The Young Pretender

 I painted this figure some time ago but never got around to posting the picture.  The Young Pretender is encouraging the troops, originally from the Bob Black collection.  The 54mm Bonnie Prince Charlie figure is from Steve Weston Figures and is painted using Speed Paints.  

I got rid of the original horse and replaced it with a Britains Deetail show jumper mount:

The tartan trews and cloak looked a bit of a challenge, but I borrowed a technique seen on Youtube, that emplos crisscross lines and spots.  It worked quite well.

Jacobites

 I recently acquired quite a large late 17th early 18th Century 20mm army, consisting of six battalions of line, two of horse and some grenadiers.  My plan is to pitch these troops against my Jacobites.  However, a quick review of my Jacobite army in this scale was sadly lacking, so I decided to remidy matters.

After some thinking I purchased several boxes of Strelets 1/72 plastic figures and set about painting them. I didn't want to spend an age on the figures, so I tried something that I have not done before, using techniques employed when painting 6mm figures.  I first sprayed the figures in black primer, then, as I was going for en masse units I added blobs of colour to bring out the weapons, clothing and skin.  I found that I was able to paint 60+ figures in two days.

The results are not pretty, but with a crowd of Highlanders gathered together on bases and viewed on the table they look OK.  Here is the result:

I have bought another box of figures and a load of musket armed 20mm metal figures from Newline to go with these.

The Battle of Dunkeld 21st August 1689

Bob Black visited at the weekend and we decided to play a scenario from the Command And Colors game, Jacobite Rising.  Bob had recently played the first scenario, Killicrankie, so it made sense to attempt the second, which turned out to be Dunkeld.  I planned to use my 54mm collection and having recently purchased some small houses, I went about setting up the game.  Some buildings were knocked up from foam board too.

After the action at Killiecrankie, Jacobite forces realised that the city of Dunkeld was held by a single unit, The Earl of Angus's Regiment, The Cameronians. The Jacobites, having numerical superiority decided to attack from the hills surrounding the town.

Essentially the battle would consist of Government forces holding the town while being assaulted by the Highlanders.  This is the starting point of the battle.  The Highlanders occupy the hills at the top of the table, with Government troops in the buildings.  The 'cathedral' forms a strongpoint:

With the roofs removed the redcoats can be seen:

Highlanders move towards the town:

The redcoats take up firing positions, but initially plan to sit tight:

The first attack came from the Jacobite right; their plan becoming clear to attack each building with overwhelming force and this happened against two buildings that stand proud of the main position. Two Jacobite units storm one of the houses:

More Jacobites come charging down the road. 

The Government troops cause some casualties but are forced out of the first house, and make a stand on the road

Several Jacobites fall and the Government forces regain control of the building:

The pressure builds and soon troops in both of the forward buildings are forced out:

The Government troops cling on, holding back the Jacobite charges, but are taking casualties all the time:

In order to restore the situation more troops are ordered forward to push the Jacobites back:

Fierce fighting occurs in the narrow streets.

The government troops regain one of the buildings mow down some of the Jacobites with musket fire:

The threat of Jacobite cavalry, however, forces the redcoats to scuttle back to the protection of the houses

With most of the Government troops in buildings the cavalry are not effective and take casualties while negotiating the narrow streets:

And are beaten off:

Having been slowed down in the centre, the Jacobites tried an assault from their left, with their infantry bursting out of the trees:

Although they manage to score some hits, the return fire is devastating and the remnants of this failed attack pull back:

While all this was going on over on the flank, in the centre the Jacobites manage to evict the redcoats from another building:

Now, technically the capture of the second building should be a win for the Jacobites, however, they have lost over half of their men and the Government troops still hold more of the town.  As per the real battle we mutually agreed that this was really a draw and that the Jacobites had no real hope of taking any more buildings.  Thus we ended the battle at this point and adjourned for tea!

This turned out to be a more exciting game than I expected.  The close combat amongst the buildings saw the fortunes of each side swing back and forth.  The spectacle of shiny 54mm troops added to the fun.

Speed Painting

 On Wednesday I thought that I would experiment some more with my 'Army Painter Speedpaints' by painting a small unit of 54mm Scots.  In all I painted five figures to add to three previously painted. To begin, I sprayed the figures with rattle can white primer, which is the key to getting the right results with these paints.

I then painted the face and lighter areas, working up to the darker tones.  In all it took me about three to four hours over several sessions in the day to complete the figures.  Once dry, I took them into the garden and gave them a spray of matt varnish:

The figures are from Irregular Miniatures 54mm range, listed as ECW/Jacobite highlanders. I think that the result is quite acceptable for wargame figures, although I don't think they would pass muster in a figure painting competition. 

54mm Jacobite Rebellion

 Next week Bob Black is visiting and we plan to play a game and generally catch up on all things wargaming.

I thought it would be fun to try out Jacobite Rising by Compass Games.  However, instead of using the little wooden blocks we could play on the table, using our combined 54mm metal figure collections.  The table has been set up, with the Jacobites sitting astride the main north road, cutting off Government resupply operations.  A government force has been despatched to remove the blockade:

The Jacobites holding the higher ground, with troops from Regiment Royal Ecossais and some lowland units, highlanders in the foreground:

Government forces arrive on the field with a mixture of Guards and line battalions, seen here working through the trees on the river bank:

And a general view of the field, with Government forces lined up on the left, Jacobites on the right:

We will probably play this next Tuesday, after which I will write up a report.

6mm Jacobites

 Having arrived in the post, my Jacobite army is now based.  Once the glue has dried they will be ready for priming and painting later in the week.

In the picture, there are lowland regiments on the left, highlanders in the centre, with a few cavalry on the right too. At the front are two gun batteries.  The gunners will be added later.

Hearts of Oak 54mm Figures

 A while ago, a good friend gave me several boxes of 54mm figures from the Williamite period, covering the Battle of the Boyne, 1690. The collection was made up of several makes, all beautifully painted.

A number of the figures were cast in a particular style and with quite a lot of variation.  I was told that they were cast by a company called 'Hearts of Oak', which has ceased production.

Here are some samples:

I had not heard of Hearts of Oak and many internet searches have failed to unearth any information.  I was wondering if anyone else had heard of them, or seen further examples.

Government Forces - Jacobite Rebellion

 As mentioned in my last post, it was my intention to have figures to replace the wooden blocks provided in the game Jacobite Rising.

I acquired some 6mm figures by Baccus and have painted half of them, giving me eight line battalions, one grenadier and three dragoon squadrons. Here they are - rather impressionist painting!

I hope to paint the remaining eight battalions and four cavalry squadrons, along with some generals by the weekend.  

I am expecting a box of Jacobites to turn up soon!

Jacobite Rising

 I have been after this game for some time and when a copy came up for sale, I had to have it. The game is based upon Command & Colors Tricorne and is produced by compass games:

Inside the box is the usual 13 x 9 hex board, but in a pale green. Then there are the trillions of wooden blocks.  Each block has to have two stickers attached - a time consuming process sitting in front of the TV. There is a good selection of terrain tiles reflecting the hilly, damp moorlands, with farmsteads, rivers and roads.

I have set out one of the scenarios in the rule book; the battle of Glen Shiel 10 June 1719.  The Government forces are nearest the camera in red, with the Jacobites in blue:

The rules are very similar to other C&C games and anyone who has played C&C Napoleonic will easily pick up on the rules; however, there are some differences that reflect the nature of the terrain and the fighting qualities of the troops, especially the Jacobite highlanders when they launch a close combat charge. The Goverment forces might run away!

The cards used in the game are different.  The Command Cards are similar to others games, but the there are Tactic Command cards specific to each side:

I have yet to play a game and so I am not clear as to how the tactic cards will influence the outcome, but it looks like fun.

As always, in the longer term, I plan to substitute the wooden blocks with figures and that process is underway.  I have ordered some 6mm figures from Baccus.

The Jacobite Rebellions

I have had a heap of old Minifigs Jacobites sitting in one of the darkest corners of my collection for several years, with a view that one day I would paint them and perhaps play a game. Well, last year I asked Old John to supply me with some british infantry of the period and this he duly did.  Now, with the work bench free I was looking for something a little different and the Jacobites seemed to be the answer.

So far, I have just painted a unit of Highland musketeers and a Government forces unit.  The highlanders have an officer and piper figure as well as ten infantry.  I am not good enough to paint tartan, so I went for an impression of tartan, which was time consuming enough for me:

The Government side wear the early 18th century uniform and consist of eleven soldiers and an officer figure:

I have to say that I enjoyed painting both lots and will likely do some more.