Russian and Austrian Armies for Under 6mm Eagles.

Overview

Standing in opposition to the French Empire are the armies of Austria, Russia and Prussia. As I said last time I have not managed to paint any of my Prussians yet as I got side tracked by more French. I do however have another problem as I have yet to invest in more Russians and Austrians. So what you see in the post is all I have. This does not mean that my plans for the Austrians, Russian and Prussians are any less grandiose than that of the French. It just means that the three main opposing armies are not high on my buying list..... yet. The new Baccus Russians look quite snazzy. And winter time is always a good time to invest in the Bear of the North.

Russian Army
As with my French arm and all the other 6mm armies I am in the process of building I want them to be multipurpose so that I can use them in any post Shako period army. I have planned out 6 Russian Infantry Corps which will contain nothing but Infantry in case you could not guess. 2 Army Corps which will be combined arms formations. Along with 5 Cavalrt Corps and a Corps of Cossacks. Additionally there will be special Corps sized formations; a Grenadier Corps, a Guard Corps and a Guard Cav Corps.


Russian Army Command

Once again I have a standard sized army command base of which I plan on replacing with a larger 60mm square base at a later date. Once I do that this one will be relegated to the roll of a minor army command base and the 60mm one will assume the roll of high importance probably representing the Czar.

Completed Russian Formations Regiments
Unlike the French I have not bought as much of the Russian army as I would like for a good starting place. I currently only have 5 Regements of Russian Infantry and 5 Regiments of Cavalry. I only have five because Baccus did a weird thing with their Russian Army Starter that left me with half a regiment of both Cossacks and Hussars. I had wanted to fix this before Baccus released their updated Napoleonic Russian miniatures but alas my eyes wandered at a critical time and I missed it. Before I buy any more Russians I will have to take a good look at the changes that Baccus has made to their Russians and figure out I can incorporate my old Russian miniatures into the new line.

I Russian Infantry Corps Commander.

5th and 14th Russian Infantry Divisions.

I have started trying to liven up my scenery and this is a first try at a fence.

My Russian Artillery.

Here is a shot of what 2 Light Artillery Batteries looks like.

3 Regiments of Dragoons, 1 of Hussars and 1 of Cossacks.

Austrian Army
As you may have guessed the Austrian army will follow the same lines as the French and Russian armies. So post Shako multipurpose army capable of being in any campaign...... I sound like a broken record. Oh well. I plan on making 8 Corps (all arms), 2 Reserve Corps (Combined Grenadier Battalions) and 4 Cav Corps( which might be kinda hard considering that the Austrians did not have a lot of cavalry).


Austrian Army Command
Here is the current Austrian army command and if you guessed that I plan on making a better one later good for you. And like the Russians I have not had a chance to buy any more Austrians.

Completed Austrian Formations Regiments
So like the Russians I have just a few completed regiments of Infantry and Cavalry. I also have two completed heavy artillery batteries. I also went kind stupid on choosing which Austrian Cavalry Regiments to paint so now I have to figure out what I was doing since it was some time ago that I painted these guys. I also tried a few different styling methods on how I based the Austrian Infantry in an attempt to make it look like the Division was forming up into line. I need to get some better pictures of them those.

Austrian I Corps commander.

1st and 2nd Austrian Infantry Division.

Lots of white.

I need to learn how to paint Austrian Cavalry Flags.

 Up Next? Eagles of Rome.

Under 6mm Eagles

Overview
The first thing I want to say is that I am not blind and am as sane as anyone who paints miniatures can be. With that said, here is an over view of this project. I love wargamming and I love reading about battles and campaigns and visualizing what tens of thousands of soldiers fighting over battlefields looks like. When it comes down to hobbies I enjoy painting but sometimes financial constraints limit the size of what I can do in the 28mm world. Hence my 6mm Napoleonic project. I will freely admit this scale of miniatures is not for everyone. So anyone looking to get into should do some research first. If you are looking for 6mm Napoleonic lines I would suggest either Adler or Baccus. Personally I like Baccus for the style of their miniatures in terms of poses and proportions as well as their method of ordering online is a real seller for me. I would have done some Adler, however the day of filling out order forms is kinda long dead with the advent of modern technology. The other thing about Adler that may turn some of you on and some of you off is the proportions. Their miniatures have rather large heads in order to allow them to embellish the miniatures more. Though I must say their poses are far more active than that of Baccus. So what is the up side to 6mm armies? Reduced cost(2000+ figures of all types for about $300 including ship and handling), reduced painting time(just paint what you can see from 3 feet away), reduced paint used per miniature and smaller storage demands.

Okay so onto the project. This is a BIG project, with lots of little miniatures. I almost called this my buckshot armies project when I first started painting due to all the plastic bags full of 6mm figures. So the idea is to have a sort of turn based grand tactical campaign connected with massive battles that are played out as a result of decisions made by the generals in the campaign part of the game. The focus would be on post Shako period armies of all countries involved in the Napoleonic wars(Do I ever do anything in small amounts? Pssshhh..... No duh ) I have currently lost count, now that I think of it, of the number of 6mm figures I have bought. But I can say that I have bought miniatures for a substantial portion of the French OOB I have written up and starter formations for the Prussian, Russian and Austrian armies that I have written OOB's for(I estimate the number to be about 3-4000 6mm miniatures figures in total). I plan on British and Peninsular armies to come later as I am getting my fill of those armies in the 28mm world. But after the Big Four would defiantly be allied formations on both sides of the Napoleonic wars for sure. Side Note: If this project sounds more fleshed out than the others, that is because it is. I have big plans and even bigger schemes and 6mm figures make this all possible. Hence why I am considering 6mm 40k figures(aka waiting for the chance to begin investing). The other idea for this line would be something I came up with while reading about the American Civil War. The idea is what would have happened if, Napoleonic armies commanded by Napoleonic generals, fought American Civil War campaigns and battles? Can you in-vision the Imperial Guard making Picket's Charge? Or perhaps Jean Lannes leading the flanking maneuver at Chancellorsville? I really want to give this a try. But it will have to wait for the day I can have the fabled gaming room with accompanying gaming table.

French Army 

Okay so now to the good stuff. I am not going to go into super fine detail for each of the armies as that would require a lot of typing on my part. So instead I will just give you a break down of what I want to achieve, what I can achieve and what I have achieved. This break down will be a lot broader than that of the 28mm Napoleonic armies as I am building far larger 6mm armies.

First my basing system. Army command consists of 3 or more figures on a 40mm square base or larger. These stands will be the nerve center for multiple Corps. Corp command will consist of 2 figures on a 25mm square base and each of these command units will be in charge of multiple Divisions. Division command will consist of 1 figure on a 20mm base and each Division commander will have command of multiple Regiments and Batteries of Artillery. Infantry basing: Each unit of Infantry (Line, Light or Guard) will consist of 48 to 52 figures on a 60mm square base. Cavalry basing: Each unit of Cavalry (Light, Medium or Heavy) will consist of 18 figures on a 60mm square base( I am not currently planning on dismounted Cavalry). Artillery basing: Artillery will be classified as one of 3 types; Heavy, Light or Horse Artillery. Each type has a different basing style to delineate the difference. Heavy: will be 2 artillery pieces with accompanying crew on a 40mm square base. Light: will be a single artillery piece and crew on a 40mm x 30mm base with the gun pointing towards a 40mm side of the base. Horse: will be a single artillery piece and crew on a 40mm x 30mm base with the gun facing a 30mm side of the base. Additionally there will be an accompanying limber for each Horse battery. 

The Plan for the French
I plan on making a total of.... wait for it..... wait for it..... no I am not crazy..... at least I think I am not..... 11 Army Corps(combined arms formations of Cav, Inf and Art. 7 French 4 Allied. ), 7 Cavalry Corps(5 French 2 allied) and of course the Imperial Guard. There will also be an artillery park of additional artillery batteries. This force is meant to be large and varied so as to allow me to field any French army I want of any size for any campaign and battle.

French Army Command 

I plan on having several different based army commands for the French. I would like a grand big one on say a 60mm square to really give the impression of an armie headquarters. I would also like a nice variety of 40mm command stands for say various Marshals of the Empire. Currently I have Napoleon and two French Elite Light Cav figures on the base.

Completed French Formations

I am about 80% done on the work for the French I Corps. All I have left to paint is the two regiments of Lancers, 3 division commanders, four light artillery batteries and 1 horse artillery battery. All told so far I have a grand total of 16 infantry regiments 2 light cavalry regiments and 1 heavy artillery batter ready to go. Plus the Corps commander and 2 Division commanders.

1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions.

3rd and 4th Infantry Divisions.

2 regiments from the French 1st Cavalry Division.

One of these two heavy batteries is for the French II Corps.

I Corps Commander.

Ever wonder what 816 miniatures looks like? Wonder no more.

Additionally I am about 45% of the way through the French II and IV Cav Corps. Each has 4 completed  regiments of Dragoons and Cuirassiers respectively at this current time. Both require their Corps commanders, Division commanders, 4 more regiments each and 2 batteries of Horse artillery.

4 regiments of Cuirassiers.

Nothing quite like massed Napoleonic Cavalry.

By now you will have figured out why I got into 6mm Napoleonic miniatures. You just cannot compare the sheer scale of this line of miniatures to anything else in terms of cost and speed of painting.  And to give you an idea of how much I have waiting for me in 6mm miniatures here is a pic of what I have not even started on.

Believe me that is a lot of 6mm miniatures

In that big pile there should be enough miniatures for a nice kick start on the Imperial Guard( Infantry, Artillery and Cavalry), the rest of I Corps, all of II Corps, all of III Corps, the rest of the French II and IV Cav Corps, two or three extra regiments of cavalry and my Prussian Starter army. Told you it was no small amount of miniatures.


Up next? Russian and Austrian Armies for Under 6mm Eagles.

British Army

The British Army

The British Army is the second of the two 28mm Napoleonic armies I have been building for the last couple of years. I plan on making a kind of dual purpose Peninsular and Waterloo campaign army. Most of what you will see in this post has to do with the Waterloo army though I do have some unassembled British Peninsular Victrix Infantry. As a side note I do not have any Cavalry for the British Army as of yet. When Perry Miniatures finally releases their plastic British Cav then this fact may change.

British Command

So far British command is off to a good start. I have a Corp Commander, Division commander and 3 Brigade commanders already done. I really would like to do an army command but seeing as I do not have all the figures I want for the command stands, this will have to wait. The other thing I need to do is finish my print out with all the names for the brigade to army command so I can fill in all those blank placards you see on the bases (Ps. I also intend to do this for artillery, that is why you may have seen blank ones on the French artillery and will see blank placards on the British artillery).

Corp Commander General Hill. Picton is just along for the ride. He will get his own stand later

Division Commander Wellesley for my Peninsular army.

And my 3 brigade commanders whose names escape me at the moment.

British Artillery

Now  for the one military arm that my British army has over the French, the artillery. The completed artillery park now holds 3 9lb guns and a single 6lb gun. The good for the British is that Victrix made an AWESOME plastic British Artillery box and I (during a cash flow increase) invested in four of those said boxes. With the addition of 2 Perry guns the British will be able to field a total of 14 guns when I am done with what I have in my possession currently. Now for some Horse Artillery.

That is an experimental battery commander base in the back ground.

A Perry 9lb and 6lb guns and crew

2 Victrix 9lb guns and crew

As far as how the artillery is going to be split up into formations I was thinking that maybe two guns would represent a battery? Not sure yet. However 1 seems to small, 4 seems to large and 3 is an odd number. Still thinking on this one though.

British Infantry

Plodding along right behind the French Infantry is my British Infantry formations. Currently I have a total of 4 completed Battalions. 1 Line, 2 Light and a Light Battalion of Highlanders. Ready to paint is another Line Battalion and an additional Light Battalion of Highlanders. Still in boxes are 4 Battalions of Peninsular Infantry( 2 Light and 2 Line) and 2 Line Battalions of Highlanders.

All four Battalions ready to fight

A Battalion from the 42nd Highland Regiment

4th Kings Own

69th South Lincolnshire

33rd 1st Yorkshire West Riding

Where I want to go

Currently I really would like to be able to do the following. I would love to get hold of those Perry Plastic Hussars. A few regiments would be a nice addition to the French Cav arm. I would also love to be able to get more artillery for the French as well. For the British I want to get a little more Infantry, maybe do some KGL? I would probably use Perry's plastic British Infantry for those with some Victrix flags. I would also love to start the British Cav arm, but this one will have to wait until plastics become available. Oh and I would like to get another Perry 9lb and 6lb guns so as to make the batteries look more consistent. The really big temptation right now is to start Russian (via Warlord Games and Victrix), Austrian (via Victrix) and Prussian (via HaT, Warlord Games and Perry) armies. All of the mentioned miniature companies have AWESOME looking lines out or in the works for those countries. However like I said earlier, monetary availability does not comply with my paining desires.

Note: To all who view this blog the picture at the top of the blog is out of date as I recently realized that I had painted the epaulets on my Guard Commanders wrong. This has been fixed.

Up next? Under the 6mm Eagles intro and French Army.

French Infantry, Artillery and Cavalry

French Infantry 

I'll start with the French infantry that I have painted so far. My infantry formations consist of 3 elements so far; the Guard, Line and Light infantry. I have 3 completed Guard battalions, 4 completed Line battalions and 2 completed Light battalions. Each battalion has a starting number of 24 figures, 4 of which are the command element. This makes for 6 bases of 4 figures each. I try to have between 2 and 4 figures on 25mm square bases as skirmishers for each battalion. These skirmishers are in addition to the starting level of 24 figures.

Four French Line Battalions. All of these Figures are from Parry Miniatures.

As of yet I have not painted up the regimental commanders for these battalions.

My two completed Light Battalions and their commander.

These two battalions are all from Victrix Miniatures. You will see mostly Victrix miniatures for my Nap Figures

If you want to see a picture of the 3 completed Guard Battalions just scroll up. I am currently working on the fourth battalion and will post some pictures of all 4 when I am done.

In addition to what you see here. I have 4 more French Perry miniature battalions ready to paint and with the addition of a few more command spruces I will have a further 3 Battalions ready to paint. For Victrix I have two Battalions ready to paint and have a further 5 or 4 boxes of Victrix 1807 -1812 French Infantry. Most, if not all of these battalions, will be painted as Line battalions and there stands a small chance that 2 will be painted as Light battalions. For the Guard I have another 2 battalions waiting to be base coated. These will be painted as the 3rd Regiment of Old Guard Grenadiers, joining the 1st and 2nd. If I had the money I would invest in more line infantry boxes and a few Old Guard Chasseurs boxes from Victrix. But alas money and time are two things I have in short supply.

French Artillery 

Now the saddest part of the French Army, Her artillery. Unfortunately due to the cost on metal miniatures, increasing this arm of the French military does not fit into my budget for the number of French Artillery pieces I want. Currently I have only 3 French 6lb guns. I would love to add more guns to that list especially some Guard artillery and some Horse artillery.  

French Cavalry


On a cheerier note my French Cavalry. Currently consisting of 2 painted Regiments of Cuirassiers and 1 painted Regiment of mounted Dragoons and a dismounted Regiment of Dragoons. I have also ready to paint a further 2 Regiments of Cuirassiers and 6 more Regiments of Dragoons 3 mounted and 3 dismounted in boxes waiting for assembly.

Additionally I forgot to mention that I have a tone of commanders to fill in the necessary command positions for all the infantry battalions to be assembled and painted. However I do need to look into buying some commanders for the Cavalry arm of the French army.

Up Next: British Army Command, Infantry and Artillery. Sadly no cavalry.