"which 6mm Napoleonics?" Topic

Jonnathon
I have always been an adler fan for naps as the detail is excellent but a pain to base as all need cutting.I have only painted a few engineers from the baccus naps range and put an adler picton and wellington on the same base (as in pic) and dont look out of place but i carn,t say the same about foot and cav.
I have painted most other periods with baccus and the quailty of figs is excellent so my choice would be baccus as they are nice to paint and they are always adding to there range,
also a nice chap to deal with.

By [URL=http://profile.imageshack.us/user/kev1964]kev1964[/URL] at 2012-06-30

By [URL=http://profile.imageshack.us/user/kev1964]kev1964[/URL] at 2012-06-30

I dont have any baccus nap cavalry but here are a couple of pics of there colonial range cav which are very detailed.

By [URL=http://profile.imageshack.us/user/kev1964]kev1964[/URL] at 2012-06-30

By [URL=http://profile.imageshack.us/user/kev1964]kev1964[/URL] at 2012-06-30

kev1964

Nice pics and easy to tell the units apart. I will try to post some pics myself next week.

Thanks, will look forward to seeing them, its good to see other painters work.i,m trying to finish a parlimentarian army off this month then back on naps. also trying to sort picture problems out on my website which is not my field at all so the painting may slow down for a while.

kev1964

At present, if I try to do it myself, I just know they will end up on facebook or twitter instead of here or they'll just disappear into the electronic nowhereland. But my youngest son will be arriving in a few days and will help with taking the pics and getting them onto the computer.

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kev1964

Managed to get some pics posted. Well, if I'm honest, my youngest son and wife did. I sort of sat there in the background trying to look important.

It is a first attempt and turned out better than I thought, considering the size of the little fellas. And my son said there was another lens he could try next time, although I think he's done okay with the one he used.

But my painting skill (and patience), as can be seen, is certainly more at the wargaming level than for display. I don't think I'm 100% accurate in some areas either. It makes me admire those who can really paint. Anyway, I hope to post some game pics in the not too distant future.

I meant to say that I think the Battle of Vimero scenery and set up (via the Baccus site) looks brilliant! Well done to those who created it. I'm sure it will be well received..

Nice work, the more you paint the better you get and it takes a brave man to put a real close up on, when i first started painting i used gloss varnish but now always use revell 2 matt as i find it gives a nice finish.If you can get hold of the Funcken lace wars or arms and uniform books they are a fantastic help for uniforms etc. I have just started a brit waterloo army today so will post a pic in a week or so, really like the wagons, who makes them as would like some myself.

kev1964

I think my problem is that once I start painting I want to get them done as quickly as possible and I can't always find the time I need to take my time and be as detailed as I'd like to be. But I try. For some reason, the images give the impression of a lot of gloss paint but I always try to use matt, with gloss mainly being used on the horses and a few other areas. And I always use Humbrol paints.

And, as most wargamers known especially 6mm owners, 6mm always look great from a distance and in mass and give a real battlefield feel to a game. Bigger scales requires some really good painting skills and due to that I've always found that while the 6mm scale is great for battle displays, the larger scales are great for smaller displays and skirmishing. Mind you, I can imagine a massive well painted 28mm army might look equally good close up and at a distance.

The wagons are actually Adler American Civil War wagons, which, after looking at as many wagons images as I could find, I altered to try and look Napoleonic.

6mm can be nice close up too:

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Not a fan of Adler. Bit to cute for my liking.

I Like Baccus. I've seen Irregular close up. Painted they look fine and on the tabletop in strength they look fine.

One thing to keep in mind is one that has not been mentioned yet…

What size actions are you looking to game at and what game system are you using?

I personally prefer larger scale rules sets like Napoleon's Battles that allow you to more easily fight larger battles in their entirety rather than system like Empire which are made for regimental and corps level actions….

With a system like Napoleon's Battles, unit types are generics like Light Cavalry including Hussars, Chasseurs, and Dragoons. At this level, it is pointless to get all of the cuffs and detailing perfect for the Blankenstein Hussars or for infantry that is all treated like Line, Grenadier, or Guard.

It is pointless to carefully research and ensure that I have IR4 Deutchmeister with their light blue cuffs or the French fearsome 57th Ligne. The game system is not granular enough to differentiate individual regiments.

With Adlers and Baccus, you have the detail to paint and differentiate different regimental facings and therefore are more suited to the lower level games where the facings indicate different regiments which are themselves individually rated for exceptionally good or poor performing ones.

With the higher level rules sets such as Napoleon's Battles with their generic unit types, Ros Heroics and Irregulars should be sufficient.

Why go to all the painstaking research and attention to detail when you don't even have that level of granularity?

(although I must admit I still do the research and have painted the appropriate units for the historical units, even though the rules don't even show a gaming difference)

Frank

Why play Napoleonics with figures at all on that basis Kriegspeil or a Boradgame would do the same job very nicely with a lot less trouble.
L

I was merely pointing out that larger scale rules sets do not require the attention to detail WRT facings that more granular rules sets require.

I would have thought it was coming through loud and clear my admiration for Adlers…

I have over 6,000 6mm RosHeroics mounted up for Nap's Battles.

I also have 400 Adlers for my Brits for Nap's Battles. The Adlers look like NBA giants compared to the HR figures, but the detail such as the shako cords and other details means there is no comparison between them.

This is what makes it so hard…I would REALLY like to finish out the rest of my needs with Adlers, but the size difference between the 2 is like looking at adults compared to children…

What to do, what to do, buy a few hundred more HR and have enough to refight ALL of the Nap's Battles scenarios?

…or pretty much completely start over from almost scratch and have to buy 6,000 Adlers so that they all look right together?

If I were to start all over, I would go with Adlers…their detail is second to none…the only issue I have is that I have an almost complete set of minis that are HR…

The hardness of the decision is a testament to the quality of the Adlers.

Frank

OK… I am seriously considering going from 15mm to 6/8mm…

Here is the kicker…some of you might not like this or think I am insane,but my plan is company level….typicaly 3 rows per company. A French company would fit on a 1 1/8" x.5" base… currently I have a ratio of 1:40.. each 15mm guy equalling 3 rows of men 3/8" per figure. I would change the scaling to fit the 6mm ratio…

I use a ground scale that is 6mm… I want a prettier game…

So, that said…

What figures would look best laid out that way… not blocks of units, but rather companies…. 3 rows of troops. Adler look outstanding, as do Baccus.. it seems that Baccus woudl fit better, but what of the aestetics at that scale and lay out?

Dan

You mean like this? 1:1 ratio. 100 figures in 3 rows.

I think you have to take the sound advice that has been offered here frequently.

Don't rely on others to sway you one way or the other this. You will likely get diverse opinions … some so passionate that they usually end in some form of bickering.

It is truly a question of aesthetics and being so, you've likely made up your mind to make the effort. You simply have to try both and compare and see if one, both or none meet you aesthetic expectation.

Good luck with this endeavour and enjoy!

Hello my friend Dan!

It sounds like what your after is exactly what kev1964 has done with his colonial figures above. I don't know for sure but it looks like he has them on 30x30mm bases. One of the major keys to presenting/mounting 6mm figures is not to cram them too close together. Spreading them out a little and leaving a little room on the base allows you to add in some minor terrain features like stones, bushes and grass etc. It also seems to make the figures look taller and their colors brighter. More light in more detail/color out.

I can't imagine the aesthetics being any better then what kev1964 has done. I realize that base is a hair wider and a little deeper then what you were thinking but his presentation would look awesome in Napoleonic's.

Best regards,

Glenn