Enervation, Ennui: Ma, I'm stuck

I am moving very far very fast. I'm still slogging through my 2nd Maryland figures. I confess, I'm taking a lot of extra time with them. They are Perry figs, and I really do love them. They are very crisp and have a fair amount of extra detail. However, they do have the most annoying mold marks--little tags of pewter that are very hard to see at times. I often find myself scraping them off as I apply paint because I didn't catch them as I was prepping the figures.

The figures in the 1779 regulations uniform are very nice, but the uniform for these boys is brown faced red. Not real exciting. A couple of the officer figures have voluminous jackets that I painted blue faced red, regulation for Maryland units. I've finished all the uniformed types, and a handful of figures in hunting shirts. I'm actually down to the last third of the unit: a dozen figures in shirtsleeves. I've just begun working on them, but I'm still really struggling with a germ and zillion anxieties associated with work and home. It's been a challenge getting painting time.

I've attached a couple pictures of the 2nd Maryland in progress. I've got a few of my finished figures in regimentals, the rest of the finished miniatures are piled behind them. The figures I have in progress are to the right. I actually committed a couple of hours tonight, and a couple more nights' work will wrap them up. Sunday by the latest.

2nd Maryland

These are my 2nd Maryland figures. They are a mix of Perry figures, with a couple of Old Glory guys thrown in to fill it out to 36 figures. I ordered figures in regulation uniforms, hunting shirts and shirt sleeves to show the varying attire of the unit. It's size represents the strength of the 2nd Maryland at Guilford Courthouse, the first of several engagements the regiment went on to fight in 1781. The unit was also at Hobkirk's Hill and Eutaw Springs. At each succeeding battle the unit got a bit smaller due to casualties and, no doubt, desertion.

At Guilford the 2nd Maryland was a green regiment. Unlike the veteran 1st Maryland, they didn't receive the blue regimentals, faced red. They drilled and trained under Nathaniel Greene as the light corps of his army maneuvered north through North Carolina, leading Cornawallis and his army a merry chase. However, the unit was drawn from the entire state of Maryland, rather than a particular locale, loosening those necessary bonds of unit attachment, and many of their officers were transferred to the First Maryland.

Their first action was at Guilford, where they formed part of Greene's third line of Continentals. Unfortunately, they broke under the British attack, which led to the counterattack by the 1st Maryland and Greene's withdrawal despite brilliant fighting on the day.

The Perry figures are mix of uniform types as I explained above. I chose to go with the firing line poses because of the nice mix of miniatures. It's pretty impressive in a large unit. Standards, as with all American units, were problematic. I went with a version of the stars and stripes based on the Jonathan Trumbull version at Yorktown. I also went with a divisional flag, just for something different.

This is the first of three large units for the American Revolution I want to complete by the end of the year. The first and second Virginia regiments are next in line. However, it's unlikely I'll begin working on them until school is out for summer.

My photography is, as always somewhere between crappy and execrable.

Agincourt: Mud Marchers

It's taken me five months, but I've finally gotten this pile of dismounted French knights finished. It's a 48 figure unit, the largest allowed under the Crusader Rules.

These are Perry figures. They are gorgeous and a lot of fun to paint. Well, fun except for the command figures which have embossed heraldry which are fairly tricky to paint amid the folds and etc. One would think it would make things easier, but it doesn't. The fleu-de-lys and other assorted symbols fade into the white primer.

The flags were actually printed from the Warflag page and then I painted over the print job. The big red and green flag was a pain to glue together. It is the Oriflamme, the sacred standard of St. Denis. When the Oriflamme flew it was the symbol of no quarter.

I re-took these pictures today, Sunday the 1st. The last pictures were of poor quality with bad lighting and I didn't use my tripod. (Readers, of course, could tell from the macros). The first pic shows the full 48 figure unit. The right hand picture is focused more Boucicault, the Marshal of France.

At the present time I have three units on my painting table. They are all from AWI-a North Carolina unit of Continentals, the 64th regiment, and a tiny battalion of the DeLancey Regiment--44 figures in all. I'd like to have them all done and mounted by the end of November. We'll see. I've also got quite a few stands I'm rebasing, including the latest cool figs from Doug. I'll photo them when they're ready and post 'em.