Disaster Averted

As I was working on my unit of Beja camelry, a disaster struck! I was using a container of Aleene's Tacky Glue to secure the riders to the camels. Everything was going OK until I felt glue on my hand holding the bottle. The bottle was old and the plastic had deteriorated, causing a large crack to open. I immediately summoned assistance from my wife and was able to get almost all the tacky glue into a medium sized margarine container. But I knew that it won't last very long and there was a lot of glue. So, I got my bucket of fine sand and bucket of spackle and mixed some basing material, using the tacky glue, sand, and spackle.

I used it to add basing effects to the 12 Beja camels, a Beja foot leader, and a whole batch of imagi-nation SYW era troops.

These are the Ral Partha Beja camelry after the bases had been augmented with the mix and then painted a base coat of burnt sienna. I'll do some dry brushing of tan and cream and finish the bases by adding some small rocks and grass. The riders still have to have their shields and weapons added and the leader (third from left, front row) his banner.

Here is my improvised work station on the dining room table with two battalions of Eureka Saxons. Their bases have been prepped with the mix. They are awaiting a coat of white glue prior to being dunked into my flocking mix.

And here are some completed figures, all Eureka Saxons, drying on some newspaper.

I'll have to admit I was discombobulated (that's "all shook up" in Southernese) by the tacky glue bottle splitting. I didn't realize at the time that it was that old. But later when I tried to recall when I purchased it, all I could remember was it was a long time ago.

Sachsen-Wachsenstein Marches off to War

Parading before Duke Siegfried, the Sachsen-Wachsenstein Contributory Kreis Regiment prepares to leave the duchy on its way to join the Imperial Reichsarmee for the Texas Big Battalions game at MilleniumCon on Saturday next (Nov. 15).

The regiment is composed entirely of Eureka Seven Years War Saxons, except for the 3-lbr battalion gun, which is from Historifigs (old Jack Scruby line).

As usual, please click on the pictures to see a larger image.

Here we see the entire regiment paraded before the Duke.

Led by the converged grenadier company, the regiment begins its departure from the Paradeplatz.

The grenadiers are then followed by the regimental command group and the musketeers drafted from the Musketeer Regiment von Schlichting.

As the musketeers file past the Duke, the 8-lbr position gun begins its wheel into the column, leaving a gap for the Duke to join the march.

The first of the fusiliers drafted from the Fusilier Regiment von Pflugk now begin to wheel in behind the 8-lbr gun.

Here we can see a close-up of the Duke, the 8-lbr and its crew of four gunners and one fusilier seconded from the infantry, and the lead fusilier company.

The 3-lbr battalion gun is now marching in the departure column, with the second fusilier company bringing up the rear of the column.

These stalwart lead soldiers will soon take their place in the annals of warfare in Imagi-Urope as they help defend the Empress' possessions from the invading Germanians and their allies.

Sachsen-Wachsensteiners Finished!

Last night, while being interrupted in handing out candy to the Halloween trick or treaters, I completed the Sachsen-Wachsenstein Contributory Kreis Regiment. All the figures are the very well scupted Eureka Saxons.

With some extra command figures, I made a small command group of an officer with sponton and two drummers, one a musketeer and one a fusilier.





















The Fusilier Battalion Pflugk now joins its sister musketeer battalion.













Sachsen-Wachsenstein has two artillery units, this one with a medium 8-lbr providing some long-range fire support.
















And this 3-lbr light gun is attached to the regiment for close-in fire support. All the gunners are Eureka figures as is the 8-lbr. The 3-lbr is an Historifigs (old Jacks Scruby) Napoleonic gun. Some of the gunners are actually conversions of spare command figures and the two artillery fusiliers are extras from the fusilier battalion.














And finally, my "personal" monument was also completed. It is made from a Ral Partha FIW French mounted officer (Montcalm), suitably bronzed, a cake decoration pillar, the cap from a bottle of Ameretto di Sarono (which was delicious!), and some sheet plastic. The bottom of the cap was filled with spackle to add some weight to the structure.




















All of these figures will accompany me to the Texas Big Battalions game at MilleniumCon in two weeks. I still have to paint 15 Carpanian jagers and five limbers (two each for Carpania and Courland and one for Sachsen-Wachsenstein).

First Sachsen-Wachsenstein Unit

Answering the call from the Imperial Ministry of War for additional troops to reinforce the Reichsarmee in its impending campaign against the forces of the Elector, Duke Siegfried von Sachsen-Wachsenstein is assembling his kreis contributory regiment, to be composed of equal portions of the Musketeer Regiment von Schlichting and the Fusilier Regiment von Pflugk, with accompanying artillery.

As I stated in an earlier post, I'm using the very nice Eureka SYW Saxon infantry and artillery for this force. These figures are sculpted very well and dressed in battle rig, with just a canteen, cartridge box, and sword. They have been a pleasure to paint as the uniform details are raised just enough to make them distinguishable.

The Duke, above, is the mounted officer figure in the range.


The Musketeer Regiment von Schlichting has been completed and is currently engaged in training.


Still being outfitted are the remainder of the contributory regiment:

Fusiler Regiment von Pflugk

The converged grenadiers from von Schlichting (left) and von Pflugk (right).

And the gunners for the 6-lbr position piece and the 4-lbr battalion piece,
plus a couple of extra figures (foot officer and two drummers) for the Duke's staff.

The 6-lbr crew will have 4 gunners and 1 artillery fusilier while the 4-lbr will have 3 gunners and 1 artillery fusilier.

Postscript: I have a new, darker blue background. Does this make the pictures better and easier to see? Your comments are welcome!

Eureka Saxons - In Progress

I have had some of Eureka's Seven Years War Saxon infantry figures ever since they first were released to 100 Club members. These figures are very well sculpted and have good proportions.

With word from the organizers of the MilleniumCon "Big Battalions" game that the Imperial troop strength was lagging significantly behind that of the Elector, I moved my Saxons up in my painting queue. And I'm glad that I did, because they are very easy to paint. There is sufficient detail cast onto the figures but it is not so exaggerated that it appears grotesque. The infantry are minimally equipped, with just a cartridge box, water bottle, and sword/bayonet scabbard.

The mounted officer will be turned into the ruler of my Saxon imagi-nation, Duke Siegfried von Sachsen-Wachsenstein, who is a Feld-Marshal Leutnant in the service of the Empress.

Here he is as a work-in-progress. He wears a light gray coat (his duchy's uniforms are a hold-over from the Saxon uniform colors of the War of the Austrian Succession), with yellow facings. His saddlecloth will eventually be bright blue with plenty of gold details.

Eureka makes three infantry types - musketeers in the standard tricorne, fusiliers in the "Prussian" fusilier hat, and grenadiers in the mitre helmet. I have a battalion of 24 musketeers, a battalion of 24 fusiliers, and their converged grenadiers (numbering 12). There are also enough gunners and extra figures to allow me to man a 6-lbr "position" piece and a 3-lbr battalion piece.

Also pictured in-progress is the Musketeer Battalion Kreis von Schlichting in their light gray coats with dark yellow britches, yellow smallclothes, and yellow facings. I mount the figures on flat headed roofing nails using Elmer's white glue. This gives me a very flexible holder and the figures pop off the nails with minimal effort once they are completely painted and varnished.

Here are 12 of the Fusilier Battalion Kreis von Pflugk mounted on their painting nails but without any priming yet. They will also have light gray coats but with bright blue facings.

More pictures to come as their painting progresses.

SYW Figure Comparison

A recent post on the Miniatures Page asking about figures to use as Spanish troops in the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War has led me to post these figure comparisons to highlight a figure range that doesn't appear well known. Vince Clyant ran the London War Room in Petal, Miss. He sculpted a range of Spanish troops that are very usable for these two wars. I hope that the pictures below will broaden their exposure. I guess that I should add here that I have no financial interest in Vince's business, just trying to help get the figures a wider audience. [NOTE: The London Warroom is, as of Spring 2009, out of business. But the Spanish figure line was bought by the Dayton Painting Consortium, maker of RSM-95 figures.  They have the line on their web site.]

From left to right, these figures are: Eureka Saxon, Front Rank Prussian, TLWR Spaniard, RSM British, Sash & Saber Prussian, and Crusade Prussian. As you can see, their heights and overall designs are compatible on the war game table. I don't think that I would necessarily use them in the same unit, but that is not necessary as every one of these ranges has all the appropriate command figures required. All but the Front Rank are just black washed bare metal. The Front Rank figure has been primed with gray Gesso and then washed with black paint.


A closer look at the Eureka, Front Rank, and London War Room figures.

A closer look at the RSM, Sash & Saber, and Crusade figures.

So if you are looking for Spanish figures for WAS or SYW armies or as opponents for pirates in the New World in the 18th Century, if believe that you can't go far wrong right now with the London War Room Spaniards. Vince has line infantry, grenadiers, command figures, and mounted and dismounted dragoons that are usable in in the European and various Colonial troops that are more specific for the Americas.