Bavarians Coming My Way!

While painting did not get much press in March as gaming and other topics came to the fore, the painting desk was not idle.  Actually, a number of painted figures are queueing up at the light box for their turn in front of the camera.

First out of the box sees a return to the fledgling FPW project.  At year-end, enough Prussians were painted to field a Prussian Infantry Division.  Well, almost.  The division lacked its cavalry complement and leaders.  Prussian cavalry and generals were the first purchases of 2025.  Hopefully, they will work into the painting queue soon.

Until then, the first of several planned Bavarian infantry regiments marches out from the painting desk.  When the Prussians were purchased years ago, Bavarians and other Prussian allies were really an afterthought.  Given that, only enough Bavarians were purchased to field one, 48-figure infantry regiment.  Artillery made it into that order, though.  More Bavarians will be needed, for sure.

Off the painting desk today is the Bavarian 1st Infantry Regiment.  These three, 16-figure battalions are all from Lancashire Games.  Great looking figures and a pleasure to paint.  I look forward to painting more of these fine figures.

What else is on the painting desk?  Perhaps it may be no surprise with the recent work and attention to WotR but two bodies of 28mm Perry Foot Knights are seeing work.  First, though, two units of Biblical foot are finishing up.  Still awaiting their turn at the photo booth are a number of SYW/WAS 15mm regiments of cavalry.

Year-End Prussians

Back in midsummer, I set out an intermediate goal to complete one Prussian infantry division for a planned expansion of the Franco-Austrian War project to include Prussians for the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian Wars before year-end.  Without any mounted figures in The Lead Pile, my goal was really to only field the infantry and artillery components of a division.

With a few days remaining, I can claim that this mission is accomplished.  The foot components of the division consist of 208 infantry and four batteries with 16 crew.  A good start to this expansion.

Out from the painting desk today are two units to complete this division for a total of another 64 figures.  The first unit is 93 IR of three, 16 figure battalions.

The second unit is one, 16 figure battalion for the 4th Jaegers.

All figures are 15mm Lancashire Games.

Remaining on the gaming table is the Agnadello scenario.  With a game scheduled for Monday, the table needs to be reset and readied for battle.  The photo below shows an overview shot of the game room prior to last week's Agnadello game.  While the game, itself, takes up a little over half of the twelve-foot table, the remainder of the table space is consumed by all manner of gaming paraphernalia.

The back half of the table could use a good clear off.  Notice my painting desk in the left rear, some of my collections stacked in boxes in the right rear (many more stacked under the table), and the large monitor positioned at the end of the table for keeping an eye on the two webcam views.

Looking forward to Monday's game in which I try my hand at leading the French to victory. 

FPW Prussian Artillery

While November ticked over with 108 total painted figures for an assortment of projects, midway through December sees that good progress continuing. That continued progress includes working toward a year-end goal of fielding a FPW Prussian infantry division.  With three of the four required infantry regiments completed earlier, I added in the four divisional batteries to break up the painting of countless Prussian infantry.

So, out from the desk today are four Prussian batteries.  Artillerymen are from Lancashire Games and the guns are Freikorps 15s.  Left to paint and muster out are a battalion of Jaegers and the fourth infantry regiment.  Since there are no mounted troops yet in The Lead Pile, attached cavalry and command will have to come later.  Hopefully some of the required mounted arm will be in-house in early 2025.  Still need to decide on which figures to use for the mounted contingents and then place an order.  Right now, Old Glory cavalry from 19th Century Miniatures seems the most likely source. 

Although temperatures have been hovering near freezing for an extended period, new snow this morning gave way to warming to just above freezing.  With a narrow window of above freezing temperatures and daylight, several batches of completed figures were given a spray coat of matte varnish.  Next, those figures will move on to basing.  A quick count shows 81 figures in this latest batch and December is not half over.  I expect to see a slow down as the holidays approach.

Work begins on the next installment of the Great Wargaming Survey analysis.  I often try to set aside part of Friday for this study and yesterday was no different.  What is under investigation?  Several of the new questions in the 2024 survey asked about boardgaming, computer gaming, and the extent to which those two different modes of wargaming fit in with miniatures gaming.  Respondents were asked if they participate in boardgaming or computer gaming and the relative mix between figure gaming and the other two.  Hopefully, something interesting drops out from this analysis. 

Stay tuned.  For now, back to the painting desk.

Prussian Infantry On The March

With two games on last week's schedule, painting time was at a minimum.  Given that situation, seeing 48 figures readying themselves to march out from the painting desk by week's end was a welcome sight.  Work on these fellows has consumed about ten days at the painting desk.  

Mustering out today are 48 Prussian infantry for the fledgling 15mm FPW expansion to the 1859 project.  The 48 figures are distributed across three, 16-figure battalions and make up the 27th IR.  Figures are Lancashire Games.  With the 27th IR on the roster, three regiments of Schwartzhoff's 7th DIV are in place.  One more infantry regiment to field and the line infantry contingents of my first Prussian division will be in place.  

The 27th IR is composed of the marching figures as opposed to the advancing pose of the prior two regiments.  To my eye, the marching pose is not as well-proportioned as the advancing pose and seems a little awkward.  From here forward, I will stick to the advancing pose which are excellent.

What else is in work?  Well, SYW British cavalry are on the workbench as are another 48 figures for another FPW Prussian IR.  Once I work my way through those figures, more Sumerians are likely to hit the painting desk next.  Having played two games last week, two battle reports are waiting their turn at the chroniclers.  Preliminary data wrangling and recoding for the Great Wargaming Survey results are in process too.  Seeing a significant drop in response in the 2024 survey, a likely and reasonable first topic will be to explore any implications on the reliability of data.  Oh, I would also enjoy weighing in with my thoughts on a recent topic from the Georgetown Wargaming Society's series of lectures.

These should keep me busy.

Another Prussian Regiment on the March

While I have a game on deck for tomorrow in a refight of Shiloh, it seems that the play/paint balance has tipped in favor of "paint" for now.  Nothing wrong with this little redirect but it does seem odd not having more than one game per week.  In tomorrow's Tuesday Shiloh battle, a quartet takes to the field for a rematch (see Shiloh and the Attack on Sherman).  Players reprise their roles as in the first game.  Commands may swap but Mark and Tony command the Federals while David and Chris command the Confederates.  Should be fun!

Anyway, back to today's offering from the painting desk.

Today sees the second Prussian regiment mustering out from my fledgling expansion of the Franco-Austrian War project to include the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian conflicts.  These 48 figures, in three battalions, march out as the 66th IR.  Figures are all 15mm Lancashire Games.  Nice figures!  The utilitarian uniforms make these figures easy to paint.  It is a good thing that they are easy to paint because a Prussian division requires four such regiments.  Expect more Prussians parading out before year-end. 

I continue to lag behind on battle reporting with one Shiloh battle yet to chronicle.  Since Reject Richard (Battle of Shiloh) and Reject Lee (Remote Wargaming) have both given their excellent perspectives on the battle, I suppose there has been no urgency or necessity to tap out my account of events.  I ought to remedy that oversight especially since the Rejects will reconvene for a rematch of this battle next week.

With Sunday seeing the probable end to 70F degree weather for the season, I took a long ride to enjoy the warm of the sun on my back.  Today, it is raining and I return to the indoor trainer.  For now, one last look at Upper Spokane Falls in the sun.

A Step into FPW

What if the armies used in the 15mm 1859 Franco-Austrian War project could be used for two additional wars with only the addition of Prussians and their allies?  Seems like a reasonable move in the direction of creating economies of force and getting more bang for the buck.  This decision makes even more sense if one already has many of the figures lingering and taking up space in The Lead Pile.  No new figures need to be purchased and no increase in the size of The Lead Pile.  Well, who could resist this temptation?  Not I!   

Prussian IR#26

While fielding a Prussian Army in a tabletop battle is still a faint, far away dream, the wheels of progress have been set into motion.  The first green shoots of the 1866/1870 expansion (no, not a new project!) appear.

Given the organization of the 1859 armies, the Prussian Army will field a Corps of two divisions, each having 12 infantry battalions in four regiments, four artillery batteries, and one cavalry regiment.  In addition to these, the Corps will field six more artillery batteries and a regiment of jaegers.  Gosh, this is a lot of artillery!

With current figure ratios, a Prussian infantry battalion (one stand) will muster 16 figures as seen in the photos above.  Across twelve such battalions, that totals a 192 infantry per division.  This is a lot of infantry too!  My immediate year-end goal is to see if I can produce one Prussian division before the calendar ticks over to 2025.  Possible?  Perhaps but I need to be a bit more focused than as of late.

On the gaming front, the Confederate attack on Sherman at Shiloh Church saw a second outing on Friday.  The fight produced a different result (and in much less time!) from the first game but another hotly contested action developed.  A third trial is on deck for Monday when four of The Rejects join in to try their hands at this scenario.  Those fellas opted for limited intel briefings so none of the players really know what lies ahead with certainty.  That reminds me.  I need to reset the table before tomorrow.  Hopefully, both battles will eventually see a write up in the battle chronicles.  Still, plenty to explore in this scenario so expect to see even more games at Shiloh.

A New Project and a Game

Given that June saw good production at the painting desk with nearly 150 figures crossing over to the "Painted" side of the ledger, July has been a letdown.  With games, planning for games, research, scenario development and summertime activities, painting production took a precipice drop in July.  I did manage to complete one, three battalion regiment of Prussian infantry, though, and I started a new project.

Well, "New" in the sense that I have finally overcome the inertia of expanding my 1859 project to bring in Prussians for the 1870 conflict.  These 48 figures represent the first of hopefully a serious attempt at fielding a small Prussian Army for the FPW.  The figures have been in The Lead Pile for years.  Time to do something productive with them.  The problem is that I have not felt much like painting of late.  I keep getting distracted by other calls for attention. 

Anyway, these figures are 15mm Lancashire Games.  Great figures that paint up quickly when I sit down at the painting desk for a meaningful painting session.  The regiment still needs to collect its flags.  Perhaps I can find some suitable flags on the internet?  In July, those meaningful painting sessions were few and far between.  With luck, August will see a pick-up in productivity.  At least this is a start to a Prussian Army!

Cheriton Battlefield
Photo courtesy Gridbased Wargaming

On the gaming front, I joined Matt on Sunday to resurrect our AWI campaign.  A nail biting and unexpected finish.  I am sure Matt will provide an accurate chronicle of the action at Fort Anne.  The first game in Peter and my home-and-away series of Battle of Cheriton replays is on deck for later this week.  Peter is hosting (see Remote Game Preparation) the first round and then I will host the second.  Both games will be played remotely using different scenarios and different rules.  We completed a similar exercise before with Lake Trasimene.  It was great fun and we both learned a lot about the battle in these refights.  I wonder what insights might come out of our Cheriton refights?  Research for my game is still in progress.  Battle layout nears completion.  I am sure I will pick up some useful tips after having played Peter’s interpretation of Cheriton.

A Project Expansion?

Hard to believe that almost one year has passed since any new units for the 15mm 1859 project have crossed the painting desk.  I sensed a long time had elapsed since the last work on the project.  A quick look at the Painting Log confirmed that June 2020 was the last addition.  My, how time flies.

Off the painting desk today is a dozen, 15mm French dragoons from Old Glory 15s.  Since the French army did not field any dragoons during the 1859 campaign outside of the Guard, what am I doing fielding French dragoons?  Well, perhaps, I am planning to expand the scope of the 1859 campaign to cover 1870?  Yes, that seems a reasonable assumption.  While I would enjoy tackling the FPW allowing my 1859 French to perform double duty, it may be a very long time before I begin fielding Prussians.   

Sticking to the 1859 project, Old Glory 15s (19th Century Miniatures) recently announced additions to their 1859 Sardinian (Italian) range.  Added into the range are Bersaglieri, heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and artillery.  While I likely have enough of these troops already in-house to complete the Sardinian OB for 1859, I ought to double check my rosters to confirm.   

Since more than one month has passed from my last Great Wargaming Survey analysis, it may be time to dig into the data in search of another topic.  A look at hobby spending may be a topic of interest or curiosity for more than a few.  Of course, fistfuls of battle reports from recent games are waiting to be created as well as more regular sessions at the painting desk. 

By the way, blogger continues to act up from the manner in which it used to operate.  Today, the Featured Post can only fetch postings from within the last 50 posts rather than my old, five year lookback.  No more five year lookback until blogger decides to reinstate the old functionality.  Blogger has been a bit unstable over the last couple of weeks.  Earlier in the week, I had to create a work-around to insert photos from my computer.  At least that has been resolved.     

Prussians for the APW/FPW?

In one on my more recent resupplies from Lancashire Games, a battle pack of Prussian infantry from the mid-19th Century ranges found its way into the shopping cart.  Ordered was the advancing pack as a sample of the Prussian figures.  With 60 rank and file figures per Battle Pack, several commands set were added into the cart as well.  Enough figures to field three or four infantry battalions.  When the package arrived, close inspection revealed excellent sculpting on these Prussians.   

Am I branching out from the 1859 conflict to creep into the Austro-Prussian or Franco-Prussians wars?  Perhaps. Expansion into the other two conflicts would likely remain in the future since the 1859 project still has room to grow and many other projects vie for my painting time.  When I do expand, the Austrians, Italians, and French can all do double duty in another theater.  Economy!

The Prussians are a joy to paint.  Simple uniforms that paint very quickly.  I imagine being able to field a brigade of Germans quite rapidly for a small demonstration game.  These sixteen foot soldiers mustered off the painting desk in rapid fashion.  Then, Prussians were always good at quick mobilization.  So rapidly mustered, they had no time to obtain their flag.  Search is on for a suitable flag. 

Once more progress is made on the 1859 front, thoughts will certainly return to fielding more Prussians.