British Command reaches next level

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.

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?

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

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