"Risk figures for 18th Century" Topic

A couple of years ago I was particularly skint and looking for a new project (because, you know, the cupboard full of 25 years worth of unpainted lead, resin, and plastic, just wasn't doing it for me). I hit upon the cunning, and totally unoriginal idea of doing Horse and Musket using the plastic figures from the board game Risk.

After searching in vain for some months for a secondhand copy of the game, my boardgaming friend Sarah found 2 in her local charity shop for the princely sum of £5.50 GBP.

They were both the tricorne hat version, though the figures used in the 2 boxes were slightly different. If you haven't seen them, the figures are about 12mm with one pose each for infantry, cavalry, and artillery. I've been beavering away at these figures off and on ever since and today finally achieved my first major goal, 2 complete forces.

I have equal numbers of "redcoat" and "bluecoat" infantry, 144 per side, on 36 stands of 4 figures on a 20mm square base. 12 cavalry per side, on 6 stands of 2 horsemen on a 30mm square base, and 2 guns per side, each on a 35 x 40mm base. Base sizes were chosen, partly with playing Crusader's Rank and File rules using cm instead of inches in mind, and partly because the aforementioned cupboard had rather a lot of 20mm bases sitting doing nothing in it.

All in all I'm pleased with the result, I quite deliberately chose to paint the figures in a very simple (crude even) and generic style, 7 colours each for the infantry. While the figures aren't very good close up, en masse, at a tabletop distance, the effect is good.

Of course, at various times since I started this project, I might well have been able to afford a similar number of "proper" miniatures. I've probably spent more on paint than on the figures, and good quality figures would have required little more effort to paint than these. The fact is though that I simply would not have begun this project were it not such a cheap one. Then I would have missed out on the fun of making "something from nothing", together with the pleasure of researching an era I knew little about before.

The next step for this project will be to add "whitecoats" "browncoats" and "greencoats", I also hope to supplement these figures with metal miniatures, probably some of Kallistra's AWI range to begin with.

A closer view of the "bluecoats".

I have done the same with the four extra boxes I picked up, except I have bigger bases, with 60mm frontages, and I have converted the guns with the removal of the standard bearer – who has become part of the infantry unit with a converted drummer (a bit of round styrene sprue attached to a converted standard bearer)

I am going to make gunners (not sure how I will convert the figures I have)

I did convert some of the mounted troopers to make dragoons.. and used some of the cut off top halves to make sword wielding foot offices!

I purchased the bases from Warbases – and the first four boxes of Risk from the charity shops cost less than the bases!

(I have two copies of risk – at least, unconverted)

I am however waiting on a spare moment to get them painted …

Nice project, they do look great on the table!

Thought about doing this – they look great!

Well done, these look almost like "commercial" figures.
Nice paint work as well.

That's impressive….always wondered what it would look like. Thanks,

Thank you for the kind comments folks.
Maddaz, I did consider slicing off the standard bearer's flag and painting up the pole, maybe with a bit of milliput, as a rammer/sponge. In the end though I decided to accept the figures as they are and concentrate on just getting them painted, I've already got a conversion project going on in 28mm.
Although not really apparent in the photos I have decided to vary how I base up the artillery. The options will be 1 gun, 1 gun + 1 infantryman, and 2 guns (not yet painted), allowing me to represent different types of artillery if needed.

They look really nice,well done…10 out of 10 for the idea and paint job.