From: LeeH & RayR - A combined project round-up (and punch-up)

Ray and I got together yesterday to bring both sides of our Retreat from Moscow project together in the Rejects Shed-o-War. Laid out on the table we are more than a little amazed at how much we have got done during the painting challenge. Once again this amazing event has stimulated our creative juices, whipped up our enthusiasm and kept our brushes whirling in a way we never normally manage to replicate at any other time of the year. 

Ray beat Lee on points... so we recreated that beating in
front of our combined output from the Challenge 🤣

We've had a good long chat about our respective armies and have already made a list of extra units we want to add. We have already started making some of the terrain we want for this project and yesterday we made agreed what to buy next and exchanged ideas of items we would like to see on a future battlefield. So while the frenetic pace of activity during the challenge will abate a little over the next few weeks, we are hoping to keep that enthusiasm burning throughout the year. Ray summed it up perfectly when he describe our efforts during the Challenge as "phase one of the project". 

From LeeH - It's a Wrap! : The Russian army for the Retreat from Moscow

That was probably one of the most fun Painting Challenges I have done for years. I left my 6mm comfort zone to team up with Ray for a Retreat from Moscow combo, and I have enjoyed every minute of it. My initial target was 300 points which reflected the models I had bought when the challenge started. I didn't officially increase my target but once I had breached the 300 points and had a clearer idea of what I wanted to complete I set myself a private target of reaching 1000 points. I did indeed achieve this yesterday so you can see I bought a few more figures along the way! 

I have managed to complete one, sometimes two units a week, while still keeping up with posting here on the Challenge blog, on my own blog and still getting a weekly video for my channel in on time. Time now to dial back the workload, take a deep breath and have a tidy up... my Operations Room is a complete mess and unsurprisingly there is snow everywhere! 

My trajectory during this challenge has been pretty consistent,
netting my third highest tally.

Grenadiers

Musketeers / Line Infantry

3 units of Jáger skirmishers

Mounted officer

Another Musketeer / Line infantry unit

Three junior officers /  NCO's

12 Pounder Artillery and crew

Don Cossacks

Moscow and St Petersburg Opolchenie

Two mounted officers

Smolensk Dragoons

Two units of Jágers

Opolchenie 3 pounder gun & limber

Opolchenie 3 Pounder Gun Team

Cossack Opolchenie

6 Pounder Artillery piece & crew (and a Water Cart)

6 Pounder and 12 pounder Guns side by side

Water Cart

Two units of Carabineer's

Very angry peasants!

Phew!

Well done to Curt and all the Minions for a terrific job on this years Challenge. As always it is a highlight of my hobby year. And congratulations to all the participants this year. Your work has been inspirational. 

From LeeH: Partizans ...or very angry peasants (80 Points)

My last entry for the Russians seeing off the French invasion are a couple of groups of very angry peasants. I’m calling them Partizans but essentially the Tsar ordered the whole state to rise up against the invaders. So alongside the regular army were up to 200,000 militia, the Opolochiene, some of which I painted a few weeks back. But civilians were also encouraged to harass, attack and frankly murder any French stragglers they could overcome. Talk about a hostile environment!

These models are from Perry Miniatures and I have based them as two units of Partizans in an irregular formation. They have a mobile deployment point that could potentially pop up anywhere. Not that I expect them to be any good against formed regulars, but for harassing stragglers or lone commanders, they will be ideal. As you can see I have also managed to paint another wagon, this time a simple two wheeled cart. It is stick in the rutted road, frozen in place and has been abandoned. 

 

So this is my last batch of figures for the challenge and I have to say I have had a great time painting my first 28mm army in probably 30+ years. Would I do it again? Probably not. I have enjoyed the challenge of painting this scale and breaking into Napoleonics for the first time. And I have really enjoyed collaborating with Ray on this project. But I have spent more money on this army than the last half dozen 6/15mm armies combined. And now I have to find a way to store them because they are taking up the space of four smaller-scale armies. I will find space, and I will play with these but I don’t think I will be dipping into 28mm again, except for the occasional lone figure…and more cavalry for this army at some point. Famous last words I’m sure, I’m convinced Ray has another project up his sleeve to tempt me with!

Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, Ray & I will bring both sides of this project together for a combined wrap-photoshoot and an ill-advised adding up of how much we have spent. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if our combined spending on this project exceeded £1000… and we haven’t even really started on the terrain yet. For comparison, my last three 6mm armies came to £96 combined. 

Scoring: 
12x28mm foot = 60 Points
1x28mm Vehicle = 20 points

(Total = 80 Points)

I just wanted to end by thanking Curt for running this event once again. It has become a staple of my hobby year and I'm always blown away by the quality and quantity of miniatures challengers produce in just three short months. I also must say thank you to the minions/judges for their tireless efforts. Well done to everyone who has taken part...we are nearly at the end, then we can have a rest while we plan our painting projects for next years challenge!

 

 

Sylvain: I have been watching the progress of your amazing Napoleonic project over the Challenge. Don't even worry about the money, it's all well "invested". And look at the final result, a brilliant collection of miniatures that will bring hundred of hours of fun! Have a great in-between Challenges rest of the year! 

 

From LeeH: Russian Carabineers for the Retreat from Moscow (85 Points)

For my hopefully penultimate entry to Challenge XV I wanted some more infantry. I have done regular line Musketeers, Jágers and even some Grenadiers, but this time I wanted to paint Carabineers. The greatcoat covers most of their uniform, so aside from the black belts of the Jager Battlions the only distinguishing element of their uniform is the tall thin plume of their newly issued Kiwer shako’s. 

Russian Carabineers were the Elite Companies of the Jager regiments, equivalent to Grenadier companies in regular line infantry regiments. These models by Front Rank and unlike most of my other infantry figures these guys have the 1812 Kiwer with the new thinner plume denoting their status. Each Jager battalion had 4 companies, 3 of Jagers and one elite company of Carabiniers who would normally be situated on the right flank when deployed in line. Each company nominally had 141 privates plus assorted other ranks, however, Russian infantry units were notorious for being understrength, especially at the end of this campaign. 

I’m glad I left these towards the end as I have enjoyed painting them, despite already painting a lot of infantry in Greatcoats. I want to end by giving a shout-out to the Blunders on the Danube https://blundersonthedanube.blogspot.com/ blog with its wealth of useful information, painting guides and history. I’ve found myself returning to it several times during this project and once again it helped me get the markings correct on these Carabineers when I was about to make my own blunder with their headgear and shoulder straps. 

I have just one more group of figures to paint and hopefully I will have then ready before the challenge concludes. 

Scoring: 17x28mm Foot = 85 Points

________________________________________

Beautiful work Lee. These Carabineers really look the business in their greatcoats and tall-plumed shakos. I remember when I did my Great Retreat project a few years ago being absolutely flumoxed by the bewildering mishmash of Russian troop types and uniform details. Still, the research was great fun all on its own. I very much look forward to your final Challenge entry but moreso your wrap-up at the end of the event. 

- Curt

From LeeH: 6pdr Gun with crew plus a water wagon (60 Points)

So a few weeks ago, I painted a 12pdr Gun Team, and I mentioned that I also had a 6pdr gun and crew to paint. But you may recall that I had to ‘borrow’ a crewman from the 6pdr team because Sharp Practice has a five-man crew for guns, but the packs only come with four figures. Well, now that it was time to paint the 6pdr, I was two figures down, so I bought a couple of artillery officers from Front Rank to fill the gaps. 

Actually, what I plan to do is swap back the ‘borrowed figure’ from the 12pdr crew and give each set one of the officers (shown below).

As with the earlier gun, this was fun to paint, and I look forward to doing more artillery at a later date. During Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812, the Russian army had a substantial artillery force, with estimates ranging from over 600 guns present at Borodino alone. Some sources indicate the Russians had over 2,000 artillery pieces available during the campaign compared to the French, who had approximately 1400 artillery pieces available. 

I also had time to work on another wagon, this time a 3D-printed one from Iron Gate Scenery. The large barrels are also 3D prints, this time from Debris of War. Lastly, I added a spare horse, which I think I got from Tiger Miniatures. I didn't add in the harness this time because I'm not sure whether I'll use this as shown or separate from the horse. I can always add that detail in later when I have made my mind up!

This is likely my last Friday entry as we move into the final week of the challenge. It won't be my last entry, however, as I already have two more groups of figures on my desk. I have two part-completed units of Carabineers and, if I have time, some rather angry civilians!  

Scoring: 1x28mm Gun = 10pts, 5 Crewmen = 25pts, one vehicle = 20pts and a Horse for another 5 points for a total of 60 Points. 

It has been great fun to see your Retreat from Moscow project rolling along at a steady pace, Lee! I admire your focus and determination. Russian artillery has always been considered one of their main strengths, so it is fitting that you end your regular Friday posts with another glorious gun. I also very much like the wagon! Painting is up to your ususal high standard. I remember you expressing some doubts at the beginning, as you had not been painting 28mm figures for a long time, but all your contributions have been absolutely amazing. I am looking forward to hopefully see some more next week! 

Martijn