguers mounted and ready for playing and painting... but I still have to decide in which order I'll paint them!

My wargaming projects

Some thoughts about my wargaming projects.

As looks evident from my previous posts, the Italian Risorgimento is a primary interest for me wargaming-wise, especially regarding scenarios and playing games (mainly with Neil Thomas' Wargaming 19th Century Europe rules). Can't do much about it now regarding minis, because 1/72 plastics scale there're very few kits that touch this topic and those who do are not easy to come by. Of course there're good 28mm (Mirliton, Cibo's Little Dudes, Gringo40s...) or 15mm (Mirliton) metal sets, but the cost (especially for 28mm) compared to 1/72 plastics is a no go.

Another two projects concern Napoleonics and eventually 7 Years War, both (especially Napoleonic) are well covered in 1/72 and I already own several sets, which I'm currently painting at a slow pace and use for proxies for 1848. I'm still thinking about which ruleset to use, however.

Finally, I'm considering Colonial warfare, in particular Italy vs Dervishes and Italy vs Ethiopians in the 1880s-1890s. Few proper 1/72 options exists, but British colonials could work as acceptable proxies for Italian regulars, while Egyptians and Sudanese regulars could work for Askaris. I guess I may find something valid for Ethiopians somewhere... Dervishes are instead already covered. Besides, the same minis could work for other Colonial theaters too (Sudan, NWF, Zulu Wars...). Rules would be The Men Who Would Be Kings (TMWWBK), which I've already ordered and should arrive soon.

Plastic 1/72 miniatures

I love 15mm for wargaming, I’ve used them a lot for years for DBA, DBM and Fields of Glory, mainly thanks to my brother’s large collection (and my limited one). I still have lots of them unpainted, especially Essex Byzantines, Turks, Arabs, Macedonians, Persians, Classical Greek and even a bag of Old Glory SYW Austrians. But being married and with 2 twin kids means I have to cut a bit on hobby expenses, therefore I’ve turned to 1/72 plastic minis. I have a lot of them since childhood, mainly Esci, but also a few old Airfix and Atlantic, and more recent Revell and Italeri (I also had one box of Zvezda Cossacks, but I can’t find them anymore). They are mainly Napoleonics, but also several WWII and a few ACW, TYW and other periods.

They have now become my go-to scale, due to the fact I already have many, their cheapness (I can more easily afford a new set from time to time) and also generally good quality and increasing number of available sets. Quality varies between sets and between producers (see PlasticSoldiers Review, an excellent resource), but overall I’m pleased and willing to pass over errors – after all, my main aim is to play!

Lately I’ve (re)started painting them too. I never had a great hand, even if I was still able to produce some passable work. Now, with fewer time and worse eyes and hand, I’ve stuck to Bruce Quarrie's famous quote:

“But do, please do, make some effort to paint them. Even if your hand isn't as steady as you would like, it isn't so much to ask of anybody a black shako (hat), red or blue jacket, and gray or white trousers, with perhaps a touch of pink for face and hands, and black shoes and musket – is it? If painted in batches of a dozen or so at a time, doing all the hats first, then all the jackets, and so on, it does not take long, and the result in terms of tabletop appearance well justifies the slight effort”

Quarrie, Bruce, Napoleonic Wargaming  (Patrick Stephens, 1974, p.6)

So yes, I’m just going with basic colors (mainly Vallejo) and reducing details to a minimum and painting in batches of 24 at a time (2 bases as I use them). I've seen that around 20-25 figures at a time are something I can easily adapt to – not too many that I get bored by painting a single color, but not too few that I'm eager to paint more and can't. In addition I also found a trusty help in something I’ve bought some years ago and never opened until now: the Army Painter Quickshade. Even a basic, plain paintjob like I do gets a considerable boost with it, and results have been really satisfying.

1813-1815 Prussians (Revell)

IR9 with Leibfahne (right), IR10 (left), mounted officer

I have a general-purpose Strong Tone, even if for Austrians or others with white uniforms maybe a Soft Tone would be better – unfortunately one can is already quite expensive and therefore I think I'll stick with the Strong tone only, at least for now. At first I thought about giving a matte finish with a spray, but I’ve so far chosen otherwise: the lucid effect QS gives may look a bit strange, but it really makes colors shine and emerge, which I like.

Ok, if you really look at them close-up, you’ll notice several errors and a few points where I’ve been sloppy. But from the tabletop, at “wargame distance”, they look great. Bruce Quarrie was right, you don't need a great paintjob to create a visually-pleasing game. And so far, it's all I'm looking for.

Moreover, this has renewed my enthusiasm with painting minis, and that is a good result by itself. As practice increases, maybe my technique may even improve a bit.