Firstly, the 100 1"x1" Litko bases have arrived. I hope to get some time to tinker with them by this weekend. We shall see!
Meanwhile, I'm expecting another small cash infusion, so I'm pondering some figure purchase options and am up for some advice. Stokes from the Grand Duchy of Stollen is currently pondering heavy cavalry options. I, in my turn, am currently pondering cavalry also, but not exclusively so. Nevertheless, let us discuss cavalry first.
My intended organization for cavalry squadrons is 1 officer, 1 standard, 1 musician, and 9 other ranks. I currently have the following:
Hussars - RSM95: 12 "other ranks", Old Glory 3 command sets: 1 officer, 1 standard, 1 musician, 1 man with pistol (NCO?).
Cuirassiers - RSM: 1 officer, 1 standard, 1 trumpeter, 9 other ranks.
Dragoons - a mixed bag of Spencer Smith plastics, including one officer and I think 11 others mingling dragoons and the "aide" with his sword pointed straight up. I have no difficulties painting all these as a dragoon regiment.
Options I'm pondering:
A) 1 bag of 12 RSM95 Prussian Dragoons - $22.20.
B) 1 bag of 12 RSM95 Hussars. - $22.20. This would give me two complete squadrons of Hussars and a portion of a third. I might ponder putting together enough funds to fill out the third.
C) 1 bag of 12 RSM95 Hanoverian Horse Grenadiers - $22.20. These are just a really tempting figure. You can see these on the November 4th posts at the Saxe-Bearstein blog: http://saxe-bearstein.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html
D) 1 bag of 12 Scruby ?? - $26.75 (counting $5 shipping). I'm tempted by the Saxon Dragoon in Fusilier Cap 3539C, or the Shaumburg-Lippe Karbineer 3530C. For an officer, I supposed I'd have to use the Dragoon in Tricorn 3511C? Does Scruby have musicians? Are these molded with their weapons in hand, or separate weapons? I'm guessing the former.
I also need 6 horses, for the RSM95 French General and English Aide figures I received off of Ebay, and 2 swords for the RSM95 French Officers (foot).
Other foot options:
RSM95 Hanoverians - I need about 30 figures to complete a battalion of these from the stray figures I received from Ebay. A 36-figure bag is $27.00. RSM is usually very nice about letting me customize a bag, so I could probably modify a Hanoverian bag with the right figure mix and an extra 6 foot figures.
RSM95 Highlanders - I currently have 6 standing firing poses, and 12 kneeling firing poses. I've debated how to handle these figures for a firing line. The only other pose of "other ranks" RSM makes is a marching pose. Would the marching pose work as a third rank for a normal 3-rank deployment? Or is that going to look silly and I should settle for a long two-rank firing line instead? Thoughts? If I did a 2-rank firing line, I'd probably go with 4 12-man companies, plus a 6-man command group. So I'd need another 36 figures precisely, for $27.00.
RSM95 Prussian Musketeers - I need a total of 45 figures to finish out a second Prussian Musketeer Battalion from the figures I have at hand. Assuming I was able to start with an infantry bag, this would cost me a total of $34.65
Scruby Jagers - Another option I considered was to build a battalion of jagers with Scruby figures. This would take 3 bags of 12 foot and 1 bag of 6 foot, giving me a total of 42 figures for $33.25 counting $7 postage.
Opinions from the gentlemen of the mess? Whatever I do, I can only afford to do one of the above options at present.
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7 comments:
Please note . . . to see the Hanoverian Horse Grenadiers, scroll down near the bottom of the link that Jonathan provides.
Also allow me to add that I think the figures look even better than the photos I took.
And I hope that you enjoy the other posts that that link takes you to.
-- Jeff of Saxe-Bearstein
Jonathan,
I'm a firm believer in completing units before starting on new ones.
So, given that, I would choose one of the options for which I have some (but not all) of the figures I need.
-- Jeff
Jonathan,
I agree with Jeff, go for completing units.
As far as your figure lines, be advised that the Scruby (now Historifigs) 25mm are "true 25mm" and will be much smaller than RSM and Old Glory. I have both with OG in my SYW armies and Scruby in my AWI armies. There is a distinct height difference between the two.
Jim
Hi Jonathan,
Yeah...try to finish off one unit completely before starting another. Otherwise, you end up with bits and pieces, with nothing finished. (Ask me how I know this! Ha, ha!)
You've got some excellent figure lines to choose from, so it's a far cry from when Airfix was the only show in town. How is "The Wargame" coming along? I'm looking forward to you and Stokes locking horns on the tabletop. Good luck!
Yours,
Martin
I'd agree.
There are valid opitons for starting a new propject before completing an old one ...
boredom, urgent need for a particular unit to supplement your force in an upcoming game ...
exploring a new line for suitability in an ongoing program ...
but as posted, finish somebody off first!
:)
Arthur
Hmm, yes, I'd recommend finishing a project first. Luckily I found the willpower to do so myself, and all my current ImagiNation figures are done. I'm sorely tempted to buy some RSM95 hussars too. Those chaps at Dayton Painting Consortium turn out a fine set of figurines.
First suggestion: completion of a unit under construction.
Second suggestion: build from the 'ground up'; meaning you should aim to complete 3 line foot units before doing a line horse then an artillery, then do another sequence the same, 3 line, 1 horse 1 arty BEFORE doing any 'elite' or 'guard' units. I am not certain of where you may be in this progression but I completely stand by the suggestion that LINE INFANTRY comes before all else, then in the horse DRAGOONS come first (as they are normally more numerous, but in some eastern nations Hussars are more plentiful = since this is an 'imagi-nation' your own statistics are the ones to use when making this computation) then some artillery, I normally like to do 6 foot, 2 horse then a bunch of artillery (last time was 10 batteries), then back to the line units. Finally after at least two 3 Foot, 1 Horse & 1 Arty progressions you should do a 'personality' or two or an 'elite' unit. The advantage of following this progression is as you get better at painting your 'elite' units should look better than the line ones.
Third Suggestion: whimsy. IF there is something that just screams at you to get it painted then DO IT.
my two pfennigs
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