From IanS: 6mm Napoleonic Cavalry (150 points)

Hi So for my second post this week we have my favourite era and scale 6mm Napoleonic Cavalry. All the figures are from Commission figures and are MDF. I have an itch that makes me look at a figure and ask the question how can i enharnce this, and so it is with these figures. I have found that adding pieces of kitchen brush for swords scabards and lances helps to bring these figures to life. I have in the past also added carbines and haybags but that was just a tad to far. so first up is a picture of what i am adding to these figures. Yes i have added a square of cardboard to the top of the shako to make a Czapka, never again!

So onto the painted guys. Two regiments of Chausseur a Cheval the 7th and 20th

The two regiments together

Next up is the 8th French Lancer regiment formerly the Vistula Lancers so Polish.

and rear view

So for the heavy guys we have the 14th Cuirassier (ex dutch Cuirassier)

again a rear view

Divisional commander

and finally the commander with the Cuirassier and Lancers

Points 147 6mm Cavalry figures at 1pt each = 147pts 150 points

Nice, Ian! Obviously, I especially appreciate you painting the 14th Cuirassiers ;-). However, I am quite impressed (and not a little bit frightened) by your conversion work on the Polish lancers. Wow, you are indeed a brave man! I am constantly amazed by how great these Commission MDF figures look when painted. In recognition of your hard work I'll round it up to make it 150 points. Well done!

Martijn

From IanS: 6mm French Napoleonic Division (275 points)

Hi,

This post was delayed from last week as I had an incident with a cat who broke one of the battalions. Although some figures were broken I was eventually able to piece them together. Just in case I painted up another battalion but am saving this for another Division later in the Challenge. So here we are again and another French Napoleonic Division, this time its the 6th Division belonging to the 2nd Corps 1812. As with the last Division this is a two brigade organisation with supporting artillery. Again all figures are from Commission Figurines and are MDF. First up is the Division conmander Legrand, fine fellow.

1st Brigade consists of the 26th Light Infantry and 56th Line Regiments, two battalions of 60 figures each. In addition there are 2 skirmish stands.

 

2nd Brigade consists of the 19th Line Regiment of 2 Battalions,  the 128th Regiment of just one battalion, and then the brown coated 3rd Portuguese Regiment, again only one battalion. With an attached skirmish stand split 50:50 between the French and Portuguese. The French regiments are in greatcoat as somehow I have mislaid the figures. Come to think of it I still have not found 2 of the Christmas presents I got from my daughter. First Photo is the three French battalions in greatcoat followed by the Portuguese: 

Last Up is the Artillery a battery of 8pdrs

.

Now here is the Division:

There is another Infantry Division in the 2nd Corps but I have already painted this, so next up is the cavalry element and corps artillery.

Points Being Claimed:

500 6mm Infantry figures at 0.5 pts each - 250pts 

24 6mm Artillery figures at 0.5 pts each - 12pts 

6 6mm Guns at 1pts each - 6pts  

7 6mm mounted figures at 1pt each - 7pts 

Total Pts - 275pts

More 6mm Napoleonic goodies, yes! As before, these look so good in their masses, Ian. I really love it that you went for 60 man battalions, very impressive. Also, I like the Portuguese, so seldom encountered outside of the Peninsular theatre. I am looking forward to the cavalry! 275 points added to your total.

From IanS: 6mm French Napoleonic Division, History Section (289 points)

Hi Next Submission is a 6mm Napoleonic French Division for the 1812 invasion of Russia. This is the 8th Division of the 2nd Corps on the retreat from Moscow. It consists of two brigades each of two regiments of two battalions. Each of the Battalions is 60 models, all figures are from the MDF range of Commission figurines. I like these models as I can easily convert them by adding pieces of wire for swords like on the foot and mounted officers and pieces of paper to make the sapper, they are also quick to paint as the mdf just drinks the paint. 

So first up are the Divisional Command Jean-Antoine Verdier

The 1st Brigade is made up of the 11th Light Infantry and the 2nd Line Infantry as well as 2 stands of Skirmishers. 

The 2nd Brigade is made up of the 37th and 124th Line Regiments and a single stand of skirmishers.

As Support is a Horse Battery I know it should be Foot I forgot to paint the trousers white.

 

The whole Division

I would like to also submit this Division under the Historical section in the Library 

Points being Claimed: 

500 6mm Infantry figures at 0.5pts each - 250pts 

16 6mm Artillery crew at 0.5pts each - 8pts 

4 6mm Guns at 1pt each - 4 pts 

7 6mm Mounted figures at 1 pts each - 7pts 

History section of Library - 20pts 

So I am claiming 289pts

Oh my! Half a ton of 6mm figures in one go, that's quite epic. I really like the look of these massed mdf figures. They may be a bit twodimensial, but that doesn't detract at all from the effect, further enhanced by the great paint job. I think the French Foot Artillery of the Line wore blue trousers too, so you're all good there ;-). A great force, Ian, and your calculations are right on the mark, so another 289 points for your tally.

Martijn

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