The Battle of Quatre Bras with 6mm miniatures

The Battle of Quatre Bras with 6mm miniatures...



The whole story on my blog...

keithswargames.blogspot.se/2016/09/battl...s-in-6mm-part-1.html

keithswargames.blogspot.se/2016/09/battl...s-in-6mm-part-2.html

very nice, but i don´t see any unit type markers, so how do you distinguish all different unit types (LN, LT,..)

We didn't want unit type markers as they look messy!

Lots of unit types are obvious, even in 6mm, especially the cavalry, and the unit's flag will denote nationallity (e.g. Nassau).

In the picture, Light infantry are in open formatation, "heavy" infantry in closed formation and generals on round bases (look in the woods behind the Nassau infantry).



And we also do...

• Rifles are in green so they stand out from the normal light infantry.
• Horse artillery have a horse (mounted officer) on each base, foot artillery don't, guard artillery have special uniforms.

To distinguish between formed units was a bit trickier.

• Grenadiers have red epaulettes and red plunes or bearskins (or kilts).
• Militia don't have flags.
• British Guard have unique flags.
• French Guard have red plumes and epaulettes or bearskins.
• Swiss have unique uniforms.

Thus, so far, we haven't needed to use any unit type markers. However we have only done French, British, Portuguese, Spanish and 100 days allies (Nassau, Dutch-Belgian, Brunswick and a few Prussian). Now we are starting on Austria.

Keith,
I would think that anybody knowing their Nap uniforms can play without markers, even without different bases for light and line. The French light are all dark blue and the line would have their white breasts and trousers. I have a lot of 6mm Napoleonic figures and the uniforms stand out fine. Your battle looks good and was a road I was tempted to go down. But in the end, my averseness to painting these last 10 years put me off. Still, it is tempting again seeing your pictures.

Great to see someone who did convert the game into 6mm minis as it's one of my projects too! And wow, does it look good!

A couple of questions:
1 Are the minis Baccus? I'm going with Adler as I like the "marching" pose and the "big heads" are not a problem for me.
2 How were the hexes done? I've ordered mine from Kallistra but those seem bigger? (edit: oops, by checking your blog I got the answers to both those questions )
3 As I'm playing with people who are not used at all to the Napoleonics era and uniforms, I've tried to think of ways to make it easy to tell them apart. For the moment, I have:
- Line infantry: 2 rows with 3/4 minis each in line formation.
- Light infantry: skirmisher formation.
- Militia: well the fact that they don't have flags is indeed a good idea.
- Grenadiers: hm, this is getting trickier, don't really know how to tell them apart from the line. Was thinking about adding a red color to their base.
- Guard: same thing, was thinking about adding gold to their base so that someone who does not know the era can tell them apart easily.
Do you think it could work this way?
4 Do you have any resources to suggest for 6mm napoleonic painting and advices? I've read a lot of blogs and sites but who knows, maybe I've missed very good ones.
5 What do you do to keep motivated on your project? What is your management of it? I was able to paint one mini in two years as life often gets in the way (well, not complaining though, having a daughter is great ).

Congratulations again on your conversion and I'll read your blog during lunch break (yes, I'm "working" right now ).

@TheMP The real reason we went with light infantry in open formation, was because we liked the look of it!

You are right that maybe we didn't need to have different basing, light infantry have different uniforms from line infantry, and from a historical point of view often fought in the same formation as line infantry.

Some nationallities are more obvious than others.
Spanish light have very different uniforms.
As you describe, French light are "all dark blue" which is easy to spot from the front.
The British light are harder to spot in 6mm, but the detail is there for the keen sighted.

Hope this really does temp you into 6mm

LOL, I am tempted I really am and already have some 1812 Corps of French & Russian painted and based. Its just the rest? Its fun to look at these, and who knows, if you are near enough we could always hook up one day in the future!

@LNAGary

1. Yes all the minis for Quatre Bras are Baccus. But I have half an Austrian army using Adler minis, so I have just ordered more to complete it. Both Baccus and Adler have great figures and friendly helpful service. You can even mix Baccus and Adler within the same army but perhaps not within the same unit.

2. Yes the hexes are Kallistra. Except we didn't use their river hexes because they are above ground level. So we made our own rivers. You can see how we made rivers on my web page...

www.littlewars.se/candc/index.html

3. I base using 2mm MDF bases with magnetic bottoms. I have considered putting a colour code on the rear (not top) of the base, but haven't needed it so far.

www.tinytintroops.co.uk/Bases/Bases_Standard.htm

At least for the French, when you have painted up the figures, it will probably be obvious that they are Gremadiers by the red epaulettes, plumes and shako lace or Bearskins. But a red patch on the back of the base won't hurt.

4. Baccus have a HOW TO PAINT 6mm figures on their site. I have a few unit specific guides on my web . I am no world class painter but I have come up with the following. When painting rank and file, its what you see from a few feet distance that's important, not the details, so go for the overall unit look. I spend a little more time detailing the officer/standard/drummer and my generals - they're what catches your eye. And I use a lighter shade that the IRL colour for all my 6mm, I feel this give a better look.

5. I think you keep motivation by playing and doing more and more scenarios. Then you get "all I need is one more British Light and I can play another scenario" which is much easier than aiming for doing everything in the box. Of course going from the Peninsular to the 100 Days was a bit of a bigger jump (because we didn't want to use Portuguese units).

Hello again Keith, I'm back with some questions. ^^

1. Baccus' figures look great but they don't have an "advancing" position like Adler. I find this position much more dynamic and lively than the "marching" one that most of the manufacturers do whatever the scale of the mini is.

One thing that makes me want to buy Baccus figs though is the simplicity of their website. I've already spoken with the owner of Adler about it as Excel sheets are far from being ideal to order minis.

I wonder how many times a potential buyer finally changed his mind about ordering Adler because of it...

2. One thing is that the grass from Kallistra's hexes are very "flashy" and they don't look as flashy in most of your pics. Did you retexture them or is it just the way you've been photographing them?

3. I use 2x3 mm for infantry, cavalry and artillery and round bases for leaders (well, at least that's the plan). I've tried to choose sizes which would allow to place units in city, forests and so on, just like you did.

I really have to get on this project again and your pics have been very inspirational. Your conversion is great and if I'm able to do something half as good as this, I'll be quite happy.

@LNAGary

1. I agree that Adler have more dynamic poses. But I actually like the marching infantry pose which I think looks good en masse and they take up less base area. Where I personally think that Adler wins over Baccus is the more dynamic cavalry poses. Being able to order packs vs individual strips is a matter of taste, but Baccus is very helpful in changing the ratio of command to other-ranks strips if you ask. Adler has a rather old fashion ordering system which combined with their lack of pictures in the shop must put some people off! But both have very good service.

2. I’m not a good photographer and don’t have any special lighting arrangements - taken with a iPhone. I think they are a bit more “greener” in real life than in my pictures. I use the FLOCKED GREEN/EARTH boards. If you think they are to “flashy”, I wouldn’t retexture the boards, instead I would buy the plain brown boards which I think are like half the price and then texture them in whatever colour sand/flock/static grass that works for you. There is a HOW TO on Kallistra site showing how to texture the boards.

Good luck!