Pet Peeve no 257 not a review of Perry and Warlord Napoleonic French Infantry boxes

OK so I'm busy painting my way through some French Infantry for Sharp Practice. I was using Perrys and then because I was hitting a painting block switched to Warlord Late French because they're in Greatcoat so far easier to paint. And all is good. I've pretty much rattled through the unit I needed and my core force is now complete. To do that I bought a box from Warlord - actually from a 3rd party supplier for cost reasons, and for some reason this box boils my blood so as it's a Sunday I thought I would share.

First up - the ££££ . 

Warlord are selling this box for £27.50 as of today. I got mine for £22 inc p&p shopping around. The box contains four half box sprues each of six models, two of which are flank company, and four metal command figures. That's £0.98 per figure. The box also contains an info sheet with some paper flags and a set of ammo box decals and a sprue of bases. 

This is the box from Perry Miniatures

It's not quite equivalent as this one has no greatcoated figures. Also the whole box is plastic. Forty-four  figures split into six sprues each of five men for the line companies, a six figure Command sprue (full size) and two four figure half size elite company sprues which are in more active \ skirmishing poses. I should add the line sprues contain arms to allow you to model them as elites in line as well. Cost from Perrys- £25 so £0.57 each. I'm sure I can pick them up for less if I shop around. The box also contains a similar paint guide \ flag sheet and bases. 

Perrys do another box with similar content but half in greatcoat. I didn't get that because I wrongly assumed I would have the fortitude to paint the whole lot in normal uniform so would not need the greatcoat.

So what is my peeve? Apart from the price, it's bloody obvious Warlord are behind the curve here. The Perry boxes are well thought out and FULL of sprues. I can't stress this enough, you feel like you're getting your $$££ worth as the box is chock full with nine sprues to the point it is hard to get it closed again. Also the box has three different sprues in there so you can get a whole unit in plastic. The comparison with the Warlord box is stark. The sprues only fill half the box, the rest is a plastic clamshell holding the four metal command figures plus some foam to hold them in place. I don't know, but to me it looks like Warlord decided not to include the command and skirmishers as plastic to keep the production cost down to one basic plastic sprue. The side effect is that you and I as the punter are paying more for less figures, some in metal, and three layers of packaging. Working with metal requires different tools and techniques than with plastic too. I know the Warlord sprue was conceived and designed a while ago, but so was the Perry. I'd also accept the Warlord sprue is slightly easier to assemble with fewer parts but it's not that much of a bonus. 

Come on Warlord. Surely it is time to redesign this box to be all plastic, including command and flank company, reduce your production costs, save the planet by cutting down on packaging and bump up the value for money to your customers. This is probably the most common of all the Black Powder range to be bought, being Napoleonic French AND Waterloo period, so it is pretty much a flagship product.

Rant over. And to be fair if you buy the Warlord army boxes or starter sets the per figure cost does come down quite a bit, and it also has to be said Perry produce their artillery and other stuff you will need in metal just like Warlord, and at a comparable price.

So am I getting wound up over nothing or do I have a point? What do you think - comment below please       

Cheating Frogs

I think I mentioned I was stalling painting my Sharp Practice French Napoleonics? Before Christmas Wargames Illustrated were giving away a sprue of Warlord French Infantry, and I picked one up to have a closer look - it was free after all. There were six figures on the sprue, all in greatcoat at March Attack. Hmm

Anyway I got a few more sprues by begging from friends (thanks Dave) and then picking up some from the Sprue Shop as I didn't need that many figures. Actually I needed sixteen. Each sprue had four line company guys and a pair of flank types with epaulettes. I needed sixteen line, so four sprues, and I would have eight spare figures to paint up as Grenadiers if I needed them in the future. I suppose I could have carved the epaulettes off them but that seems like a bit of a faff.

As I considered greatcoats cheating and as I was damned to hell for that I felt I should go all the way and just use Contrast paints. May as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb.

So after a couple of tries I discovered that the Warlord ones were very quick to paint and look ok (to me) at table distance. The minimal straps and the greatcoat covering the damned waistcoat really helped. I found I could paint them about twice as fast as the Perry models. In fact the main issue was waiting for the contrast to dry before putting another colour near - my eyesight is getting a bit meh so I do wander over the lines a bit.

So I have rattled out the sixteen needed which brings my Sharp Practice French up to complete for the core force. I will still need some supports adding before they can hit the table, but it feels like the back of this one is broken.

As for what supports? That's an interesting question. The basic French infantry unit is sixteen guys in the 1809-1812 Peninsular list. My usual first call for supports is to chuck in a gun, but the sixteen man units worry me because I think they lack the weight to carry either a melee attack in column or shoot it out with a British line. So my first option will be to add another stand of eight to each of the line units. They're surprisingly cheap at 4 support points each so shouldn't break the bank in points. Then if I have some spare support points I can take a gun, or maybe some Dragoons........

The sharp eyed (should that be Sharpe eyed??) out there will have spotted the problem. I only had sixteen greatcoated figures. So I decided I needed two more sprues. I consulted the Sprue Shop and they were a fiver each, give or take, plus a bit extra for postage. But a full box could be had for £22 inc p&p so it made sense to do that, it would give me all the expansion option I needed, plus a command group.

Which is why my "I've not bought any models this year" meme has lasted a whole seven days. Ah well.

 .  

En Avante Mes Amis!! Vive l'Empereur etc

I realise I've not given much of an update on the Sharp Practice French I was working on. Looking back, I started them in April and now it's October, which tells a story on it's own. Truth is they've been a bit of a slog. I got through the twelve figure Voltigeur unit in short order, but the Ligne have really been a chore. The real issue is the chest area, with all the collars, turn backs, straps and cross belts was driving me to distraction. I decided to give them a break and work on the Quar, but now I'm back on them.

I've finally managed to finish the first 16 figure unit, but it was hard work and they're not exactly my best work, though they will do from "table distance". They all still need the bases finishing but that pretty much is the last step. 

I got so frustrated with the rank and file that I decided to paint a mounted officer, something to look nice. I bought a pack of Perry Miniatures mounted Colonels - way too senior really for Sharp Practice, but looks good. Actually painting him was easy and quite enjoyable. Like the rest, he looks OK from a distance :-)

need to do something with his face :-) 

Anyway, I've decided to try and speed things up. Last month's issue of Wargames Illustrated had a sprue of Warlord Napoleonic French - six figures in greatcoat. Sadly two are flank company, but looking at the others I suspect these will paint up very fast. Thanks to Dave Lakey (Cheers Dave!) I've acquired a second sprue, and I've ordered another pair of sprues from the Sprue Shop which will give me the sixteen I need - I'll also get a base of Grenadiers if I want them. 

To be honest I had considered Warlord when I was starting the project, but Perry's were just so much better value. Getting half the unit free and not having to deal with the metal Warlord command group which looks a bit iffy to say the least certainly helps. I wonder why Warlord went for the mixed material (plastic rankers but metal command)? I assume production cost, but it does make the boxes a bit on the pricey side on a per figure basis. When I was looking at options the Warlord Army sets were reasonable value, but the individual boxes less so. AND I love Perry's models in general.

The other change I'm going for is to add a gun by Victrix. I swapped a metal Perry one with Andy Parkes (Cheers m8). I prefer the plastic Victrix model because it comes with five crew (spot on for Sharp Practice) while the Perry ones only have four.  

Anyway. I've ordered movement trays from Warbases. Once they arrive I'll have all the "bits" I'll need, just need to get them painted. I've had a bit of a think and I'm worried the sixteen man Ligne units are a bit too fragile. Luckily the overall force cost is pretty low so rather than getting another unit I could add some more troops to the original units making at least one of them a much more robust twenty four strong. 

So this is what I'm now aiming for

1 Unit 12 Voltigeurs

2 Units 16 Ligne

Officers and Leaders for the above

Support options:

at least one base (probably 2) of Ligne to be used either as a third unit or to bolster the others

One artillery piece and crew

One small unit of Dragoons

One or two bases of Grenadiers

Musicians \ Standard Bearers - the latter not so much for on table but maybe as a good option for a Deployment point?

That's the "Cunning Plan" anyway  :-)

  

Sharp Practice Naval Landing Party - Safe in the Harbour at Last (almost)

Almost done now so I thought I would update on this project. This was one of those side projects that has taken quite a while to complete. I say complete but in truth there are still a couple of elements missing - more later.

So anyway let's introduce the crew of His Majesty's Frigate Venus

First up the senior officers. Most of these are unnamed as of yet, but that will come. Left to Right our Gallant Commander (who I now realise probably needs an epaulette but there are loads of them spare in the plastic kits), unnamed Bosun and Midshipman Poopdekker, Sally to his friends

Next the other leaders, a hatless Midshipman (who may actually just be a sailor originally but he looked so damned "Sharp" that I thought he needs promoting), and a Marine Officer

Speaking of the Marines, here they are. Two groups in close order, and one skirmishing.

Next up the Jolly Jack Tars - Two groups of skirmishers and two large groups of sailors with mixed weapons.

Lastly the gunners. Although there are two guns here the plan is to only use one (if any) and swap out the gun to represent different sizes of cannon.

And the group shot

So putting these together and getting some pics has highlighted some shortfalls. Firstly I probably need an option of junior leader for the Marine skirmishers. That's a bit of a pain as there are no really suitable figures except some of the firing line types which have extra braid on their shoulders. I'll see what can be done with one of them. I'll also need a Deployment Point - I'm thinking of a Rum Cask and a Marine guard but while I think it sounds good I don't think it makes much narrative sense. Will have a think.

The Venus's are an interesting force. Theyre going to lack any sort of staying power but I think they will be ok as a raiding unit, which I think seems reasonable. Time will tell :-)

All the nice girls love - oh hold on.............. Sharp Practice Napoleonic Landing Party

I think I used that as a title before when rambling about the Fleet Air Arm. Oh well.

Hornblower et al for Sharp Practice. As I mentioned a couple of post ago, I was having a rethink about the composition of my Royal Navy Landing Party. I'm still doing that, but it's firming up. Mr Parkes has delivered the Marine detachment. This means all I need to do is base and organise, and provide Deployment Points etc. I'm painting the leaders and gunners myself, as much to give me a feeling that I have contributing rather than just piggybacking on Andy's work.

I have answered one question, which was "Do the Marines skirmish?" and reading one of the Hornblower novels (it counts as research!) it does mention a Marine skirmish line, so I'm going with that as almost primary source material. Actual primary source material I suppose as the list is based on what The Lardies would call a "Literary Detachment".  

So the force will be:

Leader Status II

2 Groups of 8 Marines 

Leader Status I

1 Group of 6 Marines skirmishing 

Leader Status III

Leader Status I

2 Groups of Sailors with mixed weapons

2 Groups of Sailors with muskets skirmishing

1 ships cannon landed and crew

I can see some problems with this lot. Firstly I will probably have to peel some off to give some Support options. Possibly more concerning is the Sailors are probably all not going to be able form together as Formations, which will make them hard to keep them doing coordinated "stuff". I can't see a solution there. Also I am very scared about the idea of having two groups armed only with melee weapons - that is counter to my usual playstyle to say the least. 

Sharp Practice Napoleonic French

Not the best picture but here we go 

Not sure how this has happened but I've followed up the Austrians by buying a small French Napoleonic force. This does make some sense I think as it gives me an opponent for the Austrians but also for my Royal Navy Landing Party - whenever that gets done.

So the core force is a unit of a dozen Voltigeurs and two units of sixteen line infantry. I'll chuck in an artillery piece and some Dragoons. I'm going all Perry's again except this time I'm going for a Victrix gun and crew to keep everything plastic.

There's no particular completion date on these thankfully, but hopefully by the summer (not saying which!)

Once theyre done I'm hoping to go back to BRS and finish those damned Condors

Cheers

Austrian Update - Core force done !

So following a spurt of painting I can declare the Austrian core force done!

The main force is two units of "German" Line Infantry as below, including their Officers and NCOs

Plus their "Third Rank" deployed as Skirmishers

That completes the "core" force.

I've also painted some supports - a gun and a group of Jagers will suffice for now and I can fill any holes from the generic support list. Looking forward if I want to expand I have some cavalry and a group of Grenadiers to do, but they can wait til I try the rest out.

It's been a bit of a grind, but not a terrible one. I felt I was losing my mojo with a dozen or so Line infantry to do, but then I got my second wind and got through the last couple of batches pretty quickly.

The artillery were no problem but for some reason I really struggled with the Jagers, to the point where I chucked the towel on and declared them "good enough". 

Not certain if I need a mounted officer or not? Will probably add one later. I'm also short of a Deployment Point but looking at them in the cabinet they are missing a Colour Party so I think I will paint one up just to make everything look "right" and also use as a Deployment Point.

Not too shabby for eight weeks on and off.

So now looking for an opponent to do the traditional hammering on their first trip to the table.

For those interested, particularly as a comparison to GW models and a good reason to look into historicals, this lot, 71 figures and a gun, cost about £70 and theres plenty left if I want to expand.  

 

Three is a crowd

This photo sums up my current problem. 

On the left are some Austrian Jagers and artillery. My Napoleonic Austrian force for Sharp Practice is coming along nicely. I'm half way through the core force but need to paint another 20 or so line infantry and some Leaders. I seem to have run into the sand on that one, partly because......

In the centre are some AWI Continental Light Dragoons - again for Sharp Practice. These are not part of any core force - in fact the whole project is almost wrapped up practically - just nine cavalrymen and a Deployment Point and I will have just about everything I need or even want. Having these guys around seems to be distracting me from the Austrians because theyre so close to getting the army "done". Should I just bite the bullet and get on with them, get them finished and out of the way?

And on the right are some Napoleonic Royal Navy and Marine Officers - again Sharp Practice. As I've mentioned before Andy Parkes is doing most of the heavy lifting on this one, leaving me with just some touching up, basing, and the Leaders to paint. The bulk of the landing party is now done - I'll post some pics later, I'm just waiting on the Marines. I've maybe eight figures and a Deployment point to paint. I do think I will enjoy these as theyre all nice dynamic poses as befits our Hearts of Oaks but again they're distracting me from the Austrians.

Dave Lambert has organised a Sharp Practice day at Pendraken Miniatures next month (the gaming room there is great btw) and I've committed to having the Austrians ready for that. It should not be a problem, at least as far as the core force goes, as long as I do not get too distracted.

So basically I need to come up with a "Cunning Plan". Do I park the Navy and AWI and grind the Austrians, or do I get the others "out of the way" first, with the endorphin buzz associated with getting a project done?

answers in the comments please!   

Sharp Practice Napoleonic Naval Landing Party - Progress report

It's been a while but here we go.

Andy Parkes has agreed to paint the Marines (Cheers!) and I'm working on getting the sailors etc based up.

I've got the bases textured and painted, I'm not sure if I'm going to use tufts or flock \ static grass but they will need something.

Midshipman Frederickson

The landing party

Speaking of bases I have decided to rebase the naval gun party to match the rest of the force.

That leaves a need for some Leaders painting up, and a deployment point or two and then I think I can call them done - at least until the Marines arrive. I still need to get the movement trays sorted out - order has gone in to Warbases, and some 3mm magnets. 

So some progress :-)

A theoretical two thirds.............followed by a very real and nice three and a half

So today I finished (almost) the group of "third Rank" skirmishers. That means, if you squint, I've completed two of the three units in my Sharp Practice Austro-Hungarians. The catch is the final third is another big unit of fusiliers, 24 foot plus two officers.

Here are the skirmishers - as you can see they still need the basing doing but I think I'll do the whole force at once to keep some visual homogeneity. 

This doesn't mean the project is getting to an end. Once the core force is complete I'll need another 16 points of supports to use depending on scenarios. "Luckily" the core force is about 64 points, meaning I'll normally not need much extra if facing the French forces which tend to be quite low on base force points. I figure a unit of artillery and maybe some Jager is 14 of those 16 points, leaving a few spare for the odd or scenario supports.

As an aside I had three and a half pints of Elland 1872 Porter, Champion Beer of Britain five times and one of the nicest \ strongest beers I've had in a long time. Sadly the brewery closed it's doors this month so that will most likely be the last I ever get. Sad really.

Before the beer hit me I did manage to stick together the last of the fusiliers so I will hopefully not have too many halts once the production line restarts.

I stuck together 24 Fusiliers (only 16 in this pic) plus a drummer (Musician), NCO , Colour bearer and Pioneer. They will all come in useful as support options.

Tomorrow I'm attending a Sharp Practice day at Pendraken Miniatures, hopefully my Rebellious Colonists will throw off the oppressive yolk of Perfidious Albion! 

Cheers

  

 

General Update - Get off your keyboard and man your brush!

I'm trying to spend time painting rather than playing games on the pc. Turns out this makes my modelling more productive - who would have thought?

Having finished the first unit of Austrians I ran into he soft sand a bit. Basically my desire not to get put off by a large pile of unpainted plastic and lead meant I only assembled enough to do the first unit. Now that is done I discovered I had a few issues.

Firstly I didn't have any assembled figures - easy enough to fis there are boxes of then in easy reach (gulp)

Secondly I didn't have enough 20x20mm mdf bases for a second unit anyway.

Thirdly, I've lost (or possibly used?) the white rattle-can I am using to undercoat them

This has caused an unplanned pause. Luckily I also had spent a little time ruminating over the Austrian list for Sharp Practice and decided I would like to get a group of "Third Rank" skirmishers in the basic force. Historical side note - The Austrian-Hungarian Infantry Battalions of the Napoleonic Period were a little different to many others. The Battalions didn't have a designated Light Company as seen in contemporary British and French units tasked with skirmishing. Instead the Austrians relied on taking troops from the third rank of formations and sending them out to skirmish. It's not an ideal solution to say the least. Mulling this over, I thought it would be more appropriate for my main force to use these as my skirmishers rather than the original Grenzers or Jagers. So I ordered a pack from Perry's along with some extra command etc. These arrived yesterday as I was heading out for the other supplies. I went to Pendraken for some more bases, and picked up some spray paint, so the wheels are back on. 

I've decided its easier to base and put some sand \ grit on the bases before starting to paint - part of the changes I made to the process of painting based on the first unit. 

So the next unit on the production line is the Third Rank skirmishers. I have one group of six which in true Austrian fashion is totally inadequate to screen the main unit in line but I'm thinking that is a bonus as it will encourage me to deploy in columns, at least while I try and manoeuvre.  To be honest this is probably going to be necessary anyway as the 24 man units in line are a bit unwieldy if there is any terrain or obstacle in the way. Memo to self - reread the section in Sharp Practice about changing formation!

Anyway that's all for now - I feel obliged to include a pic so here is the next group of line infantry assembled and ready for undercoat

Cheers! 

     

Austrian Update - First unit done!

 A fortnight after buying them and the first unit is (almost) done. I still need to work on the bases a bit and get some movement trays, but here is the first 24 man line Infantry unit completed. I'm quite chuffed!

They come with two Leaders, an Officer and an NCO. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. I suspect the NCO will be useful once the action starts but as a junior leader all he can do is rally shock really. Anyway here is the boss

Almost certainly a Prohaska

I'm pretty sure I need to keep the momentum up but I need more 20x20 bases so I think the next unit will be either the Jagers or the Artillery unless I can make a quick trip to Pendraken in the next few days.

Hornblower update - Go Big or, OK just go Big

I mentioned the Napoleonic Naval Landing Party (Royal Navy of course) I was putting together for Sharp Practice. 

One of the units I think I'll take is an artillery piece. This is not much of a revelation as it's a staple of the Hornblower stories, a naval gun landed to support the sailors ashore. I have a 28mm gun on a naval carriage ready to go, which I'm classing as a "light" gun. I suspect this is actually a 6 or 9 Pdr so is possibly a medium gun in Sharpe Practice but there is a bonus in flexibility I suppose.  I based it on a 40x20mm base (just the gun) with the five crew on 20x20 bases, and chuck in a bit of based scatter gives me enough bases to fill a standard movement tray from Warbases which I like using to speed movement up. 

I was digging through the spares box and found a rather larger naval gun. This came originally from (of all places) a Dungeons and Dragons miniatures blister pack. No idea why they did it but gift horses etc. This got me thinking. In Sharp Practice you can get bigger guns, and the big ones are very intimidating indeed on the receiving end. The other factor involved is no matter the size, in game terms they all have five crew - a box I have already ticked. I figure if I can get the big gun on a 40x20 base I can swap it out with the same crew so I have the option of a heavy gun!

There is rather a lot of handwaving and fast talking that will be needed at this point as to how \ why such a big gun is ashore, as it looks like it may even be a 24 or 32 Pdr

and I will probably have to put some planking on the base to at least show willing that the crew have thought about the size and weight of the thing. 

Next I'll have to think about Deployment Points........

Hornblower update - a bit of a rethink

My initial thoughts on the makeup of my Naval Landing Party for Sharp Practice were as follows:

1 unit of 3 bases of 8 Royal Marines

1 unit of 6 skirmishing sailors with muskets

1 unit of 12 sailors with mixed weapons - boarding pikes, pistols etc.

1 Light gun and crew - I have a couple of bullocks to stand in as a limber team

The Marines were to be classed the same as normal British Line troops. The skirmishing sailors as Irregular skirmishers, and the other sailors as "Tribal" massed infantry with tomahawks as suggested on the Lard Island forum. So far so good. The sizes of the units is based more on what is available in the blisters from Perry Miniatures as much as anything else.

I've been rethinking this a bit. The proportions feel a bit wrong, particularly the preponderance of Marines over sailors, so I an thinking about a reshuffle. I'll reduce the Marines to only 2 bases of Marines and possibly using the excess to form a unit of skirmishers (Do RMs train as skirmishers???), and adding a second group of both musket armed sailors and melee types. That will change the mix up a bit and give me some options for some support points. This is all dependent on Andy Parkes agreeing to paint some more figures to match the ones he already has done, but he is a Fine Chap so I have some hope there.

What do you think?

Progress on Austrians

Quick update. I'm wary of my history of starting many projects but ending few. The issue is painting - sometimes fatigue, but sometimes just being put off by the magnitude of the task.

To try and avoid this I'm deliberately breaking the Austrians down into small and hopefully easily digestible batches. My initial thoughts were doing them in groups of eight, which coincidentally match the size of a group in Sharp Practice. I did complete a group, but found it to be a bit of a slog, so I think I'll try groups of four moving forward.

Anyway here is my first group. Sharp eyed among you will identify them as IR Nr 4 in homage to my old friend John Henderson, who was one of the first "proper" wargamers I got to know and something of an inspiration.

Anyway, enough keyboard action, time to grab a brush and make a start on the second group

Cheers

Project 2024. Austrians for Sharp Practice

I went to Vapnartak in York on Sunday. The cunning plan was to pick up some Austrians to build a Sharp Practice force, using Perry Miniatures. This is going to be my main project for 2024. There is no "official" SP Austrian list but there are a couple of suggestions on the Lard Island forum and I'm going with what looks like a boring but reliable core force as follows:

Austrian Infantry Column 1809+

Leader III (Hauptmann/Captain)

Leader I (Fähnrich/Ensign)

3 Groups of 8 Line, Musket (German or Hungarian)

Leader II (Oberleutnant/1st lieutenant)

3 Groups of 8 Line, Musket (German or Hungarian)

Leader I (Unterleutnant/2nd lieutenant)

1 Group of 6 Grenzers, Musket

64 Points ( I need to check that). That gives me two very solid infantry units and a small group of skirmishers. I think theyre going to be solid but not very flexible, but I can add some variety through the support options. One drawback with the Austrians is their Level 1 Leaders are not able to command other units. That's a problem because they're not very versatile, but on the other hand it does mean they're available to keep their units together when the crap starts flying. 

That was the plan, but as folks know, plans never survive contact with the enemy and this was no exception. 

The first problem was the 48 line infantry. Perry's do a box of plastics containing exactly 48 models. Sadly this includes a colour party, some officers, musicians etc. All essential for "normal" games but extras to a SP list. I suppose I could have picked up an extra sprue from somewhere but I figure a second box will give me options to expand later to do Grenadiers etc. So two boxes of Austrian Infantry. This isn't so much of a problem as convention stalwart Dave Thomas always does deals at his stall, in this case 3 boxes for £55, rather than the £22 each, so it would be rude not to.

Next up the Grenzers. I intended to pick up a blister of skirmishing Grenzers - that would be six figures. I'd need a figure for the Officer but it seemed a stretch to buy a Command pack.  As it happens this was not a problem, or rather it was, because Dave T didn't have any with him. I did a quick rethink and bought some Jagers and Command - I was going to get some as support options anyway. Jagers are very good but expensive, basically the same as British Riflemen.

Speaking of support options, I fancied an artillery piece so picked up a 6Pdr Wurst (horse artillery). The only problem here is there are only four crew in the blister - SP artillery needs five, but I'm sure I will be able to find a stand in somewhere.

Lastly - the third box to get the deal - I picked up a box that can be built as Dragoons or Cuirassiers.

All in all that should give me plenty of troops to build my force, with a  fair choice of support options. 

After getting home I had a bit of a rethink and decided to change the core force a little. I'll totally drop the Grenzers and replace them with "Third Rank" skirmishers. Austrian Battalions didn't have a designated Light Company like the British and French. Instead they were supposed to provide a skirmish screen by detaching men from the third rank of their three rank formation. In SP theyre not very good, but they're really only there to screen the main force so that's not a disaster. So my plan will be to replace the Grenzers with these "Third Rankers" Perrys do a pack of fusiliers skirmishing, and I could pick up a Command pack which would give me some spare officer types which will provide some different poses to the plastic ones. 

So that's the plan. Let's see if it holds together, particularly when I start to try and paint all those white uniforms!

Black Seas - First look

I wandered into my local games store this afternoon (Asgard Wargames - purveyor of plastic and white metal to the discerning gamer) and noticed on the "hobby table" their demo copy of Warlord's new Napoleonic Age of Sail game Black Seas has arrived. Interest sparked.

Intrigued, I picked the rules up and took a seat to have a read through. I should explain here I have been quite critical of Warlord's last couple of releases. Cruel Seas was quite buggy, and SPQR was basically unplayable as written. Both needed extensive corrections \ FAQs within a week of release. In this SPQR was by far the worse. Most of the problems with Cruel Seas were omissions or editing, and though some of this was irritating or puzzling, the game was still fun. Don't ask about searchlights. I really like Cruel Seas now. Sure there are some bits that need house ruling (err searchlights) and stuff that is counter intuitive but actually the core game is fine, and the models are excellent. SPQR has different problems which I've covered in an earlier blog post so wont go into again. Both these games had exquisitely illustrated rule books, and were lauded pre launch by Warlord and others as being the next great thing, only to cause quite a lot of displeasure when they were actually in the hands of the players. So given the previous two, I was quite cynical about Black Seas, which seems to have been "inspired" by Cruel Seas, and was receiving the same pre release fanfare. I decided to wait to let someone else take the risk of buying only to find another badly playtested or edited Warlord product.

So here was my chance. While Jamie W sat assembling the models (more later) I started to read.

Jamie hard at work

Grabbed and settled down for a read

What follows is just a first read through, and obviously the proof of the pudding is in the eating, but I feel a warm glow of enthusiasm - Warlord may well have got this right. The rules are of course lavishly illustrated - Warlord have a partnership with Osprey that means they can access the Osprey illustrations from their myriad of books, but the rules seem, well at first glace, pretty good. I should make a caveat here. These are an Age of Sail era rules set. The direction of the wind really is important, because you just can't sail into it - physics and all that. Black Sails  (BS- I think they may have needed to think about the title a bit more) allows you to do just that. This was highlighted before and the explanation I heard from some Warlord guy was that a captain would know how to get the most out of his crew and ship. This is of course BS, because, well, physics. It's like suggesting you can fly a plane backwards. No matter how good a captain or crew, physics and gravity tends to trump skill. HOWEVER there is an "advanced" rules section that contains a perfectly playable and reasonably simple set of movement rules that acknowledges, well , physics. For the life of me I don't know why these are not in the "main" section. I suspect there is a concern somewhere in Warlord that they need to keep it simple, which I think is misplaced. Most gamers can handle the idea of wind direction  - it's not rocket science. So that's movement out of the way. Shooting is D10s and seems familiar, sharing some DNA with Cruel Seas, but there was nothing in there to make me pull a face (except maybe speed modifiers to hitting a target - not sure how much that is really a factor when most ships are moving at walking speed, but not a great problem). Boarding seems simple and reasonable. In fact on this first read through the rules look pretty solid and complete.

So I while I was sat reading I asked Jamie what the models were like to assemble and he said "Dead easy". By the time I had finished my read-through (maybe half an hour) he had assembled all the models and was cracking on painting the first Frigate.

Frigates assembled

Brigs assembled

I turned my attention to the other stuff in the demo set. The ship cards were good quality - seemed the same general thickness \ quality as Cruel Seas ship cards. The various counters and other card punched stuff was very good heavy duty card too. In fact the only concern would be the paper map sheets which are the same as the Cruel Seas ones, and will probably get replaced. The other carry over from Cruel Seas was the wake markers and the paper "clips" to record damage. I've no issues with the wake markers, the clip things didn't work in CS as they were a bugger to get out of the sheet and then tore easily - and I suspect the same will happen here, but it's not a major issue.

By the time I had finished rooting around and flicking through the box Jamie had done this using Citadel "Contrast" paints. You could have knocked me down with, well something appropriately naval. Literally less than an hour from sprue to this

So the models. Beautiful. Yes I know they're in the "wrong" scale for traditional Age of Sail games, but on this one I'm not buying into the argument that they chose the scale to make sure you bought their models. The scale means they can make these as plastic kits, and the detail is superb. The pre printed paper sails are a bold move, but they seem to work well - as Jamie has shown. 

I can't do a full review of the rules - you have to play them to do that, but many of my concerns about the rules have been allayed, and my first impressions are very positive. The models are - well the ones I saw are first class. Or should that be First Rate? If the first impression holds true, I think Warlord have really hit the sweet spot here.

Sharp Practice 2 - a very small amount of progress and some competition

Not a great deal to report on the SP front - partly because I had run out of primer, and partly because work keeps intervening.

I have however managed to resupply with white primer and so this afternoon the first group of the Trunptonshires have been undercoated.

Meanwhile news has reached HQ that the opposition are pulling ahead in the race to get the toys on table first. That Dastardly Frog Paul has sent his test shots of his first group

Clearly these are before tidying up and matting down but already the damned French are winning the race.

And to make matters worse Steve Irvin has decided to throw his hat in the ring with some Westphalians to support the Corsican Ogre  - again first test but the sign of things to come

Sharp Practice 2 - Some more progress

Deciding to mix metaphors and strike while the iron was hot I grabbed my trusty cutters, X-Acto and glue. I perused the instruction sheet and decided to start on Sergeant Grout with his half pike of office. At that point the wheels came off the plan. The box does not contain the arm holding the pike! I double checked both sprues and here simply isn't one. Bit of an own goal for Victrix. Slightly deterred I ploughed on, with the aim of completing one group of eight infantry. Now I was getting a close look and feel it is clear the plastic is slightly different to the stuff Perrys use - possibly a little brittler? There were also some areas of flash that had to be removed with a knife, and lastly some sink holes in the side of some shakos. On the plus side there are some really nice details - lots of mutton chop sideburns and some battered shakos, and the packs have some great touches such as a spare pair of boots. Actual assembly was not too bad - once you worked out which pair of arms produced which general pose. As I mentioned earlier you have to put the packs on, but that is't a hardship. There is some flexibility - you can manage a marching pose for instance, but you only get 4 walking rankers on the sprue so you cannot make the whole unit marching. In the end I decided on a rear rank marching and front rank advancing. Pic below. I don't think these look bad at all, and were not too painful to assemble. The details seem a little "soft" but most acceptable overall. Here's the first assembled group of 8

  

Sharpe Practice 2 - Dramatic Personae

My Sharp Practice force is based around the second British list - A Light Column. I thought I would run my Leaders through the character generation section of Sharp Practice. Here's what I got:

Captain The Honourable William Fortesque Snort - Commander of the Light Company, Trumptonshire Foot and a Level 3 leader in Sharpe Practice.
William is from an old military family with wealth and influence. He is an honourable man, competent, good looking if a little short, but quite charming to speak to. Unfortunately under his wing is the youngest son of Lord Belborough of Winkstead Hall, and co-incidentally the Colonel of the Regiment. The Colonel has asked Snort to show his son the war and help make a man of him, but in reality young Roger is only really interested in engineering and mechanics and other such nonsense.

Under his Command are the Light Company, consisting of three groups of Light Infantry each 8 figures strong. He is assisted by Sergeant Grout - a no nonsense NCO (level 1 Leader)

Supporting the Trumptonshires is a section of The Rifles consisting of two groups of six rifle armed skirmishers and their officer and sergeant.

The Rifles are commanded by Lieutenant Richard (Dick) "Chippy" Minton (level 2 Leader). Minton's family are "new money" - in this case his father was a very successful furniture and cabinet maker, and he is rather well off as a result. Richard himself is thought of as a "Bit of a Bounder" by his fellow officers - not really a Gentleman and too forward with the ladies. He is a good looking and affable chap of average height and with an athletic physique which has come in rather handy when he has been forced to leave through the window of a ladies' boudoir on more than one occasion!

He is assisted by Sergeant Paddy Murphy, a very reliably Irish NCO (level 1 leader)

In all the force comes to 66 points, which is not good. They are likely to be the higher rated force in any game against the French and will probably get little in the way of support. On the other hand both the Light Infantry and the Rifles are excellent troops and have good leaders, so they should do well.

Only time will tell