Behold an update! The Coalition!

Part II of the Behold an Update! series of updates. The author makes a hasty post before disappearing back into his man-cave once more, never to be seen.

I've decided what to do for my "Coalition" (ie non-French) army.

I have settled with a Austro-Bavarian Corps, but with the addition of a British brigade to spice things up. While in the beginning, painting white was incredibly tedious, the Austrians have slowly grown on me, but I didnt want to just paint white all the time either, and needing a little "oooo shiney" battalions here and there, decided to spice things up by adding the colorful Bavarians and a British brigade (consisting of two British line infantry battalions, and two Hanovarian Landwehr battalions).

Currently its essentially a small division with two unfinished brigades. In one, I have 2 Hungarian infantry regiments, a Jager battalion, and some cavalry (Hussar and Uhlan regiment), and the other consists of a Grenz battalion, and two German infantry battalions.

Still left to do:

2 German Infantry battalions
1 Grenz battalion
Artillery
Bavarian brigade (4 infantry battalions, artillery battery)
British/Hanovarian brigade

Most of the work in this Army of the Coalition (of the willing) is still not done, but I hope to have plenty of time during my business trip to get some more done. Looking forward to painting the Bavarians though, as the colors are very different to the standard Austrian white! Even the British were quite fun to paint... other than the flags that were a massive pain :(

Austrian reinforcements...

After much slaving away this week, I've managed to lessen my painting pile by two battalions for the Austrians.

I had a couple days off this week, so that easily translated into 8 hour painting sessions (okay, maybe not that extreme) to get most of this done without reducing quality. I did however, manage to find ways to increase the speed of painting, using a mix of washes and less intricate colors and detail that would otherwise over-crowd the figures. As in, I'm not sure I really need to paint up the Hungarian lace on the upper thigh for each individual Grenz trooper, for example.

Also finished up the work from the week before by adding flock, so this is what they end up turning like:

1er Regiment d'Eclaireurs de la Garde

57e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne (Elite Line Infantry)

The Eclaireurs came out okay, but I still have my doubts on Magister Militum. I ordered French Line Lancers from them because the preview screenshot showed better proportions - so we'll see how I feel when they arrive. But I think they might be the last Magister Militum "troops" I'll order (aside from personalities and generals, that Pendraken dont stock); their proportions are just something that feels off.

The Elite line infantry unit, which is to say, regular line infantry with mixed greatcoats had the effect I was looking for. Campaign worn, but badass. I really like that look, as it makes it look much more realistic than troops in pristine uniform. Now the challenge... how to differentiate them from my future french units that have greatcoats, but are considered as veterans. Hmm, that's something I'll have to think about (different flag pattern maybe?) or paint up the Swiss.

 * * *

For the Austrians, I added the second battalion to my 'Hungarian' regiment, IR19 "Alvinczy". The painting of the flag almost became a nightmare, but the end result was pleasing.

So. Small. AAAARRRRRGGHHHH

Hmm okay, this actually looks good.

I had my doubts whether I could pull this off because of how intricate Austrian flags are. For my Grenz, I decided to go with orange facing (no reason in particular, I already did light blue for the line infantry, and felt green would be a little hard to see? Red seemed to be overdone by looking at pictures on Google), and thus came to represent the Grenzregiment n.3 "Carlstädt-Oguliner".

The flag seems to fit quite well

Close up of the Grenz

Part of me feels that maybe I should've taken an actual order of battle, like say, Wagram, and rebuilt the roster, but I feel that that's a little too detailed / button-counting for my taste, as I'm primarily painting for the enjoyment, and the eventual possibility of playing casual games, and not specifically refighting a specific battle with the exact regiments being modeled. 

And so, the Austrian army for now:

Avant-Garde Brigade/Division

Oh, oops. I noticed just now that one of the Austrian stands are a bit camera shy and facing the other way....

I still have the 2nd battalion of the Grenz to paint, and that's all I have in my collection for the Austrians to do. That said, I have already made an order to start filling up the gaps. The addition of a general will round off this Avant-Garde brigade or division (havent created the proper roster), and I have ordered enough components for a regular infantry brigade from Pendraken to support the above: x4 'German' line infantry battalions (or 2 regiments), with their position artillery and brigade general.

Likewise for the French, I have a brigade of 4 battalions (2 regiments) with their artillery battery and general arriving within the next few weeks.

I still have a French general, the Elite line infantry battalion and artillery battery left to paint to complete my Elite infantry brigade.

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....