IR 51 Splenyi

Now then,

I Have got my latest units done, IR 51 a large Hungarian infantry regiment, in the 1809 campaign the regiment was quite under strength, but still fielded 3 battalions.  I have chosen to represent it with only 2 Battalions, but at full strength. Just makes things easier....

Anyway, here they are!

Thats the last of the line infantry done,

The Austrian army is slowly but surely getting there, with a few gaps here and there, namely Hussars and artillery with some more commanders and 4 Battalions of landwehr to do now. Unless of course I add a reserve division, Kurrassiers and Grenadiers...hmmm

The full Austrian army can be seen here - Austrian 1809 page

I know I said it was Austrian 6mm month, but ive ran out of bases for them, so ill be cracking on with something else for a while, then back to the Napoleonics next month!

Steve

Grenzer Regiment 8 and 13 Done.

Now then,

I actually finished these two units of Grenz light/irregular infantry off last week, but have been too busy to get them photographed etc...

Here are the newest additions to the Army of Austria!

GRENZ REGIMENT 8






GRENZ REGIMENT 13






Another 2 units done, these guys are a welcome addition, as irregular light infantry, they should prove to be very useful in an army almost devoid of skirmish capable troops.

Next on the painting table are IR51, a large Hungarian infantry regiment.

The full army can be seen here - Austrian 1809 Page

Cheers for looking.
Steve

March is Napoleonic 6mm Month

Now then,

With getting all my Bolt Action stuff finished off, I thought id turn my attention once again to the 1809 campaign, and get some more of the Austrian army done.


First of all I've had a look at the basing, always a bloody problem, and decided to rebase the skirmishers, for no other reason than it makes them easier to store...

I have rebased some of my Jaeger's, so now have the unit in 2 different formations, formed up and in skirmish order.

So onto the basing. For some reason I always struggle with how to base stuff, be it Napoleonic or Ancient armies.  Black powder has made this a bit easier, as units are classed by their "general" size. So we have tiny units, small units, standard units and large units.  frontage sizes for the units are the only things that are important, depth doesn't matter.

From back to front - Large infantry unit, standard unit, small unit, tiny unit.

Tiny unit

The only tiny unit I have in the army is the Carneville Freikorps, a very small unit numbering 240 jaegers, and 120 or so Hussars. I have done the Infantry formed up and in skirmish order, depending on the situation. The Hussars are just 2 bases of Hussars, and are a separate tiny unit.

Small unit

Small units will be 4 bases strong, the only small units I have at present are the Rosenburg Chevauxledgers. A light cavalry unit.

Standard unit

The mainstay of the army, most units will be standard sized, consisting of 6 bases.

Large unit

The large units are more of a problem. For the infantry I have made the large Hungarian Bns large, but still with 6 bases. The bases however are sightly larger, with 8 figures per base instead of the normal 6.

The Cavalry large units will have 8 bases.

Artillery Batteries

All the artillery batteries will have 3 guns, and 3 limbers, although the guns may be different calibers or howitzers.

Why so many bases?
Infantry formations are the reason the units are made up of a variable number of bases, depending on their size. I considered basing whole units on 1 big base, but then how would the different formations be shown? I suppose counters could be used, but that doesn't do it for me. For me the whole point of gaming with miniatures is the look of the thing.

 Line

 Attack column

 Battalion Masse* ( A formation unique to the Austrians, a solid block of infantry able to withstand cavalry attacks, but horribly vulnerable to artillery fire). Rear 2 bases facing rear so as not to confuse it with an attack column.

 Square

March column

So whats next?

First of all I've got  all my light troops done, namely 2 battalions of Grenzers. They just need basing up, photos maybe tomorrow.
Then I'm going to get another large unit of Hussars done, ive been putting off doing them because to be honest they aren't the easiest of figures to paint, but are really worth the effort.

Next in the queue is infantry regiment 51, Splenyi, a large Hungarian regiment, but with only 2 Battalions, which im going to attach to the Advance Guard Division.

Still lots to do, including landwehr regiments, lots of artillery, and a heavy cavalry brigade!

The Austrian army can be seen in more detail here - Austrian 1809 Page

Cheers,
Steve

Bolt Action SOVIETS

Now then,

I have rebased some of my old flames of war soviet army, the plan being to use them with Bolt Action to take on the German forces on the Eastern front.

WARNING - I painted these up about 12 years ago, and you can tell I mass produced hundreds of them! So I apologise for the sloppy paint jobs...... I did consider (for about a nanosecond) repainting them completely...Life is too short.

Anyway, here they are:

The Soviet commander, accompanied by a kommissar, radio op and standard bearer (armed with an SMG).

The miniatures are a mix of battlefront, peter pig and skytrex.

In bolt Action the Soviets get a free 12 man rifle squad of conscripts, the quality of quantity....

2 Rifle/LMG squads 12 men in each.

A 10 man SMG squad.

Optional stuff...

Sniper pair

Forward artillery officer flare gun at the ready!

Anti tank rifle team

Light mortar team.

Maxim MMG team

45mm Anti tank gun

The whole reinforced platoon so far, I have loads of mid war vehicles to use with them, but im planning on adding a T34/85, or maybe an IS2..?

So there we go, Bolt Action forces done (for now anyway). Next Im planning to get some scenery sorted out, and actually have a game!

Cheers for looking,
Steve

Bolt Action Update - Kubelwagon

Now then,

I have been away recently, but over the last few days i've got round to painting up my Kubelwagon for my Platoon commander (more likely the platoon sergeant!) to ride about in!

While I was away, my transfers turned up from minibits, so here's the finished Panther G and the Puma armoured car.

The transfers are the tank numbers, the German crosses I painted on myself.

Im not quite sure why they look a bit shiny in the pictures, they are not in the flesh....

Here's a family photo, the Panther really is a big beast!

The plan for March? I was going to say Soviets, but Ive done them! So im thinking I might do some scenery, and strong arm my boys into giving me a game....

Soviets tomorrow, I just need to get them all photographed. All my Bolt action stuff can be seen here - BOLT ACTION PAGE

Thanks for looking,
Steve

Battlefield Academy.

Now then,

Something a bit different today. I was on tinterweb the other day and saw a write up of this great game over on the Bleaseworld blog. Its a cool strategy game designed for the ipad, but works equally well on the PC. Really simple game that's mega addictive!

The intro screen before the missions remind me of the old commando comics from when I was a nipper! Cool.

Briefing map, again cool.

The battle itself, its almost like playing a tabletop wargame, but on the PC. 

So if like me your strapped for opponents, id give this game a try, great fun, and pretty cheap too.

Steve 

Panther G (late war)

Now then,

This week has been really busy for me at work, not to mention my normal laptop has had a bit of a meltdown and is away being sorted out. I'm using my new laptop, which unfortunately doesn't have the same software on it, so the pictures probably wont look great......

Anyway, the Panther tank is probably the coolest looking tank of WW2, not to mention being arguably the best tank of the war.  I've got myself a battlefront 15mm model.

Heres a few different colour schemes:

As with all German vehicles there seems to be alot of variation in colour schemes, I have based mine on the one to the left, but with slightly different shades of green and brown.

I think ill get away with it!

The problem with tanks in museums is that they probably get repainted every now and then, and were probably damaged and repainted when they first arrived, so im thinking there's a good chance the colours on them might not be 100% accurate anyway....














Heres mine ( minus transfers.... in the post somewhere!)

I was tempted to start putting dots all over it, but resisted, and im pretty happy with how it turned out. Ill have an update as soon as my transfers turn up, ill be putting them on the PUMA as well.

Next on the painting table will be the Soviet hordes.

Cheers for looking,
Steve