OK, so after successfully spraying the bases, I have the two battalions mounted and ready to work with. The figs are lightly glued on with pvc / Elmer's , so will snap off easily for an alternative arrangement should I dislike this one after using it for a bit.
Below: Musketeer Regt. Von Donop. Four "Divisions" of 6-7 figures, with halberd-toting NCOs keeping things in order. Command by Sash and Saber, Figs by Old Glory.
Same, more of a forward angle and "gamer's eye view" at my table.
Below: Fusilier Regt. Von Lossberg. All figs Old Glory. The S&S command figs are just a bit more animated and have just a bit more character. They do have some odd proportions, including an officer who's a bit of a pinhead and large, chunky legs. As they wear black gaiters, it isn't a big deal, but something to keep in mind. Judge for yourself if you like them!
Same, more of a gamer's eye view of the unit.
It may be hard to tell from the above pics due to the lens distortion of the camera, but all the figures are afixed to the base so that every part of them - including arms, swords, anything that sticks out - is entirely WITHIN the edge of the base. This way they won't bang into figures when they are fighting my units, anyway. This is one of my new rules of basing, about which I have said so much in "Spear to the Strife".
Now, the battalions form for action! Lossberg up front flanked by the 3lb battalion guns, with Donop entering the field of battle, conveniently passing in review of their British general.
"Salutations Herr Ingles Nook! the Von Lossberg battalion is here to turn the tide in favor of King George III - where shall we deploy to rout the rebels?"
"My Compliments, Col. Witezell. Do put your command onto the line of battle over there."
Von Donop marching into the table, erhm, field of battle.
The Fusiliers advancing...one is eyeballing the supporting guns, "pew-pew!"
But the advance is not without casualties. Mein Gott! The Ober gefreitenstagfrankenfuhrer ist Kaput!!"
"I said get in step, dumpfkopf!!! Or I will put this pike where sun not shine!" Sergeants...same all over.
*Look, Johann still can't keep the step* Think the drummer and NCO to left
I like to have little vignettes on these big bases when possible, even if it is just a simple story. The command figs from Sash & Sabre cost more, but I think they're worth it due to their characterful poses and animation. However, it can get repetitive...I can't have every regiment with this same vignette, right? So a mix of command figs is preferable.
Gaming Frontage. The large battalions take up almost two feet with their little guns. My office table has about 4x3' of space, so I think I will actually be able to get away with some "imagi-nation" playing of OHW scenarios. The extra width of the Units [NT recomments up to 6" for a Unit, these are 8"] will be accomodated by the extra table width. I will almost certainly shorten the ranges, also, for a 4" short and 8" long range.
This has me pretty motivated now! They look good and are clearly "a Blue team", so I'm thinking of going White with AWI French as well. Getting them will enable me to do actions in the Americas and the Islands. Some of the local guys already have plenty of Brits and Americans, so I'll save those brigades for later.
So I'm thinking the Hessians need:
- Grenadiers,
- Lt. Cavalry
The French would need:
- 4 Battalions
- Guns
- Lt. Infantry [Go Green with Queens Rangers...I've a book about them that will without doubt have me wanting to paint the regiment!]
- Lt. Cavalry [continue Green with Queen Ranger cav]
This would give me a full OHW force for both sides, so I can do some imagi-nation fighting in Europe as well as the Americas. Heck, may as well throw in some Indians in the future. And I'll be able to contribute forces with the guys that I don't think any of them have.
"Vorwarts!"
OK, so it is time to get moving on some Hessian basing...but I realize I've no bases ready.
I scrounge around, and find ten bases 2x3" which I think will suit, per last post. However, they are not painted. As they are little more than compressed cardboard / wood / mdf? whatever, I am sure that a good wetting will ruin them, and I don't want that. For their flaws with the beveling [looks cool, hard to pick up] the plastic FoW bases are at least build to last.
So, my goal is to get good bases, seal them properly with paint, then make them worth looking at long-term! My poison of choice is still "Make it Suade!" for that "oh so 70s" look, but it happens to exactly match my gaming cloth that I typically use, and the browns make the greens and other highlights "POP!" on camera for the blog etc.
One problem - it is snowing, and the temperature is in the 'teens this whole week. Yet, it is New Year's Day and I want to make a big splash with moving forward on gaming projects! Yet spray painting "Make it Suade!" in the house is not a great idea b/c it stinks like heck! I could heat the garage up with a space heater for a couple hours, but that only gets it into the 50s, and it takes forever - plus it makes me nervous not being able to see what's going on with a space heater personally.
I need a better solution that will insure maximum drying time yet not get me into trouble with Home 6. Thinking...
In the garage is a huge piece of cardboard...in the furnace room there's a small fan,,,first floor bathroom is rarely used...hmmmm.
Cardboard is in bathroom, it opens up on the one side like a double-door.
Cut in half and stacked it makes a nice little chute to channel spray paint stink out the window. I need something to hold this contraption up at window level and grab Home 6s drying rack which is just the right height! Flip the other half of the box and now have a tunnel.
Still, this will stink. Counter-stink measures include: Sandlewood scented candle in nearby kitchen, cinnamon candle in nearly living room, and mistletoe scented candle in even closer dining room. OK OK, so it will be a confounded melange of scent, but who cares???
OK, some cross-venting will do, from the foyer to the dining room...just 2" or so...
What a confounded idjit! I set all this up and now can't reach the window to open it...and it is locked...I grab an old crutch we have laying in the play room [kid likes playing with it...really!] and ta-daaa! latch is open, window is open [note snow falling], fan is placed. I also place small space heater next to me, creating a waft of hot air heading to the window where the fan is blowing it out. I spray the bases on the diagonal, as it is more efficient - I only have to do one side on diagonal then the other.
Of course, I flip bases over after an hour as I want no side of the base to be vulnerable to moisture. The space heater is perfect, makes the air very hot and very dry, and somehow wins over the fresh air wafting in from outside. I spray again.
Another hour later, the second side is dry. They still smell a funny, but that can be helped. I put the dry bases [they are dry, but still the paint is "settling" you might say] in the furnace room on fresh cardboard on top of the returned drying rack. The one with paint and stink on it goes - outside.
I fold up the cardboard, remove the fan, tidy up and ta-daaa! Bathroom looks fine!
Just don't look in the shower, please!
This worked very well! total time was about 3-4 hours to set up, spray two sides, and have the items dry enough to handle, ie not tacky at all.
We never use the downstairs shower, so I can just leave all this in there. I've now got a few more spray projects in the works [including 15mm WWII and modern micro armor], and it really doesn't take long at all!
So to summarize:
- small room, easily vented to outside with small fan.
- space heater, cardboard "tunnel" to channel the spray "mist" outside.
- good height to window...a drying rack worked here.
- Open window, turn on fan, spray with door closed. Exit upon completion.
- Drying time about an hour.
- Spray other side. Drying time another hour.
- Once dry enough to handle, leave overnight in furnace room to really get the paint dried out.
- Next day, ready to use!
Wife arrived home from trip, didn't comment on any funny smells at all. Not that she's particularly blessed to have a keen power of scent, but still, "Make it Suade!" is the Blackbeard's Delight of paint scents, so...
Mission Accomplished!
Previously, I got indecisive on what to do with these 25mm figures. I toyed around with
selling them and getting smaller figures for a more One-Hour Wargames concept. I investigated 6mm, 10mm, and 15mm, [click] all of which have a better figure to table ratio than 25mm. However, I've found it hard to part with them - they are well painted [if I do say so myself!] and there's most of a balanced brigade almost ready for the table. In the end, I decided to go with getting French to oppose them, and they could be 7YW or Imagi-nation as well as AWI. So here they stay [unless I've another bout of indecision!].
Well, it is time to put these guys on bases. At the very least, they need to be lightly glued to something to prevent breakage / scratching while I experiment with developing AWI rules.
My immediate solution is to fit it into the general style that suits both the figure size and what's happening locally. In this case, a gaming pal has his 28mm AWI mounted 2x2 on a 1.5" square base. For my larger Hessian battalions that will come out to 3x2-3 on a 2x2" square base. I say 3 figs x 2-3 figs because I want to create the "feel" of that third rank the Hessians used through 1776-1777 [at least], and because I like differentiating units a bit, so the purpose for using Hessians in AWI is not just historical or because they look cool [they do!] but because they offer another set of characteristics by:
- being large battalions that fight three ranks deep, and,
- marching and performing formation evolutions a bit slower than their British allies [post-Nova Scotia training].
So here is where I'm headed at this point: British according to 1764 regulations:
from "With Zeal and with Bayonets Only" by Spring, Matthew H. [click]
I love how this looks from the top - it shows a force that is ready to fight, and how they do it.
And here is how Frederick the Great did it, which is a primary tactical influence on the Hessian army:
from "The Army of Frederick the Great" by Christopher Duffy [click]
I've included the caption so you can see who was doing what. It is clear that every platoon of about 40-60 men had about 5 sergeants behind and a sergeant and a lieutenant to each side to maintain order and keep them in the ranks!
This diagram says something about the unit, the soldiers, the war, everything!
I'd like my units to look more like this. However, game mechanics will certainly play into it. For example, as I plan my Hessian Battalions, I also have to figure out how they will fight according to the game mechanics - which aren't decided yet! So as at least a temporary measure, I will need an "intermediate" basing scheme that allows me to try it out on table.
I think the 4 Division system of maneuver will play into my game, so it might look like this:
But it does push the color party to the left side a bit and splits the colonel off onto a different base. Not sure I like that. Also, the location of the color party and colonel would be nice to show during formation changes, so I am thinking they'll need a separate base to move around - which would also permit it to be centered. That might look like this:
The main game mechanic question is "will the color party base be a marker / indicator or an actual fighting base?"
Also, with 5 bases, the formation risks looking a bit lopsided, unless I have the sixth stand of grenadiers marching around with them, and they were often removed and put together as a composite grenadier battalion according to the needs of the generals. So it would be nice to have the flexibility to declare that the color party bases are or are not actual fighting bases in which case it would be good for them to look the same [for those occasions when they do fight as just another base].
I think that's what I'm going to be running with at this point - as stated above, it is just an intermediate step, so I will lightly base each figure with some elmer's glue which is easy to snap a figure off from.
