Saka Light Cavalry

Saka Light Cavalry

Tuesday 30 September 2014

French Review and Give Away

Whilst taking photo's of my latest French I thought I should do a review of the whole lot. I started painting these about two and a half to three years ago. Consider that I have also been painting up a rather large Prussian army at the same time as well as 15 and 28mm figures as well. Ian has been a very busy boy indeed.

I have gone extra large to try and get the impact across. Hope it works LOL. Each base is 60x60mm for the infantry and holds 28 figures so that's 2492 infantry 120 gun crews to 40 guns, 12 limbers, over 300 cavalry, around 60 command figures. That's a fair few and in unpainted lead around £150 just for the infantry. I don't think I want to go further with that chain of thought.

Unfortunately I changed basing style around a year into the project. One day I may get round to rebasing but that is going to be one horrid job so it is going to be one for a later date. Here we have the Neapolitan and Italian infantry for Spain on the left with lots of cavalry in the centre. Many of these again have no place at Waterloo being Hussars and Chasseurs. These will see action soon enough but it won't be Waterloo. My gun park got a real shot in the arm when I received my first Secret Santa gift and I have reaped the benefit. I still have more artillery I have bought since then but it was great fun to paint up tat gift and now they sit in the centre of the field.

The guts of the army, 75 Battalions of infantry look like this! Well actually they look almost double this number as they take up a lot of space!

Another shot of the Allied troops very colourful whilst the Italian troops were as good as the French the Neapolitan battalions were left wanting but at least they made good lucking corpses. The French command are to the left, 13 bases all together and I have another 4 bases worth part painted and lots more as virgin lead. So it's quite possible I will never need to buy a command pack ever again.

The vast majority of the cavalry is Baccus but a sprinkling of Adler is included. I have many more figures that will be added to the French and there allies in the coming years and again the vast majority is Baccus though a lot of the Hussars will be of the old castings. I have about 20 odd battalions worth of infantry and the same again of cavalry regiments so apart from the Guard I don't see the need to buy anything but the new releases when they come available for some time to come. I also have a Polish Brigade pack to paint up in the future not to mention the 30+ Prussian battalions at least 8 guns and 15+ regiments of cavalry and command about half of these are needed for the Waterloo game. Seems that I have plenty to keep me going, but will that stop me?

So here it is at last the give away. Feel free to join in, up for grabs is two lots of £20 gift vouchers for any Baccus figures that you want, one of which has been donated by Peter at Baccus and a group of Napoleonic buildings from Leven. All to celebrate the finishing of the French.

All you need to do is leave a comment below and I will pull out the winners from my Adrian Helmet in a weeks time. All I ask is that you join in only if you will want to paint up your prize at some point in the not toooooooo distant future. Oh it would be nice but not required to post about the give away and no need to be a follower, just leave a comment

71 comments:

  1. That looks an awesome collection Ian..I will pass on the giveaway though.. The old eyes I do t think are up to doing them justice! Great prizes by the way.

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  2. Wow, absolutely stunning!
    What a mass of troops.

    You can count me in for the giveaway, as I'm currently preparing a french 6mm Army myself .

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  3. Absolutely stunning work, sir!
    I advertised the giveaway on my blog:
    http://getitpainted.blogspot.se/2014/09/no-wip-today-lighting-was-to-gray.html
    And I'd like to enter, but as I don't play Nap, I'll be going for ACW. Already have a few ACW from Baccus, this could be a nice way of getting them some support.

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    1. Thanks Thomas,

      You are in the draw, ACW is a fine use of the £20. I sometimes paint up some Union guys to sell for extra funds

      Ian

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  4. Ooooh, a give-away, count me in!

    To be fair I will be buying houses from Baccus if I win, so if that disqualies my feel free to give me the boot :-)

    I vow, however, to paint and review them on my blog within six months if I win.

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    1. "within six months"
      I fear, Baldrick, that you will soon be eating those badly chosen words.

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    2. Don't worry if it Baccus sell it, you can buy it, even the T-Shirts (he has a lot of small ones)

      Ian

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    3. Oh yeah, and the Leven buildings would also work, and I make the same vow for those.

      Oh, and fan-tas-tic work on the miniatures. Most impressive...

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  5. That's seriously impressive work!

    Don't include me in the giveaway, but I'll publicise it...

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  6. Darn that's a whopping huge amount of Frenchies. Great work! Those large bases look great with room for scenery too.

    And like Thomas I'd skip Napoleonics with the Baccus vouchers. However my Union troops are in the need of reinforcements.

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  7. Very impressive. Hope we will see them soon on the battlefield.

    Great Job!

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  8. Wow, that is a lot of painting a lot...

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  9. Blimey, that's an impressive sight. Please put me down for the comp. I could do with some Bavarians for my ongoing Franco-Prussian project.

    Regards,
    Matt

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  10. Wow! Visually stunning! Quite a nice collection you have there, Ian.

    Please enter me into your contest. If Baccus ancients are included in the comp. then I could use reinforcements and, yes, they will get painted!

    Jon

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    1. I plan on buying some pike at the weekend to base up for FoG, if they look good I might paint up an army sometime in the future

      Ian

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  11. Excellent stuff!

    Those extra large photo's really do help illustrate the mass effect of the various formations.
    Roy

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  12. That's a hell of an impressive job!

    I've given the comp a plug, but don't put my name in the hat, thanks. I'm using a guide dog to cope with 28's these days.

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  13. That is a serious army of French Nappies Ian. I bet at times you wished you'd never started this project.

    Count me in for the giveaway

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    1. Just spotted that the Leven prize is for Napoleonic buildings, so just put my name in for the Baccus prizes please.

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    2. If you win the Leven part of the giveaway you would get a prize to the value of the buildings so you can be entered in all three and still benefit

      Ian

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    3. Ooh, now that sounds like an offer I can't refuse. Put me in for the Leven as well then :)

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  14. And of course what about your erstwhile opponent...how many has Lee done!

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    1. Lee has all the British and Allies all flagged and based.

      He also has all the Saxon's, Bavarian's, and Russians finished. The Austrians still need to be based and flagged!!!!

      I can forgive him as he is collecting 30 more battalions of French on Saturday and other than the Guard his French will be almost all finished.

      I know we will be ready for next year and that is a major thumbs up for both of us

      Ian

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  15. Amazing - a most impressive sight!

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  16. Magnificant sight Puts my efforts to shame

    Please include me in the give away

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  17. Holy pete that's a ton of figs ;) Looks fantastic. I would love to get in on the give-away, might get me to paint up some towns for the 7YW french.

    FMB

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  18. Epic work and sight!

    I'll pass on your wonderful drawing as its not a scale I paint.

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  19. Great looking army, count me in for the draw!

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  20. Great work Ian very very impressive. Massive congratulations from the perfect six forum. What's next?

    Richard

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  21. This is what I love about this scale. The army looks epic in its sweep, and, frankly, like an army. Sign me up for your contests, as I have so very many poles left to paint....

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  22. Stupendous work, and it really shows the utility of 6mm.

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  23. The Nappies look the biz!! Nice one Ian!! Count me in for the giveaway please!

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  24. That is seriously impressive Ian and you have the feel of a huge army there

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  25. Massive hat doffing sir!!
    Considering it took ultimately seven of us to paint 3,800 figures for Trebia this is an EPIC effort on your part for half of one army.
    Sadly one of our number passed away a fortnight ago from cancer, so we are already forming plans about a Memorial game at one of the shows next year. Currently thinking about doing WoR which was a favoured period of his. Not that we will be aiming for the 28,000 figures Ruarigh did for Towton.
    Having seen these I'm already looking forward to the JoS next year.
    Have fun with the Prussians, and may well catch up with you at Derby.

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    1. Sorry to hear about your friend Mike,

      You will catch me at Derby, I think Junior will want to bring some of his work to show you ;-)

      Ian

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  26. That is a beautiful sight!!!
    No need to enter me in the draw as I have enough 18mm lead of my own to paint. Just wanted to drop buy and say WOW!!!

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  27. Outstanding! It has been great watching these armies grow.

    No entry for me, please. I just hear to look.

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  28. Interesting, I thought I had posted here. Congrats on the the miniatures. They are beautiful. I would like in.

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  29. Stunning! This scale really brings out the massed battalions. Great work.

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  30. I wouldn't bother rebasing the earlier ones - they're close enough, and when you have that many bases, there's going to be some variety in the terrain they're fighting in anyway. They look stunning en masse too! Well done!

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  31. Stunning.
    What a haul Ian.
    They look superb.
    I'm a the worlds on Sat , will have to link up for a cuppa Ian

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    1. You bet, will look out for you, I should be easy to spot as I will have the man with me. He will bring the figure you gave him to show off

      Ian

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  32. Very, very impressive looking army. Massed like that looks superb.

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  33. looking at your pictures I cant help but wonder why 6mm is the "poor cousin" of the wargaming world. I have been trying to convert my friends to this scale but very few of them seem interested so I have decided to go the whole hog and just buy millions of figures myself and let whoever wants to play join in. Fantastic work.

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    1. Preaching to the converted, but there is a real inertia and fear about the smaller scales. People convinve themselves they cant paint them before they have even tried, and if they do they try to paint each figure as they would a 28mm Golden Daemon entry. Hence I run a number of 6mm paining demos at a number of local shows. Ian being one of many 'victims' I have had the pleasure of painting with.

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    2. I especially like the fact that people who paint eyes on 28mm figures think they can't do faces on 6mm! Keep spreading the word, Mike and Mark.
      We need more people to embrace the smaller scales.

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    3. Mike's painting clinic literally turned my painting style and speed around. I now paint faster AND better thanks to the session I spent with Mike and Ian.

      Ian

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  36. Can't believe my eyes, that's a dream!

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  37. Bloody Hell! That is absolutely marvellous. Simply sublime!

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  38. That is most impressive.
    Come onn prize draw, daddy needs a new sparabara!

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  39. Thanks to everyone for the comments, can't reply to them all as I am sure those who click notify me won't want 50+ notifications.

    The prize draw is getting a lot of interest and will remain open for the two weeks so plenty of time to get your name in the hat.

    Ian

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  40. Lovely work! I now have the urge to sort out a big parade of my own 6mm Napoleonics (far less good-looking thought!).

    Count me in for the draw, I can always find something to tempt me in the Baccus range.

    John

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  41. Well done, that's a lot of hard painting work you have done. This masseffect in that Quality is only possible in 6mm. It's the only scale I'm doing, it's the best for me. So please take me in your giveaway, there is a lot very good 6mm stuff in Peter's shop that would be great to paint!!

    Best wishes from Germany,

    Michael Mauser

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  42. An amazing collection indeed. Count me in the draw as well please (last minute entry 'n' all). I'd love to get 'up close and personal' with some Baccus stuff, even if it was just painting some figures for display.

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    1. Your in and still a week to go so not last minute

      Ian

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  43. Incredible work! 2492 infantry for £150 isn't that bad. Imagine buying those numbers in 28mm! :-D

    Count me in for the giveaway!

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    1. I have a friend who has bought them in 28 and I shudder to think

      Ian

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  44. Wow. Inspiring stuff. I've been toying with the idea of getting into 6mm Napoleonic using Volley and Bayonet since plating the rules at a show in the States. You're correction has convinced me!

    Count me in for the giveaway (if it's not too late!)

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    1. Have played V&B and it worked well though did not have a feel of Naps as such

      Not too late so your in

      Ian

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  45. Wow, this is impressive! I just started painting my Polish/French troops, and I am counting for two years also to finish...

    Count me in if it's not too late....

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    1. Not too late, always good to be at the start of a project.

      I plan on doing the Polish next year,

      Ian

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  46. Have you done the draw yet? I don't recall seeing you post the winners.

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  47. No it's a bit late, will give the results on Monday. Lee is popping over later so will get him to pick out the winners

    Ian

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