Friday 20 January 2017

From IanW: Back to 6mm Napoleonic's Friday (62 Points)


With my 6mm Ancients being the main focus in this scale I have not done much in the way of Napoleonic's, worse still I have not done any fine detail work and some of these need this.


But first I offer you some very interesting miniatures, these are MDF 6mm figures by Commission Miniatures and you get 36 figures for £2. This pack is the light cavalry in shako and to show the versatility I have painted two units up as Polish Hussars and two as French Chasseur's. The detail is light enough to paint over where required and good enough to tease more detail out if you wish and have the skill.


Polish 10th Hussars have a fairly plain uniform (for Hussars) and the pelisse is the same colour as the jacket. Maybe I should have considered this when I choose the regiments to paint up.

Look a bit off straight on
The 13th is a bit more colourful but only the trumpeter has a different colour pelisse! Still they give you a bit of an idea.


The Chasseur's are even more basic with the hunters green clothing. I was able to paint up each pair of regiments in a couple of hours and that's the biggest strength of these figures, they paint up really quickly. I have seen a full game using these figures and it looked really good. I would not swap over to these but I see the attraction.

Real close up you can actually see such details such as the bridles but very hard to see in the flesh.

All five regiments.
Next up is three regiments of cuirassiers for my Prussian's, these by Adler. The figures could not be more different, but again they really should not be judged against each other as the limitations of MDF make this unfair.


I already have two regiments I can not use for Waterloo and meant to paint up one with white coats to represent the Guard cavalry of the Prussian army of 1815 but as I was painting them at 3am Thursday morning I forgot and ended up with an extra standard regiment. Since Napoleon had limited Prussia to four regiments plus the guard regiment I can only use the extra regiment in games before Prussia was forced to disband the other regiments. As an aside I can't use these in a true 1815 campaign either unless the second Prussian army is brought into play as none of the  cuirassiers were with Blucher's army. 


I am fairly pleased how the Adler minis came out, I have six battalions of Russo-Prussian infantry sitting on my table hoping to be painted up in time for submission in two weeks so that will test my skills a little more.

So six regiments of nine figures and a seventh with just eight all add up to 62 points. Nothing like the bombs others have been dropping but I will take them.

Good stuff Ian. Your 6mm Adler look great as always, the neatness you get on these teensy cavalry, and great groundwork really seals the look. Those MDF 'flats' are cute too. Theybdont make the grade for me as 'real' wargaming miniatures, but I do reckon they'd have a charm of their on en masse. 
Phil

34 comments:

  1. Now that is what I am talking about. In 6mm a unit that actually looks like a unit and not a 12 man squad!

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  2. Your 6mm Naps never disappoint!

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  3. Great work Ian - have to say that, in contrast to those excellent Adler castings, MDF figures are a bit of a bridge too far for that material, but I can see the appeal of a force that would paint up very fast...

    As Iannick says, your 6mm work is always a treat to see.

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    1. It's not really fair to pitch them against Adler but I agree with you. I don't mind a few but more would be a distraction to me

      Ian

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    2. I can see them being useful as boardgame pieces though, in place of flat cardboard tokens. They'd work well for C&C Naps for example.

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    3. That actually is a great idea. I could see me doing this with them, not sure where I would store them though! I will give it some thought and possibly give it a go

      Ian

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  4. 6mm MDF figures!!! They do look rather nice I must say!

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    1. I think they work, I would consider a whole army in them but when mixed I would only go with a few for novelty value

      Ian

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  5. What a wonderful mob of cavalry, Ian. I had to take a second look to recognize them as MDF. They look very convincing. Personally, I don't think I'd get much enjoyment out of painting these types of figures - I'm too stuck on the 'fully round' aesthetic.

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    1. Thanks Curt, next will be a mob of infantry.

      The buzz would be from numbers. I think I could paint up whole brigades at a time with not too much trouble

      Ian

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  6. I do love your 6mm stuff Ian. Wonderfully painted and based figures. More please!

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    1. Well I have a fair few Prussians prepped. I want to get some French done as well, lets see if I can

      Ian

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  7. Nice swirl of tiny cavalry Ian :)

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    1. The next 6mm cavalry will probably be Persian

      Ian

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  8. Very nice work. The MDF 6mm was really new to me.

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    1. They are about two years old now. A demo this year at Joy of Six had thousands of them. Testament to the speed you can paint them at

      Ian

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  9. Thanks Phil

    They are a bit like the old school metal 54's without the history I guess. I will be doing a few more but probably not during the challenge though

    Ian

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  10. Ian, you make painting 6mm look so easy, I know for a fact that you've done an ace job, since painting these to this standard is really an accomplishment.

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    1. Thanks Sanders, Adler provide a great base to work from. A lot more prep time than Baccus though

      Ian

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  11. Well done allround! Those MDF tinies really surprised me.

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  12. They are spot on, Ian!
    The wee lads look excellent, I really like the MDF figures too. The MDF look excellent based together and makes a nice effect.

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    1. The big advantage with these is the speed of painting along with the low price make big units of these so much more achievable

      Ian

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  13. I love your 6mm work and the basing is first rate. I will print some of the closeups for the next time I base some of these guys when (hopefully) I do some as my part of the small scale Naps duel.
    It took me a moment to figure out that the MDF figures were different from the others in your entry, which is a tribute to their effectiveness when blended in.
    Good work.

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    1. I use the same style of basing on my buildings and have a tutorial on my blog but it is easier to find on Leven Miniatures website so it's worth keeping a note of that

      Ian

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  14. I am sorely tempted by these... great work.

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    1. Take the plunge you know you will in the end

      Ian

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