Some British

Two posts? In one day? I might need a lie down! To go with the French, some British.

Firstly, an unarmed infantryman in forage cap. In my games I think he's going to be a batman or messenger. I'd have liked to have him without the backpack, but the conversion work in doing that I'll leave for another day. The head is from the French sprue, so I'm not sure if the cap is quite right, and I've guessed colours based on a figure in Uniforms of the Peninsular Wars, substituting facing colours.



The next is a drummer, in the reversed-facings coat. It's been a bit different painting some green.



The drum on the Victrix models is a bit fiddly to assemble, and casting-wise not the highlight of the set, but painted and on the table it looks fine.

Lastly, someone else not in red- an RFA officer, in the traditional blue coat. The pose is a conversion, with an outstretched hand as if ordering his men.



I'm particularly proud of the face on this model; it's probably the best I've done on my Napoleonics. I tried to photograph it closer, but I didn't get the resolution or focus quite right.



The head, I should mention, comes from the British foot sprue, and not the RFA sprue. One of the great joys of plastics is the almost endless variety in mixing and matching parts.

Some French

Right, my first proper post in aaages! Here are some pictures of the French I've been working on: a grenadier, left, and a voltigeur, right.



Largely these have been painted as the others on my blog, although the blue of their uniforms is GW's Enchanted Blue with an Asurmen blue wash. It's a much bolder effect, similar to the red+wash I've done on my British. They're both lacking packs and swords, both of which I paint separately.



My first Eagle-bearer, sadly lacking the colours at the moment until I decide whether to do the flag myself, or use a paper one.

A Change of Name

You may have noticed, my blog has had a change of name. "En Avant!" was okay, but it's a fairly cliché term in Napoleonic gaming and fandom. Instead, I've named my blog after one of the most interesting Napoleonic articles on Wikipedia.

Lord Uxbridge's Leg

Uxbridge lost his leg at Waterloo, which was only the beginning for that poor appendage. Apparently, the original leg led quite a life as a tourist attraction after it's amputation. Uxbridge (as Marquess of Anglesey) also lent his name to the artificial leg designed for him, which featured moving toes.

So then, a worthy (and apt) new name for my blog!

Happy New Year!

Well, this is my first post of 2011, and a chance to reflect on how I want things to go this year.

Paint More

In many ways, painting is the real hobby here. Most gamers probably spend many times more time painting and collecting than actually playing, but it's something of late I've done increasingly less of. Part of it is down to the long winter nights and my lack of good artificial light to paint by, but more of it is down to inertia. For a relaxing activity, painting is surprisingly draining, and it's easier to switch on the Idiot Box than get out the brushes.

So this year I'm setting myself targets. Of course, the danger with targets is that standards will drop, and I like painting to my best. Hopefully, I'll get the best result which will be more miniatures painted well. This will then let me do my second resolution, which is...

Game More, Game Better

I had one evening of gaming last year. It was fun to be wargaming again, but it was deeply lacking, as we committed every wargaming sin in the book. We had unpainted miniatures, proxy miniatures, unpainted proxy miniatures, no table covering and wooden blocks for terrain. Aesthetically, it was horrible, but I'll say again, it was good to be wargaming.

This year then, priority number one is to build a game-board that can be easily stored and brought out for games. A 6'x4' piece (or two 6' x 2' pieces) of MDF, covered appropriately, will work wonders. If it can be kept a generic green/brown, it can be pressed into service for most of our battles. Priority number two is to run good games, where there are objectives and tactical considerations beyond "kill everything", and the rules come to more than "roll more dice than your opponent". This hopefully will let me do resolution number three...

Blog More

I wrote ten blog posts here¹ last year, of which four had no pretty pictures whatsoever. I feel like I'm turning into this guy. Blogging is supposed to be a way to share progress, so this lack of blogging is understandable given my lack of progress. If I'm painting and gaming more, I'll have more to talk about!


¹I haven't included my 6mm blog in this, but the situation over there is much the same. Too much inertia, not enough painting, not enough content.

That is the plan for 2011, then. Hopefully, in the not-too-distant-future, I'll have some shiny new pictures for you! In the meantime, have a great 2011.