Christmas update: Part 2 - French Additions

Part Deux of my Christmas update, this time showcasing the progress I've made with the French. I wrote in a previous post about adding some Elite Infantry units that had a mix match of great coats. I decided to test that out with a Legere unit. I know I know, I vowed to stop painting these because I have far too many unique snowflake units. Buuuuuuuuuuut.... I will be adding two battalions of Elite Line infantry so.... that make's up for it. Yup.

Excuses, I know.

I've seen several people go for the Swiss or the converged Grenadier battalions for their elite, but I wanted something more... campaign worn. Dirty, ragged, and definitely veterans from several seasons of campaigning. These would not only look different from the general mass, but would also *feel* different. To make them even more unique snowflakey than they already are, I went ahead and decided to perfect the arts of finicky 10mm conversion.

What's that you may ask?

Well, making the standing chasseurs kneel, of course.

True, this is quite finicky, as it involves clipping the left leg (front leg) at the groin, and the right leg at the knee, and then glueing them back. I did manage to "perfect" this however. For the front leg, one will want to shave the top of the knee ever so slightly so that it fits right under the elbow (like a proper modern kneeling firing position). Add green stuff to close the gaps and model the thigh. You don't need to be super good at the detail work (I sure am not) as you can "fake it" by painting shadows. Besides, once you start adding flock, you wont notice the imperfection. One will also want to place the right leg so that it forms about a 90 degree angle with the front leg. Thats the best way to do it without it feeling wierd. Apply painting to again, fool the eyes.

The end result? Looks damn good, especially when you start mixing models together.

Obligatory image that highlights my handpainted flag I am proud of.

Kneeling troops, someone wearing shako covers, other wearing great coats, its different enough that it makes up for the lack of poses. I can't even complain, these look so good put together.

While I do intend on having my Line battalion being formed up in close order, these ones represent veteran/elite light infantry (if you squint close enough you'll even make out the "9" on the flag, as it's meant to be the 9e Regiment d'Infanterie Legere, "Incomparable"). I also decided to go with 24 mixed models, rather than my customary 32 to represent either a broken firing line (fire fight), or to represent skirmishing troops. I'll just declare at the beginning of the game which formation they'll be in.

Adding to the collection... much needed GENERALS!

Sure, they're from Magister Militum due to lack of figures from Pendraken, and yes, I'm not a huge fan of bizarrely proportioned horses from MM, the generals came out quite OK. I decided to make two General de Brigade (one infantry, one cavalry), and one General de Division with his staff. 

Mucho pictures below, so feel free to view them at your leisure and don't be afraid to write a comment :)

And I think that's it for this year 2014. Quite productive, and hopefully 2015 will be as well.

See you next year!

Christmas update: Ze Austrians Arrive!

Phew, this has been several weeks work of almost non-stop frenzied painting! That said, despite it being the Christmas holidays, I still need to be working, and so as such I got less done that I wanted. No matter, the good news: Pendraken stuff arrived, and I got to paint more new soldiers! Woo Woo.

So without further ado, I must make the announcement that the Austrians are arriving to my tabletop collection! 

Austrian contingent in its current form

Oh these guys are nifty, and once again, Pendraken models REALLY do stand out with their high detail. I had mentioned in the previous blog post about how I was very so-so about Magister Militum's miniatures, and how I was disappointed that the Voltigeurs were not up to the standard of the MM's Jaegers. I still hold that believe, and after painting these Jaegers, I feel it more so. Though I do wonder how Pendraken's Jaegers would compare? I love the Pendraken sculpts oh so much, and for me they are hands down the reference for 10mm scale miniatures, but sadly.... they are a bit lacking in their variety of poses, a common complaint of mine.

 These Jaegers are totally cool though, and I based them in a skirmishing "irregular" formation (if following Lasalle rules).

Next up were the regular infantry, though I do now regret going 'Hungarian' Austrians, as I do have a Grenz regiment to paint as well, I think I should've gone for the full white 'German' Austrian regiments instead for the ease of painting. I had afterall, decided to go with Austria as a change of pace from a rather tedious experience with the French Legere. Sadly, painting 48 Austrians sort of hit that "tedious" level too. And the hand painted flag. Not. Doing. That. Again. Still, I think the effort was worth it.

Austrian Hussars... hands down the most beautiful of Pendraken miniatures, but also the most colorful in terms of regiments. I held no punches and went with this regimental color scheme which I am incredibly proud of. You could also perhaps note that after my "Never Again" experience with the Austrian flag, I decided to simplify it. I think it turned out okay, and the quality of the cast (once again) makes the regiment that much more alive on the table. What a beauty.

I am cutting this post short in order to split up my work, which also includes French troops, and thus... that's it for now for the Austrians!

I do have some Grenz that need painting, some Uhlans and another battalion of infantry. I'm not even sure when I have the time for that, as I'm literally over-booked until March... we'll see if I can squeeze in some projects during the week nights....

Arrival of Magister Militum order.... and putting them aside.

Well, my Magister Militum arrived for my napoleonics, following my initial order of Austrian Jaegers that arrived several weeks ago.

And the verdict is....

I don't like the figures for the French.


While I do appreciate the variety in poses that you get in the Magister Militum packs... the sheer lack of detail or should I say, the shallowness of the recesses in the details makes it so that painting them is an absolute pain. Its to the point that it reminds me of painting 6mm figures, with the time it takes to paint 10mm. Maybe my painting technique is off, it could be quite possible.

Regarding the sculpts, like mentioned above, I like the variety in poses. Its a bit too bad that they're skinny compared to the Pendraken sculpts, and regarding cavalry, the proportions of the horse's head compared to the legs are just... wierd. Feels like monstrously gigantic heads compared to really skinny legs, which is a huge minus.

This was a bit of a surprise as I had expected something closer to the my Austrian Jaegers I had bought from MM, which I felt had the detail and the variety of poses I was looking for, and being a bit 'beefier' to be comparable to Pendraken.

I guess the Napoleonic French line of MM is just an older line and the master mould is getting tired.

I'll be setting aside my MM infantry for now, and focus on painting up the generals and fill in the gaps of my Pendraken collection. It's just too bad that Pendraken has a fairly long delay for the orders to be shipped, but looking at how its expanding steadily, I can't fault them and honestly, having painted 6 battalions worth of infantry and 5 regiments of cavalry... the wait is worth it, as the quality is really top notch for 10mm.

You just have to make sure to plan your projects well in advance.



In other news, experimenting with MM infantry has led me to the discovery of French Infanterie Legere blue - a tone of blue that has been elusive and eluding me for quite some time.

I've been base-coatinng my french infantry with Kantor Blue, followed by highlights with Alaitoc Blue. The Legere's blue is infact the Alaitoc Blue with a Nuln Oil wash applied over, with a slight highlight of Aloitoc blue. So I'll be doing that for my next batch of Legeres... of which I keep a bad habit of wanting to paint despite trying to force myself not to.

Well, my next batch of Legere will just be one single battalion for the "Elite Infantry Brigade" project.

I think my Voltigeurs from MM I'll be donating that to my gaming partner who's also been itching to start Napoleonics - as I wont be using them. I might also donate my Eclaireurs de la Garde pack as well - I'm just not a fan of the MM sculpts, and would rather the Pendraken ones.