Napoleonic French - Part 2

Its been a long while since I threw anything Napoleonic into the mix, the initial enthusiasm being damped by my inability to paint white competently, and more specifically the decision to go with an English Civil War battle for the Gauntlet gaming weekend in July so the focus switched to my Royalists and never returned.  However others have continued to make and paint, and having decided against a World War 1 game for this years Gauntlet we have plumbed for a Napoleonic battle.  Given Aidan and Blue Team Dave have the biggest collections so far, and the British of 1809-14 feature heavily in them it will be a Spanish adventure, and they need French opponents.  Luke has already turned his painting hand towards the French army, and I, as well as wanting to play, want to provide some troops.  So the models are out of the garage and back on the painting table.

The Plan:

I haven’t the most painting time in the world, so my aims are limited, I hope to complete a single brigade.  This fortunately is just 3 infantry battalions, and even more fortunately I have the figures to do so!  28mm is the scale, and as well as the Perrys boxed set I originally bought I have been lucky enough to have a second lot, and a bunch of French Victrix infantry, donated too me (thanks Pete!).  All are built, and between them provide enough models for 3 infantry battalions and a bunch of skirmishers to go out front on occasion.  I’m also aiming to add a cannon (for variety) and a grouping of officers to act as the brigade CO.  Looking ahead a trip to Sheffield and Tripples should help with this.

Unit Organisation:

 This was something that was much argued over on the forums, and brought the realisation that between the current 4 of us building armies we have 4 different views!  Luckily they are all compatible (thanks Blackpowder for being nicely flexible), and I have settled with the organisation the Perrys boxes suggest; 6 models to a base, 6 bases to a battalion, each base being 45mm in frontage, and 40mm in depth.  Overall this will give me a unit 36 models strong, and a battalion width of 270mm when deployed in line, closely comparable to everyone else’s.  I’ll add four individually mounted skirmishers as extra models out the front of the regiment when they are deployed.

Paint Job:

I had sprayed my original box of infantry white, and I’m looking to paint those first.  The other 2 battalions have been partially painted so will require a slightly different approach.  I am painting the models individually, with 3 mounted to a stick and being fully painted in block colours (no dry brushing or detailing) before having the Army Painter Strong Tone dip used sparingly on them and finally being based afterwards.  I think I’ll cover that in a later post. 

Current Work:

I am aiming to finish my Perrys battalion set first, with all the models sprayed white, and around 13 on the painting table waiting for some work, and then move onto the other 2 battalions afterwards.   I’ve included a couple of pictures of my first 6 models, just missing the last bit of work with the weather being a bit cold and wet to risk the matt varnish spray.