From ForestP: 50 15mm Napoleonic Grand Duchy of Warsaw 4th Regiment of Line [Glorantha] (120 points)

Good morning from the cloudy middle of the United States! As I sit here under a Winter Weather Advisory for a paltry 2-4" of snow I find myself not in the slightest bit upset because it gives me a perfect excuse to stay in a paint. Truly the definition of the proverbial silver lining of the clouds above me. 

As the miniatures at hand though, I present to you the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 4th Regiment of Line of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw; or what could also be known as part of the Polish contingent of the Grand Army of France that fought in the Peninsula. They are one of the most heroic of the Polish units in the Napoleonic Wars, and were loyal to Napoleon even after he lost control of Poland. They were a decorated unit both during and after the Napoleonic Wars and so I shall also claim them for Glorantha as Heroes! As will be my style I will talk you all through a bit of my painting process. 

What I painted were 50 15mm figures from the Battle Honors line of Old Glory 15s aka 19th Century miniatures, specifically from the range BPO3 (Line Infantry Regiments 4, 7, or 9). The pack I had was an older one that I purchased from Campaign Game Miniatures during their recent holiday sale that had 50 miniatures in it, versus the new Battle Honors packs that generally have 24 figures. So, if you're trying to recreate this unit as I did, I suggest you order 2 packs of BPO3 from 19th Cent. Minis. As far as references for images I split between those in John R. Elting's Napoleonic Uniforms Vol. 2 (yes, I know they are quite expensive, but highly worth it for the Napoleonic enthusiast; by the way the link is for used copies of the 1993 edition, you can buy the 2007 re-issue here), Napoleon's Polish Troops (MAA45) by Otto von Pivka of Osprey Books, and Uniformology's "Uniforms of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw 1807-1815 Part 3" painted by Jan Chelminski. Since each source showed uniforms a bit differently I amalgamated the sources to create something that I was satisfied with as a compromise. It's not exact, but I'm not a button-counter, so there.

I actually started painting these miniatures last weekend, and were able to finish them up over the course of painting an hour or two per night over the week. First after cleaning flash I mounted the figures to craft sticks using a hot glue gun (my preference because of the ease of popping them off after painting) I primed the figures in ultra flat white (Krylon Colormaster 5131507) to reduce the need to paint white pants (because efficiency or laziness; take your pick). And with that I was done for the first evening.

That's not too many miniatures, sure this can't be too bad...

Night two I decided to knock out quite a bit of the blocking. Most of my paints were Vallejo Acrylics, so I will provide  reference numbers for those. I started with Dark Blue (70.930) as that would be pretty close to the primary jacket color I've found in my research, then Black (70.950 for the shakos and other hats, and Deep Yellow (70.915) for the jacket lapel/vest. I decided I would finish the night by painting poms and plumes (Deep Yellow again for Voltigeurs, Flat Red [70.957] for Grenadiers, Officers, flag bearers and drummers), cuffs (same Deep Yellow for Voltigeurs and Flat Red for everyone else), epaulets (ibid), and rifles and flag poles painted in Leather Brown (70.871).

Starting to look soldiery.

Poms and Plumes really do help make figures pop.

Night three I moved on to details.  I painted the drums with both Flat Red and Deep Yellow, then painted the Eagles, gorgets, and shako plates in Polished Gold (72.055). Backpacks were painted in Leather Brown, smaller pouches were in Flat Earth (70.983), and bedrolls were painted in Neutral Grey (70.992). Lastly I painted skin in a 3:1 mix of Basic Skin Tone (70.815) and Flat Flesh (70.955).

On night four I wanted to finish up the primary coloring on the figures before moving on to a wash. I mixed up a 3:2 of Gunmetal Grey (70.863) and Chainmail Silver (72.053) for bayonets and rifle barrels and slapped that all over. Swords were painted in pure Chainmail Silver, with officers' sword hilts painted in 1:1 of Tinny Tin (72.060) and Old Gold (70.878), and any other sword hilts in just Tinny Tin. Sheathes were painted in 1:1 Bright Bronze (72.057) and Tinny Tin or Chainmail Silver. Drum heads were painted in thinned Honeycomb (942) from Folk Art paints (a crafting quality paint). I completely forgot that my Voltigeurs needed some green in the plumes and epaulets so I painted on some Flat Green (70.968) appropriately. Lastly I painted crossbelts and other straps in White (70.951), and for some reason I'd totally forgotten to paint hair so I used a 10/0 brush to add a little thinned out Apple Barrel (another crafting-quality paint) Brown Oxide (20511) knowing full well that my wash will ensure any gaps would be covered.

Decent little command element.

They don't look too terrible, right?

On night five I took my wife out to a concert at the symphony, so the only thing I had time to do after we got home was splash on a wash and call it a night. I used Flesh Wash (73.204) all over knowing full well that I would be touching up the figures in the morning to bring out the brighter colors. Also, I didn't mind the fact that the figures overall would look a little "grimier" as I'm of the mind that soldiers get dirty and sweaty (can confirm: I'm a soldier). Uniforms aren't perfectly pressed and cleaned in war. That being said because I was finishing up the wash later into the evening I didn't take any photos. Oh well.

The following day I was (as I am typing this, still am) stuck in a two day-long Zoom training where I don't have to talk much, and don't need to be on camera. So naturally this gave me the opportunity to finish up the figures. So, next I touched up the whites, yellows, metallics, and some areas of black. I also realized I'd forgotten to paint up the drum sticks, so I mixed up a 1:1:1 mix of Folk Art Honey Comb with Apple Barrel Brown Oxide and some water using leftover paint on my wet pallet. My next steps were basing the figures up on Wargames Accessories #10 Metal Base Stands (3/4" x 1") and one Litko 1.25" x 1.25" plywood base for the command stand (these had previously been spray painted green with Design Master Basil [676]).

The next step was putting down some flocking. So I mixed up some PVA glue with Apple Barrel English Ivy Green 20756 in order to cover up the white leftover on the individual figure bases, and slapped it on.

Not pretty, but it does the job.

After that it was swishing the figures around in a BTC Open Flock Mix created by my good friend Doug Kline at Battlefield Terrain Concepts.

This stuff is so nice it almost feels like cheating. Almost...

Et voila, we have two battalions and a command stand!

Regimental command stand.

Close up of 1st Batallion.

The Regiment thus far.

My paint job is what I would describe as just slight better than tabletop quality (meant to be seen from 3' or more away). I'm not very good. More often than not, to be honest, I actually pay someone else to paint my minis nowadays. However, I'm starting to enjoy the process again, even if my miniatures are a bit rough-and-ready, and wouldn't win any contests. I did order some wonderful fabric flags for them from Maverick Models, but they have not arrived. Please accept my humble apologies for sending forward units sans flags.

Anyhow, this is my entry for the week. Not too shabby I hope. In summation, my points are calculated as follows:

50 x 15mm foot @ 2 = 100 points

Glorantha (Outer Ring) bonus = 20 points

Total = 120 points

Until next time where I think I may try for diving headfirst into the Warp Maelstrom that I skirted to travel from Istvaan V to Glorantha. Millsy, what challenge do you lay before me?

Forest

From Millsy:

You're a man after my own heart Forest. I love 15mm Naps and I love the French and their allies even more!

I'm not sure what is more impressive in this post, the miniatures themselves or the depth of detail you put into the words wrapped around them. Either way, its a cracking entry and well worth the 120 points. I've not painted any Battle Honours stuff myself but they look pretty good and your paint job is better than you seem to think yourself. I'd be happy to have them grace my table any day!

From FrederickC: Early-WW2 Germans (155 points)

 

My second submission for this year's painting challenge is a selection of early war units appropriate for a German Panzer Division. They include a squad of Kradschützen (motorcycle troops), a Sd.Kfz. 222 light armoured reconnaissance vehicle, and a platoon of Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B light tanks.

The Kradschützen are a mix of Black Tree Design and Bolt Action miniatures for a total of nine figures on five motorcycles, with two where the passenger is riding in a sidecar, and two where the passenger is riding pillion. I picked up the two Black Tree Design motorcycles a number of years ago at an estate sale, and the assembly looked rather daunting with the bike, the handle bars, and the riders all being separate pieces. I wanted to flesh them out a bit, and ordered two motorcycles from Warlord Games where the passenger was riding in a side car. One more motorcycle was ordered a few years later, again from Warlord Games, but this time with the passenger riding pillion. If I thought Black Tree Design bikes were daunting, the ones from Warlord Games consisted of 10 separate pieces, and didn't come with assembly instructions. I was able to find those online, but to get everything to fit correctly was really tricky, especially since the handle bar and the driver's arms came as a single piece.

With much patience, I was successful in getting everything together so that it all looked right, although the drivers still don't seem to be sitting properly on the seat. The instruction for the bikes with side cars showed stowage satchels attached to the sidecar, but none came with the kits. I did get enough for a single bike in the kit with the passenger riding pillion. These got moved over to the sidecars, one to each, and the second stowage bin coming from my bits box along with a gas mask canister. Three of the bikes were mounted on long bases that came from Warlord Games, while the bikes with sidecars were mounted on bases cut from old plastic gift cards. Everything was primed in black and then painted with Vallejo or AK Interactive acrylics. They are now ready to take the field as part of the 8th Panzer Division.

 

The  Sd.Kfz. 222 light armoured car was another acquisition from the above mentioned estate sale. It was a multi-part metal casting which I think is an old Battle Honors kit. The scale looks closer to 1/48 than 1/56, and although the body is hollow, it still weighs in at 266g (almost 9.5oz). In fact, it is so heavy that the axles that came with the model were unable to support the weight without bending. I had to pull the wheels off again and replace the axles with lengths of florist wire that were much stiffer.

The fit of the pieces was pretty wonky, and I had to fill a number of gaps with epoxy putty. The rear fenders were a single piece that were difficult enough to fit to the chassis, but the front fenders were even worse. They came as two separate pieces, and the fit to the chassis just didn't work as all the angles were slightly off. Eventually I gave up and fashioned the front fenders out of a single piece of thin plastic card. Once all the fenders were in place, I made some headlights out of the heads of pushpins that I have filed flat on one side. Finally I added the shovel and the rolled tarp from my  bits box. The commander that came with the model was wearing an Einheitsmütze, which is more mid to late war, so I replaced him with a figure from a Bandai tank kit. The vehicle was painted in a similar fashion to the Kradschützen, and then some AK Splattereffects Dry Mud was applied. It will make a useful addition to my early war Germans.

 

Lastly I have a platoon of three 1/56 resin Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B light tanks from Warlord Games that I purchased as part of a bulk order along with DallasE. I liked how he mounted his on bases to make them a bit more compatible with 1/48 and 1/50 scale vehicles, so I did likewise. Assembly was pretty straight forward with the tracks, etc, fitting well to the chassis. I used magnets to attach the turrets, countersinking them into the chassis and the turret itself. The only flaw was that two of the exhaust pipes were not well cast, so I carved the partly formed bits away, and rebuilt the exhaust with some copper wire and the insulating sleeve. These were then painted using the same technique as for the armoured car. They were then mounted on the bases that had already been prepared with most of the sand, paint, and flocking before gluing the vehicles in place. The red vehicle numbers and German crosses on the tanks are appropriate for the France 1940 campaign.

 The points being claimed are as follows:

10 x 28mm figures @ 5 points each = 50 points 

(I am counting the tank and armoured car commanders as half a figure each)

5 x 28mm 'mount' @ 5 points each = 25 points

(I am counting the motorcycles as a mount rather than a vehicle)

4 x 28mm vehicles @ 20 points each = 80 points

Lots of early German mechanized goodies here Frederick.  I quite like the motorcycle troops, they have a nice Wild Bunch vibe to them.  I think that you are correct on the scoring of the bikes, but no doubt someone (Tamsin?) will correct us if we are wrong.

From: EricM- Austrian Aide de Camp and French Cuirassier (116 points)

Our local group is taking the plunge into new Napoleonic rules set General d' Armee so I used last week to prepare for our first game.

The order system of General d' Armee calls for a quite a few more Aide de Camp than I had.  I painted 5-15mm Austrian Aide d Camp.  They are from Battle Honors.  I really enjoyed painting the figures. For older sculpts they nicely detailed.

Here are the 5 Aide de Camp

I decided to add some punch to my my French forces so I painted up two units of Cuirassier.  The figures are from AB, which is in my book the best 15/18mm figures you can find.   To top it off if you are in the US you get to buy them from Eureka Miniatures USA  which is run by Rob Walter, on of the nicest guys in the hobby.   Amazing figures and outstanding service, what more could you ask for.  (I may be a little biased)

I painted the 3rd Cuirassier which were in Nanouty's division at Wagram.

I also painted the 12th Cuirassier from Nansouty's division. I really like the yellow collars and appointments,

Here picture of the full group

In total I was able to complete 29-15mm Cavalry for a total of 116 points.  Which I believe will just make my challenge goal of 2500 points.  Whew, that was a close one.

Congratulations Eric on gaining your target! Great to see you get to grips with these 15mm Napoleonics. You have done just as good a job on these as with all of the miniatures I was allowed to show the good folks over here. Your overall level of painting is very high and it is showing here too. Those Cuirassiers really look amazing and the ADC's are a fun addition as well. I can only say the pleasure was all mine and I do hope to see you pinch in something next week for the Snowlord to judge. Cheers and thanks heaps Sander

From: EricM - The Potpourri Post (332 points)

The last week has been a real challenge to stay focused.  I have been all over the place painting a little of this and a little of that.

I tried to stay focused and finish off my WWII project.  I got a pretty good start working on the last of my Americans.  I painted 20 28mm Americans with winter equipment from Warlord Games.   I really liked the figures but the castings are a bit brittle and had excess flash.  When unpacking them I had three rifle barrels that were bent and covered in heavy casting residue.  I managed to break the barrels while cleaning and straightening them.   I know Warlord has fantastic customer service but running short on time I didn't want to wait for the replacement so I repaired the figures.

Here are the two squads of American infantry in winter gear.

I used  the snow texture paint from Games Workshop called Valhallan Blizzard. It was really easy to work with and looked pretty good as I got the hang of it.  I may go back and add a bit more of the texture at a later point.  My advice is put on more than you think you need it seems to shrink as it dries.  On the whole I think it gave a nice snowy look.

Here is the group together.

After finishing off the first group of WWII Americans I hit a bit of a block.   So I jumped back to a little side project I have been working on occasionally.  I painted a 24 figure unit of British infantry for the War of Spanish Succession.

The figures are all 28 mm Front Rank.  I think Front Rank make some of the nicest figures around.  The figures are a bit exaggerated which works well with my painting style. They are on the well fed side of 28mm so they don't always mix well with other manufactures.  The unit they are supposed to represent is the Welsh Fusiliers.   The flags are speculative as I was unable to find good documentation.

The last bit of painting I was able to complete was to finish out some troops needed for an upcoming game of General d Armee.   My  Austrian cavalry was under strength  so I added some Dragoons and Cuirassier.  All the figures are 15mm and from Battle Honors. 

Here are the two squadrons of Dragoons

And the two squadrons of Cuirassier

The full group

All total for the week (and change) I was able to paint 44-28mm infantry and 28-15mm cavalry

BANG! Eric drops a pointsbomb dear Challengers, great stuff Eric! Without trying to fall into clichés here: just every part of your entry is superbly executed. I really dig the GI's in wintergear, they just ooze Band of Brothers Battle of the Bulge atmosphere. The 15mm cavalry are brilliant in all their splendid colours and ranking up troops is always impressive. That said, I must admit to being particularly fond of those WSS Welshmen, that red just sparkles off the screen, I also concur tghat Front Rank figures are top notch so yeah love them! Pointswise the 44 28mm figures will net you 220 points and the 15mm cavalry is good for 112 points, therefore 332 points will be added tonight.

From JuanM. The last one... (25 Points)

Hello, my friends.

Here we are, finishing The Challenge and I have a lot of figures to paint! This has been, again, a fantastic experience, to share with all of you this hobby.

I would like to add a final entry, but I´m not sure if I´m going to have enough time, so this one can be the last one:

This is a Battle Honor/Kitney Miniatures 28mm US Paratroops Officer. I am looking for suitable and nice models to prepare an US Platoon for "Chain of Command", and these models are really good; smaller than other more modern, but nice.

A bunch of true "heroic scale" 28mm kids from Haslefree Miniatures. Fantastic models, full of childish character and really useful for my Fantasy project.

The Governor, from Pulp Figures; another of their excellent models. He is going to be the British Commissioner in Bolo Bolo, waiting for the end of the Japanese Mandate in the near archipelago and the independence of the island. He is also a great source of information... 

And this is all. I think this is better to finish now my participation in The Challenge. As I have said, this has been a wonderful experience. Thank you a lot to all of you and, especially, to the tireless Curt.

Cheers!!!

From Curt:

Ah, a lovely final entry Juan. It's funny I've not seen a Battle Honors figure in the Challenge for quite some time so this is a breath of fresh air. That paratrooper sculpt is quite nice - I look forward to seeing more of these on your blog in the coming months. The kids are painfully cute but I have to say that my favourite of the batch is The Governor with his somewhat dainty parasol and light green suit. I'm sure he'll prove to be a pivotal  character in your South Pacific pulp game Juan.

It's been brilliant to have you in the Challenge again this year Juan. Your entries, while frequently small in scope, have always paid off big in their quality and execution. Until next year!