The Guns Of April

Operation Paint Cavalry is under way

2012-03-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weeks have been very exciting for me both personally and hobby related. I recently undertook the largest cavalry painting project in my hobby existence. Yes, I know some people will laugh at the fact that I am only painting 26 cavalry and some mounted officers but I really had some bad experiences painting and playing with cavalry units so I have managed to avoid them up until this point. I was working on assembling the 26 dragoons this past week and I started painting them this weekend. Hopefully I will have at least 6-12 dragoons ready to dip before I go to bed with the rest falling into line by next weekend. In between painting backpacks and some casualties I was painting up the horses. Here are some pictures of my progress as of a few minutes before posting this article. Enjoy.

The pictures above are of my brigade commander. Commanders are Perry Miniatures and the base was supplied by Dragon Forge Designs.

8 of my horses are done and based. I have another 8 that need highlighting and another 8 that need to be dull coated and highlighted.

Here are the elite 17th Dragoons. I have found no evidence that they wore their bearskins in the Peninsula and more than likely they didn't but they look cool. Sometimes cool trumps historical accuracy. :)

Leger almost there

2012-03-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

I'm helping out our French players by jumping in and painting up a couple of battalions. Above is the almost completed 1st Battalion of the 31st Leger. I decided to break with the darker trousers for the drummer, so that he'll stand out nicely from the crowd (easier for the officer to spot him in the swirling melee).

And then there's this 2nd Battalion of the 69th Ligne (sans white fanion). I'm very happy to have painted everyone out of their greatcoats, especially as painting greatcoated French is so much easier to do. I guess I'll have to use all the greatcoats for my next battalion.

As I was enjoying painting these French battalions, I was laying out an article for Wargames Illustrated on the Swiss troops who were in Napoleon's service. They sounded interesting, as does the Polish Vistula Legion. Both the Swiss and Poles had troops that served in the Peninsular, and in the Russian Campaign of 1812. So, I've been thinking a few units of those might be next on the painting table.

I must now admit I've definitely fallen far down the Napoleonic rabbit hole!

Cheers
Dave

The 95th Rifles

2012-03-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

Greetings All,
Well until now I have stayed somehwat in the shadows on this progect as life has been crazy, but I am ready to show you all the first of my two regt's that will be taking the field at Adepticon in April for the side of King George! Now I actually finished these about a month or two back but again life was busy so it took a while to get pictures of them and then get posting about that so I do apologize. Since this was the first time I have painted Napoleonics in over 15 years I wanted to try something new and used the army painter green as the base coat.

I apologize for the picture but the close shots weren't comming out well. As Far as the army painter I would say if I was going to dip the army and shoot for a basic quality it would be ok but I think for my painting style it wasn't the best choice but thats ok. Overall I am looking forward to this and may even expand the brits into a brigade as normally I am a French fan but hey we all have roles to play:). Overall I am extremely excited for this and I look forward to what is in the works for Adepticon 11.

A small update from Brigade Chemineau

2012-03-08T18:59:00.001-08:00

Horse Artillery lining up their sights

So I decided to give a little update on Brigade Chemineau's progress on the week. I know it has been slow going but I have not stopped.

Above is the one Horse Artillery from my portion of the army. Fully finished and ready to go! Hooray!

The Legere are almost finished

And here we have my slow moving Legere. Believe me when I tell you I have others I am working on and not just these guys. But I have a question for you all. As you can see there is one base of six men missing still. That is because I am at an impasse and could use a little feedback.

Grenadiers or Voltigeurs?

This fourth base is typically a Grenadier base. But seeing as this is light infantry, it could also be a Voltigeur base. So I am asking you, the reader of this post, what you would like to see? Above is a picture of the two. So your feedback would be appreciated!

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The 24th: The Race Is On!

2012-03-07T06:11:00.002-08:00

Just a quick update on the progress of my unit for the British. I finished my first stand minus basing and can't be more excited. I don't think this is my best work by far but time is of the essence so I'll have to let some things go (for now at least). 6 down, 18 to go and 44 days remaining. This is going to be close.

March on Soldier(s)

2012-02-29T04:31:00.000-08:00

After falling ill last November I wasn't entirley sure whether I would even make Adepticon let alone complete my required units of British for the big Salamanca game. But, the beauty of a group project, espeically with great guys like the ones involved here, is people are ready and able to step up and help you out. So, most of my painting tasks went to some newly aquired recruits and I can't thank them and the core group enough for picking up my slack.

Well, a couple of months ago I realized I was recovering well and not only did I set a goal to play in the game at Adepticon I really wanted to challenge myself to complete at least one unit. Completing this unit and playing at Adepticon are really going to be benchmarks for me as I get back to my old self.

Starting this week I finally put together my unit of the 24th Foot for the British side. I'm using Perry plastic British Line Infantry and, as usual, their models are just superb. I was very fortunate to have the able guidance and advice of Dave Taylor in assembling this unit as I'm a complete noob when it comes to Napoleonics. After a short Skype call with Dave I had the basics of what a center company should entail (who knew all the subtle differences!) and this week I set to work on putting it together. The one challenge I faced was the variety of poses possible with this plastic kit. Looking at lots of source references for these models, like the Black Powder book and others, I had the small delima of going with very regimented and repetitive poses or going with some fun and asthetic ones. Well, I'm a painter and hobbyist first and foremost so the fun and asthetic side won that battle! The first three "test" models are on my painting stands and the other 21 are assembled and ready to go. My plan is to paint them before basing since they'll be packed tight on the final bases (which looks cool in my opinion). So stay tuned for the first pictures of a completed stand #1.

6th Legere - 2nd Batallion Update

2012-02-20T18:08:00.000-08:00

The 6th Legere's 2nd Batallion begins to take shape!

So I know it's been quite a long time since I have posted any updates. And I would like to think I have had a decent few reasons. The biggest being that my wife and I bought a new house back in December. We had to be completely moved in within 3 days of signing on the house. So everything had been rushed. Throw in some repair work and unpacking and here I am. Finally back to working on my French.

As you can see above, the Light Infantry are coming along. Yes, I know they are not complete. I have to finish their backpacks and a few minor touch ups and basing but this is the bulk of the 2nd Btn. I have to paint a base of 6 Grenadiers for this Batallion.

I have fallen behind on my painting schedule by quite a bit. I still have 116 models to paint to complete my portion of the army and about 58 days to do it! So with that gents! I bid you adieu!

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Hussars! Hussars!

2012-02-08T12:11:00.000-08:00

Despite promising myself I'd be working on something else, the playtest game got me in the mood again to paint more Brits, so with just my Hussars to complete for the big game, I set to work on them.

These are the first four of the 1st KGL Hussars (three troopers and a trumpeter). I think once they're complete they'll probably be the most gaudy of my units ; )

It is always interesting painting up new units for my army as I learn so much more about the uniforms and, by extension, the attitudes of the time. With these Hussars I got to learn four new words too: shabraque, pelisse, sabretasche, and dolman. Pretty cool. One note I must make about these Hussars is their pelisse. Although it was common for the pelisse to not be worn in hotter climates (such as the Peninsula) I just had to include them. After all, the pelisse is one of the key things that to me says "Hussar!"

Cheers
Dave

PS. I used to call the pelisse "that fancy jacket thingy".

Playtesting!

2012-02-05T07:53:00.000-08:00

On Friday night a few of us were invited over to Jim Ferich's wargaming den (a wonderful place filled with all manner of great terrain and vast swathes of wargaming miniatures of all periods). Jim regularly hosts meetings of the DAWGs (Delaware Area War Gamers) and on this occasion Jim, myself, Joe, Brien, and Chris were joined in the gaming fun by Joe and Eric. Ly and Kyle were our patient observers.

As Brien and I have had little experience (read almost none) with Black Powder, it was a great opportunity to throw down on a 12'x6' table with the full Orders of Battle for our Salamanca game. Joe and I brought our painted models along and the remaining troops were ably supplied from Jim's ample collection (Jim pointed out that if the Brits needed a few more battalions he had 16 more on hand!).

Seeing the armies out on the tabletop was great, as it allowed us to throw around a few ideas about actual deployment of the troops and creating a few different objectives for the game. In the end we decided that the church (initially held by the 95th Rifles) at the far end of the table would be an important objective, as would the point where the road led off the table. The hills on the long edges of the table were the only other significant features, so "high ground" was determined as the third objective. We launched into the game with our three infantry brigades per side on the table and our cavalry brigades in reserve (with adjustments to the locations they could deploy depending on the turn they arrived).

The French kicked off with a great example of how varied actions can be in Black Powder. On the left, Jim's brigade advanced three moves and ousted the 95th from the church in the second turn, whilst in the center, Joe's brigade became mired in a series of poor command rolls, allowing Eric's Guards units to gain the upper hand. On the French left, Brien's troops advanced well enough, and when the cavalry entered on turn two, that end of the line looked incredibly daunting for Chris's British brigade.

We fought back and forth for three hours or so, playing through five turns and learning a LOT about the game as we went, and wrapped it up as the second of the French Brigades reached it's breaking point. Looking over the table and assessing what might have happened should the game have gone on another turn or two, we decided it was a minor British victory. To be more precise it was characterized as a "Minor victory to the British, who are not allowed to brag too much about it, and no-one is buying anyone any beers."

So, fun game, lots learned, and a few tweaks for the OOBs, deployments, and objectives suggested. A big thank you from Brien and myself to Jim, Joe, Chris, Joe, and Eric for being so patient with us as we played through the playtest of what promises to be a fun game at Adepticon!

Cheers
Dave

Campbell's Staff

2012-01-26T10:33:00.000-08:00

Last (British) post I mentioned that my Divisional Command stand would be next up. Joe jumped in with a good look at his progress, only seven fusiliers and his cavalry to go for him, and they're looking great too. So, we're now back to the Brits for a post or two.

As I've mentioned earlier, there aren't a lot of British Staff Officer models out there. That's why this stand sports only one truly British model who (for our purposes) represents the First Division commander at Salamanca, Major-General Henry Campbell. The model is from the Perry's British range (as Major-General Kempt).

The remaining models are from French packs from the Perrys, most of them modified in some way to make them look more British (or German).

I hope you like them, and that they serve us well on the field of battle.

For those of you who might be wondering, the dog is from Warlord Games' Celt Mastiffs pack, from their Hail Caesar range. I spotted a dog just like it on a table at Salute last year, asked the guy at the table where it was from, then dashed off to the Warlord stand to buy a pack of my very own. The pack has been sitting on my desk since April last year, just waiting for an opportunity like this. While I haven't read anything that suggested (or even hinted) Campbell had a dog, I thought it would make a great addition to the base.

You can take a look at the table (Alternative Worcester 1651) that inspired the purchase of the dogs here. And if you look closely, you might be able to spot the dog in the pics.

Cheers
Dave

Vive la France

2012-01-23T17:34:00.000-08:00

Dave is quite right that the end of 2011 was quite hectic for all of us but I think I speak for everyone when I say that we are all very excited to complete this project and showcase a really cool Napoleonic game. Many of us are very involved in the hobby industry and it is not often we get to attend a show and actually play some games. This will be a great mix of work and play at Adepticon. During my 5 week 'vacation' out of country I brought a handful of my French infantry and some horses to work on during my down time. Once I returned to my home in the U.S. I quickly set to basing the finished miniatures in the hopes that I can move on to my cavalry. I have 7 infantry to complete and about 30 backpacks so I am almost done. Here are some pictures of my finished infantry and as of today I just dull coated my first unit of 8 horses. Hopefully next week I will have some more finished miniatures to show you. Thanks and enjoy.

1st Battalion of the 15th Ligne needing 7 more fusiliers for completion.

2nd Battalion of the 15th Ligne

1st Battalion of the 82nd Ligne with their attached company of grenadiers.

2nd Battalion of 82nd Ligne with a simple head swap conversion.

Batteries A & B ready for action.

The British Commanders stand ready.

2012-01-22T08:47:00.000-08:00

Well it seems to have been a month since our last update! Who'd have thought it?

In our little group, however, we've had quite a bit of turmoil in our lives.

Joe spent the last five weeks of 2011 in Vietnam. Brien bought a new house (his first) and all the joy that comes with that. My wife gave birth to our second child, which has certainly changed the dynamic of the household. And two members have been going through some medical dramas of their own.

Throughout it all we've been plugging away at our modeling tasks. Joe has been working on some cavalry, Alex has finished off some Rifles, and Jamie is about to start of the 24th Regiment of Foot.

I've been able to squeeze in a few hours here and there finishing off the command stands for the British. As I've mentioned before, a few of these models are actually from the Perry British range, but most of them are from other Perry ranges (including a few Frenchies). Some minor conversion work covered up of the uniform inconsistencies but I know there are a few still visible. Hopefully you can look past those and enjoy the simple stories in each vignette.

1st Brigade - Fermor and Von Lowe.

2nd Brigade - Wheatley.

3rd Brigade - Van DeLeur.

4th Brigade - LeMarchant.

Next post, Campbell's Divisional Command.

Cheers
Dave

PS. Only three months to go!

British Command reaches next level

2011-12-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

After a little bit more work adding some greenstuffed sashes and sword belts, my collection of Officers and their staff is now ready for painting!

One of our new sponsors, Dragon Forge Design, provided the bases I used for the command stands. Jeff has a great range of sculpted bases, perfect for lots of sci-fi and fantasy games, but he also has a range of "base blanks" just perfect for this sort of thing. For the Brigade commanders I used 80mm round blanks, and for the Divisional commander I used a 120x95mm oval blank.

So, here are my commanders: First Brigade - Femor (left) and Von Lowe (right, mounting up).

Second Brigade - Wheatley (mounted) calling for haste with the delivery of new orders to his sub-officer.

Third Brigade - Van DeLeur (mounted with telescope) observing the actions of the enemy and preparing to give orders to an officer of the RHA.

Fourth (Cavalry) Brigade - Le Marchant (mounted, wearing the bicorne) with von Bock (or Alten, I haven't decided, in the KGL Hussar uniform).

And finally, here is Campbell, commander of the Guards Division at Salamanca and "Divisional Commander" of the British for our little game at Adepticon.

As well as thanks to Dragon Forge Design, we would also like to thank the Perry's for their kind support in the form of these command models. Cracking stuff!

Cheers
Dave

All Must March.

2011-12-15T12:06:00.000-08:00

I am somewhat late to this ball and have, to date, been remiss in posting the progress of the French third brigade. So, I’m attempting to remedy that now, with a quick introduction and update on recruitment.

First, this project marks a full-circle return for me, as far as my wargaming career goes. In high school, I used to frequent the now legendary shop of one Todd Fisher. The Emperor’s Headquarters, here in Chicago, was a Mecca for wargamers in general, but Napoleonic gamers specifically. Todd, who has been featured on the History Channel as a Napoleonic historian of no little renown, recruited some of us younger painters (we were, at that time, exclusively playing Warhammer 40K) to help paint his epic 15mm Empire armies. Eventually, I rose through the ranks to the level of troop-pusher and even earned the right to an occasional brigade command. But it was my college friend Sam (who infamously carried around the Empire rules- all 16,000 pages- in his pack during Desert Storm) who really got me enthusiastic about gaming battles that didn’t involve, to a lesser or greater extent, Chaos daemons.

But I apologize for waxing sentimental. I now find myself, for the first time since those salad days of sprawling EHQ battles, painting Napoleonic models. Dave Taylor is the kind of gamer who is so enthusiastic that you can’t help but catch some of his passion. From the first conversation about a large, exhibition game of Black Powder at Adepticon, I was in. 100%. I had already started collecting some of the Perry Brothers’ French infantry, so I was more than agreeable to take up arms alongside Brien and Joe, taking responsibility for the French third brigade for our Salamanca game. I have no doubt that, come Adepticon, we’ll defeat the “nation of shopkeepers” long before the bar closes.

My first battalion (work in progress shot below) is nearing completion. I’ll post some more detailed shots of the finished bases just after the holidays. My plan is to update regularly and stagger my infantry battalions with guns, command, and my Dragoons. Well, thanks for letting me drone on. I promise my next post will be 90% photos of toy soldiers.

Vive l'Empereur,

Dave Pauwels

What to quaff whilst we play?

2011-12-11T18:52:00.001-08:00

From the start of this project we've talked about drinking some fine port whilst we play out our Battle of Salamanca. No doubt port would have been the tipple of choice of the officers in the Anglo-Portuguese army, what with them fighting so close to Oporto and all. (Although now that I've said that, please feel free to correct me).

Anyway, my mother visited us recently and brought the above bottle of 2003 Decompression Port all the way from Australia. You can only get this from the Divers Luck cellar door, about 30 minutes north of Newcastle, NSW. I've loved this port ever since I first tasted it there in 2003. This is one of several bottles that have made the trip halfway around the world over the years.

I'm hoping my fellow "Guns" enjoy it come April ; )

Cheers
Dave

Commanders starting to take shape

2011-12-08T09:55:00.001-08:00

My order of Perry Miniatures "staff officer" models came in early this week. In an attempt to regain a bit of sanity (following the birth of my second daughter), I quickly cobbled together a few command base vignettes. I still haven't set my lights back up after our Thanksgiving party, so these were shot on the fly with my phone, my apologies for the lack of crisp detail.

First Brigade Commanders: Here we have Von Lowe (mounted) and Femor (mounting up), the joint commanders of our First Brigade in the battle. In reality they each commanded a brigade as part of the Guards Division. I'll be adding a horseholder to this vignette, keeping Femor's horse steady while he mounts up.

Second Brigade Commander: On the right is Wheatley, commander of another brigade in the Guards Division (this one including two Highlander regiments - the 42nd and 79th). On his base are to ADCs, one handing off a packet of orders to the other (mounted). I've already switched out the original headwear of these three models, giving two of them the ubiquitous bicorne, whilst the other sports a shake that marks him out as an officer of a Light Infantry company seconded to Wheatley's staff.

Third Brigade Commander: And finally, for the moment, we have Van DeLeur (mounted) on the left, looking through his telescope towards a threat indicated by another staff officer on foot. Next to them sits an officer of the Royal Horse Artillery waiting to guide the fire of the batteries accompanying this brigade from the Light Division.

As most of these models are from Perry ranges other than the British, there are a few changes I need to make to their uniforms. Primarily it's the head swaps (done), followed by adding officer sashes, sword belts, and the occasional altered jacket style.

Until next time!

Cheers
Dave

You can never find a good staff officer when you need him.

2011-11-17T11:51:00.001-08:00

There are quite a few nice models out there to represent various British Generals (and other ranks) and quite a few of those lovely models are from Alan and Michael Perry. One thing I have noticed, however, is there is an alarming absence of handy Staff Officers and ADCs to assist the commanders in the execution of their commands. Amongst the Perry French range you can find more packs of commanders, staff officers, hangers on than you can find artillery pieces! Not so for our poor British officers. Seems like Wellington was forced to write down his own orders and ride them off himself to his various sub-commanders. Surely not.

Anyway, this has inspired me to place an order for a variety of command packs from various ranges that I can then tweak a bit with head swaps and greenstuffed accoutrements to create some cool bases for the four Brigade commanders and one Divisional Commander I'll be painting up for our Guns of April game at Adepticon next year. I love the two officers at the table writing orders in the pack above. They'll no doubt make it on to the Division commander's base.

I love the horse holder, pointing officer, and rider about to leave with orders from this Dutch-Belgian pack above. They'll probably be spread across a few bases.

And Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimer (above center) will be on a base with the ADC mounting up next to him, suitably adapted to a "British in the Peninsula" style.

Oh, and the order will have a box of the new Perry Hussars in it, to be painted up as the 1st Hussars of the KGL.

I'm looking forward to getting started on all this over winter : )

Cheers
Dave

An update from Brigade Chemineau

2011-11-07T19:26:00.000-08:00

6th Leger 1st Bn Command

So it has been a little while since the French have had an update and I wanted to post some of my experimentation on the Leger (Light Infantry). As you can see above I have my first command models done for the first base of Leger. It has been slow going with many side projects taking priority.

One of the many inspirational units I am drawing from

I will take a moment here and explain how I want to set up my portion of our project. As you can see just above here is a unit painted by the talented Dave Imrie. When I first saw this I thought, "That is how the French should look on the battlefield!". Needless to say the quest is on. I have procured all of my models needed for this project and will be trying to capture the feel of the models above.

I intend to base one unit of my Leger in marching rank and file. This is the one I have started work on. The 2nd BN of Leger will be similar to what you see above. Muskets at the charge and ready to crash into the "Thin Red Line". I will also do something similar to my Ligne or Line Infantry. Also I intend to dirty up my boys with a bit of pigments.

If you do any research on the Battle of Salamanca you will find that the two armies marched for days in a constant game of cat and mouse. Sometimes the armies would be within a stones throw distance from each other. And of course, the night before the battle was a severe thunderstorm. Later thought to be a good omen for Wellington before his major engagements.

One of my Line Officers

Well that's enough out of me this evening. I will get some more of the 6th Leger, 1st BN finished up and on its way to you lads!

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Based in Spain

2011-10-31T07:31:00.000-07:00

With a bit of hobby activity going on amongst "The Guns of April" crew, I've been asked to post up my recipe for my Napoleonic bases.

The Battle of Salamanca was fought on a fairly dry and dusty plain in Spain in the middle of summer. As such I decided (a long while ago) that the bases needed to be quite light, reflecting the dry feel of the area. As I've just finished off my 5th Caçadores unit (above), I figured they were as good a candidate as any to demonstrate the treatment.

Here are my five steps for "Peninsular Basing" success (from left to right):

1. Basecoat everything with Calthan Brown (GW)
2. Drybrush with Bubonic Brown (GW)
3. Drybrush with Dark Sand (Vallejo, similar to GW's Bleached Bone)
4. Drybrush with Pale Sand (Vallejo, similar to a mix of GW's Bleached Bone and Skull White)
5. Paint the edges with Calthan Brown and glue on clumps of Late Summer Buffalo Grass (Silflor, available in the US from Scenic Express)

Hopefully this little post will keep us all on the same track for our basing ; )

Cheers
Dave

2nd Brigade continues to recruit

2011-10-23T21:31:00.000-07:00

The French Order of Battle has been posted and painting continues. Here is another update of my Brigade. There are some subtle details that I am considering such as the regimental numbers on the soft caps, cartridge boxes, and backpacks. For now I want to have the units finished and presentable and I will add the cool details later. I also have casualty miniatures that I would like to use to represent the hits taken by my units throughout the game. More to come on those at a later time. Enjoy the pictures.

Vive l'empereur!

2011-10-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

Ask and ye shall receive!

We are just starting out with our armies where as Mr. Taylor has been working steadily for a year on his. But don't lose faith my friends! We have assembled an equally talented (yet slower) team that will bring you a beautiful army! I promise! Since Dave has already covered the basics I will jump in to the ~~winning~~ French OOB. To the right side of each unit you will notice one of our names. That is the person who will be building and painting that specific unit.

And now on to the good stuff!

French - Foy's Division, supported by Feyer's Division and cavalry from Boyer's command

First Brigade (Brigade Chemineau) - Brien
• 6th Leger - 1st Battalion (24) - Brien
• 6th Leger - 2nd Battalion (24) - Brien
• 69th Ligne - 1st Battalion (24) - Brien
• 69th Ligne - 2nd Battalion (24) - Brien
• Foot Artillery (1 gun) - Joe
• 25th Dragoons (small unit - 8) - Joe

Second Brigade (Brigade Desgraviers-Bertholt) - Joe
• 39th Ligne - 1st Battalion (24) - Joe
• 39th Ligne - 2nd Battalion (24) - Joe
• 76th Ligne - 1st Battalion (24) - Joe
• 76th Ligne - 2nd Battalion (24) - Joe
• Foot Artillery (1 gun) - Joe
• 3rd Hussars (small unit - 8) - Brien

Third Brigade (Brigade Menne, from Feyer's Division) - Dave
• 31st Leger - 1st Battalion (24) - Dave
• 31st Leger - 2nd Battalion (24) - Dave
• 26th Ligne - 1st Battalion (24) - Dave
• 26th Ligne - 2nd Battalion (24) - Dave
• Foot Artillery (1 gun) - Joe

Fourth Brigade - supporting cavalry - Mixed
• 6th Dragoons (small unit - 8) - Joe
• 11th Dragoons (small unit - 8) - Dave
• 13th Chasseurs (small unit - 8) - Brien
• Horse Artillery (1 gun) - Brien
• Horse Artillery (1 gun) - Dave

A selection from Brien Dulaney's workbench.

Nous sommes la terreur de nos ennemis!

Welcome to our little blog!

2011-10-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

The 79th Regiment of Foot (Cameron Highlanders) ready for action!

Welcome, one and all, to our very first post on this blog! The first of vary many, we hope.

What's all this about? Well, rather than hash over it again, I'm going to guide you to the "About THE GUNS OF APRIL" box in the right column. That'll give you the basics.

Essentially though, we're a group of veteran wargamers (with closing in on 100 years of wargaming experience between us), but we're all relative newcomers to the world of Napoleonic wargaming. Drawn by the wonderful tales and colorful uniforms, we've decided to stay and put our best foot forward... by presenting a Napoleonic battle at an event we all love, AdeptiCon (held every year in April in the Chicagoland area, IL, USA)

In later posts I'll go into the reasons behind our choice of this battle, but for now I'll leave you with the British Order of Battle (for Black Powder) for this epic project. Units listed in bold are currently completed, units listed in red will be painted by my partner in crime Jamie Wellings, and units in italics will be painted by me.

BRITISH - Campbell's Guards Division,supported by Alten's Light Division

and cavalry from Le Marchant and Anson'sBrigades

First Brigade (Joint Brigade, Femor& Von Lowe)

• 1/Coldstream Guards (Large unit - 36)

• 1/3rd Guards (Large Unit - 36)

• 1st KGL (24)

• 2nd KGL (24

• Company of the 5/60th Rifles (Small unit - 12)

Second Brigade (Wheatley's Brigade)

• 2/24th Foot (24)

• 2/58th Foot (24)

• 1/42nd Foot (24)

• 1/79th Foot (24)

• Company of the 5/60th Rifles (Small unit - 12)

• Foot Artillery (1 gun)

Third Brigade (Van DeLeur's Brigadefrom Light Division)

• 1/52nd Foot (24)

• 1/95th Rifles (24)

• 1/44th Foot (24)

• 2nd Cacadores (24)

• Horse Artillery (1 gun)

Fourth Brigade - supporting cavalry

• 3rd Dragoons (8)

• 4th Dragoons (8)

• 11th Light Dragoons (8) or 1^st Hussars KGL (8)

• Horse Artillery (1 gun)

Hopefully some of the Frenchies will chime in soon with information on how their forces are progressing.

The 2nd Caçadores, Portugal's light infantry formation