Thursday 23 December 2021

From KenR - 28mm Garabaldi Artillery (90 pts)

 

Hello everyone and welcome to the Big Yarkshire Gamer Project for this challenge and after all the white of the Allied Italian Legion I have steered away from that colour and towards a lovely shade of red. I always like to get a post in before Xmas and get some points on the board early doors.

This year I am tackling one of the more obscure European Wars and I am looking at the Italian Wars of Independence (Risorgimento)  in the late 19th century but more specifically I am trying to build up both forces for the Battle of Mentana in 1867 with the plan to put it on as a display game around the UK in 2022/3. It goes without saying that the Project is in 28mm (after all I have a reputation to keep 😄)

I will talk more about the Battle itself during the course of my posts this year, but the forces involved were those of General Garabaldi of around 10,000 men against those of a joint Papal / French Army of around half that strength. I'm a bit stuck waiting for the Perrys to release their Franco Prussian French range to do the Galic half of the Papal Army but I have a big chunk of figures prepped and ready to go over the next 3 months.

The first unit completed are the Artillery for the Garabaldi Forces, a three gun battery with 4 figures per gun, which by my calculations should be 30 pts for the guns (10 each) and 60 for the 12 figures (5 each) giving 90 points in total. 

The figures themselves come from an Italian company called Shako 64, they do a pretty comprehensive range of figures for the Wars, they are pretty decent quality too and as you can see paint up nicely. My only minor quibble with them is that they are very "flat" when you look at them sideways on.


So there you have my first entry of the Challenge, I'm already working through my first unit of Garabaldi Infantry which should appear between Christmas and New Year. Until then all the best for Xmas.

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Welcome back Ken! I remember chatting to you about this project during our podcast a few weeks back, and have been looking forward to seeing your opening volley. These figures look terrific. I really like how lanky they are, and your brushwork really does them justice. I'm keen to see some of Garabaldi's infantry next week!

- Curt


55 comments:

  1. Love these, thinking about a 10mm Garibaldi project myself

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    1. Thanks Martin, I love learning about History and chucking myself headfirst into something I knew nothing about a few months ago is great fun 😀

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  2. That really is a nice and refreshing new project Ken, I am looking forward to see what you come up with next!

    Cheers Sander

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    1. Cheers Sander, lots prepped and ready to go 👍

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  3. Great to read about new project - and interesting more untouched period. Wonder what rules are you thinking of for the period or making your own?

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    1. Cheers Jez, it's great to get involved in something new 👍 As for rules, if you've followed any of my stuff before I'm pretty rules agnostic so J tend to build a project and worry about rules later. Nothing concrete for this yet.

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  4. Thanks - looking forward sometime to the video report of the first battle?

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  5. Very nice work Ken! That red/green combo is quite dashing indeed.

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    1. Many thanks, it certainly going to be a bright Army !

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  6. These are great. Love the podcast
    BruceR

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  7. Your Italian Wars Project was astounding, so I am confident that this project will be as well. Great start Ken.

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    1. Thanks Stuart, definitely a lot less heavily armoured Cavalry this year 😄

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  8. A fine set of artillery Ken in an oft overlooked period!

    Christopher

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    1. Cheers Chris, it's a new one for me, I love learning new stuff 👍

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  9. I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of this project reveal itself Ken. Only 10,000 men per side, does that mean that you’ll have to model the units 1:1 to get enough figures on table?
    Love the gun battery wit( the mix of kepis and hats, and gotta love the red shirts. There’s plenty of scope in the 1866-7 campaigns, also in the 1848-9 ones.

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    1. Thanks Peter, 1 to 1 is a bit steep even for me 😆 I think the whole project will be around 1,000 figs

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  10. A great start Ken, I look forward to see more of this exciting project.

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    1. Thanks very much Ray, head down no deviations on this one 👍

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  11. Fantastic opener Ken. I've been looking forward to seeing your work again this year.

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  12. Splendid bunch of Garabaldi artillery! Does each project have to be Italian, or is that just a coincidence for the last three years?
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks again Iain, I fell in love with Italy years ago when on holiday and my visits to cities and museums in that country have proved a great inspiration in my gaming 👍

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  13. Lovely artillery - batteries are included in your Christmas toys.

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    1. Exactly mate, getting my fresh batteries ready for Xmas 😄

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  14. Great project! I look forward to seeing it develop.

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    1. Thanks very much, it's always exciting to start a new project 👍

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  15. I really like your painting of the gun carriages- lovely faded paint with the wood grain showing through.

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    1. Many thanks, I've started to use enamel washes this year which give a really nice effect, they don't stain the underlying paint like inks and water based washes do.

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  16. Lovely work Ken, so much of what you do is inspiring that you are a bad influence!

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    1. Many thanks, its nice to be an inspiration, it would be even nicer if I was on commission 🤣😉

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  17. No empty bases this year to track the process? :D

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    1. Not this year sadly. I had a very defined end point last year. This project will be too large for the Challenge so I don't know how far I will get. Cheers

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  18. Smashing Ken and great to see The IWI project on the go at last.

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    1. Cheers mate, it's been a few months building up the figures, time to crack through the painting now.

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  19. I’ve been waiting for you to start these. Really nice. Looking forward to the rest

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    1. Thank you, I've been building up the figures for this for a while now, glad to get some paint on them at last 👍

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  20. Ken, Beautiful brush work indeed. I’d like to know the pallet for the guns and carriages if you don’t mind?

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    1. Cheers, carriage is Vallejo Pale Blue Grey, dry brushed 50 50 white Pale Blue Grey. Metallic is GW Iron Warriors base highlighted GW Lead Belcher. Then pinwashed with AK Enamel dark brown wash, excess removed with turps and cotton bud.
      Barrel is Acryla Imitation Bronze, dry brushed Vallejo Old Gold and pin washed with Army Painter Strong Tone

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  22. Wonderful! I look forward to seeing your project unfold :)

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  23. Wonderful looking battery, Ken! I like the red on the uniforms and the worn look of the guns. Very nice stuff! Big guns never tire! ;)

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    1. Thanks David, always nice to get a new Project on the move 👍

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  24. Great work Ken, and cool project as ever.

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  25. Those redshirt artillery are a great start, Ken! :)

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  26. Great stuff, Ken! I was enjoying painting Romanians today while listening to your interview with Curt on your podcast - the one where he said the Challenge would be capped at at 80 this year! 🤣 Thanks for the podcast!

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    1. He did say that didn't he 😆 he's just a big softy 👍

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