Bits 'n' Bobs

I didn't manage to post these before the big game, but the eagle-eyed among you may already have spotted these from the previous post. 

Up to now, I haven't had a British army command stand, only a divisional one, so I needed to make one before the display game. The general comes from the Revell British infantry set, with a head swap using the HaT infantry command head, the colonel is from the HaT command set with a shako head instead of the bicorne, and the staff galloper is a hussar from the Italeri light dragoon set. The horses from the light dragoons have no shabraques, so I made a sheepskin shabraque using Milliput. I also added cotton thread reins glued to the hand from which the pistol had been cut.

 

The object of the game was a baggage train and the only cart I had was a civilian one, so I snapped up the Italeri baggage cart when I saw it in the shops. The road on the base is the same as that I made for my terrain collection.

Also, I recently painted up another 9-figure battalion of infanterie légère using HaT light infantry figures, including a head conversion of the officer using a Franznap metal conversion head. The plume is slightly shorter, but I'm not fussed.

I only have 3 light infantry battalions, so with divisions of 4 brigades, I'm short one légère battalion. Just for the sake of balance I've created this bunch, but too late to feature in the big game.

2/6th Portuguese Line

With the completion of the 2/6th Portuguese Line Infantry I've finished Colonel Ashworth's Portuguese brigade for Picton's 2nd Division. Again, they sport the yellow flag of the Northern Division, but I haven't added the regiment-specific cravat to the flag.

Again the figures are all metal SHQ/Kennington with their lumpen sculpting style. The leading figure firing his musket was slightly miscast with a very spindly bayonet that didn't survive the preparation stage, so I tidied it up so that he's firing sans bayonet. The musket looks rather short, more like a Baker rifle. Oh well...

The flagpole snapped off while I was cleaning up the flag-bearer figure (giving me heart palpitations in the process!), but I retrieved the situation by replacing the broken pole with a more sturdy piece of wire and adding the original finial to the top by drilling a hole in the bottom, gluing and inserting the finial over the top of the wire.

Sontaran (l), Portuguese fusilier (r).
Besides the shako, I can't really tell the difference!

I've also added a mounted officer to the weak 8-figure battalion of the 1/18th Line to boost it to a 9-figure battalion. He's a HaT figure from their British Command set. 

He won't add any command value as our command rules don't go down to the brigade level, but I thought he'd give a little colour to the Portuguese brigade. I gave him a Latin-style moustache before I realised that the officer commanding went by the rather Anglophone name of Col. Ashworth. He probably wouldn't have gone native to the extent of growing a soup-strainer!

Here's the whole brigade lined up from left to right: 6th Caçadores, 2/18th Line, 1/18th Line, 2/6th Line and 1/6th Line

2nd Division Progress

I've been busy over the last couple of weeks with some enforced time off to look after an ill child, but managed to put some of this time to good use, ie. painting!

Below are the first 2 units of my continuing Anglo-Portuguese army 2nd Division project as outlined in a previous blog entry. The first is the 3rd Foot, or the Buffs, and the 2nd is the 6th Cacadores. I used Revell's Rifles figures for the cacadores plus the two march-attack figures from HaT's Peninsula British infantry with head-swaps using the supplied light infantry tapered shakos, and the officer from HaT's earlier British light infantry set with a head swap using the same head as the marching figures. Only the first company was rifle armed and designated as tiradores, or sharpshooters, but I'm not too fussed at how the unit looks; basically they wore a uniform similar to the rifles, so this is good enough for me.

The Buffs have figures from the HaT Peninsula Infantry set as well, but the command figures are from Kennigton. The colour party includes a colour sergeant carrying the King's colour, as I ran out of the cocked-hat wearing officer figure. His pose would indicate he's carrying a colour anyway, but he was supplied with a massively large spontoon that looked odd carried in front of his face like that. By trimming off the cross-bar at the top and shortening it slightly, I've converted it into another flag-staff. Even though colour-sergeants' roles were usually limited to protecting the colour-bearer, I figured that this sergeant's young gentleman has bought the farm, and he's stepped in to save the regimental honour by carrying the colour himself.

The flags are from Warflag

The Buffs

Hold the line!

The colour party

The officer and advancing infantryman

Musical accompaniment

6th Cacadores

March attack

Command stand

Load...

...Fire!

TODAY, I have MOSTLY been painting.....dead 'uns

With that weak reference to the Fast Show out of the way, here is what's on the workbench at the moment.

I've started on my l'hommes mort Francais and actually based the first one. I'll probably paint it with Army Painter as well, but this one is just a prototype so far, to see how it looks painted and based. They're ugly little critters, with none of the finesse of the 'living' figures (so much so that I replaced the head of the officer figure), but as they're supposed to be only morale markers it doesn't really matter.

Here's also 3 of the Spaniards I painted last week down the coast, which I also haven't dipped or based yet and I probably won't finish the unit until after I've completed my riflemen. I'm also trying to work out how to incorporate an officer/colour bearer into this unit without introducing another make of figure into the bunch, as they are of a fairly stylised (putting it politely) sculpt that other figures may not blend with so well.


Lastly, here's the 5/60th NCO figure I painted at the same time as my 95th Rifles. He's been dipped, but not yet matt varnished or based. Once I've finished experimenting with my dead Frenchers, I'll go back and finish this unit.


This weekend I'll be involved in the ongoing campaign, standing in for Robin who can't make it, but is involved in a battle. I hope I don't completely bollix it up, but if I do, meh..It's not my army. Only kidding, Robin! ;-) (Note to self; BRING THE CAMERA)

We're All Going on a Winter Holiday!

There haven't been many posts for a while now because the Rosbifs have been on holiday for a week down on the coast enjoying the bracing breezes straight off the Southern Ocean. Great weather for painting, and, fortunately, I was organised enough to manage to squeeze in my painting case and a few figures. I finished the 50th foot and started on my riflemen, completing five 95th Rifles and one 5/60th NCO, and just for a change of pace, 4 Spaniards.

Once home I based and varnished the 50th and 95th figures and photographed them for your visual enjoyment.

50th Foot

Kennington command figures

Kennington colour bearers with Warflag colours

Revell 95th rifles

Rifleman & Bugler

Rifle officer

I also had the pleasure of participating in the annual club fundraising Bunnings BBQ. As first shift on a miserably cold (but luckily not damp) Sunday morning, we set up and sold our first dozen or so sausages-in-bread before 10am. No spruiking needed; it's amazing how the smell of frying sausages and onions sells itself! I got to chat with club members I haven't had the opportunity to talk to before, comparing notes between historical and fantasy gaming.

The Ides of March

My head has just stopped spinning! In the best traditions of the Roman Senate, or (more appropriately for this blog) the Terror of the French Revolution, the ruling Australian Labor Party has fallen on it's leader of less than 3 years and torn him down in less than 24 hours to replace him with Australia's first female PM. This is also the first time a leader has been brought down by his own party before the end of his first term in office.

Not only that, Australia has been sent packing from the World Cup even though it won its last game against Serbia.

So far not a great day in the field of Australian politics or sport!

Back to the really important stuff; I'm in the middle of reading 'Salamanca 1812' by Rory Muir (which I'll review in due course) and realised that if I'm making a British Peninsula brigade, at least 2 battalions should be of Portuguese line and/or cacadores. So, I've put in for an order with SHQ for a couple of battalions' worth of geezers, as Quinny calls them. That'll make a change in painting red coats, white cross-belts, red coats, white crossbelts....

That said, I've nearly finished my last line battalion for the moment and am about to start on my rifles. I also have dead Brits to do as well. As you can see, I'm spoiled for choice!

A friend once said he was told by a wise old man (well, a trader at a convention) "If you've finished collecting and you don't have a pile of unpainted figures, then you're probably dead" By that standard, I'm going to live forever!

Almost completed 50th Foot. The light-bob to go, then dipping and basing left.

My next project; Revell's rifles, 95th and 5/60th

Lancier Bleu dead British (post 1812 uniforms, but who cares?)

The campaign continues this week with our new subject, Pete, continuing his effort to repulse the invasion from the west, while elsewhere other nations come to blows. Meanwhile the culprit who has been conducting piratical operations in disguise still has not been exposed!