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On the last parcel there were the much needed guns and sailors for the Gunboat.
The company of Highlanders on board come as an afterthought!
Enjoy!
Omdurman has now all the troops in 6MM needed to do the wargame my way.
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I have been very lazy and tardly to show those 6MM Baccus proxies… they have been in the cabinet for months (or weeks)… and they deserved a Post. Probably the less mentioned action of Balaklava!
My collection of 6MM is slowly growing (under control I like to think… lol).
This action has always been a favourite of mine.
The Russians are in fact german cavalry from the Franco-Prussian war… used just to give a sense of perspective!
Enjoy!
Those were the first Baccus 6mm I ever painted myself!
I only have the British Army… well not true as my French Zouaves, Turcos and FFL from North Africa are also usable… is a long history… but to make it short: I first bought proxies for THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (Peter from Baccus helped me to find the adequate proxies that come from a variety of Napoleonic nationalities in the Baccus range)… I painted those myself… the first ever Baccus 6mm I ever painted… I loved the result… and since then I slowly built the rest…first was first and BALAKLAVA was completed adding the 93rd Highlanders, some turks (in fact egyptians from my colonial range) and some British Horse Artillery… Then I confronted the problem of the British Guards Brigade -with bearskin- had to do that myself… converting Napoleonic Imperial Guard Grenadiers (somewhat a heressy!)- I did paint them too. In paralel I bought (painted mind) the heavy cavalry brigade (Scot Greys as per Napoleonic range) the other regiments using Prussian dragoons from the Franco-Prussian war Baccus range. Only remained to add the rest of the Infantry (Line+Rifles+Highlanders) and line Artillery. And the big guns Raglan used at Inkerman. The last one has always been a favourite of mine…”The Soldier´s battle”. If you peruse the posts in the Baccus Forum there are plenty of pics of what I say. Also in some posts on my website www.mytoysoldiersandme I guess that’s all. Cheers
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It was somewhat an ordeal, maybe because I am 71, but the delays due to Postal Services mishaps did not help at all.
I first tried pestering Peter Berry about them (to no use), meaning why not a proper Baccus Crimean range?… wishful thinking of course!
Then I finally (and stubborn in a way) followed the Proxies Way!… that meant eliminating with a cutter the “French” parts of the minis (obvious even in 6MM).
Painting them was fast and true… the minor step of the way… you maybe do not believe how fast it is to paint 6MM!
Gluing them into bases was easy.
Then something I have not done for years… sculpting the bases or stands… an awful mess I did of it. To the credit of the Baccus basing system the old pots where still quite useful (except the wash who had evaporated more than 5 years later).
And finally the sets of colours (Napoleonic in fact).
This is my last effort of DIY in 6MM… my daughter has forbidden me to paint less than 54MM (LOL).
Enjoy!
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Today the minis all are from BACCUS 6MM… ACW detail… and a Crimean War perspective.
Wargamers in this scale must understand the importance of flags: “They make the Unit”.
I embellished a bit the Rebels…
And an apology is due to Greg (done) because the colour and shade of the horses is as I asked for… the day I opened the parcel my eyes were not true to form (and in a hurry!) and I thought they were all the same shade of colour!
Once this said I still prefer the ACW in 6MM to any other period because the size and the real uniforms go well together… Crimean and Napoleonic Units have an excess of detail very hard to “impressionistically” (pointilisme) translate to 6MM (but I can be wrong you know!… have seen marvelous painting (including faces!) of them in 6MM… it is me who do not seem able to achieve the right compromise!… but I stubbornly go on…
More in future Posts.
Enjoy!
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It’s a real fest!… they do not come every day of the week you know… it had been a long wait due to initial hesitation on my part… no clear objectives… lack of suitable proxies (in my head)… and what not!… as it was the parcel had in it The Crimean Heavy Brigade of Cavalry using proxies (1854); a couple of ACW Brigades; and some Colonial Troops (Egyptians and Sudanese for Omdurman) and Gurkhas for the North Wesr Frontier… (the later from Heroic&Ros)… the bulk of it from Baccus.
I started buying painted 6MM Baccus from Greg (Robert Jackson) many years ago… to my everlasting satisfaction!… he is constantly very good on the periods I fancy and even if crossing emails with him is sometimes an exercise of laconism (mainly his) communications are also very good and he understands my needs (sometimes overcomplicated)
You must be a collector/wargamer/old-hand to understand fully the mixed emotions!
So I will give you a bunch of first pics now and a second when flags added to the ACW Rebels (lol) and a touch here and there from my hands and pleasure!
Try to enjoy as much as I do!
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It took me years of painstakingly collecting and even painting some things myself, but more than 90% the work of Robert Jackson (Greg) rgjackson100@gmail.com and Daniel Hodgson did the Ammo Wagons (Reveille chopperboydan@hotmail.com (Daniel did also all the Real State, terrain and Woods)… see ANTIETAM/SHARPSBURG Posts.
Not much to add, there are even engineers in shirtsleeves…
Enjoy!
PS: By the end of the ACW the Union Cavalry alone had more men that the whole Confederate Army… so… better refight 1862-1863
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You have recently seen them in action in the ANTIETAM/SHARPSBURG reenactment-wargame (SOLO).
I guess they are a bit difficult to photograph… one do his best believe me!
There you have the Infantry Brigades on the lower centre of the pic (by two different painters of minis), Artillery on the right of the pic, plus Cavalry mounted and dismounted, Division generals and Corps Commanders, and Robert E. Lee. There are also Cavalry fording a river (blue base) and even a stand with foreign observers.
Even if I used painting services, I added painting details here and there, and put the flags myself. At 71 I could not wait to paint them myself… lol
The standard recommended Infantry Brigade in some sets of rules are the two rows of 12 minis with 4 skirmishers in front… I did that or organize them that way until I realized there were a lot of possibilities around and the minis in the stands could add more feeling to the army. So then I did designs of my own mainly understanding that you do not need skirmishers behind earthworks and other circumstances… I hope you can zoom in on the pics. I do include one myself to make the point.
Cavalry is represented “charging” in line, but also in more conservative stances dismounted and in column of squadrons.
Some special stands to cross bridges and pontoons and of course supply wagons.
Hope you like them.
Enjoy!
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I do not know about AI but surely you are looking at the future of wargaming through the following pics. And YES! they are a blow UP!… really small things 6MM… but size no longer an excuse… simply count as a BONUS.
6MM has been called God’s Own Scale (blasphemy not intended at all… people seem to be easily offended nowadays!)… and it is for the overall bird eye’s perspective and the sudden new dimensions of your table!
Enjoy! I did.
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You only have to go to the BACCUS Forum… search for Baccus 6MM in Google and you will be easily directed to it.
We have an interesting debate about the use of Big Bases for wargaming (I am against it in MY games because I love flexibility and it took me ages to adopt the system one stand equals a Brigade… even if I am pretty satisfied now).
No doubt they are little works of art. Military Modeling I dare say!… but for wargames purposes I have my doubts.
Mind, always on the back of my mind there is the idea of building a unit in 1/1 ratio in 6MM… but NOT in a single base… I did it once with Captain Dajou’s third Co at Camerone in 25/28MM (Hacienda de Camarón) 1863… but they were in single bases or maximum two minis per base if I recall alright… there are pics somewhere in this webpage… search for it if interested… but I digress.
Peter Berry has it’s own legion of customers (me included) and the Forum on his web is probably one of the most satisfactory experiences for 6MM aficionados… full of ideas and suggestions of proxies for rare periods…
I thought maybe a post about it would interest the lot (or some) of you.
As you have seen in my ANTIETAM/SHARPSBURG series my biggest base is a 60×30 mm … so not going to change that for nothing!
Enjoy!
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Some of you have been patient enough to follow this reenactment/wargame until the end. I will add some pics (final… you must be tired!) and then will give you my “conclusions”.
I was surprised that with minor variations the action or battle went so smoothly well (and not The Bolshoi Ballet syndrome at all). It was my first try of home rules ACW which I will not bother to explain in detail (and if I ever do… they will be downloadable for free as my book). The fact of introducing limits at what Brigade and Divisions could do before getting tired/spent/out of ammo and for how long was a success, the idea of throwing a dice per brigade stand to see if they engaged the enemy when close to it (there when the thing matters) was also a box of surprises but went quite well too. Minor things were the survival of Mansfield, the performance of the Irish Brigade (Union), the fast crossing of Burnside’s bridge… but overall quite “historical”.
I have had doubts before it, but now they are clear to me… I have more fun with the real characters of the ACW than with imaginary generals. For a solo wargame it went well and to my taste (HOW NOT?).
That one can have pleasure reenacting America’s bloodiest day is only a matter of perspective… no one died… my toy soldiers will live to fight another day… Brandy Station, Gettysburg and Trevilian Station are projects on the near future. Cavalry did nothing but to find a ford in the present one… and Stuart was an spectator. And after all I have all those Cavalry Brigade stands…
The ACW is for me the last of the “old wars” and even “romantic” to a point… morals were different back then… some protagonists were deeply religious… and some had been too much exposed to Walter Scott’s novels. I try to keep it that way a serious affair but with a bit of taste thrown in.
Enjoy!