Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you all have a fantastic time and get the pressies you want. 

I'm looking forward to some time off over Christmas with plenty of time for painting.

Peace and Love.

French Guardsman vs Russian Jaeger

I'm travelling most of this week which will prevent me getting any painting done.  However, it does give me time in the hotels in the evenings to read through a number of books that I've had sitting around for a few weeks now.

I purchased the new Osprey book "French Guardsman vs Russian Jaeger"a few weeks ago and have just finished reading it. 

This book is one of a number in a new range called 'Combat' which compares the organisation, training and combat effectiveness of two historical foes, in this case the Jaeger and Young Guard between 1803 and 1815.

The book focuses on a number of regiments from each formation (1st, 2nd and 14th Voltigeur and the two Russian Lifeguard Jaeger regiments along with the 19th Jaeger Regiment) as the sources used by the author made it "..possible to form a much more detailed picture of their combat performance".

The first chapter after the introduction provides a comparison of the the two opposing units in sections sub-titled "“origins and combat role”, “enlistment and training”, “motivation, morale and logistics”, “leadership” and “weapons and tactics”.  This section also provide colour plates of a Russian Jaeger and French Voltegeur from both the front and the back.  This is immensely useful fro anyone who is painting figures for these units.

The rest of the book is given over to descriptions of three battles Krasnyi (17 November 1812); the fighting around Gudengossa (16 October 1813), south of Leipzig; and Craonne (7 March 1814).  These battles descriptions contain first hand accounts from both French and Russian sources (including privates) along with analysis of their performance in each battle.

The final chapter is an analysis and conclusions section from both the Russian and French perspectives along with "the Reckoning" where the fate of some of the soldiers referenced in the battle descriptions are revealed.  this final chapter is rounded off with a page on Unit organisations and a page summarising the orders of battle for three engagements.

The book comes in at 80-pages and has numerous maps and pictures.  I particularly like the split screen pictures that show a particular combat scene from the both sides perspectives.  I haven't seen this before in a book and I personally think it is very effective.  The text is very readable and brings these two unit types alive.

What I found most interesting for my 1814 project is how the "..decline of the Young Guard and the rise of the Russian Jaeger arm are starkly exposed".  The description of Craonne really highlights the gulf in prowess between the flexible veteran Jaegers and the poorly trained conscripts of the Young Guard. Something that I need to take account of when putting together orders of battle.

At 80 pages the book lacks real detail, nevertheless, a lengthy Bibliography is provided and the book serves as an excellent introduction to the latter years of the Napoleonic wars and these two formations.  At £9 (on Amazon, other retailing options are available) this book is great value and I heartily recommend it.

Russian Infantry Completed

After a marathon painting session on Thursday night I've managed to finish painting the last few Russian infantry figures that I need for Montmirail.  I've just finished highlighting the flock and grass tufts and so I give you the 10th Infantry Division:

I didn't have quite enough infantry strips to complete the last base, so rather than buying another pack I used some of the skirmishing figures that I had spare and created a unit in firing line.  I've also started to add a couple of casualty figures to the bases, especially the firing line:

And finally a couple of shots of the two completed infantry Corps:

Next up will be the artillery batteries that complete these Corps, I'm going to be struggling for painting time over the next two weeks so may not get much more done before Christmas.  I'm hoping a I can squeeze out a couple of artillery batteries though.

Now that I've completed all the infantry I can really see the attraction of 6mm, the figures look really impressive en masse and it's only taken me two months to complete them.  I'm hoping to get the artillery, cavalry and command bases completed between Christmas and the Vapnartak show in York on the 2nd February. This seems achievable given how quickly I've painted up the infantry.

Comments and suggestions are welcome as always.

I've listed out the paints I used on the infantry figures in case anyone is interested.

Vallejo Medium Flesh (860)
P3 Beast Hide followed by P3 Hammerfall Khaki for the greatcoats
Vallejo Deck Tan (986) for the white belts, straps, etc.
Black followed by a highlight of Vallejo Dark Grey (994) for the Kiwers, backpacks, etc.
Vallejo Bronze (998) for the Chinscales and sword handles.
Vallejo Flat Brown (984) for the Muskets.
Vallejo Model Air Gun followed by Vallejo Silver(997) for the musket barrels.
Vallejo Flat Red (957) for the red collars and cuffs
Vallejo Deep Green (970) for green collars and cuffs on the Jaegar.

Another Brigade Completed

I've only managed to get one more base completed over the past week as work is creeping into my weekends at the moment.  Nevertheless, I've still managed to get another base completed and I've also finished painting the figures I need for two more.

I'll use this base to represent a single Brigade from the 16th Division that was present at Montmirail and attached to XIth Corps. 

I've tried to take a close up shot with my camera to give some idea of the detail on these figures as I'm quite impressed with the amount Baccus manage to get on them.

And finally a shot of all the figures painted so far.  I should have all the remaining infantry painted over the next couple of nights and basing completed over the weekend.

Another Division

I've managed to complete another Division and now only have four more bases to finish in order to complete the Russian infantry for Montmirail.

Although progress has slowed I'm still managing to maintain the motivation to paint.  I've now painted close on 500 figures in less than two months.  This is close to the total number of 28mm figures I've painted in the last fifteen years.

My target now is to complete the last four bases before the Recon show in Pudsey on 7th December.  I've placed my order with Baccus for another batch of figures to keep me going through until the York show in February (mostly artillery and cavalry) so want these completed.

New bases:

Bases completed so far:

Thanks for all the comments and encouragement.

First Infantry Corps Completed

Another slow week in terms of painting, but, I've still managed to get the 18th Division based and I'm half way through the second base of the next Division.  I always get a 'buzz' from completing a unit which helps me start the next one.  What I'm finding with 6mm is that the speed of painting units means that 'buzz' is happening far more frequently that it does with 28mm.

If all goes to plan I should have another Division finished next weekend which means I'll have 3/4 of the Russian infantry I need for Montmirail.

Within a few weeks I have managed to paint enough figures for the whole of a Russian infantry Corps.  I'm now starting to see the mass effect that these figures give and can't wait to get the next Corps completed.  I'm also finding that my painting is speeding up as I'm not as concerned about the look of individual figures as I was when I started. 

Steady Progress

Despite heavy work commitments, I've made steady progress since my last post and have now based up two more brigades of infantry.  I have now completed the first of four infantry Divisons required for the two Corps under Sacken.  In between waiting for glue and ink to dry on these bases I have managed to finish the painting on enough figures to do three more bases over the weekend.  This will then give me enough bases for the whole of the XI Corps.  I still need to add a final layer of matt varnish to these so I'll do the flags once that is done, probably once I've got the whole of XI Corps based up.

I'm quite pleased at how quickly these units can grow, it's just a matter of finding a time efficient approach to basing and painting.

I'll get the other three brigades based over the weekend and then get some pictures posted of the whole Corps early next week.  At this rate I should have all of the Russian infantry for Montmirail completed by early December.

With three bases competed, I'm now starting to see the benefits of 6mm.  The figures are really starting to look good.  Once I have the whole Corps completed I'll set my camera up and get some decent photo's.