A New Book…

Greetings…

A new book arrived today… which makes it either a very late Christmas or a New Years present to my self….

Napoleon’s Wars, Wargames Rules 1792-1815 by Terry Mahon.

This isn’t a rule set or a writer I’ve come across before, but as I want to try out a few different rule sets when I get enough Shiny Napoleonics painted up, I thought that I would pick up a copy.

The rules don’t use dice… they are driven by a card (normal playing cards) based system, something I have not used before… This and that they can also be used for solo play has intrigued me.

If anyone has used them… I would certainly appreciate your opinions.

Hopefully I will get a chance to try them out sooner rather than later… I still need to paint some French and Allied/Prussian  command and Allied/PrussianArtillery… but an all infantry action may be an option.

All the best.  Aly

OOPS!

 Ooop!…

While doing what some may refer to a ‘maintenance’… I may have stopped everyone from posting comments… I clicked a button to see what it did 🙄.

Actually I was trying to find a way of stopping ‘Spam’… 

Bloggers ‘Mark as Spam’ doesn’t seem to be very effective as it doesn’t appear to block the sender.

This has now been fixed… but I have now activated comment approval… I will see how I get on with this.

My apologies to anyone who may have had problems commenting…

All the best    Aly

I’ve always thought that calling it Spam was unfair…

I have fond memories of my mums Spam Fritters 😁

Xmas Goodies…

Greetings…

Not many Wargames/Toy soldier related presents were exchanged this year… The best gift of course being…Having a Boxing Day feast and face to face wargame ( Massacre) with Mharaid.

Yes… Of course the game went the way everyone was expecting… However I will save that for the next post.

My Military/Wargame related present from Mharaid was this rather splendid W.Heath Robinson print…

I have always been a big fan of W.Heath Robinson…His super detailed drawings of insanely ridiculous but somehow sort of believable contraptions are a joy to behold.

I remember as a child seeing automated displays of W.Heath Robinson devices in one of the big stores in Edinburgh over the Christmas holidays… This is probably where my love for them started.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Heath_Robinson

The Toy Soldier Gift this year was from me to Mharaid…

These are a set of figures based on Medieval Manuscript Marginalia…

These gorgeous little figures come from Skull & Crown…

https://www.skullncrown.com/collections/killer-rabbits

I have been painting them slowly over the year… Which lead to some close shaves when Mharaid popped over for a cup of tea.

As a gift this one gave a lot of pleasure to both parties as they were a real joy to paint.

If you haven’t come across Manuscript Marginalia before… Here are some examples.

This is just a very small selection of what is out there… Quite a few of them are rather rude.

So… I will now Gird my Loins and write up a report of our Boxing Day Game…

Hopefully this will get posted later in the week.

All the best   Aly.

Merry Christmas…

Or possibly… 

What Drinky did next…

Have a splendid day everyone…

All the best.  Aly

The War of 1812… The 85th Light Infantry.

Greetings…

Here is the next unit for this project…

The 85th Light Infantry…

I picked this regiment mostly for the yellow facings… it’s a classic look for the British.

Like all the units I have painted so far … this one has turned out really well… it is indeed a classic colour combination.

The Tunics are… Citadel… Evil Sunz Scarlet.

The Facings are… Foundry… Ochre 4B.

The Trousers are… Foundry… Grey Light 32C.

The Greatcoats are… Citadel… Administratum Grey.

The White bits etc. Are… Citadel… Pallid Wytch Flesh.

The Belts are… Citadel… Corax White.

The Muskets are… Citadel… Mournfang Brown.

The Water Bottles are… Foundry… Sky Light 21C.

The Water Bottle Straps are… Citadel… Skrag Brown.

The Sashes are… Citadel… Mephiston Red.

The Knapsacks are… Foundry… Moss Light 29C.

As always everything was given a coat of Aly’s Brown Liquid and then highlighted with the original colours… the belts were then worked up to pure white.

The figures are from Knuckleduster Miniatures 

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

https://www.caliverbooks.com/figures/catviewer.php?tq4f713cju4spa3u68pkuo72j7&producer=126&range=GREAT%20BRITAIN&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/

Things have been a bit slow on the blogging front this month… there is no particular reason that I can think of other that a touch of world weariness as it gets towards the end of yet another problematic year…Hopefully things will actually improve in 2022 and the lunatics will stop running the asylum.

Mharaid is coming over for a game on Boxing Day…Hurrah!

This year we will be going for 3rd Century Rome v’s Sassanids… it was the chance of using the elephant that swung it…

I will be saving up the snowman for something suitably daft next Xmas.

I wish you all a Very Merry Xmas and a Prosperous New Year…

All the best   Aly

P.S….

Drinky the Snowman sends you Seasonal Greetings.

The War of 1812… U.S. Infantry.

Greetings…

Here is the next unit for this project…

U.S. Infantry… Possibly the 21st Regiment…

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:21st_Regiment%2C_United_States_Infantry%2C_War_of_1812

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lundy%27s_Lane

I decided to go for the 1813 uniform… 

A nice simple blue uniform with white piping on the collar… and relatively easy 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.

A joy to paint… 

I went for white belts as I rather like the contrast with the blue uniforms they could also have been black.

I also like the early version of this uniform which had red collars and cuffs… so there is (always will be) room for expansion with this collection.

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/

All the best   Aly

New Toys… Another building.

 Greetings…

This is the final ‘Airfix’ building from my order…

The Village Church…

https://www.dapol.co.uk/shop/model-accessories/self-assembly-oo-kits?page=2

A classic Norman church by the look of it and almost certainly based on a British building… so it should fit into the world of shiny old school rather well…

A good chum suggested that the windows on my cottage may be stuck on the wrong side of the walls…

Checking the instructions… 

All looks well… I have built it as… well… instructed.

BUT!…

Looking at the pictures of the model as shown on said instructions… it would seem that the windows should be attached from the inside of the walls… 

Bugger!…

It does look a lot better… a bit less like a dolls house.

I have checked on the internet and all the instructions that I can find are the same… but lots of pictures of the building show it with the windows attached from the inside…

Could the instructions be wrong… well yes… it does happen from time to time… the person who draws up the instructions isn’t necessarily the person who made the kit… sometimes wires… and windows… get crossed…

It also looks a lot better with the windows attached from the inside…

So another cottage has been ordered…

Fear not… the existing building will be repurposed as a gingerbread house of death or something similar for a future Xmas game…

Okay back to the War of 1812…

All the best.  Aly

New Toys… Classic ‘Airfix’ buildings.

Greetings…

Okay… not original Airfix buildings… but the currently available Dapol Kitmaster buildings.

https://www.dapol.co.uk/shop/model-accessories/self-assembly-oo-kits?page=2

I picked up a brace of cottages and a windmill…

They are nice little kits… very simple and very much of the time they were first made…

The only update/redesign that I noticed was the addition of numbers on the pieces, something I don’t remember from when I first built some as a young lad.

The moulds do look like they are starting to get a bit worn and there was some flash on a few bits… although having said that I have seen worse on more modern kits that I have had in the past…

And of course being the big kid/butterfly I am I had to get one built… now!

It’s turned out rather well…

The only additional thing I have done is fix a piece of cardboard to the bottom so I have a surface I can stick to a handle of some sort to hold it while a put the paint on…

I’m not sure when the painting will happen… but it will be sooner rather than later…

All the best   Aly

The War of 1812… Johnson’s Regiment of Kentucky Mounted Volunteers.

Greetings…

Here’s the next unit…

Johnson’s Regiment of Kentucky Mounted Volunteers…

I was always going to have these in the collection…They have quite a striking uniform that is relatively easy to paint.

They of course made their name at the Battle of  the Thames ( also known as Moraviantown) in 1813…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Thames

When looking for information on the internet I came across this article… which is about Kentucky troops in the War of 1812

https://www.jstor.org/stable/23367236

They have been based as mounted infantry for Rebels and Patriots… which I think suits their fighting style…

The Hunting Shirts and Trousers are… Citadel… Corvus Black.

The Fringes are… Citadel… Evil Sunz Scarlet.

The Saddlery, Belts and Straps are a mixture of different Browns and Tans from Foundry and Citadel.

The Horses were painted with Citadel Contrast Colours…

As always everything was give a coat of Aly’s Brown Liquid then highlighted with the original colours.

I found these very easy to paint…which made it a very relaxing experience.

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/

All the best.   Aly

Remembrance Day…

 Greetings …

I was hoping to have a few pictures of some more of my mothers other souvenirs that she was given from her friends in the Polish Armoured Division when they were stationed near Falkirk/Stirling during WW2…

Unfortunately I haven’t got hold of them yet…

So here are some more pictures from the little commemorative book she was given…

The first few are in order… but because it’s Blogger the rest are a bit random.

All the best.   Aly

The War of 1812… The Canadian Voltigeurs.

Greetings…

Here we have my next War of 1812 unit… The Canadian Voltigeurs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Voltigeurs

I’ve gone for another regiment with a relatively simple uniform… 

I rather like the practical grey colour combined with the bearskin cap…which is not something I would have thought was woodland friendly… but it looks great.

The Officers Uniform is… Foundry… Forest Green 26B.

The Rank and File Uniforms and Greatcoats are… Citadel… Administratum Grey.

The Knapsacks are… Foundry… Moss Light 29C.

The Sashes are… Citadel… Mephiston Red.

The Water Bottles are… Foundry… Sky Blue Light 21C.

The Water Bottle Strap is… Citadel… Skrag Brown.

The Muskets are… Citadel… Mournfang Brown.

This has been another very enjoyable unit to paint… the simple uniforms are actually in their own way quite colourful on the finished figures.

Also the officer looks relatively sober…

The figures are from Knuckleduster Miniatures 

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

https://www.caliverbooks.com/figures/catviewer.php?tq4f713cju4spa3u68pkuo72j7&producer=126&range=GREAT%20BRITAIN&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/

All the best    Aly

New Toys… Some MDF buildings.

Greetings…

Some future urban development for my Shiny Napoleonics…

I ordered a few more 15mm buildings from Sarissa … I shall not be building them immediately ,but it’s nice to have them on hand for when the mood takes me…

https://sarissa-precision.com/collections/world-war-europe-15mm

Apart from a few more walls ,this lot should be enough for my needs… at the moment.

I have some Canadian Voltigeurs on the painting desk at the moment… hopefully they shouldn’t take too long to finish…

All the best   Aly

The War of 1812… The U.S. 1st Regiment of Riflemen.

Greetings…

The first (non command) unit of Americans… The U.S. 1st Regiment of Riflemen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regiment_of_Riflemen

I’ve always liked this unit … In their green and yellow trimmed hunting shirts… Very different from your standard Napoleonic fare…

I am rather pleased with these fellows… they were a real joy to paint.

I will say that the officer does look a lot quirkier than his comrades in the ranks… or maybe he just a bit drinky…

I did think about altering him… for a couple of seconds… just before I slapped the undercoat on. 😁

Captain Drinkmore has however grown on me…

The Hunting Shirts are… Citadel… Loren Forest.

The Fringes are… Foundry… Ochre 4B.

The Trousers and Water Bottle Straps are… Citadel… Pallid Wytch Flesh.

The Officers Uniform is… Foundry… Slate Grey Light 32C.

The Knapsack is… Citadel… Hoeth Blue.

The Water Bottle is… Foundry… Sky Blue Light 21C.

The Rifle Stocks are… Citadel… Mournfang Brown.

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/

All the best   Aly. 

The War of 1812… American and British Command.

Greetings…

Just to be a bit different I decided to start this little project by painting up some command figures…

It seemed like a good way of seeing how well my shiny new Knuckleduster miniatures would paint up.

I am very pleased with the results…

This is the first time that I have painted any of the Knuckleduster War of 1812 range… I do know that they are not to everyone’s taste, but I am quite taken by their slightly quirky style and I found them very easy to paint.

I have based them the same as my 3rd Century Romans but instead of adding small stones I have added little pieces of Privet hedge branch that I took from the garden.

The American Tunics are… Citadel… Kantor Blue.

The British Tunics are… Citadel… Evil Sunz Scarlet… with Kantor Blue Facings.

The Breeches are… Citadel… Pallid Wych Flesh.

The Sashes are… Citadel… Mephiston Red.

The Officers Gold Braid is… Citadel… Retributor Armour mixed with some Foundry Ochre Light 4C

The Horses were painted using various Citadel Contrast Browns.

As always everything was given a coat of Aly’s Brown Liquid and highlighted with the original colours.

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/

My figures came from Caliver Books…

https://www.caliverbooks.com/figures/catviewer.php?du8tdt6mba4djrm7e3g8tu8291&producer=126&range=UNITED%20STATES%20OF%20AMERICA&menu=2

They are of course also available directly from Knuckleduster…

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

A gentle start… but there is plenty more to come.

All the best    Aly

A new project… The War of 1812.

Yes… The War of 1812…

Greetings…

“ How did this come about ?“ I hear you ask..

Well…

The war came about mostly because of American anger at the Royal Navy stopping and seizing ships on the open sea and impressing as British subjects captured crew, even if they personally had proof of their U.S. citizenship… combined with a long standing desire by War Hawks in the American House and Senate to try and conquer the whole of… 

Oh!…

Of course what you meant is how did it come about that I have started a War of 1812 project…

Well…

I let my butterfly flutter free for a while…

First it settled on something small…6mm Napoleonics… It seemed like a good idea…you know the kind of thing… big battles in a small space…

But… It was… well… just a bit too small…

Next it landed on something just a little bit bigger…

10mm Seven Weeks War (1866)…

Nice uniforms and an interesting period…

But… yup… still a bit on the small side…

Ooo!…

54mm Britains style toy soldiers in a ‘what if’ 1890’s Anglo-American war…

Now I do like the idea of this…it ticks all of my boxes… but I’m not that sure about building large scale terrain at the moment…

Maybe when I’ve sorted my cellar out and have more room…

This was a bit of a surprise… The 30 years War…

I find this period really interesting… both militarily and politically….

The figures are lovely…

But… I find it really hard to get into pike and shot wargaming… I’m not sure why… maybe I have a phobia about long pointy sticks ( I’m not that keen on Macedonian armies either).

It’s an odd thing really as I always enjoy reading about other peoples adventures in this period…but when I start painting any myself it just leaves me a bit cold… I will try again another time.

Normans and Byzantines in Italy…

I think this will get done it’s a fascinating period full of really interesting characters… what stalled me here was not finding a set of rules that suited my needs… of course there is now a Lion Rampant supplement on the market… so yes… but not right now.

Definitely a yes…

But after The War of 1812.

The least said about this the better…

For those of you who want to know… it’s a push fit limited edition SF 3D Battle Suit… I have two of them.

Move along nothing more to see here… possibly. 😜

Shiny Seven Years War… using Minifigs.

This came close… I even worked out what I might need…

But…  I’ve already got a couple of ‘shiny’ projects on the go.. I think I will get these completed first… at least to point of having a game before I start another.

And now… 

The War of 1812…

It’s pretty obvious really…😁

It of course helps that I have a reasonable collection of books on the subject…

And…It’s one of my favourite periods…

My plan is to put together a couple of forces for Rebels and Patriots…

I think these rules will work well for a lot of the small scale actions that happened during this war…

Next up… 

The first unit…

All the best.  Aly