Napoleonique and Der Kreigspielers

I have a copy of the 1992 version of these classic Napoleonique rules since the mid 90s.  I pulled my copy of the shelves this afternoon for a browse.

The original rules were published in 1971 and were available from Der Kreigspielers. They cost $3.  The rules were written by Jim Getz and are seen by many as a turning point in game design. I meet Jim at Historicon in 2002 and spent a couple hours listening to him giving a talk on game design. 

There are a few pictures in the rules which look to be mostly Der Kreigspieler figures.  Der Kreigspieler were owned by Duke Seifried and were, let's face it, copies of Marcus Hinton figures. They did however add a few figures to the range. The 'Duke' and Jim were lifelong friends.

Massed French Infantry advancing. The artillery at the back look to be Mini Figs

French Engineers consult a map to make sure that they are at the right farm before they knock down the door.

I have 4 units of Der Kreigspeliers  Prussians in my painting pile. Amongst them is a unit of Von Lutzowers.

Der Kreigspieler figures came in blister unit packs of 24 figures. I am not sure when blister packs first started becoming popular in the UK but it must have been well into the 90s. 

DK figures are smaller than HH as they are copies of figures rather than originals. They do however mix well on the tabletop. 

The Hinton Hunt moulds are understood to be owned by someone in Canada and are going to be well worn. I wonder what happened to the DK ones ?

Douglas Voltigeur

I have had this Voltigeur Officer for a while. Looking the shape of the base I think this may be a Douglas figure  possibly code NP17.

He is a bit thicker set than other Douglas figures in the range. I have nicknamed him the Enforcer.

This weekend I painted up an old DK Russian standard bearer to go with the old Alberken figures I recently got off ebay.

These figures are painted to a basic style how the varnish has yellowed with age. I have tried to age the DK standard bearer using acrylic ink to stain the paint. I will leave these figures as they are - at least for now.

So that is 14 Infantry figures completed this year. I have started my next unit - 12 JC recast French two piece  Dragoons.  I just need to decide which Green to use.

Chasseur Flankers finished

I have finished off the 12 figures of the Chasseur Flankers. The unit consists of 22 original Alberken/Minifig figures with a recast Hinton standard bearer and drummer.

The Green and yellow go together rather nicely although it took 5 coats of yellow paint on the flag. I am not entirely happy with the flag as the eagle looks like a pigeon.

Alberken officers have a strange pose which I have tried to alter by bending the arms slightly. I had to do this to make room for the Drummer to fit.

So I have finished my first 12 Figures of the year which earns me 12 points. I have a French Rose (?) Voltigeur Officer almost done. 

In other news I have decided to use the prepainted Russian Alberken figures (see previous post)  as they are yellow varnish and all.  True veterans in more than one way. There are only 20 of them so I am painting a DK standard bearer and coke can flag to add to the unit. The interesting part is I am painting him to match the rest of the figures including replicating yellow varnish. 

Battles of Yesteryear

Over the years I have seen pictures of painted box sets supplied by Alberken in I guess the mid to late 60s. These box sets cost £2 2s 0d or 2 Guineas in 1965.

I have a fondness for the Alberken range and I was pleased to pick up a box of these figures on ebay for a modest outlay (I was the only bidder)

The box contains 20 Russians and look to be Grenadiers possibly codes RN3 and RN4s.  The painting is basic and the paintwork, particularly the white , shows, the effect of age with yellowing varnish.

I will do a bit of paint refurbishment and generally tidy these figures up rather than a strip and repaint. I have 2 Russian DK standard bearers and couple of SHQ Grenadiers I can use to bring the unit up to full strength as the Arakcheyev Grenadiers.

2019 Painting Review

So with 2019 done and dusted I thought it would be a good time to review my classic Napoleonics painting completed in the year.  Each Infantry/artilleryman figure painted counts as a point with a mounted figure and artillery piece counting as 2.

In all I painted 69 Infantry/artillerymen, 28 mounted and 2 guns.  So in all 129 points worth.  I had hoped to do more and aim to do more this year. I am going to move onto some Prussians next and I am hoping that the simpler uniforms may make it quicker to paint

In chronological order this us what I painted.

British Rifles.

British Lifeguards

British Royal Horse Artillery

Brunswick Line Infantry

Wellington and Picton

French Voltigeurs

Davout and Ney

Brunswick Hussars

And finally the first 12 of the Flanker Chasseurs. The other 12 are on the painting table.

Fixing Broken Bayonets

I have collected enough Hinton Hunt French Fusiliers (FN15) to provide the figures for the fusiliers for 2 French Line Battalions.

Unfortunately most of them have lost their bayonets and require fixing.

I have in the past tried plastic card and this has been moderately successful. This time I used a plastic HaT figure to be my bayonet donor. The size and shape of the bayonet are almost the same as the HH bayonet and it most importantly it looks like a bayonet.

I cut the bayonet and the end tip of the musket of the plastic figure. I then cleaned upon the HH figure and filed a straight edge before scoring the ends the of the joint to make a rougher join.

I stuck the replacement to the figure using super glue and a little PVA glue. Once set I reinforced the joint area with a little Milliput.  Once dry this can be gently sanded.

I have tested the join and it is solid. The flexibility of HaT plastic helps as it bends without putting pressure on the join.  Hopefully I can get the paint to adhere and not flak.

And the final comparison photo showing my repaired next to a complete one. Once painted I think it be near impossible to tell the difference.

Chasseur Flanker of the Guards.

I finished the varnishing this morning of the first  12 of my Chasseur Flanker of the Guard.

For this unit I have used the Alberken/early Minfig FN16 - Line Volitigeur Advancing figure for the Rank and File.  This is one of my favourite Alberken figures.

The Chasseur Flankers are a useful addition for 1813/14 French Armies and will form part of my Young Brigade along with a unit of Alberken FN20 - Young Guard Voltigeurs.

They look rather natty in Green.  I have had these figures since the early 70s and I bought them from BMW Models in Wimbledon.  I had originally painted them as Austrians.  For some reason I black lined them in yellow. 

It's good to get these figures resurrected after so many years.