Home › Forums › Horse and Musket › Napoleonic › 6mm MDF Napoleonics
- This topic has 52 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 4 months ago by Thaddeus Blanchette.
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01/11/2015 at 03:10 #33598Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipant
….from Commission Figurines. Curlerman convinced me to take the plunge because, at two pounds for a pack of 96, they are cheaper than even O8’s 3mm stuff.
They are great!
My packs have just arrived and here are some things I have learned already.
The eight man long infantry strips are just a teeny bit above 40mm in lenght.
That said, you can cut these suckers apart with sharp craft blade in no time flat. I cut mine into individual pieces in order to make my units look more tightly packed and not perfectly regimented.
Take Curlerman’s advice and strengthen the connection between figure and base with a dab of superglue — on the back for the front rankes and in the front foe the back ranks.
Ditto the bayonets on the marching infantry. These are very fragle (but when have bayonets ever not been?)
I am building 32 figure infantry units and 12 figure horse units. This gives you three units per pack.
The only clunky sculpts so far are the wheels on the cannon, which are about twice as thick as they should be. Nevertheless, they still look quite good. And the caissons! You get enough bits to make pretty much any artillery vehicle you want, including Austrian “Wurst Wagons”. And, if anything, you get too many horses.
These figures are the shizz! I will defintiely be buying more. Walt has a winner, here.
I am planning on building an Old School wooden soldiers set up. A question, though: would it be wrong to flock my old school bases?
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
01/11/2015 at 08:13 #33601Alvin MolethrottlerParticipantThaddeus, any chance of some pictures? I’m quite intrigued by this.
01/11/2015 at 08:19 #33602Steve JohnsonParticipantI’ve bought some sample figures and agree that they are brilliant. I’ve based my for Black Powder on 30mm x 15mm bases, with two rows of four figures. I’ll try and put some pics up later, once I’ve found the camera!
As for basing, I flocked mine so that they fit in with my gaming mat and scenery. I did consider going ‘old school’, but then I’d want to have terrain that looked ‘old school’ as well. Time and space preclude that option at present. The only thing I would say is that for me ‘old school’ looks right when based in nice regimented rank and file. Personally I would keep them in neat strips.
01/11/2015 at 10:10 #33604Alvin MolethrottlerParticipantI know this is going to sound like a daft question but, perhaps if sealed with PVA first, could these figures be coloured in with, say, felt tip pens?
01/11/2015 at 12:39 #33610Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantMolly the Cat in 1800 scale provided as a reference.
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
01/11/2015 at 16:52 #33618Guy FarrishParticipantThink the cat was too many pixels :^l
02/11/2015 at 00:53 #33632curlermanParticipantThe only clunky sculpts so far are the wheels on the cannon, which are about twice as thick as they should be. Nevertheless, they still look quite good. would it be wrong to flock my old school bases?
The wheels are thick because they are cut from 2mm MDF but the wheels are easily fixed. Stand them on edge and cut straight down with a sharp knife. they split on a natural straight line. I flock to match my terrain boards. To get the toy soldier effect you need to do it across all the product. Terrain boards too
Winning is not important but losing i just can't handle..
blog http://flownlegions.blogspot.com.es
web http://www.angelfire.com/games4/bobsgames/hair_curlers.htm02/11/2015 at 01:20 #33634Lagartija MikeSpectatorThese would make great March of the Wooden Soldier grenadiers. All you’d need would be some Foundry Africans flocked with black fuzz to a retro-racist polish for the Boogeymen and a molting, leering anthropomorphic rat in a toy zeppelin.
02/11/2015 at 01:28 #33635Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantCurlerman, I am worried that standard Woodlands Scenics medium green flocking is too dark for these guys.
What flocking do you use?
I discovered the fix for the wheels myself this morning. As you say, a quick downward slice with a sharp knife at the halfway mark and Bob’s yer uncle!
Steve, I am basing as you do: eight infantry per 20×15 stand, four saptands per unit. Cavalry is six figs per 40 x 15 stand, two stands per unit.
I like the slight variantipn caused by individual basing. Even though in theory old school games were more regulamented, in practice the units showed much variation, the figures being individually mounted.
I will try to get some better pics up tomorrow. Not sure why the one pic I posted isn’t showing. :/
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
02/11/2015 at 01:31 #33636Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantOne thing is for sure: Imdefinitelyndo not have the patience to mod these guys out like you do, Curlerman. MDF is a bitch to work withh as it splinters quite easily.
I am prepping the figs by dabbing their legs with superglue, as you suggest. I am also painting the bayonets of the marching infantry with wood glue.
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
02/11/2015 at 07:34 #33647Not Connard SageParticipantCurlerman, I am worried that standard Woodlands Scenics medium green flocking is too dark for these guys.
Use Woodland Scenics light green flocking then 😉
Obvious contrarian and passive aggressive old prat, who is taken far too seriously by some and not seriously enough by others.
02/11/2015 at 09:31 #33651curlermanParticipantCurlerman, I am worried that standard Woodlands Scenics medium green flocking is too dark for these guys. What flocking do you use?
This one
http://totalsystemscenic.com/product/tssf01-verdant-green-flock/
Winning is not important but losing i just can't handle..
blog http://flownlegions.blogspot.com.es
web http://www.angelfire.com/games4/bobsgames/hair_curlers.htm03/11/2015 at 03:31 #33738Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantWe get slapped around, but we have a good time!
03/11/2015 at 03:32 #33739Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantWe get slapped around, but we have a good time!
03/11/2015 at 03:32 #33740Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantThere we go!
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
03/11/2015 at 06:52 #33744Steve JohnsonParticipantOh my are those nice! Excellent job Thaddeus. The single basing works out far better than I thought it would. I know my hands are too shaky for that these days.
03/11/2015 at 23:11 #33800Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantThanks, Steve! Yeah, I think that basing them closer together and just a tad irregularly really helps here. Still don’t know what I should do re: flocking or even if I should flock.
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
04/11/2015 at 06:53 #33811Steve JohnsonParticipantYou have two options IMHO:
Go properly ‘old school’ and leave them as they are. That then raises the issue of do they work with th rest of your terrain? Somehow I think this actually works really well with the figures.
Go ‘modern basing’ with grit and flock. This is the route I will choose simply as I then don’t have to make any different terrain!
04/11/2015 at 07:01 #33812Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantI think I will go Old School for now. I can always flock later, right? I wish I could make some abstract wooden trees, but I think I will have to use clump flock for that. Buildings are going to be in three mm scale, made out of card. White with red roofs.
I want to find this green, however:
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
04/11/2015 at 09:51 #33816Steve JohnsonParticipantIn the UK we can go to a DIY store and get emulsion paint mixed to pretty much any colour you want. Not sure if you have that option in Brazil?
Re: old school trees, I vaguely remember someone making some simple 2D profile trees that actually looked pretty good, as they matched the rest of the terrain in visual terms.
You’ve now given me food for thought on this Thaddeus, as ‘old school’ is becoming rather tempting…
04/11/2015 at 14:41 #33830willzParticipantThaddeus They are Mark Dudley’s gaming boards. Who used Dulux Tarragon Glory no 2 to achieve a retro look. It’s a vivid green, he suggest trying a testor pot first.
04/11/2015 at 14:51 #33831Lagartija MikeSpectatorExactly what is “Old School”?
04/11/2015 at 14:59 #33832Not Connard SageParticipantExactly what is “Old School”?
The painting style, rules, terrain, and massed figures of Featherstone/Grant/Young/Wise.
Obvious contrarian and passive aggressive old prat, who is taken far too seriously by some and not seriously enough by others.
04/11/2015 at 15:18 #33833Guy FarrishParticipantHenry Hyde championed it for a long time (probably still does) but there was something of a ‘split ‘ for a while as ‘Old School’ obviously means different things to different people depending when they started gaming. Generally as NCS said but some later dragged Bruce Quarrie and Phil Barker and even Newbury rules into the term which is not what the progenitors of the term had in mind I think.
For a start in further research try the Yahoo Group
You may need to register for a good trawl through the files (it seems a lot quieter over the last year) but you’ll get the flavour.
04/11/2015 at 15:33 #33834Not Connard SageParticipantGenerally as NCS said but some later dragged Bruce Quarrie and Phil Barker and even Newbury rules into the term which is not what the progenitors of the term had in mind I think.
Barker, well WRG back then, were the antithesis of Old School. They were all about ‘realistic’, ‘historical’, and ‘accurate’.
Quarrie and others added layers of complexity to periods other than Ancients, and don’t even get me started about the Newbury bollox.
Obvious contrarian and passive aggressive old prat, who is taken far too seriously by some and not seriously enough by others.
04/11/2015 at 15:39 #33835Lagartija MikeSpectatorOther than Barker most of that means nothing to me. I need to complete my rules library, especially the old stuff (to me anything back beyond the mid80s).
04/11/2015 at 15:55 #33842Not Connard SageParticipantWe’re talking the 1960s through to the mid 1970s here, youngster…
Obvious contrarian and passive aggressive old prat, who is taken far too seriously by some and not seriously enough by others.
04/11/2015 at 20:40 #33858Guy FarrishParticipantBarker, well WRG back then, were the antithesis of Old School. They were all about ‘realistic’, ‘historical’, and ‘accurate’. Quarrie and others added layers of complexity to periods other than Ancients, and don’t even get me started about the Newbury bollox.
Oh I concur, wholeheartedly. It amused me no end when I first heard the term ‘Old School’ used about them (by people who hadn’t started gaming until the late 80s/90s I suppose) until I remembered trying to make Tercio and Newbury Renaissance (Constantinople to Vienna?) work and then the laughter stopped.
05/11/2015 at 02:35 #33863Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipant“Tarragon Glory”…?
I’m not going to have to wear a tie and cardigan though, right?
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
05/11/2015 at 03:08 #33866Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantI wonder what Charles Grant would have thought if he’d lived to see this…?
You’d’ve thunk TMP would’ve come up with it first….
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
05/11/2015 at 11:41 #33898Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantAlmost makes me want to send a pair to Henry Hyde as a lark. “Old School Wargaming: Be a pretentious c**t.”
(Sorry, Henry…. 😉 )
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
06/11/2015 at 20:29 #34009Glenn PearceSpectatorHello Lagartija Mike!
As has been said “Old School” means different things to different people. The common explanation I’ve heard is that it refers to any rule set where your figures are mounted on small bases so that you can change formation with your battalions. “New School” is any rule set where your figures are mounted on a single base for your battalions, regiments, brigades or Divisions.
Best regards,
Glenn
06/11/2015 at 20:56 #34010Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantHmmm. Well, I played Old School straight out of “Charge” and I always had my figures mounted on trays, as the rules suggested.
That said, Old School tends to have the following charateristics, in my opinion (note that word “tends”: it’s there for a reason):
1) No flocking: bases and table painted or draped with an intense green.
2) Big figures: 20mm at least.
3) Few figure poses.
4) ImagiNations.
5) simple rules that make for a quick and easy game, as opposed to a simulation.
6) Big battalions of individuallynposed figures.Obviously, my 6mm set-up will be to Old School as hipsters are to hippies: there’s a decided resemblance and ancestry, but the new stuff is different.
Foind my green today, by the way. A big jar of what is called “Light English Green”. If it isn’t “Tarragon Glory 2”, it is a close cousin.
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
06/11/2015 at 21:42 #34014Glenn PearceSpectatorHello Thaddeus!
Keep in mind that from birth “Old School” pretty much only had your six points. There was very little else to choose from. Even today perhaps only a couple of them have changed and or have more options.
The intense green was not really that popular. Most of the games I played in and saw were all dark green, as the most common cloth used was a dark green felt.
It is, however, nice that you have these images in your mind and are working on a project to bring it to life. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing it all when your finished.
Best regards,
Glenn
07/11/2015 at 03:41 #34026Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantPainted the first baseboard with my green. Nice but too electric. So I stippled it with khaki and very small ammounts of light green and now it looks right. I have kept the stands’ bases brilliant green, however, to direct light upwards and highlight the figures. So far, it looks pretty good. ‘
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
07/11/2015 at 08:23 #34033Steve WilliamsParticipantThey look great . Do they have any raised detail on them or do you have to paint them like flats and figure the hightlights and shades yourself?
07/11/2015 at 09:33 #34034Steve WilliamsParticipantOK I’m interested. Where do you buy them?
08/11/2015 at 14:16 #34072Steve WilliamsParticipantApologies for bumping this but I looked at the website that was mentioned by the op but couldn’t see any way if buying the figures
Anyone know the best way?
08/11/2015 at 16:37 #34073Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantI just sent Commission Figurines an e-mail. Walt is a dear and worked with me through a long, drawn out purchasing process. He was very attentive and easy to order from.
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
08/11/2015 at 16:39 #34074Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantThe figures do have significant ammounts of raised detail, Steve. Not as much as metal figures, obviously, but still.
Backpacks, shakos, horse bridles are all raised as are, surprisingly, faces.
Other details – rifles, straps, pants etc. – are line engraved into the figures.
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
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