Giant Commission -- Napoleon and Staff

What could be a more fitting finish to the giant commission than a vignette of Napoleon himself?  Here he is, surrounded by marshals, staff, guards, and -- look! -- Glenn Drover!

Glenn is at Napoleon's right hand, gesturing with his sword.  Bertrand is directly behind Napoleon.  Favereau is on Napoleon's left hand.

 An officer and two troopers of the Chasseur a Cheval of the Imperial Guard keep a wary eye for threats to the emperor.

Marshal Ney prepares to order an attack.  Levavasseur is at his right hand, ready to send out Ney's orders.  Hautpoul is dressed in full cuirassier rig on Ney's left hand.  Hey was long dead by Waterloo, but he could be any cuirassier brigade commander.

With this vignette, the giant commission is complete.  Sometime in the next couple of days I will post a retrospective on a project that occupied three years of my life.

But first, a few figures for myself!  The last of my Napoleonic MacPhee figures went on this corps command stand, flanked by two AB Miniatures generals.  I don't know how the fellows at Minuteman Miniatures did it, but they managed to scale PERFECTLY with AB.

Me and Glenn in 28mm and 15mm

I had a productive day yesterday and was able to finish five Napoleonic character figures with Glenn's head and mine.  I painted myself as a Napoleonic French officer in 28mm and 15mm.  Glenn got one 28mm and two 15mm figures.

The 28mm figures are painted as colonels.  The 15mm figures are generals in non-regulation coats.

The Glenn figure not pictured will go on an army command stand right next to Napoleon.  I also have another 15mm figure of myself which will get based with two aides de camp and serve as a corps or army commander.

If you like the idea of fielding a figure of yourself on the tabletop, head over to Minuteman Miniatures and see when you can get your likeness scanned!

I will now wait patiently for Mike and GP to come up with some American Civil War generals!  Fortunately I have myself as a viking war leader, a Roman legate, and a WII American officer left to paint.

Minuteman Miniatures Arrive!

Last night a box arrived at my door: a small box with big contents.  My vanity miniatures from Minuteman Miniatures are here!

28mm Mounted French Colonel, Viking, Roman, WWII American; 18mm Mounted French Colonel

I will probably try a few different painting techniques on the faces to see which provides the better likeness, but I am impressed with how much these figures really do look like me.  I can always use these sculpts to fantasize about how I would look without my "gamer's physique!"

Trimming the Scaffolding

The scaffolding certainly kept the figures intact during shipment.  It is a pain to cut away, but with some sprue cutters and a little patience, I was able to clean up these 18mm figures without breaking anything.  I remember that Mike and GP were wary about printing figures so small, but I am happy to report that these are robust enough for gaming!

"Ney, why don't you head for the rear and calm down. I'll take things from here."

As you can see, the 18mm figures match AB just about perfectly.  I will soon take command of some French troops!

I'll have these painted up fairly soon.  I know I do not usually post about UN painted figures, but I am super excited about these!

Giant Commission -- I See Dead People

Here are 20 casualty markers for Glenn's Anglo-Allied army.  There are 12 infantry and eight cavalry casualty bases.

Now I just have nine mounted French commanders to paint, and the giant commission will be done!

Giant Commission -- Artillery Casualties Finished

Well, those turned out pretty well!

The infantry and cavalry casualties are coming right up.

Chaeronea, 338 BC

While in Chicago, I got a chance to see how "To the Strongest" played.  I liked the system well enough that I picked up a mat with 4" squares from Cigar Box Battles.  Today I set up my Greek and Macedonian armies and took the rules for a spin!

Annie helped me set up

Annie surveys Philip's foot companions

The battlefield

I was impressed with how unobtrusive the squares really are.  My terrain fit the squares perfectly!  I am growing to like squares and hexes more and more.  The game just seems to move along more quickly when I don't have to worry about degrees of turn and fractions of inches of movement.

The armies close

"To the Strongest" uses playing cards to handle everything.  Movement is variable. You can keep moving your units until someone fails an activation!  It adds some nice randomness to the game.

The companion cavalry recoils

Units that have taken a hit have half their stands stepped back. Another hit and the unit lifts!  Combat is decisive and bloody.  The companion cavalry lasted only three turns before they fled the field.

Philip hold the Athenians

The Greek left disintigrates

Situation at game's end

The game was a nail biter.  Both units had lost 10 points and had a break point of 11.  The next to lose a unit would lose the game.  Thessalian cavalry rode down a Theban hoplite unit, which ended the game.

I am sure I did many things wrong on my first run through the rules, but I was able to finish the game without any real trouble.  It was nice to get my 15mm ancients on the table for the first time.  A couple more run throughs, and I will be ready to host a real game!