3D Napoleonics (13.5mm Epic scale) and 3mm Phalanx!

OK, so that's 6 regiments of Epic cavalry and 7 battalions of infantry posted off for Tony2 and this week I'm painting another 5 x 60 figure Confederate units (4 down last one today). for Chris in NZ. Thats the last of the Rebs almost finished leaving just 240 Union infantry and 21 guns and crews to complete the commission bang on schedule. Once finished and shipped I'll be starting the first 4 Epic Pike and Shot foot regiments for Noel in Ireland having finishing his ACW Epic commission too last month, around 1200 infantry plus 12 guns and crews and additional command bases using the metal Warlord strips. I'm glad Noel wants to move onto ECW as I was quite keen to paint some to see what I could do with them! I'll then catch up with 15mm metal Peter Pig ECW's before returning to Waterloo Epic for Tony who has sent me a long list of additional French units he required over the coming few months so keeping busy and no complaints.

Allied cavalry, Dutch/Belgians and Brunswick.

Among the final  figures for the Waterloo project are these rather fine resin printed 3D British skirmishing light infantry that turned up in the post a couple of weeks back or so. I have seen numerous 3D Napoleonics but must say these are among the best in terms of match to Epic scale (13.5mm) and quality detail. The bayonets for example are very fine but quite springy and not too brittle. I think they will paint up well when I get round to them. 12 bases of 4 figures required.

For myself - with limited hobby time - I'm starting on a 3mm Macedonian DBA army (my sixth) beginning with the 6 Phalanx bases. Because these strips are cast 'side on' facing front with shield on the left arm I had considered removing and replacing the pikes with longer ones, which could be done as I did a test strip but the prospect of replacing 300 of them was too daunting so I'm settling on the 12mm cast pikes which are in all honestly about right for 3mm figures! I cut the 8 man strips in half and squeezed 48 figure on the standard 15mm x 40mm DBA base for a pleasing look. Alongside the Macedonians I'll be painting a Parthian army consisting of a couple of Cataphract bases and 10 horse archer bases. I'm also working on the  board stage by stage as and when I can.

ACW deadline approaches.

As the deadline for shipping the Epic ACW commission fast approaches the next three weeks will be totally dedicated to finishing off the last of the infantry units - final 10 regiments of 60 figures - plus the 21 artillery pieces and crews which sounds a lot but is perfectly manageable! Client Chris in NZ will base and flag everything so packing will be much easier as it's mostly the flat strips. I think the final count is close to 2800 figures and will be used in a huge refight of Gettysburg in late August. I believe I'm right in saying that this number represents only around the figures that will be involved in the battle.

Meantime I have been bashing out more Napoleonics for Tony in Portugal, this batch being mostly British Allies, another 6 cavalry regiments, 5 Brunswick infantry battalions and 2 Nassau battalions. Tony decided to go with using the Epic French for all these guys, not perfect but given the scale and sheer number of figures that will be involved on the Waterloo refight in November. they look OK. I had to build up the plumes from green stuff for the Leib battalion and the Black Hussars, fiddly but they look fairly convincing I think. Worth noting that where the strips have been snapped in half I repair all the slightly damaged arms with a tiny sausage of green stuff  before painting. Two regiments of Dutch Belgian heavy cavalry (from French Carabiniers) will complete the batch by the weekend before I move onto the ACW's.

In my limited spare time I continue to enjoy bashing out the 3mm's and as you can see from the new header image I have expanded the Greek Hoplites up to 12 elements. I will be tackling the Macedonian Phalanx next and am looking at replacing the too short pikes with longer ones! Parthians are also on the list for a future army.

Challenging times but still painting.

So, I won't lie,(as the kids say), things are a bit challenging here at the moment. We are facing a house move not entirely of our own choosing and my wife is having to spend more and more time caring for our eldest daughter who is becoming increasingly dependent upon the use of a wheelchair. This has not helped the old Dysthymia (now more commonly known as Persistent Depressive Disorder) which can make tackling even the simplest tasks a challenge. That said things are certainly not all gloom and doom by any means and life goes on. 'The sun is shining and the weather is sweet, makes you want to move your dancing feet' (Now there's a tune to life the spirits!).

If I have not replied to your messages or emails you will hopefully kind of understand why, which I think was the point of this post in the first place. Please bear with me.

Meantime I'm still painting soldiers, mainly focused on completing the two Epic commissions on schedule but from August onwards I'll be easing back somewhat. I still want to paint 15mm's and other metals but won't take on any further Epic work beyond current commitments.

For now here are a few photos of recent commission stuff (Napoleonics and ACW's) plus a few more of my own 3mm Ancients, the expanded Republican Roman army and the Spanish (CeltIberian) army for DBA. I'm now expanding the Greek army to 18 bases, mostly solid Hoplites 50 figures per base).

Cheers for now,

Lee.

Below: Dutch Belgian reinforcements for Tony's Waterloo project.

Below: Deploy the 3mm Legion!

Below: Enemies of Rome The CeltIberians - solid warbands and lots of skirmishes.

A Gallic gathering!

Not felt much like updating the blog recently but I have been painting more 3mm Celt's and must say I'm quite pleased with the mass effect. These will form the basis of several DBA armies, starting with a Gallic force comprising 8 elements of warband, 3 light chariot (inc1 General) and 1 skirmish element. As I had a pack of 60 'Celtic Warrior' strips plus others given to me by David Blair I decided to keep painting to build 16 bases. I'm now going to paint up all of the remaining Roman strips which should double up that army at least. These could also be used for The Portable Ancient Wargame and even Strength & Honour (4  elements on a 80mm  x 50mm sabot base looks quite imposing!) so very flexible.

Figures by Magister Militum, 16 bases of 40 figures so 640 Gallic Warriors.