Thursday, March 18, 2010

6mm French Napoleonics Eyecandy Extravaganza!

...In which our protagonist really just wants to show off his stuff.

By taking pictures like this, I can pretend I'm actually making good progress!

Work continues slowly but steadily on Marshal Ney's III corps for the 1812 project. I finished a few more bases since my last post, but rather than taking pictures of them individually, I opted to dig out some scenery as well as Davout's I corps and take some pics showing the Grande Armée so far. If you've been paying close enough attention, you might be able to pick the new bases in the crowd.

Why is it my troops always seem to have their backs to a forest? Are they attacking out of the woods like a pack of savage Ewoks? Could it be that I just don't have anything else suitable as a backdrop?

The French side has three main advantages, as I see it:

1) A great variety of troops. Even having started with the most 'French' of corps, I've already done some Spanish, Portuguese and Polish troops, have the entire Württemberg division on deck, and there are zillions more units from all over Europe that will eventually join the ranks. Even without including allies, the French cavalry has more different types than anyone else!


The III corps so far. The brigade at the top left is a 'loaner' from the I corps. Still to come are the corps artillery, command, and a rather large (and snazzy) division from Württemberg.

2) Very colourful. While taking pictures of my Russians, I realized anew that brighter is better in 6mm. The Russians don't really stand out at a distance, whereas the French do. Yes, the French coats are supposed to be some kind of 'dark' blue, but most people will accept a brighter hue (such as I've been using) at this scale. Really, I should have gone for a battle with a brightly-coloured opponent, like the Austrians, the British, or the Spanish.

 A test base from the Cavalry Reserve managed to sneak into this picture. Can you spot it?

3) Complete range. When you're trying to follow a specific order of battle, nothing's more frustrating than discovering that you can't find minis for all your troops. Luckily I can find pretty much everything I need for the Allied side at Borodino, including not only obscure troop types, but also a variety of different poses for the more common types to make things more interesting.

Variety is the spice of life.

Why do French cavalrymen wear green? I've never figured that out.

Of course the Grande Armée is frickin' giant. As is the Russian army of 1812. The more I paint and the longer it takes, the more I wonder whether I'll be able to see this project through. On the one hand, it would be so cool if I could; on the other, there are so many other great projects I'd love to do. It's a toss up.

My bases seem to have been getting distinctly grassier, which is both unnecessary and expensive. I should cut back.

Have I mentioned recently how awesome Adler's cavalry figures are?

And, now that I've run out of content, I'll just let the rest of the pictures do the talking:





While I try to figure out how long I can stick to the plan for this project, I'll continue to paint the minis I already have for it. Heck, even if I don't buy any more, the stuff I already have should keep me busy for most of the year at the rate I'm currently getting through them!

Until next time, adios.

9 comments:

  1. Impressive! They look amazing, wouldn't have believed them to be 6mm.
    Well done!

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  2. I'm trying not to go into another period and then you come along with beauties like these. I'm very, very impressed not just with the figures but with the basing and the table. All three blend together to make a work of art.

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  3. Absolutely beautiful. Tell them to stand right there and I'll get my artillery ready.

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  4. Absolutely unbeleivable. They are beautiful.

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  5. What more can one add...oh boy, oh boy! I thought this project was a bit ambitious at first, but you've more than lived up to it....please see it through, if only to guarantee our vicarious pleasure! :-)

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  6. Mike, superb visual effect and precisely why I love Adler's miniatures. Great stuff. :)

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  7. Thanks, as always, for the comments, everyone.

    My current 'realistic' plan for the Borodino project is to do the centre of the action, around Raevsky's redoubt and the fleches. That means Davout's, Ney's and Prince Eugene's corps as well as the cavalry reserve and maybe Junot's corps for the Allies, and for the Russians, the entire 2nd Army, plus Tuchkov's corps, the Guard, the cavalry reserve, and maybe Doctorov's corps as well. With that goal in mind, I'm probably 30-40% done!

    Somewhere along the line I'll also have to do up some scenery; as I'm likely looking at a maximum table size of 8'x4' due to space considerations, that will largely dictate how much of the order of battle I actually cover.

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  8. Absolutely Incredible!
    This is an ARMY!!!

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  9. Brilliant

    Any Later work?

    Mike Leese

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