Hello 2012

Happy New Year!

So, with the beginning of 2012, I have returned from my sojurn up north, and have powered back into wargaming.

Centurion Tank at the Waiouru Army Museum, with some doofus in front of it....

So, in terms of the painting challenge. At this exact point, I am a bare 800 points away from the leader Kent (go NZ!). He has been likened to a painting version of the Terminator; but Kent has never seemed Austrian enough to pull that off. I like to think of him as akin to Robocop, his painting life tragically cut down by gangsters, he was rebuilt to become a mesh of human and robot components optimised to produce great work, incredibly fast.

So, my excuse for not winning the painting challenge? The winner is a cyborg.

But I have managed to get some painting in at any rate, here are the completed 69th South Lincolnshire Regiment.

The regiment itself

The poor skirmisher out by himself!

So with them completed, I only have ONE small infantry unit to get finished before my Guards British army is completed! Well, until I want to run some different support. Which I probably will. But I will at least have enough to have a game!

Right, so on the painting table now is some 15mm Germans, some 15mm Kiwis, some Stukas...

Oh and this arrived....

Looks like I am going to be a busy boy!

Some info on Dystopian Wars tomorrow, and some more painted stuff....

CP

Goodbye 2011

This is my last post of the year, I thought it only fitting to have a wee recap of what the year has given and what I want to do next!

On the home front, 2011 had it's tough moments. Major natural disasters will do that! But that's all the talk of earthquakes that's needed.

I went to five Flames if War tournaments,Tempest, Southcon, Conquest, Flamescon and Bedecon. I managed to win 2 and was first equal in one. Next year, must put in a better showing at Southcon! I painted some new armies, british and some US paras in a week! I think next year I will rebase my paras onto the BF rubble bases, with snow. Because my favorite episode of Band of Brothers is Bastogne! Jamie has made his Ironman challenge, to encourage the use of tank and mechanized companies. I suppose I should do it too! First up is some form of tank army to fight at Valleycon- 1500 points Mid War at the end of January.

In other gaming? I painted the majority of a Napoleonic army. Never had one of them before! Got the start of some Thirty Years War too. That will be big in the start if next year. Dystopian wars is taking up an increasing amount of my time, which I am totally happy with.

The painting challenge? It has been one week, and I am 300 points behind. Bugger. What's the plan then? I will initiate "Operation Face Saver", a weeklong see how much I get painted beginning on the 3rd of January. I will paint British napolonics, a flames if war army for Valleycon and start some TYW Spanish. And get as much done as possible!

Finally, I want to play more games. Seems logical enough, but is it possible?


So that's the plan to start the year. Paint paint paint!

Final Painting Offerings of 2011

Happy holidays and a Merry Christmas!

Well, for those of you who don't read the blog from Analogue Hobbies (link on the left); you really should! But as well, I will post up some pictures of what I have been painting lately on here too!

First up, some Napoleonics!

One of the wonderful Perry casualty miniatures. This is one from the forthcoming South Linconshire regiment.

My second artillery battery, 2 9 pounder guns and a 5.5" howitzer with all their crew

The reverse of the same unit

 Plus, the all important man himself, Stephen Fry! I mean, the Duke of Wellington...

If you have a spare 5 minutes, I highly recommend reminding yourself of this show. I like to think of the Duke like how he is portrayed here!

Two shots of the Duke himself, maintaining a commanding position on the battlefield!


In addition to that Napoleonics stuff, I also managed to get an M8 Greyhound scout car done. Why? Well it was sitting on my desk waiting to be painted. Or is it for a secret project?

Hint- It's not for a secret project...

Well, that is all folks! No more painting for 2011 for me, I am off on holiday this afternoon, returning in the New Year. I think I will put up one more blog post before the year is out, but this is the last one with proper pictures!

Merry Christmas, I hope Santa brought all of the Toy Soldiers you desired...

CP

Mother Nature is no excuse- Painting Challenge Update 2

So, for those who don't live in Christchurch (affectionatly known as Quakechurch); we experienced more rocking and rolling yesterday. I myself was safe and sound with my family slightly out of town on Banks Peninsula, but recieved the very odd sensation of watching large rockfalls across the harbour. Unnerving. Sadly, this is common place here at the moment- although we have had no large rumbles in 6 months according to the TV. After a brief time stuck over there (roads were closed to be checked for slip damage), we were able to come home to a house with no further damage or nothing too much fallen over.

But still, an earthquake is no excuse for such poor discipline from my South Lincolnshire Regiment! I came home to find them like this..

All bar the two bearers of the colours were no longer in ranks- two of the troopers had the audacity to attempt to go AWOL; they were picked up as they attempted to escape (to the pub I assume).

Who could redress the ranks, instill an air of courage? Well, the Duke of Wellington of course!

Here is my WIP Duke- there is only a little bit to finish on the Duke- some highlights on his hat, the gold and maybe a touch up on the flesh. His horse has not even got base colours, but I will have to find the right brown! He will hopefully get done today.

So the way the Analogue Hobbies competition works is that I will send them pictures of my finished models, they will be posted on their website then I can put them up on mine too after a day or so. So, without any further ado- here is my painted first (and only) model up on Analogue Hobbies... A Spartan!!

No need for pictures up on here for just that one test model- I am pretty happy with the bronze and the red. Not so much the flesh- something to work on when I paint some more.

Right, off to start painting the Duke's horse, and sending some photos of British Artillery to Analogue. 

CP

Painting Challenge update One!

Well, here it is, my first update for the painting challenge.

So, what I have I completed?

Well... no full stands of Napoleonics... but I did paint these six chaps!

Six artillery crew; which marks exactly where I left off last time I painted Napoleonics! I had just finished their 3 guns, then got caught by a serious bout of "can't-be-bothered-itis". I just don't actually enjoy painting these guys, not sure if it is the Victrix faces (which I hate) or the combination of colours (I really hate yellow) but they just are not enjoyable to paint. What is enjoyable however, is that I only have 6 more to go!

What's the plan then? Well, I am off on holiday on the 26th. Until the new year. Which means no painting (at all) will be done in that week! Which will keep putting me behind (darn it). So my goal before Christmas is to get this artillery battery done fully. I then plan to make up for the no painting week by a whole week where I am at home, and I don't have to work. It will be my goal to get as much painted in that week as possible! So look out for some frantic updates from the 2nd of january until the 9th of January!

Oh, in other news I finished a secret test figure (pics tomorrow), and my Thirty Years War army is winging it's way towards me from the UK.

Back to painting!

CP

Step One, Complete! Napoleonic British Based!

Well, after a week of PVA glue and big paintbrushes, my British Napoleonic Army is based!

There is what I have got! In Lasalle terms: 2 Large Guards Infantry Units, 5 Infantry Units, 1 Hussar Unit, 1 Unit of Artillery, extra skirmisher and sapper stands, 4 commanders and some casualty markers.

A close up of the Artillery base. The bases themselves need a little bit of colour, which I am sorting as we speak. It is hopefully winging it's way to me from England....

So what is left to paint for my Napoleonic British?

• 2 Units of Infantry (69th South Lincolnshire and some more Landwehr)
• The artillery crew for another base of artillery
• The Duke Himself- because it ain't Waterloo without the Duke!

With that in mind, here is the 69th Regiment ready for some paint

Although I have just noticed one of the front ranks has a particularly... exaggerated pose of his head. I will fix that before I apply some paint!

Because it aint Waterloo without him; here is the Duke of Wellington himself, ready to get some paint applied also.

But no paint (other than undercoat) can be applied until 11:01 am on the 20th of December (00:01 Canadian Time) so these chaps will have to wait! I still need to assemble the regiment of Landwehr, so that will likely happen in the next day or two as well.

But in other news, there has been some trouble brewing in Bangkok; which concerns the economic interests of the Kingdom of Brittania in that little slice of the globe....

CP

Redcoats... wait...

Well, there has been plenty of talk of late about Lasalle here in Christchurch, I have done my best drug-dealer impersonation by getting Jason hooked; and Jamie is not far away (whether he knows that or not!). So, with Jas starting some Peninsular British, it seemed only fitting for me to start some Peninsula French.

The French Army that was sent to the Peninsula was.... ecclectic. There were a few veteran troops, but the majority was made up of fresh conscripts- lets be honest with Russia going on, quality French soldiers were well stretched! These conscripts were fresh, and had a pretty mixed review when it came to combat. In addition there were one of my favourite Napoleonic units, the Swiss. These guys were mercenaries, who fought for Napoleon in almost all of his campaigns, and were some of the best troops in his army. Interestingly, the swiss did not fight in the Hundred Days (which culminated at Waterloo), because after the exile of Napoleon (for the 2nd to last time), the swiss had formed an agreement with the returning monarchy, which they honoured rather than returning to fight for Napoleon. Plus, they wore standard French uniforms, but in red!

So, without further adieu, here are some simply horrible pictures of my first stand of French, which is a stand of Swiss!

I will get better pictures tommorow, turns out lounge room lighting, at 10pm is not really the ideal photo conditions....

And for those who read this for Flames of War stuff, my typhoons are progressing well. They are all at the stage of getting blacklined with a lovely ink pen, which takes fricking ages. And is boring as sin to do. So I would expect it to take a fair while, like a week very much on and off, where I will do some for 5 mins, then do something else. Like paint Napoleonics!

Here is one, showing off some of the blacklining. I will add some decals, then it needs a big coat of matt varnish.

Next? More Peninsula French!

Not according to plan....

Well, my plans have gone somewhat pear shaped. It looks like I will not be able to attend Call to Arms this year- due to a multitude of factors. But, all is not lost. there is a second Lasalle competition, at Nappycon in the Hutt Valley in September. So, it looks like that is my new goal, get the British done for that.

Now, in keeping with the theme of things not going right, here are a few of my casaulty figures for Lasalle...

The are so dead, that in fact they decided to be shot sideways. From top to bottom, Landwehr, 27th, Guards and 33rd. I have some more to add over time too, these ones are just the plastics which come spare in boxes of French Cavalry and were supplied by a lovely chap from down South!

So, what now? Well, I am going to have a game of FOW tonight, hopefully that will spark me back into liking that game, plus I still have a bucket of painting to do for my British.

Oh, and this arrived today. What could it contain?

CP

That wehr has land....

Ok, so the title doesn't make sense, either grammatically or comically, but I am sticking with it!

Over the last 4 days, some painting has been taking place! First off, here is the first of my two Hanoverian Landwehr regiments, this is the regiment from Osnabruck.

 Here is the regiment as a whole.

And a lovely close up of the regiment's sergant, showing off the wonderful Hanoverian peaked caps that they had! All in all, a very suave german!

And the regiment's colours. These are from GMB, and since there is no recorded standards for the Hanoverians, it is a bit of a guesstimate for what they would look like!
\
So, in addition to my Landwehr, I also finished the guns for my second artillery battery.

Two 9pdr guns, as well as a 5.5 inch howitzer. I think when I get some horse artillery- which I will do when I buy the heavy horsement (Scots Greys....) they will be using the lighter 6pdr gun, to contrast to the infantry's heavy 9pdrs.

And finally, I managed to paint my second sapper model. Yes I know I will probably never use him, but I figured I might as well paint him up since I had him! He represents a sapper seconded from the 42nd (Black Watch) Regiment, attached to help shore up the defences at Hougemont farm!

He is not amazing, but I am still pretty happy with him. He will look much better once his basing is done...

So, a fair bit done. Just 2 infantry regiments and gun crews to go, as well as any other miscellaneous I need to paint!

CP

Do you have a flag? Part 2

Well, I managed to get the last of my flags assembled.

The 27th Inniskilling's regimental colours.

The 3rd (Scots) Guards regimental colours.

And the Coldstream Guards colours.

So, with them all done, all that leaves me to do is the 3 infantry units and artillery unit. Not much...

In other interesting news, the influence of Lasalle is spreading! We are in the progress of organising firstly a Lasalle demonstration game at Conquest, and also organising a one day competition to go along with it on the second day. So all very exciting stuff, but when we have better information, I will post it up here. For all those interested in Lasalle, it will definitly be on show at Conquest!

Right, back to the painting table,

CP

Hussar!

Well, this happened on Monday

So, needless to say I had no work! Like any good wargamer, I thought I would get some painting done, and this is what I came up with.

My unit of Hussars! These chaps are more Hanoverians, representing the King's German Legion Hussars. The main difference between these and British Hussars is simply the colour of their Bearskins- British had black (like the guards outside Buckingham) whereas these chaps have a brown Bearskin. The models come from Front Rank, and are pretty reasonably priced, with some pretty good detail. It is actually a bit weird to be painting lead again after all the plastics!

Some close-ups

The regiment's bugler

And a standard Hussar.

I must say, it was nice to paint something not red for a change, but the horses seemed to have no inspiration for me! Luckily for me, that is all of the cavalry I have to paint for the army. Not sure how I would cope painting an entirely cavalry army, like some people are doing!

As for why I have KGL Hussars? Well, late in the day at Waterloo, Wellington placed his light cavalry (Hussars and Light Dragoons) behind the squares which were a bit more shaky, especially those of the Hanoverians and Brunswickers to give them a morale boost (and stop them clearing off!) and also to clear out any French cavalry that attempted to envelop the squares!

So with them done, that just leaves 3 infantry units and 1 artillery unit. All before the end of August. Plus all the bases. Oh and did I mention I have no idea how I am going to transport it?

CP

Do you have a flag?

So, in spite of the chill in temperature, I managed to get the start of some painting done, and got some flags attached.

Here are the Regimental and King's colours for the 73rd Regiment.

And here are the colours for the Kings German Legion Regiment.

My flags come from GMB Designs, which I ordered from here. I paid about $5 per flag, plus another $5 for total postage. Overall, I am pretty happy with them! They require a bit of cutting to make them fit properly onto the banner poles; but it is really no extra drama. So I ordered enough flags to cover my whole army (the Guards, the 5th British Brigade and the Hanoverians), but I will do another order, I really think I will use them for my next force (probably frenchies...) as well as when I add more regiments to the army to make sure I can use it as a standard Infantry core, as well as Guards.

So, in short, I highly recommend GMB. They are on the expensive side, but... I am alright paying the little bit extra for quality, especially when flags are such a notable part of the unit!

In case you didn't know the importance of the flag, here is comedian Eddie Izzard explaining why the flags were so important!

CP

33rd First Yorkshire West Riding Regiment of Foot

Now, if that isn't a classy title for a regiment, I don't know what is! These chaps also were known as "Duke of Wellington's Own"- which has in modern terms simply become the Dukes. They got the title as they were the regiment that Wellesley served with before his meteoric rise to dukedom!

Here is the full regiment, a normal sized lasalle unit. Now there has been a bit of talk this week about Lasalle basing, and how many figures per base is appropriate (here). I am going to opt for 4 per base, but I will make up a couple of mock bases and show you guys in the future, just to see what you think.

Anyway, back to the 33rd. Now, one of the guys down at the club had some spare Victrix peninsular sprues, which I gladly snapped up, so here is the officer for the 33rd, still resplendant in his Peninsular uniform- including Bicorne!

And lastly from the 33rd, those people who actually gave the regiment a good look (one or two of you I assume), will notice these in the rear rank....

The Kings Colour and the Regimental Colour, from GMB designs. More about flags tommorow however!

I also managed to finish off the other two Generals for the army, first is a Victrix Highlander from the 73rd,

And second is a Hanoverian Landwehr commander, which was converted using Victrix Hanoverian parts, and marrying them to a Victrix Highlander- with a very good result in my opinion!

This chap will be in charge of my Hanoverian detachment (Brunswick Support in Lasalle).

And what of an anecdote from Waterloo? Well, the story of Lord Uxbridge (the commander of the British and allied cavalry) is probably the strangest (and possibly untrue). The story goes that late in the day that Uxbridge rode off to meet Wellington, to tell him to get back off the front lines, for fear he might get shot.

Then, Uxbridge himself was struck in the leg by a cannonball, shearing it clean off. To which he stated,

Lord Uxbridge: "By God, sir, I've lost my leg!"
The Duke of Wellington: "By God, sir, so you have!"

The only thing this story reminds me of? Is Monty Python.

Well, time for hockey, hopefully will get some painting done tommorow,

CP

Bases

Bases were one of the issues that I hadn't resolved for the army, I started by attempting to cut 50 x 50 squares of plasitcard, and failed miserably. So, I instead turned to an American company called Litko (http://www.litko.net). I ordered plenty of 3mm thick MDF 50mm squares, some 50mm round bases to serve as my Generals bases, and some 150x75mm bases to make my artillery on one whole base. Ordering from them was painless, and honestly, I don't mind paying for the bases since my own attempts were so terrible! Also as a note, I sent them an email enquiring about shipping times and got a prompt email back, from an actual person, and they also asked questions about the recovery in Christchurch. All that, to me is very important! One thing I really do miss by shopping online is the customer  service aspects, given the choice I think I would tend to buy based on the better customer service!

Well, so the bases arrived on Friday and I only managed to get around to doing something with them this morning. Here is the army as it stands, all nicely out on bases

 

 

The empty wooden bases represent things which I haven't even assembled yet, and the left most unit in the front rank is the 33rd, currently awaiting paint! Hopefull I will finish them this week, plus those two colonels in the front too; then who knows, maybe I could work out a basing scheme for myself?

As for actual painting, all I managed to get done is this Warlord Games mastiff, which will give the Artillery colonel some company on the objective marker! He also represents the 120th 28mm infantry figure that I have painted so far for my British, and by my count, I have another 80 infantry to go....

Lastly, next time you wargamers have a tape measure out, measure 21 inches. That was the distance the British Army were expected to stand from the person next to them. Doesn't seem like a very long way does it?

CP

Taking Stock

Well, I think it is about time to assess what I have actually finished (albeit not based) and what I still have left to do for Call to Arms (which is next month....). The British force that I will be taking is based on the 1st Corps at Waterloo (commanded by the Prince of Orange) and made up of the 1st Infantry Division (Guards) supported by the 3rd Infantry Division.

The order of battle looks something like this at the start of Waterloo...


1st (British) Infantry Division [4,266 men]
MG George Cooke
- - - - - - 1st (British) Guard Brigade - MG Maitland
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (British) II/1st Foot Guards [781]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (British) III/1st Foot Guards [847]
- - - - - - 2nd (British) Guard Brigade - MG Sir Byng
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (British) II/2nd Foot Guards [1098]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (British) II/3rd Foot Guards [1100]
- - - - - - Artillery - Lt-Col. Adye [440 men]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (British) FB [6 guns] - Cpt. Sandham
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (German) KGL HB [6 guns] - Mjr. Kühlmann

3rd (British) Infantry Division [8,091 men]
MG Count Sir Karl von Alten
Chief-of-Staff: Col. von Berger
- - - - - - 5th (British) Brigade - MG Sir C.Halkett
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (British) II/30th Foot [635]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (British) II/33rd Foot [576]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (British) II/69th Foot [565]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (British) II/73th Foot [498]
- - - - - - 2nd (KGL) Brigade - Col. Baron Ompteda
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (German) I KGL Light Btn. [519]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (German) II KGL Light Btn. [403]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (German) V KGL Line Btn. [529]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (German) VIII KGL Line Btn. [636]
- - - - - - 1st (Hanoverian) Brigade - MG Graf von Kielmannsegge
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (German, Hanoverian) Field Jägers [331/321]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (German, Hanoverian) Light Btn. Grubenhagen [643/621]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (German, Hanoverian) Light Btn. Lüneburg [617/595]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (German, Hanoverian) Line Btn. Osnabruck [632]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (German, Hanoverian) Line Btn. Werden [559/533]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (German, Hanoverian) Line Btn. Bremen [533/512]
- - - - - - Artillery - Lt-Col. Williamson [415 men]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (German) KGL 1st FB [6 guns] - Cpt. Cleeves
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (British) FB [6 guns] - Mjr. Lloyd

In Lasalle terms, this means I need...

• 2 Large Guards units (2nd and 3rd Foot Guards- Finished)
• 2 Elite Infantry units (73rd and 33rd Regiments- Half Finished)
• 2 Infantry units (69th Regiment and I will borrow the 27th for CTA- Half Finished)
• 1 Artillery Battery (Finished)

Then for support, I will run the Brunswicks, representing the Hanoverian detachments,

• 1 Elite Infantry (KGL- Finished)
• 2 Infantry (Hanoverian Landwehr- not done)
• 1 Hussar Unit (KGL Hussars- not done)
• 1 Artillery Battery (not done)

Plus also the 4 Commanders, of which I have painted two.

So, I need to finish the 33rd, 73rd, 2 Landwehr units, 1 artillery battery, 2 Commanders and 1 Hussar unit. All in a month. And lets not forget, I haven't actually based anything yet! I probably need to get myself in gear....

As for your Waterloo trivia? This quote comes from John Kincaid, an officer with the 95th Rifles (yes there were other officers to Sharpe in that unit!)- "The 27th Regiment were lying literally dead in square, a few yards behind us. I had never yet heard of a battle in which everyone was killed; but this seemed likely to be an exception". The fact that the 27th did not break, according to Wellington saved his centre from being overwhelmed.

I expect big things from my Irish when the hit the tabletop!

CP

Scots Guards finished

It has been a week since I last posted. Whoops! I meant to get more done, faster. But, it just didnt happen that way!

Anyway, here is what you really want! The 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards (Scots Guards) in their completed glory! Together with the Coldstreamers, they made up the 2nd (British) Guards Brigade, under Major General Byng. At Waterloo they were tasked with defending the Hougoumont farm, which is a very long story that I can't be bothered going into here!

I got these guys done over the past 3 days, painting about 8 per day. Not the most industrious, but not bad.

Here is their officer, looking far better than he did last time I posted! Yikes, these photos are dark. I do need to look into my photographing.

So, in keeping with my random Napoleonic anecdotes that seem to be proliferating this blog; on the note of Curiassers. Now, after the battle at Quatre Bras the 92nd Highlanders, after a long hard day of suffering through repeated cavalry and infantry attacks finally got a respite. They also got some steaks to eat. So, the story goes that French prisoners were being marshalled past Highlanders cooking steaks on the curiass of fallen French cavalrymen! Apparently they worked very well, despite the musket holes. The prisoners thought the Highlanders cannibals, further adding to their fearsome reputation!

Well, with the Guards done, I actually don't have another unit ready to paint next, so there will have to be some assembling done, but there are still a few more normal sized infantry units to finish......

CP

3rd Regiment of Foot Guards (Scots Guards)

Well, progress has been somewhat slow of late; but I have managed to do some serious assembling over the past few days!

Here is what is going to be my 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards (Scots Guards).

The regiment is made mostly of Perry plastics, but the front rank are the Victrix plastics. I have tried to give them the appearance that they are in square formation- or at least the resemblance of one. So the front rank are kneeling- the couple of chaps on the wings are taking cheeky pot-shots (possibly poor discipline...). There are plenty of Brown Bess muskets ready to fire behind, along with the officer dictating where the cavalry are coming from.

"Hey, guys, look! Look at that! Thats a horse that is! Shoot it!"

On that note, In my reading I came upon a pretty cool anecdote. The French heavy cavalry were known as Curiassers; due to the fact that they wore a metal Curiass (breastplate). Now, for those history buffs out there they know that Knights and armour fell out of favour and were superceded by the advent of Gunpowder (in the broadest terms). But, these Curiass equipped horsemen stayed! Now at Waterloo, these breastplates showed their worth, because what happened is yes, a musket ball DOES penetrate armour, but not if the ball is not shoved fully into the barrel of the gun. What happened at Waterloo (and I assume elsewhere) is that due to the need for such rapid fire, the British and German soldiers would only ram the ball halfway down, greatly reducing the muzzle velocity, meaning that the breastplate was highly effective!

Pity that the artillery still wreaked havoc amongst the cavalry and caused significant casualties.....

CP

Finally...

It seems like it has been ages since I have finished anything for my British army, one whole week in fact! My productivity circled the drain this week and I am not entirely sure why. I had a few days teaching (3) so that probably cuts down my painting time combined with hockey, but I just haven't felt like it lately; and really did have to force myself to finish this unit off!

Here is my first Highland regiment, in it's full scottish glory!

Click the picture for a larger view as always.

Now, I said that they were going to represent the 71st Highland Regiment, but I have instead changed them to being the 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment. This regiment was where the Duke got his first start (the Duke himself being an Irishman...) before Wellington headed into the 33rd (known as Wellington's Own). The regiment was prevented from wearing the kilt in 1809, the reason being (or one of?) that having no kilts would encourage more Englishmen to join the regiment. I kept the piper in a kilt, because he is cool, and the officer has the very classy tartan trousers! Those tartan pants really didn't last long on campaign, so hence only the officer has them!

As for the history,

The 2nd Battalion of the 73rd arrived at the battle of Quatre Bras 1815 at a crucial moment in the fight, in which they lost 53 men killed and wounded. Two days later at Waterloo whilst serving with Major General Halkett’s Brigade of Lieutenant General Sir Charles Alten’s 3rd Division, the Battalion was charged no less than 11 times by French Cavalry as it stood solidly in square and was then fired upon by French artillery.

This is the guy that everyone wanted to see I think, here is the piper in a very very simplified tartan kilt! I might look at it again when I work out a better way of painting tartan when I tackle the 42nd Black Watch...

Painting them was alright, I just find that the Victrix don't inspire me as much as the Perry figures, so definitly my next regiment will be made from Perry. I think my second Guards regiment will be on the painting table next. I had better get to assembling, hopefully will have something to show off in a day or two!


CP