Tag Archives: Epic Battles

6mm Black Powder Gaming – Part 1

I have bought the new Epic Battles: Waterloo by Warlord Games and I’m slowly making my way through the painting much like Declan (when I’m not painting those pesky Kruleboyz). However, one thing I’ve noticed (as I’m sure many others have as well), is that the models are epic in scale but the basing and the rules are standard Black Powder. What I mean by this is that a standard unit in Epic:Waterloo is the same as a standard unit in regular Black Powder.

Credit: Yith’s Wagaming Blog – Check it out, its a fantastic read

This got me thinking to how you could have truly cinematic and epic battles in Black Powder by converting the inches to centimetres (like many others have done).

By doing this, you can play a regular game of black Powder on a much smaller play area – 2.4 feet by 1.6 feet rather then 6′ x 4′. But also, it gives you the option of playing much, much larger games on a regular table.

The only issue is the basing and miniatures. if you take a standard unit in Black Powder with a frontage of 240mm and divide this so it suits the cm measurements rather than inches (i.e. dividing 240mm by 2.5) you’ll get a standard unit frontage of 96mm (let’s call it 10cm). If we use increments of 20mm then the basing could look something like this:

The great thing about his, is that if you use Baccus Napoleonic 6mm infantry you can get two large bases completed for just £8.00!

But what about different formations. Well these could either be represented by a dice in one of the dice holders on the base (i.e. 3, for line, 4 for square etc) or you could just model some other bases as Square and attack column etc. I’m inclined by the later personally.

The other dice holder can also be used to measure the units stamina. For Dice holders I’m always inclined to use Pendraken.

But I’d like to know the opinions of those experienced in Black Powder and what they think!

Paints Used for Napoleonic French Infantry

This post is partly a reference for myself as to which colours to use (Citadel or Vallejo) when painting my Epic Battles Napoleonic French. I’ve listed colours that could be used from both systems.

All of the paints listed can be purchased from ElementGames. Why not use my referral code and get double the crystals when you purchase anything? XBJ9837

Line Infantry

An overall base coat should be applied with London Grey or Mechanicus Standard Grey.

BASE COAT

AreaVallejoCitadel
JacketsDark Prussian BlueKantor Blue
Belts/Muskets/Slings & LapelsLight GreyGrey Seer
TrousersAny of Offwhite, London Grey or Beige Pallid Wych Flesh, Mechanicus Standard Grey or Karak Stone
Shako & BootsBlackAbaddon Black
SkinBasic Skin ToneCadian Flesh
Collars, Cuffs & Lapel PipingDark VermillionMephiston Red
(Voltiguers) Plumes & EpaulettesBlack GreenCaliban Green
(Voltigeurs) Collar, Epaulette edging, Pompom, Tip of PlumeYellow OchreYriel Yellow
(Grenadiers) Plumes, Epaulettes and Shako LaceDark VermillionMephiston Red
Backpacks & Musket WoodFlat BrownMournfang Brown
Musket Barrel, Bayonet & CanteenOily SteelLeadbelcher
Shako Plates, Sword Hilts, Chin Scales & ButtonsOld GoldRetributor Gold

WASH

AreaVallejoCitadel
Grey Trousers, Shako Covers & SteelDark ToneNuln Oil
Beige Trousers & Shako CoversStrong ToneAgrax Earthshade
White TrousersDilute Light GreyDilute Grey Seer
Skin & GoldFlesh WashReikland Fleshshade

HIGHLIGHT

AreaVallejoCitadel
WhiteOffwhitePallid Wych Flesh
YellowFlat YellowDorn Yellow
GreenIntermediate GreenWarpstone Glow
BlackBlack GreyDark Reaper
BayonetsPlate MailStormhost Silver

Light Infantry in Greatcoats

An overall base coat should be applied with London Grey or Mechanicus Standard Grey.

BASECOAT

AreaVallejoCitadel
GreatcoatsLondon Grey, Beige or Light BrownMechanicus Standard Grey, Karak Stone or Balor Brown
Trousers & inside Open JacketsDark Prussian BlueKantor Blue
Piping, Belts & StrapsLight Grey Grey Seer
Shako & BootsBlackAbaddon Black
SkinBasic Skin ToneCadian Flesh
(Carabinier) Straps, Plumes, Epaulettes and Shako LaceDark VermillionMephiston Red
(Voltigeurs) Epaulettes & PlumeBlack GreenCaliban Green
(Voltigeurs) Collar, Edge of Epaulettes, Shako Lace & Tip of PlumeYellow OchreYriel Yellow
Backpacks & Musket WoodFlat BrownMournfang Brown
Musket Barrel, Shako Plate, Chin Scales, Bayonet & buttonsOily SteelLeadbelcher

WASH

AreaVallejoCitadel
Grey Greatcoats, Trousers, Shako Covers and SteelDark ToneNuln Oil
Beige & Light Brown Greatcoats, Trousers & Shako CoversStrong ToneAgrax Earthshade
SkinFlesh WashReikland Fleshshade

HIGHLIGHT

AreaVallejoCitadel
WhiteOffwhitePallid Wych Flesh
YellowFlat YellowDorn Yellow
GreenIntermediate GreenWarpstone Glow
BlackBlack GreyDark Reaper
BayonetsPlate MailStormhost Silver

Unboxing – British Starter Army for Black Powder: Epic Waterloo

Warlord Games have released their Epic Waterloo miniatures and game system this weekend after just over a month on pre-order. I was lucky enough to pick mine up from SCN Hobby World yesterday and having returned from a one-day AoS tournament I was desperate to look inside my British Starter Set and see what treasures await!

It’s a big box… of Warlord goodness!

it is competitively priced at £90 and I’m sure your FLGS will look after you, or you can give Sarah at SCN Hobby World a call if you’re in the UK.

First Impressions

There’s a lot in here…!

Lots of red plastic, so you can play without painting the toys, but there’s definitely more in there, so let’s dig deeper.

Sprue 1 – Light Cavalry

3 Sprues

There enough here for 11 bases of Lighter Cavalry, as well as 3 artillery – both key elements to the Allies’ success at Waterloo. They are very detailed models, with a number of different poses to add variety to the bases of cavalry as they sweep towards the French cannon!

Sprue 2 – Heavy Cavalry

3 Sprues

These are the other 11 bases of Cavalry, but these make heavier versions of the Cavalry regiments at Waterloo on the British side. Again, great detail and strong plastic and the swords seem to be reasonably strong.. although no doubt I’ll break a few from being clumsy!

Sprue 3 – Foot

11 Sprues for Infantry!

There’s loads of infantry… at 10 men a strip and 2 strips a base there’s a lot of paint here… and they look great. At the bottom of the picture you can also see some of the soldiers without they’re bayonets – these are the Riflemen, and each sprue comes with a command strip, a Cavalry commander, and an artillery piece to add to the ones from the cavalry bases. Again great detail at this scale and I’ll certainly enjoy trying to paint them!

Bases

Bases… lots of them!

Of course, none of these would play well without the basic addition of bases… just look at that pile! It’s huge.

Dice

And some dice… as if wargamers don’t have enough to build their own fort! Still a good inclusion for a starter set.

Yes… I took a picture of the dice for completeness… don’t judge me!

La Belle Alliance – Building

Warlord games have teamed up with Sarissa Precision to bring some scenery with the boxset. And it’s a great large piece of scenery to play around. Having played Warmaster large terrain that effects movement is critical in this scale of game.

Flags & Painting Guide

Flags and advice

A great addition is a full colour sheet of British flags for the regiments at Waterloo. This will really add to the colour and make the regiments individual on the tabletop. Well done to Warlord games for this inclusion.

There is also a guide to painting the little chaps… and I’ll definitely need to follow this and see how I get on – inside the pamphlet there’s also a guide to the various regiments and their colours. I have some Osprey books to help, but this is a another great addition.

Rulesbook

The full rules book for the Waterloo Campaign in Epic Battles. This appears to be a full rulebook at 260 pages. It’s in glorious full colour as well and means you don’t need a separate copy of any of the existing Black Powder rule books.

Colour… and pictures!

Warlord Games have raided their catalogue of pictures to provide visual inspiration for the game.

Summary

This is a great box, and I’ve no doubt that the equivalent French box is just as jam packed with goodness. Now all I need to do is paint it all and get it on the table… this may take a while!

— Declan