Russian Cossack Artillery

I had been umming and arring over this set from Blue Moon. I had beeen wanting a Cossack artillery battery because..... actually for pretty much no justifiable reason. But I had been uncertain with the Blue Moon set as the figures looked a bit odd on the website. The heads and hats looked out of proportion and the artillery gear looked out of scale too. The ram rods look the width of a good quality Swiss Roll. But in the end I thought, sod it let’s add it to the order. So I did, another 12 figures added to the lead pile! But I have been determined not to let these small units purchased on a whim fester like the Russian Unicorn Ammunition wagons (really must get on with that). Instead I cracked on with them. I painted them up, based them and added 3 Blue Moon Russian 6 pounders.

I have been fairly pleased with the outcome. Am now convinced my eyesight is totally gone (the figures look great on the table, rubbish on the photos). With the paint on I didnt notice the large ram rods so much or their tiny faces as they just want to mount up and run away. In fact those giant Swiss Roll ram rods are going to prevent any bends and snaps. They will never fit down the cannon muzzles, but they are always going to be there. Unlike the AB figures who will only have bent or snapped stubby ramrods (but probably still be looking like a million dollars). 

Russian 9th Division

These figures are all Essex miniatures. Some people are not always so keen, but these figures are always very clean casts, easy to paint and really robust for the table top (each guy has a low centre of gravity and a fabulous stubby no nonsense bayonet). A lot of the figures here have been rebased with a tiny paint touch up, but are probably nearly 30 years old !! I started off on Essex miniatures in 15mm and it means I always have a fondness for them (despite some weird poses that do crop up on some figures). On a closer inspection there are many painting mistakes and horrible touches, like the copper looking buttons and metal work on the old units. But back in those days I was really speed painting and didn’t care much (oh to be young and care free again). The pressure of completing the 9th Infantry Division meant I didn’t spend much time improving this lot. I did do a conversion making two standard bearers out of two musketeers. This saved me buying another command set and the musketeers are closer to the NCO’s that carried the flags than the Essex figures, which look more like officers. All the flags are GMB and really make these units look better than they are.

Nashebourg Regiment

Apsheron Regiment

Riazhsk Regiment

Ufa Regiment

Russian 18th Infantry Division

Have been creating my Russian army along the lines of the Russian order of Battle at La Rothiere.
My starting division to get me warmed up is the 18th, all the figures are Blue Moon for line regiments and artillery (apart from the mounted officers which are AB and they seemed to have blended pretty wel). The Jaegers are a regiment down, the figures are CGM figures. They have a good variety of poses and look much better on the table than on this photo. The artillery is all Blue Moon, the guns are 6 pounders. The flags are GMB and the paints Vallejo. The Blue Moon are a nice table top figure. Some limbs are a bit large (such as ankles) but they are sturdy. They are also quick to paint. The detail is enough for a nice look on the table without slowing the paint production line down too much.

Vladimir Regiment

Kostroma Regiment

Tambowsk Regiment

Dnieper Regiment