Monday 17 September 2012

Seven Years War with Maurice - Part three, the poor bloody infantry

I'll start this post with a slightly off-topic note.  I finally invested in a decent camera, so hopefully the images will be a bit better, clearer, sharper, etc.  I can't say the same for the quality of the miniature painting though. 

Oh, and one thing I noticed when I got home was the branding on the bag of the shop where I bought the new gizmo.  


I do rather hope this particular camera shop is simply unaware of the provenance of their logo!  Ahem...


http://www.firetown.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/nazi-eagle.gif


Anyway, onto the matter at hand, the Russian infantry for my Seven Years War army, or the first couple of units at least, using the 15mm Old Glory figures purchased from Timecast.    

The Russians of course issued their regiments with a standardised uniform which was red with a green winter coat.  I chose to go with the winter option for obvious reasons (doesn't it always snow in Russia?) but also because the red and green strikes a nice colour contrast to make the figures interesting.


The first two units, one in the front line, the other in mass behind.
Both units were painted using the techniques I described for the artillery earlier in this series, and I managed to get through both units in about four hours, not including the insane amount of preparation and flash cleaning, or the basing or drying time.  Given the detail and the relatively complex uniforms they did take a bit of time to complete.   





I'm really happy with they way they've turned out.  

My fellow gamers and I discussed at length the basing configuration we were going to use for these Old Glory 15mm figures, and settled on 30x30mm bases, with six infantry per base.  

We'd talked about 25x25mm, or 1"x1" basing but they didn't fit the mounted troops properly.  

We also discussed four infantry per base mainly due to cost, but to be honest I think our final decision was the right one.  They do look far better ranked up in 6's.






Given the period and the intricate standards used I've gone with pre-printed flags.  There's no way I could paint one of them freehand.  

The trouble is I can't remember the supplier I bought them from so when I run out I'll be in trouble.  D'oh!  They do look jolly nice though.



As you can see I've placed the banners at the centre front, straddled across two bases.  These are flanked by 'leaders' or officers, and then the drummers are on the outer edge of the 'command'.  Not sure if that's historically accurate but it looks good enough for me.   




All told, the army's progressing well.



I'm still awaiting the completion of the order from Timecast.  I emailed them today and should be getting the remaining figures sometime next week once they get through customs.

There's no hurry though as we're aiming for early 2013 to complete the project.  

Given my other armies on the go, I'm rather enjoying painting something that requires historical referencing.

5 comments:

  1. Superb job Steve. Look forward to seeing them on the table.

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  2. Awesome looking Russians. The more I read about them during the period, the more I want to get into them.

    Also, I myself have opted for 30mm square bases of six figures for 15mm figs. Iwill be doing that with my British colonial periods (Sudan) as well as AWI, ECW, and whatever else I play outside of moderns and ancients. Looks great! :)

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  3. they look really great, the flags are Hanoverian though

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  4. Yes they are nice but I agree with the earlier comment that the flags are all Hanoverian.

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