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

Wednesday, 13 April 2022

New Books… Napoleonic Delights.

Greetings…

To celebrate the fact that I have managed to pay off my my mortgage… I decided to give myself a treat.

So I bought myself these delightful books…



I personally think that these are some of the best books on French Napoleonic uniforms that I have seen for a long while.

Paul L Dawson has done a marvellous job with these books….they are positively dense with information…

The illustrations and photos are splendid…







Photos of original uniforms and equipment plus reproductions of period illustrations by the likes of Martinet and Nicolas Hoffmann along with plates by Keith Rocco…

I particularly like the photos of original swatches of period cloth that show that the uniform colours are not quite what we are used to seeing on toy soldiers.

They were certainly not the cheapest books I have bought… but it was my treat to me…and I think I deserved it 😁.


All the best   Aly


Saturday, 9 April 2022

Shiny Napoleonics… The New Neuchatel Battalion.

Greetings…

Some of you may remember my first shot at this unit…

https://alystoysoldiers.blogspot.com/2020/08/shiny-napoleonics-neuchatel

These chaps are now living on the other side of the world… In the care of Wellington Man in New Zealand…

If you would like to see their somewhat unfortunate introduction to their new commander I would suggest that you have a look here

https://thehintonspieler.blogspot.com/2021/11/newcastle-united.html

Here are a couple of pictures of these tragic events to whet your appetite…




These have been used with the kind permission of Wellington Man.


As Berthier studies his notes he realises he may need some assistance with these new recruits.


Berthier has employed the services of a new and enthusiastic personal trainer…The young Malchanceux Bourde… Chosen because of his relationship to the great General Malchanceux… Whose autobiography “My Glory My Emperor “ is much in favour with Berthier and France.
( Unfortunately modern historians will discover that Malchanceux’s account of his career and the truth are even more distant than the relationship between the General and Bourde )…


“Attention my brave men”


“Form a column “


“Form a line”


“Now Charge! to glory and certain death”


“?????”


“Stop!… We must throw ourselves onto the blades of our Emperors enemies”


“Thank all the gods of war that no one else was around to see that debacle”


“Sigh!”


Here they are in all their “glory”…




These were a lot of fun to paint… Even second time around.
I’m glad I made the effort… They now fit in well with the rest of my collection.

The Tunics are… Foundry… Ochre 4B.
The Facings are… Citadel… Evil Sunz Scarlet.
The Breeches are… Citadel… Pallid Wych Flesh.
The Pack and Musket are… Citadel… Mournfang Brown.
The Belts are… Citadel… Corax White.

Everything was given a coat of Aly’s Brown Liquid and highlighted with the original colours. The Belts were also highlighted up to a pure White.

The paints are Wargames Foundry and Citadel...










Thursday, 31 March 2022

Shiny Napoleonics… The French 4th Line Infantry.

Greetings…

As I am making very slow process on my next unit of War of 1812 figures… 

(I suspect this is because of the state of incredible weariness I find myself in…I am putting this down to the whole post viral /Covid thing… I know a couple of people who have experienced this… and I am told it will pass…)

I thought I would post something that I have been keeping in reserve…

Shiny French Napoleonics…

I have painted these chaps up to represent the 4th Line Infantry at around 1813… In my (Shiny) world they are at a stage where they have received their nice new uniforms and standards but are hanging on to their Cords and Flounders… Or Folderoy and Lah De Dah…( It’s what my mother called anything ‘Fancy’)…

I like the mix… It’s a lot of my favourite bits all in the one place.





The figures are mostly Minifigs Intermediate Range… I think the Officer is S Range…

As always these toys were a joy to paint and they always bring a smile to my face…

The Tunics are… Citadel… Kantor Blue.

The White bits are… Citadel… Pallid Wytch Flesh.

The Red bits are… Citadel… Evil Sunz Scarlet.

The Green bits are… Citadel… Warboss Green.

The Yellow bit are… Foundry… Ochre 4B.

The Belts are… Citadel… Corax White.

The Backpacks and Muskets are… Citadel… Mournfang Brown.

The Water Bottles are… Foundry… Boneyard Shade 9A.

The Water Bottle Straps are… Citadel… Deathclaw Brown.


Everything was given a coat of Aly’s Brown Liquid and highlighted with the original colours. The Belts were also highlighted up to a pure White.

The paints are Wargames Foundry and Citadel...

https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/paint
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Painting-Modelling

The bases are as always...

https://warbases.co.uk/product-category/bases/round-cornered-bases/

The Flag is GMB Designs...

Hopefully I will have more War of 1812 to show next…
If not…. I do still have something shiny waiting in the wings.

All the best.  Aly



Wednesday, 23 March 2022

Another New Old Book…

Greetings…

I picked this splendid book up this week…


I have owned it before…. But it has disappeared somewhere over the years…
I was inspired to re buy it after I saw some lovely vignettes that David Bickley had posted on his blog…


I remember the book having some lovely drawings of various bits of camp and campaign life that could really fit into any period… not just the 30 Years War…

Here are a few images to wet the appetite…











I must say that it is as good as I remember it…
I don’t know quite when any of these may appear in my collections but I am sure they will…

All the best.  Aly

An edit for Rodor…






 

Sunday, 20 March 2022

Shiny Napoleonics… French 18th Line Infantry Sappers.

Greetings…

As Covid has given me a few grey days I thought I would cheer things up with something nice and shiny…

A couple of 18th Infantry Regiment Sappers…

Why the 18th?…

I already have the regiment in my collection… And they are very pretty…





The figures are Minifigs…Possibly Intermediate Range.
It was indeed a lot of fun painting these…
There will definitely be more shiny things coming in the near future…

The Tunics are… Citadel… Hoeth Blue.
Facings are… Citadel… Wazdakka Red.
White Bits are… Citadel… Pallid Wych Flesh.
Belts are… Citadel… Corax White.
Greatcoats are… Citadel… Administratum Grey.
Packs are… Citadel… Mournfang Brown.

As  usual everything was give a wash of Aly’s Brown Liquid and then highlighted with the original shade.


All the best.  Aly

Sunday, 13 March 2022

The War of 1812… More U.S. Infantry.

Greetings…

Here is yet another U.S. unit for this project…

These fellows will be another part of the 21st Infantry Regiment…

 


Another enjoyable unit to paint…

The Tunics are… Citadel… Kantor Blue.
The Trousers and Piping are… Citadel… Pallid Wych Flesh.
The Pack and Snapsack are… Citadel… Hoeth Blue.
The Canteens are… Foundry… Sky Blue Light 21C.
The Muskets are… Citadel… Mournfang Brown.
The Belts are… Citadel… Corax White.
As always everything was given a wash of Aly’s Brown Liquid and then highlighted with the original colours… the Belts were also highlighted with pure White.

The figures are from Knuckleduster…

http://knuckleduster.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=1_21

https://www.caliverbooks.com/figures/catviewer.php?

du8tdt6mba4djrm7e3g8tu8291&producer=126&range=UNITED%20STATES%20OF%20AMERICA&menu=2

The paints are Wargames Foundry and Citadel...

https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/paint
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Painting-Modelling

The bases are as always...

https://warbases.co.uk/product-category/bases/circular-bases/mdf-circular-bases/

I was hoping to get a bit more painting done this week but Covid decided to put a stop to that..

It may be what’s ‘Trending’ at the moment and I can see that a lot of the young hipsters are taking it up…But I shall not be recommending it to anyone…

I’m on the mend now…

I have a British infantry unit primed and waiting for paint…and in my War of 1812 project box I have a British/Canadian cavalry unit and I think enough other figures to make one more small British and U.S. infantry unit…  I shall wait until these are all done and then I will have a parade.


All the best.  Aly

Thursday, 3 March 2022

A New Book… Against Spain.

Greetings…

This lovely little book arrived the other day…

Against Spain by my good chum Stuart Insch…

Available here…

https://stuartinschwargames.blogspot.com/2022/02/against-spain-on-sale-now.html


This book follows Stuart’s first campaign book…
Wargaming the Sugar Islands Campaign.


And is an excellent companion volume…
There is as before a breakdown of the the campaign, a description of the forces involved and a collection of scenarios…
I can see a number of rules systems being suitable for playing these out… And as before I suspect they could be used for many other Horse and Musket/Black Powder periods.
A jolly good read indeed which I fully recommend to you all…

All the best.  Aly.

Disclaimer… Stuart has (at the moment) not paid or bribed me to say anything nice about this publication…although circumstances may change in the future…(Stuart… I like Brandy,White Port and Beer…Just so you know 😁)…