Russian Command 1812

I ordered several Perry figures from The Warstore and received the shipment very quickly. Neal is great to do business with and I was surprised at the prompt service.

So far this month I painted a unit of Russian Jagers and the Russian general staff of the 1812 campaign. I finished my 9th infantry unit as well. Basically I block painted and used lighter shades to hi-lite the basic colors. Then I used Army painter dark tone for the dip process. I did not dip the figures directly but did brush it on.

 The figures in the pictures below are all Perry. I am not a professional painter and would never claim to be an expert. I really like the results and the painting time was reduced greatly. I am very happy with the result which is all that really matters.

Perry's General staff

Russian Command bases

I did order 8 guns and crews from Old Glory to build up my army. I am looking forward to painting and dipping in the future. The Rebel minis are next up on the painting table as I need a break from Napoleonics. Burning out is always a concern and I need a change.

The Raid that Wasn't

Rules: Muskets and Tomahawks
Scale 25-28mm
Figures: Galloping Major and Conquest

This is my second game of M&T and I am now inspired to do a game using these rules. My order for some Blue Moon AWI figures was just placed. We placed the terrain and then rolled to see what game we were playing. The British are defending and the French are raiding and must set as many buildings on fire as possible. I am playing the French with Jim F while Jerry and Joe D. are playing the British. I took the 3 Indian units and a unit of Coureur des bois (Rifles) while Jim F took the French Irregulars. Jerry took the Rangers and militia while Joe D took Militia, Provincials and Indians. Each side had about 550 pts.

Set up - French enter from the top across the stream...yikes.

We set up and started quickly. The French advanced and tried to get across the stream as fast as possible, we did not stop to fire as we wanted to close quickly.  Unfortunately the militia beat us to the crossing.and began firing before we were across.

Indians dash across the stream

 The first unit of Indians closest to the militia was shot down. I thought I would sacrifice one unit to get the others across but it was not to be. The cards favored the British.

Joe D and Jerry.... nice scalps ...they will look nice hanging on a belt

 The French irregulars fared better as they advanced across the stream and made it into the woods. The British forces were holding back closer to the buildings.

French irregulars make it

 British fire erupted from the block house and fence line. a few French did fall dead into the stream.

Fire from the block house

The British await

 Meanwhile the Rangers have fun picking off a lot of native troops. I figure I just need to close in but I got repulsed and took more fire. The Native troops did not stand a chance.

Taking fire from the woods

 I did get a few figures on the flank but the British milita cards came up first. My best chance to close was now gone. The Rangers charged my Indians and I did account well but could not win as I was outnumbered. Finally my Coureur des bois had a target to shoot at and their rifles took out some of the victorious Rangers who fell back.

Indians move to flank

 Meanwhile the French irregulars slowly advanced . One unit held back by the stream while the rest did an end around move using the woods as cover.

French still moving up

 The British militia in the center moved to cover the block house as the french advanced from the stream. Shots are fired but the woods gives excellent cover and few if any casualties are taken by the irregulars.

British move to support the blockhouse

 As tfor the Indians they are wiped out. The melee and musket fire destroyed their numbers. I just couldn't get the cards to fall or the dice to help. It was a bad day for the nation.

The trail of dead....with a few Rangers mixed in.

 Meanwhile on the left, the French irregulars pour fire into the British from the woods. British casualties mount as the faint of heart fall back. The Provincials have now entered and move up to support the wavering militia.

The British right flank is in trouble.

Above view from the ever present drone

 The firing on the British right intensifies units can not reload fast enough. The French make progressand begin the push. At this point my only unit of Coureurs was moving to support in the center. They were slowed by reloading the rifles which takes 2 actions! It made a difference.

Everybody Fire!

A unit of French did make it to the block house to set it on fire, but it was too little too late. We had nothing left to follow up the success. We lost well over half the French and the British had most of their units left in good order. We called the game. In the 2 games I played the attackers were gunned down rather quickly. The lesson I learned is that you need to decide where you are going to attack and overload that side with a lot of units. A broad front attack is easily beaten; at least in the 2 games I played. We finished in under 3 hours which is good for us who were tired after working all day. I ould love to do an AWI game in the future and plan to run a game at Cold Wars 2014. I have a new project!

Army Shade Dark Tone Results

I rarely use dip when painting figures. I did buy some dark tone at the last convention I attended. I was not sure if I should have bought the medium tone or the dark tone. I did get the dark for reasons unknown. My son took advantage of the Rebel Minis sale (20% off) and bought the Kurgan and Earth Force Marines. He wants to use the dip method to speed up the painting process. Before we dip new figures I thought a test on some extra figures should be done. (Actually he just walked through the door from work with the box of figures he ordered, accompanied by a big grin). Thanks for great service Rebel minis!





The figures had the dip applied with a Q-tip with the excess removed to avoid the figure becoming too dark. I then applied dull coat from a spray can to knock the shine down. I was afraid the dark tone would be too dark but I like the result.




I was sure I would need to go over the figure again. I did not need to as long as I removed some of the excess dip. I also avoioded using darker colors. The blue on the figure on the left is a very light blue that was darkened by the dip. I painted one of the cuffs a medium blue and the result was a darker blue.




The photo of the Russian grenadier is hard to see. The medium green came out very dark and I should have removed more dip. I purposely left the excess on the figure to see what would happen. Well that's the story on dark tone. Apply with a brush or Q-tip and remove some of the excess; then hit the figure with dull coat. I am thinking of getting some Minwax Polyshade Tudor Black. I think there is a lighter shading effect.