Joy of Six, we have lift off!

Well we are home and totally knackered so a picture (or two) to paint 1000 words. It was as expected a great show and whilst I did not get to look around as much as I would have liked all I saw was top notch and the best advert for 6mm anyone could ask for.

Trying to get a good photo of the whole game was always going to be tricky but we were blessed with a great location to look down on the game. Unfortunately as on the day we did have to deal with heavy rain but with a quick reposition of the tables (Thanks Pete) we adverted what would have been a disaster.

The French stretched down the line almost to the opposite edge sixteen feet away. Not that it would stay that way once battle was fully joined.

The length of the table from Hougoumont along the battle lines. The French to the left. This was the first time we actually had all the figures on the table and our estimates worked out well giving us a great spread of troops and managing to have all the troops in roughly the right positions.

Hopefully I will have a full report of the game by Tuesday, but now I am off for a short read followed by some TV and bed.

The Joy of Six Countdown 1 The Big Man Himself

Well I could hardly end the countdown with anyone other than Napoleon could I? These are the four mounted figures that come in the My Little Ogre playset by Baccus and I finally got them finished this very evening.

I really like the colourful Mameluke in the background, something to add a little interest to the base.

I have used a round base to further distinguish Napoleon from any of the other commanders on the table, which I hope Lee does not mind.

So this is it, in 12 hours time we will be well on our way to having the table laid out and in 24 hours I am sinking into my chair to watch TV and hopefully stay awake to get to the end of Human.

Thanks for all the support I have received on this project, it has REALLY helped keep the project on track. Any of you visiting the show please pop and have a chat and make sure you ask The Boy about his Commands & Colours Waterloo game he will have set up, he is looking forward to giving you the low down.

The Joy of Six Countdown 2 Friday Quiz 6

OK this will be a bit different to the norm.

1. What event on the 16th of June triggered Gneisenau taking command of the Prussian Army.

2. What is the new location of The Joy of Six

3. The Joy of Six has it's pre show Curry on the eve of the show, what did Wellington have?

4. Which company famously gave the reason for putting up their figures price on needing to buy a number of high performance cars?

5. What other Napoleonic battle is going LARGE at the Joy of Six and what is it's connection to me?

So some of the answers to the questions can be found on this blog, lets see how you do :-)

Answers.
1. Blucher was trapped under his horse during a cavalry charge and was badly bruised but was able to take command on the 18th

2. It's close to the Workstation where it has been held previously, now it's at Heartspace at Sheffield Hallam University.

3. He had to make do with a Ball, bet he wishes he could have made a JoS curry night!

4. Peter at Baccus used this reason with tongue placed firmly in cheek.

5. Ligne is the battle and a group that includes a couple of good mates are part of the team, can't wait to see it.

Normal service again next week.

Joy of Six Countdown 3 Martian Invasion?

I'm keen to get some decent photos of the game so I was happy that this mini tripod arrived today, hopefully this will help supply some nice Sharpe images (Sharpe, get it?)

I am now starting to feel the strain of getting everything I need done for the day. I have to finish painting tonight and start work on the basing. The Allied win may have been a close ran thing, the game may also be as Lee still has his Guard to flag. Will we be at the show busy finishing off?

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.

Joy of Six Countdown 5 Building of the Week

First up, need information on the Joy of Six, you can visit the website here. It's going to be a big day for small figures. My boss asked me earlier if I could help him out by working Sunday. When I reminded him regards the show he was very understanding LOL.

Sticking with the theme of last things completed,Leven's Hougoumont is finally finished with the ornimental gardens finally getting done. It's not scaled to be the correct size against the house as that would take up too much room but it gets the feel across which is what matters.

I wanted the box hedges to look a lot more cultivated so in the end went with strips of brillo pads which whilst are a little too fake still give me the look I wanted. I may yet try to flock them.

I used orchard trees for the miniature trees simply folding the top branches back into the body of the tree making them more round in shape. Then added white or red flocking powder for the rose flowers on the tree/large bush.

The house and garden boards with the woods and orchard surrounding them will really give the board edge a focal point. That said, I will still have space to send cavalry round to the left of this position to hopefully seal the defenders off. Such is the scale of 6mm. 

Across the other side of the battlefield we have Plancenoit village that will see possibly as much action as Hougoumont once the Prussians arrive. Beyond this most of the buildings are in small clusters or farms and even La Haye Sainte is quite small but the flanks will bookend the table.

Joy of Six Countdown 6

Another new release from Baccus and again they are French, NFR35 Animated French Infantry £6.60 for 96 figures. I have mixed them in with standard infantry so the twenty strips of animated guys will be fleshed out over around fifteen battalions.

1st Battalion and from the front all three look like normal units. Of course you can use the pack to make up four battalions of twenty four figures and be very animated.

Spot the animated chap :-) next lot I will file away the shako cords and pompoms and the lot will have covers in place.

2nd Battalion sporting a Fanion, even the correct colour LOL. I still have to paint up lots and lots of battalions to make up the right number but also need to snip off the eagles.

Closer shot of this fellow, note he is a different pose to the previous one. I should work out how many Battalions of French I have painted all together, over the last four years it's been rather a lot.

The 3rd Battalion brings up the rear with it's splendid red colour, will Lee take it off me over the coming weekend?

The nearest figures in the two rear lines are part of the animated set, again different poses to the two prior, the front one of the two wearing a fatigue cap. 

All three together, I have to say that whilst it would be easy to label the set as a gimmick I really like the opportunity to slip a few abstract figures on to the base and once I get some of the casualty figures these will also find their way onto the bases as well.