Waterloo to Mons

"Look! He's Moving Over There"

2011-09-27T20:59:00.003+01:00

There will be a post almost exactly the same as this on my "In The Grand Manner" blog tonight as well.

My world has moved on considerably since my last post but I will not bore you with the details.

I have however decided that running two blogs (with quite specific remits) is no longer feasible.

So, the solution is a single blog, imaginatively called "Matt's Little Soldiers" which I have started here.

In it will be everything I am working on, whatever the scale or period. It will include my continuing Schleswig Holstein figures (including the new Dragoons) plus the ACW and AWI in 20mm. First posts will start in November/December.

So that is it, "Waterloo to Mons - The Blog" is now shut.

Taking A Break & Vegging Out

2011-07-04T22:48:00.003+01:00

In April I finally managed to achieve a long running ambition and get an allotment* all of my own. 5 rods** of overgrown jungle in which to grow fruit and veg for the family. I have cleared about two thirds and currently the resultant plants are looking good-but it takes time.

So, Waterloo to Mons is taking a break in order to cultivate beetroot, carrots and a host of other veggies.

Normal service will resume after the harvest (my "In the Grand Manner" blog will continue as there are only so many daylight hours...).

* For the benefit of our our friends abroad an allotment is a patch of ground, supplied by the local council for those who wish to grow fruit, vegetables or flowers for a small annual fee.

** Allotments come in two sizes, 5 or 10 "rods". Apparently a 10 rod plot will supply an average family with fruit and veg for a year-I will apparently still need to go veggie shopping for 6 months of 2011!

More "Old School" ACW

2011-06-21T19:49:00.003+01:00

More Connoisseur Miniatures, this time a Union 12pdr Napoleon and 4 crew.

The painting style is still experimental, I seem to have forgotten a lot of the old techniques I used in my formative wargaming years! I have a battalion of Confederate infantry ready to go and will be trying out some washes and dry brushing techniques to see what "Gilder-esque" results I can achieve.

I have now bought some oil paints for the horses and was even eyeing up some Humbrol enamels but then remembered the smell of white spirit-OK when you are a kid yourself, but not when you have them!

Fixed!

2011-06-06T19:52:00.003+01:00

Followed the advice, got rid of the Cookies, signed out and signed back in again and voila, I left a comment on Captain Richards blog!

Thanks to everyone who chipped in with the advice!

Hmmmm. Blogger.

2011-06-05T21:11:00.002+01:00

I am having problems with Blogger. I cannot leave comments or follow new blogs I have found. At first I thought it was a problem with Internet Explorer 8.

However even with my old computer (with IE 7) I am still having problems. I have been able to leave comments with some of the "older" blogs, like Stryker's Hinton Hunt blog or Rafa's Liepzig blog but not with Captain Richards ACW blog for example. I go round and round, signing in again and again.

I would ask for advice, but you probably cannot leave comments either......

"Small Troop" Movement

2011-06-02T19:47:00.005+01:00

You will notice that these figures are a bit bigger than my usual ACW offerings. For a number of reasons the Airfix ACW Project has moved over to my other "In The Grand Manner" blog (June will be quietish at Waterloo to Mons as a result).

However I will still be painting up ACW figures on this blog...using the classic Peter Gilder figures I have had knocking around for a while.

I have gone completely retro with the painting and basing style-I was very undecided on gloss vs matt varnish but as all of the classic Gilder ACW images I have are matt finished it was a no-brainer in the end.

These are Connoisseur figures, I have a number of matching rebel infantry and some classic Hinchliffe Union in the pipeline.

Jacklex Union Infantry

2011-05-24T20:02:00.002+01:00

I have now finished the Jacklex ACW advancing infantry. I am very pleased with the results, very much in keeping with the retro look of the whole project.

I must say they look better in real life and I will definitely be adding more. I fancy adding expanding the size of this unit and producing a Reb unit in the same pose. Then the guns and limbers look good too. Actually I like them all and they do Colonials!

However this months (and probably next few months too!) pocket money has been spent on a wedding present for my brother, so the order will have to wait and it isn't as if I have not got enough other figures to be getting on with.

Jacklex vs Airfix ACW

2011-05-17T20:49:00.005+01:00

Bit of a slow week last week on the painting front-I have changed departments at work and am being shown around which has meant a few long trips around the country.

Anyway this week is proper hours and as promised tonight I finished the first of the Jacklex ACW bases and as you can see they are a fantastic match in style and size for the Airfix figures.

There is no standard bearer or musician in the Jacklex range, so the flag bearers are advancing figures with their muskets replaced with a wire flag pole. Nice and retro!

Part of an ebay purchase from last year, I think I have enough for a small Union unit at the moment. At the same time that I purchased them on ebay I also bought the cavalry bottom right. These guys are now sitting in paint stripper and will form a rebel cavalry unit to take on the Union Airfix cavalry I started ages ago.

Jacklex are still available from Spencer Smith.

Airfixing Again

2011-05-10T20:12:00.004+01:00

For many reasons I have decided not to limit what I paint and just go for it, so as well as reopening the In The Grand Manner blog I have unpacked this little project because that is what I fancied doing.

I have amassed a small plastic Airfix ACW mountain and having enjoyed the Crusader Rank & File rules at Salute I have now added another 5 base Union unit to the Airfix Project. Currently stuck to cardboard strips is a 7 base Confederate firing line unit as well as the first gun carriages and crews.

I have also started some Jacklex infantry but do not have enough for a complete unit. I also have some Wodensfeld ACW figures recently brought back into production which also compare very favourably...so next up comparison shots!

Righting Some Wrongs....

2011-05-05T23:40:00.003+01:00

Sir William Sans Avoir (William the Penniless) has decided enough is enough!

My other blog, here:

In the Grand Manner

has been officially reopened at the insistence of the good knight*!

*He is, in fact, just a GW Bretonnian Knight with a cloak made from the lead cork cover from the bottle of Merlot I bought after Salute!

But what the hey - it works for me!

"An Award For Style You Say?"

2011-05-05T17:15:00.015+01:00

"Ding dong I say!"

Yep, I too have been nominated for the "Stylish Blogger Awards" currently doing the rounds thanks to the following fine gentlemen :

Legatus Hedlius
Sander
Paulalba &
Ross Mac

In line with the rules here are 7 things you probably don't know about me and once you have read them you will realise why you never bothered to ask:

Met and married Mrs Golding in less than 6 months-that was 18 years ago.

Work in the public sector...at the moment at least. There is a Cabinet full of people trying to stop this!

Once got "nudged" by a 4 foot shark while snorkeling off the Great Barrier Reef.

Nearly s£@t myself once-off the Great Barrier Reef funnily enough!

Have no feeling in my right little finger after breaking it in several places following a motorcycle crash.

Have managed to crash more than half the motorbikes I have owned-no longer allowed to own motorbikes!

Finally (and most embarrassing of all) some of you (of a certain age) may well remember this fellow on the left. They were very popular in the 70s and were called "Moppets". If you examine the signature you will see they were done by "D.Golding"-aka "Dad" to me!

Asked to paint a set of barefooted urchin children with big eyes and sad faces guess who Dad based this fellow on? Yep, its me. I used to have a big mop of blond hair (hence the name), caught sticklebacks in Priory Park using a stick and fishing line and that jumper was knitted for me by my Nan. (Others in the set were a boy in striped pyjamas-my older brother and two girls-based on my cousins).

And finally, some more deserving blogs that I encourage you to visit. Obviously this thing is getting bigger all the time and a number of other blogs have already accepted their awards and so I chose the following blogs because they have not yet succumbed, although they may already have been nominated!

In no particular order:

Hinton Hunt Vintage Wargame Figures - a labour of love and beacon of single minded determination! (That makes it sound rather dramatic don't you think?)

Project Liepzig - Rafa's fantastic blog showing you can have loads of fun in this old hobby of ours!
Plastic Pelisse - a public service for 1/72nd scale figure collectors!

Diniums Loft - just check out the painting and you will see why!

Warfare in the Age of Steam - cracking collection of images, history and everything!

Plastic General - top notch 1/72nd scale eye candy!

Garage Gamer - now this is how to play wargames!

Now all I have to do is break the news to them all.

Proper posts to follow in the next couple of days!

The Salute Game...At Last!

2011-05-04T19:15:00.014+01:00

As you are probably aware by now, the photographs I took at Salute were awful...the ones I took today in my loft set up are only marginally better.

First picture is of the game in full flow, courtesy of the "I love wargaming forum".

As you can see the board, 6'x4' is a much simplified version of Frederichstadt. Basically two roads passing over swamp leading to the Danish defences and the town of Frederichstadt.

Holsteiners attacking down the river road to be meet by the Danish defenders.

The actual battle took place at night, against the backdrop of Frederichstadt in flames.

The town was heavily damaged during the pre-assault bombardment-the Danish defences were however very much intact.

We played the game about 6 times in all-historical accuracy being liberally interpreted. The Holsteiners were allowed to assault in attack columns (in real life they were very much more cramped on the narrow roads) and were allowed to either spread out when they reached the Danish defences and assault along the entire width (if they got that far!) or try and pile on over in column.

Most games were over by moves 4 or 5 which for a participation game seemed about right (45 minutess to an hour allowing for briefing, chatting people into joining the Society etc).

All in all a lot of fun!

After Frederichstadt

2011-05-02T22:22:00.006+01:00

Crikey, it's May already!

First of all, many thanks to Jorgen for this absolutely fantastic painting of the day after the battle.

The Danish officer (Helgesen) is running through the battle with the deaf French observer (La Tour du Pin-check out his hearing aid!), while the soldiers write home.

Needless to say work is unrelenting, but the kids are back at school, the Bank Holidays are finished for a while and I can start playing catch up!

First off the promised pictures of the game. That should be this week. Then I will be thanking everybody who has put me up for the new fangled "Stylish Blog Awards"-at the weekend perhaps?

Then some news about some SH War cavalry and more Scruby FPW.

Continental Wars Society - Salute 2011

2011-04-16T19:50:00.009+01:00

After all the planning, frustrations and last minute work to get the game together Salute is over for another year. As you can see, my photography is frankly rubbish-I will have to stage a few shots this weekend to let you get the flavour of the game. However the game, the very impressive display of books and associated back up material plus the plain hard work of everybody on the stand meant this year the society won the "Best Presentation in use on a game" category. We ran the participation game 4 times, each game lasting about one and a half hours. The rules, "Rank and File" from Crusader worked well I thought (I did simplify them a little) but can vouch for their playability and reckon they would work well for really big games as well. As the umpire the constant talking has left me with a very hoarse voice, so the glass of Merlot that sits beside me is for purely medicinal purposes. Sadly I did not get to see too much else and I certainly missed the Gallipoli game that I have heard so much about which is a shame, but it was a lot of fun to be part of this years society stand.

Found Property-Somebody left a small plastic bag with two booklets in after visiting the game. If you think it is you please let me know and I will gladly send it on to you.

Bear Hunting Tomorrow!

2011-04-11T22:32:00.005+01:00

Salute 2011 this Saturday. The troops are painted. The building are, er, built. The terrain is done. Except for the bear fur. Tomorrow I go hunting. Its man vs beast.

Apologies for the lack of posts...

2011-03-27T22:05:00.003+01:00

...but work life is just getting plain silly. Hope to post some more Salute stuff soon.

Odds & Ends

2011-03-02T13:05:00.002Z

A couple more buildings (Hovels again) and some carts (Essex Miniatures) for the Salute game.

Lots more needed and the clock is ticking, so no more distractions!

The Other Safe Project Is...

2011-02-27T20:47:00.008Z

...a bit different than my usual stuff. (Ian, read on about the Crimea!).

Occasionally I like to tinker with 20mm figures as evidenced here and here. Now there are some other guys out there who can do some amazing things with the humble plastic model soldier. In the spirit of this blogs introduction-although I may not be producing whole regiments I can certainly have a go at recreating individual and groups of figures!

So here is my first attempt-another trooper of the 4th Genova Dragoons 1866, previously completed here.

The figure itself is made from an "Italeri" French Napoleonic Chasseur and a "Call to Arms" French Napoleonic Carabinier.

The rest of the uniform is made of greenstuff with a paper lance pennant. Not quite there yet (the face does not have as much detail and could be a tad too small) but you get the idea.

This kind of collecting has a number of advantages in addition to the time and cost criteria. I can dip in and out of conflicts after a few figures and technically create any figure I want.

So there we have it. Everything else will be going. However, two collections will be boxed up and picked up again next year. Ian will be glad to hear one is the Scruby/Tumbling Dice Crimean collection and the other is the good old Airfix ACW project.

Now it is back to the Salute stuff-I am on the home straight with the buildings and need to really get cracking with the terrain boards.

Anglo-Sikh War...A New Range

2011-02-25T22:01:00.004Z

The work/life imbalance continues to dominate, hence nothing new to show. However not everyone has been so tardy on the hobby front!

Newline Designs have brought out a rather exciting new range covering the Anglo Sikh War in good old 1/72nd scale here.

I hope to post some more Salute updates very soon: all the buildings, terrain boards and "bits n bobs" which are all started but not finished at the moment.

More Scruby French

2011-02-16T21:53:00.007Z

As mentioned earlier hard decisions have had to be made as to the future of my figure collection. The lead mountain must be reduced and so in true geek fashion I drew up a list!

In the end however there were just some figures that I simply could not bear to let go. Obviously my own Schleswig Holstein enterprise is safe plus two other projects.

The first that I could not part with are my Scruby figures. Specifically the Franco Prussian War figures I started collecting last year. I have finally added a command base to make an 18 figure unit which will form the standard French (Imperial era) line infantry battalion in my collection. German battalions will be 24 figures. Rules are to be Black Powder-because I have a mate who already uses them.

The other "safe" collection will be revealed next week.

In the meantime it is back to the Salute game buildings.

Reb Cavalry

2011-02-06T22:05:00.005Z

Just found another old ACW image. Kennington Confederate cavalry, now doing admirable service in an other's collection.

I have been sorting through the lead mountain this weekend-it is rather embarrassing the amount of figures I have accumulated of the years with the best intentions...too many to ever paint, too few of any one type for a complete collection.

The usual wargamers disease?

A Building...It Must Be February!

2011-02-04T18:54:00.007Z

The architecture of the town of Friedrichstadt is "Dutch" in style as shown here. Battered mercilessly by the Holstein artillery the local population fled early on in the "siege".

While most of the buildings I am going to use will be scratch built I have taken advantage of the Hovels 25mm range. H57 "Bouchoute House" for starters. This one will obviously be further into town having escaped the bombardment.

I am now busy cutting out the first of the foamboard bombed out buildings. No cut fingers yet!

So February is all about buildings and the interesting bits which I want to litter the battlefield with.

Figure Update

2011-01-31T10:30:00.004Z

Just in time for January, some of the Salute game figures, all based up and shiny. The Danish army consisting of two battalions and the Holsteiners of 4 battalions plus a half Jager battalion.

The artillery and command bases are in various states of completion, I will finish those as I go along. February however is mainly "buildings and bits" month.

I also need to carry out a small rules playtest-probably during the last week in February.

The fact that I have kept on schedule so far is nothing short of a miracle and I have even been looking at what to do after Salute! My upcoming pay cut means a serious tightening of purse strings as far as hobbying goes-so time and cost are the most important features now. More on this later however.

Still Breathin'

2011-01-25T21:54:00.005Z

Confederate Cavalry Commander Man is waving hello!

I know it has been a while since I did a proper post and I know I should not grumble as (at least for the moment anyway) I still have a job but things have got mighty busy of late.

Anyway to break the gloom and as a treat to the nostalgic here is a picture of some 20mm Qualiticast ACW figures I painted last year. Now there is one manufacturer I really miss! These particular figures now reside in the US.

On the Salute front 90% of the figures for the game are done (25% are actually based), so I am having a bit of a basing marathon this week before starting on the buildings. Will be posting as soon as I can with the results.

A Belated Happy New Year & Other Stuff

2011-01-14T23:13:00.003Z

First of all Happy 2011 !

It was a busy Christmas but I am glad to say that I have been able to spend some of the time off to productively add significantly to the Schleswig Holstein and Danish armies. The rather fantastic picture (very kindly provided by Jorgen) shows the assault on Friedrichstadt in October 1850-the Salute 2011 scenario. I had wanted to get some greatcoated SH figures sculpted and ready...but as we know real life really can get in the way of that kind of idea!

Anyway, January is figure month, February and March are dedicated to buildings and terrain. April will be about the history of the battle, filling in any gaps and the rules. Next post very soon !

Merry Christmas

2010-12-21T14:28:00.003Z

It is that time of year again and as this will probably be my last chance to blog anything before the big day may I wish one and all a fantastic Christmas.

Looking Ahead

2010-12-02T11:47:00.002Z

Suffice to say that November was a truly awful month. The re based (and yes, shiny) figures you see is all I have managed to achieve since my last post.

A number of factors mean less hobby time and so I have had to make a number of decisions. I have stopped my other 20mm figure blog to concentrate on this one. With the Salute demo game approaching I have had to abandon all other projects. (Even then I am beginning to get worried).

So, I have another couple of SH battalions undercoated and will be trying out a speedier painting technique. I hope to post the first results in a week or so. I also need to start on the terrain-I have a week off at Christmas so I hope to have something started about then.

Apologies For The Lack Of Posts......

2010-11-17T19:44:00.003Z

Work really has taken over since my last post.
So no painting to show I am afraid.
Hope things improve soon.
Good news is my broken loft ladder should be replaced this Friday, so at least I can look at the stuff I have not got the time to paint!

Ready Boys?

2010-10-29T12:47:00.006+01:00

Incredibly the Airfix game had to be postponed because my 9 (next month) year old sons social calendar was too full this school holiday!

It was rescheduled to next weekend but because of my loft ladder breaking I can no longer gain access to my games table and so will have to wait until I have a new set of steps installed.

It has also meant that I cannot start on the Salute buildings either. However I did make one very foolish entry to the loft yesterday (a dare devil act not to be repeated) and brought down a few units worth of Holsteiners to get started on.

I will add to the Airfix collection as I go along as well, these "guitar heroes" are the 3rd battalion of rebs completed this month. Flag from the Rofur 1/72nd range. Photography using back up camera (still need to get that new battery!) in the back garden (because I could not bring down my lighting and camera stand!).

Advancing Onto Salute

2010-10-24T12:16:00.009+01:00

As mentioned in earlier posts I have volunteered to put on next years game for the Continental Wars Society at Salute 2011.

Now that "Friedrichstadt 1850" has been officially announced in the society newsletter The Foreign Correspondent I shall explain what you can expect in the coming months.

The November battle was the last serious attempt by the Schleswig Holstein command to pursue the war. I will provide a potted history of the battle as I go along but it is an attack across open ground on Danish forces holed up in the heavily bombarded town. I will need to paint up a further 200 figures or so as well as buildings and the battlefield itself.

So, there will be a couple more Airfix project postings. The final painted up unit(s) and a game report. This should take us to the end of October. After this I will be going into SH War overload. I will be tackling the buildings first, about ten in various states of damage. Better get painting I suppose!

Hello Mum!

2010-10-19T09:41:00.008+01:00

Well the game is next week and it is obvious that I will not be able to complete the 4 battalions of infantry per side I wanted, but no matter, the game is the important thing here.

I have managed to complete the second Union battalion (they are saying "Hi") as well as the second gun and crew.

I hope to finish a third battalion of "guitar hero" posed Rebs and as you can see, I have started the first of the cavalry!

For those of you missing European Wars, after the game next week I really must start on the Salute 1850 demonstration game which has now officially been booked. A scary first for me!

Once again back up camera in use so I apologise for the slightly naff photography.

More Rebs!

2010-10-14T20:00:00.005+01:00

I would like to say that the Airfix ACW project is moving gracefully onwards. But all I can really say is that we have lurched forward another step tonight when I finished the bases on the second Confederate battalion.

I also managed to finish the second Union gun and crew and am 3 figures away from finishing the second Union battalion. They will be based over the next few evenings.

I want to achieve 2 more infantry battalions a side, maybe a cavalry unit and some command bases. But as I have said, painted or not, the game will take place in the half term holidays.

Again, painting is functional rather than individual pieces of art. They will look good en masse-honest!

Southern Movement

2010-10-10T15:24:00.009+01:00

This week can best be described as frustrating. It should have been my most productive week painting wise with extra days off around the weekend while the kids were at school. With two more weeks before the game I needed a good solid week. Instead I had to work.

It is perhaps not as bad as it looks-there is another 20 figure battalion of rebels with their bases drying, plus half a Union battalion finished. All really the result of a concerted effort on Friday night and all day Saturday.

I will post these two units when complete which will bring my painting total to 80 infantry figures and 3 guns and crew...not bad but it could have been so much better!

By next weekend I also want to add to the infantry even more and perhaps add the first cavalry unit.

Fingers crossed!

One other problem from all this work stuff is I still have not been able to pop out and get a new battery for the camera and so I am still using the back up. Apologies for the picture quality.

Some Questions Answered On The Airfix Project

2010-10-03T20:17:00.008+01:00

I was going to start by saying the interest that this little project has produced is surprising...but actually thinking about it-it is no surprise at all! These are humble Airfix, generating wargames memories since before I was born (but only by a few years!).

Together with the published comments I have been sent emails with scans of images for buildings, conversion ideas as well as offers of advice on painting, rules etc. and just recounting plain old memories.

I have actually painted up the 20 marching Confederates-the sand/PVA mix on the bases is still drying.

A number of questions have cropped up more than once, so just in case you are also wondering I will give the most requested of them here.

Silly Poses: Yes, there will be regiments of men running with their muskets across their knees while waving to the enemy etc. Crawling Union figures will become casualty type markers etc, lying down Union figures, well I can only think of prone markers but who knows what I will come up with?

Rules: Believe me I have gone through my old Featherstone and Airfix rules. However many years ago I bought a book by Paddy Griffiths-"Napoleonic Wargames For Fun" I think it is called-I will be retrieving this book from its storage in the loft and adapting it to the ACW (my opponent is 9 years old-we need simple rules and a basing system that can be used with "serious" rules like Fire and Fury as we progress! Plus it has the "F word" in the title).

Metal Figures: My original plan was to allow for a few select metal figures. Pax Britannica (still available in the US from the DPC ) because they were the figures I was slowly replacing my Airfix ACWs with before I stopped wargaming for a while to chase females and Jacklex (available from Spencer Smith ) because even though I did not have their ACW figures (I bought their Colonial figures instead), they were available and I could have got them if I wanted. However I realised "there you go again-overcomplicating something that should be fun". So, while this is an Airfix project-if I want to have some Zouaves, buying up and converting WW2 commandos just because that is what I did before is out. Small numbers of metals may well find their way in. Additional Airfix compatible figures (and I mean compatible-not just labelled as 20mm) that spring to mind are the recently relaunched Wodensfeld range and Newline Designs.

Buildings and Terrain: Again, strict adherence to plastic conifer trees, Bellona bridges etc is not the order of the day. I plan some Terence Wise-esque buildings and anything else that I think fits plus wherever possible I will use materials available "back-in-the-day", but I am not going to be a nostalgia-nazi over it all!

Finally-I will try and post a weeks work at a time rather than individual units. By next Sunday I want to have 3 more guns and crews another two 20 figure regiments-plus finish converting the first mounted cowboys to command figures!

Airfix Wargames Project

2010-10-01T13:05:00.004+01:00

First of all apologies over the picture quality. The battery on my normal camera refuses to charge and so I have had to use the "happy snap" family camera. That said-I suppose I could have claimed the faintly fuzzy, techni-overcolour finish was in keeping with the retro look!

The first troops are finished and based. Painting style is, well, functional! Unit sizes will be (initially) 20 figures for an infantry unit, 8 for a cavalry unit. Rules to be confirmed.

The first game will be in the last week of October during the half term holidays. My opponent (and he does not know it yet) will be my 8 year old son. He always admires my paintwork and nods in approval. He wants to try a game and so painted or unpainted there will be a battle! That means some busy evenings and hiding of figures so I do not get rumbled. I started wargaming with Airfix and now so is he!

Off to paint some marching Rebs now!

The "F Word"

2010-09-30T21:04:00.005+01:00

Even before the recent unpleasantness I have thought that a lot of people may be getting more than their fair share of FUN from the hobby.

There are brilliant blogs out there describing battle reports with sometimes the most basic of set ups-all with a similar philosophy-do not take it too seriously and enjoy yourself.

Take the historical reenactment pictured here...accurate-who cares? Did this film inspire more fun than you can shake a stick at-you bet it did (Pilgrim!).

So, for a while I have been amassing figures with a view to a proper Classic Wargame. Rather than put this project off I have decided to start straight away and "have me some of that there fun".

Suitably chastened with regard to gushing product endorsement I will settle with this simple observation: the figures chosen are the singularly most influential range ever produced. Yes-Airfix.

I started painting yesterday-I will post the first pictures tomorrow and as I will explain later we will be gaming by the end of October.

24 Hours Later....

2010-09-28T23:29:00.003+01:00

Last night I think we can safely say I "threw teddy in the corner" over remarks made about me...to be referred to hereafter as Uglygate.

It was my intention to delete the whole post but for some technical reason I cannot at the moment.

So, in relation to Uglygate all I would like to say is this:

Thanks to all of you who took the time out to contact me. It was never intended as an appeal for reassurance, merely as a "right of reply" to my detractors (I would like to add that the remark about cretins in public libraries did make me chuckle!).

I still think the Helion figures are great. I will not apologise for this "crime" and compliment Duncan for starting something that will hopefully continue.

24 hours later I do not feel quite as precious as I did and I will draw a line under this whole matter except for this:

To the Uglygate twins, to misquote the above:

"Well, if you knows of a better 'ole, disappear up it!".

Please.

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

2010-09-27T23:28:00.005+01:00

The Good I started this blog in March 2008, inspired by the Legatus Hedlius "Sudan Blog" . Since then I have enjoyed conversing with other bloggers who, like me, try and share their enthusiasm with the world. I have had a lot of fun and my initial hope was I could open the wargaming world to the colourful possibilities of 19th Century Wargaming. I have even had my 15 minutes of fame when some of my painted Helion figures appeared in adverts in wargames magazines!

The Bad This comes in the form of bad news. I have twice now become vocally enthusiastic over new ranges which have subsequently stalled and then finally stopped. These are the Unfeasibly range of French Foreign Legion era figures and as I found out yesterday on "The Miniatures Page" the Helion 1866 range will no longer be added to. (I have included this TMP link as it is a reasoned discussion and the way I found out). I sent an email last night and Duncan confirmed this morning that sales have meant he is now actively looking for a buyer for the range. It is a business decision-what can I say?

The Ugly I came home from work late tonight and read my emails as usual at a little past ten o'clock. Here I found an email sent by someone who pointed out that I should read some comments on the Helion situation on two of the smaller "discussion groups/forums". It would appear that I have been singled out by two posters (this could be one poster using different names on different sites-who knows?) for derision. The fact that what has been written about me has been met with either blind agreement or tacit acceptance as the truth has, quite frankly, annoyed me to hell. I will not include links to these and neither will I try and join the two forums just to answer the points raised.

What I will do (and I know I will regret this) is to say the following;

"I have no commercial interest in Helion Wargames. I have never been given payment or a promise of future payment (direct or otherwise). I have never sought to use Helion Wargames as a means of increasing my own profile and popularity. I have not sought to use any perceived popularity as a precursor to the launch of my own commercial enterprise."

What that means is I have not "used" Helion in order to make a quick buck by "using" other wargamers to sell my own figures.

I will not publish any comments on this one-before I press the "Publish Post" button I will think long and hard about waiting 24 hours...I should have broader shoulders, but here goes, pressing the button now.

An Experiment With Dip

2010-09-23T13:11:00.002+01:00

Having seen the phenomenal results that some people have been getting with Army Painter and in the never ending quest to improve painting output I tried my first ever complete unit (as opposed to a single test figure).

The results are, well, definitely average. As my school reports would say -must try harder!

15mm figures from Essex.

The Red Swarm Continues Growing !

2010-09-14T17:34:00.005+01:00

As I mentioned recently, the posts will be "Schleswig Heavy" for the foreseeable future. I have just finished my third 1842 pattern uniform Danish battalion as you can see here. Just behind it is the part rebased first ever battalion-completed in 2008!

I have two separate strands going on with my SH Wars collection. The first is an early war solo game I want to play soon. That is where these guys come in. I now have 3 line battalions and will be adding to the light battalion to bring them up to strength. Together with a rebased gun and crew they will be taking on some early war Holsteiner's-using the same figures but with the early war battlefield alterations.

The second strand is the late war demo game I will be putting on at Salute next year which I plan to start November/December time. More of that soon.

However, I do plan to break up the SH posts to avoid monotony. My next post is an experiment with "dip", using the 15mm ACW figures I bought before changing my mind last month! I want to see if I can get a reasonable result while speeding up my figure output. (You see I told you I have a lot of time now to plan things while commuting to work).

Finally I have just got the cheery news that my latest Scruby order (FPW French infantry and cavalry) is even now hot footing it over "the pond" to yours truly! Thanks Mike!

1859 Austrian Infantry

2010-09-05T16:14:00.007+01:00

Remember these figures from December 2008? Well they are finally finished, 24 figures from the Battle Honors range still available from the US, click here for details.

They are a joy to paint with just enough raised detail without appearing "clunky". The flag is from the excellent Helion range.

In the coming months my posts will be Schleswig heavy as I get ready for the Salute demonstration game but I will try and keep a little variety going by once again attacking the "started-but-never-finished" pile.

I have also had to reduce the number of projects I have on the go and am busy thinning out the lead mountain.

Projects still "on" are my own Schleswig Holstein figures obviously, the 1866 Helion collection, Scruby Franco Prussian War, my new 20mm ACW collection and the Maximilian Adventure.

On "hold" orders are the Unfeasibly French Foreign Legion-there appears to be some movement on the website-so maybe they are coming back?

Everything else is going, including these chaps who go up on eBay tonight (because I need some more Scruby Prussian infantry!).

Next up some more Danish 1842 pattern uniform figures to be used in a little solo game I am planning.

Flashbacks & Omens!

2010-08-23T23:24:00.011+01:00

There can be no doubt that when it comes to wargames, the American Civil War has always been my first love. I got home from work after 10pm tonight, still contemplating a new replacement collection, still undecided.

I flicked over to Steve's site and came across his latest posting. Newline 20mm..as close as you can get to Airfix figures, without, well, Airfix!

Now, I was introduced to wargaming by an older lad at Southend High School For Boys in the late 1970's. I recognised Steve's scenario as probably the first "proper" wargame I ever played. We had cavalry however somewhere in the game. The rules were a Featherstone-type set, lovingly copied from a library book ! I was the Union player, commanding my own Airfix Union paint job...and I think I won!

The relevance of all this? I have decided. I cannot "do" 15mm. The ACW deserves to be done in "God's Own True Scale". Newline Designs have a sale on until Tuesday. I found some smashing looking Rebel flags tonight in 20mm. Doc in Australia has finished some great looking ACW figures (in 28mm BUT Rafa mentioned my boyhood favourite John Wayne/ACW film "The Horse Soldiers" in the comments section...nostalgia overload!).

They are all omens...I have just bought loads of Newline figures-because I am weak and believe in omens!

Decisions, Decisions.

2010-08-20T22:46:00.004+01:00

It is amazing the stuff you can get done when you have a deadline. The atmosphere is like a house move or the last day at school at the moment. I have packed up at work and spent all day tidying up the garden and the shed at home-all the jobs I could have done while I had "spare" time!

I have also been looking at the "Space Time Continuum Problem" I mentioned before I went on holiday. Here is a shot of part of my old ACW collection-as I packed them off to their new home. Yes they are gone (I would like to say that the funds raised are intended for some future figure collection but I have blown the lot on new tyres and fixing the annoying creak my car made when I turned the steering wheel before I start commuting to my new office!).

This leaves me with a decision to make. I spent my holiday reading through "Regimental Fire & Fury". In my opinion F&F is the most playable, elegant rule system ever. Regimental reads just as well, with a number of subtle changes to cater for the smaller scale. I will not go any further, Steve-The-Wargamer has done a far better job of describing the rule mechanics than I can without a playtest. My decision centres around what replaces my old figures? I have a number of options:

28mm Perry plastics augmented with metal figures. I have a box of infantry and cavalry and could settle for smaller scenarios with less figures. But no, this does not seem like the way forward. Too much space and too little time.

Embarrassingly I have enough "large" 20mm (true 1/72nd scale) to start all over again (plus the old Wodensfeld ACW figures are becoming available thanks to the work of John Cunningham-more on Johns work soon). This just seems a bit pointless having just sold off my last lot.

The original plan-15mm. I had a number of buildings and Essex figures already and made a small order from Peter Pig-really lovely sculpts and the range has everything I need. This makes the most sense but I have no real experience/love with this scale.

Or the compromise. "Small" 20mm figures from Newline Designs. The footprint/base sizes could be closer to 15mm. Steve-The-Wargamers site shows how great the figures are. I could use the 15mm buildings and measurements. The range misses out on casualty figures/wagons etc I will need.

Decisions, decisions. No need to rush at the moment...I will have plenty of time to run through this all as I sit in my car commuting to the middle-of-blooming-nowhere from September.

Smaller Bases, A Show And Other Stuff

2010-08-18T20:21:00.003+01:00

I start of with a four letter word. Work. The changes are worse than I imagined and start on 1st September. Without trying to sound bitter it will impact very adversely on family life and hence hobby time, so I am having a radical sort out of my existing stuff and future plans. Full details follow soon.

Which leads on to my next couple of points. As you can see my Danes have new, smaller bases. Eventually all my SH War figures will be redone this way, this is the only unit completed but I have a small production line running. The reason for all this is Salute 2011. Guess who is putting on the Continental Wars Society display game? No not the Perry's-it's me! Figures, scenery, the whole 9 yards! Full details to follow soon!

Back From France

2010-08-11T22:07:00.002+01:00

Back home, tired, sun burnt knees (!) and back to work on Friday. Yep, the annual break to Parthenay is over.

I hope to pick up my paint brush soon and I should have some interesting news about Salute 2011.

Regimental Fire and Fury

2010-07-27T23:18:00.010+01:00

I am off on holiday next week and will be taking with me the latest addition to my wargames library-Regimental Fire and Fury. The rule system is, in my opinion, the most elegant ever written.

Already after the first skim read I can see the possibilities for Maximillian's Mexico, Italian Unification, 1848 Hungarian Revolution and the First & Second Schleswig Holstein Wars.

I bought mine direct from the US here:

Regimental Fire and Fury

but I should, more easily have gone to Caliver Books for those of us in the UK.

Now where did I put the Factor 30?

A Solution To The Chaos In The Space-Time Continuum?

2010-07-25T16:41:00.004+01:00

No, I have not been watching Star Trek. Yes you are right, I do not normally do 15mm. However there has been a hell of a lot of stuff going on lately at work, none of it good. It leaves me with a major problem. Even less time than before. Guaranteed for the next 4 years. Add to that the increasing demands on storage space as the "littl'uns" get bigger and we have chaos.

These guys were undercoated ages ago and so as an experiment I timed myself. I managed to get them done in a third of the time it takes me to do a 28mm figures and about half the time for a 20mm figure. The base is less than 2 inches in diameter. OK, individually they do not look as impressive but at table's length away they look good. Plus I should get better with practice. This could be the solution. I will decide after my holiday at the beginning of August.

General Robert E Lee

2010-07-23T21:56:00.004+01:00

I give you possibly the best 20mm ACW figures in the world. (The sculpts-not the painting!).

I have been laid up with a bad back and only resumed painting yesterday night. Instead all I could do was sit propped in a chair and either read or watch the "Idiot Box". Fortunately my copy of Regimental Fire and Fury arrived from the States (I did not realise that Caliver books stock it-but I love getting parcels from abroad-especially the US for some reason) AND either by fluke or design there have been a lot of cracking films on the TV. "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", "Vera Cruz", "Shenandoah" plus a few others that really impressed me as a lad. The question of "what-to-paint-next" was certainly answered-my first wargames love-ACW!

Robert E Lee from Art Miniaturen. The mounted officer, bucket, cannon balls and the best ever ACW field piece sculpt courtesy of the muchly-missed Qualiticast (try saying "Qualiticast" without sighing-I can't).

I followed a couple of Don Troiani paintings to get Lee's horse "Traveller" correct.

As for the beast itself:

"Traveller was used by General Robert E. Lee throughout most of the Civil War. The iron gray horse was born in 1857 in Greenbrier County, which is now in West Virginia.He was first called Jeff Davis by Andrew Johnston, who raised him. He was renamed Greenbrier by his next owner, Captain Joseph M. Broun. Lee bought the horse from Capt. Broun for $200 during his late 1861 stay in South Carolina. Lee renamed his new mount Traveller. Traveller, who weighed about eleven hundred pounds and stood nearly sixteen hands high, served his master well. He outlived General Lee, and upon his death he was buried next to the Lee Chapel".

Just Because.....

2010-07-20T21:28:00.003+01:00

...I have not been able to do any painting this week and I like the picture!

Hope to get productive soon.

SH War Danish Artillery

2010-07-15T17:36:00.003+01:00

The first gun and crew are now complete and ready to join the ranks of my Danish army.

Output has been glacial lately which is frustrating. I was supposed to be hosting a game this month but I simply have not had the time to sort anything out. Fortunately Barry offered to host the game instead and so tomorrow I am off to fight a WW2 bash.

Hopefully I will be able to sort out a return game soon. Next up-well I am not really sure what (or when). The kids break up from school end of next week for 6 weeks. Perhaps I could teach them how to paint Dad's toys?

More Spencer Smith FPW Images

2010-07-13T17:30:00.011+01:00

Peter at Spencer Smith has kindly supplied a couple more images of his new FPW range-including the mounted officers.

The figures are sculpted by David Scheinmann-a name I have to admit I have never heard before. Looking at the pictures here and on the SSM website the figures do look very tempting. All the infantry are now available, which now includes French Chasseurs and Bavarians. According to Peter's last email the cavalry and
artillery will be available soon.

For the full available listing follow the link here.

Schleswig Holstein Artillery

2010-07-08T15:17:00.003+01:00

Finally painted up my first SH gun crew. The M1834 system field gun was used by both sides (in the opening weeks of the war the Schleswig Holsteinerstook over the armoury at Rendsburg capturing enough artillery to see them through the war).

They were smoothbore piece and the same carriage carried the 6pdr and 12pdr barrels.

I will finish up the Danish crew and post the results soon.

Medical Transports

2010-06-27T14:47:00.003+01:00

Although the Danish Army bought there own special ambulance carriages the majority of wounded were transported to the field hospitals in requisitioned from the locals.

This particular carriage is from Essex Miniatures-the figures are of course my own!

The artillery have been cast and so I will be painting up a few next, followed by some more Helion Austrians. Helion have been busy with their website and added a load more product shots-the "Colour Party Advancing Under Fire" look particularly appealing!

A Brand New Franco Prussian War Range

2010-06-15T22:00:00.009+01:00

Peter Johnstone at Spencer Smith Miniatures is releasing a brand new range of 30mm Franco Prussian War figures and has kindly supplied this image and a list of the first phase releases.

Spencer Smith supply the 30mm Willie* range (among others) which includes some lovely Franco Prussian War figures. This new range compliments them perfectly (the firing French infantryman is a Willie figure). Foot figures and mounted figures are 95 pence and £1.95 respectively.

The first infantry releases are as follows:

French

Mounted Officer
Officer shouldered sword
Officer advancing with sword
Officer advancing with pistol
Officer with standard
Drummer
Private shouldered rifle
Private rifle at the trail
Private advancing at the ready
Private advancing high porte

Prussian

Mounted officer
Officer shouldered sword
Officer advancing with sword
Officer advancing with pistol
Officer with standard
Drummer
Trumpeter
Private shouldered rifle
Private advancing at the ready
Private advancing at the high porte

*Old 30mm is more akin to modern 28mm!

The figures are available to order now-just contact Peter!

More Scruby FPW French Infantry

2010-06-09T20:21:00.002+01:00

Here are the twelve Scruby French infantry I mentioned last week (catalogue number 9503 Line Infantry Advancing). They are in the classic running rifle across chest pose and at first sight I did not think I could tweak the pose at all. As you can see however I managed some head and leg bends and am rather keen on this pose now.

My latest order from Historifigs arrived on Tuesday, FPW French Zouaves and Bavarian infantry-excellent figures again. In my next order I will order enough to bring the first two French units up to their full 30 figure strength.

The Scruby figures drew a lot of interest at Salute this year. Absolute gems and I am glad I rediscovered them!

Next in the painting queue is a small Schleswig War vignette and then I am going back to the Helion 1866 range. I ordered the missing figures for my next Austrian infantry regiment last night and found out that postage is now free...worldwide! Can't argue with that!

ACW Stuff

2010-06-04T20:31:00.007+01:00

A bit of an allsorts post today. The first three images are size comparison shots of Jacklex figures. The main photograph are Jacklex JA/1 Union Infantry Advancing compared to Kennington Miniatures Iron Brigade. As you can see, height wise there is nothing in it-the Jacklex figures are more proportionate when it comes to heads and hands. Proper Old School figures really.

The next two, cavalry vs Qualiticast (left) and Kennington (right) are actually more marked in their size difference I think. The Jacklex are on a much thicker base but still look shorter.

However-on the actual games table the differences are not so noticeable and anyway, the Jacklex figures are so charming-who cares?

Finally I have re based the Louisiana Tigers and have an old vs new (left vs right) couple of shots. I was sorely tempted to repaint them, telling myself that I would only need to do them as they are a "one off unit". Fortunately I refrained and have probably saved myself repainting the other 500 or so figures!

Next in the painting pile are 12 more Scruby French FPW infantry. No officers and not enough for a complete unit (and my next order which was posted out Tuesday does not have the necessary figures to complete it), but what the hey!

O, To Be In England

2010-06-03T15:02:00.013+01:00

Today certainly feels like summer and to celebrate, in the best traditions of "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" everywhere I went for a long bicycle ride in the midday-ish sun!

Let me explain. Regular visitors may remember that in November last year I caught Swine Flu. The only good thing to come out of that was I quit smoking. I was already well and truly overweight, but after quitting my weight went up and up and up.

By the end of April I had reached an incredible weight which has left me needing to lose a minimum of 4 stone!

I improved my diet immediately and decided that I really needed to alter my sedentary lifestyle. I took out my old bike cleaned it, oiled it and generally tightened up a few bits. After 1 mile of peddling I changed to the highest gear-the chain came off and jammed behind the gear cogs breaking off spokes, buckling the wheel and seizing up in a skid!

Undeterred I eyed Mrs Golding's mountain bike and used that-even if it was too small! After a couple of days of peddling in the rain I decided it would be worth investing a few quid in my own bike and bought a comparatively cheap and cheerful Ammaco Mountaineer mountain bike (bottom left). That was two weeks ago. My initial circuit was 2.75 miles but I have managed to ride all the way to Hadleigh Castle (top) and back, mainly off road-a rather satisfying 8.2 miles.

Since 30th April sensible eating and now Operation Velocipede has seen me shed 10 lbs. Here's to the next ten!

Normal postings will follow with a re-based Louisiana Tigers Regiment and comparison shots of those Jacklex figures I posted last week.

To Find Out What This Is All About......

2010-05-29T22:29:00.005+01:00

......I have posted it over here.

More Boys in Blue

2010-05-27T11:34:00.006+01:00

These guys were actually finished very quickly after my last post-but this is the first chance I have had to post them. I went a little overboard with the flowers (which are barely visible in some of the shots) and am looking at other ways to liven up my base work. However, all in all I think this is a tidy little unit.

I have some older Rebs sitting in a bowl of water so I can rebase them next, plus I have undercoated some Scruby Franco Prussian War French and some more Helion 1866 Prussian cavalry.

Figures are, of course, Kennington 20mm.

Union Infantry WIP

2010-05-24T21:49:00.003+01:00

Well life got a little bit busy for a while there and next week is half term so I thought I would post my rather feeble output before people thought I had passed onto a better place!

Kennington Miniatures with flags from Warflag.com. The bright green bases are from Essex Miniatures. I hope to have the next 3 bases completed by the weekend and then want to rebase and generally tidy up some of the older figures.

What Is He Doing Now?

2010-05-13T16:51:00.003+01:00

You are right-those are not Schleswig War figures! So what is going on? I should have been off from Tuesday, but had to work. I have a game booked for June or July and just cannot paint up enough figures to do a SH War game.

I had a number of alternatives but have settled for an ACW bash for a number of reasons. I have not used my ACW collection for years, Steve-the-Wargamer has been doing some excellent ACW stuff on his blog and "Fire & Fury Regimental" should be available to buy in the next few weeks. Even if I do not get the new rules in time, the basing system is the same as "Reg'lar Fire & Fury".

So, I have ditched my initial plans to use "Guns at Gettysburg" for regimental ACW games, will continue tidying/rebasing my existing 20mm ACW figures and have managed to add my first new Union gun and crew for a long, long time. After tea tonight I may even start a battalion of infantry I undercoated in about 2007!

I will be updating the Waterloo to Mons site with my latest SH War work-plus I should have timings for the artillery release date next week.

Finally Unpacked!

2010-05-09T21:38:00.004+01:00

This was the last unit I needed to finish for my Salute display, a full 5 base unit of Danish Line Infantry.

I have finally been able to unpack everything (no breakages) and am now looking ahead to my first game of the year! I need to add to the Schleswig ranks first and want to add to the building collection. Painting starts Tuesday!

Finally, in a shameless commercial plug, all the painted Foundry FPW figures are now up on ebay for those interested, just follow the ebay link on the left. All proceeds going to my Scruby FPW collection!

In The Next Few Months We Are Mainly.....

2010-04-27T22:29:00.023+01:00

Salute is over and now I am looking at my next big project-finally getting in a game using the models I started having made in late 2008!

I have "booked" Barry for some time in June or July for a First Schleswig Holstein War battle
using the Rank and File rules, so now I have to get a serious number of figures and buildings and terrain on the table (when I started 19th Century wargaming I could find a war, convert a ton of Airfix soldiers, write the rules and have a game in a week...and have enough time for my homework and paper round!).

I want a minimum of 6 battalions a side, knicks, buildings etc. and artillery. As you can see I now have some finished artillery-I should have the masters from Andrew in a week and then I just need to get them cast. Simples! *

* The phrase "Simples!"-I do not think I can explain this to anyone outside the UK-it involves a TV advert for car insurance, a meerkat with a Russian accent called Count Orlof.....actually I will give up at this point!

The Day After Salute

2010-04-25T12:58:00.012+01:00

Salute 2010 has now come and gone and from my perspective I have the following observations:

There are a lot of people out there who are not willing to stop me talking!

We managed to drum up a fair number of new members for the Continental Wars Society between us all.

Jack Scruby figures are far more appealing in the flesh than people gave them credit for (if they had heard of them at all!).

That a lot of people believe the Helion Austrian hussars in particular are fantastic looking figures!

It was a lot of fun, it was great to see those people who simply popped over to say hello. I only had time for a quick tour of the other attractions and the only pictures I took were from our stand-but I am sure there will be plenty of others who can post better ones than me.

So above is my contribution to the display, Franco Prussian War, Austro Prussian War and Schleswig War figures.

Below, four shots of the Battle of Miloslaw 1848 (Polish rebels being soundly quashed by the might of Prussia). Nice and shiny figures!

I will be posting again next week with an update on my plans for the rest of 2010.

Salute 2010

2010-04-21T22:15:00.005+01:00

I apologise for the complete lack of posts-the last week has not been good. Today Harvey, our oldest Border Collie, died after an all-too-short-life following a very unexpected illness. He was a fantastic dog and will be missed by us all. I suppose that is the price we have to pay for the company a pet brings.

I will start posting again after Salute 2010 this Saturday-if you are attending and do get the time I am still going and will be on the Continental Wars Society stand-please feel free to pop over and say hello.

Guns!

2010-04-09T21:47:00.004+01:00

The top picture is a detail from the painting of the Battle of Mysunde. The bottom picture is a detail from Andrew's latest sculpts that I received tonight. I will upload all the images, including the guns this weekend on the main site.

The first three Danish gunners and the first Schleswig Holstein gunner carrying ball.

Danish Light Infantry

2010-04-06T20:57:00.005+01:00

I am continuing to finish off some more of my figures for the proposed June/July game, so I have added another couple of bases to my Danish Light Infantry, based as skirmishers for Rank & File rules.

The Danish had developed a strong light infantry ethos following the Napoleonic Wars. When not under Prussian command, naturally enough, the Schleswig Holsteiners also made extensive use of light infantry screens. These tactics were seen much later in the Franco Prussian War for example, a strong reserve constantly feeding the skirmish screen. Question is-how to recreate this without being too dogmatic in a set of rules. I will play a few games first and then when I have the feel of Rank & File will make adjustments from there.

My next unit to complete is the first battalion of Danes in the 1848 pattern uniform, started but never finished in November last year.

Andrew has completed the artillery piece and the two barrels and is busy working on the two firing gun crews-I will add pictures to the Waterloo to Mons Miniatures "Workbench" section as soon as I have images available. I really want to get some pre-production models for Salute but I think it will be too tight a deadline.

Nostalgia On A Stick

2010-04-03T23:57:00.007+01:00

I have recently been chatting a lot with my wargaming chums about the things that got us into wargaming.

I would list them as follows:

Waterloo to Mons-by Michael Glover...cracking book. Obviously!
Airfix Soldiers-the best battles ever fought on a carpet!
Films- Waterloo, The Longest Day, The Charge of the Light Brigade, How the West Was Won, Young Winston, Callan: The Movie (did not see the series until much older), Breaker Morant, Zulu, Ben Hur, The Good The Bad And The Ugly and A Bridge Too Far.
Other Books-All those Wargames books I had on semi-permanent loan from Southend on Sea Library, Sven Hassell books, Blandfords Uniforms of the Battle of Waterloo and War Picture Library!

Great days-Great box art!

Forward Into Battle!

2010-03-29T21:28:00.006+01:00

I have finally managed to finish the last base of my third Danish Battalion-something that has taken nearly a year to do!

As I mentioned in earlier posts, having spent a lot of time and effort to produce figures that I wanted and yet I have still to play a game with them. So, I have booked one of my wargaming opponents, Barry, for a game in either June/July (yes, we both have kids, do shifts and our spouses work too-so our arrangements have to be flexible!).

All I need do now is add 4 more figures to the Danish Light infantry and 12 more figures to the 1848 uniform Line Infantry battalion, at least 5 more Schleswig/German battalions, then add the artillery, buildings.......

It's going to be a "Near Run Thing". Wish me luck.

Finally-Comment Moderation: unfortunately both my blogs are getting "spammed" and so I am afraid I have had to add comment moderation. Sorry about that.

Scruby Franco-Prussian War French Infantry

2010-03-21T15:09:00.003Z

Because of "stuff" getting in the way, by Friday night I still had 18 figures sitting in their undercoat. However one of the advantages of Scruby figures is the ease at which they can be painted-the Franco Prussian War needs big armies I think and so these guys are for me the ideal choice when it comes to detail and painting time.

They also look like "real" little men in the flesh which I find really appealing. Suffice to say that the Foundry figures will be leaving my collection after Salute.

I will make up the missing figures to bring them up to 30 strong unit when I next place an order.

FPW French Infantry...First Base Completed

2010-03-09T21:00:00.004Z

Here is the first completed base of French infantry for the Salute display. It was intended to be a 30 figures unit, but because I obviously forgot how to add up when ordering, it will be a 24 figure unit for a while. I should have the whole unit painted up and posted by the weekend.

You may have noticed these figures are not from Foundry! Those that do not follow my "In the Grand Manner" blog will not know that I have recently rediscovered the very old line of figures made in the US by the late Jack Scruby and now sold by Historigs. These figures are described as 25mm, but as you can see they are much smaller than the modern 25/28mm we know in the UK. They are true 25s, 1/72nd scale and in the UK at least considered to be 20mm.

I will be having a lot more to say about these figures once I finish the unit, but for the moment I hope you enjoy a blast from the (wargaming) past.

Bavarian Artillery c.1870

2010-03-01T19:20:00.003Z

Bavarian artillery can only mean one thing...yes I have now finished painting up all the Salute game figures and am on the "home run" for the display!

I now have roughly a month and a half to get together a respectable display-no pressure then! I had hoped to have a whole load more done by now so it really does mean pulling out the proverbial appendage.

Again, these figures are Foundry and are some of the nicest in the range. That could just be that the Bavarian uniforms were very smart, but they are definitely up there on my list of favourites in the Foundry Franco-Prussian's.

While on the subject of artillery, Andrew started mine today, pictures up as soon as I can.

Happy Birthday To These Guys!

2010-02-24T22:36:00.002Z

Incredibly it has now been 12 months since I launched Waterloo to Mons Miniatures. I still believe that the First Schleswig Holstein War is ideal for table top wargaming and as such you will be seeing a lot more of my "pet-collection" in 2010!

Andrew Stadden is now working on the Danish (1848 pattern uniform) and Schleswig Holstein artillery and crews which moves my little dream up a peg or two...I should have images to show in the next fortnight.

To mark my first 12 months I have decided to have a sale, all figure packs are reduced to £2.80 until 14th March 2010.

In other news I am 20 figures away from completing my contribution to the Continental Wars Society Salute 2010 display game and will be returning to the Franco Prussian War display figures for the same show as soon as possible.

Going Regi-Mental

2010-02-21T21:29:00.013Z

First of all apologies for the lack of updates. I have been painting feverishly away, but they are figures for the Continental Wars Society "Salute 2010" display game and I will not show them until after the event.

I eventually went up into my loft (attic) where my figures are stored in order to tidy up and examined my old faithful 20mm ACW figures. They need re-basing. They need re-touching. They need finishing!

My copy of "Fire and Fury" literally fell apart when I checked it too, as the glue on the spine finally gave way after a decade of use.

After a good time pondering I decided that I would go not just Mental-but full on Regimental! "Guns at Gettysburg" appears best to serve my needs, as part of the General de Brigade family I am familiar with the mechanisms, I have heard good things and if I miss my "Fire & Fury" comfort blanket the basing will not be too different to start with (4 figure bases will do for the first scenarios I am looking at).

I also came to the conclusion I have far too many unpainted projects. I mean I have at least one war sitting around to be started in 10, 15, 20 & 25mm! I have commissioned my own figures and not had a game with them yet! I need a major re-think on the Oooh Shiny syndrome!

Finally, I got my hands on Callan: The Movie on DVD and watched it on Tuesday...on the closing credits, models were "supplied by Hinchcliffe Models". I am really that retentive to be the first to notice that mistake?

French Artillery c.1870

2010-02-12T20:16:00.004Z

The Salute display continues at a glacial pace with the addition of this Foundry French gun and crew. The French artillery has been much criticised in this war, but in reality their guns were the ultimate in brass muzzle loading technology. Unfortunately for the French this type of artillery was obsolete and the Franco Prussian War proved this to the world!

I have more figures lying in boxes but in answer to some questions, I am not following any particular OOB, I am just painting what I have purely for the sake of the Salute display. In fact, I am not sure what I will do with them after Salute, but more on that in later posts. Next up is the Bavarian gun and crew.

Bavarian Cuirassiers #3

2010-02-04T16:11:00.003Z

The officer is finished at last! I hope that the worst of the real life delays are behind me now and that I am able to pick up the pace again.

The officer is simply a trooper figure with a re-modelled saddle. Described as "black lambs wool with light blue edging" I could not find any images of this item. I settled for a Knotel plate of Bavarian Dragoons c.1880, which showed the troopers still with their Franco Prussian war style saddle cloth and the officer's with this dogs-tooth pattern.

Next up is French and Bavarian artillery.

Bavarian Work In Progress #2

2010-01-20T22:12:00.002Z

I finished the bugler and standard bearer a few days ago but the officer figure is yet to be started. He is not a major conversion, in fact all I need to do is make a saddle cloth look like black lambswool and use a standard trooper model.

I ended up using the Perry plastic ACW cavalry arms for both the bugler and standard bearer-which worked well I think. The flag itself is from the "Flags For The Lads" range which were originally produced for the B&B 20mm FPW range-they are oversize and fit even Foundry figures perfectly.

I see from the Helion site that the next 1866 figures are in stock...but they do not appear in the "Click to Buy" section...no doubt that will change in the next few days and I will have to explain away another small parcel!

Bavarian Cuirassiers-Work In Progress

2010-01-12T22:13:00.009Z

The first base of Wargames Foundry 28mm Bavarian Cuirassiers is now complete. Again I am aiming initially for a 6 figure unit for the Salute display. For wargames purposes the "full" Regiment (in this case the 1st Cuirassier, Prinz Karl von Bayern, Regiment) at 1:40 would be represented by 12-14 figures. If I get time before April to go back and finish the full unit I will.

So far so good. The basic trooper is made up of a single casting and a choice of two arms (below left). A little bending can produce some head variation and the sword angles can be varied as well. So what about the command figures? Disappointingly there are none. This is not a rant against Foundry but potential buyers should be aware that even though the range is extensive (and expensive!) there are some big, annoying gaps that have never been filled over the intervening years. This is NOT the Helion range.

My solution is to find a donor figure (the squeamish among you should stop reading now) and some major sawing. I am going to use the ACW trooper (below right) for the bugler and standard bearer. The buglers did not wear the cuirass just the single breasted tunic, which makes the torso on this figure ideal. They are roughly the same size and so should be compatible-a Perry buglers arm from their plastic ACW range should finish the figure. The right arm will be used on the standard bearer. The sleeves are a lot fuller on the ACW figure so I will have to shave off a few millimetres of folds. Well, that's the plan anyway!

French Cuirassiers #2

2010-01-08T21:30:00.014Z

Well 2010 has got off to a reasonably good painting start. One of the things about the end of 2009 was that a lot of promises started to catch up on me, which seriously detracted from "me time".

The family have now been paid in full (it is amazing that being over 6 foot tall means I am very useful around other peoples houses!) and all of my "off blog" painting has been started at the very least. This includes painting some figures for the son of a good friend and figures for the Salute display game.

These figures are for my seperate Salute FPW display (a representative regiment at a 1:40 ratio would be 12-14 figures or so, but as a display I think 6 figures looks about right).

The figures are, clearly, from the Wargames Foundry range. For the French cavalry, at least, command figures are available. The only anomaly being the bugler (also intended to serve in the Dragoons) whose horsehair mane does not suit a charging figure (below left). Easily fixed with greenstuff (below right).

I like these figures, possibly because they remind me of one of my all time favourite units, Mr Gilders Hinchliffe Napoleonics which I painted and stupidly sold off last year (bottom right).

My next unit does not have the advantage of any command figures (why did Foundry never complete this range?). So next up, Bavarian Cuirassiers!

I Have Eaten Far Too Much!

2010-01-04T14:38:00.002Z

Well that is Christmas over with for another 12 months, which should give me just enough time to shed those few extra ounces before we start all over again!

Hope everyone had an enjoyable time and my best wishes for the New Year.

Here is a quick shot of one of the few figure bases I have managed to complete recently (does he remind anyone else of the old Airfix 54mm British Lifeguard model?).

French Cuirassiers- Work In Progress

2009-12-13T19:35:00.002Z

The first completed Cuirassier base. Not much to show I know for over a week but Christmas is coming and takes time to enjoy properly!

Again, Foundry figures intended for my Salute 2010 display. I hope to complete and post the whole lot before Christmas.

"Yes Sir, I Definitely See Movement"

2009-12-01T18:49:00.003Z

Putting November well behind me (can anyone else remember how we got to December so quickly?), it is time to get cracking with the Salute 2010 display figures. As mentioned last time I am trying to put together a larger display this year with a firm emphasis on the Franco Prussian War.

Here is my first offering, a Prussian Command base using Wargames Foundry figures. The two officers on foot are "new" (i.e. never before painted) but the mounted officer was an eBay purchase of a poorly painted figure (gloss enamel washes without a primer!). Its nice to give it a new lease on life.

Next up-French cavalry.

Back In The Land of the Living (And Painting).

2009-11-19T14:33:00.002Z

After what seemed like an eternity of wallowing in self pity I am pleased to announce I am on the mend! I have, incredibly, lost 10 pounds in weight and been nicotine free for two weeks...so perhaps this latest cloud has a silver lining! All I have to do is keep it up now!

As you can see I have just finished painting up one of each of the new Danes for my "shop" and I am now in the preparation stage for Salute 2010.

Yes, once again I have ingratiated myself onto the Continental Wars Society stand and have promised my "normal" figure cabinet plus a separate display for the Franco-Prussian War. This would have been a simple matter of digging out my old 20mm B&B Miniatures had I not "lost" the entire collection while moving house two years ago. I have however been "collecting" Foundry figures over the last twelve months (mainly from ebay) and now I have the impetus I need to strip them back to the bare metal and get painting. First results will be up next week.

Still Alive - I Think!

2009-11-12T20:54:00.003Z

I do not know if "Swine Flu" is the universal term for the H1N1 pandemic flu-but anyway I have it and frankly have never felt so bloody awful in my life.

I hope to get back on my feet soon but I will not put a timeline on this as it has been eight days already and I just do not seem to be getting better.

Danish Infantry 1848 Pattern Uniform

2009-11-06T14:55:00.003Z

I have just had time to finish off a few more Danish infantry, despite the fact that all the kids have got flu and are off school and that the boiler broke this morning leaving us with a big bill and no heating or hot water until tomorrow lunchtime. Welcome back home Dad!

Off Travelling

2009-10-23T22:01:00.002+01:00

Just a quick note to say that work commitments have meant that I will be working away from home until the very end of October.

I had hoped to post some more images of my new Danes and some more Austrians, however if everything works out to plan by the middle of November my stupidly busy workload will have been worth it and I can slow down a little and get painting again.

My next new post should be in a couple of weeks, until then I leave you with a rather lovely Detaille painting of a French bugler circa 1886.

Rob Mantle

2009-10-22T22:39:00.002+01:00

It was with great sadness that I read today in The Foreign Correspondent of the untimely death of Rob Mantle. I first met Rob at the Continental Wars Society stand at Salute many years ago. This year I helped out on the display and spent a fantastic day, mainly with Rob on the "books and figures" part of the display. I am now very glad that this picture was taken of us. Rob's trade marks were his bow ties and waistcoats, an incredible knowledge of the various 19th Century campaigns and a very generous nature. After discussing my interest in the Schleswig Wars Rob promptly sent a whole bundle of information and images. A real Gentleman.

5th Hussars At Last!

2009-10-13T22:41:00.006+01:00

The first squadron is finally finished! I have thoroughly enjoyed painting these figures even though I took a lot longer than I planned. I chose to mount them on lighter chestnuts and bays than I used for the Prussians and am happy with the overall effect. They look great on the table-the yellow flag (Helion-of course) really makes them stand out!

Rather than gabble on about them I will let the photographs do the talking!

Next post will be a Schleswig Holstein update of the latest figures before I return to the Austrian theme of the last few weeks.

Austrian 5th Hussars...First "Real" Base

2009-09-30T20:00:00.004+01:00

According to The Plan, I should have finished all 6 Hussars by now. So much for The Plan then!

Painting output has been glacial this week, which is a shame because I am really enjoying painting these figures. I am particularly struck by how much equipment they are carrying.

Another thing that struck me as I painted away is how gloriously "retro" the uniform looked, even though it had been introduced in 1850. I imagine they will soon be serving in one of the 18th Century ImagiNations armies out there. "Von Pluckenberg Guard Hussars" anyone?

Lance Armed Troops = +1 In (First Round Of) Melee!

2009-09-23T20:26:00.007+01:00

Yes, sometimes a man just needs a pointed stick to make that difference! In my case that pointed stick was a paintbrush with a kid free day!

Here is the first of the Helion Hussars. He represents a doomed trooper from the 5th (Radzetzky) Hussars. I chose this regiment as it is one of the "dark blue" uniformed hussar regiments and I really wanted to see if the Foundry Shade 66 (Napoleonic Prussian) was up to the job. I must say I think it looks very convincing comparing it with the colour plates I have.

I have a 6 figure squadron undercoated and ready to go. I hope to get cracking with these ones tomorrow night.

19th Century Austrian Figure Comparisons

2009-09-19T19:57:00.014+01:00

The remainder of September and October will be mainly focussing on the Austrian army of the 19th Century. I thought it would be helpful to those thinking of starting out in this period with a few comparison shots of various manufacturers figures in my collection.

Starting from the left we have Helion 1866 Hungarians, middle we have the Baker Company (ex-Helion) 1866 figures and finally the Battle Honors 1859 Austrians (available from Old Glory 15s in the US) are on the right.

Unfortunately I do not have any Eureka or Mirliton Austrians to hand.

The Foundry Prussian officer is added simply because I think this figure is from the range people are most likely to have seen. For what it is worth I would say that Helion can just mix with Baker Company (but not in the same unit), but not with Battle Honors or Foundry. The rest fit together quite well-but have a look and decide for yourself !

Next up-Helion 1866 Hussars.

New York's Bravest

2009-09-15T23:50:00.002+01:00

I have added a link to Don Troiani's ACW Gallery - and opposite is my all time favourite battle painting.

The more observant may notice that the poses in the picture strike a remarkable resemblance to a certain range of Schleswig Holstein War figures currently on the market!

Please follow the link and look at (possibly) the best military painter of all time!

"Rank And File" From Crusader

2009-09-13T20:00:00.004+01:00

Over the years I have bought many 19th Century rulesets and thought it might help those who want to get into the period to know what to expect before parting with their hard earned cash.

I start with Rank and File from Crusader Miniatures. You get 68 colour pages, 48 of which consist of the core rules the remainder with period specific rules, a playsheet for photocopying, a sample game used to explain the mechanics and examples of ACW organisations in the various figure scales.

The core rules are used to cover the entire period, 1740-1900. It is later broken down for the purposes of period specific rules, The Age of Reason 1740-1792, Horse and Musket 1792-1848 and The Industrial Age 1848-1900 (which is obviously the period I am mainly interested).

Units are composed of bases-with four figures recommended to each base. Each base represents from 50 to 250 men in real life, depending on the level of game you wish to play. Units consist of a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 10 bases. Half stands can be made up with two figures a base or else the base can be seperated a base width from its neighbour to represent units in skirmish order. So your units can be battalions, regiments or brigades and still use the same rules.

These are the rules I intend to use for my Schleswig Holstein games. These are quick play rules, suitable for those gamers who want a fun game. They are what I call "Gentleman's Rules". If you love long charts, stated cases for every conceivable situation that will arise and a bibliography to back up every rule in the book, well, they are not for you. Recommended.

Danish Light Infantry

2009-09-12T22:45:00.004+01:00

I have been able to pick up on my painting and complete the first four figures for my Danish light infantry. As you can see they follow on from the Schleswig Holstein infantry and Jaeger poses. They are dressed in the 1848 pattern uniform and represent the light infantry as they appeared at the outbreak of the war wearing the soon to be replaced cap (early war Schleswig Holstein light infantry wore exactly the same uniform). I also have the kepi wearing figures in the painting queue. Again, like the SH Jaegers, I have based these figures on "skirmish bases" for my chosen rules-"Rank and File". I will be discussing these rules (and others) in a later post.

I have also been able to continue with my "knick" production and prepare the first of the Helion Austrian Hussars for painting-it's amazing what you can get done when the kids go back to school!

A Few Minor Adjustments

2009-09-10T23:33:00.003+01:00

You may already have noticed that I am carrying out some minor changes to the blog! In my attempts to get people wargaming this period I thought I would make it easier to navigate around the resources available such as manufacturers, discussion groups, uniform sites and the like. It has interrupted the flow of some older posts which I will correct over time but I hope you like the new layout. Matt.

By Request Of The Grand Duchy Of Stollen

2009-09-07T22:49:00.006+01:00

A few quick shots of the Helion Hussars, packs HWA103 and HWA104 as requested by none other than the Court of the Duchy of Stollen (I will pander to Royalty!). The kids have gone back to school which means I can get back to painting! My first weekday off is Friday, when I hope to start on my Danish skirmishers that Andrew suppiled me with nearly 3 weeks ago and the first of the Helion Hussars-I hope at least some of the detail shows through in these shots.

I will just have to find my 1866 Hussar painting references which have mysteriously disappeared during one of the many "tidy ups" we have carried out in the last 6 weeks. Looking forward to posting my results already!

Helion Hussars Have Arrived.

2009-08-31T13:48:00.003+01:00

Having received absolutely no mail for over a week I was more than pleased Saturday lunchtime when the postman turned up! Top of my "open first" pile was the Helion package. I will simply say I am once again bowled over by this range.

I chose charging Hussars ('cos that's what Hussars do) with matching command and the casualty pack-where this chap comes from.

The painting drought is nearing an end with the school summer holidays over next week and so all of my half-baked future plans of the last six weeks can start taking form.

Work In Progress Danes

2009-08-25T14:32:00.005+01:00

Continuing with my theme of finishing off figures that I started and then left alone are these work in progress Danish infantry. Actually there are two units, the nearly completed one will wear the shako throughout, the other unit will all be wearing caps and kepis. I started finishing these off before I went on holiday, but today the two smallest are out swimming and between last night and this morning I have added 12 more figures. I will finish the ground work later but I reckon I might be able to squeeze in another four figures before the end of the day.

My order for the Helion Austrian Hussars went in on Sunday night (and are now confirmed in the post) and I have undercoated my pre-production Danish light infantry figures so there is a fair bit in the pipeline. I am also hankering to get started on that windmill I posted before the holidays started. So many projects-so little time!

Back From France

2009-08-20T14:05:00.002+01:00

We returned home in the wee hours of this morning having had an absolutely brilliant holiday in Parthenay, France. As you can see the weather was fantastic and believe me the food was even better!

The next batch of master figures arrived from Andrew this morning-this time Danish skirmishers in the 1848 pattern uniform and they will be posted off to the moulder tomorrow.

But for now I need to do the unpacking and all the other chores associated with a return to reality.

Foundry Union Artillery

2009-08-07T12:53:00.007+01:00

My next offering from the started-but-never-finished pile is this Wargames Foundry Union Parrott gun and crew. They qualified because I had painted the trousers on one figure! I decided to actually paint in the eyes on this crew, normally I leave them as black. The gunner in close up turned out OK-two of his mates however look a little wierd! Verdict-I will stick to black!

This will be the last post for a couple of weeks-I am off for a short break in the sun! Frustratingly the day I leave is the same day that the Helion Austrian Hussars AND my next batch of figures from Andrew are ready! I will just have to be patient a short while longer is all!