Wargaming the Franco Prussian War

40mm Grenadier of Napoleon III's Imperial Guard 1870

 I did intend to finish up some more ACW figures before introducing the Franco Prussian War onto the blog. However I started to paint this 40mm figures from Gringo 40s Miniatures and, well, I could not stop. The chapter of Glover's book that has always grabbed my attention is "The Rise of Prussia" and lets face it, when it comes to European Wars of the 19th Century the FPW is "the big one".

The figure comes with 3 headgear variants...

and the bathroom sink strapped to his back!

I will not go into the amount of  FPW collections I have started over the years but rooting round in the various boxes and biscuit tins that house the lead pile I found 10, 15, 20 and 28mm figures aplenty.

So it was crunch time, I want to go back and start collecting again. A choice had to be made. The smaller 10 or 15mm scale was the logical choice. The most complete ranges for the Imperial and Republican phases and small enough to recreate the huge battles of the war. 20mm is my generally favoured scale, it's patchy in places but with a little imagination all troops could be represented. Or should I go with the 28mm big boys? Costly, space consuming and with annoying gaps in the biggest of the ranges, Wargames Foundry.

The winner is...28mm of course! 

More to follow in the coming months, but next up artillery. Mainly 20mm ACW but also the new French Guard Horse artillery released this month from Newline Designs.

The 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment 1815

20mm Newline Designs British Infantry. Flags from AB Miniatures 18mm range.

 As mentioned in earlier posts I have extended my Napoleonic collection to include the 100 Days Campaign. Newline Designs produce the most comprehensive range of 20mm Napoleonic figures in the universe, they match my RSM95 figures perfectly and they look great. The choice was simple!

Another chance to model puddles!

I chose to start my Waterloo Allied army with Alten's Third Division as it contains some excellent troop types; British line, KGL and Hanoverian's.  The 30th were part of Halkett's 5th Brigade.

Newline vs RSM95 20mm figures. Excellent match size wise.

My next posts will all be ACW figures, they mark the last of the commission work. 

While it is always useful to have extra pocket money for my hobby I am looking forward to painting just for me...starting with some thoughts about the Franco-Prussian War.

20mm Newline Designs British Napoleonic Infantry completed August 2014.

"1864" Trailer

As mentioned last month a very interesting looking Danish TV production due to be released in October. Hopefully available to view in the rest of the world very soon after.

The 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment

 With these images I believe I have managed to double the amount of painted RSM 95 British Napoleonic figures available to view on the internet...the others being my May posting!

Viewers will be pleased to hear that I have some "proper" mdf bases now...so no more base warping after this unit.

RSM 95 figures are "small" 20mm. AB flags are for "big" 18mm figures. The two match up very well I think. 1/72nd flags look too big on these fellows. 

30 figure unit based for Black Powder rules.

I have also be painting up the first of my Waterloo British infantry, which will be my next post.