25mm minis, part 1

The first order of 25mm minis, from Imperialist Enterprises, arrived a while ago but I am only now getting to take a close look at them. I ordered a wide variety of minis as a sampler in this small order, as I have never seen them up close before.

Left: MO-1 English officer, button hole lace Right: MO-3 English musketeer, on guard

The spontoon on the officer is a separate piece. I like the drawn sword, although it is a bit thin for a sword, more like a rapier.

Left: MO-5a English musketeer advancing, plain coat Right: M-12b English grenadier, marching

Left: M-18 Austrian musketeer, advancing Right: PO-1 Palatinate Musketeer, marching

Left: FO-1 French musketeer, advancing Right: FO-4 French flag officer

The French musketeer was a freebie thrown in by Mr Hagerty - thanks!

F-15a French dismounted dragoon

H2 - Heavy horse, running

Imperialist offers five different horses: 3 heavy and 2 medium. When one orders mounted figures, the choice of mount is yours.

M23b Austrian cuirassier, drawn pistol, tricorn

The saddle is cast with the rider as one piece.



So far I like the selections from Imperialist. All of the minis in this order measure 25mm from sole of foot to the forehead. There are some differences in sculpting, with some being smoother and some being more detailed. My favorite is the Palatinate musketeer, although all of them will be used in one fashion or another.

A ship sketch

Here is a pic of a page of my gaming notebook, with the first doodles of a plan for a Half Continent naval vessel:


It is a 24 guns-broad frigate, and the sketch is the approximate size of the model in 1/600, although it is probably distorted a bit by the pic. The measurements at the top of the page do indicate the actual length and beam of the model.

The drawing is rough. It lacks a lot of deck detail, and the ship's boats are definitely way off in scale, but this is close to what I think the frigate might look like in model form. This page on DM Cornish's art site has some much better (by the originator of course!) of the ships I hope to imitate.

I will need to make a trip to the local hobby shop for some balsa and sheet plastic so I can start to put one together!

The plan, altered

I am finding lately that no gaming plan goes unaltered after I start it... and this one is no exception.

I have found that I really do not like to paint 15mm minis. I had not painted any for many (10+) years but I thought to give it a go but it is a struggle. My wife pointed out to me that I was 'avoiding' the 15mm's, and mentioned that I had tried to paint 6mm and 10mm minis in the past - at least I tried, but 25mm seems to be the winner. And it has the approval of the missus which actually is a big benefit! There are some pros and cons in the switch however:

PRO:

1. No duplication of effort in the minis for the skirmish and mass battle ranges - I intend to use these minis for both.

2. No duplication of effort for terrain of different scales.

3. Hopefully 1 and 2 will mean a bit less in monetary outlay!

CON:

1. Mini selection will be more important - the 15mm minis were more forgiving in their appearance for specific HC details.

2. Bigger surface needed for mass battles.

So, more info later as I continue to peruse mini selections...


On a brighter note, I have doodled up some preliminary drawings of a HC naval vessel...

Slow progress

Small steps toward getting the first battalion done!

1. The minis are about half-way done with painting. I am finding that, for the mainly darkly-colored units, white primer is not such a good choice. The second battalion will be using black gesso for primer.

2. Bases - I forgot about the bases when I placed the order for the minis. So, I sent off an order with Litko - hopefully they will arrive later this month.

3. Rules - The delay in ordering bases corresponds with my indecision on a rules choice. In the end, I am going to try a modified Impetus set. Miniatures Wargames #322 has an interesting article on a conversion of Impetus to the AWI, which I am using as a starting point.


I'll post pics when I get something done!

First unit, part 2

Here is a pic of the basic color scheme I intend to use for the Boschenberg units:


The belts, sash, vest, baldric, and musket are not done yet, but this is the general theme. I have discovered one useful piece of info - sometimes it is better to prime in black (these were primed with a light grey primer - Reaper Master Series Brush-on Primer) !

I also need to order bases...