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@JustALittleOrkish: Thanks for the comment! Yeah, those SDE figures are always a delight once they're done. I actually never got the Pokémon connection with these minis! you're right there, the big guy (Testudo Tower) as well as the ones with the cannons mounted on their backs all quite resemble Squirtle evolutions, right? Shows my age. And the fact that I've always been a Charmanda guy.
Right, so while I cleaned and primed 350 odd Samnite warriors I also got going on my own 28mm Sharp Practice project again. Remember that? War of the Fifth Coalition? Yup, that's the one. The general plan is to play the Tyrolean uprising against Bavarian occupation/rule. After the war of 1805 Austria had to cede Tyrol to the Kingdom of Bavaria (Napoleon's creation and ally). Bavarian rule was forthcoming in parts at first. Mostly because Tyrol always had a special status and their own constitution for all sorts of reasons (like no Tyrolean having to wage war outside the borders of Tyrol and other stuff like that). Maybe Tyrolean mindset and situation could be described as a mix of Texas and Afghanistan? Certainly must have felt like that to the Bavarian administrators and later Bavarian and French soldiers who fought there. Or maybe I just insulted three peoples and didn't help any to clear anything up. If so - sorry, I didn't mean to. Either way, in 1808 the Tyrolean constitution was nullified by Bavaria and the former county of Tyrol was dissolved. Certain religious restrictions finally proved to be the last straw, and the generally deeply catholic and conservative people of Tyrol decided to rise against Bavarian rule. In the spring of 1809 armed Tyrolean farmers disarmed Bavarian recruitment bands and sent them home, while Emperor Francis I. of Austria sent troops to Tyrol to support the uprising. He also sent an army towards Munich (Bavaria's capital) itself. And he sent an army into Poland. And another one into Italy. It was a whole big thing.
So the plan is to play little skirmish games of 50-100 figures a side set against the backdrop of that Tyrolean uprising. Virago will play the dastardly Bavarians, Nikfu is set to play Tyrolean rebels and Cpt.Shandy is on board as well playing French. I'll play the Corps of Austrian regulars sent into Tyrol to support the rebellion. This force was under the command of general von Chasteler and consisted of two brigades. The first brigade consisted of the Hohenlohe-Bartenstein Regiment No.36, the Lusignan Regiment No.16, and 3 squadrons of the Hohenzollern Chevau-legers. The second brigade consisted of Jäger battalion #9 and Landwehr units from Klagenfurt, Bruck and Villach. On top of that they had several 3- and 6-pounder guns and some horse artillery.
I'll start doing the mainstay of the troops, meaning line infantry of Lusignan regiment (No.16).
Those are mostly done now, bar for final neatening-up and basing. In Sharp Practice game terms these are four units of 8 line infantry each and two units of 6 third-rank skirmishers each. Plus a Korporal and an officer on foot. Contrary to the French, who had dedicated light infantry battalions and light infantry (Voltigeur) companies in their line infantry battalions for skirmishing duty, the Austrian army employed the third rank of each battalion as skirmishers if need be. In practice this was up to the commanding officer, and, following a general problem with Austrian officers of the time, some of those didn't find skirmishing all too important or useful. Anyway, these minis above all are from a box of Victrix plastics. Pretty useful.
Next up: Ho-hum. I assume Jägers? Those were the dedicated light infantry formations of the Austrian army (armed with rifled muskets), but they never had enough of those around. After that I might do some Landwehr units.
Either way, first I have to paint a lot of 15mm Samnite warriors. Hope you like the minis so far. Once there's some fuzz on the bases that'll add another colour (spoiler: it's gonna be green), and they'll look even nicer.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/05/28 20:07:52
@Gitsplitta: Thanks! Well, there IS the option to do the Saxon corps who supported the Poles in that campaign. The Saxons also wore white uniforms at the time. And so did the Italians. So there's always more opportunity to do white uniforms.
@Gitsplitta: Well, while white wasn't the best colour for uniforms (but as far as I know somewhat of an economic necessity), it doesn't make THAT much of a difference given the ranges of smoothbore muskets in battle (with all the chaos, LOADS of smoke, etc) going on. Red crossbelts are an interesting idea. Not sure I've ever read of any used. They usually were made of leather and as far as I know for the vast majority of units they were whitened. Some (usually mostly specialized light infantry units) used black leather for that. So there was an awareness of that for units who would rely on cover, fight in broken ground and thus in skirmish formations. The 95th Rifles famously wore very dark uniforms, Austrian Jägers wore slate grey uniforms, Grenzers wore mostly brown coats and blue breeches, and so on.
@Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll: Thanks very much. Yeah, historicals are good fun. Say, how did you get that name?
Right, there hasn't been an update in quite a while, because stuff which isn't really impressive happened. Finally I'm getting to work on that 15mm Samnites army. Here's a WIP of the biggest part of the infantry:
Circa 350 (345 or something like that) Samnite warriors. All Xyston miniatures, because Xyston make the nicest 15mm Ancients. The Samnites were a union of Italic tribes sat in middle Italy. As they expanded to the western shores of Italy they ran into the Romans and thus trouble. Three "Samnite Wars" were waged between Rome and the Samnites over the timespan of about 50 years. Despite alliances with the Etruscans and other peoples the Samnites had to submit to Roman rule and eventually were scattered across the Roman empire and beyond.
Yeesh, that's a lot of figures. I've been hobby logging about my almost finished 15mm ancients project, but it's just a small force that your one unit of Samnites dwarfs! Those figures look very nice. When I started my project with my brother I gave him the decision on which time period and geographic area for the project to adhere to. I really wanted him to pick more towards Greece and Italy so we could use those fancy Xyston miniatures. He chose ancient China instead. Ho hum, maybe in the future. Your group is a treat to see.
@Gitsplitta: Fiend! Well, while white wasn't the best colour for tunics (but as far as I know somewhat of an economic necessity), it doesn't make THAT much of a difference given the ranges of rocks or javelins thrown in battle (with all the chaos, etc) going on....
@Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll: Thank you. Hope I proceed swiftly on this project. The basing and shields alone will take ages (on top of all the regular painting on these chaps!).
@CaptainWaffle: I think as a wargamer without an easily enthused hobby club or gaming group we often run into situations in which we have to put 'someone to play with' over what we'd like to play exactly. Ancient Chinese sound interesting though. Are you playing DBA with them? Did you go with 15mm as well (and if so - where do you get your minis from? An Ancient Chinese range doesn't spring to mind).
Sorry for the lack of updates, but since each individual step takes so long it also takes longer between at least somewhat meaningful WIP shots. I'll put one up this weekend though. Maybe later tonight, depending on how things proceed. So far I got the metallics dine, the plumes and feathers on the helmets as well. For the next step I'll go neaten up the skin (mostly faces). Then I'll go into further details. There are some chaps (like 12 or so) who wear linothorax armour (linen armour; several layers of linen glued together. It was much more comfortable, less expensive and cooler to wear than bronze body armour) which need some extra work. Then I'll see that I get beards/hair done. All the while fixing little mistakes made earlier, neaten up things, etc. The usual deal. Then I'll base the guys. add spears ad shields (which presumably will cover up 90% of my work anyway ) and that's that. Then I can do the cavalry and possibly light infantry skirmishers.
That's very much the case - if I can't find someone to join with me then it's just a painting hobby, not wargaming hobby. We had to scrounge about for miniatures that fit the time period - around 500BC - and got a mix of Essex and Khurasan miniatures that look the part enough. There are few miniatures out there that fit that period of China, so we made do with what ancient lines they have.
Don't rush the postings for our sake! Really interested to see what you do with the linothorax.
Here are some thoughts on one aspect about this battle report that struck me after posting it (political/social media/opinion/trigger-y stuff). Makes more sense (if any at all ) after reading the battle report, hence the spoiler tag.
Spoiler:
Full disclosure - two minutes after I got the article uploaded last night i was hit with a bit of a realization. Considering the current going-ons in the US and in some cities elsewhere some themes of this game (which we had in mid-May) could be viewed as inappropriate (well, the 'looting of the village' aspect really). It might be far-fetched, but I'm sure most of us currently are somewhat more sensitized to certain themes or imagery. I'm not sure what exactly I'm trying to say here, but I felt like it should be mentioned given the current circumstances. It goes without saying that in times like these I use fantasy gaming to NOT having to deal with real world issues for a few hours.
The funny thing about fantasy/sci-fi is that we often like to pretend that these are entirely unproblematic genres, untouched by any sort of 'baggage'. Historical wargaming usually comes with a set geopolitical, sociological, etc. context we can not change. We choose WHAT we play/depict within these contexts and what we don't want to play due to various personal reasons, tastes and preferences.
With fantasy/scifi it's a slightly different thing, isn't it. We're able to choose the context our games take place in. Even when using set fantasy/scifi settings such as Middle Earth or Battletech, we are much more at liberty to interpret them to suit our play. In a way that's very comforting, in another way it can lead to a false sense of detachment from any sort of responsibility. After all fantasy and sci-fi stories have always been used to discuss historical or current issues. As much as they've been used to just indulge in some escapism.
Yeah, I'm just babbling at this point. Basically what I try to say is this: I am aware that in the light of the situation in parts of the US and elsewhere and all the video clips and pictures we see all across our timelines and newsfeeds certain aspects of this particular scenario could be viewed as inappropriate. I don't think that it is, but that's just my opinion, and if you're of the opinion that it is I'm sorry. Please let me know. In the end it's all just about sharing our silly fantasy adventures, and by now I'm sure you understand that I like my fantasy adventures to be very much on the silly side rather than being all too serious. All of the people I got feedback from on prior AARs seem to enjoy the little write-ups, and I do as well.
I probably blow this out of proportion, but it's something that struck me last night and I think that it's better to mention such stuff rather than just keep quiet about it. This way we can talk about it, which surely isn't a bad basis for things. So please let me know what you think on this whole thing. I'm interested in other people's take on this.
For now I decided to share a link to this AAR on forums, but refrain from putting it up on social media for now. Not only due to my inherent laziness when it comes to advertising things, but also because ...well, social media. Again, I view these games and AARs as what they are, but I don't want to cause anybody any sort of stress or something like that.
This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2020/06/06 11:48:13
Great battle report and progress! Do you use washes/shades or do you forgo that and simply start with a dark color and paint up from it? Or something else? Bascially, what's your painting strategy for a large number of models like this? For my 15mm project I've been trying to decide if it's more efficient, without sacrificing quality, to do the base-coat then wash strategy or to build up without washes/shades at all.
@CaptainWaffle: Cheers! It really depends on the figures, the look I go for and last but not least what the customer would like his figures to look like. On these chaps here the the stylistic order of the day was "no pure black anywhere" (including blacklining, ornaments, feathers, etc) and a rather bright look. Add to this the fact that these are basically 15mm Hoplites I went with a light grey/white base colour. I used a fair amount of washes/inks/contrast paints/thinned paints (all the same really, just with slightly different properties) for the basecoats, and now I 'neaten things up' by layering over that, giving some bits additional highlights and shades, and so on.
Heyhey, here's a tiny little update on my own little project (Austrians 1809 for Sharp Practice):
Taking the time to get a unit of Jägers (Feldjägerbattalion Nr.9) done for Chasteler's corps. 6 Jägers, plus one officer and a musician. Just because it fits the unit having a hornist around. I think I'll just do one unit of those chaps. Jägers were always high in demand and low in supply as far as I know.
All Front Rank minis, so they look a bit tall next to the Victrix line infantry, but oh well. I just really like Front Rank minis.
It's kinda like Sharp Practice Ancients. Which rather appeals to me. I'll make sure to pick it up. Maybe that'll help me getting at least some of those tons of Warlord Romans painted I got a few years ago....
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/06/15 09:55:39
@Gitsplitta: Cheers! Also majorly helped my mood after getting really beaten down over the tons of 15mm Samnites.
@CaptainWaffle: Oh, well, that's good then. I learned nothing. Well, I learned a lot about the Feldjäger battalions from 1803 to 1809. So I guess everybody wins.
Right enough with those chaps, back to things I SHOULD be working on, now I did some work on the Samnite cavalry. Detailwork on those chaps will be done once I got the infantry and horses based. So right now I'm putting the infantry on bases (I'm at 80 bases right now). Leaving them to dry now, then they get another layer of sand. Then I'll go about painting the bases, I suppose.
Already the infantry looks WAY better on these bases than on these bloody painting sticks. That helps keeping the motivation going.
Here's a quick snapshot (bit weird looking because I used my phone to make it) of just under the half of the bases:
Look at them. Standing there, all colourful and wargame-y looking. This is nice. You can see the top of the little cast-on standy things showing here and there, hence the second layer of sand/grit. That'll be the next step.
Nice work on all the large and small, little things.
Mastodon: @DrH@warhammer.social
The army- ~2295 points (built).
* -=]_,=-eague Spruemeister General. * A (sprue) Hut tutorial * Dsteingass - Dr. H..You are a role model for Internet Morality! // inmygravenimage - Dr H is a model to us all Theophony - Sprue for the spruemeister, plastic for his plastic throne! // Shasolenzabi - Toilets, more complex than folks take time to think about!
Well, these chaps are done (apart from basing of course):
There wasn't really that much left to do, just some detailling, some highlights here and there, some last bits like the green cords on the Jägers, the powder horns, ramrods, detailling on the musician. I was lookig for detailling on the officer as well, but I think that lower ranks didn't wear any (apart from sabre, bicorn and sash) in 1809 I think.
So yeah, that's that. I'll leave them like that for now. Next: Grenzers? Maybe Landwehr? Or even just some random folks for scenarios or support choices. Deployment points will also become a thing at some point. Who knows. I'm waiting for minis from Old Glory and Front Rank. No stress, as I got more than enough stuff to do anyway, but it's nice to have this project to keep spirits up.
Heyhey. Still got those legions of Samnites on the table (plus the additional new info that I'll get to freehand all the shield designs! Wahey!), but last week I got an emergency call. "Would you paint my Bloodbowl figures? Until next week?"
So I sprang into the battle brush mobile and picked up the figures. After some negotiations we agreed on doing one team for now, and I'd get 2 weeks time rather than just one. A whole Reikland Reavers team plus star players (Griff Oberwald, Mighty Zug, Morg'n'Thorg, Karla von Kill, Helmut Wulf), all the latest sculpts. Two Blitzers, one catcher and one thrower have been replaced with the alternative sculpts by Forgeworld.
Got the figures built, but still covered in mold lines. That's life. Here they are after some cleaning and basing:
...and that's what they look like now:
That's how far I got so far. I'd say I'm halfway done? About? Not sure. Anyway, hope you like them so far!
Well, there IS the option to do the Saxon corps who supported the Poles in that campaign. The Saxons also wore white uniforms at the time. And so did the Italians. 
// inmygravenimage - Dr H is a model to us all 
