6mm Prussian Landwehr by Adler

 With most of my painting time now used for none wargaming projects it was nice to take a step back into an old project and paint up some more Prussians for my 100 Days Prussian Army. I say 100 Days as these did not even show up at Waterloo as I have all those already painted.

As per most of my Landwehr we have Baccus skirmishers and Adler for the main body. A few of the bases also have mounted generals to add interest.

Three battalions leading the way, 4th Westphalia 1st Corp Second Brigade, only nine battalions of the Corp made a showing at Waterloo, though some cavalry and guns did. Of the infantry I only have nine reserve and three Landwehr battalions to complete the infantry as well as a regiment of cavalry and two guns then one Corp is fully finished. 

The 4th Corp just needs four cavalry regiments painting to be finished but that's because most of that Corp was at Waterloo. I have the figures to do most of the remaining units to have the lot painted up. The fact I will never need all these units for any battle remains a mute point now. Given the amount of money needed to get all the units I don't have I simply don't see the point of not doing them all.

The 3rd Elbe Landwehr regiment from the second Corp, 8th Brigade. This needs six battalions of Reserve Infantry three regiments of cavalry and four guns (2 batteries) to complete. Third Corp is the one needing the most work with 21 battalions of Reserve or Landwehr infantry six regiments of cavalry and six guns including a horse battery. These will probably be the ones finished last, well unless Lee suddenly wants to fight a battle that these were in!!!

I know it's kind of pointless painting up all these battalions when in many of the cases I can just sub a different battalion without much chance of being pulled up for using the wrong battalion based on collar or cuff being wrong but at least I can fantasise about using them all in a sweeping campaign.

I also painted up a couple more command bases. At some point I need to check how many I have so to make sure I can supply enough for any battle. Our rule system requires a fair few. Next up for this army is a couple of cavalry regiments but they are being bumped down the list as other projects need work doing on them.

Adler French ADC's

I actually finished these with the Prussians but I had started them about 3-4 years ago so way too long in the finishing.

The main reason for the slow pace has been the lack of real need for these guys. I simply have so many I have as many as I would require in any game we have played so far but if we ever get round to playing a really big battle I may still need more so I may need them one day.

All told this gives me another four command bases for Division or lower commands using our rules. Of course if I use another rule set I may need even more command bases or need messenger stands. 

As you would expect from Adler these have so much detail that you feel you need to keep going. Better detail than some 10mm castings. It really has taken too long to finish these and the fact I still have so many more unpainted makes me smile. Many of my extra command will find their way onto infantry bases whilst I will continue to add to me command bases as well.

I actually have a sizeable amount of Adler French castings I bought via Dave D at the first Blog Con and far more Baccus that still need to be painted. My plan is to paint up some of the French Baccus infantry and get them sold on as I can't see me needing THAT much more French infantry given the quantity Lee also owns not that it will stop me painting up some for myself at the same time.

Prussian Reserve Regiment 22 Adler Miniatures

Anyone who has followed this blog over the years will have seen a few Prussian Battalions shown here. I am still working through all the regiments that did not fight at Waterloo but were involved in the 100 days campaign. 

The 22nd Regiment was part of Pirch's 2nd Corps and whilst the rest of the 7th Brigade fought at Waterloo under the command of Brause the 22nd missed the action.

I continue to add flags to battalions that all most certainly did not have them but given I was well into the originals before I realised that why not continue. I still left the third battalion without even though it's not a fusilier battalion but that's me.

The standard depiction of our units of 4 skirmishers out front with 24 figures in the main body. These being Adler you get a little more Varity in poses. The skirmishes have three poses and the main body two or more versions to buy from.

One battalion I adopted a three deep line and two battalions have a mounted officer to add to the Varity. Basing is my normal outdoor paint (bitter chocolate tester from Homebase) with sand dribbled over, left to dry and surplus brushed off. I then drybrush a couple of lighter colours then add static grass and tufts.

I still have 44 more battalions to do so no where near finished, plus more artillery and cavalry but in far fewer quantity. Not that I own all the battalions required so I will paint up what I have before getting any more. This certainly moved onto a vanity project as I really do not need to paint up the rest and will never get them all on the table at the same time. I still also have plenty of French I really don't need as well as plenty of British to paint for my son.

The next up on the table will be two units of Companion cavalry I also don't really need :-)

Three Prussian Landwehr Battalions

I continue to expand the Prussians for the 100 Days Campaign with the three battalions of the 3rd Westphalie from the I Corp, 3rd Brigade. You Napoleonic experts will note that these did not get to fight at the Battle of Waterloo itself but did take part in the campaign. 

These for the most part are Adler figures but as Adler do not do a skirmish figure for the Landwehr I have used Baccus for these. I have painted up the three battalions in column as Adler just don't base well and the spacing is all wrong to have them in a two deep line though I sometimes do the Prussians in a three deep line.

As often mentioned here Adler do excellent little figures, the animation and detail make them a joy to paint but a devil to clean up. When I am finished my Prussian army will be about 80% Adler, whilst my French are about 90% Baccus. Maybe one day I will get all of both armies out and take a group shot.

I think of the Adler infantry for the Prussians the Landwehr are the nicer figures. With the mix of blanket roll and bread bag these are more interesting. Of course painting a few thousand of the buggers does take the shine off them.

I don't see me finishing them all off in the next twelve months, nor even probably in the next twenty four but you never know. I don't have much left to do with regards the Cavalry or Artillery it's mostly infantry and possibly a few command stands but with other projects also demanding time I will have to make a conscious effort to keep these ticking over.

Back To The Prussian Napoleonic's in 6mm

I continue to flip back and forwards between 6mm and 15mm each week of the Challenge and that continues with these Adler Prussians.

I am now looking to fill out the other Corp's that did not fight at Waterloo but did fight during the 100 days campaign. These are some of the more interesting of the as yet unpainted regiments as they are German-Russian and whilst wearing Prussian cut uniforms the coats were Russian Green. A nice splash of colour.

I used Landwehr figures as these seemed the best match. The regiments had the usual three battalions, two standard and one fusilier.  They are numbered 30th and 31st regiments.

As per expectations the Adler have a great amount of detail. I am looking forward to the few times I will get to use these guys. Such is the lot of strange units.

I have been having issues with my computer and am now having to use Cath's so posts are somewhat lacking until I get the computer replaced.

Adler Prussian Cuirassiers

Meant to post about these last week, seems I have been too busy painting instead. I had enough figures left to paint up a further three regiments to add to the two I already had painted over a year ago. 

Prussia had four regiments at the time of Waterloo but they were with the other army that never got involved. Mine are for a what if scenario and other earlier battles so the fifth regiment may come in useful.

All five are painted up the same so nothing much to add really. Typically lovely looking minis that are a bugger to clean up but rewarding once painted.

These have been packed away as I won't get the chance to use them for awhile. Next 6mm game will either be Ancients or Waterloo if things stay the same.

We played a game towards the end of last year with over 100 battalions of infantry and a fair amount of cavalry and it played well so we need to get the big game played out and see just how it goes.

Brunswick Cavalry by Adler

I have had these figures since Blog Con One but they have sat waiting basing ever since. I bought them via Dave D of One Man and His Brushes Fame. Whilst the collection was not Dave's he had painted up a number of the units and these are some of those figures.

As mentioned in the title these are Brunswick Cavalry by Adler and Dave got all the detail out of the sculpts.

I have based up enough figures for the two regiments which leaves a few lancers and plenty of Hussar figures left unused. These figures are now part of my sons army as I slowly build up his British. I just need to do him a few command bases and he is ready for a game now. 

So after far far too long I finally finish off all basing up all the painted figures bought so long ago. Just about the same time as I plan to start work on the Polish I got in the same deal. Before that though I will be painting up some more Persian 6mm which should see them on the gaming table sooner than later.

6mm Adler Napoleonic British Redcoats

The Boy gets three more battalions for his Peninsular Army. This brings him up to a tidy force of infantry though I still have another battalion of rifles to finish basing up to add yet more punch. This leaves him in great need of more cavalry and generals to lead them. These I will fit in between doing his SYW French as he really wants these doing. I have painted up three guns and crews for him as he requested these first.

Back to the British, these were actually Lee's but when he counted up all he had he found out he actually had more than the British army so these were spare. So Lee being the decent chap he is gave them to The Boy, along with the yet to be finished Rifles and a number of skirmish bases. More on these in a future post.

The first battalion is the 45th Foot 1st Nottinghamshire who like all the regiments I am painting up for The Boy fought in the Peninsular. As I am not working towards any one battle not all the regiments will necessarily have been in Spain at the same time but it's enough for me that they did actually serve there.

The 32nd Cornwall is up next, all I have done is add the flags and base them so the real work has been done by the guy who paints a lot of Lee's Napoleonic troops. Indeed he has done such a stellar job that Lee not only has an excellent collection but is getting close to being able to field large armies for most nations. Now we just have to sort out a few games with some of them!

Last up the 36th Herefordshire 1st Battalion also sporting a green regimental colour. The flags are printed on a really nice photo paper that really folds nicely without showing creases making my job of winding them a lot easier. They are also a slight bit bigger than Baccus flags but not so much that they stand out on the table. I still have a bunch left so will continue using them whilst I have the right colours as they really do look nice.

As you can see the painter has done a nice job front to back. All figures except a casualty are Adler and suit the big bases we favour protecting them from too much handling. The casualty is another gift from Lee and is from the Baccus British casualty pack. 

I have had all last week off and even though we have gone out a lot I have managed to get a a reasonable amount of work done including another Prussian SYW unit and a first for a long time most of one of my 32mm Arena Rex figures, I should have him finished before the week is out.

Last Entry Of The Challenge

Sorry my posting has slowed to a crawl, just been too busy, too tired from work this last two weeks and what I have painted has taken an age to paint! I still can't blog about what I have painted as I am awaiting flags to finish them off, two battalions of SYW Prussians.

I wanted to finish in style so I painted up a couple of squares using Adler skirmish and casualty figs with a a command strip thrown in, all from the French 1812-15 range.

Both squares are rather gory affairs with the casualties mounting with dead on all four sides. I really wanted it to look rather desperate, I think I should probably have had a face or two in better shape but I rather enjoyed the destruction.

A number of Baccus dead also made it onto the bases adding a bit more variety to the mix. I have to admit is was a bit of a pain cutting all the figures onto single bases but as always it pays off to do so.

The animation that Adler get in their figures is pushed well beyond the excellent normal standards into a thing of beauty, I really want to see the Prussian ones out before I finish off my collection so I can take advantage of adding these to a few bases.

I have plenty of casualty figures but no skirmish figures so can't at the moment add any more (Lee says I need lots more LOL), but I will need to order more skirmish to paint up the other Adler French and Polish battalions I have already.

I love this view, can you imagine doing it on a lot bigger scale, that's something to consider for a pet project, after all it's not like I have a lot on!

One square is line and the other light, these being the light.

These will be used as regular battalions I think, possibly though I will bring them out when I am forced into square, not really sure yet.

So lots of death but no gore, I resisted the temptation of adding blood as I think it detracts, especially at this scale.

This squares not in quite as bad a shape as the first one but it's getting there! 

Next few posts will possibly be my recent purchases, I am not giving much away but two new rule sets for different projects and a rather large reinforcement for my SYW Prussian army, which is being posted out tomorrow.

Italian Guard Conscripts by Adler

I finish off the Italian Guard Infantry with the Guard Conscripts, the only guard battalions that wear shako. These are Adler Young Guard figures that work well for the Italians.

Like the other guard infantry I need two battalions for Project Russia 1812 and now only need to paint up a few guns and a small unit of cavalry. Then I will need to start on the Poles.

Being Adler they have loads of detail that stands out quite well making painting the detail that much easier. These actually painted up quicker than I expected.

A trick to speed up painting is to paint the shako cords before the shako and then paint the shako up to the cords. You still need to touch up a few of the cords but on the whole they are done.

I just inked the faces as my Nut Brown Ink was running low and had gone really think. I have restocked now so will be back to normal for the next lot of 6mm I do.

Adler Cuirassier's

I painted these up as a final regiment of Cuirassiers for Project Waterloo. They are Adler Miniatures and have the typical great movement you expect from this supplier. Not that these are the first Adler Cuirassiers I have painted over the last few years nor will they be the last as I continue to expand my painted collection. I have at least one more regiments worth of castings.

I really like how Adler supply the two different poses on a strip, it helps add to the movement of the unit. Having two command figures adds further to this effect. 

Not that I plan to paint up any more French for the time being, the next Napoleonic troops I plan to paint are probably going to be Polish and then more Italian and Neapolitan infantry for both the Peninsular and even further in the future for the Russian campaign.

It looks like we will be keeping cavalry as 8-10 figure units on 60x30 for the foreseeable future which actually probably means we wont change. I am torn between the two, on the one hand they would look great 60x60 but on the other it's a lot of work to change them over. More a case of two late in the day than anything else.

I will leave you with a close up of the figures, you just have to love them don't you?

Joy of Six Countdown 4 Adler Prussians

Spent Tuesday evening and all day today cutting out and attaching all the unit labels for the Prussians and my half of the French. Far longer than I bargained for and it's put a real dent in to my plans for the rest of the week.Worse I am short by two French command stands so guess what I am doing tonight LOL.

However these are the last of the Prussians that I finished last month. They represent two companies of Silesian Schutzen or Jagers the only unit I have as a singular unit rather than attached to a regular Infantry Battalion.

These are typical of Adler, lots of detail and filled with movement. They were also quite flashy but time spent cleaning them up is well worth it.

All my Prussians are now ready for the weekend, they almost fill four A4 file boxes leaving me with just over one more box full of units not needed for Waterloo but who will feature in other games in the future.