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.

28mm Napoleonic Project

Project 1 consists of a 28mm Napoleonic armies project. And when I say armies I mean armies. Sadly there are some current limiting factors like money and space to hold such a project. so for now I make due with what I have. The project in the grand scheme of things is to paint a large reserve of 28mm Napoleonic miniatures so that on the day that I achieve that status of having graduated, having a home and having the coveted "gaming room" with the accompanied "gaming table", that I would be able to play out any 28mm sized battle that I could dream of.

Brief note before I begin. Basing for the 28 Nap project. Army command is a large multi-base set up. Corp command is a large single base. Division is a square 50mm base. Brigade is a hexagonal 50mm base. Regimental command for infantry is a 40mm square base. Cavalry command is incorporated into the regiment and does not stand alone. Cav is 2 figures on a 50mm square base and varies between 16 and 12 figures. Infantry is 4 figures on a 40mm square base and is set at 24 figures on 6 bases with skirmishers individually based on 25mm squares. Artillery currently a work in progress and I am still finalizing the base size.

So where am I?
Currently I have two armies in the works and I would love to have the money to get three other armies started. The two that are under construction are a French Army and a dual British Peninsular and Waterloo campaign Army.

Current state of the French Army. (This is supposed to be a multi-roll Army capable of being deployed in any Shako period campaign)


Command
For my purposes command deals with all Generals of Brigade level or higher. Regimental Commanders are tied to there regiments. Thus I do not consider a regiment 100% complete until all the battalions I want and the commander is painted and based.

So here is what I have; I have 1 Corp Commander(Count d'Erlon to be precise), 1 Division commander (Baron du Passage), 3 brigade commanders (Baron Bourgeois, GdB Dufour and GdB Burthe). I also have an army level command of Napoleon and his accompanied staff, however when ever I get around to it there is one more set of miniatrues to add to that grouping to finish it off. All my French commanders are from Perry Miniatures.

A note on this guy. He came from a box of Perry Plastic Dragoons. He was the odd man out of a 13 figure box and was summarily promoted to brigade command for one of my Dragoon brigades.

 Next up is French Artillery and Infantry.

Where to begin?

Before I really get going on this blog I just wanted to take the time to warn people of a few things. 1) I am new to the blogging world so I am kinda figuring this out as I go along. 2) I have what I like to term PHADD (Painting Hyper Attention Deficit Disorder) for I currently dabble in about six different painting projects and am currently caving into begin another so what you will see on this blog will be a mixture of those projects. 3) You will not see any wargaming on this blog for the time being, for the reason that I am currently attending a four year college working on my degree, and what free time I do have goes into just trying to paint the mountain(no joke either, wait for pictures) of miniatures I have. 4) And finally I am going to reserve the right to do as I please but there are a few things I will promise.

1) This site will be dedicated entirely to my miniature projects. As well as any resources involved in finishing those projects.
2) I will do reviews on the products that I buy as I usually think about that kind of stuff as I am working at my hobby. However  I wish to remind you all that what I say comes from my preferences in miniatures and supplies for this hobby.
3) I may also mention a good book to read once and a while. These usually follow along the lines of one of the projects I am working on.

And finally a teaser of things to come.

I intend first to catch you all up with me. Starting with a detailed over view of my projects; where they began, where they currently are and where they are going. (Ps. these will probably be brief over views with pictures showing what I have managed to do so far and details on where I am heading.)
Here is a list for your amusement of my projects.

1) 28mm Napoleonic
2) 6mm Naploeonic
3) 28mm Roman Legion (semi-stalled but still there)
4) 28mm Warhammer 40,000
5) The Emperor and His Loyal Sons
6) Mobile Suit Gundam Models

And last but not least the one I am current planning to start is what I would like to dub "Totally Epic Warhammer 40,000".

Where I go from there once I have achieved the above plan is anybodies guess.