ALY MORRISON'S "BUTTERFLY" ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD OF WARGAMES AND TOY SOLDIERS

Thursday 12 October 2017

Little Britons... Photo shoot.

As I mentioned in my last 'A Gentleman's War' game, I have taken some photo's of all my units.


Here they are in no particular order with some comments and thoughts...







Tirailleurs Algeriens...a lovely colourful unit I chose the white summer trousers to make them even brighter.
At some point I will add another four men to bring this up to a full strength 'A Gentleman's War' unit.











This is French infantry wearing the 1911 Reseda uniform...
This experimental uniform was not very popular with politicians and the public and was eventually rejected for not being French enough...the trousers were originally the same colour as the tunics, I read somewhere that some troops wearing this uniform were mistaken for 'Prussians' and 'abused' by the public...






















I rather like this uniform... these guys also need another four men to bring then up to strength.







French Republican Foot Guards... another lovely colourful unit... again they could do with some reinforcements.







The French 1906 trial uniform... made from beige-blue cloth with a Spanish style kepi.
Again sadly rejected for various political reasons... another unit I need to build up.
















I especially like the Wolseley style helmet...






French line infantry... another six will give me two units...




French Chasseurs a pied... quite a sombre uniform to paint until you add the yellow piping and green epaulettes then they turn into another of my favourite units.




French Hussars... what's not to like?
In 'A Gentleman's War' you only need six men for a cavalry unit, so again a little upgrade will give me two units...




My only Russian Infantry...so far... a six figure skirmish unit.
I will definitely need to do more... the white summer uniform is so attractive.




The Russian Artillery... all of the guns are 4.7" Howitzers regardless of who is manning them.




French Artillery... these chaps are wearing the 1902 Trial Artillery Helmet.








 This proved to be quite successful and was still in use by some units in 1915.




The Royal Scots Greys... one of my favourite cavalry units.
 Of course two more figures would let me do a not very accurate second six man unit...




The Shropshire Rifle Volunteers... a very small unit that needs built up a bit.
Grey uniforms were quite popular with volunteers in the late 19th century so these could be used for a number of different units.




French infantry wearing the 1912 Edouard Detaille uniform.
Interesting details here are the khaki drill canvas equipment and the almost renaissance style helmet.












Sadly the helmet was not popular with the men and the uniform didn't really cut it with the politicians.




Bavarian 6th Chevauleger... green tunics pink facings and white plumes... no other reasons needed.




British Life Guards... So British...So William Britain's... and now So Little Britons...
Would it hurt to add a couple more... probably not.




French Cuirassiers wearing the Reseda uniform....it gives a modern look to an old classic.
Again a couple more men wouldn't go amiss...




The Royal Irish Lancers...a beautiful and classic uniform...and of course in need of one more man.




A small skirmish unit painted up as Black Watch...these could also represent any of a number of volunteer units that chose the highland uniform...and like everything else they could do with one more man...




A small unit of Rifles... once more they represent one of the many volunteer units who chose the 'Rifles' look...
Gosh! I have painted a few little units... mostly this was done to use up castings although again one more would help.




French Artillery... I chose to go for the Reseda uniform with the 1902 Artillery Helmet... A pleasing modern combination I think.




Cossacks!.... I definitely wont more of these...




British Fusiliers... another classic British uniform that is to good to miss...




British Naval Artillery,,, again a bit of a classic...




British Grenadier Guards...probably one of  the most iconic and recognisable uniforms and 'Toy Soldiers' of all time... In my humble opinion.




The Black Watch... another cracking unit...I am not sure why I chose this unit as a lot of my family served in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders... Ah! well I suppose I will have to paint another unit.




The Manchester Regiment...I like the nice clean contrast you get with white facings.




The 2nd Bombay Native Infantry... this is based on the William Britain's Figures, and shows an unusual error in that companies research... The correct uniform should be a Red Tunic with White facings and Dark Blue trousers... I decided to go the Britain's route because I like the look of it.




The Rifle Regiment... I cant remember what colour I used for the uniforms... but fortunately with twelve men I have more than enough...




Royal Field Artillery...  I like the workman like look of this uniform...




Royal Horse Artillery... well it would be rude not to...




General Rust... named after one of my daughters favourite Discworld characters.




General Malchanceux... his name is inspired by my dice rolling abilities.




The 15th Ukrainian Hussar Regiment of Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna.
Pretty in Pink...
I read somewhere that the Grand Duchess was encouraged to wear a Blue Pelisse when reviewing the regiment in case the Pink was mistaken for bare flesh....
I will be finishing this unit...


Well that's them all...
It has been interesting for me to look at each unit in turn, most of them need a few more figures to bring them up to 'A Gentleman's War' strengths but there is no rush, I have been having great games with them as they are.
Its a perfect butterfly collection, the list of new units I want is endless...


Little Britons are all my own work and are available from ...
http://www.spencersmithminiatures.co.uk/html/little_britons.html


The bases are from Warbases...
https://warbases.co.uk/


I hope you have enjoyed this look at one of my favourite collections.


All the best  Aly



































































































































26 comments:

  1. Each unit was my favorite...until I scrolled to the next one! A truley enviable collection.
    And this is but a part of a greater whole? Looking forward to seeing them on parade and in future game reports.

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  2. Fantastic work. I love these figures and your brush work is outstanding. This is toy soldiers at their best.

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  3. Your presentation is very professional. Great work!

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  4. While not my take on our hobby I have to say they look fine and the background information is interesting, not something I ever thought about in toy soldier collections.

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    1. David...
      I think my wargames butterfly is just bigger than yours....
      For me the research into the history of subject be it Shiny Toy Soldiers or a re-creation of a particular period is half the fun...some times more.

      All the best Aly

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  5. Superb. I love the idea that French military dress was more about style than service.

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  6. Hi Aly
    Your images have really got be fired up as this is a concept that I have liked for 40 years. I posted some comments on the AMG forum but really tempted to try a few units. Is there any good forums or other blogs covering the range?

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    Replies
    1. To be quite honest Graham, I think I am the only one really covering 'the range' at the moment...Honestly only I could be that niche...no flash cars in this business model.
      I would recommend the A Gentleman's War Yahoo Group...

      https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/groupurlGentlemansWar/info

      They are jolly fine fellows and Howards rules capture the spirit of toy soldier gaming perfectly...
      Its a private group so you need to send a request to join...they let me in so you should have no problems...

      A good blog to follow is Battle Game of the Month...

      http://gameofmonth.blogspot.co.uk/

      As I find more like minded people I will add their blogs to my blog list...

      All the best Aly

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    2. EEK! I forgot to mention Dan Foley’s blog...

      http://laststandatcairngorm.blogspot.co.uk/

      Sorry....

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  7. Gentlemen...Once again thank you for your kind comments...

    All the best Aly

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  8. A delightful collection.

    Hate to pick but its just the label on the 2nd Bombay that is slightly wrong, the uniform is that of the dual numbered 2nd Baluch/29th Bombay. I do love those Baluch uniforms!
    Ross
    gameofmonth.blogspot.ca

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    1. Ross you are indeed correct it is a Baluchi uniform...sort of...
      I think it should actually be dark green not blue.
      As I said I based my unit on the William Britain’s set 68 2nd Bombay Native Infantry...
      I suspect that the master painter somehow got his research back to front ...or just had a bad day...
      It looks to me like they based the uniform on the 1885 Simkins print of the 29th (Duke of Connaught’s Own) Bombay Native Infantry but interpitated it as dark blue instead of green... I have seen a copy of the print and it is very very dark green....a misnamed unit or the wrong uniform we will never know.
      They will stay as they are for now...I have become rather fond of their mis-namedness... :-)
      All the best. Aly

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    2. My apologies Aly,
      They looked dark green on my computer screen. Had to go back and blow it up to see the real colour! No way to explain that as mislabelling!

      I've had a "thing" for the Baluchs in green and red ever since I selected them for my first go at 40mm glossy toy soldiers:
      my Baluchs
      in their one action under my command

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    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    4. Hmm, not my day. I'm not sure that link will work Should be: Scruby 40mm in Action

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    5. Very pretty old boy...
      I like the buildings as well...

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  9. Aly, these are great! Nice to see all your stuff in one post!

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  10. Splendid, I have always been tempted to get a few to paint up for display, but I fear it would not stop there :~).

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  11. What a grand looking collection Aly...takes me back fifty years to my first Britains figures.

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  12. Beautiful figures that perfectly capture the spirit of toy soldires. Thanks for sharing and for sculpting!! I've just started my own LB project - they are an absolute joy to paint. Its over here if you fancy a look http://goatmajor.org.uk/projects/elements-of-the-british-1st-army-corps/

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    1. Thank you Simon...
      I have already seen your blog... in fact you are on my blog list...

      Lovely paint jobs... I am looking forward to seeing more

      All the best. Aly

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  13. Hi, I'm inspired to start putting together two small forces. I've read recommendations to use gloss paints (Humbrol) for shiny figures even if gloss varnishing. Could I ask what technique you use? Apologies if you've covered ths, I've found your very helpful painting details for other figures but not for these. An inspirational blog, thanks for all the work that goes into it.
    Brian

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    Replies
    1. Hi Brian...
      Thank you ... I am glad you like the look of the toys... they are a lot of fun.
      I use acrylic paints with a good coat of yacht varnish to paint mine... I find it easier to use that enamels.
      I don’t think it have posted something about painting traditional style toy soldiers...
      This could be a fun thing to write about... it would give me a chance to go into a bit of detail.

      All the best. Aly

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