2mm C&C Napoleonics - progress.

The 2mm bug has clearly bitten me once again and I'm having a lot of fun playing around with making bases for use on the C&C game board. Getting a lot of positive feedback and comments on the FB 2mm group page which is really boosting my enthusiasm for the scale and the new project. It's great because it allows me to work on something fresh without impacting on my commission painting time, just an hour or so spent on these bases can be very productive. 

So as you can see below more new bases have sprung off the painting desk over the last few days and I am now happy with my chosen basing style. Tile grout has been used to build up around the figure bases and a lighter shade of green applied closer to the game board. This has been highlighted and far more subtle 'dirt/muddy' areas applied - the plan green was just a bit too plain for my liking.

I reckon another week or so will see enough finished bases to have a first little game! I have plenty of blocks laid in here from Irregular Miniatures along with a stock of bases, 55mm hexes and 10mm (yes 10mm!) MDF circles to make loss markers that sit nicely with the scale. I only intend to use the hexes for making woods and towns/village bases and to this end I have bought some of the lovely 2mm scale metal buildings from SmallScaleScenery (Brigade Models). Hills will be raised by using 5mm foamboard with a hill hex laid on top, I'm keen to retain the boardgame look and feel but with a few additional hexes made from MDF. The game board itself has always been a thing of beauty to my eyes and despite attempts with printed cloths etc I still prefer the board itself. I have been re reading the rulebook again and reminding myself of some of the nuances of the game, the procedure around forming squares, combined arms attacks (with supporting artillery) cavalry retire and reform, bonus attacks, cavalry breakthroughs etc.

I attempted a base of French cuirassiers and after some time spent thinking about how to make them a bit distinctive decided to try and add a few touches of silver to give an impression of armour against the blue coats. You see them below and I'm pleased with how they turned out but I should add that I'm working on a small dot colour coding system on rear of the bases in order to identify different types of units at a glance. All great fun if a little challenging in the diddiest of scales! 

Note to self - let the damn varnish dry next time before taking pics!

Commission work is ongoing alongside of course and this week I'm painting more 'Empire' Fantasy units for Simon, once again very enjoyable figures to paint. Next week I have lots more Peter Pig 15mm ECW horse for Graham along with several Matchlock 15mm command figure which I have not seen for years but are really good sculpts. More 20mm WSS French cavalry are in the pipeline for Tony and of course I always have figures here for Old John. I'm grateful for the support from these guys as my painting service has been really helpful for my mental health, the hours of concentration and focus and the results gives me a real sense of satisfaction at the end of each week when I look at the results so thank you all.

Finally, the extensive collection of the late Clive Smithers will be going up for auction from 27th May as I'm sure many are aware of but by way of spreading the word here is the catalogue link to the auction house handling the sale.

Auction of model soldiers.