...already!

Time moves pretty fast. It's hard to believe it was five years ago that I decided to go down the Napoleonic road. It doesn't seem that far away, and yet. I was told Napoleonics were a choice one might be better avoiding, and that I would find only madness going down that road. Funny thing, but these kind of comments actually motivated me to begin that era! They were right on one thing; once you start, you won't be able to escape the period's grasp! Do I regret? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I've never been more satisfied of my hobby, and I truly believe the Napoleonic period is the pinnacle of Wargaming. My biggest problem before was keeping my interest in one period, I haven't had that problem...at all! When I finish a unit, there's 30 more I want to paint, when I 'finish' an army, there's dozens of nations I would like to start next, when I finish a book on the 1809 campaign, I want to read about 1813. It just doesn't end, and I find it's great. 5 years already, and I know in 5 years I will still be painting more Napoleonics.

It's not perfect, of course. The biggest drawback is the sheer size of my Napoleonic project, especially when one works alone. 5 years, and I still haven't played a game with *my* figures. My original plan aimed for a first game in 2009, I obviously missed that! Now, I have everything I need but for a few things. I spent so much time in 2009 working on Roger's infantry figures that, while I now have more than enough infantry units, I haven't had the time to adress French artillery and cavalry, the only two thing missing from my French army. I plan to take care of these in the coming months. Because that's my 2010 resolution; having a first (spectacular if possible) game. For you see, I'm somewhat of a perfectionnist, so I want the first real game (I'll probably do quite a few solo game first) to be as perfect as possible, from the figures to the terrain. I expect to play this game with the brother sometime this summer if all goes well. Anyways, more on my 2010 plan of attack in a future post.

Today, let's talk about that other project I've been working on for a while now, and one that I mostly kept secret from you guys. Last march or so, I gave Roger the mandate to paint a small Bavarian force for me, to be modelled after Wrède Bavarian Division at Wagram. Actually, Roger, when he learned of my interest in building a Bavarian army, offered to paint them for me. I find Bavarians are a great addition to one's collection; not only are they gorgeous looking in the cornflower blue coats* and their ridiculously big raupenhelm, but they can be used as allies or ennemies of the French Emperor.

* About that cornflower blue...I know, I know, it seems the Bavarian coats were a lot darker than what previously thought. Basically, more of a dark blue. And yet mine will be in the classic and well-known light blue. Why? Well first of all I didn't know that fact when I ordered my first regiment from DPS, so now it would look weird to not continue with a similar colour. And frankly, I like my Bavarians in light blue! There, I said it. I got enough guys already wearing dark blue as it is! So I will continue to ignore recent evidence. You can lodge a formal complaint by emailing me and I will do my best to ignore you anyway!

I was lucky in that he already had a huge Foundry Bavarian unpainted force, so I didn't have to buy and ship them to him, which saved me cost and time. The project took longer than expected because I had to stop 'production' for a few month this summer, as funds were slim due to me buying a house. And unfortunately, Roger wanted to be paid for his work, that cheap bastard!

The initial project is based on the following :

Wredes Division, Wagram :

- 1st Brigade : 6th Light Battalion, 3rd and 13th Line Regiment

- 2nd Brigade : 5th, 7th Line Regiment

- Cavalry bridage : 2nd and 3rd Chevaux-Légers

A few change were made along the way, as I always do. I already had the 5th, painted by DPS, and I wanted to increase the size of the Division a little bit, for gaming purposes, so I added the 6th Line to the Division, and I also ended up replacing a Chevaux-Légers regiment with a Dragoon; Roger didn't had enough Chevaux-Légers horses for 2 regiments, and in the end it will make a more varied force, not to mention Bavarian Dragoons are great looking (yes, I love troops in white!). Also, but that will come a bit later, I'm adding a light battalion to this force, so that both Brigade have one.

The final project will look like this :

- 1st Brigade : 6th Light Battalion, 3rd and 13th Line Regiment

- 2nd Brigade : ? Light battalion (still unsure on which one), 5th, 6th & 7th Line Regiment

- Cavalry bridage : 3rd Chevaux-Légers, 1st Dragoon

- Artillery battery (3 cannons + howitzer)

- General de Division Wrede & AdC

- 1 skirmisher base (2 figs) per Infantry unit (14 figures in all)

- 3 casualty figures

So right now I have all the infantry units (except the extra light battalion) in my possession, and I'm expecting the artillery, skirmishers, officers and the cavalry in a month or so. I also bought from Roger a Bavarian vignette a few months back, to give that extra personnality to the force. It should be a great looking little force once it's over.

I have to say receiving 5 units in one shot made for a lot of basing to do, especially since I decided to re-base my 5th Bavarian at the same time. To cut on time, I did the 6 units in one shot, so that was 24 bases to texture and paint. Ouch, it was really boring. While I love my new basing style, it takes a lot longer to do...

Good thing it was football season, it eased the pain a little.

So let's begin 2010 with some pics of those Bavarians (Roger's been waiting to see them for a while now!)

Here's a shot of the infantry units; a light battalion and skirmishers will be added to these soon.

I will put up a close-up of one or two unit per week to start the new year right!

So here is the 6th Bavarian Line Regiment; they look really good in charging pose. Roger was real good to me and included differently posed units as well as Sappeurs, varied officers and the likes. Also, for lack of available figures, he did some little conversions on some of the standard bearers. Flags by GMB, as usual.

And here's the 3rd Line Regiment :

More in the coming weeks.

Happy new year everyone!!!! I wish you all good painting, good gaming and the money and health to do both!

 Unfortunately, that's not far from the truth. I am experiencing the most busy period I've ever experienced. You see, I work in corporate Law, and the end of the year is crazy, as most companies have their fiscal year end on December 31st, and a lot of people want to incorporate new companies on that date. Unfortunately, since last year was a recession, most people avoided starting new business venues due to the economic uncertainty. Now, usually November is way worst and, while painful, December is easier...

Well not this year! It seems the whole Canada waited last year, and now they are back with a veangeance! So I'm currently writing this note from work, during my lunch break, as I spend most of my evening stuck to this forsaken chair i'm sitting my ass on at the moment! Once December 24th comes, most Lawyers go on vacation, and life as we know it is back.

So to all those who wondered why Iannick hasn't commented on their blog, or who are wondering where are those damn Berg cavalry I mentionned a few times, or those who feel La Bricole is not as active as usually, now you know why!

And BTW, I posted yesterday an entry (see below) on my 'old' Greek army, for sale.

ALL WORK AND NO PAINTING MAKE IANNICK GO CRAZY

ALL WORK AND NO PAINTING MAKE IANNICK GO CRAZY

ALL WORK AND NO PAINTING MAKE IANNICK GO CRAZY

ALL WORK AND NO PAINTING MAKE IANNICK GO CRAZY

ALL WORK AND NO PAINTING MAKE IANNICK GO CRAZY

ALL WORK AND NO PAINTING MAKE IANNICK GO CRAZY

ALL WORK AND NO PAINTING MAKE IANNICK GO CRAZY

ALL WORK AND NO PAINTING MAKE IANNICK GO CRAZY

ALL WORK AND NO PAINTING MAKE IANNICK GO CRAZY

ALL WORK AND NO PAINTING MAKE IANNICK GO CRAZY

ALL WORK AND NO PAINTING MAKE IANNICK GO CRAZY

ALL WORK AND NO PAINTING MAKE IANNICK GO CRAZY

ALL WORK AND NO PAINTING MAKE IANNICK GO CRAZY

I thought I could show some of my Greek Army, since I can't find the time to finish the units currently on my table. These were the very first historical units I ever painted. Yes, I know, two are not based. Napoleonic took over just before completion of the project. That was 5 years ago.  If anyone is interested, these guys are for sale.

Sorry for the lack of update recently, I'm in the middle of some rebasing and basing projects that takes most of my hobby time.  I'm still working, albeit slowly, on my Kleves-Berg Chevaux-Légers, and hope to put some pics in a few weeks.

I'm currently waiting for my copy of Republic to Empire to arrive, and I can't wait to read this one. I hope to post a review of Foundry's Napoleon and Republic to Empire later on.

Crazy November is coming to an end, which is good for my hobby because a) it means the College Football season is drawing to an end and b) less overtime at work (Yeah!!!).

I'm also currently working on a somewhat surprise project that I hope to unveil late this year, I don't think you'll be disappointed, it's quite nice.

Until then, post or join 'La Bricole' for all your Napoleonic fix

Next time, some Berg cavalry...

The recent weeks have not been kind when it comes to painting time, and it should only get worse in the coming weeks; Fall is a brutal and busy season for Corporate Law in Canada, and I've been working a lot. Still, I promised myself I would still paint this Fall, and I intend to keep that promise, so I found some time to work on a few more miscelanous projects, this time Général de Division Jacques Pierre Louis Marie Joseph Puthod and his Aide de Camps. Puthod commanded the 4th Infantry Division of III Corp in the 1809 campaign. As you may remember, the Division Puthod I intend of recreating is a pure invention on my part, sort of a reward for painting all those French infantry divisions.

Originaly, the Division was made-up of the fourth battalions of the Regiments of the first 3 Divisions of III Corp, but instead I went for a Division of German regiments : Division Puthod : Tirailleurs Corses, 3e Régiments de Klèves-Berg, 1er and 2e Régiments de Nassau.  While I'm still missing the Tirailleurs Corses and the 2e Nassau to finish the division, I still decided to paint the Général and his Aides de Camp.

Soldier in 1785, Lieutenant by 1793, Puthod is made Général de Brigade by MacDonald, on the battlefield of the battle of Trebia in 1799. Carrying a reputation as a courageous man, he once made a charge a la bayonette while leading three battalions in the Tyrol. In 1809, after Wagram, he's supposed to replace the injured Gudin, Davout's favourite General. Davout asked him at mass, "So you are the one who pretends to replace General Gudin? Do you really think you are capable!" Later in the day, Davout realized that Puthod did not deserve this, and so invited him to dinner that night and apologized to Puthod in front of everyone. Baron in 1810, he's recalled in 1813 and, after a courageous fight against an ennemy many times more numerous, he surrenders at Loewenberg in 1813 and is made prisonner of war. He will return in France only after Napoleon's abdication.

Général de Division Jacques Pierre Louis Marie Joseph Puthod

To represent him, I went with a Perry figure.

And I painted his AdC. Don't go looking for references on this one, I used my imagination! He's mostly based on a plate by Knotel, and he's wearing the very popular Hussar uniform. I gave him a yellow collar and cuffs because it looked good, and I know Generals liked to have some way of rapidly identifying their AdC on the battlefield. The figure is from Foundry.

While I've painted exclusively Napoleonic figures in the last 5 years, this hasn't stopped me from playing the occasionnal Warhammer game with my brother. While I branched out into Historical some 5 years ago, he's more of a painter of individual pieces and he has a strong preference for fantasy. I'm better at painting units, he's better at painting caracters.

Anyhow, we play 3rd Edition and Realm of Chaos. Simple, fun game. Nothing competitive, including quite a few house rules we developped along the way. I have a medium size, but somewhat old, Chaos Army. Recently, Gabriel has been bugging me to paint a few new pieces, so that he can face something different once in a while! I resisted for some time, but a few days ago I painted this guy, a nice Rat Ogre figure I had in my box of unpainted fig. I added an old Nurgling figure (I love these little creatures) to liven up the base. I intend to use this big fellow as a Chaos Spawn or Chaos Ogre, probably. As he is intended for a Nurgle army, I went with slimy and brownish colours, making extensive use of the GW washes. Quite different from the stricking colours of the Napoleonic Wars! Mostly, I think, I like painting Fantasy for the Nostalgia factor, it reminds me of my RPG's/fantasy days.

 It was fun, I hadn't painted Fantasy for so long. And it's a nice change of pace from my current rebasing project, necessary but tedious work. There might be more of these in the future, as some changes in my chaos army might be nice, a few ideas now popping in my brain. But no worries, Napoleonic is still The main objective.

I finally received yesterday the balance of my order from Caliver Books. Everything was there, it's all good. It took longer than I would've liked, but I will probably order again from Caliver, as it is a one-stop shop for basically all I need. Hoping the long delay was an anomaly. Now, with all the paints I bought, I will need a paint rack, as my desk is overflowing with paint pots!

(A quick note on Foundry paints; I know Foundry bashing is a popular activity among gamers, and this compagny can't seem to do anything good if you listen to message boards, but I'm putting a good word on their paints.While more expensive than the competition, the pots are noticeably bigger (20ml compared to 17 for Vallejo and 12(!) for the other Evil Empire) and come in the great flip-flop pots (second only to Vallejo's "dropper" pots). They also never get dry and, when it comes to consistency, are my favourite. The more I use them, the more I like them.)

Unfortunately, the 2 things I wanted to work on, French artillery and Berg cavalry, we're dependant on my order, as I was waiting for paints useful for both. So again I decided to work on something else in the meantime, so not to lose precious painting time. I didn't wanted to start a new unit, as it is a long process, and also, I'm currently not in a "unit painting" mood. It rarely happens, really, as I actually enjoy painting units more than individual figures, but when it does happen I have to go with the flow. This is supposed to be a fun hobby, when you don't feel like doing something, just do something else. Well, most of time. I never really feel like basing, but someone has to do it!

On the subject of basing...so I used that interlude time and based some French skimishers I purchased from Roger a few months back but never got the chance to work on. I'm aiming for one skirmisher base per regiment, so combined with the Offensive Miniatures I did 3 weeks ago, that gives me 8 skirmisher bases, not bad. Roger kept his best work for the Skirmishers and the Vignettes imho, and these are brilliant!

 You may have noticed one of them does not have a pompom...unfortunately two of these guys lost their plumes and pompons in transport. I used greenstuff to remake them (the pompoms only, I suck at modelling, don't ask me to do a plume! ). But in another moment of clumsiness I knocked one off when I took the pictures. The other one is the last on the right with the yellow pompom (in the first picture); here you have the extent of my modelling skills!

And here is I think a much better comparison between Offensive Miniatures and Foundry than the one I posted 3 weeks ago

Of course, that's a lot of French Skirmishers, but where are the Austrians I hear you say. I've asked myself the same thing. Which is why...

 I started with 2 bases of Hungarians, since I currently have 2 Hungarian Regiments. Unfortunately, Foundry does not produce Austrians in loading position, so I'll have to mostly use figures in firing position with the odd advancing or injured figure. I started with the Hungarians because I had some in firing position. I do not have "German" line firing in my box of Austrians (whch is rather surprising, given the size of that box...), I'll have to buy some eventually. I positively adore Hungarian uniforms, and I love painting them (baby blue being my favourite colour with pink). I cheated a little bit, though; that casualty figure is an old one I recycled into a dead skirmisher. He looks better that way!

Now for a complete change of subject. My father recently started a website, Regard et Lumière about his passion for photography. It's in french, but they are some lovely pictures that he took in the "Gallerie photo", and it is well worth a visit (I do want to advise everyone that there's some nudity in the "portrait en studio" and "charmes" section, but it's all in very good taste). He was already published twice in the revue "Photo", and I can honestly say I like his work. I've put below a few examples.

I'm having a little bad luck with my recent orders. I ordered the Foundry wargame rules through Amazon.ca some 3 weeks ago, and after making me wait, I got an email today from them telling me they can't get a hold of the book in question. Grrrr...I would've prefered not to have to wait for 3 weeks to be told that!!

I am also still waiting for most of my order from Caliver books; I got a very quick first shipment that included my Vallejo paints, but it seems all but one of the Foundry paints I ordered were on backorder. As I didn't received my Foundry figs either, I'm assuming they are too on the backorder list. It's been 1 week and a half since I received my first order, so not that big of a wait still but...

In both cases, the orders were made for monetary reasons, Caliver and Amazon being cheaper than Foundry. However, as annoying as their prices are, I always get my Foundry orders in exactly a week. So it seems I have to chose between fast service or cheaper prices, so who wins in a fight between my wallet and my patience? That's a tricky one!

 In all fairness, it's the very first time I have had that problem with Amazon, and I won't judge Caliver by one order, either. Wouldn't surprise me if the recent sale Foundry had is responsible for them being slow in re-supplying their distributors.

For the book, I could take advantage of the "free shipping if you buy a book" deal from Foundry and buy a few packs at the same time...maybe...or there's Ebay. I want that book, with all the sniping and bad press it has received on TMP, I'm really curious to see it!

Anyways, just a litle rant as I'm patiently waiting for my paints, especially, to arrive.

It's upon us. In two days starts the 2009 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON!!! Woo Hoo!

Now, I know I've been especially bad the last few years when it comes to painting during Football Season, but this year  it's different; perhaps it's the fact my French army is coming together, or perhaps it's the fact "La Bricole" drives and motivates me, but I'm damn motivated to keep the course. Of course, I will have less time, so I might cut into painting or blog updates. But this year I also have a solid plan! For you see, I decided to rebase my entire Austrian army and parts of my French so that all my units are based the same way, in the style I've come to adopt and that I like very much. I've always felt my basing was my main weakness, and I feel my Austrians deserve as good a basing as those dastardly French! At the same time, I will increase the size of the bases of my cavalry and artillery, for asthetic reasons.

And so we come back to College Football. Why, you ask? Because a Football game is the perfect opportunity to base or rebase; watch a play, apply putty, watch a play, paint green, watch a play, etc. And since I do watch a godawful lot of games with my new satelitte package, I'll have lots of time to do lots of (re)basing! Hé, hé, hé...

When the rebasing is complete, I will take new pictures of my entire Austrian army, now stronger of a few regiments since the last army pictures.

On the Football front it will be an interesting year for sure. In Coach Dantonio I trust, and even with the loss of our best player, RB Ringer, and the departure of Senior QB Hoyer, I think the D and the general thoughness of this team will prevail, I call a 9-3 record and hope for another New Year day Bowl.

On this, I leave you to the MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS!! GO GREEN! GO WHITE!

As those of you who read "La Bricole" already know, I was supposed to start working on the superb Chevaux-Légers de Klèves-Berg. Unfortunately, some problem arose during the process. First of all, and I'm not proud to admit it, I (yes, again) had a problem with my undercoat. As last year, It left a bubbly residue on my figures. Almost a year after it happenned to my Light Infantry, almost day for day. Obviously, I got greedy; after a humid July, I think I underestimated August humidity in my impatience, and well, it has cost me!

I am actually wondering sometimes if spraying is worth it. Anyways, everything else I undercoated since then I did manually with a big brush. I'm not taking any risks until summer is really gone. So the Chevaux-Légers spent a few day in nail varnish (that shit is nasty...), and I then I took the ol' toothbrush for a good scrubbing. I hate doing that, I truly despise it. Time that could've been better spent painting, basing, anything but that!

I was able to salvage the figure, though, and so painting could finally begin, or so I thought...

After painting the horses, I had to tackle the shabraque, which, like most of the unit, is Amaranth.  And there I hit a wall. That colour is a pain and I cannot for the life of me even figure out what it actually should look like. Purplish? Reddish? Pinkish? Every plate I see has a different shade. I've come to the conclusion it is actually a reddish-pink, and that's how I want to paint them.

 I'm usually pretty good at nailing the right colour for my units, and after a few tests I find just what I'm looking for. Not this time. I thought I had a few colour that could match, but alas I was wrong. If anyone has a good recipe for Amaranth, please tell me!

So since I believe these guys deserve the best, I decided to put them on hold while making an order with Caliver Books for some paints, hoping one in there will work, or at least one that I can mix to create the right colour. I used Caliver for a few reason; first of all they carry both Vallejo and Foundry paints, my two preferred brands, and being in the UK I know I'll get them faster than ordering from the States (stupid, I know, but the Canada-USA border is awful ever since 9/11). It also allowed me to order a few packs of Foundry figs (artillery). Caliver prices are most excellent (better than Foundry because you pay in £;) and you get free shipping with any order of more than 16£ , so I gotta say I've found a place that has everything I need. I'm still waiting for my stuff (it's only been 4 days), so will wait and see before commenting on the actual service. Of course, the next day after making my order, I get an email from Foundry saying everything is 20% off... That damn Murphy's Law again!

Anyways, so in the meantime I did not wanted to lose precious painting time, so I wondered what I could paint in a respectable amount of time. As it turned out, I made a purchase of some (a lot, would be more precise) Offensive Miniatures a few weeks ago and I've been itching ever since to paint them and to write a review. Perfect timing, I thought!

I recently decided to add one skirmish base of 2 figures to each of my line/light regiment, and I will do the same with my Austrians. Mostly, it is an aesthetic choice, but also some rulesets have rules for skirmish bases. The base could also be used should I need to make my regiments larger. So obviously, I decided to paint Offensive Miniatures French Skirmishers first.

The Review

The Service : The service was most excellent. I payed wth PayPal and made my order on a Sunday night, got a confirmation the next morning that my order had shipped, and got my stuff a week later, monday. Often smaller companies have trouble with speedy delivery, so I was quite pleased. The package was neatly done, the figures well-protected, and everything was in order. No broken bayonnets. nothing.

Only small complaint; I would prefer bigger pictures on the website shop; you have to go to the gallery to get the bigger shots and that is annoying.

The Figures : When I first saw the range, I was very impressed. There's no logic whether I like the look of a range or not, I just do or don't. I know I like my minis caricatural and full of characters, I leave "true proportions" figures to others, but other than that no magic recipe. And I knew I liked what I saw from Offensive minis. I was not disappointed, far from it. The casting is very well done; very few flash, almost no mold lines, top notch quality. The figures themselves have crisp details and seemed like they would be a joy to paint. I ordered the following;

- FNFR204 6 - French Line Infantry (1807 - 12) In Skirmish Order

- FNFR501 3 - French Polish Lancers Command

- 2x FNFR502 3 - French Polish Lancers

- FNBR100 38 - British Peninsular Line Infantry (a regiment deal)

- FNBR105 6 - British Peninsular Characters

I was pleased with everything I received. The French skirmishers are probably the best infantry in the lot. They are on the thinner side, with a nicely animated look. You get 6 variants per pack of 6 figures. The British are also quite good, with a style more close to Foundry, more chunky and smaller than the skirmishers; I compared them with Foundry and I must say they are close in style and height. Many people would probably like more variety for the British, though. There's 3 different troopers apart from the commands,and elites are basically the same troopers but with wings. Personnally, I like my units to have a rigid militarized look, so I welcome the few poses. The regiment deals comes with two drummer boys, two colour bearers, an Officer on foot and a "dude with a pike" (sorry, don't know if he has a specific name, the British army is not my cup of tea), plus 32 troopers including elites. Almost enough for me to be able to create two complete 16 man battalions (I'm missing two colour bearers and one officer). Fortunately, to add some personnality to the units, Offensive also has a "character pack" including two sappeurs, one bare-headed private, one sargeant and one mounted officer. That pack is greatly recommended; all the figures are full of characters and really a plus to any battalion. Now, if you are wondering why on hell I got myself some British, well, that answer is for another time...

Finally, I also bought Polish Lancers (9) including command. These were basically flash and mould line free, some of the best casting I've seen in a long time. The figures are lovely, but are in a style closer to "true proportions" I talked before. Very slim figures, with an almost 1/72 look and a definitely "toy soldier" look to them. I am not usually a fan of that style, but I must say they pulled it off; it might not be too compatible with my Foundry, but these guys will nonetheless have a place in my collection one of those days. If you're into that style, you will absolutely love them!

An example from their Website

The Bad : Nothing's perfect, of course, so now's the time to talk about the bad. I have one complaint, and I hope it will get resolved rapidly, for I think this range is full of promises; there is a definite lack of uniformity and common style in the range. For example, the French skirmishers are taller and slimmer than the British, and have a different style. Actually, it looks like these were not sculpted by the same guy. Same with the Polish Lancers; I know cavalry will always be different, but they look like Minden figures while the Brits look like a mix of Foundry and Perry. Worse is the fact scale creep occurs within their British range; one of the line trooper is slightly smaller than the rest of the line. Like I said, I hope a common style and height will de developped, and that this is the result of some early mistakes. However, I do want to make it clear that these are subtle differences; I would have no problem fielding all the Brits in the same units, nor would I mind have the skirmishers facing the Biritsh. I'm pretty anal about those things, so I thought you should be aware of it.

I would've preferred my Voltigeurs all sporting the 'stache, and bigger plumes, but no big deal. I also would've prefered my muskets with bayonnets.

The painting: This is where the range shines imho. The French skimishers were an absolute joy to paint. Nice, crisp details, the figures paint themselves. I had a lot of fun painting these guys, and as far as paintabiliy goes, these are very good.

The Conclusion : I believe this is a very promising range we have here. I would have preferred to see them tackle some more obscure subject than yet another range of Peninsula, but that is entirely personnal. The fact they just came up with a Polish range does bode well for the future. It is definitely a nice alternative for those playing Peninsula or looking for some skirmishers or characters. All in all, a very nice début. Recommended.

The Pictures :

Each stand goes with one of my Line units, hence the difference in plumes or epaulettes. You probably also noticed I painted the Cornet in the same pink uniform as the drummer of it's parent regiment, the 61e de Ligne

The Comparisons :

Compared to Foundry.

You can also notice I got better at painting, especially with skin and faces.

 Compared to Perry miniatures. 

Compared to both Foundry and Perry.

Well, that's it for the interlude. As soon as I get my order from Caliver, The Klève-Berg Chevaux-Légers are back on the painting table!

The story (and history) of this unit is quite special; three years ago, for my birthday, the girlfriend bought me these from Foundry. These were the first figs she ever bought me, and she was quite proud of the fact she had checked to be sure they were part of the army I was painting, and that I did not had them. She thought they were 'by far the best looking little men she could find". She was right, these guys are very nice! And some of my favourites.

After some researches, I just could'nt find any info on these guys, other than a plate in Osprey's Austrian army of the Napoleonic Wars; Infantry. So I asked on TMP if anyone had any info on these guys, and the answer by David Hollins was...surprising. Turns out the uniform shown above was never wore by any Bohemian Landwher in 1809. It is in fact the uniform wore in 1800 by the Archduke Charles Legion (originated in Bohemia, hence part of the mistake), which was reproduced wrongly in an 1847 black and white biography of Charles. Ottenfeld wrongly copied it as Bohemian Landwher, and so it reached popular currency, mostly due the very popular plates of Knotel. To add to the confusion, the 1800 AdC never wore those Hungarian blue pants, but rather hechtgrau (pike grey) trousers. The hechtgrau grey being a blue-grey, Knotel thought it was meant to represent Hungarian blue, and so represented them in blue trousers. And it is this version that ended up on an Osprey plate. While also mislabelling them as Bohemian Landwher, Hourtoulle, in his book on Wagram, got the right pants colour as well as the right cocarde, which should be red & white, the colours of Bohemia, and not the usual Imperial black & yellow, as shown on the Osprey.

Of course, not only are they really nice figures (and being Foundry, freaking expensive), they are a gift from the girlfriend. A solution had to be found in order for me to find them a use. Why not paint them as 1800 AdC Legion, I thought. After all, no-one does the real uniform of the 1809 AdC Legion, but I do have some to paint for my 1809 campaign. I'll just use the AdC in their 1800 uniforms as 1809 AdC Legion. Even better, the 1800 are better looking than the 'Osprey version' above!

The 1800 Archduke Charles Legion was raised, obviously, by Karl himself in Bohemia and Moravia. It was intented as a garison force to release regulars from Bohemia depots. 20 000 men were organised into battalions of 6 companies, each of 180 men. After the Hohenlinden defeat, 15 000 troops were ordered to assemble, but finally never saw action.

Bohemia had many artillery depots from which came the Rehbraun (fawn brown) material for the legion's jacket.The jacket had eight line of lace sewn horizontally in the facing colour. Cuffs were also faced in the facing colour and turnbacks were either brown or in the facing colour. Leatherwork was black. The troopers wore pike-grey trouser. Since the troopers had to provide parts of their uniforms, a multiplicity of headgear (either corsehut or town-dweller's top hat), mostly black or dark brown, would be seen. Trousers and jacket's shades would also vary.The senior officer would be a major, probably a retired line officer.

20 battalions were raised, with facing colours in sea green, rose red, sky blue, poplar green, dark blue, dark brown, madder red, grass green, violet, sulphur yellow, light brown, black & scarlet.

You can find more information on this unit, as well as plate of an officer, in Austrian Auxiliary Troops 1792-1816

I could'nt find any information on what flags, if any, the Legion would carry. Fortunately, I correspond occasionnaly with David Hollins, the autority on Austrian uniforms, and he was kind enough to answer this question for me : "Flags have been quite interesting as it is pretty clear that several reappeared in 1809. Most would be in the style of the one in the photo in MAA299 - red with some local shield in the middle. It is recorded that two 1800 flags were carried at Aspern. Given that they survived until 1909, they would be the one in the MAA photo and the one I refer to in the caption. Beyond that, I don't think any records exist now, but they would have been very simple flags made quite quickly in these styles. "

Remaining example of a 1800 AdC Legion flag

That was more than I expected; not only did the Legion carried flags, and David could show me an example, but the same one were re-used for 1809! Thus making my 1800 Legion with appropriate flags for 1809.

I decided to represent the battalion, I must admit, in a rather idealized version and not how it must have looked. After all, that is how the figures were sculpted, and it fits better with my Austrian army. I used the same brown as the one for my artillery, since the same material was used, and I used the same grey as my Jagers grey, who also wore hechtgrau. My grey should be more blue than it is, but I can live with that. hechtgrau is an almost impossible colour to get right imho. I also had to improvise for the drummer as well as the officer. Obviously, the real unit was probably a lot less uniformed than mine, in their appearance.

I'm absolutely rubbish at drawing, so I knew I couldn't draw the above flag. I decided to convert a GMB Austrian line flag, so, while it is not identical to the example above, it is a variant that looks close enough to me.

I've been asked recently to write a tutorial to explain how I paint. I decided to use the Legion as my model to explain my method. First off, a disclaimer; I'm very flattered peple like my painting. To be honest, I never (and still don't) see myself as a great painter. I have good discipline, which allows me to produce a good quantity of well-painted units, but there's so many painters so much better than me outhere. Nevertheless, If I can help others, great! I always follow the same processes when painting; a bit like sports athletes, I use the same routine in the same order, and I've been doing that for years. I even have the same paint rag since 1993!

As you will notice, I use a mix of Foundry's and GW method.

My two most important tips : Always dilute your paints with water, and never, ever begin another unit until the one you're working on is painted, based and the flags are on.

Here's a step-by-step :

- Prime black

- Put the figures on some bases, I use old GW bases and use funtack. Honestly, there's better ways outhere, but I'm not changing now.

- Since I will use some black-lining, I check to see that the figures are perfectly primed; I will usually repaint some spots that the spray didn't get get too well

- Paint the skin parts with a basecoat ( I use Foundry's Flesh shade A). Do not bother with the details right now.

- Paint the musket Flat brown

- Paint the metal fittings of the musket chainmail

- Paint the trousers Vallejo's neutral grey, be careful to leave a small black line between the trousers and the jacket

- Paint the jacket GW bestial brown; be careful to leave a small black line between the sleeve and the cuffs

- Paint the backpack bestial brown

- Paint the blanket roll GW codex grey

- On to the second coats; this is the step where you want to take your time, leave creases and the likes in the first coat colour

- Paint the trousers Vallejo's medium sea grey

- Paint the jacket GW bubonic brown

- Paint the skin Foundry's flesh shade B

- Paint all the parts with the facing colour (turnback, cuffs, etc.). There should be black lining between those and other areas; that will really set the colour apart. I usually one go with one coat for the facing areas, to save time. As such, go with bright colours right away. In this case, Vallejo's deep yellow.

- Apply GW badab black wash to the blanket rolls & the metal parts of the gun.

- Apply diluted GW brown ink to the backpack and the musket

- Apply GW Ogryn flesh wash to the skin areas

- Paint all other little details, except any details on the headgear

- Paint all black parts. In this case that includes the leatherwork, boots, headgear,cartridge pouch, etc. I keep the black for last on purpose, should you ever make mistakes during the process, do them on the black parts!

- Finish with the headgear details, which will really make the figure come alive. I always finish with the cocarde, it's like putting the final allegiance on my figures!

Once this is done, I will spray a coat of varnish and leave them to dry overnight. Then, I base them, put the flag and re-varnish them.

The unit is finished. Repeat about 50 times to play a game!

Ok, I think I've talked enough for now, here's the Archduke Charles Legion, Dohenhoff Battalion in their yellow facings. Who said the Austrians were a mass of boring white??

A side view, to show the flag

 Yep, after thinking about it for a long time, I finally went ahead and created a Forum for this site. Why? Well, mostly it's an idea I had with my good friend Robert. While TMP is a wealth of information and is good fun most of the time, there is an attitude that often gets on our nerves. The "seriousness" in which some people consider Wargaming is a turn off for the both of us. Even worse is those who look down upon others because "that's not the proper way to Wargame". It's a game people, the only criteria is to have fun! Some "scholars' who roam the boards is also a problem. The minority, mind you, but still...

 Let's illustrate this by an example, shall we?

Bob : Hi guys, I would like to know what colour to paint the trousers of French line in the Peninsula.

Expert 1 : If you're in 1809, then you should paint them white.

Expert 2 : Do you have a source for that?They would be brown.

Expert 1 : Yes, I do. P 36 of (insert historian' name) last book.

Expert 2 : (insert historian' name)  is not worth the paper he writes on. Do you have any comptemporary source backing that opinion?

Expert 1: (insert historian' name) is a respectable author, I stand by his comments.

Expert 2 : Oh yeah?! Well he's wrong: I have here in front of me a letter from a private of the 53e de Ligne, to his mother, telling her he needs brown clothes to repair his pants. How do you explain that?

Expert 1 : One source does not make a trend, also you are reading a translation, who's to say that it conveys the original ideas of the Private? Unless you can read old french and go double-check in the National Archives of France, I cannot trust this quote.

Expert 2 : You always have to do this, don't you? My source is solid while you rely on (insert historian' name) opinion, and we all know he's pro-french. After all, he married a French girl, his opinion is worthless.

Ad Nauseam...

While this might be very interesting from a scholarly point of view, it did not help our poor Bob answering his question. Now, he's even more confused and really has no idea what trouser colour he should put his soldiers in.

My aim is to create a board about painting and wargaming first, scholarly studies second. A forum where someone can post questions without being told that's a stupid question. A place where we can discuss our upcoming projets/ideas and get feedback and tips. Fun and helpful, that would be the main criteria. And while there's a few such Forum already in existence, not a single one that I know focuses on Napoleonics.

So if you're looking for a laid back place, where we don't take each other, nor our hobby, too seriously, then come join us! Newbies especially, who might be afraid of being eaten alive by some of TMP's grognard if they post a question, are welcome.

When Robert came up with this great banner (below) and lovely title "La Bricole", I knew this was it. The title, oh quelle ironie, is a reminder of what this Forum will NOT be about. It's a perfect name, if you ask me.

Since only members can post, just register to become a member on the "Enroll!" page and you can be part of this (for now) very small but enthusiastic and fun community. Hopefully, we'll attract lots more of like-minded Napoleonic players/painters.

That's it for now. Next week; pics of the Archduke Charles Legion with a painting tutorial.