Many moons ago I went down the Irregular route for the Crimea, which I use with both the Bloody Big Battles rules and Neil Thomas' C19th rules. However, I use single regiment/brigade bases for these, so the light brigade is made up of 6 bases of 4 cavalry each on a single 75mm x 40mm mdf base. My painting style is designed to make the most of these somewhat rough figures, but it works for me.

Ironass you do need to consider time and money. It takes time to sculpt and money to make a mould. There are a lot of wars and periods people could game in, so a manufacturer needs to make choices. Is it worth it to invest in a certain range? Within a range, you might make a product that will not make a return on itself but is necessary to complete the range, other products within that range make up for it. I assume that that is the case with generals for instance.

Inkerman's a cracker of a battle - apparently it was an absolute last-roll-of-the-dice nailbiter when the boys fought it at OWS last week using the BBB scenario - but it all happens in the fog so you can't really see the uniforms properly anyway, so what are you worried about?  ;-)

Hi Chris,

Now I am in the Netherlands Bash Days, and indeed all UK wargaming events, have become too expensive for me to attend. However, I am still getting my BBB fixes (although solo) and I am currently working on my 6mm Bavarian army for the Kissingen scenario. Wishing you a successful Bash Day in conjunction with the Joy of Six.

Andy (aka Leman)

Andy: yes, I was thinking of you as we were planning Bash Day. Too bad you can't make it, but I'm happy that BBB is still helping to keep you amused.

Ironass: for me, one of the great virtues of 6mm has always been the very fact that it is so easy to use proxy figures. E.g., my Romanian 1877 militia in their lambswool hats are actually Sikh colonial infantry ... so I'm a bit baffled by your refusal to use proxies for British Guards in the Crimea. But it's a matter of personal preference, so all I can do is sympathise.

On second thoughts, and after an exchange of emails with Robert Jackson (GREG)... he is going to try with proxies from Baccus... will keep you posted!                                                                                                             Of course that was the logicall and first option... but pestering in the Forum in various threads has kept the door open for a Peter comment (which I anticipate will be NO thank you!... LOL), thanks to all from you out there who have recommended trying proxies... I already have a lot of them... but sometimes... sometimes... one keeps hoping against all odds!

After all, who cares... what I do... if I fail to convert them or whatever... just got an email from Peter saying it is OK to PayPal him and the lost order will be ON... so God of War advice or not... I will go for it! Be carefully watching this space in the next few weeks and you will see what happens... my fingers are trembling in front of the cutter... as you know I am nearly 71...                                                                                                                                           I prefer let Peter have the last word (that is why I am editing my last entry instead of answering his Post!... I understand him very well... he is right of course! (from a financial point of view which is the one that matters in business)... it was fun campaigning in favour of those British Guards who fought on the Sandbag Battery at Inkerman... well then... I will try my hand at "converting" those pesky Napoleonic Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard... fingers crossed... Peter has ALWAYS been helpful in my travels in the 6mm world and 99% of my minis are from him. So in the end I will suport Baccus to the finish line... hope Greg could do a good job with those conversions. LOL

The end of your figure Odyssey is in sight - I salute your tenacity and your ultimate pragmatism.

The sad fact is that I was never, ever going to make a single code range.  That way madness lies, not to mention an eye-watering financial loss.   An AWFUL lot of packs would have to be sold to cover the costs of the sculpts and moulds.

Maybe, one day I will get round to a Crimean War range.  Maybe.  One day...

Well that was an interesting example of tenacity. Over 50 years ago I tried the Crimea with 25mm Minifigs, but as I was still at school it proved too expensive to put together reasonable sized metal armies in that scale and I sold them on. Next, and much later, I had a go with 6mm Irregular, but this was overshadowed by my interest in the FPW. However, this time I hung on to the figures. Next I started to build some 10mm Crimean armies. I only started this last year, and this looks like bearing fruit eventually, thanks to Pendraken and Magister Militum. However, I have also started to look at doing more large single base units to try and achieve the diorama effect, and pulled out the old 6mm I had had for 20+ years. These are being based on 75x40 bases with the Alma as my initial goal and are looking very positive. So, with determination I am sure you will eventually achieve your goal of seeing the men in scarlet lines pushing back the dull brown columns. Incidentally I too will be turning 71 this year having been wargaming since I was 13.

Hi dourpuritan!... my crusade is over... I finally bought those pesky French Imperial napoleonic Guard Grenadiers and see what I can do with them... not thrilled by modelling in 6mm... but nevertheless I'll give it a try. I have been pestering Peter in too many threads (LOL) some even specific like the present one but also in I STARTED A BLOG; WHATS EVERYBODY WORKING ON,  STORYTELLING AND MYTHS; I'D GO BLIND PAINTING SOMETHING SO SMALL;  NEW FIGURES IN EARLIER CENTURIES;  and I think one called BRITISH GUARDS IN BEARSKINS 1870... I do not seem to find!... LOL                                                                                                   Curiously enough I mistakingly thought that it would not be that difficult... the vast majority of British Napoleonics Infantry and Artillery and some Hussars are virtually the same (as flags) so it is a case for multipurpose units... you abandon for a while those riff-raff Dutch&Belgian (joking) Nassauers, (I do not say Hanoverians and KGL because in 6mm... well... you know what I mean... French from the Franco-Prussian War will do the trick... Sardinians (but Bersiagleri) ACW troops... REALLY the Baccus already existent range has a lot of already done casts... What is more in the Catalogue there are a lot of ranges that use proxies Example: 7 Years War / AWI;  Austro-Prussian War / Franco-Prussian War; War of 1812; Pony Wars and ACW; Colonials per se (ZULU or NWF is the same); a lot of proxies as my XIXth French Corps (Africa) has French Foreign Legion (Republican French Franco-Prussian War), Zouaves and Turcos (ACW) you name it I've done it!... What the hell I just closed a deal today with Robert Jackson (GREG) to build the Crimean Heavy Cavalry Brigade of Scarlett fame using napoleonics (Scot's Greys) and Prussians Dragoons (Franco-Prussian War)....                                                                                                    

The big contradiction is I love Baccus for his detail!... but then how to convert when there is so much differences!... LOL... really I remember having decades ago a Peter Laing's 15mm Crimean British Army... there was so little detail that it was a matter of painting job... long gone I am afraid...                                                                            

Will keep posting for the audience to see what will happen with my experiments!

Thanks for your comments. And remember that I think Peter is right if it is not viable commercially... I do not want him to ruin his business!... but I thought it was a blimpish effort to try... LOL