25mm Warrior Miniatures French Army - The Light Cavalry

 Another phase in the merging of two armies and rebasing is complete. This time it is the French light cavalry. Consisting of three light lancer regiments, two of chasseurs and two of hussars, they make a splendid sight on the table. Also, another horse artillery battery joins the army.

A closer look at the lancers:

One of the chasseur regiments:

The stunning hussars:

And, finally the horse artillery:

I have started on the infantry, which I hope will prove to be an easier task than rebasing the Austrians. I should mention that the majority of the excellent painting is by Jeffers and I am simply tinkering around edges.

Another blast from the past.... Westland Lysander 1/72

 As I mentioned before, I have been going through some old memory sticks and have found a few old pictures from around 2008.  This one stood out as i had forgotten about it and recalled the fun I had painting the model and the figures.  The aircraft is depicted as having landed at a jungle airstrip to drop off supplies and pick up a wounded soldier. 

The aircraft is a Westland Lysander, probably Airfix with Far East markings.  I think the kit originally had a spy figure in a trench coat!

The figures are a mix of Airfix, Revell and Matchbox.  The observer's head was turned to the right to give the impression that he is watching the loading operation.

The settting is just a textured board with a picture of a jungle scene downloaded from the internet.

And so it begins ... 25mm Warrior Miniatures French Army - The Heavy Cavalry

 Last week I started rebasing the French Army, having more or less completed work on the Austrians. However, in the case of the French, I am adding units from my existing French Army, suitably based to match the Jeffers collection figures.

The first batch consists of the French line heavy cavalry.  The combined total is, five regiments of Cuirassiers, one of Carabiniers and four of dragoons. There is also a horse battery.

Currently Marshal Ney is in command.  This was a clever conversion carried out by Jeffers, who is also responsible for most of the painting.

Mystery Figure

 Does anybody know what this figure represents?  It is almost certainly a Miniature Figurines S Range sculpt and is 25mm.  I am thinking Mongol?  There is no catalogue number either on top of or underneath the base.

1/72 Plastic Ancient Egyptian Army

 Whilst wading through the sea of white as I rebased the whole of my Warrior Austrians, I painted small groups of plastic 1/72 scale Egyptians. The figures are mostly Atlantic, with a few Zvezda items to make up numbers.

The army consists of 10 chariots, four archer units, six of infantry and a command with escort:

The figures are all quite roughly painted using Speed Paints, but they stand up to the one foot rule. Next, some Hittites.

Some old pictures

 I was going through an old memory stick when I found some old pictures of Airfix 1/76 figures set in the Western Desert.  I must have painted these around 2009 when I was working overseas and had lots of spare evenings. They are a mix of Aifix 8th Army, Afrika Korps and the Bren Gun Carrier with 6pdr:

I think these old figures can be made to look quite attractive with a lick of paint.

Yet more Austrian Infantry

 The weekend saw me finishing off another batch of Warrior Austrians from the Jeffers collection. This time the units were one Jaeger battalion and four battalions of Landwehr.  I had to paint a couple of officers to make up the numbers. They make quite a colourful display:

I have now just about reached the end of this project.  There are quite a few odds and ends to sort out from the remains of downsized battalions.  In all there are about six further battalions of line infantry and grenadiers.  However, I will have to paint an equal number of command groups, of officers, standard bearers and drummers.

Ros Figures, 25mm French Imperial Guard Foot Artillery

 Seeking a change from the sea of Austrian white, I decided to finish off a project. Last night I completed a  some figures that have been sitting on the corner of the painting table for a long time.

Here they are, Ros Figures 25mm French Guard Foot Artillery, circa 1975.  They go off to join my Ros French forces. The castings are quite nice and they paint up well:

More Austrians

 The bank holiday provided the time to rebase more Warrior Miniatures Austrians.  On this occasion the batch consisted of six battalions.  Two are German line infantry, two, with the blue breeches are Hungarian line infantry, then there are two Reserve units.  One is Austrian Landwehr in campaign dress and the other (I believe) is the Salzburg Landwehr, the guys in green.

I also found two spare gunners, so I painted a commander and made up another battery.

A Hungarian battalion:

Landwehr:

Next will be another batch of Landwehr.  After that it will be a case of forming some more units from the odds and ends left from the reorganisation.  That should provide another 4 or 5 battalions.

Austrian Army Review, Grenadiers, Staff and Artillery

 The bank holiday presented the opportunity to finish off the next tranche of Warrior Austrians, originally painted by Jeffers. This time, I reorganised and based three combined grenadier battalions, another two line battalions, the staff officers and all of the artillery.

The combined grenadier battalions are those with white flags, with two more line battalions in the foreground.

A view from above gives a better impression of the grenadiers.  They are made up from the grenadier companies from the line battalions.

The complete Austrian staff.looking splendid as they survey the field.

And finally the artillery.  There are currently seven batteries, but I found some more gunners and will make up an 8th unit.

As I put these away I am soaking another load of infantry.  There are more line battalions plus some landwehr units to come.

25mm Portuguese Cavalry and Hittite Chariots

 This was a bit of a fun project.  I purchased a lot of eBay that consisted of around 20 Les Higgins/PMD British light cavalry horses and a similar number of early Lamming RHA outriders.  My initial plan was to keep the horses for future projects as and when the correct riders turned up.  However, it struck me that a simple bit of conversion work could turn the RHA chaps into Portuguese cavalry.  I had enough for three six figure units.  My research determined that Portuguese cavalry were constantly undermanned (short staffed PC) and usually could only muster around 200, due to corruption, desertion and inefficiency.

The Portuguese dragoons wore differing facing colours so the three units make quite a colourful display:

Also, Count Goya recently sent me two spare Atlantic Egyptian chariot parts.  Using some figures from the Caesar  Hittite infantry set, I converted the very small 20mm Atlantic chariot into a larger vehicle using card, that can just about hold a crew of three.  For horses, I used some examples from the Airfix Roman chariot.  Not brilliant, but a useful addition to my ancinet armies:

Austrian Army Review - The Infantry

 Over the weekend I completed reorganising the first tranche of the Austrian infantry.  

So far, I have rebased 10 battalions and they provide a colourful mix of shako and helmet line infantry, Grenzers and Jaegers.  All of the figures are by Warrior Miniatures and have been beautifully painted by Jeffers:

I have taken a look in the spares box and I have found sufficient command figures to provide the right structure for the odds and ends left from the rebasing exercise. There could be quite a few extra battalions.

My next tranche will be the combined grenadier battalions.

Austrian Army Review

 In what I think was a moment of madness, Jeffers handed over many box files of Austrian and French troops to me.  The deed took place in the carpark of the Warfare show a couple of years ago.  Since then the armies have made an appearance on the table, but there are probably too many to have them all deployed at once.  Whilst the bases are lovely, the units are a bit too big for my hex based games.  

After a lot of thought, I have decided to restructure the armies and,where necessary, rebase them to conform with my other armies and the terrain.

All of the figures are by Warrior Miniatures and the painting is exquisite. They really show how Warrior figures can be turned into little gems in skilled hands.

To start off with, I have sorted out the cavalry.  They are pretty much as Jef painted and based them.  I have just changed to colour of the base and organised them into two divisions, a heavy and a light.  They look splendid on the table:

There is a general figure and each division has a battery of horse artillery.  I plan to add two more commanders in due course, one for each division.  The light cavalry are nearest the camera.

Here is a view from the other side with the heavies nearest:

Here are some closer shots of these lovely little figures:

I have started on the infantry, but that is going to be a more lengthy process.  I will do a brigade at a time - there are a lot of brigades!

25mm Napoleonic Spanish Army

 I recently revamped my Spanish army, after acquiring a few more battalions off eBay.  The additional five units has increased my organisation to 10 battalions, four cavalry regiments and a couple of batteries.  

The new troops were credited to belong to the former collection of the late George Gush.  I purchased them as I could see that they were by Warrior and that Spanish troops are quite hard to find now. I must say they are lovely figures, which when given a coat of varnish, a bit of touching up and new bases, blend in well with my existing troops.  

The George Gush figures are the rear five infantry battalions.

All the figures are from Warrior Miniatures and I think they look quite business like when painted:

A New Battle Mat

Our recent air combat game used a WW1 battlefield mat as a playing surface.  Whilst it did the trick it did not look very attractive.  I like my games to look good, which in turn sustains my interest.  I decided to treat myself and ordered a new mat from Tiny Wargames.  It arrived in quick time and I am very pleased with it.  It measures 6 x 4 feet and is of European countryside with a scattering of clouds.

Here is a section of the mat with a group of 1/144 scale WW2 aircraft.  There are two Fairy Battles being escorted by a couple of Hurricanes:

I think the clouds do much to give an impression of height. The hexes are 3.5 inches across.  As an aside, I was surprised how effective the RAF earth and green camouflage is!

54mm American War of Independence Figures

 I am still experimenting with Army Painter Speed Paints and my latest effort is this group of American riflemen in hunting shirts.  They are from the firm 'A Call To Arms' and are in 54mm scale.  They are described as Maryland infantry, but I guess they could be used for a variety of units.

The painting was indeed quite quick, being essentially washing over a white primer.  I used a Halfords rattle can for the primer, which worked well.  Overall the result is OK with Speed Paints, but not as neat as either enamel or acrylic colours.  That said, if you want to paint units in short order the paint system works well:

The other half of the box contains troops in regulation uniform and I am slowly working my way through them.

Blue vs Grey - Battle Report

 Phil paid a visit recently and we decided to have a go at an American Civil War game.  We used a set of home grown rules that smacked of Featherstone/Grant, but with a twist.  An idea borrowed from Perry's Travel battle, we increased the importance of brigade commanders, them having to be in close proximity to units for orders to be issued. This added a new dynamic and interest to the game as units carried out orders then stopped awaiting new direction, although they can engage enemy units that threaten when required.  Deploying the commanders forward increased the likelihood of their becoming casualties and complicating the command process.

I played blue, while Phil played grey.

An overview of the battlefield, with the grey forces on the left; blue to the right

The Federal commander deploys his forces on the right, with the idea of sweeping up the Confederate left flank.

Confederate cavalry, some skirmishers and the Alabama regiment hold their left, with two batteries of guns in the field towards the centre.

A whole Brigade of infantry in column begin to move forward on the Confederate right flank.

The Confederates quickly occupy a farm, which will later be supported by artillery and this position will become a thorn in the side of the Federal army.

Concerned about the Confederate build up on the left, federal reserves are called forward, while the guns fire into the Alabama Regiment and the Confederate artillery.

Phil pushed out the Alabama Regiment to threaten the Federal right, supported by his artillery:

However, I had deployed the Federal Sharpshooters into a wood and they picked off the grey troops, forcing them to halt and withdraw.  During this action one of the Confederate brigade commanders falls, causing some chaos:

The Sharpshooters were supported by a regiment of cavalry that trotted around the Confederate left.  For some reason the Confederate cavalry had moved off over to the other side of the field, giving the federal cavalry the freedom to move around the flank:

Seeing the Confederate brigade moving around to threaten the Federal left flank, the Pennsylvania Regiment is deployed up against the rail fence in support of the New York Zouaves, who by now had taken quite a few casualties from rifle and cannon fire.

Early on one of the federal batteries is destroyed and the unmanned gun can be seen on the left in the field.

Two regiments of Confederate infantry are now approaching from the the Federal left, moving through a wheat field.  In the far distance another federal regiment attempts to attack the Confederate guns, supported by Sharpshooters and cavalry.  However, the field is being swept by close range artillery and casualties mount.

The Federal cavalry sweep into the remnants of the Alabama Regiment and see off some Confederate skirmishers, but hindered by the rail fence and suffering casualties from the guns, their success is short lived; however, the Confederates lose another commander, leaving just one general to command the whole army.  Things slow down for the Confederates 

The Confederates emerge from the wheat field and are met by federal volleys causing some casualties amongst the Texas Regiment and the Kentucky Volunteers.

Without leaders, the Confederate advance comes to a halt and Phil decides to call it a day, which was a shame as the Confederates looked to be in a strong position.  

BUT

After a beer or two, we decided to return to the game, allowing the Confederate Army Commander to take tactical command of the units on the Confederate left. The one remaining brigade commander could now reengage around the wheat field.  Soon the Confederates gained the upper hand and the result of the game was reversed.

This was a most enjoyable game, played with my old Spencer Smith troops and simple but effective rules.