10mm Risk Pieces painted up for Napoleon in Europe

You get 3 types of figures in the Old Risk Sets

10mm Risk Piece Painted as French Cav

hundreds of 10mm Risk Pieces painted for NiE

hundreds of 10mm Risk Pieces painted for NiE

There was a recent thread on TMP about using 10mm Risk Pieces for Napoleonic Gaming. I painted hundreds of these up for the old Eagle Games “Napoleon in Europe” about 8 years ago.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3518

Our games club had a great deal of fun with NiE. I painted up all of the nationalities using the 3 poses available, even the Ottomans. Of course, I had to fudge on the headgear as the standard shako is a stretch for several of the nationalities, but thats the best one can do with only 3 poses available. They were an inexpensive way to dress up NiE, as I hated the look of the larger plastic figs for the game. The plastic risk pieces were primed white and then painted to their proper colors.

Front Rank French Limber & 12 lb Gun

w/ Flash

Natural Light

I finished up my Front Rank 28mm Limber set pulling a 12# gun. I love the set, but was totally frustrated over the traces. The wire traces were a bit fiddly and I made a mistake when mounting the horses and offset them, just slightly to one side. This caused the wire not to fit correctly. Unfortunately, the horses were already glued in place and it was too late to go back and re-do. Im still weighing my options, possibly using thin cord or thread…Im so frustrated with them at present, I may just leave them off. Otherwise, I enjoyed doing the set up.

Portuguese Cacadores

1st Cacadores; 1809; Front View

1st Cacadores; 1809; Right View

1st Cacadores; 1809; Left View

1st Cacadores; 1809; Rear View

1st Cacadores; 1809; Left Rear View

1st Cacadores; 1809; Above Left View

My latest 28mm Unit for Sharp Practice, a group of 1st Portuguese Cacadores Riflemen. Uniform colors taken from “Uniforms of the Peninsular Wars” by Haythornthwaite. At first I wasnt sure if I would really like the Brown Uniforms, but as the facing colors were added and the figures came to life, the uniform grew on me. All figs are Front Rank.

Litko Custom Skirmish Trays

Custom Litko Skirmish Tray; Front View

Custom Litko Skirmish Tray; Side View

Custom Litko Skirmish Tray; Overhead View

I like to use skirmish trays with my Sharp Practice games. I find it much more convenient to move groups/units around the table top with trays. When necessary, you can always “dismount” your individual stands and place on the table top as single figs. In any case, I had purchased a GW movement tray “kit” whereby you cut out whatever size trays you need and build them as desired. The Games Workshop “kit” worked fairly well, but after looking at the Litko site, I decided I might try their skirmish trays for a “classier” look. All of my SP figs are mounted on 1″ Litko 3mm thick bases (artillery crew are mounted on 20mm sq. Litko bases) and I REALLY like the quality of their products.

Anyway, I didnt like the way that their stock trays were configured and so had some custom made. My custom made trays have 12 slots each cut to 26mm to fit either 1″ or 25mm square bases. The trays are roughly 7″ x 2.5″ and I love the way that they dress the units up. I started to flock the edges to match my stands, but I decided that they look great as is. They sort of “frame” the unit/group.

Warning: They are pricey at $12 each, but the quality and service of Litko is outstanding. I received a quote for the custom trays within a day or two and once ordered, I received the completed trays within 2 weeks. I figure its a one time investment that will yield many years of use.

Litko Skirmish Trays:

http://www.litkoaero.com/page/LAI/CTGY/Skirm

The British are coming!

British Center Company Troops

British Center Company Troops

Front

Right Side

Left Side

Rear View

My latest unit for Sharp Practice off the painting table: a British Center company Line Unit. Figures are Front Rank 28mm’s. As usual, the Front Ranks were a pleasure to paint up, very well defined lines and very little flash. I prefer them to Perry Plastic or Metal. I absolutely love the “well fed” look and feel of the figs!

Note: Purists will note the all white plume normally associated with Grenadier companies. This has been retro-fixed and the chaps now enjoy their proper red-white plumage of center coy troops!

The Heroes of our Sharp Practice Games

Our Hero, Lt. Shockley

Castaneda; Spanish Guerilla Officer

Castaneda, a true Spanish Hero

Castaneda holds back the French interlopers

Lt. Goodenot, Shockley’s Nemises

“I spit at you, Shockley…”

Capt. Alvord checks the time

Alvord; Goodenot’s Commander

A few of the big men for our Sharp Practice games…my camera flash overpowers the paint jobs…I need to learn to take better pics…oh well, you get the idea…

Playtest #3 Of Shockley’s Village Revisited

View from the French Left

View from the French Right

View from the British Right

View from the British Left

James and John came up from Abilene this past weekend to help playtest my Sharp Practice Mil Con Scenario. The first two playtests have resulted in a draw, but this game was far more dramatic! James played the French, while John and I “played” the British. James’ dice rolling was uncanny, he must have hit 70% of the time, with half the dice scoring kills. The game was also unsual in that we had two complete “run thru’s” of the game deck with all Big Men & units getting to move in two consecutive turns. This made for a very bloody game, especially for the Brits, as poor Shockley’s command was routed from the field. I made a few more tweaks to the scenario based on James and John’s suggestions…French won big, (and Yes, Margarita once again fell in love with Goodenot!) but I have to think it was more luck than anything…very long day for the Brits and poor old Shockley!

28mm Napoleonic Figure Comparison: Perry Plastics, Front Rank and Foundry

L-R: Foundry, Perry Plastic, Front Rank, Perry Plastic

L-R: Foundry, Perry Plastic, Front Rank, Perry Plastic

L-R: Perry Plastic, Front Rank, Perry Plastic, Foundry

L-R: Perry Plastic, Front Rank, Perry Plastic, Foundry

Here are some shots of a variety of manufacturers in my collection. Personal opinion is that they mix very well together, especially if you leave within their respective units. Admitedly, the Foundry figure sits on a built up base (raised by the height of a penny), but otherwise the Perry’s and Front Ranks mix very well. You be the judge…

28mm Front Rank Casualty Figures

Aftermath of a French advance

Hospital!

I have often desired to possess some casualty figures but have never taken the time to paint them up. Pictured above is this week’s paitning effort…12 x British, 12 x French and 3 x Horse casualty figures…My desire is to place a few of these after a brisk combat where numerous losses occur in our SP games…all 28mm Front Rank figs…

28mm Rocket Troop

Lt. Trotter steadies his crew

Top View

Front View

“I hope OSHA doesnt come by for a visit…note flammable items near launcher!”

Rocket Troope at the Ready

Lt. Trotter issues orders

Stand by to fire!

I wanted to try the Rocket Rules for Sharp Practice so I scratch built the rocket battery above. I used 28mm Front Rank RHA figs for the crew. The Officer is Lt. Trotter and will be my latest “Big Man” to be added to my collection. The scratch built rocket launcher was assembled from various pics I have seen in books and the web. It’s a bit crude looking but serviceable. I will be designing a scenario for it’s introduction later on.