Painting Plans for 2009

Minden Miniatures SYW Prussian Artillery and Berlin Zinnfigure 12-pounder painted by Ioannis. There will be a fair number of these figures joining my army in 2009.

Happy New Year everyone - I am looking forward to a fresh, new and exciting 2009. As befits the beginning of a year, one's thoughts turn to the various wargaming projects that are on the table. So this is a good time to start planning for the new forces that will get painted over the next twelve months.

But before I get started, I want to mention how terrific the Minden Miniatures Prussian artillery crew is, as shown in the picture above. Thanks to Ioannis for allowing me to borrow some of his pictures to use on this site. You can find a link to the Leuthen Journal in my list of favorite links, on the left hand side of this page. I also like the bold blue colors that Ioannis uses on his Prussian artillery carriages. It really makes the model stand out on the table. I will have borrow this concept when I paint my own gun models. (you ought to see the Austrian gun carriages that Ioannis has painted, as shown on his web site - excellent stuff!)

Based on last year's painting production of approximately 800 figures, I can probably plan on being able to paint, on average, one battalion of 60 infantry figures or four squadrons of 12 cavalry figures in any given month. Some months will be higher and some will be lower, no doubt, but experience tells me that 60I/48C is fairly accurate for planning purposes.

Drawing Up A Plan
The first order of business is to get a pad of paper and a pen and start writing down the names and types of the units that you want to paint in 2009. This provides one with a sort of inventory of wargame units that you have backed up on the docket. For example, I would sort the units by historical period and country, so I would make a list of all of the SYW Austrians that I would like to add to my army for the year. Then I do the same thing for the Prussians, British, Jacobites and the new Hesse Seewald army that I have planned. I also do the same thing for my 1806 French and Prussians.

My total SYW "wants" list tallies 1,210 figures while my Napoleonic "wants" list tallies 590 figures, for a grand total of 1,800 figures. A little bit of simple math tells me that if I paint 60 figures per month, that I am looking at a backlog of 30 months worth of painting projects to work on. Or to put it another way, that is two-and-a-half years of painting on the horizon! Clearly this will not all be accomplished during 2009. It also does not take into account any distractions into new historical periods (Sudan or NW Frontier figures) or any other figures that might strike my fancy.

A Workable Monthly Plan
The list of 1,800 figures to paint is daunting, but at the same time, it provides me with a lot of variety to choose from with a nice mix of infantry, cavalry, SYW and Napoleonics. Unless I am painting Prussians, of which I never tire of painting, I can do some SYW Austrian infantry one month, then cavalry the next month, then switch over to some Napoleonics, then back to SYW, and so forth.

Since my highest priority is to build up my SYW Austrian army, those units will go to the top of the que beginning this month. So January 2009 is Austrian Month.

January Plan
2 sqds of 12 Esterhazy Hussars (Austrian) - Crusader Figures
1 btn of 60 Austrian infantry regiment Andlau - Minden Miniatures

(remember, I am trying to be realistic here - I had a head start on the hussars and nearly have a squadron painted, but they don't count in the final tally until the month they are completed)

February Plan
1 sqd of 12 Austrian Horse Grenadiers - Crusader Figures
1 sqd of 12 Austrian de Ligne Dragoons - Crusader Figures
1 btn of 60 Austrian infantry regiment Luzan - Minden Miniatures

(this phase of the Austrian buildup will now be over, having added 2 btns of infantry and 4 sqds of cavalry since the first of the year. I will be ready to try something different now)

March Plan
1806 Project: French 1er regt de Chasseurs a Cheval - "old" Elite Miniatures (34 figures)

(note that I am not planning any other units for this month, because I know that preparation for the SYW Association convention and Spring Break will consume much of my time)

April Plan
OK, I know that I will be dying to start on my Minden Miniatures Hesse Seewald army, with the Prussian figures. In fact, it is likely that I might slip a 50 figure regiment into the painting que earlier than April, but this is only a plan and things can change.

1 btn of Hesse Seewald Infantry (50 figures) - Minden Prussians
4 sections of artillery for HS (20 figures) - Minden Prussians

May Plan
1 x 72 btn of 1806 French line infantry

(it is time to get the 1806 project going again)

June Plan
1 x 60 Prussian 1806 btn - Elite Miniatures

or 1 x 48 1806 Bayreuth Dragoons - Imperialist Miniatures

(I'm not going to present plans for the second half of the year just yet. I want to see how the first half turns out; however, the above list demonstrates how I plan things out)
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I think that you get the general idea of how the planning process works. It starts by making a realistic assumption of what you think that you can paint in any given month. There is no point in me planning on 120 infantry in a month when history tells me that this is far above my average production. You can change your plans from month to month, and you probably will too. The point is, that the planning process gives you a realistic idea of what you can expect to add to your army lists for 2009.

Austrian Update

I am currently working on some Crusader Austrian hussars for the SYW. I have to say that I do not enjoy painting these figures due to the excrutiating amount of lace and detail that is sculpted onto the figure. If the detail is there, I sort of feel an obligation to paint it. I am almost done with the first squadron of 12 figures and expect to post pictures by the end of the week. Concurrently, I am working on a batch of thirty Minden Austrians. When the hussars demoralize me, then I switch over to the infantry for awhile for a nice change of pace. In general though, I do not enjoy painting Austrian infantry. I find the mass of white a bit boring and I'm never satisfied with the way that they turn out. I leave too much of the black undercoating showing through. This is something that I need to work on.

Happy New Year from Der Alte Fritz

Since we have been on a Minden roll of late, here is a picture of IR34 Prinz Ferdinand that I painted back in March 2008.

Well 2008 is drawing to a close here in Hesse Seewald and it has been a very good year for wargaming, conventions, fellowship, painting and building up my SYW Prussian army. I will provide a more detailed "year in review" over the next couple of days, but I wanted to get this short post, which is a milestone of sorts, on the blog. This is the 100th entry of the year, so I'm going to pat myself on the back for a job well done and toast the New Year with a Diet Lime Coke and wish everyone a Happy New Year.

I have to say that I have been sort of surprised by the overwhelming interest in the Minden Miniatures and Hesse Seewald imagination uniforms that I have posted over the past couple of days. We have had over 400 site visits, just this day, and the number of comments on this topic is one of the highest ever (ranking up there with Teddy Bear Wars and the Jacobite Rebellion).

I painted an extra fusilier figure this afternoon in green coat, straw small clothes and red facings, brass mitre plate with straw bag and red border. This is experimental for a future unit. More on that tomorrow.

Update Posting - Full Year Report on Painting Production
I spent some time this evening toting up the statistics for the number of Olley Painting Points in 2008 and I came up with a grand total of 1,070 points. This translates into 798 total figures and equipment pieces that I painted during the year. Actually, I now recall that I painted the two Sharpe and Harper figures as well, which puts the total figure production up to 800 figures. The break down in terms of figures for 2008 was 510 foot, 272 mounted, and 18 artillery and equipment pieces.

In comparison, the 2007 numbers were notably higher with 1,015 total figures painted and 1,137 Olley Painting Points recorded. That amounts to 215 fewer figures painted in 2008 versus 2007. Nevertheless, this year's production was still substantial and probably was higher than I would have liked, in terms of family considerations and life balance.

The production was spread over the year fairly evenly, what with 528 points painted during the first half of the year (January through June) and 508 points during the second half of the year (July through December). That averages out to about 89 painting points per month, or slightly higher than my stated goal of 60 to 72 points per month. You may recall that an infantry figure or a cannon/limber/wagon count for one point and a mounted cavalryman or general counts for two points.

The last figure that I painted in 2008 was a Minden Miniatures Prussian fusilier that I painted in the green Hesse Seewald livery.

Battles Fought In 2008
Our little group of SYW enthusiasts in the Midwest were very active during 2008. By my count, we had 9 "club games" and 7 "convention games" for a total of 16 miniatures game for the entire year. After deducting the games played at the SYW Association convention (2), Little Wars (1), and Historicon (3) for which I can't recall the outcomes, and hence they don't count in the standings, that leaves us with 10 games. Two of these were Jacobite Rebellion games that do not directly affect our campaign. Of the remaining 8 games then, the French won 5 and the Prussians won 3 games. So my congratulations to the French/Gallians for a fine military performance in 2008.

But let us analyze the results further: three of the French victories were smaller skirmish games. So there seems to be a definite French edge in the Kleine Krieg wargames. In larger games, the French won the battles of Taberberg on October 24th at Rockcon and Steinkreisdorf on November 15th (Der Alte Fritz was absent that day).

The Prussians fared much better in the really large wargames in 2008. Prussian victories were recorded at Ritterbrucke on March 8th, Oberon on June 7th, and at the Big Battalion Old School Game (Freiberg) on October 11th. All three Prussian victories were lopsided wins as their cavalry was finally able to hold their own against the previously superior French horse and contribute to break through wins. Perhaps it helped that Der Alte Fritz was busy recruiting cuirassiers like a mad man during the year. Or perhaps, the Prussian cavalry commanders were well schooled by Monsieur Chevert (Protz) in the use and deployment of cavalry during the previous campaign year of 2007. As Patton said, "Rommel, you son of a *** (gun), I read your book!". I learned a lot about the use of cavalry by getting thumped by Monsieur Chevert on a regular basis. The lessons were well learned.

Minden Samples Painted Tonight

Front Row (left to right): Holstein officer, Glasenapp musketeer, Charlottenburg musketeer, and Charlottenburg officer. Back row (l-r) Holstein and Charlottenburg musketeers

Here are the first samples of Minden Miniatures SYW Prussians that I have painted as regiments in the Hesse Seewald Army. I painted a pair of regiment Holstein in the red facings and white small clothes; one Glasenapp musketeer in straw clothes and facings (I rather like him), and three Charlottenburg regiment figures in rose facings and white small clothes.

The Minden figures are a joy to paint and I was able to finish six figures within a couple of hours this evening. You can see that I glued the figure onto a penny coin and in turn, glued the coin onto the galvanized metal base that is one inch square, for BAR rules movement trays. When I prime the figures, the metal bases are already attached to the figure. I do this because it gives the base a coating of primer that hides the bare metal of the base. This saves me much time later when I terrain the base. I don't have to paint the metal base before adding the spackle mix. There's nothing worse than a fine base with bits of bright metal showing through.


The Charlottenburg Regiment uniforms.


(left to right) Holstein officer, Holstein musketeer, and Glasenapp musketeer.


(l-r) Holstein, Holstein, Glasenapp, & Charlottenburg uniforms.


Comparison of Minden (left) and Foundry (right) Prussians both painted as the Charlottenburg Musketeer Regiment. Need I say more about which figure looks better?

The above photo compares the Minden and Foundry samples that I painted in the same regimental uniform of the Charlottenburg Musketeers. The more that I look at this picture, the more convinced I am that I made the correct choice of figures to use in my new Hesse Seewald army. The Mindens look so much better because they actually look like real people, only in 1/56 scale.

I have placed an order for two 50-figure regiments, plus mounted officers and some Austrian and Prussian artillery crews, for later use. After seeing these samples painted, I look forward to tackling the entire regiment and finishing it off. In the meantime, I have a 60 figure Minden Austrian fusilier battalion to work on, so that will keep me very happy.

Minden Samples on the Painting Table

Last night I primed six Minden Prussian figures that I had left over from my last order and I thought that I would paint some more Hesse Seewald samples this evening. If all goes well, I will post updated pictures later tonight or tomorrow.

There are so many butterflies flitting about, trying to capture my attention these days. I seem to go back and forth between Austrian cavalry and infantry, a few Prussians here and there, Hesse Seewald imaginary uniforms, 1806 French, some Seaforth Highlanders for India and a few other projects. I am trying to maintain the discipline to stick with the Austrians through the rest of December and January, but it can be hard with so many tempting figures to paint.

And the Winner is: Minden Miniatures!

Minden Miniatures SYW Prussian Mounted Colonel - painted by Ioannis. Picture courtesy of Ioannis and Frank Hammond's Minden Miniatures web site.

The Herzog George Ludwig I has reviewed a number of candidates to fulfill the role of Chief Tailor to the Court of Hesse Seewald. There were many qualified applicants, including Crusader, Stadden, Suren , my own Potsdam Miniatures and Perry, among others. Georg Ludwig has made his decision and has decided that Minden Miniatures will receive the Special Appointment of the Court to outfit his army.

The figures evoke the style of two of my favorite 18th Century miniatures ranges: RSM and Stadden. The Minden range will be more comprehensive in terms of the availability of officers, NCOs, musicians, flag bearers, etc. Furthermore, it will cover all arms completely, from infantry to cavalry to artillery. In addition, I believe that sculptor Richard Ansell has really done a remarkable job in capturing the Stadden look, only updating the style with the level of detail that we all have come to expect with today's miniatures. These figures represent the best of both worlds.

But the bottom line is that I simply think that these are the best Seven Years War range of figures on the market, and so I am happy to support Frank and the fine work done by sculptor Richard Ansell. For more information about this wonderful range of figures, click on the following link: http://mindenminis.blogspot.com

With that in mind, I placed an order for the first two battalions of the new Hesse Seewald army this afternoon. The infantry battalions will feature 48 figures plus two standard bearers and a mounted officer. Every battalion is going to have its own regimental 3-pounder or 7-pound haubitz. For artillery pieces, I will probably use the Berlin Zinnfiguren range which are sized to fit the remarkable Minden figures.


Some Minden Austrians painted as the De Ligne Regiment, from Frank Hammond's collection. Photo courtesy of Frank.

I have a little bit of catching up to do first. Since I have the Minden Bug, I hauled out the 60 figure battalion of Minden Austrians that I ordered earlier in the year. I am preparing them for priming by giving them a rinse in rubbing alcohol, then filing the underside of the base with a quick swipe of a file. Then I will glue them onto American penny coins so that they gain a couple more centimeters in height (this visually tricks the eye into thinking that they are the same height as some of my other chunkier figures in my SYW armies).

I am looking forward to getting the first batch of 30 Minden Austrians primed and ready to paint. What a great way to start off the new year.

Hesse Seewald Army Uniforms

Uniforms of regiments (L-R) Holstein, Charlottenburg, Glasenap, and The Royal Foresters. (click all pix to enlarge the views)

I spent some time over the weekend experimenting with possible uniform combinations for the Hesse Seewald army. I had a couple of extra Foundry SYW Prussian figures laying around, already primed, so they were drafted by the Elector's tailors to model some of the new uniforms. I have not decided which figures to use for the Hesse Seewald army, but I am leaning towards the Minden Miniatures range, since this is rather comprehensive and will eventually provide all three of the major combat arms: infantry, cavalry and artillery. Crusader is another possibility, although these are chunkier than I generally prefer, their height fits in well with my existing figures. I plan to prime a few Minden samples this week and see how they look in green uniforms. My guess is that they will look fine and dandy.

Hesse Seewald regiments will have 48 rank and file and maybe 3 or 4 extra officers positioned behind the battalion as file closers. Hmm, this sounds like the Charles Grant model, doesn't it? Recall that Grant's The Wargame Companion is the inspiration for this project. Of course, this is subject to change, if for example, they get mowed down by the larger 60 man French battalions of Monsieur Chevert. That may cause me to strengthen the battalion to 60, but for now, that is my plan. I may also attach a regiment 3 or 4 pounder to EACH battalion to act as a bit of an equalizer.

A note about the pictures here: they were photographed on my Macro setting for closeup pictures, so when you click on the picture to enlarge the view, the figures will be somewhat distorted as you are enlarging them to three or four times their actual size. Remember that they are really only 28mm high. They actually look pretty good in the flesh.

Another view of Holstein (red facings), Charlottenburg (pink), Glasenap (straw) and the Royal Foresters (red facings with buff small clothes). All figures are from the Foundry SYW range of Prussians, painted by Der Alte Fritz.

I have included another photo of the figures at a slight angle. The uniform coat is Reaper Elven Green and the facings are an assortment of various Reaper colors on the facings and small clothes. From left to right (above) we have IR4 Holstein Musketeer Regt. in red facings and white small clothes; IR3 the Charlottenburg Musketeer Regt. in pink facings and white small clothes; IR3 the Glasenap Musketeer Regiment in straw facings and small clothes; and finally, the Royal Foresters Regiment with red facings and straw or buff small clothes. Regiments that have white small clothes will have silver buttons on the uniform coat and silver cartouche plate on the cartridge box. Regiments in straw or buff will have gold buttons and a gold cartouche plate. All regiments will have brass gaitor buttons.

Colonel von Kleist, himself, from the Foundry range of Prussian freikorps officers.



Von Kleist freikorps officer's uniform provides a hint of what the official Hesse Seewald officers' uniforms will look like.

The two officers shown above will provide a glimpse at what the Hesse Seewald officers will look like. They sport green coats, wear regimental facings and small clothes (they are inhabers of one of the five regiments in the H-S army), and wear silver waist sashes.

New Clothes For Old Veterans

Hinchcliffe SYW Austrian cuirassiers in rather sorry condition. Eeepppp!!!!

I acquired twenty of the old Hinchcliffe Austrian SYW cuirassiers at a flea market (that's a Bring and Buy for those of you in the UK) about five or six years ago, with the intention of touching them up with paint and improving their appearance. As you can see in the picture above, the paint job is not up to standard and the figures needed a lot of work. When I bought them, I thought that maybe I could repaint the faces and leave them at that.

But you know how that usually turns out, right? First I touched up the faces, then the black equipment, then the shabraques, and so on and so forth. Before I knew it, I had repainted everything except the horse color on the figure. A side by side comparison of the "before" and "after" figures is shown below.

Side by side comparison of my repaint (left) and the original (right)

I tried to keep the original horse painting intact, although in the figure above, I repainted the white blaze on the horse's nose and painted all the tack equipment black. This brought the horse up to an average "wargaming standard". The trooper and shabraque has been completely repainted in this example.

After examing the rest of the regiment, I decided that the horses were so bad that I had do a total repaint. And so what started out as merely "touching up the figure" turned into a total repaint of the horse and figure. So basically, the figures amounted to nothing more than a "primed" figure. I had to completely cover the horse and rider with black acrylic paint and start all over. I worked on these over the weekend and have the troopers done, but the horses need to be painted. I will post a picture of the first dozen riders within the next couple of days.

I like the Hinchcliffe cavalry figures, the riders more so than the horses, but they look nice in an Old School sort of way. Besides, I was getting tired of painting the nicer Crusader Austrians after recently bringing the regiment up to 60 figures. So going forward, I will have one 60-figure cuirassier regiment of Crusader figures, and one 36-figure Hinchcliffe regiment in my army. Eventually I plan to add another Crusader Austrian cuirassier regiment. But for now, I sort of like the variety and the challenge of painting different figures.