Idle Googling

I like this one...

This one's OK...

I think I like this one best, but I'm open to argument...

UPDATE: It gets worse... I've just discovered I own a 20-figure unit of Castaway Arts Sikh Infantry...

Colonial Potterings

All the "Defence of Melbourne" work I've been doing recently (in conjunction to Bill's "General Pettygree" excellent adventure/blog/comic-strip) has left me feeling in a decidedly "colonial" frame of mind.

Thus inspired I've been at the Spencer Smith website, looking and daydreaming and lordy, lordy what do I see but some nice-looking Bengal Lancers:

Indian Officer parade position
Indian Sergeant parade position
Indian Trooper parade position
Indian Trooper turning in saddle
Indian Trooper lance slung
Indian Trooper charging

And some lads from the 24th:
Officer standing with drawn revolver
Bugler sounding call
Private kneeling reloading
Private kneeling firing
Private standing with rifle at the ready
Private standing firing
Private standing firing leaning forward
Private standing taking ammunition from pouch
Private standing fending off attack with rifle
Sergeant standing giving orders
Private falling wounded
Private lunging forward with bayonet

Samples ordered!

I've been following Bills' blog for a while and find it very enjoyable. I really like the larger units he's using. I'm more familiar with the Sword and the Flame rules, but I do admire what he's doing.

More anon when the samples have arrived.

What's he up to

Well, it's been ages since I've posted here.

Not all is quiet on the home front, but most of my activity is going on here at the moment:

http://defence-of-melbourne.blogspot.com/2009/11/80-pounder-progress-shot.html

Best regards to all..!

Earthwork - Ravelin

I couldn't be bothered painting any toy soldiers last week, so I built a Ravelin, telling myself I could use it with Fort Niagara eventually.

It's all polystyrene with balsa for the planking and matches for the uprights.

These projects look a real disaster until you get to the painting stage, I find. You know; a mess of raggedy, sanded-down* polystyrene covered with filler and sand; and then more sand because it looks like it's been clad in sand-paper. Then it's the stippling, the wet-on-wet work, the dry brushing, oops, gone too far, needs a wash of burnt sienna, oops too far in the other direction; another wash then one last dry-brrush and... does it look right, dear? You're the artist.

You should have done it in daylight.

Oh, yeah.

*Do the sanding outside if you value your health and relationship with your partner!

The Affair of the Partridges

At the start of Turn 2, the French grenadier Company was due to arrive on table. It duly did so.

Iroquoise lurking in the background, adding nothing to the scenario save good looks. She's an old 1:100 brig that I built a few years back but never gort around to waterlining. I will use the off-cuts to represent a destroyed ship.

Roberts Rangers infiltrate the forested strip...

... while the light Company takes a more direct approach.

A roll of the dice ensured the Canadian militia entered the field at the start of Turn 2.

I was snap-happy enought to take another shot of them!

Will the French regulars be able to hold out? The light Infantry spent the whole of Turn 2 extending their Field Works so they's be able to accommodate both themselves and the Grenadiers when they arrived.

A general view. The French regulars are in the background, the British light Company in the fore. Rangers are in the woods at the right, whilst the French Militia are entering mid-table to the left.

The Simple Things

After last weeks' post on getting Old School with my terrain, I decided to continue down the cork tile path. I bought another pack and broke half the tiles up into large, irregular chunks. Their reverse sides were painted green then stippled all over with yellow ochre tobrighten them up and to provide some visual interest.

The idea was to provide something like a river bank that could be used to disguise the sharp edge of the felt that I am using more and more in combination with our outdoor garden furniture. I like this table a lot because, left strategically uncovered, it provides a nice water effect. Gaming outside is lovely when the weather is right. Come the Summer, I may have to flip the tiles over, replace the felt with some brown paper and take out my Egyptiand and Mahadists!

Captain Chaberts' men defend a breastwork left over from last weeks' terraining activities!

A canoes-eye view through the Merit trees.

Chaberts' men strain in the misty coolth of the dawn for the first movement that may betray their enemies.

The view from the Iroquoise as she glides over the limpid waters.

A more general view that shows what is becoming - quickly - my new terraining philosophy; The Simple Things.

Field Works

Erin, supervising.

I spent this weekend having a revelation and then (for once) acting upon it.

I realised that there is no way in the world I am going to do my dreamt-of very "high end" display-quality model of Fort Niagara.

No.

I simply will not have the time, materials or money to make that happen.

If that does not happen, then all the little toy soldiers I've been working on for the past year will have gone for nought and I'm a bit sick of that!

Having rid myself of that false conception was really quite liberating and I took myself to the hardware store and bought some cork tile and some lengths of 19mm quarter-round beading. Next stop was the art-supply shop for some cheap green and yellow acrylic paint.

Here's what I came up with:

An entrenched, redoubted camp, somewhere in the Germanies with fleches for advanced piquets.

The march of the siege; the first parallel with a protective pair of redoubts (doubtless manned by Grenadiers) at either end. A sap wends it's serpentine way relentlessly forward.



A fort in the wilderness, to the right is a lake, to the left a river...

The same fort, with the Gate of the Five Nations in the foreground. Some of you will recognise the ravelin and half-bastions from another project.

Babies and the Art of Military Modelling

Well, life goes on. Me and Erin and an Airfix Gloster Gladiator.

The North Africa project. The Dorchester Armoured Command vehicle is scratch-built on an AEC Matador Chassis. It took me a week of half-hour spots here and there.

Another of the ACV with Matildas preparing to stand off hypothetical attackers. Next post will take us back to the Eighteenth Century.

And now for something completely different

Just for a change of pace, I thought I'd get off some shots of my slowly-expanding North Africa collection that I've started work on again with a few small eBay purchases. I've had these Matildas for ages and have more in stock, which is lucky as they do not seem to be in production by airfix at the moment, although the Italeri ones seem fine to me.

I'm not really building any historical Order of Battle, just bits that take my fancy. I'm thinking these will go towards 7RTR, eventually which means I'll need at least a total of 7 if I am to fuill tout the Rapid Fire organisation.

These Vickers Lights were a very intelligent purchase on the part of Airfix of a mould that was developed by JB models some years ago. It's currently in production and a really nice little kit that builds very easily.

The faithful old Airfix Universal carrier. Such a useful kit, and it looks splendid in my rather inaccurate Caunter Camoflage. Oughtn't that blue be grey instead?

The Germans arrive. I have had these two Opel Blitzes forever; more than 15 years if you can believe that. A bit like the old Matchbox Pz 2 I have had floating around (and still intact) for donkeys' years.

Italian M13/40 by Italeri; another old m0del I've had for years. Like some others, it is now back in production after a fair old absence and I have taken advantage of the opportunity to stock up on them; terribly useful vehicles for equipping either side!

I picked up an old Gloster Gladiator kit from Airfix last week and was delighted thay had included transfers for "Faith", "Hope" and "Charity", Maltas' legendary defenders against the early Italian assault. Put them with a few Vickers and a pair of Matildas painted in the Malta "stone wall" pattern, and you could do all sorts of things with fallschirmjaeger...

Just a thought.

Of Partridges and Walnuts

It was not long after Captain Joincare had arrived at his appointed place with his piquet that he found himself met by two partridge hunters, the brothers Gudenus.

The fusilieers were all of them taking their ease, variously smoking upon their clay pipes, or playing cards or at dice or at whatever took their fancy. One of them, called by himself "Jolicoeur", Joincare was pleased to remember, was talented with partridge, walnuts, the broad leaves of trees and the embers of a fire burned low.

For their part, the Brothers Gudenus (Daniel and Louis as they were named) were pleased to accept six sous for a brace. They had been shooting for the pot, but now had coin with which to purchase some lace for their sisters' wedding-dress.

Upon taking their leave of the Captain, Daniel and Louis made their way homeward by trails that they themselves (with the exception of the local Abenakis) only knew.

Imagine their surprize to espy when only two miles from where they had left Captain Joincare a party of Englishmen who were obviously designing some ill.

Daniel, being the elder, instructed his brother to run to the French and tell them what the English were about. He himself would run home and arouse their relations.

It ought to be mentioned at this point that the Gudenus and several of their neighbours were of course (as was widely known by people in the area) Acadians and, on account of the misfortunes suffered by those people, bore the English great ill-feeling and would not forebear to do them like injury in return.

Louis ran with all speed and informed Captain Joincare of the presence of the English soldiers, and thus raised in his mind a dilemma.

The knew the English were in the area in numbers greater than his own, but not how many. He could count on the support of Captain Chabert's Grenadiers, but they were some distance away and he was not sure when exactly they might arrive. In similar like, he was assured the assistance of an unknown number of militia at an unknown time.

His orders promised him support and implied that he must watch the road.

What to do?

In the Woods

Gonna tek you under me wing boy. You looks to be greener than me sleeve. You'll need to keep yer eyes open to mek yer way here, boy, yessir you will.

Be lucky, you'll mebbe see Frenchies - they knows what they is doing in these woods, boy.

You'll be imaginatin' red men every-where before long. Mark me words, boy.

But sometimes, well, a whole durn war-party can sneak on by ye before you spots 'em. He-he-he! Thet happens an' your pretty scalp'll be decoratin' some long-haouse bye'n'bye.

Lissen to whut Cap'n Roberts tells ye. Watch him an' learn, boy. See how he gits on daoun thet Injun trail. Eh? eh?

Yer Cap'n de Lancey, he might be a-tellin' Roberts that his men would never stoop to skulking in the woods like savages or a Frencher. He'll be doin' it hisself before long.

But you lobsters are mekkin' a hash of things, boy. Ye're all spread out like which ez good, but ye've no order to ye.

Try et agin, like uz, laddie.

Et's not easy, goin' a-rangin', but mebbe th' bloodybacks'll mek good.

Marching Out

The dawn is quiet, as the poet once wrote. Quiet but for the crack of cannon fire as Bombardier Jolicoeur screams obscenities at the cloth-headed soldats of the troupes de terre who are fumbling clumsily over his eight-pounders.

"Sponge out you thick sons of bitches! Out!" He slaps his palm against his forehead in dire frustration.

Load that Cartridge, Number two! No, not you - you're number Four. Number two! Yes, you!!! Now the wad, and the ball. You'll need another wad to hold it in... oh, start again! Get the worm!"


Meantime, the Languedoc Regiments' piquet company leaves the fort and enters the woods. Every man a picked man, quick nimble and active. They are the Regiments light infantry.

Jolicoeur is happier to scream at the gunnery trainees; better that than spend night after night in the woods with them.

What's this? the Grenadiers, too? What's going on? Must be some operation. Still, it's nothing to do with him.

"Run out!" ah, the mad music of the wheels on the boards of the platforms.

The whole regiment is on the move South, marching in Grand Divisions. Must be a big one.

"Fire, you sons of bitches!"

New York Provincials

I realised that I've not yet posted any real pictures of my new New York Provincials. So here they are, a full Grand Division. I like them so much I may go on and do more as well as some of the blue-coated privincials from other colonies. The figures are very easy to paint indeed.

The figures are by RSM. The Officer is the Advancing Prussian, the Drummer is a British figure with a minor conversion to his head-wear whilst the rank (and the file) are from the AWI range, American Militia. I think I have said before that they seem to have been incorrectly catalogued, having been commissioned from Steve Hezzlewood to supplement the French and Indian war range as it then was by Hap Jordan's Battalionfeur Games. I take this information from the "Reviewing Stand" pages of The Courier Vol VIII, No. 5.

An intriguing mention is made that more figures were planned to fill gaps in current FIW ranges. Does anyone know whether this is so?

My conversion of the drummer - I've added a fur front to his cap. I have no evidence as to whether this is remotely accurate - I suspect not!

Marechal de Camp

It's surprising what you can accomplish between feeds at odd hours of the night and day.

This figure is my first post-baby creation. He's the general officer from the RSM French range; I'm sure you all have examples of the figure in your collections.

I have painted him as a Marechal de Camp (or Brigadier) with the idea that he will be my French and Indian War "de Levis", surely one of the more attractive personalities among the French fighting for New France.

I have painted him in the standard version of the French general officers' uniform, straight out of the relevant Osprey.

I will do a command diorama eventually representing Montcalm and an ADC or two.

The new Dauphine of Alzheim

Yes, sir, that's my baby. Erin Lucy. 20 minutes old and with a cone head.

My beer gut is to the left, tastefully adorned in the red, Violent Femmes t-shirt.

To quote them out of context:

And I waited my whole life for just one...

Day.

Good on you kids; Amy and Erin.

Post #401

Bit of an update, OK?

Action on two fronts, as it were. As of today I'm finished the painting of the European troops I need for la Belle Famille. They are the New York Provincial Regiment, and mighty fine they look too in their green coats. I converted (slightly) a British drummer by putting a greenstuff "bearskin" front on his little cap to give him a little interest*. I like the way they look, being all in a firing line, nine shooters and nine loaders with an officer and the drummer keeping them in line. More than I need for the Battle, but I think that I'll come up with a use for them in the context of the wider Niagara campaign. That has been my idea for building this collection; over-do things for la Belle Famille in the hope that the greater campaign will turn out to have been well served.

This is what passes for planning in the Duchy of Alzheim!

I promise, promise, promise to get some photos up soon in support of my previous post, but time and circumstances have been against me. I can't promise when I can make good on this, but I certainly intend to. DoA has been something of a neglected child of late, though my conscience niggles and niggles at me.

On the topic, I've just gotten home from the hospital here. The Duchess is in the process of being induced and, without bothering you all with the details, we are waiting on the moment. It's late and I'm very tired and looking at being at the hospital again tomorrow morning at 7 am and waiting for her to go into labour. She's been waiting for things to get on since about 2 this afternoon, so we have spent a very boring and very LONG day doing not much of anything.

I did take the time to look at the latest White Dwarf and look long and thoughtfully at my 50 or so mounted Riders of Rohan and go "hmmmm, tasty". Is anyone else inspired or is it just me? Are the rules good or rubbish? All answers published in the pixels of this august journal.

Now, a beer and bed. I hope I don't get a call at 04:00; I may not be at my best.

* A little interest is a good thing. I am inspired to hack the heads off Grenadiers now and transfer them to highlanders with the greenstuff treatment. Voila - 42nd Regiment Grenadiers for Ticonderoga - someday..!

Passages of Arms

From an Ancient Archive:

++++++++++++++++++++

To: Captain Roger Roberts

From: Gen'l Jeffrey Amherst

Roberts,

You are hereby requested and required to assemble your Independent Company of Rangers at Fort William Henry.

You will there brigade your your Independent Company with the Light Companies of the 44th and 46th Foot. Upon doing so, you will set out North along the Western Shore of Lake George and Scout for the enemy in the vicinity of Fort Carillon.

In so doing, you will acheive two purposes.

The First - you will determine whether the French are attempting to descend the Lake upon it's Western Side.

The Second - you will impress upon the Officers and Men of the 44th and 46th your method of Ranging that they may become Proficient at the Art.

Should you contact the Enemy, you are to do so only on the most advantageous of terms; should it go Ill with you, I will not think the less of you should your troops break contact and return to Fort William Henry or what post soever you Desire for the security of your company.

I remain Sir,

Your Servant,

Amherst

********************

To: Chabert, Captain of Grenadiers

Captain Chabert,

I have this day decided to encamp My Regiment of Languedoc South of Fort Carillon for the next two days as we receive the supplies you are aware that are coming to us via bateaux from His Majesties' Fort of St. Frederic.

During this time, it is my desire that Captain Joincare watch the road south with his piquet for any activity on the part of the English.

It would greatly gratify me if with your company of Grenadiers you were to provide succours for Joincare should he require assistance. Rest assured, that the rest of the battalion would join you post-haste as soon as we are alerted to enemy activity.

I have the Honour to remain Sir,

Your Humble and Obedient Servant,

Poulain, Colonel

Where are we now?

Right then.

The anal-retentive within calls for an accounting.

The progress of painting (house, not soldiers!) continues, but there is hope that this evening Madam will be out to the football which means I can sneak a few hours painting of a more pleasurable kind in.

This week I've been steadily working on a block of 16 RSM British Infantry and a Stadden British Grenadier NCO. They are all base-coated, flesh painted and have their hat-lace sewn on.

I think I might be able to polish them off tonight - it's really just a matter of getting all the highlights in and painting weapons.

That will see the British Contingent for la Belle Famille completed - in fact completed rather over specification.

The scenario calls for 30 Light infantry. I've painted 31.

I need 10 Line of the 44th - I have 18.

I need 38 Line of the 46th - I'll have 46 painted by this evening.

I need 5 Grenadiers of the 46th - by this evening I ought to have 11.

I need 10 NY Provincial Infantry - I have four. What???

Currently I have a package waiting for me at the post office with (I anticipate) another 16 Provincials and 72 Indians which ought to see me done.

I am over quota on my British. Don't worry! There's a plan to that! I'm just pushing through with an eye on campaigning the siege iteslf. I have been painting artillerymen in infantry uniforms to represent the garrison at Fort Niagara, as well. I ought at some stage start doing the same for the British.

I've mentioned earlier that I already have sufficient French to see me over the line, although they are not really from the right units, historically speaking, so there's no more painting to do on that front, thankfully.