Friday 3 December 2021

A new project begins ……

Well we all need a new project don’t we ? , as a number of my projects have reached the scale where they are slowing down I felt it was time to kick off with something new. This certainly wasn’t a rash decision as I have been pondering for many months what direction I might go. Of course this could be quite a long post about other future projects which I have in mind and which one day may come to fruition but as a few of you will know I quite enjoy holding these projects in my head, sometimes for many years, I’ll occasionally write or jot down a few notes and then come back to them a long time later. But I try to avoid too much formality in my hobby so the list normally stays in my head.

Anyway a long winded introduction to my new project the Peninsular War which I have chosen to do in 28mm. The first unit finally got to the painting desk.

The 47th Ligne Regiment 
Here they are in attack column the figures are Warlord the flag Victrix, I’m not a button counter but feel these are good enough for me, the good thing is they are no harder to paint than AWI 

Thought I might just expand on a few questions I have had to answer myself before starting this project. Why Napoleonic ? Well like so many it is my first love and was my introduction to the hobby, my original Airfix collection does very occasionally get some table time which is quite nostalgic but slightly frustrating as it never quite gives the spectacle or the sense of battle I am looking for. Why 28 mm ? This is a tough question these days with so many scales and options I can definitely see myself collecting Naps in a smaller scale in the future but for the Peninsular campaign I feel I have a chance in 28 mm of achieving the scale I am looking for. Perhaps the biggest push has been my success at the AWI in about 2 years I have collected and painted enough figures for both sides for a sizeable battle. I like the feel of the 24 man units and as the initial stages of the Peninsular develops it will allow smaller skirmish scale battles. My plan will be to field skirmishers on individual bases which can be ranked up if needed. Ideal for the 95th ! This means I know I won’t have to wait too long before seeing some action even if larger battles take a bit longer, the 24 man units break down easily for larger battles as well. Why the Peninsular ? you shouldn’t really need to ask this question should you ? I guess variety, colour, terrain….yes I plan some new buildings but of course a small factor is it builds on my Al Andalus collection. Why Warlord ? Having answered in my head the questions above I spent a lot of time looking at figure options. Having Perry in AWI and ACW it was an obvious option and some of these will find their way into the collection. But in the end I plumbed for the Warlord starter armies which I was able to purchase at a ridiculously cheap cost. With the addition of some skirmishers ? I’m getting a box of the 95th for Christmas, gives me a good starting point. Those sharp eyed will have spotted a box of cavalry from the show a couple of weeks ago ๐Ÿ™‚ perhaps the most fun is allowing me some time to research nonsense like plume colours and flags such a lot of fun and options for me to mess things up ๐Ÿ˜€!!!!!

Anyway enough of my ramblings this project will bumble along in the background ๐Ÿ‘




28 comments:

  1. Looks great Matt...why not the Peninsula would be my question! If you want to field the Brits, there really isn't much of an option unless you ant to constantly refight hake a sizes batteles in the 100 Days......not sure I would go withw Warlord over Perry although I have a fair few Portuguese Battalions from the former.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Keith, why not indeed was my view ๐Ÿ‘ I guess from what I have seen that the Warlord and Perry mix pretty well with consistent painting style and basing. So we might well see some perry and of course Victrix. I did like the Peninsular starter armies though giving a really good step into the project.

      Delete
  2. The launch of a new project is a great way to end the year on a high note with much anticipation. For my 28mm Napoleonic project, I picked the Peninsular War too. I felt that building armies would be self-regulating unlike like my MASSIVE multi-National armies in 15mm. Peninsular battles are typically smaller than the “main” theatres of operations and scale nicely to smaller actions.

    Looking forward to watching this project develop. You are already off to a fine start. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am certainly enthusiastic and have already made up the next unit for undercoating . I do like the idea of your MASSIVE 15mm armies though, i will focus on this for now and see what happens in the future. ๐Ÿค”

      Delete
  3. Really nice job Matt, look forward to seeing it build.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Norm think of me as the tortoise slow and steady ๐Ÿ‘

      Delete
  4. Lovely work Matt! I also start with napoleonic Sweden :) three cavalry models ready, hehe.
    Best regards

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Michal who doesn’t love Naps ๐Ÿ˜€

      Delete
  5. Great start to your Peninsula project, Matt. I also loved the Airfix Napoleonic figures; particularly the French set in Bardin coats. I also started 28mm Napoleonics with the Peninsula using Sharp Practice for skirmish. It became a slippery slope after that! Have fun! ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A slippery slope ๐Ÿ‘ looking forward to it

      Delete
  6. A slippery slope indeed but you will enjoy every minute as much has we will enjoy following your progress.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Phil jumping in with both feet ๐Ÿ‘

      Delete
  7. Splendid stuff Matt…
    Napoleonics can be a bit of a fuss with all that piping,cords,founders,fol-de-rol and La-de-da…
    But it’s worth it in the end…although I would avoid 40 man Hussar units๐Ÿ˜

    All the best. Aly

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Aly as soldiers on campaign my regiments are in fighting uniforms plenty of dirt and grime hiding all that lace I hope

      Delete
  8. And the best of luck! I look forward to seeing this move to completion PDQ.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don’t hold your breath David but the second unit is prepared already๐Ÿ‘

      Delete
  9. Replies
    1. mad, Mad, MAd MAD ….crazy and I love it ๐Ÿ˜€

      Delete
  10. The first unit looks really great Matt:). A sensible decision to go with the Peninsular for the reasons you mentioned and I look forward to seeing how this project progresses.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Steve I feel now one unit is done it is a real project ๐Ÿ‘

      Delete
  11. A great start to a new project.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Neil more things to keep me busy in the winter months ๐Ÿ˜€

      Delete
  12. These look great Matt and it will be fun following this project. You can always branch out into a few allied regiments once you tire of painting French.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lawrence… branching out now there is a dangerous idea ๐Ÿ™‚

      Delete
  13. Good luck with your new project! I’m actually surprised that you weren’t already 100 figures deep into 28mm Naps. ๐Ÿ˜€

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Stew I will of course be sharing progress as it develops but I don’t expect significant progress for some time.

      Delete
  14. Lovely looking Napoleonic French, I like the warlord figures but couldn't find them at a comparable cost to Perry which are obviously really good, I got one of the army deals from Perry which are really good value,looking forward to lots more!
    Best Iain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Iain I managed to get a very low price on the two starter armies from warlord and they are a pretty good deal anyway. I anticipate some Perry figures as things develop….๐Ÿ‘

      Delete