However, as my friends point out, I am a hard core wargamer. So I spend more time than what might be considered mentally healthy, thinking about my hobby. One such aspect is the ever growing 100 Days Napoleonic campaign of 1815 (aka Waterloo). It has sprung from a drunken discussion for doing Leipzig in a big way, to doing a more moderate 1813 battle (Hanau) with my friend Seth, to doing a later battle in 1814 with a very similar OOB (Montmirail) for myself, to doing a even later larger campaign (Waterloo).
The jump of logic to Waterloo should be explained. Montmirail had both Prussians and many more Russians fighting Napoleon but I had way over-bought Prussians for the ratio I was working with (I get so excited with good sale prices. Sigh) that I needed to find another battle to work towards with many more Prussians in it. Yes, I could have sold the extras but were is the fun in that?
Well, the Waterloo campaign which I have always been into since I started the hobby as one of my first wargame books was on the subject and on finding an old AH small boardgame with the formation chits matching perfectly with my unit ratios, that I now have switched gears toward this new project. And it is a biggie!
How big? Well, as a long-time wargamer I really should not do this I know, but I calculated that it will be just over 1,000 28mm miniatures. Oh, and to have painted and based and ready by, of course, June 2015.....
But calculation was very much need as I did not want to over-buy once again and so took the time to get the units proportioned out just right.
I have now assigned each formation the specific units to be painted. I started with even a tighter ratio but reality kicked in (!!) and I reduced my element numbers, with a combined arms totals, to approximately 2,500 troops per element
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| Showing ~10,000, a large Division or so. Yup, doing a 6mm basing style with 28mm. However looks good on the table and with the right rule set, will be a fine game |
The French will have 49 total elements, the Allied Army 35, and the Prussians 46. As a quarter of the elements are horse at only 3 figures per element and infantry at only 8 to 12 per, and artillery at only 1 model, each unit is not that many to paint. Keep chanting that, I say to myself...
I have always loved the period and the campaign, it has lots of inspiration, and with a high figure ratio, I get to pick a choose which units out of a division I would like to paint, for me it has a lot going for it...except my over-doing it of course!
Thus my musings to add to the other hundreds of other wargamers doing the same campaign/battles/scenarios for Waterloo and the 100 Days Campaign. Crazy loves company....