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Borodino Project (Napoleonics 20mm)


b20f08

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Figured to start a historical painting diary as part of a display project that I want to undertake this time next year. It's the refight of Borodino using FoGN 2 rules. I will try to complete an army corps or two every three months. That's my plan. Going to finish off Junot's VII Corps (1812) that I submitted for this month's paint challenge - I am still missing completion of two commander stands plus additional infantry and artillery stands. Once done, I will switch over to work on the Russian Siever's 4th Cavalry Corps of the 2nd Western Army. And then return to French side for either Latour-Marbourg's or Grouchy's command. Cheers.

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Started work on paint challenge and spared some paint for these outstanding Westfalians - 2 divisional command stands and 4 gun + crews.  Just two more infantry stands and these are complete.  Will post something by end of week of work started on Siever's 4th Cavalry Corps.

WIP Westfalian all.jpg

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19 hours ago, Gus said:

Great stuff. Got to love all the guns you need to paint when fielding russians! You may need a redoubt too

Got the redoubt squared away. Just needs completion - basing and flocking. On the artillery side of things, because of balance artillery seems to be less than historically. For the Russians, it might appear a mammoth task representing 12 gun-batteries as opposed to the 8-gun batteries of the French. But the scaling used in FoGN 2 handles it comfortably. The only difficulty will be finding enough guns to cover requirements, but I'm not overly worried about that.

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Finally got round this evening to finishing off the bulk of the missing units for Junot's VII corps. Missing gun barrels on the artillery but have them somewhere; I'm just trying to figure on whether or not to go shiny barrels or realism. Shiny barrels is what I'm leaning towards.

Extra Westfalian Ln arty.jpg

Extra Westfalians Cmd.jpg

Extra Westfalians Ln Bde 1.jpg

Extra Westfalians Ln bde 2.jpg

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Started this project to clear backlog of figures idling in my collection over the years. What better way than to set this Borodino paint challenge. Doubt that I will cover all the forces required but I will give it a good try. Paper on table represents distinctive formations (corps or ad hoc groupings) that will be built. Where I reached a shortfall I will proxy with existing Nap formations I already possess if I can't buy. The competitive Russian FoGN 2 list shown will be broken up to fill the need some of the units within are in the Borodino list. Artillery is going to be real big problem but something will work out, of that I'm sure.

Competitive Russian FoGN 2 list.jpg

French table.jpg

Russian table.jpg

VII Corps.jpg

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Making start on Grouchy's III Cav Corps. Cheating a lot by using figures already painted and hiding away on my display cabinet. Missing the Saxon chevaux-leger (French for light horse) unit, all the attached artillery and the command stands (four - one corps and three divisional). Some re-painting of facings, collars and cuffs on the dragoons. Major repaint of the hussars. Hope to knock this off by end of next week.

Grouchy's corps start of.jpg

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1 hour ago, Gus said:

Wow you have been busy. That is a lot of figures already and still so many to go. Borodino is going to be such a grind fest. Must be a good feeling making your way through the backlog. 

Yes and no. Need the space but it's a really big project, and that's always a challenge worth attempting. Not sure how it will pan out given I am using FoGN conversion. But in for a penny, in for a pound as they say.

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Found more figures to allocate on the respective tables which is pleasing. Decided to simply allocate what I have to what is required to discover what's missing.

Started and finished the Saxon Cheveaux-legers of Grouchy's III Corps this afternoon. Just need the commanders and artillery. No rush to do that at the moment as much as filling out the formations.

These figures are in fact British Hussars with oilskin shako covers. Apart from the sabretache and the carbines, these look sufficiently "Saxon" to pass the muster. Lol.

 

Grouchy's III Corps - 17th Lt Cav Bde - Saxon Prinz Albrecht CL.jpg

Edited by b20f08
Further expansion of WIP for Borodino Project
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While doing this, I pulled out my half-completed large redoubt. First time so didn't consider the aesthetic appeal: I simply went for the max dimensions and filled it with the redoubt. Nex attempt, Bagration's fleches, will have a more natural look to them. Dimensions for large redoubt allows for three-gun battery and two infantry/cavalry brigades.

Finished this in three stages today: (1) initial flock layer put down Friday, (2) any gaps on forward face fixed with second flocking layer (gaps in first photo is covered with PVA glue), and then a final finishing (3) stage with enough flocking to complete look. Three photos show the various stages as done today.

Materials: Baseboard is MDF (2/3mm thick), the various gabions are 3D printed (they were a pain to design too but look quite good once printed), styrofoam block for the raised front edge which was then covered with spakfilla. Put down earth colour painted basecoat just behind the man-made fortification. But then left it for a long time. Friday, added the artillery stands (3) and started flock and sand layering. Any gaps left over (first photo) were re-covered with more PVA, then flocked again (photo two). Finished with third dusting to complete. The artillery stands are very thin balsa glued down as a three distinct sheets. Then I scored the planking with a toothpick. Paint and wash with burnt umber. While paint still wet, rubbed any heavy  excess area fairly vigorously with scrunched up paper towel.

Finished stand, big enough to satisfy its stipulation as large redoubt.

Colours used: Lamp Black, Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna.

 

Large redoubt first flocking attempt.jpg

Large redoubt second dusting of flock.jpg

Large redoubt third dusting of flock.jpg

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Wow - you are just showing off now mate 😀

I hear you on the proxy for the Saxons. I used old glory french (in 15mm metals) for some of my Saxons - just don't look too close and they mix alright with my real AB Saxon minis. Those Dragoons are really nice figures - do you recall which brand? I am currently distracted from my 15mm Napoleonic lead pile with some Perry 28mm plastics for Rebels and Patriots rules.Such a difference painting 28mm versus 15-18mm blokes. Going to take me ages. Used to have hundreds of ESCI and Airfix 20mm plastics many moons ago well before I knew about bases (and movement trays). Moving so many of the suckers about individually, and to try to retain formation, was exhausting and risked a domino effect if one was a bit to clumsy. 

Nice redoubt too. 3D printed gabions are a great idea - don't have a 3d printer myself but gives some cool options with these little touches. You need a couple of these redoubts/fleches right?

 

take care, stay safe and keep painting.

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3 hours ago, Gus said:

Wow - you are just showing off now mate 😀

I hear you on the proxy for the Saxons. I used old glory french (in 15mm metals) for some of my Saxons - just don't look too close and they mix alright with my real AB Saxon minis. Those Dragoons are really nice figures - do you recall which brand? I am currently distracted from my 15mm Napoleonic lead pile with some Perry 28mm plastics for Rebels and Patriots rules.Such a difference painting 28mm versus 15-18mm blokes. Going to take me ages. Used to have hundreds of ESCI and Airfix 20mm plastics many moons ago well before I knew about bases (and movement trays). Moving so many of the suckers about individually, and to try to retain formation, was exhausting and risked a domino effect if one was a bit to clumsy. 

Nice redoubt too. 3D printed gabions are a great idea - don't have a 3d printer myself but gives some cool options with these little touches. You need a couple of these redoubts/fleches right?

 

take care, stay safe and keep painting.

Lol. It's Napoleonics. It's known for its ostentatiousness and colourful displays of uniforms. 😄 Yes, doing the fleches next; there are three that I have to build. That redoubt just finished will suffice for the grand redoubt.

French Dragoons are by Italeri. They are indeed a lovely expressive sculpt. I can relate to your difficulties with movement of minis before trays and bases happened along. I used to have a sand table when starting out and one of my biggest problems was losing figures in the sand; no matter, how careful, I'd always find a missing figure emerging from the sands of time, like some Napoleonic Highlander popping up during an ACW skirmish.

Have some old 15mm and never really warmed to them. But the 18mm sculpts by AB are great. 28mm are just too big in my eyes. Started out with 20mm and will stay with them always. Market these days means the Nap range is quite extensive with HaT, Stelet, and Zvezda taking over from Esci and Airifx (or Hornby Models as they're now owned).

Done two French Corps now - Junot's VIII (apologies to Reynier who actually commanded the VII) and Grouchy's III Cav Corps. Will likely finish both Raevski's 7th Inf Corps and Borozdin's Inf Corps by end of week. Finally going to get some FoGN 2 gaming in tomorrow as well. Image below shows current Russian table after I pilfered my Nap collection. Halfway through the collection.

Current Russian table assembly.jpg

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sand table is great lol (look out for sand sharks). I recall, as  very young lad in an alternate universe, finding an airfix 8th army chap in my parents front garden. Pretty sure it was from a previous owner but for the next few years I kept looking out but never did find anymore. The things you remember when young hey.  

20mm is a nice fit between the two scales. 28mm are tempting for my aging eyes but I just happen to have thousands of 15-18mm metals, from nearly 30 years of collecting (hording) so will keep ploughing through them on and off. I just managed to get the union brigade done (all AB minis) about a year ago. Something I have been wanting to do for a long time since the kind Mr Anthony Barton made all the 1815 sculpts available. No way I will ever get them done before my lease expires here on earth but heck I am going to try!

So you mean you are halfway through just the French, the Russians or both? Regardless its a great achievement and you should be well chuffed with your progress and toys mate.

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When I started out 20mm was all that was available at the time. No 15mm or 28mm. I do remember 30mm and 54mm were the popular go-to at the time (from the occasional wargaming mag I might come across). Times may have changed and scales come and gone but I've stayed with 20mm. Good to hear you're also working your way through your pile. From the sounds of it, you will be busy as well. Remember the ACW period with much fondness and enjoyment but no longer have any desire to return to that period simply because it got played out to death by myself.

Sorry if I might be misleading you. What's on the table are mostly figures already painted in various states of completeness. I just reassembled and cobbled them together for tabletop viewing and (1) to see their varying stages of finishing with what's needing further work, and (2) see what's missing from the formation to make it complete. It's also a signal reminder that if I want my studio back, they need painting and flocking to remove them. There's also (3) the Battle of Borodino refight - the singular reason for starting this paint project.

Not after detailing. More after the spectacle effect. So, lots of flags flown (as seen in the first photo from one of my current Russian FoGN 2 lists). I'll leave the detailed work to guys like my regular gaming opponent who does some really nice Naps figures (the artillery gun and limber team, arty crew with their bicornes, and the French Imperious Guards. 😀
 

2020 FoGN 2 campaign list.jpg

French Napoleonic artillery gun limbered and painted.jpg

French Napoleonic gun crew close up with bicornes.jpg

18 Another back view of French Imperial Guardsmen.jpg

Edited by b20f08
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  • 2 weeks later...

Those guard figs are lovely. I'd be happy to have a finish like that on my 15mm AB boys but my eyesight ain't what it used to be ( iused to haevsome of thse ESCI guard many years ago - rather nice figs IIRC.  The arty is well done and the limber too (I personally love limbers but am too cheap to fork out for and paint them). Must feel good with the consistent basing as you are getting through the troops very nicely. I find having a project with objectives in mind helpful to actually finish something. Otherwise am a bit like a magpie distracted by the next shiny thing!

 

Nice to hear that you are human after all and a lot of your current output is already painted previously 🐵. I once re-based say approx 1,200 Napoleonic 15mm from 40mm x 15mm to Napoleons battles 1x3/4 inch style basing for Shako I (then later V2) with 12 figs to an infantry battalion and 8 figs for a cavalry regiment (on 1 inch square bases). My local gaming group later went onto Napoleon at War rules (NaW) using a different basing system and I could not face a re-basing again. Fraid I don't know anything about FoGN 2. I do quite like Kings of WAr for my fantasy fix though (used to love playing Warhammer ancients and last played version 8 for fantasy)

 

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16 hours ago, Gus said:

Those guard figs are lovely. I'd be happy to have a finish like that on my 15mm AB boys but my eyesight ain't what it used to be ( iused to haevsome of thse ESCI guard many years ago - rather nice figs IIRC.  The arty is well done and the limber too (I personally love limbers but am too cheap to fork out for and paint them). Must feel good with the consistent basing as you are getting through the troops very nicely. I find having a project with objectives in mind helpful to actually finish something. Otherwise am a bit like a magpie distracted by the next shiny thing!

 

Agree on having an objective, hence why I've gone this public route courtesy of Oz Tabletop Gamers Painting Diary. Doing this either embarrasses me (shameless unfortunately) or motivates me (lazy as pie). Either way, something happens.

I do find the basing side of the period confusing because there are so many Nap rules flooding the market with different basing scales. This tends to become frustrating whenever using various different Nap rulesets because there is no uniform scaling structure like with GW games. I recall recently someone on facebook asking the question of its members as to who was playing what. In each of the replies, he received a different Nap rulesets. I just laughed.

Mostly designers try to achieve both balance and playability which isn't always achievable without some "tweaking". For instance, with FoGN 2, refighting this historical Borodino means using several in-rule references (I have a choice of using quantity or scaling), there are two distinct scales for inf/cav (1:55) while ary is 1:8! The differences is obvious: guns versus people.

I've stuck with FoGN 2 however since introduced even though it has its own inherent failings because I am more interested in its corps-level aspect, and because FoGN 2 works quite well at tourament-level having hosted a couple in the past. I have taken my cue from it being played at CanCon and other local tournaments. I don't recall seeing a major event featuring Black Powder or whatever else is current these days.

It does come down to what players are using and/or prefer in their scaling. I have no real care either way as scale is irrelevant to simply putting models on table and playing but each new Nap ruleset that pops up periodically will advocate "their own system" either because they're using a specific scale ratio and because tactical level play is a considering design factor.

But Napoleonic gaming has always been known for it clouds of skirmishers in front of the advancing formations, be it triple line or column supported by guns blazing away with cavalry lurking to exploit any breakthrough. And that tends to be what works for those attracted to the period. Cultural divergence in national peculiarities are also most noticeable at battalion-level as you already know.

Yes, I apologise again if I misled people with my photos. What I will endeavour to produce in future will be actual formations I've actually spent time working on to bring them up to a specific level. And I will clearly identify what I personally painted up and what was touched-up and what was imported. The table display situation was simply to make me aware visually of the mammoth task I have ahead of me; it was not posted to mislead people into believing I painted all these personally. I will make that clear with each new submission of the formations.

Been taking the week off as I've had my twelve-year old grandson around. Boy is a marvel on his own. Returning to my hobby seems a poor second compared to his blizzard visit. Lol. Anyway, enjoy our chat. Take care.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ongoing updates with Borodino refight project. Originally started out flipping these 1805 Russians as Baggovut's 2nd Inf Corps. But the grenadiers made me change this formation to become Tuchkov's 3rd Inf. Corps which did also field grenadiers. Spent time last night touching up these half-painted musketeers (original plume clipped) and grenadiers (still with plume) with white (webbing, shako cockade). Now look decent enough. Rebasing these and then finish reflagging. Tonight, going to finish these off - weapons, accroutments, shako cap plate and anything else to finalise these figures. Missing the jagers from this photo presentation but they are also part of the mix for a retouching.

The dragoons that came with this 1805 listing (four stands) have now been converted to Korff's 2nd Cav Corps by changing the facings (originally bright blue) into Moscow (rose) and Pskov (orange) on their cuffs, collars and saddlecloths. The remaining cavalry (hussars and lancers) are pre-painted but will definitely get a makeover to match their historical counterpart. As per normal. basing and flocking will finish this off.

A large group of touchups.jpg

Izumsk Hussars.jpg

Moscow Dragoons.jpg

Polish Lancers.jpg

Pskov Dragoons.jpg

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