Saturday, 11 April 2020

Lockdown project - 18mm DBN.

I have been pondering this idea for quite some time and with the enforced lockdown likely to go on for several more weeks I decided I needed something to keep me focused and busy. With the Baccus project temporarily stalled until my order arrives, (they are still working on orders but with just the one casting machine operating), and having reached the conclusion that for the foreseeable at least the 40mm's will remain as display figures once I can find a suitable unit, I took the plunge and re invested the proceeds from painting Old Johns 20mm figures into Blue Moon 18mm's. They will be painted and based for DBN so no large units but lots of variety to paint. Like many others at the moment my hobby is really helping me to cope with the extraordinary circumstances and so I'm setting myself a painting challenge of producing two 500 point Napoleonic Peninsular armies  over the next 3 weeks! This equates to around 12 elements per side (to begin with), 3 to 4 cavalry figures, 10 infantry figures and individual guns with 3 or 4 crew (horse or foot). DBN standard bases are actually 40mm wide by 30mm deep but because I could not fit 4 BM heavy cavalry on the 40mm frontage I increased frontage to 50mm and added +5mm to the depth for everything. The stated 8 infantry per base looked a bit lost on 50mm frontage so I'm going with 10 per base which just looks a bit better to my eyes.

In DBN bases represent brigades not battalions and several bases can be formed into 'formations' which move and fight together offering mutual support, so while a 10 figure infantry base may not look impressive on the tabletop a formation of 5 such bases does have considerable visual impact. At 500 points per side the game is designed to be played on a board just 600mm square, which fits in nicely with my current interest in small space wargaming which is also the inspiration for my 6mm WSS project.

So, I'm off to a good start with 2 British heavy cavalry elements and 2 light cavalry elements and yesterday I painted a Highland infantry element, start to finish over about three sessions. Today I have two French light cavalry elements on the go (3 per base) and at this point (almost 4pm) I only have the horses to paint later. I have still had time for a beer in the garden with my youngest daughters boyfriend Liam ( both are here in lockdown with us!) and a walk with the dog, I'm aiming for a base of troops per day for the next 3 weeks or until I complete 24 bases. I don't generally paint in the evenings.

When the Baccus order arrives I will probably put it aside until I reach my target with this and the 40mm Spanish infantry have also been pushed back for later when I will complete the battalion. This lot aside I have another box of figures due from Old John and will work these alongside the 18mm's a few each week. I know this target based painting does not work for everyone, but for me I find the discipline helps me to keep focused on getting through the days until life returns to some semblance of normality.

I also received a little gift package of metal dollies from Graham Cummings today as I had been playing around with green stuff and asked him where I cold buy some, many thanks Graham, I was really not expecting that lot. I just want to try my hand at basic sculpting to produce some traditional toy soldier style masters, it's something I have long wanted to try and with so much time on my hands why not.

So the race is on, 24 elements for DBN by the end of April. The trusty old painting desk is back up and running again in the lounge, (it was just far too busy and noisy in the kitchen), paints and figures are well stocked up so it's all systems go!

Take care and stay safe all.




Thanks to Graham.


Vallejo spares and extras.
 
Ton's of Blue Moon 18mm's!

My perfect set up, what more could I need?



22 comments:

  1. This will be a marvellous job when done and your pace of work should really break it early (the Blue Moon are lovely). I recall you liking DBN and had thought about using the 40mm's with those rules, so it will be interesting to see how a 15mm DBN project develops.

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    1. Thanks Norm. I bought the DBN rules I think over a year ago and they were so easy to read and understand. I also watched all of the battle videos, the 500 point game several times, so already feel that I have a reasonable grasp. I have had to face the reality of the 40mm situation, this house does not have the space of the house in Spain but they do make nice display figures so down to 18mm it is. I'm told that there is also a Marlburian version of the rules, which could work for me too.

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  2. Ye gods man - you are going to be busy!

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    1. JBM, I need to keep busy or I will go - as my wife calls it - Nutty Bonkers!

      Hope things are OK for you?

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  3. I have a bunch of old 15mm Napoleonics and I am (very) slowly basind them on 60 by 40mm with up to 18 Infantry or 5/6 cavalry a base.

    My I intention is to use them for DBN, Blucher or Volley and Bayonet on a kitchen table.

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    1. Hi Mark,
      I like these rules where small bases of figures represent larger formations and can be played in a modest space, agree V&B are very good too.

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  4. I shall follow your little DBN adventures with interest Lee.

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    1. Hi Ray, yes, I am going small for future projects. It's the other end of the wargame spectrum to that huge table and thousands of figures that you Rejects enjoy.

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  5. looks like some great projects to keep you busy and just wait when my parcel arrives , think you'll find some interesting units there both WSS & GNW, just let me know when it gets there, look after yourself , stay safe, cheers Old John

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    1. Many thanks John, I will indeed let you know one the box arrives and look forward to a rummage through the contents as I know there will be painters delights in there :)

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  6. Steaming through at pace! Lovely work, they look great!
    Best Iain

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    1. I'm not one for DIY Iain beyond what has to be done! Painting soldiers is what I do best.

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  7. Damn - Napoleonics were my first love but I've always been put off revisiting by the complexity and numbers needed, but a Napoleon in Egypt DBN project could be the very damn thing... dammit...

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    1. Hi Steve. DBN is ideal for small armies/numbers of figures. I'll take a look through the army lists a bit later see if there is a list for that wonderfully colourful campaign.

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    2. There are - I got so enthused by the idea that I ordered a set of rules yesterday...! DG and I will do a play be email game to try them out... I'll use Fighting 15's for the figures as Blue Moon don't have those unique French uniforms from Egypt but they're classed as 18mm so there's an opportunity to use Blue Moon for other figures if I want.. basic idea at the moment is a 12 pt French army, and the same of Ottoman's to face them.. https://www.fighting15sshop.co.uk/18mm-napoleon-in-egypt-910-c.asp

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    3. Steve, I'll be really interested to follow that project, I can imagine how the armies will appear. The Fighting 15's -which are of course 18mm - are beautiful figures if costly. Because of the way the BM's are packaged I'll have a load of excess to requirement figures (I have a massive bag of BM horses, must be 100 of them gathered over time and new purchases, all types of French cavalry), so before you order BM cavalry have a word with me, you are welcome to use my leftovers if they fit the period. Actually Steve, reading that back it would probably have been cheaper to use the Fighting 15's.... I'm just loyal to Andy at OG.

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  8. Beautiful figures!

    The devil will need to look elsewhere to get work done.

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    1. The Blue Moons are great figures and cost considerably less than AB's etc - which I would say are probably the best out there in 18mm. The BM horse are particularly nicely posed. Today (Monday) is day 7 and I'm looking at ten French line infantry waiting to be undercoated!

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  9. Lee,
    Looking forward to seeing what you do with the dollies. DBN are a great set of rules, I'm fortunate to live near one of the authors and really enjoy the game. I did do a 10mm Austerlitz project but then sold the figures as I think 20mm will be suitable to my likes 😀

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    1. Hi Graham, the dollies look very small! I'm going to have a go later today. Thanks for the tip re paper clips for arms.

      I really like the activation system in DBN, a simple roll for Command Action Points forcing the commander to make decisions and the flexibility to spend CAP's on moving formations together more than just a single move distance. I enjoyed the friendly nature of the 500 point video game.

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  10. I considered using DBN when I reorganised my Napoleonic armies, but went for LFS instead. I did, and do, like the LFS rules. But I had to rewrite them to fight multi corps battles rather than single corps or division.

    I always liked the idea of being able to fight large battles, and wanted to go with one brigade equals one base.

    So I will be interested to see how you get on with DBN.

    regards

    Paul

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  11. Hello Paul,

    I'm going to stick with DBN for the future, I already feel that I have a good grasp.

    Although our lockdown is not as strict as that in Spain it has started to get to me a bit, I must confess. But it must be endured and so painting soldiers is a huge comfort and source of relaxation and focus.

    I do hope things improve for you soon, you and Jan must be itching to get back out in those beautiful mountains again.

    Take good care,

    Lee.

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