"Blue Moon British Foot Artillery - 18mm" Topic

Hi all,

I've just completed a brigade of Blue Moon British 6lbr Foot artillery and posted some shots of them on my new table. I've also included some comparison shots with AB and Fantassin to give you an idea of their compatability.

I really like the sculpts, see what you think.

jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk

Jonathan

Very nice work

Agree, very nice use of the holiday. The table is grand.

Nice looking figures and well painted as well. Always a joy to see good figures.

Thanks

What the artillery pieces like to put together?…some I have done in the past are a bit fiddly, just wondered what Bluemoons are like?

The guns go together very easily

Nice painting.

Is it me or are the gun carriages rather wide……?

I wouldn't say the carriages are over wide, but the wheels are on the chunky side.

1815Guy, looking at my copy of Franklin's "British Napoleonic Field Artillery" the axletree (that's the boxy bit between the wheel hubs, I believe) should be about 4 feet 8 inches or 1.4m (I'm looking at a scale diagram without a ruler to hand so this figure is a bit rough and ready) on a single trail 6lb gun c1810.

Quite what scale is being used by 15/18mm makers, I have no idea. In this instance I think CaroJon is right – the carriage looks wide because of the chunky hubs (presumably designed that way for casting or strength reasons on the wargames table?).

Perhaps a marriage of BM carriage with AB wheels and gun (I think BM's barrel looks a bit chunky too) might hit the nail on the head?

The wheels are little wider than normal for two reasons. First, the spokes on guns during this time period were not straight, they bowed out from the hub to outside of the wheel.

Second, you are right when suggesting they are wider for not only casting purposes, but for handling when putting together and moving around the table. I don't know how many times I hand wheels bow in and out when trying to put them on an axle.

Also, I have purchased all of the AB artillery, and find that much of it does not match the line drawings now available for artillery of that period.

Miniatureships – thanks for your response. As I said, I think the BM guns and crews came out of the comparison pretty well – I'd seen pictures from the side on the BM website and was going to to give the guns a go at Salute in three weeks time. I quite understand about casting and durability being a factor – and the AB guns have often been criticised for the width of the carriages.

Are we mistaken about chunky barrels? Or is that another casting / durability thing?

Excellent work!!

All the guns in the Blue Moon line where made from the most available line drawings. The barrels were turned to match the line drawings.

It should also be noted that the British 6 pd gun can be found in various forms, light, heavy, short, long. I don't have my notes with me now, but I believe there is something like 6 different versions of the British 6 pd barrel. The barrel that I chose to use was the heavy, as it was more common.

Miniatureships, thank you for throwing some light on the design of the BM guns. as I've pointed out on the blog, I lke the look, and now I know I have the heavy 6lbr, which was standard use in the Peninsula. Any plans for a light 6lbr for the horse artillery, otherwise I guess I can use my AB models that certainly look lighter

I don't believe light and heavy relate to horse and foot artillery, as much as it relates to the ability of the 6pd gun to do damage. The light 6 pound was not very effective, if I understand correctly, and thus was replaced by the heavy 6 pound gun.

Miniatureships – although I'm sure there were British batteries that were a dogs dinner in terms of organisation in the Peninsula, by the latter part of the war at least, Wellington specified that horse artillery batteries should be quipped with one long 6lb gun, 4 light 6lb guns and one heavy 5.5 inch howitzer. Now to what degree this specification was met is another matter.

Foot artillery on the other hand would be one heavy 5.5 inch howitzer plus a variety of other guns, whether five 12lb guns, five 9lb guns, or five 6 lb guns (either heavy or light). Now just how many guns of each type served with the British Army in the Peninsula, I don't know.

The terms "heavy" and "light" not only refer to the weight of the barrel but also to the weight of the charge. The light 6lb gun typically used a 1.5lb charge, while the heavy 6lb used a 2lb charge. The additional charge extended the point of "first graze" for round shot by about 200 yards from 1,000 yards to 1,200 yards with 3 degrees of elevation. The range would vary because of "windage" and the quality of the powder – essentially different sources quote different figures.

I've taken all this from CE Franklin's book "British Napoleonic Field Artillery" – which I'd highly recommend.

Like I said, I didn't have my notes at hand. I have the book that you are referencing, and I believe the necessity for range is what lead me to make my remark about the gun not being very effective as some of the smaller French guns had greater range and punch than then light 6lb gun.

Also, I have very limited game time in playing Napoleonics, and thus don't know how many rules differ between the types of British 6lb guns.

Miniatureships – I'm sorry, I hope you didn't feel I was having a go at you at all in my comments, that certainly wasn't the case at all. I'm pleased that you shared your rationale for making your models the way you do, and I'm impressed by what I've seen of your model guns. I'll be picking up some of your artillery at Salute in a couple of weeks.

Thank you littlearmies, I try my best to offer the most complete line of artillery there is 15mm scale, that in turn will will be sale-able to cover cost of making it and manufacturing it.

I am glad that you like the artillery.