Great News

Ive been looking over at Matt Golding`s blog and the great news is that he has comissioned a range of 28mm figs for the first Schleswig-Holstein war of 1848-51.Nice size battles,great looking figures and ,what i really like about the mid 19th century,real "chocolate box"uniforms,definitely a project for the new year.
Speaking of projects,all mine have now been boxed up and i`m concentrating on the Austro-Prussian war of 1866.Helion have pre-released the first of the Hungarian infantry and i have pre-ordered my first battalion,these are going to be organised on a 4 figure company basis,but will have 6 companies to a battalion,3 battalions to a regt,each battalion will have a 4 figure command element which will give a regimental strength of,a massive ,84 figures.
I intend starting with IR2 "Kaiser Alexander" and then IR23"FML Baron Airoldi".
The only deviation from this plan will be the afore-mentioned first Schleswig figs,Great War minis WW1 Belgians and any WW1 cavalry for the Western front and,possibly any 17th century Eastern Europeans that grab my attention as "must-haves",but the main thrust is going to be building up my two brigade sized forces for 1866,more of which later.

cheers,Andy

Painting(at last)

I`ve just undercoated the first of my Carlist infantry,and another 4 Helion Prussian infantry,the Helion figs are going to become no.3 company of IR11,2nd Silesian Grenadiersand the Carlists either the Tortosa battalion or maybe a battalion from the Guides of Alava.More on them when i get some colours on them.

cheers,Andy

Grrr!!

Just recieved the Belgian machine gunners from Brigade Models and,unfortunately i`m underwhelmed,they`re nice figures,anatomically correct with good detail,but they just don`t do it for me,if you know what i mean.I really wanted to like the mgs,and i really want a WW1 Belgian army,looks like i`ll have to wait for Great War minis to start producing them.
cheers,Andy

Typical

Well that lasted a long time!Iwas trawling through some of my favourite blogs last night and i found a First Carlist War yahoo group.I`ve had a love /hate relationship with the First Carlist War for some two years now,ever since the Perrys released their 28mm range,i love the uniforms and the eminently gameable scale of the battles,but i hate painting the uniforms and those flaming espadrilles are a nightmare.Anyway i`ve succumbed and i`m going to buy the 3 packs of BAL riflemen and 3 packs of non-uniformed Spanish to set up a skirmish scenario initially and then periodically add to them over time.

cheers,Andy

Great news

Fantastic!!!!!!!! 2 emails one from Brigade models to say the Belgian mgs have been posted and another from Foundry to say the paints have been posted,the new regime starts(hopefully)tomorrow.

cheers,Andy

Forgetting the past

Today is a great day,well actually it`s Wednesday,but today is the day i forget past projects and make a concious decision to paint and game what i want in my collection.I look at Phil Olley`s blog and think "what a great set-up--if only",but Phil`s set-up didn`t happen overnight,it`s the result of time and objectivity and that is what i now intend to bring to my collection.I`ve made my decision as to what conflicts i`m going to collect in and i`m limiting myself to 3,they are
1)The Austro-Prussian war of 1866-using Helion figures
2)The Western Front in 1914-using Great War minis and Brigade Models figures
3)Early Thirty Years war(pre Lutzen)-using figures from The Assault Group
In time these projects will expand and include other areas of the same conflicts,eg Cossack revolt of 1648,the Eastern front in 1914,and also new conflicts will be added,but for now i intend to bring the three listed above up to a gameable level.I also intend painting one item at a time and not jumping around from one to another as i`m doing at the moment.
First up there is a WW1 Belgian machine gun company from Brigade Models and some 17th century Croat and Polish cavalry from The Assault Group.If i can i will post picures of the finished models as and when they are available,but until next time,
ciao barbella,

Andy