To Glory We Steer!

HMS Frolic now has masts!

After Fly challenged me last weekend to have my ship finished in time for NWA's Pirates in September events, I was spurred into action to at least get the masts ready for action. Progress up til now stalled as I was a bit stuck on whether or not to go the whole hog with the rigging, and if so, how? I'm a stickler for detail, usually, but in this case I want a compromise between detail and being able to be safely transported without turning into a tangled mess of spars and rigging!

I'm thinking of using fine metal wire to recreate rigging like the ratlines and some of the more prominent sheets etc., especially the one from the gaff to the spanker boom so I can have a nice big white ensign flying proudly to let those scurvy pirates know who they're dealing with!

Ultimately, I want to develop a scenario where the ship lands a party on an island to take out a Chappe Semaphore telegraph tower, defended by a couple of gun emplacements and a small detachment of French infantry. Still not sure what set of rules I'd use, but I'll keep my eyes open. Capitan is an early candidate, as there is also a set of rules for naval skirmishes, called Gunboat, by the same publisher. I may even come up with my own rules to suit the scenario.

Pirates in September uses a modified version of Legends of the High Seas, which I haven't played, so I can't say how they work, except to say that each ship has a crew of 12 crew; 1 captain, 2 officers, 3 musket armed crew (Royal Marines, in my case) and 6 pistol/cutlass armed crew. To that end, I have been scouring my collection for appropriate figures. The HaT British Marines and Sailors set has some useful figures for, well..., sailors and marines, but no officers. I've used a Kennington metal British infantry officer with a paint conversion as the captain, but he has no pistol, only a sword. I've also converted a Russian staff officer into a midshipman or master's mate by carving off his epaulets and sash, replacing his head and attaching a pared down sabre to resemble a dirk. While he'll make a serviceable junior officer figure, I'm still not convinced with his boots, but I couldn't be arsed trying to convert him any further. I'm currently converting another figure, who'll be the dashing lieutenant, leading the boarding party!

HMS Frolic, still laid up in the dockyard, but with masts installed

Captain and midshipman at the binnacle

Capt. Bertie Bugler on the quarterdeck

Royal Marine in the fighting top

Strelets Russian staff officer...

...and his alter ego as Royal Navy midshipman after conversion

Yaaaarrrrr, matey!

Surprise!...More French Infantry!

Here's the latest 9-figure battalion using the HaT 8095 set as the basis of the Other Ranks. The elite figures come from HaT's expansion sets 8166 and 8167 and the officer is another SHQ officer of Chasseurs of the Guard who has had a head replacement using an officer's head from HaT set 8252. All the elites and the middle march-attack and right hand charging infantrymen have had head swaps, too.

    

Below is the 3 sided movement tray I showed in the previous post. The edges are made from polystyrene foam cut to size and glued to thick cardboard. Once the PVA glue dried, I roughly broke off the foam almost down to the level of the board to a height of a couple of millimetres. Then I painted the whole tray in the same brown shade I use on the figures' bases and flocked the foam once the paint was dry. The paint and the flock matches the figures so that they blend in seamlessly.

They will also be convenient for attaching the unit labels which Andrew S. has created for every unit on the French side in the upcoming Borodino game

Hey Rocky! More French Infantry! - Again?!

Sorry if this is getting boring folks! I've got about 10 more battalions to get through before the Borodino game in January, so expect more of the same for a while. Then French and Italian artillery and Italian and Bavarian cavalry...

This latest battalion uses more of HaT set 8095 and a couple of converted figures from HaT set 8167. The  officer and drummer are Kennington/SHQ metals, with the drummer sporting the wounded head by Lancier Bleu. The eagle bearer is from HaT set 8252 with a head from set 8095, just because I felt the original head didn't suit. I know he's got light infantry hussar-style leggings, but I reckon as the eagle bearer, he's allowed to cut a dash fashion-wise! The two outer figures in the rear row have had head replacements as well. Actually, the officer and the middle-rear figures are the only ones with their original heads!

Joseph Napoleon Regiment - WIP

More work in preparation for Borodino. This time another exotic regiment to add to the IV Corps: The Spanish Joseph Napoleon Regiment. 

These poor saps probably had the longest journey of any unit in the entire Napoleonic Wars (except maybe the Portuguese Legion!). It was formed from the La Romana's Spanish Division which was garrisoning southern Denmark in 1808 (those who failed to escape with the Royal Navy's assistance, anyway, after the outbreak of the Peninsula War). The troops were given the choice of joining a fighting formation or a pioneer battalion. Not surprisingly, enough volunteers were found to form a 4 battalion regiment. While the original idea was to send them to fight in Spain, the realisation that they would probably desert en masse precluded their use there, and instead its 4 battalions were dispersed across garrisons in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany. They saw combat in the 1812 Russian campaign in the IV and I Corps, and then in the 1813 German campaign, being disbanded later in 1813.

I'm using HaT's versatile set 8095 again, with some head modifications, and also SHQ/Kennington command figures.

The grenadier figures have had head replacements, with the original bearskin-clad heads being replaced with heads in shakos, plumes and cords from HaT's Middle Guard set 8167.

The command figures have also had the Frankenstein treatment, starting life as Chasseurs of the Guard. The Officer has a plastic head from HaT's Light Infantry Command set, while the standard bearer has a metal head from an SHQ/Kennington drummer. The flag bearer will be carrying the beautiful flag produced by MS Foy at Prometheus in Aspic

Another couple of figure will round out a nine figure battalion, then I'll start on another one. For Borodino, the battalions will only be 6 figures strong, so they'll probably be amalgamated in one 12 figure unit, rather than 2 tiny battalions.

Grenadier conversion #1

Grenadier conversion #2

Voltiguer

Officer conversion

Flag bearer conversion

Fusilier

More French Cannon-Fodder for Borodino

Here they are, shaded, varnished and based, ready for orders from the Viceroy!

I'm quite happy with the head swaps, though I'm not convinced that my efforts at shako covers warranted the effort. The first try on the march attack figure was the best, but the other two didn't work quite as well.

The whole battalion
(I just noticed the back row aren't in correct order: the yellow pompons should be on the right!)

Elites with head swaps and coloured bands around the top. I didn't bother with the bands around the bottom of the shakos as it  turned out to be too hard. Better to leave them than do a rubbish job!

Voltiguer #1

Voltiguer #2

Grenadier

Rear detail of Voltiguers

Middle row including SHQ officer and modified shakos.

Rear detail

Rear rank march attack figures (in correct order!)

Unmodified figure

March attack figures with head conversions:
left figure with head replacement, right figure with shako cover modification

More French Infantry WIP

Sorry for the lack of variety in my WIP posts of late! I hope you're not all getting sick of seeing French infantry. I've varied this bunch with a head conversion and a couple more figures with shako covers.

SHQ/Kennington officer in covered shako

HaT charging infantryman with home-made Milliput shako cover

Advancing pose with shako cover. It looks a bit more like a turban!

Unmodified march attack figure.

Original guinea-pig for the shako cover experiment.
He featured in an earlier post, but I realised recently that I'd painted him in light infantry colours!

Second march attack figure with head-swap.
The original head looked like he suffered from foetal alcohol syndrome!