A Small Force of Austrians For Sharp Practice

With the aim of playing a game with a close friend of mine I painted up some Napoleonic Austrians for Sharp Practice.  In addition to what I had already painted, I added 4 more Line Infantry, 2 NCOs, 1 Officer, 6 Skirmishing Jaegers and an Artillery Piece.  Of note the Artillery Piece was of poor casting quality from Perry Miniatures which is usually excellent.  I didnt put too much effort into the gun as a result.  All my Austrians are from Perry.  The plastics are brilliant.

I am most pleased with this little force and SP2 is a brilliant game! I have included some bonus pictures of our 2 games.

Centre Company Of Coldstream Guards Complete

If only I could stick to one project, but alas I can't.  I really like variety to keep me engaged in the hobby and painting some Waterloo British Coldstream Guards gives me that variety that I crave.

I have now painted up 6 of these dashing chaps and I will refer to them as a company if going off the Warhammer Waterloo Ruleset.  Due to my basing system I use, the size of the Company can easily change and I can make it 4 men for example.

Anyways I certainly aim to get more of these chaps painted up soon.  If you recall I painted my test figure a few weeks ago and I added these 5 lads as my final entry for the Analogue Hobbies Annual Painting Challenge.  I will do a separate debrief post on my first ever Analogue Hobbies painting challenge.

28mm British Line Infantry by Perry Miniatures

Coldstream Guards at the Battle of Waterloo

I can easily downsize a Company of troops to 4 models

The latest 5 additions

My Waterloo - Picking the scale and doing it in 28mm

Undoubtedly one of the most popular eras for War Gaming is The Battle of Waterloo.  It was one of the most famous battles of all time and even non gamer types have heard of it.  Even here in Australia we have pubs, streets and even suburbs named after the famous battle... so I'm doing it!

Some Complementary Music if you are so brave...

Scale

Well wasn't this a contention for debate for myself!  It came down to two choices although I did explore more!  18mm by AB Figures and Campaign Game Miniatures or 28mm with a huge choice of figures.  For once I think I can say 28mm is the winner for scale when it comes to Napoleonic gaming (danger zone for saying that, ducks for cover!) and in particular Waterloo thanks to the Perry Miniatures range, Victrix and Warlord Games, obviously there are a lot more however this choice is always up for debate!

18mm AB Figures - Lovely

18mm CGM KGL/British Infantry Retrieved from their Website

Now these chaps look all well and good but... they are so small and I love details in my figures which these chaps have.  I really wanted the mass look and to save space so this really put me at a cross roads as I wanted them however I know some guys in my gaming group that do Waterloo and Napoleonics in general in 28mm! Essentially no one I know has Napoleonics in 18mm/15mm let alone Waterloo.

As previously mentioned there are some great ranges in 28mm and I am a massive fan of Perry and Warlord so the decision was made for me and now I am going to commit to it, 28mm it is.

Luckily Warlord Games sent me an awesome deal for every 50 quid I spent I get a free Black Powder box set.  As I had been eyeing off La Haye Sainte Collectors edition, well this happened!!!

Lots and lots and lots and lots... of figures! Tremendous value!

Wow! That is going to keep me busy.  A whole play set and 6 yes 6 boxes for free! :)  I have heard mixed reviews about Victrix figures however some of the poses and interchangeability with the Perry Plastics was to good to pass up on so I got a horde of them incoming and you can't beat Victrix for value. I do like some variety on the table and I have really warmed to the Warlord Figures too.  After assembling some of the Polish Vistula Legion they go together quickly and are simple to paint and I expect this too with their British Line Infantry.

I want to represent Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte on the table.  I have upgraded the gaming facilities at LHP HQ to an 8 x 6 table with the approval of Mrs LHP.  I will not be playing the entire battle obviously, just lots of the engagements that happened on the day.  I am not too fused about capturing every single little detail etc etc and dont want long dragged out games that take whole days to complete so I figured minor engagements in 28mm is the best way for me to set out what I want to achieve.

Rules

I really want to play Warhammer Historical Waterloo after recently aquiring the book and reading it cover to cover.  My good friend and rival Murray also just picked this up! -  not to mention he also go the La Haye Sainte Collectors set :) 

I will not be limiting myself to this set of rules, I'm keen to try Blackpowder and some Sharp Practice 2.  I wouldn't even mind getting some solo play in at some stage.

Test Figure

As mentioned I want to play out some Hougoumont.  The Coldstream Guards were there and so I thought I would be different and paint one of them up first.  My Perry's will be representing these chaps as the defence of Hougoumont really suits their poses.  Again another decision for 28mm is they just look so damn good.  

28mm British Line Infantry - Perry Miniatures

Coldstream Guards - Battle of Waterloo

This is going to be a project that is going to take years! Yes years! I can do it at my own pace and slowly add to it... and yes I will be painting some French (I thought I would never say that).

Stay tuned...

Arthur would most certainly challenge me to a duel if he saw this

Test Figure - Napoleonic Austrians

I couldn't wait to get started on Napoleonics and decided to go with my Austrian Forces.  I chose the 4th Austrian Infantry Regiment, Hoch und Deutschmeister from Lower Austria.  Of note Austrian regiments were named after their Colonel.

I chose this regiment as the blue uniform trim looks great and the Perry Miniatures Box Set comes with a flag for them.  I haven't done much research into the period however am learning each time I commit to the hobby.

It was fun to paint and I shall be doing lots of batch painting to get these on the table.  I wanted to achieve a nice table top standard and didn't want to invest too much time.  I think I will paint 4-6 models at a time.  Anything more than that and I get bored.  If I generate some interest I will post a how to guide.

Was quite the challenge photographing a predominantly white figure

All complete and ready for the photo booth

WIP

WIP

The other Austria

DAK Panzer II Zug

I have finally painted my Panzer II Zug for the 8th Panzer Regiment, 15th Panzer Division, Deutches Afrikakorps.

The models used are from Blitzkrieg and they are Panzer II Ausf F for the circular hatches however the base of the tank is no different to Blitzkrieg's Ausf C model.  The crew are from Perry Miniatures.

The 15th Panzer Division tank companies all displayed their company number on the side of the turret.  I decided to make these guys from 1st Company, 8 Panzer Regiment, 15th Panzer Division.  The decals are from Company B and Rubicon.

Blitzkrieg Miniatures Panzer 2 Ausf F modelled as an Ausf A-C

Perry Miniatures Panzer Crew

I particularly like this Tank Commander

Rubicon Decals are nice but leave a slight outline.  The " is from Company B

A commanding presence

Some damage to the side railing - Not intentional but looks good

Rear View

Tank Commander has swagger

The Panzer II Zug

A nice angle showing the Panzers