Funny Little Wars - British

 I have been really busy recently, which has distracted me from my current projects.  A friend gave me his collection of 20mm Russo Japanese war figures.  They are mostly Jacklex and a large portion were owned and painted by Jack Alexander.  There are three armies; the Japanese, the Russians and a Red army for the Russian Revolution.  My time has been taken up sorting them out and basing them to suit my playing rules.

I did however manage to sort out a British battalion for my 'funny little wars' project.  These are Britains Highlanders in tropical dress.  I haven't done much to them, other than paint the bases a sandy colour:

I also painted a test figure.  This is a Irregular miniatures 54mm colonial Sepoy.  He looks rather good and I am thinking of getting some more to create another battalion:

Funny Little Wars - Turkish Infantry

 Over the last few days I have been assembling and painting a small Turkish force.  The figures are 54mm from Irregular Miniatures.  They went together well, required a small amount of filing and drilling and the paint went on easily.  I used a grey primer for these figures.

The uniform colours may not be strictly correct, but I based my colour scheme on that used on early hollow cast figures:

Funny Little Wars

 Some time ago I purchased a copy of the book 'Funny Little Wars', a set of rules based upon the  famous HG Wells rules, Little Wars.

Over time I have been accumulating some 54mm figures to try out the rules.  My firs unit, Turkish artillery, are by Irregular Miniatures, having adapted some kneeling riflemen into gunners.  the gun is an old Britains matchstick firing piece:

I have also painted up some Britains Deetail mounted French Foreign Legion (FFL).  They started off like this:

And after some paint applied:

I have also painted some FFL infantry as well as a Gatling gun.  My plan is for the FFL to take on my Britains arabs.  The Turks/Egyptians will provide an enemy for my Britians British.  I also have some Mahdist warriors.

British Infantry 1690

 Last weekend I painted some more 54mm Williamite period troops.  This time it was some British infantry from Irregular Miniatures.  In fact they are from the Marlburian range but Ian Kay very kindly changed the heads to incorporate the broad brimmed hat that preceded the tricorne.

These troops are from Kirke's Irish Regiment that fought with King Billy in 1690.  They were a delight to paint, only taking a few hours using speed paints:

Waterloo in 2mm - Part 2

 The Battle for the Ridge

With Hougoumont now in French hands,  Reille orders his brigades to push in to the allied right.  At the same time his second Division is on the move to reinforce those already committed.

Having forced the Brunswick brigades into square Reille's artillery pounds the German soldiers that are pinned by Pajol's cavalry.  However, the British cavalry brigades of Vivian and Grant arrive and counter attack the French horse. This cavalry battle is set to last for most of the game. 

The cavalry action leads to casualties on both sides:

As the cavalry battle it out Reille's infantry around Hougoumont, now reorganised, advance on the trapped Brunswickers.

The Brunswickers, unable to change formation are suffering heavily as the French infantry batter them.

Seeing the emerging threat on his right flank, Hill orders three Hanoverian brigades up to support the beleaguered Brunswickers.

The Brunswickers have collapsed but in the nick of time the Hanoverians, with Hill's artillery block the French. However, the remainder of Reille's corps is beginning to arrive 

The French assault the Hanoverians, destroying a brigade.  The British 1st Division is unable to assist in the background as Reille's 2nd Division is fast approaching. To bolster up the Hanoverians, two Dutch brigades are ordered over to the right.

Napoleon's plan is beginning to unfold.  The French assault on the right is drawing off allied units weakening their centre.  

Over on the allied right the French cavalry have forced back Vivian and Grant's brigades and once again the allied right is exposed.  More allied cavalry from the KGL and Hanoverians move into position.

Despite causing casualties to the French, the Hanoverian infantry is heavily reduced, with just one brigade left intact. The cavalry are once again locked in combat. The allies come off poorly during the initial stages.

Seeing the threat from Reille's 2nd Division the Guards of the British 1st Division charge down the slope and crash into the French, causing many casualties, weakening French morale.

The final Hanoverian infantry brigade collapses, allowing the remnants of Reille's 1st Division to swing around onto the flank of the British Guards

The French 2nd Division is badly mauled but the Guards too are now in trouble with the threat to their right flank.  In the background Dutch reinforcements can be seen.

The Dutch hurry down the road to support the right.

Sensing that the Allied centre has been weakened, Napoleon orders the 3rd and 2nd cavalry corps of Kellerman and Exelmans up to support Reille.  In the background, Lobau's infantry corps advances towards the Allied centre, planning to strike to the left of La Haye Saint.

Meanwhile, back on the ridge the British Guards are hanging on, having defeated Reille's 2nd division, but are now under pressure from the French 1st Division moving in from their right.  French cavalry have forced a square to be formed.  This is being bombarded by French artillery.

Seeing the advancing French cavalry corps, Wellington orders Ponsonby and Somerset 's heavy cavalry up to support the Guards and block the french

Also, the two Dutch brigades have arrived just as the Guards collapse under French pressure.

The Guards and Dutch form a defence line;

Meanwhile Pajol's cavalry continue their struggle with their allied opposite numbers.

With the last of the Guards out of the way, Reille's Corps (now seriously depleted) fires volleys into the  Dutch lines.

The situation is looking bleak for the allies. This overview shows the battle for the ridge on the allied right.  In the centre Kellerman's Cuirassiers are now engaged with Ponsonby and Somerset.  Exelman's corps sits in reserve,  In the background Lobau's infantry begin to climb the ridge.

A huge cavalry battle unfolds in the centre between the French and allied heavies.  Excelman's corps joins the fray as Somerset and Ponsonby are reinforced by Hanoverian light dragoons.  Lobau's corps now moves up to the left of La Haye Saint and Reille continues his fight against the Dutch on the far left.

Pajol's exhausted cavalry finally succumb to the allied horsemen and retreat down the road.

Battle is joined on the ridge. On the far left, the remnants of Reille's corps have defeated the Dutch infantry.  The French heavy cavalry are gaining the upper hand and Lobau's infantry are forcing their way onto the ridge

The allies are crumbling and now Napoleon sends in the Imperial Guard to support Lobau.  D'Erlon's Corps is preventing the Allied left from swinging around to reinforce the ridge. For Wellington it is time to withdraw. 

The French win the day.  Of course the Prussians did not arrive in this scenario.  Even if they had turned up, with D'Erlon uncommitted and the Imperial Guard still available, I am not sure whether the allies could have won.  Maybe on another day (when I have painted the Prussians) we will see.

All of the figures are by Irregular Miniatures and the rules used are a variation of Command & Colors.

And some Tommies........

 Also from Irregular Miniatures, I have just finished painting a British infantry company for my WW1 trench war project.  Again, nice figures and fun to paint:

A New Project - WW1 Trench Warfare

For some time I have been contemplating some games based on later WW1 battles but finding a trench system has proved a challenge.  Recently I was lucky enough to get hold of a big box of Amara vacuformed plastic trenches; enough to cover both sides of a 6 x 4 table.  I spent several days painting them.

I was hoping to play these games in 15 -20mm scale but my recent acquisition is really for 28mm figures. So I decided to buy a British and german force from Irregular Miniatures and have been having fun painting the figures.  First off the production line are group of Germans:

A similar size British force is nearing completion.  I plan to steadily work through the figures over the coming weeks.

French & Indian Wars (FIW)

 This week, I have been finishing off a project started last year, namely the painting and basing of two armies for the FIW.  The figures were given to me by Bob Black, partly painted and based.  I bought a few more from Ian Kay at Irregular Miniatures, including some French.

The French are line infantry (actually moulded as Austrians) in white:

I purchased a few more tricorne wearing infantry to make up a Royal American Regiment:

And finally I finished off Bob Black's Indians that were part painted:

I am now ready for a game, which I will report on when completed.

The Abyssinian Army

 Last year Bob Black gave me a large number of his colonial troops that were partially painted and based, but needed quite a lot of work to finish them off. In parallel I have been working on three armies and the first was finally completed last night.

The figures are 25/28mm Irregular Miniatures and I think come from a 100 piece army which make up six warrior warbands and two cavalry regiment, one of which consists of heavy lancers.

the figures are really nice to paint and have lots of character, provided by the many varieties of heads and poses.

Work continues on a British colonial army, a British WW1 Middle East army and a Russian army! The latter having taken a back seat for the moment.

More Colonials

 Last night I finished off another of my Irregular Miniatures 25/28mm Colonial British line infantry:

I now have three battalions completed:

There are two more remaining, a naval infantry battalion and a further line battalion.  In addition, there are two cavalry regiments to do.  i also have a final Abyssinian unit to finish off.  Once all this is done I will have completed two of the Irregular Miniatures 100 piece armies.

Another Irregular Miniatures Unit

 Last night I finished off a unit of British line infantry from Ian Kay's Irregular Miniatures. As with the other offerings from the company, the castings are delightful and paint up well:

I have a couple more of these units to paint as well as some cavalry.

Colonial British Artillery

 Last night I finished  painting a pair of guns with crew, along with a mounted officer. These are more Irregular Miniatures and I really like them.  I wanted to finish them off before a break from painting as I have house guests arriving over the weekend.  

And guess what - its raining huzzah!

Colonial Highlanders

 Here in Bedfordshire we have still not had any rain and it remains hot and stuffy - too hot to spend any time in the war room.  So, I have been working in the shade outside, continuing you paint colonial figures.

The latest batch are Irregular Miniatures 25mm Highlanders.  They are lovely figures and easy to paint:

Some artillery next methinks.

My Hot Weather Project

 The recent hot weather has kept me out of the wargames room and so no games have been played and for a while it was too hot to do very much at all.  However, I set myself up in the kitchen with a desk fan and some paints and decided that over the 7 - 10 days I would try and complete a project.  Some months ago, in fact in 2021, Bob Black gave me an abandoned project consisting of an Abyssinian colonial army (about 100 figures) and an assortment of British WW1 colonial troops.  I thought it would be fun to paint these two armies.  Some were bare metal and others had been well painted, but all would need basing and changed to match my painting style.  The majority of the figures were 25mm scale from Irregular Miniatures.

Starting with the Abyssinians, there were two cavalry units of 12 figures and half a dozen infantry units of 16 men with a mix of rifles, swords and spears. Here are some of them:

The British are quite a mix and are really not matched exactly to the Abyssinians, but I am sure I can devise an excuse for a second Abyssinian expedition in 1919!

The British units are smaller but better armed, consisting of Infantry, Gurkhas, ANZACs, Naval Infantry and some Indians:

The Abyssinians have some splendid fellows with portable sunshades too:

I have about 20 figures remaining and the project will be complete, after which some pictures of the two armies will be posted.