How Many Units? K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Son)

This is Jeff Hudelson’s question over in the neighboring Principality of Saxe-Bearstein right now. And one that I’ve tried to reply to there twice, but the new version of Blogger doesn’t seem to want to let me do that. Grrrrr. . . Kind of like the supercomputer “Hal” in 2001: A Space Odyssey ! So, I’ll respond to Jeff’s query here and offer my own thoughts and ideas in the process.

My philosophy is to keep an army painting project fairly simple and manageable. Since I’m amassing “BIG” battalions of between 30-64 figures each and want to get everything painted and on the table before decrepitude sets in, I suggest keeping armies fairly small: 4-6 units of infantry, 2-3 of cavalry, and a battery or two. These are forces the size and organization of those fielded by Brigadier Young and Colonel Lawford in Charge! If your units are smaller, than those described, then so much the better. You’ll get ‘em on the table even more rapidly.

Fine and dandy, but what if, as Jeff queries, you want a little variety in the size and composition of your miniature battles, so the same units don’t appear on the table time and again? Well, this is where my idea comes in. Paint a few extra, smaller mercenary/militia units that can change sides randomly and often, or that you can combine to form larger units.

My two main combatants are Stollen and Zichenau, but some of you might remember that these two territories are surrounded by smaller, even more peripheral entities. It’s my long-term plan to paint small forces for each of these principalities, using all of those extra, left over figures from the many boxes of Revell SYW Austrians and Prussians that I’ve hoarded during the last year. Here is a slightly more concrete version of what I’m talking about:

* Pillau-Zerbst – 1 large squadron of Jäger zu Pferd (13 figures). Mostly dragoons firing cavalry carbines from the saddle

* Pillau-Reuss – 1 battery of artillery (13 and two MiniFig guns).

* Tauroggen Fiebus – 2 companies of infantry (39)

* Werben-Steinau – 2 large companies of infantry (48)

* Zeller-Schwarzkatze – 2 large companies of infantry (48)

The infantry from the latter two states will wear similarly colored uniforms (dark green like the Russians of the SYW era) and could theoretically combine to forma single MASSIVE unit. It will at least allow me to use up all of those extra, much maligned Revell Prussian grenadiers in mitre caps. And I’m still left with enough extra figures to try some additional conversion work. Voila! Problem solved.

It's Early Days Yet. . .

M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings. Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat. The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week. Next up, the neck stocks. I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit. Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step. "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes

And We're Off!!!

Arrrgh! Gotta go back into camera settings on my iPhone to bring all of the frame into focus. Blast! Painting is underway on the 60 or so Minden Austrians, which are slated to become my version of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment of AWI renown. More or less indistinguishable from Austrians of the era really, right down to the red facings and turnbacks, but the eventual flags (already in my files) will set them apart. I went ahead and based-coated all of them over a couple of days lthe last week of August, using a mix of light gray and white acrylic gesso, before next applying my usual basic alkyd oil flesh tone to the faces and hands. In a day or two, I'll hit that with Army Painter Flesh Wash to tone things down a bit and bring some definition to the faces and hands. As usual, the plan is to focus on about 20 figures at a time, splitting the regiment roughly into thirds along with the color party and regimental staff. Depending on ...

The Eventual Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment. . .

The Anhalt-Zerbst regiment musters in the drill square to sort themselves into platoons and companies during the coming weeks Fall maneuvers if you will. A large dose of real life the last few days with the start of classes next Monday, various preparatory meetings, and finishing up a few other things this week. But, I managed to sort out 60 or so Minden Austrian infantry from the pile and get 'em stuck to temporary painting bases. Must carefully drill out the hands of several NCOs for flagpoles and pole arms this weekend before the usual basecoat. I'm thinking of mixing the usual white gesso with the usual light gray to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. Applying both base- and undercoat in one fell swoop as my grandmother used to say. In the meantime, the recently finished squadron of Saxon cuirassiers has been placed carefully in one of the clear acrylic boxes on my shelves until I have the suitable flag to affix. -- Sto...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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