Minsk Regiment Command Stand

Attached is an image of the completed command stand for the 3rd Btn, Regiment of Minsk. I finally finished this last night, the standard is a North Star Lance and the flag is by GMB. The detailing on the flag is really good, all that was needed was a touch up around the edges. I haven't painted units with flags for ages having moved to more modern skirmish gaming so it was a pleasant surprise that it all came together so easily.


I have also made some real progress on the 2nd Batallion as I have finished the flesh, Greatcoats, trousers boots and crossbelts on all 32 of them. Given that these models have no backpack or equipment other than a cartridge case and bayonet frog I am hopeful they will be finished soon.

Completing two units in just over two months is a real boost and reduces the lead mountain before the annual spending trip at Salute.

Slippage

I knew when I set my self imposed target that completing three full battalions of Russians before the end of March was going to be difficult. I am well on way to my second having spent the best part of two hours last night painting greatcoats last night, however I know that knowing finishing these and another 32 figure unit will be very difficult.

As a result I am going to 'treat' myself to a Russian 12lb artillery piece and crew instead. This will give me a bit of a break from painting infantry and will also mean that I have something for my Hussars to charge at !

By the  time of Salute I will have 2 Russian Infantry  1 artillery piece completed, plus the two British Infantry Battalions and Hussar Regiment that Jim has already painted, ready for basing.  I have also been working out which other packs I need to get from Wargames Foundry to round out my current Crimean Pile (3 if my calculations are right)

This should give me

British
Infantry (24 figures/battalion)
1 x Grenadier Guards
2x Highland Infantry
2 x Line Infantry in Fatigue Cap
1x Line Infantry in Shako

Cavalry. (12 figures/Regiment)
1 x Hussar
1x Lancers

Artillery
2 x 9lb Foot Artillery
1 x 6lb Royal Horse Artillery


Russian
Infantry (32 figures/battalion)
4 x Infantry
1 x Jager (24 figures)

Artillery
2 x 12lb Foot Artillery

I will need to get some Russian Cavalry to even things out. At the moment I am thinking Dragoons rather than Cossacks, much will depend on what takes my fancy when I buy them.
This will keep me gainfully employed for the rest of the year and is almost balanced.

How long should a standard pole be?

My North Star 'lances' have arrived and I am in a bit of a quandry. Each lance is 100mm long, which is clearly far too long to act as a standard pole.

The question is how long/short should they be and should I have the flag bearer 'resting' the standard on the ground.  Unlike my 10mm Pendraken SYW figures these 28mm Foundry figures came without standard poles.

I think I am going to have to cut some of the lances to various lengths and then see what looks right.  I imagine I will have to do.the same when I paint my 17th Lancers as I will use the same lances for them.

The other issue is what colour do I paint the standard pole as I have  very little information on this. Unless I discover otherwise in the next few days I will go down the line of using Russian Napoleonic colouring for both standard poles and artillery pieces.

3rd Btn, Regiment of Minsk

I have finally taken photos of my first Russian Crimean Infantry Battalion.  It is all varnished and based, the only thing missing is the standard which will be a cut down North Star Lance with GWB Designs flag. I also intend to increase the figures to 32 (3 more bases) but I will need to get these from Foundry.

This was very much a test run to see if the colours and washes looked OK and I am happy with the result. The fact this is the 3rd Battalion is indicated by the light blue band around the top of the fatigue cap.

Already on the painting table are another 32 figures which will make up the 2nd Battalion. At the moment they are primed and are being 'face painted'.

Morris Cowley Vans and Regiment of Minsk

Having spent another weekend away in the West Country ferrying my eldest to a University Interview, the penalty clause for dragging along my youngest was to take her to an amusement arcade for an hour. Having plied her with 2p pieces she headed to the waterfall coin drop machines. Whilst the she effortlessly spent my hard earned cash on assorted ' Despicable Me' minions I noticed that there was one machine that contained Oxford Diecast vans.

An outlay of 20p netted me one and a further £1 gave me a second. I know they are both 'technically' 1/72 scale, but they still seem to match as small vans for 28mm figures. Excellent value at that price and they will fit in with both VBCW and also 'England Invaded' games. As they are both cigarette lorries there is additional scope for theft and smuggling games.

I have also gloss varnished my first Russian Crimean Infantry Unit. I am not going to base these individually so I will have to divert from my normal process and complete the gloss and  ' anti shine' coatings before basing them. I bought both 2mm and 3mm depth mdf bases from Warbases and I suspect I will settle on the 2mm. Either way I have washed them all with wasted down pva glue as this apparently stops any warping. Not having used mdf before I wonder how they will compare to plastic bases. They are certainly a lot cheaper.

The only thing that I'll be missing is the flag. For some reason North Star has been out of 100mm lances for a while. I was going to use these both for my standards but also for my Crimean 17th Lancers as lances. It does not make too much difference at the moment by it would be nice to see a fully finished unit as this will help motivate me.

Despite this I have managed to prime the second Russian battalion. As soon as the first is based I will crack on with that. Hopefully I will be able to upload pictures this weekend.