Bavarians circa 1809 - Part 2 - Experimenting with cornflower blue

I have been messing around with various blues from the Vallejo range to work out what I would like to best represent my Bavarian Cornflower Blue.

The figure on the left has been worked with the left half as you view it being Vallejo 963 as a base, then Vallejo 841 as a mid tone, and finally Vallejo 844. while the right side started with Vallejo 962 but had the same mid and highlight applied. I liked the left but the steps are a bit harsh.whereas the right half came out more subtly but too bright for my taste.

So the figure on the right was next painting the jacket with Vallejo 841, followed by 844 and finally 961 and was far too bright. now realising that the previous figure got me near I then started this one with the same base coats one on each leg although I based the left leg as you view it  in 962 and the right leg in 963, before mixing a 50/50 mix of base and mid tones mentioned before, a much better transition, and I then used the appropriate mid tone and highlight as before. I thought both of these looked much better, so much so I was a little undecided as to which I preferred. I left him to sit in my view for a couple of days and I was always drawn to the right leg as its viewed.

I then took another figure using the combination I preferred and gave him a quick paint job in the guise of a Bavarian uniform. The central figure in this group is the result. I am happy with the shading albeit a rough paint job I can see this will work nicely and when I paint properly will give a pleasing shade of Cornflower blue.

The final recipe is:
Base Coat Vallejo 963 Medium Blue
1st Highlight Vallejo 963 Medium Blue mixed 50/50 with Vallejo 841 Andrea blue
2nd highlight Vallejo 841 Andrea Blue
3rd highlight Vallejo 844 Deep Sky Blue (only on high spots and heavy wear areas)

The result of my recipe is shown above, I am very happy how the figure turned out. The picture makes it look a bit brighter than in real life, a result of bright lighting in the photo booth. However this is where the project stops for a bit while I await some paint and other supplies that are on order.

Regards
Loki

Bavarians circa 1809 - Part 1

If you have been reading the last couple of posts you will have gleaned the fact I am going to undertake a very large project, and build myself a full Bavarian Corp. I now have the first batch of lead in my grubby hands and have started the project by getting them organised.

I have chosen to field them under the French organisation of 6 companies, my research has concluded that they were already well under way reorganising to this system in 1809. Which in turn makes the arrangement of figures easier and with a few changes to some units they will also work into 1812 without too much issue if I so choose.

I will start with building Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria's Division first and naturally start with the first brigade in that division.

So I have almost the full amount of lead for the complete 1st Brigade shown above.

The light battalion is present in the foreground above, minus 4 figures at present. I have chosen to put a mounted officer on these, to somewhat make up for the fact they carried no standards and to further distinguish them from the line units. I will also compose these battalions in either all breeches and gaiters or all overall trousers.

The Foundry officer packs come with 2 versions of foot officers doubled up so they make a natural candidate for a distinction between 1st and 2nd battalions. Above is how I plan to organise 1st battalions. An issue comes from the separate command packs, drummer, sapper, standard bearer and hornist doubled up means I will end up with a fair number of hornists left at the end of the project as I wont be using these in the line battalions. I will be adding some green stuff changes to the sappers of the first battalions, converting the fanion pole to an axe for added variety.

The 2nd battalions above will be distinguished by the previously mentioned officer and the fact that I will leave the sappers carrying a fanion, I have chosen to go with a mix of figures wearing  breeches and gaiters, and overalls for both battalions of each regiment.

That is me done for this post, all I need to do next is gather some painting sundries and experiment with a nice shade of blue.

Loki

Partizan Haul

I spent yesterday at the Partizan show, helping to run the participation and demo games of the new Napoleonic skirmish rules called Forager. The rules are not currently available, they are due for kickstarter mid to late August this year. Sadly I was so busy talking all day I forgot to take any pictures. However as Brigantes studio has been working alongside Stand to Games on this venture I can assure you good readers that I will have plenty to show in the coming months to make up for it.

So the main point of the post my haul from the show..

A copy of Over the Hills  Napoleonic rules. Having been invited to play a game using these rules recently and having a great day out I have invested in a copy for future use. Handy that I know both authors and will be gaming with them also helps.

Commands and Colors Napoleonics - This is to play with my boys mainly. I do plan on eventually dispensing with the blocks and using 10mm figures but that really is going to be a back burner project, unless I commission the painting to another painter..

Lots of shiny new lead which I alluded to in my previous post and will cover in a bit more detail in a post later this week.As I will be spending the rest of today sorting these out according to my spreadsheet and OOB.

That wraps up this rather short post, so thank you for reading..

Loki

Back and making plans for the year ahead..

Sorry for my absence, work pressures and dealing with my own health, have kept me very occupied for many months. As those who have been following my You tube account will have seen I have not updated that for many months. I have been working though on many work related projects. Forager a new set of Napoleonic skirmish rules, has and will be keeping myself and Kevin at Brigantes Studio for many months to come. I have also been painting Aztecs for another customer, who will be releasing a full range of buildings to accompany them as well as rules, but I am unable to divulge any more information at this time. I have also been commissioned by the authors to paint two very large Napoleonic armies each around 25 battalions plus cavalry and artillery for upcoming supplements to the increasingly popular Over The Hills rules .

This means I have had to make some hard choices, and those affected will be contacted by me directly as I really can not find the time to fit any other work alongside the current commitments listed above, try as hard as I have their are not enough hours in a day and I have struggled to work everything into the time I have, losing even more time as my head got messed up trying to resolve the problem myself and it just will not work out. So I am going to have to bite the bullet swallow a huge dose of pride and let a couple of people down.

Now having said all the above I have decided to commit to a personal project: It is not going to be without issue as time is going to be a major factor that will slow this project down significantly but I am happy for this to run over a couple of years if need be or is more likely to take. Its my own retirement present.

I want to make have a nice 28mm Napoleonic force again, and this time something that I have never owned, so no Saxons, French, British, Russians because I have had them in the past. Austria and Spain are also a no go, with both of these armies being painted on commission by me I do not relish doing either for myself far too much white..

That leaves Prussians, Minor nations, Italians and Wurttemburg but I have dismissed these in favour of Bavaria..

I am using the Ebelsberg 1809 Order of Battle as my reference for this project, which when completed will give me a very sizeable force to use in future games.
I have a thing for the Foundry Range of Bavarians so they will be making the bulk of my force, with some additions coming from the Perry miniatures range, although the latter are a little taller the elements I need from them are going to be on their own bases so should not look out of place.

VII (Bavarian) Corps

Marshal Francois Joseph Lefebvre

• Artillery Reserve: Colonel Calonge
  • Three 12-pdr position batteries (18 guns)
• 1st Bavarian Division: Lieutenant-General Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria
  • Brigade: General-Major Rechberg
    • 1st Habermann Light battalion
    • Leib Regiment (2 battalions)
    • 2nd Prince Royal Regiment (2 battalions)
  • Brigade: General-Major Stengel
    • 4th Salern Regiment (2 battalions)
    • 8th Duc Pius Regiment (2 battalions)
  • Cavalry Brigade: General-Major Zandt
    • Minuzzi Dragoon Regiment (2 squadrons)
    • Prince Royal Chevau-léger Regiment (4 squadrons)
  • Artillery: Two 6-pdr foot batteries, 6-pdr horse battery (18 guns)
• 2nd Bavarian Division: Lieutenant-General Karl Philipp von Wrede
  • Brigade: General-Major Minuzzi
    • 6th Laroche Light battalion
    • 3rd Prince Karl Regiment (2 battalions)
    • 13th Regiment (2 battalions)
  • Brigade: General-Major Beckers
    • 6th Duc Wilhelm Regiment (2 battalions)
    • 7th Löwenstein Regiment (2 battalions)
  • Cavalry Brigade: General-Major Preysing
    • König Chevau-léger Regiment (4 squadrons)
    • Leiningen Chevau-léger Regiment (4 squadrons)
  • Artillery: Two 6-pdr foot batteries, 6-pdr horse battery (18 guns)
• 3rd Bavarian Division: Lieutenant-General Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy
• Brigade: General-Major Siebein
  • 5th Buttler Light battalion
  • 9th Isenburg Regiment (2 battalions)
  • 10th Juncker Regiment (2 battalions)
• Brigade: General-Major Vincenti
  • 7th Günter Light battalion
  • 5th Regiment (2 battalions)
  • 14th Preysing Regiment (2 battalions)
• Cavalry Brigade: General-Major Seydewitz
  • Taxis Dragoon Regiment (4 squadrons)
  • Bubenhoven Chevau-léger Regiment (4 squadrons)
• Artillery: Two 6-pdr foot batteries, 6-pdr horse battery (18 guns)

I will use a 50% reduction to represent each artillery battery, so 3 guns and crew each. The infantry battalions will all be 24 figures. Cavalry will be in 12's, brigade commanders will be based singly while the divisional commands will have 2 or more figures. I have the total figure count at 1104 currently, counting mounted as 2 figs, guns at 3 figs, and infantry/ artillery crews singly
That leaves me now working out which version of Cornflower blue I prefer, the non historical wargamers light blue or the more accurate darker blue as shown in the image below..

Well that's all for now and thanks for reading.

Loki