Hobby distractions.

I'm meant to be painting Zouaves for the clubs ACW project, but in true gamer form I got side-tracked by something else.

I had bought a set of Warlord Games Napoleonic Highlanders, a nice enough box with 24 figures at the charge. However there was a lot of bent and broken muskets and bayonets, now I can't fault Warlord Games customer service, replacements came pretty quickly, but I had already been soured so sold these metal figures and bought 2 boxes of Victrix plastic Highlanders, one centre Coy. and one flank Coy. box.
And it is these that distracted my painting efforts the other night as I assembled a unit of these instead.

The flank Coy. box came moulded in a different colour if you're wondering......

I assembled these as if they would be in a square, with the front rank kneeling and prepared to receive cavalry and the 2nd rank firing, between the 2 boxes you get 8 kneeling bodies so the addition of a piper and Sgt. help flesh out the front rank to 12 figures.

The figures are as nice as any you will find and as far as I'm aware are the only plastic highlanders on offer, you get 60 figures per box, though only 4 standard bearers which limits the number of units you can produce. The flank and centre Coy. boxes differ in the moulded on 'wings' for the elites, which is a nicer touch than having to glue on extras as with Warlord games plastic British, and also sabres rather than claymores in the officers hands.
A big grumble, and one that I would agree with, is that some of the parts are too fine and easily broken, in fact some parts are pre-broken, namely the muskets, bayonets and swords, though I have a broken standard pole out of the box too. (Though these may get replaced with steel rods at some point.)
Also the finials being moulded to the poles will make attaching standards a bit tricky, again these may be replaced.

A nice box though and if you can suffer the fragility of some parts you could make at least 3 units of highlanders for the price of 2 metal units.

There's a picture of me under procrastinate in the Encyclopedia Brittanica....

...or there should be.

I have been doing wee bits and pieces now and then including starting into Napoleonics, which was sort of inevitable now that I am closer to 90 than being born.

I had a load of 15mm figures from Napoleon at War which was abandoned by its creator for some reason and traded away 1/2 of it for a big box of Warlord Games 28mm stuff. And after sorting through that, and despite preferring the Peninsular era, have decided to do the 100 days campaign and concentrate on the battle at Quatre Bras as my focus for building both sides of that engagement, only having to add Rifles and Highlanders so far.

I even got a Regiment painted, I have decided to play with regiments rather than Battalions for the time being.

I decided that speed rather than display quality painting was my goal here so have used contrast paints, I reckon I could churn a unit out a night if I get the chance to actually sit and paint, but 2 young children and a dog sort of limits me still.

Despite focusing on Quatre Bras (Is Trois Bras a garment worn by Martian prostitutes?) I also started building a farmhouse based on La Haye Saint. Using plans provided by wargames Illustrated to accompany issue 358, which I managed to nab before they went behind a pay wall...

I am planning to do a tutorial on how I make and detail the small barn which principles will apply to the whole set of buildings.