Breaking news!

The Helion website has just announced that North Star Miniatures will be selling the helion 1866 range from now on. There is also a wish for the range to be developed further in the future, hopefully to complement the new Great War Miniatures crimean range they also stock. However, this may be just wishful thinking on my part. Anyway it is good news that these fine models will still be available. Although it is a great shame to see that Duncan has been unable to complete the range as he would have wished.

French Line Infantry 1870

I thought i would do a quick unit of FPW figures as it is meant to be the main focus of this blog even if i do get distracted quite often. These are Foundry models from the late 80s which i bought a while back in one of their 20% sales which bring the price down to a respectable level. I never by models from them unless in a sale as £11 for 6/8 models (or 3/4 cav) is just a bit too much for me. Despite their age these models are still some of the best and largest range of 28mm FPW models available (see previous grumbles about paucity of 28mm new models, excellent helion excepted).
Most of the models are in the standard charging poses with a few sergeants etc chucked in to break up the monotony. all are uniformed in the imperial phase outfits of greatcoat and epualettes. Interestingly the greatcoat was worn exclusively by the line infantry instead of the tunique a practice that apparently began in colonial conflcits in N. africa, where the temperature changes from hot days to freezing nights. Only one sergeant and the officer wear the tunique. Also i have painted the officer in an extremely dark uniform, virtually black, as officers presumably to show off their wealth and the quality of their clothes wore a much darker hue of the standard tunique with officers braid
Finally something i try to do on my french is add a few long service chevrons (upwards pointing chevrons on left upper arm only, coloured gold for sergeants and red for corporals and soldiers) and rank markers (single inner to outer upwards bar on both lower arms two gold sergeant major, single gold sergeant, 2 red corporal, 1 red private 1st class)
i normally have units of 16 models representing a full strength battalion of 600 men in 1870 (1 model=50men) although as you can see i painted 7 bases this time, theres no reason for this, i just had the models to hand and did them all together, c'est la vie. I have been looking to go back to trying the fire and fury mod fire and furia francese by nick dorell of the wyre wargames group http://www.wfgamers.org.uk/ as i realised i need to start playing again or this really does become a peculiar hobby. On the same not i have gone through and checked out what 15mm FPW models i have and so you may see some updates on these in the future as i try to organise them and finish off some units to use for fire and fury

AWI Generals (2)

these are the other 2 generals from the Perry miniatures american generals pack. Both are in standard uniform and look quite nice i think. one in a more standard and dignified officer pose whilst the other is leaning over his horse encouraging his men with a flourish of his hat! i like to think that this one is Benedict Arnold maybe at Quebec, so maybe i should have painted him in the red british uniform he wore in the early years of the war, oh well.
i did have a bit of an issue with these as for some strange reason they both have sashes which dont seem to be a feature of officers dress in any of the books i have. so after much deliberation i chose to paint them red, just as this always seems like an officer sort of colour, maybe becasue im british. my reasoning being that pale blue was apparently reserved for the commander in chief i.e. washington, and its likely that the american army would have aped the british with so many having served in both armies

French Garde Mobile

Ah the much maligned French Garde Mobile, often put down as a poor substitute for the regular army of Napoleon III but rarely remembered that they kept the war going for a full 5 months after the capitulation at Sedan. What they may have lacked in training and equipment, they made up for in motivation and numbers, with the French armies of the later/republican war often putting as many if not more men in the field than their German counterparts.
These are Foundry models which as ive said before, i am not a huge fan of these days as i think they are really dated in pose etc. having said that the mixture of poses i have used in this unit, mostly because they happpened to be the models i had, give a less uniform appearance which i think suits the garde mobile look.
actually thes mobile are very well equiped with the short tunique without epaulettes (as dispensed with by the republic, probably due to cost rather than imperial connotations, as they brought them back after the war i think), most have full kit and all have chassepot rifles with bayonets. I have painted them all in the standard pre-war mobile uniform of blue tunique with grey trousers with a large red side stripe, although trousers would have varied a lot even with garance red trousers being supplied to some units. i actually painted these models some years ago but have just rebased them on my standard base sizes 40x40mm. i used to base all my models individually but ive grown up since then and multi bases are so much more useful
next up will be an emplaced ECW saker (my last artillery for the ECW), FPW French regular infantry and hopefully when they arrive i will make a start on some more 1866 austrian infantry and hussars

AWI General

This is the first of 3 AWI American Generals i have been painting, the other 2 are in more traditional dress and will follow next week. The model is a perry miniature and looks great and unorthodox in his hunting shirt looking back to encourage his men. all in all a lovely model and a pleasure to paint, although i do think his horse looks a little small, this seems to be a constant issue with model makers. ive seen 1 or 2 horses and it constantly amazes me how large they are expecially the type of thoroughbred that a wealthy american general could afford.

Arch enemies

well not exactly arch enemies as Oliver Cromwell, albeit a rising parliamentarian and puritan star, was only just coming to prominence whilst Charlie was still fighting for his kingdom.
Oliver Cromwell was an MP from Huntington, Cambridgeshire who raised a troop of cavalry early in the war and came to be second in command of the New Model Army under Sir Thomas Fairfax at the end of the war. Cromwells main rise to power came after the 1st civil war when parliament was looking for proven military leaders who were willing to take the war and parliaments control to Ireland and Scotland, both of these posting were refused by fairfax leaving Cromwell with the opportunity to step up to the highest military position, he would later become Lord Protector (Britains only ever dictator). Oliver cromwell was a signatory on charlies death warrant, unlike fairfax who refused to sign and left public office.
These models are Foundry with a Perry ADC for charles. These models have been painted for about 8 years so you might spot the change in style between the foundry and the perry models. As part of my slow converting of lead into a fully completed army (is there such a thing) i had been painting and rebasing my entire ECW army and it is almost done, one or two cannon and specials to do, plus 2 units of warlord plastics that i got the other year. Having read a bit more recently about the wars after a long absence from my book collection i do have an idea of getting some troops for the Irish and Scots campaigns too. Another thing for the list.

First 1866 Austrians

Oh its been a while. this is the first post in 2 months!!!!
a combination of work, homelife and a small holiday have meant there has been virtually no time for painting let alone gaming. having said that i have started regular boardgaming every week with some friends, which has led onto some roleplay which should start next week.
on the painting front the last week or 2 have been mildly productive and the most exciting thing for me is that i have finally completed my 1866 austrians. These are 28mm models from Helion and personally i love them, the much quoted largeness of these models is actually only a minor thing as i would keep units separate anyway on the tabletop. besides this from a personal point of view although i love the perry twins models the fact that one of the most comprehensive ranges available for the franco-prussian war etc. is their range from the mid 80s which looks really quite dated and static now compared to some of the other metal and plastic models currently available. The tragedy is that i have recently seen on matts blog that Helion are not going to develop the 1866 range any more and are looking to sell. this is a tragedy but unfortunately i am as much to blame as anyone else as whilst i have loved painting these models i have not yet bought anymore (this will change tonight) and as such am one of those who claim to love the models but dont put their money where there mouth is. The reason is due to the massive implications of new baby, busy job, finishing a PhD, financial insecurity and self imposed wargaming purchasing abstinance.
anyway i have painted these models as the KuK IR23 with are the same as every other austrian unit but with red facings. I would have got them done sooner but i always seem to take ages when i am learning how to paint a new uniform. i think i have managed an ok result though even if it did take me an age. the Helion flag really creates the perfect effect and draws the eye away from my mediocre painting
anyway, next up will be a few things some rebased FPW models and ECW generals