Franco-Prussian War in 6mm

By Barrie Lovell

I was lucky enough to recently buy a large number of painted Irregular Miniatures 6mm Franco-Prussian war figures. They were not based for any rule set so I was able to base them from scratch for the Volley & Bayonet rules.

I rather like the basing system for these rules as it does allow a lot of figures to be present on the table, which, in my opinion, creates a more realistic representation of a battle than smaller numbers of larger scale figures. In this game I used one Prussian and one French corps, which consisted of approximately 1,000 models.

The bases are the full sized bases given in the rules. I used as many figures as I could spare for each base and the numbers of models per base are as follows:

  • Infantry brigade stand: 36-50 models
  • Cavalry Brigade stand: 16-24 models
  • Skirmish infantry stand: 20-24 models
  • Linear cavalry Stand: 12 models
  • Commander stands: one or two command figures plus a few other models to represent the usual crowds which are shown in contemporary paintings and drawings.

The bases were also decorated with spare artillery equipment (guns and limbers), skirmishers etc to try and produce an effect similar to contemporary battle scenes.

Each base is labelled with the unit’s name, it’s brigade, division and corps details. As I only game the "Imperial" phase of the Franco-Prussian War the order of battle is pretty static so I do not need to worry about changing the unit details.

 
A French division advancing past a town. The smoke marker indicates a temporary disorder.

 
The French left flank division advances - Prussians can be seen on the ridge in the distance.

 
Two French regiments advance through a tree line - they will be exposed to the Prussian guns as soon as they move out into the open.

 
The French corps artillery reserve deploys. The church model is a single piece resin casting which my wife spotted on a bric-a-brac stall at a local school fete. It cost a few pennies and after basing and being given a lick of paint I think it looks jolly spiffing!

 
The Prussian positions on the ridge – the smoke is hamster bedding material and is useful for table decoration and indicating stationary units which are firing.

 
The French 40th Line Regiment seen in close up from above.
General Frossard, commanding the French 2nd Corps.

 
The Prussian 79th Regiment
The Prussian 79th Regiment
Looking along the Prussian line, 38th Brigade nearest the camera, with the divisional and corps artillery firing in the background.

 
The French corps cavalry division awaiting an opportunity for death or glory!

Basing the Figures:

The bases themselves are made up as follows:

Firstly I glue the figures to the base, allow to dry and paint the base green. 

The labels are printed using a laser printer, cut out and stuck on the bases with PVA glue (Elmer’s glue for our US friends). I also put a thin coat of glue over the top of the label. The glue dries clear and effectively seals the label to the base this also gives a nice protective finish to the label. Be careful if you print the labels with an inkjet printer not all inks are waterproof and the water in the PVA can cause the ink to run if you are not careful. Note also that once the labels are stuck down they are there permanently!

Once the labels are dry I cover the rest of the base with a layer of PVA glue and dip the entire base into a tray of fine sand and grit. Remove the base from the sand, tip upside down and tap the bottom to remove any excess sand. Allow to dry.

Once the sand is dry I then dry brush with a light earth shade, and highlight with white. You can omit the earth shade and just use white to highlight the base but go easy on the white – don’t overdo it. The aim is to just pick up the texture without smearing white paint across the base. 

Once the highlighting is dry I then add static grass, various shades of model railway flock, and chopped foam vegetation and bushes. Using a brush to place the good old PVA glue in the desired spot, dip the base in the static grass or flock. Remove the base from the grass/flock, tip upside down and tap the bottom to remove any excess. Allow to dry.

Finally I add bushes and vegetation. This is usually a mixture of finely chopped foam, but over the past 6 months or so I have been using the foliage material from Woodland Scenics – this is a lumpy foam material which makes the best bushes, shrubs and small trees that I have come across in this scale. The chopped foam material is simply glued in place with PVA but I use a contact adhesive such as Bostick for gluing the

Woodlands Scenics material to the base. Note that these materials can be a bit fragile  they are intended for display on model railways rather than regular handling on the wargames table. The simplest way to protect them is to make a up white PVA glue solution. This should be the consistency of milk or thin cream. Once the glue holding the bushes etc to the base is completely set, use a large soft brush loaded with the PVA solution and dab it onto the bushes until they are completely covered. The glue will soak into the foam material and set solid, transforming a soft foam bush into a strong, semi-rigid bush. Allow to dry this may take a while depending on the size of the bushes.

Lastly, once everything is completely dry, apply a coat of spray varnish to the entire model this will seal the static grass and flock, protect the painted models and also strengthen any foam bushes. All to dry and the model base is ready for use.

While this may sound complex and time consuming it isn’t if you do it this way. Work on a dozen bases at the same time. Do one stage at a time eg glue the sand on the bases or add the static grass. With the highlighting, by the time you get to the last stand the first will be dry. The main problem is waiting for the glue to dry - I try and do the stages involving the PVA glue either before I go to bed, or before I go to work.  The models will be dry and ready for the next stage by the time I get up or get home from work.

The wargame scenery shown in the photos is from my own collection. The buildings and deciduous trees are from TimeCast website. The fir trees are from the local model railway shop - very cheap and quite effective en masse. The fields are cut from thin doormats (check out the big DIY stores) - the ridged effect looks very effective as 6mm scale crops etc.

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