A Slight Deviation - Command and Colors

For Christmas I received a big box containing the board game Command and Colors, Napoleonic warfare.  It is a nicely put together game and the gaming mechanism is great fun and works well, especially if you spend much time playing solo games. One of the down sides is the labourious task of sticking paper labels onto wooden blocks. Looking on line I see this game has been adapted in many ways, either for the normal wargame table, or on the board that comes in the box, but using model figures.

Straight away, having stuck on about 50% of the labels, I decided to try it out with 20mm figures and dug out boxes of Airfix and other makes of soldiers, but soon got bored, as being unpainted they looked no better than the wooden blocks.  Then I remembered the heap of Del Prado Relive Waterloo figures stored in a box upstairs and on inspection I had enough to set up the first scenario - the Battle of Rolica, although I had to substitute Dutch troops for the Portuguese. It looked quite effective:

I started playing, but to me it was a bit like a game of chess and the units, just four figures did not seem right. So, I went into another box and dug out the 6mm Napoleonics, which have not seen the light of day for many years. Instead of having a set number of figures I used small dice to denote strengths as casualties are accrued:

I think these figures work better - but then I began to dislike the terrain pieces. So, my conclusion is that this game is a lot of fun. I really like the rules, but I am not so keen on the playing board. I will more than likely adapt the rules for use on a normal wargame table. I will try this on my next Crimean war battle, which will be Inkerman.

More Minifigs S Range - French Dragoons

The next unit from the batch recently bought. This time they are French Dragoons. These are Miniature Figurines S Range Franco Prussian War soldiers, but fit nicely into the Crimean period:

Something New - French Grenadier Guards from Old John

Thanks for all the positive feedback, which has encouraged me to crack on with a few more units.

I got these figures from John Cunningham 'Old John' some months back and they have been sitting on my workbench half painted as other projects came and went. John describes these figures as moulded in the Hinton Hunt style, and they do look very similar. They are crisply cast and very nice to paint. The standard bearer is a conversion from one of the marching figures, with a home made standard.

The last picture is a comparison between thse figures and some Hinton Hunt British Guards.

Back in production - French Artillery

After an enforced break from painting due to a job change, a move to a new country and the festive season, I have once more dug out my Crimean troops. For the moment I am concentrating on French and Turkish forces.  Just before Christmas I purchased a fairly large batch of Crimean War and Franco Prussian War (FPW) Minifigs S Range troops, that are well painted and look quite good. In some cases I have had to repaint parts and I have also had to base them to match existing units, but they are mostly good to go.

First up is a unit of French Artillery. These are FPW, but not dissimilar in uniform to later Crimean troops. I re-based them and painted the hats, which were bright red.

Among the other figures in this batch are French Dragoons, Chasseurs d' Afrique, Imperial Guard and line infantry. There are also two British units that I am currently working on.