General Reille

Next on the list is one of my mounted French Generals, Honoré Charles Reille.  He doesn't really fit in my Russian campaign historically, but the figure can be used to represent other Generals!  So this figure will be put to good use.  This is from the Perry Miniatures Corp Commanders pack that also includes d'Erlon and Lobau.

One of the things I wanted to try when painting this figure was to see if I could do a dapple grey horse.  They have always been a favorite of mine just because of all the diversity in patterns of white, gray, and black.  In the end I think it came out a little darker than I was planning, but still pretty pleased with the results.  Here's a couple of pictures.

I have a couple of items on my painting desk that are almost finished.  So hopefully I'll have a few more updates soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rod

5ème Régiment de Chevaux-Légers Lanciers

It seems like this has taken me forever to finish, but I'm happy to say they are done!

I was drawn to the 5ème Régiment because of the light blue trim of their uniforms.  One of my favorite things about this era of wargaming is all the bright colorful uniforms.  Such a pleasant change from all the modern drab mixes of greens, tans, grays and other camo mixtures.

Anyway, I won't bore you with any more of my musings and let you see the troops.

These are all from the Perry Miniatures metal line.  Flag and pinions by GMB design.  Bases and base magnets by Litko.

Enjoy your Friday!
Rod

Work in Progress, Rules, and a Kickstarter done.

Hey everyone.  Not a very exciting post today, but I hated to let April pass without some kind of update to the blog.  Life has been interfering with the hobby a lot lately.  The company I've been with for 8 1/2 years now was sold and I had to find a new job, and yet, still want me to work part-time for them.  So two jobs along with other activities has kept me busy, but  I have been getting some painting done, even if it's just a little bit here and there.  Here's a work-in-progress shot of my French lancers.  I just have to paint two more lancers and the command figures, then finish adding pinions to the lances, and a flag for the ensign figure.  I'm excited to the see the finish approaching!

Yeah, the picture is blurry... kinda did that on purpose.  Don't want to spoil the final picture for ya!

In my search for rules for Napoleonic gaming I discovered a ruleset called LaSalle by Sam Mustafa.  After reading the rules a few times, I think this will probably be the ruleset I primarily use.  I say this, not having played them yet, so you never know.  But, they seem to have a good mix of period flavor and keep the playing time down to an acceptable limit for my friends.  BUT, some days you just feel like getting really into the nitty-gritty of the period and you don't mind playing a long battle to enjoy some realism.  I've heard a lot of good things about General de Brigade by David Brown. So I ordered a copy and received them in the mail a few weeks ago. I'm looking forward to giving these rules a read through, and eventually some actual play of the game.

Kickstarter rewards!  I don't participate in many Kickstarters.  Probably a total of 4 I think so far?  Anyway, a year ago I was looking for some small scale fantasy skirmish rules to possibly play some games based on Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher series.  I'm actually talking about the books here.  Yes, I love the video games!  But, if you haven't read the books I highly recommend them.  So, in my search for rules I found some that sounded appealing, but they were still in the Kickstarter stage.  I decided to participate.  2 Weeks ago the rules finally arrived!

I may have already ordered some miniatures to be the future Geralt of Rivia, Yennifer, and Ciri...

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend.  That's for stopping by!

Rod

Knights with Boobs and a French Lancer

Right now I'm still working my way through a unit of French Lancers,  but I took one night to knock out a few more figures for my Ion Age gaming.  These are some more retained Knights for the League of Yordan.  This whole unit is female, so to prove it beyond just having expanded chest armor, they decided to take off their helmets to show off their lovely hair styles.  Not sure how practical that is in combat, but I'm sure it helps with miniatures sales!

Also, I've finished my first lancer.  Took a bit as I worked on finding the right colors.  It will be hard to tell anything from this picture as I ended up washing out all the highlights with the lighting... oh well.  Miniature photography is harder than you'd think, no matter how many tutorials I read!

Vive l'Empereur

Finally finished up my command stand for the French.  This is Napoleon and some of his staff.

And from the back.  I took the extra time to add all the extra gold lace to the uniform for the Marshals of the Empire.

The individual figures of course would start with Napoleon.

He's giving orders to a Hussar Aide-de-camp.  For this fellow I picked the uniform of the 5th Hussars.

Leaning over the map table is Marshal Ney.

Also reviewing the map and discussing strategy is Marshal Soult.  You can definitely see some of the extra gold finery I added to his uniform.  You might guess I'm quite proud of that little extra work. Ha!

Reviewing the placement of his artillery is Marshal Drouot.

Observing events and making mental notes is the Chief Ordnance Officer Colonel Gourgaud.

This was really fun to paint.  Next up will be some lancers.  Not sure what's next in the queue after that, as my birthday will be this Friday and my wife said she got me some stuff from my wish list... and some things I didn't ask for!  We'll see on Friday!

Have a great week.

New Project and a Personal Accomplishment

Hey everyone!  Wow, I can't believe how much time has passed since my last post.  I have been painting, but I have nothing completed to show off just yet.  Last year I wrapped up my Mexican Revolution project to the point where I feel safe to say it is done!  I may add a unit here and there but that would only be to add some flavor to specific scenarios.

So what I plan to be my MAIN project this year will be Napoleonics.  When I was a young man (15 or 16) I walked into a game store one day and saw a miniature game being played.  This was new to me!  I walked over and saw all these uniformed soldiers being marched around and fighting a big battle.  It was Napoleonic armies in 15mm!  From that point on I knew I wanted to play miniatures.  But as you all know, that's an expensive hobby so it is difficult to start until you become an adult and have a real job.  Years later when I finally got into miniature gaming, Napoleonics seemed over-whelming so instead I started with smaller stuff.  Now many years later I have finally decided to take the plunge!

Here's my work in progress picture of the lovely vignette of Napoleon and his staff from Perry Miniatures.

And now for my major lack of productivity in painting this month.  My other "hobby" is that of being a martial artist, specifically Praying Mantis Kung Fu.  I study a specific style called Seven Star Praying Mantis.  It's a lot of hard work but it has been really rewarding.  I had a test on Saturday and now get to move on to my next phase of training.  The test covered a year and 3 months worth of study! So this month I spent a lot of extra time training in preparation (10-12 hours a week).  It really cut into my painting time, but it was really worth it.  Here's a picture of me receiving my new gray sash.

I hope February has been treating you well friends.

Rod