And so it begins...Russians.

After All these years of painting game miniatures, and particularly Napoleonics, I have never painted Russians. Or British for that matter. I hadn't painted British because I was not that interested in Spain and the 100 Days as a game platform was always so limited. 

My reason for not painting Russians was entirely different. For decades, we had a member of our group who had several corp of Russians. We always tried to focus on what the group needed, so I stayed away from the Czar's Army. My primary focus was tons of Austrians, gobs of Prussians, a Bavarian Army (just because I liked the uniform), and some French to help out our French players who were not so quick with a paint brush.

But alas our group found itself without Russians when our very own Czar moved. So the thought had crossed my mind many times. I even downloaded the appropriate Osprey book about a year ago. 

Another push for Russians came indirectly from the rules we play. We are all very happy with Age of Eagles. I'll reserve my rules commentary and praise for another post, but we have decided at our advanced ages that this is likely our last rule set. Along with those rules, Col. Gray publishes an outstanding scenario booklet focused on 1813. As time periods go it's awesome. You get to use most of the Continental powers and you are no longer combating the Herculean French of Austerlitz every single game. It makes for great play balance. Add to that a fantastic website that has excellent, small, Age of Eagle scenarios Age of Eagles Grognard. It includes several 1814 re-fights.

So with all of this in mind I did something I rarely do anymore. I went to my local hobby shop. It's a shame that in a military city of over one million people we really don't have an historical miniature war game store anymore. But this shop still has few items and more importantly to this story had a shelf of consignment items. After digging around a bit, I found a few adhoc bags of Old Glory and AB Russians in the late period uniforms. For under $50 I left with most everything I needed.

So my goal is to add a small corp to compliment/create one of those mixed Russian/ Prussian commands you found throughout 1814. I'm sure it will lead, in time, to more purchases and an eventual stand alone Russian Army. Because that's just the way this hobby works...