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 |
Up next? Russian and Austrian Armies for Under 6mm Eagles.
No comments:
Post a Comment