Some Napoleonic Poles - and plans for 2013

This is my first post for the New Year and to celebrate my extraordinary slackness in blogging I am posting a very small post on some very modest figure painting that I have managed to achieve since Christmas.  Life (and my imminent retirement) seems to have gotten in the way of the hobby for a while (at least the blogging aspects anyway) so to make amends I have tried to paint up my ever growing backlog of Napoleonic figures.  In addition to the wonderful Roger Murrow (Paul Hicks sculpted) Polish infantry (bought from Roger back in March last year!) 'Murrowski Miniatures', I have Perry's Austrian Hungarian grenadiers, Victrix Austrian Landwehr, Front Rank Austrian line (in helmets), Foundry French legere, Perry French artillery, odds and sods of French cavalry (Perry plastics of course) as well as mounted officers etc, etc.  And that's just the Napoleonic stuff.

This is just a battalion of the 1st Regt of the Vistula Legion - I am currently finishing the second battalion at the moment.  I am particularly taken with the mounted officer who I have promoted to colonel of the regiment. I don't mind giving Roger's wonderful figures a plug on this blog either.  The prices are very competitive and reasonable and the range ever expanding. Did I mention they're beautifully made figures?

The colonel - c'mon boys - up and at'em!

The mounted officer figures are very nicely done.  The other in a bicorne is in a more relaxed pose so I may attach him to the second regiment which I have just ordered from Roger (the idea is to have a full Black Powder-size Polish Brigade with artillery battery).  If the Minister for War and Finance finds out I may be dead man walking.  You see my hobby is supposed to be cost neutral - at least that is what I have repeatedly assured the Minister.  And for the most part it is.  All purchases and acquisitions last year were offset by painting jobs (mostly for my lead pimp Doug) or sale of parts of my own collection like my 20mm armies.  In fact I made a tiny eansy, weansy profit last financial year - so this lot should be covered by it.  But, if my latest indulgence is discovered, will She Who Must Be Obeyed be convinced?  Somehow I doubt it very much - even though I have two 28mm armies up for sale (Austrian and Russian Napoleonic - which I will post on the blog soon).  So I will just act as if nothing's happened and continue painting and whistling a happy tune!

The colonel & grenadier company

The light company lads

The Vistula battalion in column

Right at the moment that's about it as tomorrow Doug and I have our final trial run for our Franco-Prussian War demo game at Cancon.  The FPW armies are complete, terrain sorted and scenario tweaked again (the umpteenth tweak - this time or sure!)  I may take some photos of it but as its been done to death on this blog so I may wait until after Cancon (@ end of January) to post them.  Besides which, I have plenty of other projects for 2013.

In addition to re-building my Austrian and Russian Napoleonic armies, some of the projects for this year include painting and basing an entire 1859 Austrian army(!) for the Italian campaign, finishing my Confederate army (nearly done anyway) for the Shenandoah campaign we're doing and finishing the other half of my WWII German para battalion for the Greek/Crete campaign we're planning for this year.  The piece d'resistance whoever will be my complete WWI Belgian and German armies for an early war skirmish game.  I have only a few Belgian HMGs (one of them doggy-drawn that I posted on previously) finished but it includes a complete squadron of Belgian armoured cars, one of which is in the process of being built.  The latter is entirely off my own bat as I don't know of anyone local or at the club who has comparable WW1 stuff to game.

Belgian doggy HMG - you gotta luv 'em!

The redoubtable Minerva - the first armoured car!

Building and completing two entire armies, French and Prussian, for the FPW demo was no mean achievement for 2012, particularly considering my usual glacial painting speed, so I'm pretty proud of that.  In addition I have just about finished my Thirty Years War armies, painting up commands etc and re-basing the lot. I still have a regiment of dragoons to collect and perhaps trading some pike & shotte regiments for some Swedes to match the Poles etc, but that is still some way off.  I have painted and based up a company of German paras and built and based an entire brigade of Confederates as well so 2012 was probably one of my most productive years hobby-wise.  

But I really want to get back to some Black Powder Napoleonic gaming this year too - Naps being my first love when I started collecting again about a decade ago!  Which reminds me, I'd love to start a French revolutionary Napoleon in Egypt army and must finish those Camel Corps guys...

... it never really ends, does it? A belated but happy and prosperous New Year greeting to all my blog followers for 2013.

Cheers,

            Doc