Monday 28 January 2019

New Project for the New Year

In my earlier post on project planning I mentioned the possiblity of the French Revolutionary army as a possible project. Since then I have looked into this in more depth and made the decision to make up a sample unit.

I had decided that the army at the time of the War of the Second Coalition was where I wanted to be so that sensible opponents could be the Russians, Austrians, British or Ottomans, fighting in Italy, Switzerland, along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, or in Egypt and Syria. The thought of fighting battles in Swiss terrain is mouthwatering...those alpine meadows and pretty chalets...

The decision on figures was simple. The only complete range is by Eureka, but I had never seen any Eureka figures in the flesh. So I placed a small order for a single battalion. Eureka were great to deal with. First they sell by the single figure, a concept long gone amongst most mainstream suppliers, but something I like. The order was despatched the next day, but still took the better part of two weeks to come through the Australian and New Zealand postal services.

I like the figures. They are clean castings and the variety presented meant that pretty much that every figure in the unit is different.  I chose to make a unit in ragged dress that seems more typical of the time. The result was a unit with torn and patched clothing and a variety of footwear from boots to clogs, shoes bandaged feet and bare feet. I chose to do this unit a little bit differently to those I have done recently. Once again I have used the three stand structure for the battalion, with six figures to the stand, although the stand in this first battalion of the 43e Demi Brigade de Ligne the inclusion of a mounted colonel on the command base reduces the foot figures on that stand to four. Of the two rank and file stands one has two grenadier figures, on the right of the line of course, and a foot officer inthe  front rank.









I am pleased with the results and the project will proceed further. I am not sure how large the armies will get. The plan is around 12 units of foot a side, but I have no doubt that some scope creep will occur.

18 comments:

  1. Great looking figures and a great new project! The Italian and Swiss campaigns are of particular interest to me.

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    1. You know, 32 years ago when I visited Switzerland the first time I saw that wonderful terrain and thought how could I game this? I got quite excited about the Sonderbund War in 1847, but it only lasted 26 days and not surprising no one makes the figures. So the thought of the Suvorov leading a Russian army in Switzerland or even the Italian alps is very appealing.

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  2. Great looking figures Mark - I have a few Eureka figures but have always been tempted by this period, so I may join your project, although I do have quite a number of armies only half completed (or less) as I lack your purchasing discipline!

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    1. Yes I think there is a lot of potential here.

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  3. Exciting news, we'll follow the flag!

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    1. Mais oui, Vive la Révolution! Vive la République!

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  4. Great work, and those figures do look rather nice. I purchased some Eureka Saxon cavalry for the pile, and can remember being impressed by the castings.

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    1. The figures have character and it is a very broad range, but they are pricey - at their best rate they are between 33% and 50% dearer (depending on the supplier) than I can buy from the UK.

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  5. Very nice and the painting style is very pleasing to the eye.

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    1. Thank you Norm. This looks like a fun little project.

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  6. Awesome battalion! Looking forward to seeing this progress.

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    1. Thanks Nathan. I liked it so much I have ordered another two battalions, despite my self imposed fiscal restraint.

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  7. Great raggedy looking unit! I really like the look, they look like really nice figures!
    Best Iain

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  8. Sacré bleu....I don’t need this kind of temptation...this could drive me to do something with my own revolutionary lead pile...

    I am looking forward to seeing what you do with this...

    Lovely looking toys.... I would have thought that you would have had enough of stripes by now...

    All the best. Aly

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    1. I am not quite sure where this will all lead, but I am imagining either sweeping Italian terrain or alpine meadows with snow tipped mountains and all the time a group of grown men standing around either saying "wotta mistake-a to make-a" or yodelling (depending on whether the games are based in Italy or Switzerland).

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