Tuesday, October 30, 2012

3mm Napoleonics Arrived In 2 Days

Quick and Accurate Service From PicoArmor

I sat around thinking about the Napoleonics for a week, and how I might use them, and then placed an order over the Internet on Saturday the 27th, so for them to arrive by noon today the 30th already was quicker than I had expected. In fact I was still thinking about how I was going to use them.

It was already afternoon when I ordered on Saturday, about 72 hours ago, and I have not even checked my email yet to see if they had confirmed receiving the order. By ordering over 25 dollars' worth, domestic US, I qualified for the free shipping, which cost them $3.65, but because I am in the worst state of the Union,  and so are they, being within the distance I would drive to work at the Salt Mines, I was subject to the tax which was about 25 percent more than what I saved there. No doubt the governor's cronies already spent my money last year anyway, plus everybody else's.

Look at These Babies



I ordered fifteen packs. Altogether with the governor getting his vigorish it just goes over $64 US for that many.

There are over 1500 between the troops and the sixty pieces of artillery. There are closer-up pictures on the links already  provided, and I'll put up some more; I meant to do one particularly for the UK and Euro people last time but I'll just put it here.


The whole line so far has only ten packs, so I got one of each and a few extras in certain types strategically selected. That way I can see the entire range right here, and still expand in certain ones before ordering again.

Now when you check what the Fighting 15s guy said, here, you'll see he is a bit concerned he might run low on the bearskins Grenadiers first, but mine came from PicoArmor just that quick. Where it says 'here' leads to him talking about it on TMP, and where it says Fighting 15s it goes directly to their site, where the figures are pictured for all ten packs closer up, and priced at 3 GBP each. You can do the math, the rates change a little daily. I can't tell who's in worse shape between US and UK from such a rate, considering in the US they are $4, maybe free shipping. Time is a factor, though, too.

I don't know how Australia is doing for these, but they are probably coming right along, it isn't really that far anyway depending on your means of transportation.  On the Fighting 15 page they have a blue flag with a circle of stars. I think that means the Euro flag, but in any event  both of the sites linked take PayPal, etc, and can handle the conversions of currencies in a click.

From what I have seen so far, it looks like the bearskins could pass easily enough for an 18th Century Grenadier mitre with a different swipe of the brush. The infantry with helmets might be a better choice to do 18C fusiliers, until better ones come along. The guns could also be used earlier well enough. And the shakos themselves could possibly resemble the headgear of the Croats or Grenz troops from a generation earlier.

So we'll see whether the Napoleonic bicornes come in first before the tricornes we are waiting for. For the time being I will be using those Irregular 2mm wagons and tents I think as a substitute since no one has done them in 3mm yet. After all they are just game tokens, aren't they?

And Another Comparable Range From Inkbiz, Getting Closer to Fruition?

Inkbiz has been talking about his 4mm he sculpted, and teasing us with pictures, for a few years now. He picked this week to do it again, and there's an interesting discussion about that here, along with pics including painted.. He says he has a number of sculpts and is about to make some molds. So how compatible these would be next to the others is a very interesting question. No one has seen how much larger of smaller they will be side by side yet.

To me the frontage question is as important as the height and girth question, but there may be ways to work around whatever the result turns out to be. If he puts them closer together because some want to do 1:1 ratios, and he can by half a millimeter, then to my way of doing things there would be too many figures on a given frontage, unless something is done about it.

But let's say he does 1.5mm and the other are 2mm apart. Then the workaround is to use the narrower frontage ones for columns and that sort of thing. Also in some armies a 2- or 4-rank line is used instead of 3-ranks, and one way to express that on the table is with a different frontage for x number of troops. So whatever he does, there may be workarounds, unless they are absurdly out of scale. That remains to be seen when someone does see them.

For the moment, I am thinking about a one-meter square Leipzig 1813, where each tiny figure would be 312 men and a vivandiere, counted mathematically as a half man to even out the math. This would mean eight figures at this scale would stand for 2500 men, and small units would be divisions, half or a third of the small unit a brigade, and Corps have a few of the divisions.

This is about as far from the 1:1 idea as anything, but it does put Leipzig on a dining room table even though it is sixteen miles by thirteen and a half.

I already tried this scale for Gettysburg with the ACW, and it seemed it would work, but because the field there is only maybe six miles or less across I could see I could do that on a somewhat more intimate scale too, then was distracted by other battles, work, etc. Also I have so many more figures than that scale calls for, I thought then I would try having larger units and a larger field.

But a one meter Leipzig is now right here in my hands, and the only trouble is, these 1500 figures still won't be enough for such a massive battle. They would already come close to what I have in mind, but I will probably need more shako men. 1500 x 312.5 comes to 468,750 men, but because I wanted the whole variety that would mean some 46,000 Austrians would have helmets in 1813 unless I order more figures. So I think I will.

Also the cavalry are still limited to heavy cavalry in the French-style helmets for right now, so I look forward to fresh releases. I could make do with ACW cavalry for other types for the time being, while we are waiting.

 http://test.skimlinks.com

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Sunday, October 21, 2012

New Oddzial Ozmy Napoleonic 3mm Now Available, 18th Century May Be Next

Exciting News
The big news came out at the end of last week:  the new range of 3mm Napoleonic figures have finally been made available and orders are being placed. It is okay to order now. We have been hearing since last spring that these figures would be released in September, so some fans were getting impatient, but the word is that 9 out of 10 types were ready then, and two more weeks were needed for processing the production, and now they are all ready to order. Ten out of ten are now shipping, a few weeks later. More will be released some time.

The types now out include infantry with shakos, the same but with plumes also, skirmishers, infantry with helmets close enough in this scale for either the Austrian or Bavarian or Wuerttemberg ones, heavy cavalry with French helmets such as the dragoons, cuirassiers, carabiniers, there are foot grenadiers with bearskins suitable for la creme de la creme, and so far 6-pounder medium guns and gunners with shakos.

So it's not a complete line, yet, but it's complete enough to get started for sure, and there will be more later. Shakos don't need to be Belgic and stovetop and bells so much in this scale 3mm, so the same sets could be French, Austrian, Russian, or others. Once they are in your hands you can make decisions what will be good enough, and what might work better. Oblong hats would suffice, and when you see them you'll see they actually do have brims, and other tiny details, smaller than your finest brush. Also details you see and try to paint turn out to be too small to actually see on table without using a jeweler's loupe.

It may not be clear to the viewer just how hard it is to get the paintbrush to pick out the details which are present. When you see them in a photo, they are enlarged considerably from the actual size. Depending on your computer, the whole figure may not be bigger than the number 8 right here on your screen.

These here in this pic are most of a pack of ACW Artillery. This isn't the new Napoleonic but I just thought the readers seem to like pictures, so here's one we took several months ago, showing four colors of paint so far I think. The 15 "pieces" for $4.00 USD consist of two cannon each piece, cast nose to nose, which you can snap apart with your fingers, so fifteen pieces means 30 cannon, for four dollars. Crews, limbers, etc sold separately, which is 75 crew for four more dollars, or 15 limbers with 30 horses, etc. Of the two guns, if you look carefully one is banded like a Parrott Rifle, and the other is more like a smoothbore Napoleon 12 pounder.


"They Look Like Ants!"
When I showed them to people, they said, "they look like ants!"

There is a 3mm Yahoo Group also called 1/600, where the latest news and talk is actually going on, and then next we will hear about it in places like the forum TMP, etc. It won't be long before some people will hurry to get their pics posted to show off their paint and base jobs. It's just out since Thursday so give it a week or so, and someone will have them up somewhere.

I have not ordered any yet, but I will soon. 

This year I have been collecting something above 8,000 of the ACW figures. I have pictures somewhere, taken last March, of the Civil War and also who knows how many World War Two, British, German and Russian but I can't be arsed to dig them out right now from the files, just because I happen to be talking about this. We were using one of the Nemesis' cameras since I don't have one.

Note, I changed my mind since writing that line, and pulled up the artillery picture from that set of pictures after all, just to have a picture of something very similar. I can show more later.

It is occurring to me too that I have a set of Vietnam era stuff as well, in 3mm, now that I think about it. So that's what I have been working on all this time. They also have modern, meaning right up to date, and a set aimed at Yom Kippur War, which was October 1973 in the Middle East. The difference of course is the models of tanks and vehicles are different over the years.

Sometime later in the spring of 2012 there was a set of TMP threads here about people's ACW 3mm in which Marcin, the designer of the figures, stepped in and showed a picture of the Napoleonics, and predicted September as the release time.I think that's the right thread, there were a couple of them. Yes, there it is, for Marcin's post with the first picture, which are ten shako infantry on a 2cm front (2mm frontage each file) scroll down the TMP thread to May 1, it starts with April 28. There are some very interesting ACW ideas and pics there too.

That was the first glimpse anyone outside the Yahoo Group had of the Napoleonics, and it sparked some enthusiasm. There are over 500 members in this Yahoo Group. The excitement there is palpable right now, since they are the very ones who have been waiting. The ACW line has been out for a while now, along with 20/21 century stuff.

Even More Exciting News --  Nearly Exclusive to Here So Far18th Century Next!
There was also some discussion back then when we had Marcin paying attention of some desire for 18th Century troops types, as well as wagons which are lacking so far. At that time he showed the Naps.

The latest news this weekend, even later than the Napoleonic release is that Marcin has now said YES there may be Seven Years War types, maybe next after the Napoleonics. He did not confirm nor deny a time frame of 18 months, although to be fair that was just the poster's words and not his to be accurate. He just said next, and a couple maybes, and nothing about the time frame except 'next.'  That's good, because I could not wait and already did it myself, I started to look at the ACW as substitute 18th Century,  but to have dedicated figures would be better.

We should get on the group and fora and press for tricornes, mitres and all that. The fact that we already did has had an effect, he did listen, this will push him over the edge.

PICTURES ARE HERE, and you can also order there too click on title link

This link in the title above is John's site at PicoArmor.
Okay, so there is a link to one place the figures can be ordered now, and at this same link you can see photos of all ten currently released Napoleonic packs. They are priced at $4.00 at this site and come with 150 infantry, or 45 cavalry, or 30 pieces of artillery. This shop is here near Chicago, Illinois, USA. The boss there, John, said go ahead and place orders although his site still says coming soon; they are on the way and pretty fast, this is only Sunday of the first weekend right now. Free shipping deal may apply depending where you are, see his site for his details.

I will add a link for another shop that Marcin mentioned also where they are available too. I checked it out, this is Assault Publishing and that is Marcin Gerkowitz' own site, which has online store, so this would be right from the horse's mouth, no wonder he recommended it. The site is in English, but he I think is in Poland, check his ordering details to see about his shipping and all that.

"which has online store," now he has me writing with Polish accent, from reading so much of it! At least I didn't put a u in color this time.

Then a third place I saw mentioned was Fighting 15's, that is someone on the Yahoo Group 3mm miniatures said they are ordering from there. Not sure where they are but some of you might know.

Just pick whichever one sounds most convenient for wherever you are. For myself I will probably go to a store down the street mostly, although they keep running out of figures right after I go there,  but would go to the PicoArmor site if I have to order online, since they are right in my own vicinity.

The ACW have 120 infantry, 45 cavalry, 30 guns. Some specialized types are different as far as numbers, because he is counting it as 15 pieces either way, and the difference is how many figures are on a 'piece.' So 8 ACW infantry, ten Napoleonic infantry, three cavalry, 2 guns, all of these times 15 pieces give the varying totals.

A good way to experiment and see different types in different periods is to order the Sample Packs, as they pack in maybe three pieces  of several different sets all in one, usually for around 8 dollars, instead of buying full packs of ten different items. This way you can get a few of many items all at once. The Battle of Britain Sample set for instance has Hurricanes, Spitfires, Dorniers, Heinkels and Junkers as well as Messerschmitts, just like three each or so instead of fifteen of one type.

The Yahoo Group I have been talking about is called 3mm miniatures, and there is also another one called 1/600 which specializes more in aircraft, whether World War I, World War II, or more modern types.

Tumbling Dice also carries a very nice range of compatible pieces for those.
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Monday, October 1, 2012

A Great Time To Visit Catalonia

 But Not For Me, Just More Overtime Work

One of my Kollegas went there for these past couple of weeks, visiting Barcelona in particular. Not sure what else he did yet.  He is a Mexican-American by family heritage and switches from English to Spanish and back pretty easily. He thought he was going to Spain. He never even heard of Catalan, unlike the people around these blogs, who know something about the history of the places.

Just like they say, youth is wasted on the young, so too are good vacations wasted on ignoramuses sometimes, er wait is that ignorami, uhh.  He had never even heard of Catalonia, nor their language, until I gave him a quick rundown on what was going on around there this past couple of weeks. While he was there.

It was a quick rundown, too, since there is only so much he was going to remember to look for, but it helps to have at least a little basic stuff in your head before it's too late to even notice it, and you're already back to the Salt Mines again.Which he now is, and it's all used up for the year. They don't let us out very much.

So I suggested he try listening to this song first, before he goes there, to help with the right attitude.
He was going to be cut off from the Internet the whole time, cold turkey, and he is a big Apple fan normally.

Here is a basic version of what I think the lyrics are about, and the attitude is something like a cross between Jimmy Buffett and a Cave Man at the same time. I thought that would help him enjoy his trip to have that in mind before he got there.

A Ti A Ti,   Gypsy Kings

In passing along the Rampla
At the Rampla in Barcelona-o
I found a nice little chick
And I carried her to my house

I love you, to you to you, bam bam bam
Only to you to you, bam bam bam 
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*Some of those words might not be quite right, for instance the book says it is usually spelled Las Ramblas, a good place to walk (Ramble) around and see people, a little bit like Michigan Avenue can be, but better. Better, because look who is there.  I used a little license on the vem vem vem, or ven ven ven, but so did the artist, I think. They don't have vem in Mexico, but ven could fit. I like the bam for effect.
 
That lucky pendejo probably didn't find any chiquita nada, since he's probably a maricon, anyway, but I am probably just jealous since I would have tried to find battlefield stuff, if only I could go there, but no vacation for me since 2004 and not any sick days either since even before that by a couple years. And then I wasn't sick, either, in April 2002, I just woke up late with a headache, and called in with a 'sick voice.' That was over 10 years ago. All I got out of this trip was to work the overtime to fill in his place.

In fact now that I look at this, I think it went to my imagination almost as much as his, and cost me less. I would still like to go some day. Maybe Almanza too.
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