Sunday 28 August 2022

Epic beginnings

The Prussians showed up on Tuesday, and after a couple of evenings of snipping sprues I have them all based up. A few of the strips were wobbly in their bases, and a couple were completely loose, so I've dabbed those with a tiny bit of superglue to keep them in place.

Last night I decided to paint a trial unit, and was pretty happy with how they turned out.

In column
In line
These guys are the first battalion of the 18th Line that fought at Plancenoit. Sometimes they are depicted with pink facings and this would fit with the old pre-1807 18th line, but this battalion was drawn from a reserve East Prussian unit, and the likelihood is that they would have had red facings. The legend is that they threw away their stocks while marching towards Ligny which is why they were given pink collars afterwards, and this would seem to indicate that they weren't pink at the time. The regiment has no known flag that I could find, so I used the flag of the 8th, as it is black and white and stereotypically Prussian.

What I love about the Epic range is that this is a unit of eighty figures! They feel and look more like a battlaion than 16 men on four bases. And they were still able to be completed in one evenings' worth of panting. 

Pendraken 10mm, Warlord Epic Battles, Venexia 15mm

When it comes to the size of the figures, they are much closer to 15mm than 10mm, as you can see from the comparison above. In fact, some of the 15mm figures produced in the 70s and 80s would probably be about the same size as the Epic figures.

The French and British are on their way, it takes around 3 weeks for stuff to arrive from the UK at the moment. I am still unsure as to what rules to use. I've used Black Powder before, most recently with the American Civil War, but I remain unconvinced for Napoleonics. The representation of skirmishers is always the biggest issue I have with Napoleonic rules, and Black Powder is no exception to this. Alternative options are Lasalle, Bataille Empire, Shadows of the Eagle and Drums and Shakos Large Battles, but I don't know if any of them are going to suit me better than Black Powder - especially when I plan to play a lot of solo games.

Earlier in the week I also painted another 3 figures for Marvel Crisis Protocol:

Juggernaut

She Hulk

Modok

A few powerhouses in there. Also, today I saw the first full shots of the upcoming Sentinels for MCP. They will definitely be my next purchase for the game!

Next week I hope to have another Epic unit completed, and I also have Rogue, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver on the painting tray.

Nate


10 comments:

  1. This all looks good, Nate, and who can argue with a system where you can paint an eighty figure battalion in one sitting!

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    1. I was a little bit in disbelief to be honest. They're not that much smaller than 15mm and 80 15mm figures would take me a week to paint. Admittedly these don't have quite the same detail as modern 15mm do.

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  2. Your painted Marvel figures look great, likewise the Epic unit.

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    1. Thanks Peter. I love painting the Marvel figures - so much character!

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  3. The Epic stuff looks tremendous Nate and the Marvel miniatures are just wow!

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    1. Thanks Michael. Superheroes need that wow factor!

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  4. Lovely work on the little Napoleonics Nate…
    Any time I’ve seen that Modok figures my puerile childish mind thinks…
    “What a bad case of wind” 😳

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks Aly. It is hard to take Modok seriously at the best of times, this just adds to the effect.

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  5. Those Prussians look beaut!
    Of the rulesets that you have listed, I'd imagine that either Lasalle or Bataille Empire will give you the detail that you are seeking.
    Regards, James

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    1. Thanks James. Lasalle is what I'm leaning towards, but I will give Black Powder a go first. We'll see if the rules grafted on specifically for Napoleonics work to my satsifaction.

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