Napoleonics (7) - Spanish Silver Bayonet Unit and Clue Markers

 Next on the workbench is a unit of Spanish for Silver Bayonet. These are the metal figures from Northstar. They painted super quick. I think the only "new" color I've introduced to the Napoleonic palette is Hull Red from AK 3G. This is a nice red brown, more brown than red. A good addition to my suite of colors. 

I ran out of Army painter white and switched to vallejo white spray for the primer (and subsequently all the white details) and the result is a lot grayer but I think it worked great for the spanish to make them look a bit more "rag tag" 

These painted super super quick, probably quicker than the French. I managed to also get some Clue markers painted. These were just 3d prints from Thingiverse. 

The only other "official" models I have to paint at the moment are the 2 packs of Bandits but I may pick up some more stuff. We actually have a bit of a short battle report and some initial thoughts coming soon too. 

Napoleonics (6) - Silver Bayonet Playtest

 So we played a game! Scott and I got together and I taught him Silver Bayonet. We played the first scenario from the book about hunting down a hobgoblin. The game was very quick and to sum up the action, we advanced, found the hobgoblin almost immediately and with a couple lucky rolls I was able to kill it and then I took to the hills. Pretty easy system with some neat ideas. My main takeaway is that I didn't enjoy Frostgrave because I found the D20 too swingy. This is a 2d10 system which works much better. 

We're going to get another game in soon and then probably start a quick 3-5 game campaign. Sorry for the lack of photos but I spent so much of the game referencing rules. I've learned my lesson. I had the ebook of the rules, plus new recruit for my list. It was a lot of flipping back and forth and scrolling. Needless to say I think I'll be picking up the hardcover. 

Napoleonics (5) - French Silver Bayonet Unit

Returning for a bit to the Napoleonic Era. I printed up a batch of figures for Silver Bayonet. These are from Kool Kiwi. I think they're pretty nice. The sculpting is pretty good and they were super fun to paint. 

I used more or less the regular French palette I've been using. 

The sculpts are all unique and the price was right. In particular I like this vivandiere. I did a tiny bit of "freehand" on the details which worked nicely with the marine juice.

I have Spanish on the workbench next.

Napoleonics (4) - French Dismounted Dragoons

Another week another batch of French. This time we have some dismounted Dragoons. The majority of the sculpts are plastics from the Perry box with the final two figures 3d prints from Piano Wargames. The Perry box (and sculpts) are pretty good but unfortunately the box only comes with 8 dismounted figures. I happened to have a partial box left over from when I pilfered a few of the mounted sculpts for the Sludge/Turnip project. So for now, 10 dismounted Dragoons. In Muskets and Tomahawks it looks like its an option to run them sans horses for a discount though eventually I think I'd like to paint some mounted figures as well. 

The colors are mostly the same though I added Vallejo Black Green back into the palette for the coats. 

Again I think the Piano Wargames sculpts are fantastic. The Perry plastics worked out fine but theyre a touch rough by comparison. 

Napoleonics (3) - French Voltigeurs and Officer

 I have been doing very cursory research as I paint for this project. I believe these are essentially just Line Infantry that are capable of taking on the Skirmisher role. I decided after seeing some other photos that I would give them blue pants in order to make them more easily identifiable on the table. Colors are the same palette as the Line. I got 6 done so far and need 18 total for the project. I've got 12 more printed and ready to paint. The sculpts are from Piano Wargames

The Officer is just a plastic figure from the Victrix Sprue but it definitely gets the job done.

One thing that I think is pretty neat about the Piano sculpts is the backpacks. Theres all sorts of character. In particular I really like these two

I'm nearing the halfway point of this project. As of this post the rest of the French are at the bare minimum built and primed. I've been really debating between taking a break before the British and powering through. There's 2 other projects looming in on my workbench and I'm not sure if I want to divert yet. 

Napoleonics (2) - French Line Infantry

 As promised the next unit up is the French Line Infantry. 

These are some plastic figures from Victrix. The molds are.. rough.. to say the least. I've long not been bothered by mold lines as the extra work to trim them is usually not worth the hassle for your rank and file in my opinion, that said these have some very very noticeable mold lines. The scenario I'm running calls for a unit of 10 line so that's what we've started with.

I did make the point in the last post that I'm not super fussed with "historical accuracy" but I did find myself a bit down the rabbit hole looking up things like cuff colors. I didn't find anything that would make these paint jobs "wrong" but also I don't know if they're perfect and that's fine to me. 

As before these are all "Marine Juice" paint jobs. Colors as follows;

Dark Prussian Blue, Beige Brown, Chocolate Brown, Pz Aces Flesh, AK Grey Brown, AK Tenebrous Grey, AK Blood Red, AK Vampiric Flesh, offwhite, AK Leather brown, AK Gunmetal, AK Rusty Brass, AK Dirty Yellow, Ak Deep Green

I used the same "scene" from the last post. 

Napoleonics (1) - 95th Rifles

For the 10 years I worked at the Hobby Shop I managed to resist any sort of Napoleonic gaming. The only foray I've made into the subject was purchasing Blucher rules and playing with paper counters in all of my "gaming career" 

Obviously from the title of this post we know that something has broke. Years ago now, Chuck ran a sweet Peninsular war skirmish using Ospreys Black Ops rules and I've been thinking a lot about that lately. I also put some of the blame squarely on being facebook friends with the author of the upcoming Blood and Bayonets rules. He's been posting videos what feels like twice a day for a while now showcasing army lists. 

My approach to this is simple. I care less about accuracy than I used to, count the buttons all you want I won't be fussed. Hell, I'm realizing as I type, I didn't even paint Sharpe's Buttons. But regardless the itch has struck and I want a little collection of wardollies.

I started as one does with my credit card. An order to Brigade Games and an order to Victrix. While waiting for the bulk of the infantry to come in, I decided to peruse the pile when I remembered I had half a box of Wargames Atlantic British Riflemen (split with Chuck on release)

When I started these, I had been clearly spoiled by the nearly double-the-size figure from Halo Flashpoint. but these are quite serviceable. Painted using the "marine juice" method from Sonic Sledgehammer, paints are as follows. Vallejo Black Green, AK Sky blue, Gunmetal, Tenebrous Gray, Vampiric Flesh, Offwhite, Leather brown and a grey of some sort. Vallejo Flat Earth for the rifles. 

Plans include Chosen Men, Forager, Shakos and Bayonets, Sharpe Practice 2, and possible Blood and Bayonets down the line. 

I set up a tiny scene using some of the terrain I've got done already just to experiment. I can't wait to see the final table with all 100 figures on it.

First order of business was building something to start with so I am shamelessly ripping off the scenario I found on this blog HERE though I've decided to change up a few of the British Regiments to paint some more "generic" British looking British.

Next on the table for this project is some French line