Thirty-six years ago, I began couple of projects that started well ... and then petered out.
The first was to paint 15mm-scale armies for both sides who fought during the Franco-Prussian War, and the other was to paint a 15mm-scale American Civil War Union army. I did complete about fifty Prussian and fifty Union infantry before my enthusiasm began to flag, and since then they have been sat in storage.
I rediscovered them recently and decided that I ought to do something with them ... and I now plan to use them as the basis of a couple of FUNNY LITTLE WARS/PORTABLE WARGAME armies. I am going to start with the Prussians, and the painted infantry that I have should provide the basis of at least half a dozen infantry units. I will need a few additional figures (officers, artillery gun crews, and some cavalry) and I have already placed an order with Irregular Miniatures for enough figures to fill the gaps.
I intend that this will be my main project for June, with writing ARRIBA ESPANA! as my secondary one.
In FUNNY LITTLE WARS, the Prussian/German Army is referred to as ARMY BLACK and has the following ORBAT, to which I have added its PORTABLE WARGAME SPs:
- Divisional Staff Group (Commander: 6 SPs)
- An Infantry Brigade comprising:
- A Guard Grenadier Battalion (Elite, 4 SPs)
- A Regular Line Infantry Battalion (Regular, 4 SPs)
- A Regular Jäger or Schützen Light Infantry Battalion (Regular, 4 SPs)
- A Machine Gun Company (Regular, 2 SPs)
- A Cavalry Brigade comprising:
- A Heavy/Guard Cavalry Regiment (Elite, 3 SPs)
- A Light Cavalry Regiment (Regular, 3 SPs)
- Horse Artillery (Regular, 2 SPs)
- A Machine Gun Company (Regular, 2 SPs)
- Engineers (Regular, 4 SPs)
- Field Artillery OR Siege Artillery (Regular, 2 SPs)
- Army Service Corps (Regular, 1 SP)
- Total Strength Points = 37 SPs
- Exhaustion Point reached after the loss of 13 SPs
Ooh nice! I've got a pile of 10mm Pendraken and Chariot FPW figures that I was planning on using with TPW. I'll be interested to see how your project develops. All the best with it!
ReplyDeleteDonjondo,
DeleteI suspect that my version of Army Black will be similar to but not the same as that listed in the ORBAT ... and will be more imagi-nation than a ‘proper’ FPW army.
All the best,
Bob
Hello there Bob,
ReplyDeleteIt is always nice to find a use for something that has lain in storage for so long and requires minimal additions to get it up to current thinking. One question though - should there be two infantry brigades?
All the best,
DC
David Crook,
DeleteIt is very satisfying to find a use for some figures that have been sitting in storage for so long.
I’ll check my copy of FUNNY LITTLE WARS, but I think that the ORBAT for Army Black only has one infantry brigade. I have enough figures for at least two ... any my eventual Army Black might be double the size of the original.
All the best,
Bob
My copy of FLW only lists one infantry brigade. I originally did the whole thing in 54mm, and 60 infantrymen was quite enough to paint!
DeleteMartin Rapier,
DeleteThat’s what I thought.
Luckily, my six-figure PW infantry units are a lot easier to paint!
All the best,
Bob
Better late than never, Bob!
ReplyDeleteNeil
Neil Patterson (Neil),
DeleteThey have been very patient ... but they’ll soon have their ‘day in the sun’!
All the best,
Bob
Whixch figures are you using for the Prussians, given that you kindly passed on your Peter Laing Prussians to me?
ReplyDeleteIan
Ian Dury,
DeleteI am using figures from Irregular Miniatures as the figures that I painted thirty-six years ago came from that manufacturer. I did think of using some of my Peter Laing figures with them, but they didn’t look right next to each other.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob -
ReplyDeleteThat ORBAT makes a handy, compact little Division-sized Corps. I'm looking forward to seeing it in action.
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteWhen complete, the whole army should fit into an A4-sized box, which makes it fit in nicely with my desire to have a number of ‘armies in a box’.
All the best,
Bob