Nova Hungaria - the Ruslanders arrive

The first Ruslander reinforcements to land in Nova Hungaria are the Blackguards of Countess Svetlana Ivanovna and a company of the Naval Brigade.

The figures are of the mixed bunch I received last December, painted up to be substitutes for Yanks if I ever want to game the ACW. 

Nova Hungaria - Cavalry support

Finally, the Vladislaus V battalion has a supporting cavalry squadron as well, of two troops, both 11 men strong. 

Most figures are Italeri again, with a bunch of Imex dudes in the second troop below (rear rank). I painted them using only blocking colors in + quickshade. 

These days I paint the riders and horses together as with multiple layers of paint fitting them after being painted separately could damage the coat on the horse or the rider.

3rd (Light) Company, Vladislaus V Penal Battalion

The 2nd company is still not ready, but the 3rd was needed on the battlefield. Italeri figures with two metal dudes (maker unknown) and an Imex officer.

The company has a crew of two officers and 22 troopers, divided to three platoons, one of 8 and two of 7 men. Each platoon is led by a sergeant.

The Italeri officer is the company commander and the guy with the pistol is his second.

I ran out of Stonewall Grey, which I used for the line infantry, but a little difference in the uniforms' color will not bother anyone.

More Shades of Quick

Knocking small scale figures off the painting queue in a quick pace is not a considerable achievement. Doing so with larger ones is, to some extent.
I have, at the moment, about 7-800 unpainted (stripped, glued together and some even on sprues) 1/72 plastic figures and this calls for alternative solutions. Many people are looking for the optimal thing and some find it in Army Painter/etc. products. I have, during my various painting exploits, used many types of shade, including homemade oil/enamel washes, enamel varnish mixed with black/brown/grey, commercial Vallejo washes and glazes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. I generally use a great deal of slumpy highlights (see my TYW figures, for example) and everything is done improbably fast. The relevant working hours put into some figures would seem really strange to some people (minus drying time, it's not more than 3-4 hours for a group of 30-40 figures that includes every process from priming to basing) and what I really care about is character/command figures, where my brushes become more careful.

The Vladislaus V Penal Battalion

In the early 19th century, a group of Austro-Hungairan (then Austrian and Hungarian) explorers found a large island west of the African coast that they named Nova Hungaria. The few settlements have, however, soon been abandoned and the scientists and adventurers never stayed long enough to find any natural resources or inhabitants. When, after the union of 1867, a group of military men on board the SMS Archangelus landed on the north-eastern shore of Nova Hungaria, on the White Island, it was already too late - an independent and mostly roguish Russian group had already settled in some ten years before.