Iain W - 28mm Wrap Report

So the end of another challenge, thanks to Curt and Mr Wednesday (Greg) it's taken me a while to put together my wrap report which follows the pattern of the rest of the challenge for me,works been extra busy plus a dose of Covid meant I just seem to be trying to catch up all the time, I haven't been able to comment on all the  posts this year as there were so many, but I hit my target which is great and apart from seven figures to make up the last unit from Blax ( Simon) I've managed to stick to the plan of painting Napoleonic Austrians and now I have a tidy little force and should be able to have some sort of a game soon! I decided against visiting the planets as in previous years I've wandered off scratch building things that I never finished , I've still got a half finished boat yard from an over literal interpretation of a previous challenge location !

Both Toby and I are a bit greyer in the muzzle now ,still, looks like a decent amount of figures there anyway ,it's been great fun reading all the other posts and seeing the enormous range of figures that everyone has painted, I'd better start preparing for next year!

All the best 

Iain 

Iain W Hit the beach and prize giving (85 points)

Finally a first post! Joining just about everyone else at Sanders's Sand dune ,I have painted a  metal 28mm figure from a  little known company called  Games Workshop. He's from a game called Necromudia or something similar and I got him about 20 years ago I guess.  He's a member of the redemtionist gang which seems to mean going around setting fire to things in the name of the emperor.  I was going to use him as a padre for an Imperial guard army that I will be surprised if I ever finish! Still he's painted and is my first sci fi/fantasy figure in about 15 years and was quite fun to do, he's also predominantly red which I understood to be the criteria for this beach and the reason he was chosen!
Next up is a champion of Nurgle riding on his palaquin borne aloft by nurglings, I thought someone might like this as a prize? I came across it in the loft, primed ( in white of course, de rigueur in the 1980s) and although its missing some banners it's a fun characterful piece.

So as to points  5 for a  28mm figure and 30 for painting him red.
5 for a 28mm figure, 25 for him being a prize and then, a 28mm vehicle? Seems excessive, let's call him a mounted figure instead giving us a total of 70.
Next up something eldritch and historical!

All the best Iain

From DaveD, that’s another challenger across the starting line, welcome Ian. That’s a cool piece of work .. so lets make it 85 points

From IanW: Final Salute Three Command Stands and a pair of Guns (50 Points)

Well I went missing!! I knew the last two weeks would be an issue for me, away for a long weekend of ASL followed by my Birthday was always going to cramp my style but add the computer death and a fairly bad pre treatment run left me with zero energy and almost no painting.

Well I at least finished three command stands for my 15mm Seleucid army. These are old Chariot Miniatures figures I bought about two years ago so it's good to get them done.

Unlike many command packs these come with four figures a pack so I ended up with three bases worth. I had started painting a unit of Persian Satrap cavalry as well but had to leave these and there 6mm versions less than half finished so I had a hope of getting these done.

These will serve well enough for what is proving to be a rather formidable army. More on that on my own blog when I finally get round to painting the other figures I have ready for it.

But I wanted to finish as I started and so quickly prepped a pair of SYW Prussian guns and crews. To be a bit different I went with a howitzer rather than the longer barrelled friends. The other gun is another battalion gun.

I like the effect the black ink has had on the barrels and will be going over the other brass guns to get the same result soon.

This gives me plenty of foot artillery for the time being. I still plan to paint up a couple of horse artillery for my Prussians as they can move after firing and still be able to fire in future turns, something only battalion guns can do in Blackpowder.

Not 100% the points for guns, I think it's 4 and if I am right that's 50 points to go out on.

Thanks again to Curt and his Minions for another excellent challenge. Whilst I would have liked to get more finished in the final month I am still very happy with my total output and the reduced painting has me quite fired up for more in the weeks that follow.

______________________________

I was beginning to wonder about you, Ian, but it's great to have you back to help turn out the lights.  

These miniatures, spread over a couple thousand years, all look the business.  While your Seleucids are terrific (I particularly like the commander checking down the line), I have to say that the Prussian artillery trips my trigger in matching blue uniforms and gun carriages.

50 Points it is! Well done Ian and thank you for joining us this year out. 

Until next time!

From IanW - Ancient Tanks (12 points)

Sticking with 6mm but a much smaller entry. My Persians are still without any command bases so I thought I may as well start big.

Whilst this will not be the King of Kings, it can be used as the C-in-C as I am sure more than one would have used chariots at some point.

I have based the model on a 2p coin, this gives an indication of size, or should I say lack of.

The three scythed chariots were bought for my Persian army but these can be used for later Macedonian based armies. Indeed I will need a total of six for the game Lee and myself are looking at putting on at next years Joy of Six, this being the Battle of Magnesia.

I took great delight breaking one up to have s a wrecked chariot. I was copying a previous model I did in 15mm.

As for points I really have no idea, the models are all from Baccus with the chariots being three piece kits with the wheels attached to the sides of the chariot.


Tiny but colourful. Well done! I feel sorry for the tiny horses and people involved in the "accident", but if there is no risk taken, there is no glory and no fun. You could maybe use these chariots for a tiny chariot race. You will gain a total of 12 points for these, as I will count each chariot as two vehicles. (Sylvain)

From IanW: Macedonian Pike in 6mm (200 points)

First of all sorry for not commenting of late on others work. Having to share a computer sucks big time. However it has freed me up some to paint.

I finished last weeks entry by early Thursday, this being my day off meant I had the time to sink my teeth into something a little meatier. So out came the last of the Baccus 6mm phalanx figures. 384 of them to be precise, though these are a little different from the last blocks I have painted up as all ranks have pikes in the up position. Belatedly I decided I wanted to have some units like this to break the blocks up a bit. 

The main advantage is that it is easier to work on the shields as the figures are based side by side rather than in rows like the slopped pike figures are. This speeds up the process nicely.

The dice cells are for marking casualties and possible status. I did think about adding it to the back of the unit but this would have pushed the figures forward and that was not a fair trade off. 

384 pikes to glue in was  atrial of patience with it being completed over three sessions, each block was about 40-50 minutes so could have been done in one go but I struggled a bit this time.

So these four get added to the four I painted up earlier in the challenge. Indeed most of the blocks have been painted during one challenge or another over the last three years.

This is what 18 blocks look like, that's over 1730 figures as a few blocks have extra figures on the bases as commanders and wounded etc. My plan has been to paint up 20 in total but I am not committing to that being the end of them. That depends on exactly what we decide to do for next years Joy of Six so it could be expanded a little. I have spent £118.80 just for the figures for these 18 blocks, best not let the wife know.

This is the army to this point, still need to add a fair bit more cavalry and some allied infantry. As it stands I have a bunch of light infantry both skirmish and larger bodies but I can also use four units of Hoplites that are also serving my Persians.

So 384 figures at half a point each gives me 192 points, none to shabby. Next week will see me move away from the SYW for a bit of a break so as not to go off it. Should be back to them the following week as they are on my prep list.

384? 384 of the teensiest miniatures?! Wow, that's an impressive feat in just a week. All those shields to paint, and pike to individually stick on - I really don't know how you face it. But the result is worth it, all those phalanxes lined up look immense. Thanks for the whole army shot too. 

 
I'll round up to 200 for the awesome. And the shields. No flags though. Needs more flags.  

Phil

From IanW: SYW French Infantry (74 Points)

I started the week with plenty of time to get these finished but I knew it would run close as I was at York for the wargames show on Sunday. Little did I know I would not touch a brush for two days as I suffered rather from the stairs at the show.

My computer has also died so can not give the usual run down on the regiments as I have yet to look for my usual site on Cath's computer.

First up Regiment 6, La Marine and first of the light grey coated regiments I will be doing for The Boy. I went with Vallejo Sky Blue which I inked and then brought back up with a mix of Sky Blue and White as I found the sky blue to be a little darker than I wanted.

This and the next battalion are the last of the none turnback figures I have for the French so the next few battalions will be those with turnbacks then I will have to buy more figures for his other regiments. I bought him one grenadier battalion and two heavy cavalry at York so these may figure before the challenge finishes.

The Boy choose this regiment for the flag and who can blame him? The light blue cuffs and waistcoats seal the deal for me. This is Regiment 16 Dauphin, adding a spot of panache to his collection of flags. Having well over 100 he can really add some interesting standards to his force once he has enough basic units.

I really like the detail and pose of the Lancashire Games officer, though I do need to find some suitable alternative command figures that will fit in as I want to be able to have them looking a bit different.

So that's another two battalions for The Boy's growing army. On the walk home from school we discussed what he wanted painting next (expecting cavalry) for him to say more infantry. Not that these will be next up as I have a fancy for a couple of Prussian battalions next.

All four battalions painted over the last three weeks, if I was to keep at these I could get a sizeable army done fairly quickly but I like to jump around a little so I don't get bored of what I paint. It has been a bit of a production line kind of few weeks but I have strangely enjoyed it.

So two battalions each of 18 figures for 72 points. Not enough to match Tamsin but we still have over a month to go so I may just catch her LOL.

Great, more SYW, and this project is starting to look great in their massed lines. And what a flag on the Dauphine regiment! Very jazzy, a fine choice by your lad.  

Positive thoughts on the side duel Ian: you can chase down the Queen of Points Bombs, surely? You just need to get three of these entries in for each one of hers, and ease off  on those Prussians! ;-) 

Phil

From IanW: From Russia With Love (94 Points)

Six battalions each on 60x60mm bases

Back to 6mm again and more Prussian Napoleonic's. Well not 100% Prussian as the regiments that make up this weeks submission were formed in 1813 as the Germano-Russian Legion.

Front, back and side views of the 30th Regiment

The 30th Regiments battalions were the 1st, 2nd and 6th battalions of the 1st Brigade and then in 1814 renamed the 1st regiment of the German Legion.

Every other figure has a tiny bread bag, great detail on tiny figures

The 31st Regiment was made up of the 3rd, 4th and 7th battalions and was in the second brigade. As such their uniform is a mix of Russian and Prussian and will stand out against all that Prussian Blue.

The main body of all six battalions are Adler Prussian Landwehr as these seemed to be the best match overall. The mounted figures are Adler command figures and as Adler do not do a skirmish pose I have added Baccus Landwehr figures out front.

Close up 2nd Battalion 30th Regiment

Both regiments were part of the III Corp but in different brigades, 30th in the 9th brigade and the 31st in the 12th. Followers of past challenges and my blog will know I painted up all the Prussians that took part in the Waterloo battle (as well as half the French) and I am now filling in the gaps of all the other units that was part of the campaign allowing us to use all the correct units for each of the battles. Given the scale this really is overkill as we could just sub in what we need but were is the fun in that?

Flags bought a few years ago on ebay unfortunately can't remember the supplier

So I still have over 50 battalions of infantry alone to paint up before I can tick that box. So plenty more Prussians to come over the next few years. IV Corp is almost finished with just three Landwehr cavalry to paint up with II Corp somewhat behind. III Corp is hardly touched but these boys will at least help them out a bit.

31st Regiment 2nd Battalion officers conflab

As usual I have left flags off the Fusiliers and were not in column have placed them in three deep lines partly to save me having to cut each figure off it's base but also as they did tend to fight in deeper lines that the Brits.

Incredible detail of the sculps

So six battalions with 28 infantry and one commander makes them a convenient 15 points a unit for 90 points to help pad out my 6mm side dual whilst I wait on Lee and Clint to charge up in the next few weeks.

Ah these are great Ian, I do admire your massed 6mm Naponleonics. These have an unusual look with Prussian Landwehr uniforms in Russian green, I can see why you wanted to do them. The flag in orange with the rearing horse is unusual too. Did they see much action during the campaign? 

A neat 90 points to you, good sir, plus 4 for the flags of unknown provenance.

Phil

From Ian: SYW French Infantry (74 Points)

Another SYW entry for me but swapping sides to my son's French army. These are again Lancashire Games 15mm figures and again were straightforward to paint. Prep was a little bit heavy on some of the figures and similar to their turnbacked friends have a slightly miss aligned rear of figure making the tricorne a little lopsided and the cartridge box looking a bit odd. Nothing too terrible but annoying. I also did not do the best cleanup job possible on these guys which was more annoying as I missed a mouldline on about six figures.

The Boy choose the regiments to be represented, mostly based on their flags and when he realised these had no turnbacks and the cuffs were also white he asked me if I could add extra colour. I convinced him to let me paint them up as is and if he still wished for me to make a change then I could. In the end he kept with the historical versions.

The first battalion is from regiment 2 Champagne which had a total of four battalions and on 26th July 1757 fought in it's first battle of the SYW at Hastenbeck where it assaulted a redoubt containing 8 guns and 2 howitzers losing 63 men but the battle was a French victory.

Regiment 3 Navarre was his second choice, these also fought at Hastenbeck as part of a flanking force that assaulted the Hanoverian left wing positioned in a woods. No casualties are listed so it's possible it did not actually come to grips with the enemy.

Both the above regiments were raised along with Regiment 3 Piemont and all three regiments squabbled over which should have preference in the numbering system causing Louis in 1666 to order that each would take turns being numbered 2, 3 and 4 on a yearly basis. This has to have been a real headache for army headquarters.

I was concerned about how the white would come out as I have little experience of full white uniforms and when I added a Nuln Oil wash my fears seemed justified as they went a rather dark shade of grey. Quick overpaint and seemed ok and on to the second battalion I watered down the wash which worked better then like the first I brought the white back in selected areas to give the shadow effect I was looking for. 

Very happy how they turned out and will be doing more hopefully to be ready in two weeks, before that it's back to 6mm Napoleonic's but something a little different. So two units of 18 figures makes me 72 points not too shabby.

Fine upstanding Frenchmen here Ian, your son will be delighted I've no doubt. It tickles me that he appreciates the relevance of historical accuracy over sartorial choices, too. There's something terrifically impractical about all-white uniforms for traipsing about and fighting in.  

Oh, its 74 points with the ever-popular flag bonus. 

Phil

From IanW: Back to 6mm Napoleonic's Friday (62 Points)

With my 6mm Ancients being the main focus in this scale I have not done much in the way of Napoleonic's, worse still I have not done any fine detail work and some of these need this.

But first I offer you some very interesting miniatures, these are MDF 6mm figures by Commission Miniatures and you get 36 figures for £2. This pack is the light cavalry in shako and to show the versatility I have painted two units up as Polish Hussars and two as French Chasseur's. The detail is light enough to paint over where required and good enough to tease more detail out if you wish and have the skill.

Polish 10th Hussars have a fairly plain uniform (for Hussars) and the pelisse is the same colour as the jacket. Maybe I should have considered this when I choose the regiments to paint up.

Look a bit off straight on

The 13th is a bit more colourful but only the trumpeter has a different colour pelisse! Still they give you a bit of an idea.

The Chasseur's are even more basic with the hunters green clothing. I was able to paint up each pair of regiments in a couple of hours and that's the biggest strength of these figures, they paint up really quickly. I have seen a full game using these figures and it looked really good. I would not swap over to these but I see the attraction.

Real close up you can actually see such details such as the bridles but very hard to see in the flesh.

All five regiments.

Next up is three regiments of cuirassiers for my Prussian's, these by Adler. The figures could not be more different, but again they really should not be judged against each other as the limitations of MDF make this unfair.

I already have two regiments I can not use for Waterloo and meant to paint up one with white coats to represent the Guard cavalry of the Prussian army of 1815 but as I was painting them at 3am Thursday morning I forgot and ended up with an extra standard regiment. Since Napoleon had limited Prussia to four regiments plus the guard regiment I can only use the extra regiment in games before Prussia was forced to disband the other regiments. As an aside I can't use these in a true 1815 campaign either unless the second Prussian army is brought into play as none of the  cuirassiers were with Blucher's army. 

I am fairly pleased how the Adler minis came out, I have six battalions of Russo-Prussian infantry sitting on my table hoping to be painted up in time for submission in two weeks so that will test my skills a little more.

So six regiments of nine figures and a seventh with just eight all add up to 62 points. Nothing like the bombs others have been dropping but I will take them.

Good stuff Ian. Your 6mm Adler look great as always, the neatness you get on these teensy cavalry, and great groundwork really seals the look. Those MDF 'flats' are cute too. Theybdont make the grade for me as 'real' wargaming miniatures, but I do reckon they'd have a charm of their on en masse. 

Phil