Battle of Hubbardton in 6mm

With over half the year gone already, I figured I'd better catch up on posting.  I've actually been pretty active on the gaming front in the past few months, especially since the reenacting scene has been pretty quiet due to Covid-19.

Battle of Hubbardton

First up, The Battle of Hubbardton.

Back in the beginning of the year, I watched a video from Little Wars TV about creating a topographical map for wargaming.  At the time, I had been thinking about creating some sort of game to represent The Battle of Hubbardton.  The video put the idea into my head to recreate the battle in 1:1 figure scale (roughly 1,000 troops per side) using 6mm figures.

I started the project by ordering some Continental Line Infantry in light infantry caps from Baccus Miniatures to represent Seth Warner's "Green Mountain Boys" regiment.  Warner was in overall command of the American side of the field that day,  and I'm familiar with the regiment, so I started there.  Never having painted miniatures as small as 6mm, I wasn't sure what to expect.  When they arrived, I was pleased to see how much detail could be sculpted at that size, and after watching a few videos, I discovered that painting them is easier than I expected it would be.  Unlike 28mm miniatures, 6mm miniatures don't need each detail picked out on every figure.  The goal is to represent massed troops, so coat colors and facings became more important than canteen straps and belts.

Warner's in 6mm

Baccus Continental Light Infantry

To give me an idea how they'd look on the table, I painted up just a few figures.  I decided that they were too dark, so I settled on painting the rest of the figures with a brighter green, to represent the green faced red coats that Warner's Regiment was ordered to have when they were formed.

Test Figures

My second order from Baccus was for a group of German line infantry, and some horsemen to act as officers for all units.  The Germans would represent the Hessian unit that came onto the field toward the end of the battle, reinforcing the British regulars and helping to cause the final retreat of the Continentals.

Hessian Line Infantry

Commanders on Horseback

These figures I was able to paint more quickly.  I think I was beginning to become more practiced with the scale.  I also found that I could add detail to the figures, things such as cross belts and helmet plates, by using a set of fine tipped paint pens that I found at our local craft store.

Hessians in Progress

Baron Riedesel's Troops Enter the Field

Unfortunately, this is where this particular project has stalled.  In March, things came to a halt with the arrival of the Corona virus, which has caused global shutdowns and delays, including with Baccus Miniatures.  While they have done their best to keep up, the company has had to shut down their online shopping cart a couple of times, due to staffing and shipping issues.  To their credit, they have been very open with the gaming community about their status, and once things are opened up again, I'll definitely be placing more orders with them to continue this project.

For more information about the Battle of Hubbardton, check out this video done by a friend of mine, Skyler Bailey, on the Seth Warner's Recreated Regiment YouTube channel.

LPL - Final Entries

With the year winding up, I'm going to include my final Lead Painters League entries in a single post.  Rounds 8, 9 and 10 saw me at the bottom of the pack, which was unsurprising.  Overall, I finished in last place, but I'm actually pretty happy with that.  Score-wise, I kept up with the competition, staying within 10 points of my closest competitor.  More importantly, I was able to get a lot more painted than I usually do, and proved to myself that I can make the time to paint if I put some effort into it.

Entry 8 - Rural Residents

My eighth entry to the contest was another set of Perry miniatures.  Most were civilian, but I believe one of the men on the right came from an infantry pack.  Overall I was pretty happy with how these turned out.  The field worker figure was my first time painting dark skin, and I wasn't sure how it would read, but it turned out okay.  Also for this round, I built a bit of background scenery, which I'll cover in a later post.

Entry 9 - Sharpshooter's Revenge

For the ninth round of the League, I assembled some figures from a few different packs of Perry Miniatures.  The man lying face down on the ground is from their plastic British Infantry set.  The man on horseback came from a pack of generals of some sort.  The two infantry men on the left started out as figures from an artillery set.  I carved off their artillery accessories, removed their right arms, and added muskets and arms from a British Infantry plastic sprue.  The crouching figure is not from Perry.  He was found in a box of random stuff I found in a drawer, and may have come from Wargames Foundry originally.

With this group, I'm happy with the poses and the overall scene, but I wasn't happy with the painting.  I rushed a bit, and the metal figures had been painted before, so some stripping and repainting was required.  I'm tempted to strip the paint from these again and make another attempt.

Entry 10 - 2nd New Hampshire Command

My final entry to the competition was a command stand that I painted up in the uniform of the 2nd New Hampshire Continentals.  I don't recall where these particular sculpts are from, but I believe they were intended to be militia originally.  After a short bit of research, I decided that I like the sky-blue faced red regimental coats and buff colored flag of the 2nd, so I went with that.

Finally, here are a few shots of the entire collection of miniatures that I painted for this year's Lead Painter's League.  Fifty figures was the requirement for the overall competition, and I managed to paint up 56.  I'm very happy with my overall output, and I like that I've painted up enough AWI sculpts that I can start to seriously look into hosting some small skirmish level games.

Lead Painters League 2019 - Overhead

Lead Painters League - Assembled Forces