Austrian 6mm Napoleonic Army Project

These first pictures of 6mm Austrian units represent my initial painting and basing of 6mm miniatures.  I chose the Austrian army because I possess all the other major antagonists, except for the Prussians, in 15mm.  I also began reading James Arnold's three volume work on the 1809 Danube campaign and was inspired to simulate the battles relavant to the campaign.  6mm would permit me to model the units in mass and allow me to be able to fight the larger battles with sufficient density to mirror more realistically real battles.  I also possess a 4 1/2' x 9' pool table which can give me a playing surface of approximately 6' x 9'.  This large surface coupled with the 6mm miniatures will allow me to maneuver large units and perhaps even permit envelopment strategies such as Davout's flank attack against the Russians at Eylau or Napoleon's approach march on the Austrian flank at Eckmuhl.


Painting
I was hesitant about painting an Austrian army because I wasn't sure how to depict the white uniforms thinking that plain white would be unrealistic as many of the bloggers were undercoating in gray and highlighting in white.  I decided, however, to prime in black and block in white and to forgo highlighting.  I was pleasantly surprised and satisfied by the result.  I also decided to paint in only one cross belt because attempts to paint all the belts and straps resulted in a horrible mess and was extremely time consuming.  because I have only painted 15mm previously I wasn't sure how the 6mms would paint up.  at the start I was tentative bu quickly developed a technique for systematically painting up the 6mms in an assembly line approach which facilitated output.


Basing
first I want to credit Lee at the Figure Painting Therapy blog for his hints and tips for basing 6mm Napoleonics.  Many of his tips have been very helpful and have been incorporated into my own basing system.  These include the color of his ground cover (GW Scrag Brown) and static grass patterns.  They lend striking color to his bases and attractively complement the miniatures.  because the miniatures are so small the bases assume greater aesthetic importance.

another excellent technique I picked up on another blog (I can't recall which one offhand) is to paint the sides of he bases in the national colors.  because of the size of the 6mms it isn't always easy to identify units of the various armies.  For example, I painted the Austrian bases white and will paint the French bases blue, the Russian green, and the British red.  I took this technique further by painting the back of the Austrian grenadier units red and the Hungarian units blue and Jagers green to further distinguish them within their own army.

I've used Baccus ground cover and a combination of Baccus and GW static grass.  The static grass is short and works well with 6mm.

In the initial stages of the project, I started with a Baccus Army  pack and an infantry booster pack.  at the outset I was conflicted by how I was going to base the infantry.  The basic Baccus base size was 30x60mm but I was thinking that by putting a full regiment of two battalions with skirmishers and regimental officers on a 60x60 base would accentuate the mass effect and still leave room to appealing enhance the base with ground cover and static grass.  I was pleased with the effects which resulted.


Terrain
The hills were constructed from insulation foam that was shaped and flocked.  The tree canopies were something I discovered on a Civil War blog and that I thought was truly imaginative and was easily reproduced with insulation foam, Woodland Scenic foliage clusters, and toothpicks.  To place and maneuver the troops all is needed is to lift the canopies off their bases and once you make your placements and are satisfied return the canopies.

Town
I bought 20 of these buildings years ago for my GHQ micro armor and have been unable to find these structures since.  I am truly sorry that I didn't buy a hundred of these when I had the chance.  The same thing happened to me when I purchased 300 counter magnets for historical board gaming and I wished I had bought a thousand.  They are no longer being made and are seldom found on e-bay and when they are offered they are expensive.


Photos
The five photos include 8 infantry regiments with two battalions and supporting skirmishers and regimental commanders, 3 heavy cavalry brigades of two regiments (cuirassiers and dragoons) in two lines with officers, and some skirmisher bases (line and Jager).  The infantry and cavalry are on 60x60 bases while the skirmishers are on 30x60mm bases.

This is my first attempt to photograph 6mms and I was somewhat disappointed because the pictures were not sufficiently close to properly display the details.  I am determined in my next effort to get better results.


I'm new to blogging and any comments or suggestions are more than welcomed and even encouraged.