Der Alte Fritz Journal

STOP PRESS! British AWI Figures Arrived

2012-02-02T19:38:00.004-06:00

I came home from work today and noticed a rather large and heavy box waiting for me in the front vestibule. I knew in an instant what it was -- the arrival of the British centre company and grenadier company figures from the caster.

Oh sweet monkeys -- these are gorgeous!!!!!!

I don't have time to post pictures this evening, for I'll be sorting figures and assigning stock numbers to each pose. I will post the stock numbers on my Fife & Drum blog tonight. Look for the link in the left side column on this page.

More later, I've got some work to do.

Colonel John Cadwalader - AWI Militia

2012-01-31T19:58:00.007-06:00

Fife & Drum Continental officers (left - original figure) / (right - converted figure)

I have been doing some minor conversions lately, swapping heads from a British light infantry officer's brimmed hat, nattily turned up on the right side, for the tricorned head of a Continental general. I wanted to have a militia officer to command my growing American militia brigade, so I decided to get out the Exacto saw, wire clippers and flat files to do the dirty work.

The two photos above essentially provide a "before" and "after" view of the figures in the conversion cycle. The brigadier general in blue is the standard AC1 mounted general figure from my Fife & Drum range. A militia officer was painted in a blue Continental style coat and included in the little diorama that makes up the command stand. Cadwalader (in brown) has an American Continental drummer added to his base to create more interesting things going on in the stand.

The conversion operation is relatively easy. The first step is to take a fine tooth Exacto saw (from the mitre box set) and decapitate the heads of both figures. Then, I take a flat file and file the torso-neck join flat and then drill a hole into the torso with a pin vise. The same procedure is used on the British light infantry head. Then I cut a small piece of metal rod (offcuts from my North Star spears) and fit it into the hole in the torso. I then fit the head into the pin to make sure that it fits snuggly. Sometimes you find that the head sits too high, so you have to drill a little deeper into the torso piece. Always do the deepest drill hole into the torso - obviously you have more metal to deal with as you don't want to ruin the head.

Once you have a good fit, then place a small dab of superglue into the torso, insert the pin, and glue on the head. At this point you can turn the head a little bit if you so wish. You are now ready to prime and paint your figure.

I am tempted to try this on a whole battalion of figures. I would like to make a 20-figure battalion of Philadelphia Associators (basically trained militia) using Continental torsos and chopping off some more British light infantry heads from the vast supply of NCOs that I ended up with. I can never hope to sell so many NCOs, so this is a good use for the figures.

The whole American Militia Brigade, so far.

The above picture depicts my growing collection of militia units - three so far. I completed the Hanover Associators, shown in the third row with flag, over the weekend and finally had a chance to base them. The unit is comprised largely of firing figures, although I mixed in all 8 of the available militia poses. I think that they all fit together quite nicely.

A solo view of the Hanover Associators - GMB Designs flag and Herb Gundt barn and trees enhance the look of the picture. You can see Colonel Cadwalader in the back ground.

I had a nice militia flag from GMB Designs that I wanted to use - the red Hanover Associators flag. Most militia units probably did not carry standards, but as you know, I sharp looking flag can really enhance the look of a battalion of infantry. I also plan to add a battalion of Lancaster Milita given that one of my ancestors, a Lt. Colonel Edwards, commanded the 8th Battalion of Lancaster Militia, if I recall correctly. In my mind, these fellows will probably look a wee bit more formal than your run of the mill militia, so I will probably have more similarity in poses and coat colors (blue, I suppose).

6th Maryland Regiment - AWI

2012-01-28T23:38:00.004-06:00

6th Maryland Regiment - Fife & Drum Miniatures (click to enlarge).

Here is a picture of the 6th Maryland Regiment in the American Revolutionary War, circa 1777. I wanted a change of pace from painting blue coats, so I selected this unit from a picture in the John Mollo book on AWI uniforms.

I am now up to seven Continental regiments and three militia regiments, having finished the third militia battalion this evening. I want to paint one more militia unit for the brigade. The militia commander will likely be Colonel John Cadwalader of the Philadelphia Associators. They did not fight in the Philadelphia Campaign of 1777, but they did make a big contribution during Washington's Winter campaign at Trenton and Princeton .

I have way too many British light infantry NCOs for some reason, so I am considering lopping off their heads and putting them onto some Continentals marching. Thus the Continentals will have brimmed hats turned up on the right, with a feather in their cap (and they called it maccaroni). I did an experimental figure using one of the Continental mounted officers and a British brimmed hat - it is really turning out nicely, so this gives me the confidence that I can convert a small unit of, say, 20 figures and paint them as one of the Philadelphia Associator battalions. Again, I'm doing this to have some variety in my Continental army.

I will post a picture of the Delaware Regiment tomorrow.

1st Pennsylvania - AWI

2012-01-23T20:16:00.007-06:00

The 1st Pennsylvania Regt. circa 1776. Fife & Drum Miniatures.

I have been busy painting American Continentals at a feverish pace these past few weeks. So much so that it has come at the expense of posting pictures of the finished units. I took a few photos this evening to catch up on the Maryland/Delaware brigade that I've been painting.

I was sort of getting tired of painting Continentals in blue coats and white breeches, so I was looking for something different. The first unit was the 6th Maryland Regiment in grey jackets with green facings. Then I did Hall's Delaware Regiment and made them look more formal than my other Continental units, as befits their reputation for discipline, spit and polish.

A closer view of the regiment, showing the mix of Continental and militia figures from the Fife & Drum range of figures. The flags are copies made from Clarence Harrison's Quindia Studios blog - an excellent source for AWI flags.

My next unit was the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment in Continental service. They wear the green coats, faced in red, with red waistcoats and buff/tan breeches. This is a conjectural regiment because the men never had the opportunity to wear this uniform. As the story goes, the regimental colonel had ordered these nice looking uniforms to be made. They were stored somewhere near New York City and thus captured by the British after Washington's retreat from the city in 1776, before they could be allocated to the 1st Pennsylvania. This unit was basically one comprised of riflemen, so it is more likely that they wore hunting shirts or buckskins.

***********

From Don Troiani's book: "Soldiers of the American Revolution":

"Upon assuming command of the 1st Continental Regiment, Lt. Colonel Edward Hand took great pains to properly equip his riflemen and instill a sense of esprit de corps. New uniforms were ordered from Pennsylvania, in addition to a fine silk standard or color for the senior regiment of the army. The latter was described by Hand on March 8, 1776 as a 'deep green ground, the device a tiger partly enclosed by toils, attempting the pass, defended by a hunter armed with a spear...on a crimson field the motto Domari nolo. Made in Philadelphis from Hand's description, the standard was forwarded to the rifle regiment, arriving in time to be carried during the fall 1776 campaign; this stalwart veteran of Revolutionary service has survived until the present, carefully handed down by descendants of Thomas Robinson (the regiment's third commander), until donated to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission."

The regimental uniforms were to match the colors of the standard: short green coats with scarlet or red facings, with buckskin breeches. However, most of the woolen uniforms sent for the enlisted men were in store at Fort Lee and captured when that post fell on November 20, 1776. Thus most of the men continued to wear their traditional riflemen's dress of linen for the remainder of the fall and winter, while many officers, who had privately purchased their own uniforms, were better clothed for cold weather."

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Be that as it may, I thought that the uniform is one of the snazzier looking ones in the whole war, so I figured that in my little AWI world, the regiment received their uniforms before they were captured by the British.

Here is a picture of the whole "Maryland Brigade" as it is so far:

1st Pennsylvania (front row), Delaware Regt. (second row , left) and the 6th Maryland Regt. (second row, right)

I will post more pictures of the Delaware and Maryland units over the next several days.

Fritz's 300th Birthday (his, not mine) is Coming Soon

2012-01-12T21:32:00.006-06:00

A young Frederick

Whenever January rolls around, I know that it is time to start thinking about the anniversary of Frederick the Great's birthday and make plans for a grand review of the troops on the Marchfeld. For a brief moment I had thought that I had missed His Royal Nibs' birthday, but to my great relief, it is on January 24th so it is not too late to set up the troops and stage the review.

As one might expect, plans are being made in Germany to provide a fete for the Great One's 300th anniversary birthday:

link

So what should I do? Should I stage a review of my 30mm BAR army or one of my smaller Minden Miniatures army?

To assist me in making the decision, I have posted a new poll on the upper left hand corner of the page. The poll will run for 8 days through January 20, 2012. So click on your vote and help me decide.

His Name is Tye

2012-01-08T12:05:00.006-06:00

Lady Emma Cuddleston-Smythe and Tye

OK, we have had Tye in our home for a day now and our family consensus is that we will keep his name at Tye, which is short for Tiberius. He just didn't seem to be an "Archie" to us. It always seems to work that way with pets and their names, the name just kind of seems right and at the time you instinctively know that it is the right name for that particular pet. Hence forever more, Tye will be Tye.

The foster owner dropped him off at our house yesterday morning so that we could meet him and see if we liked him (we had no doubts about that). Tye was a little shy at first and reluctant to enter the doorway to our house. He kept his tail firmly lodged between his legs, showing us that he was a little uncomfortable or uncertain. We gave him tons of hugs and pets and gradually he warmed up to us. At one point, Lady Emma was sitting on the floor and he walked up to her and sat in her lap.

I just kept petting his head, telling him what a good boy he was and then Tye did that "velcro thing" that only Goldens seem to do. He practically attached himself to my leg and would not move. I could see that a dog smile was coming to his face and we were all sure that this would work out. By now, his tail was in full wag mode.

Tye really came to life when we took him out to the back yard and played fetch and retrieve or keepaway with him. He likes to play, as one would expect of a 2-year old dog. He also likes his walks and we did a lot of that yesterday. Later in the evening, I walked with Tye on my regular dog walking route and it really felt good to walk with a dog again. He is very curious, likes to roam from side to side in a figure 8 fashion during his walks. I am sure that gradually he will adjust to my style of walking (more of staying on my left "heel" side rather than roaming back and forth).

We had him sleep at the foot of our bed last night, and to my surprise, when I woke up this morning, he was sleeping "on" the bed. I guess that we will have to get used to that.

Lady Emma enjoys playing with Tye and clearly he adores her as much as she does him. I truly believe that we are blessed to have this wonderful hound come into our lives.

Well, it is off to the forest preserve for another walk and then a trip to Petco to get some supplies and order an identification tag.

Meet The Newest Member of our Family

2012-01-06T19:08:00.003-06:00

Meet Archie, the newest member of our family.

We are truly blessed to have this opportunity to adopt this handsome looking Golden Retriever, named Ti (for Tiberius). This literally came out of the blue from a Golden rescue service, from which we obtained Dave six years ago. We tentatively plan to change his name to Archie.

Archie is a two -year old male and loves to be around other dogs and people, so that will fit in well with our plans to eventually get a second hound in our home later in the year. Archie is very active, as one might expect of a two-year old, and he loves to go on long walks. That's a good thing because both Mrs. Fritz and I like to get our exercise via dog walks.

Archie's owner died several months ago and the owner's spouse couldn't keep him, so he was given up for adoption to our rescue service. They placed Archie in a foster home, along with a German Shepherd. This did not work out very well as the German Shepherd was too aggressive. So Archie was moved to a second foster home, where the foster family already had two Labradors. We are told that all three hounds got along famously. Archie loves to be with other dogs.

Archie was probably a bit traumatized by all of these changes in his life. We were told that he used to carry around one of his former owner's shoes in his mouth, after the owner died. We plan to give him lots of love, tons of play time, and many long walks and hopefully he will know that his journey is over and that he is finally at "home". We sort of feel that the Higher Power intervened to bring this happy go lucky dog into our home. We are all very excited here in Hesse Seewald. Life works in mysterious ways sometimes. For that we are grateful.

The British (Greens) Are Coming!

2012-01-03T20:22:00.008-06:00

British mounted officers, by Richard Ansell. I really like the facial expresssions on these gentlemen, especially the one wearing his hat.

OK, here they are: today I received pictures of the latest sculpts that Richard Ansell just finished and these are real beauties, as one might expect. I am tempted to dribble out a few pictures at a time, but these are just too nice to hold back, so here we go.

The new British army figures include two mounted officers, 4 centre company rank & file, 1 each of centre company officer, standard bearer, NCO and drummer.

Centre Companies Command figures in campaign uniform.

Centre company rank & file in campaign uniform.

Rear view of the rank & file showing (from left to right) blanket roll, tumpline, and two marching variants.

We also have British grenadiers wearing their bearskins: NCO, drummer, 2 marching variants, 1 advancing/at the ready pose, and 1 standing firing pose.

(left to right) NCO, Drummer, and Standing Firing

Two grenadier marching variants and one advancing w/ leveled musket.

I will post front and rear views of everything on the Fife & Drum blog. See link in the left hand column of this page.

The British Grenadiers

2012-01-02T12:01:00.002-06:00

British Brigade of Guards during the American Revolution (the grenadiers with the cap-hats are in the back of the column). Fife & Drum Miniatures painted by Der Alte Fritz.

This morning there was a thread on TMP inquiring about good music to listen to whilst gaming the AWI. One of the selections was The British Grenadiers, which to my ear, is one of the best military songs ever. I don't know how to embed a You Tube thingy into this blog, but if you follow the link below, it will take you to several nice recordings of

The British Grenadiers:

Link

Happy New Year- Good Riddance to 2011

2011-12-31T18:01:00.003-06:00

I finished the month of December with the final two stands of AWI British Light Infantry, bringing the unit up to 48 figures (8 stands of 6 figures), or 480 men at a 1:10 ratio. Adding these to the 40 British Brigade of Guards, also for the AWI period, results in a total of 88 figures painted for the month. That is more or less up to my painting pace in the days of old (several years ago), although it was admittedly helped by having the last 11 days of the year off from work. So make hay while the sun still shines.

I'm trying to think of the wargaming highlights for the year, of which there are many, but few are remembered:

1. SYW - the British army finally defeated the French for the first time in about 5 years, at the Battle of Waldeck!

2. SYW - Golconda Miniatures for the wars in India are first released

3. AWI - Fife & Drum Miniatures go into production

4. Colonial games - played several fun and interesting games set in the 1890s in Bill Protz's General Pettygree campaign.

I'm sure that there are others, but these are the ones that stick in my mind the most.

On the bad side of the ledger, there were a lot of natural disasters going on around the world such as the tsunami in Japan, heavy floods and hurricanes all over the USA, earthquakes and more. May 2012 have fewer natural disasters.

Cheers

Fritz

Frederick the Great

2011-12-30T19:45:00.002-06:00

I just had to post this picture on my blog. :)

However, it costs a cool $379.00 (yikes!). Follow the link if you want more information:

Frederick the Bear

Von Kleist Frei Korps

2011-12-30T18:58:00.002-06:00

Foundry Prussian von Kleist Freikorps figures.

The von Kleist Frei Korps was one of my favorite wargaming units, but it has passed into the service of the Duke of Freiberg awhile back. I still get to see it on the table top from time to time since the Duke and I game together on a regular basis. Over the years I have become less and less enamored with Foundry figures, but I have to say that the von Kleist figures and the Prussian artillery crew (painted in von Kleist green) are pretty darn nice looking figures.

Random ACW Picture

2011-12-29T21:56:00.002-06:00

Confederates from Brockenbrough's Brigade are "A Coming Thru The Rye", or in this case, a corn field made by Herb Gundt of H.G. Walls. Click to enlarge the photo.

Here is a picture taken in 2008 of an American Civil War wargame that I fought (solo), based on one of Charles S. Grant's Table Top Teasers in Battlegames magazine. My ACW collection has since been sold to one of my gaming colleagues who lives nearby. So I can still game with my former figures, but not have to actually own them.

Maybe one day I will start a new Fife & Drum ACW range of figures -- after the AWI range is completed in 2-3 years.

2011-12-29T19:18:00.004-06:00

Gostelowe Flag No. 6 (created by Clarence Harrison)

I want to draw everyones attention to a wonderful link if you need flags for your AWI units. It is Clarence Harrison's "Quindia Studios" blog. (click on the live link at the left in this line).

Clarence has created his own flags that mainly cover various state militia, Continental, and those curious Gostelowe flags. He has also created some "generic" flags that are based on reasonable speculation that follow period conventions (such as using a 13 stripes motif). There are many good flag choices to use in your own AWI units, so I encourage you to visit Quindia Studios and look at what Clarence has to offer on his blog.

Holiday Greetings from Hesse Seewald

2011-12-29T14:54:00.003-06:00

Der Alte Fritz, Mrs. Fritz and their staff wish you a happy holiday season.

The temperature is approaching 50 degrees Fahrenheit today, so it is as if we are having two Novembers this year and one less month of Winter. For that I am very grateful.

I just needed an excuse to post one of my favorite pictures from the vault, so there it is. It reminds me that I will need to get back to painting some new SYW units for our BAR games.

1 x 12 squadron of Black Hussars

5 x 12 Battalion of IR13 Itzenplitz (using Potsdam Figures)

1 x 15 Lieb Garde (using Stadden grenadiers)

And I might even treat myself to the purchase of 60 more Prussian Staddens marching to form a new battalion.

I am currently working on the last two 6-figure stands of AWI British light infantry and then I will train my guns on some more Continentals (Delaware and Maryland brigade)

More AWI British Light Infantry

2011-12-28T17:29:00.002-06:00

Fife & Drum British Light Infantry battalion of 36 figures plus command stand.

I am up to six stands of six figures for my British Light Infantry battalion, or 36 figures, or 360 men at a 1:10 ratio. Eventually the battalion will have eight stands of six figures, or 48 in total. Since that creates a very wide frontage, I might divide the battalion into two "wings" of 24 figures (3 stands each).

Here is the battalion stretched out into one line:

Painting Mojo is up to Ramming Speed!

2011-12-27T12:26:00.004-06:00

I am really cranking out the painted minis today. I nearly have two stands of six figures, or 12 in total, near completion. I'm still working on the AWI British light infantry. These are so easy to paint because they have a minimal amount of equipment, compared to the Continentals. Less equipment = fewer items to paint = faster ramming speed painting.

I really enjoy painting the light and irregular troop figures because of the individuality that each pose has. It is amazing how well Richard Ansell's sculpts look when they are all placed together on a single stand. It is as if he had planned a diorama and that each casting has its place in the overall tableau.

By the end of this week, I will have completed the first battalion of the British Brigade of Guards and the first battalion of the converged light infantry for my AWI British army. With the British line infantry and grenadiers on the foreseeable horizon, I want to get all of the other units painted before they go into production. I would imagine that February and March 2012 will have a decidedly red tinge to it. (January 2012 will see me knocking out a few more Continental and Militia units, because once the new Brits arrive, they will have the priority on the painting table).

The goal is to have a couple or three brigades per side done so that I can host a convention game at the SYWA convention in March 2012 or at Little Wars in April 2012. Time sure does fly when you are trying to paint in front of a convention deadline.

HEY! I just noticed that I hit 100 blog posts today, which was my goal for the year. Now I want to blow past that target and set a new personal record. Is 110 doable? We are also closing in on 200 "Follower" to this blog. If you are a regular visit to this blog, but are not a Follower, then please take a couple of seconds to click on the Follower box in the upper left corner. I would be honored to add new people to my Followers list.

Time to start thinking about what happened in the hobby during 2011. What was the most notable release of new figures (aside from Fife & Drum Miniatures, of course), new rules, new game ideas or anything else that made a difference to the hobby in 2011? Feel free to leave your thoughts and ideas in the Comments section at the end of this posting.

Boxing Day Update

2011-12-26T14:10:00.002-06:00

I finished my third stand of AWI British Light Infantry this afternoon using Fife & Drum Miniatures. The plan is that each stand of six figures will be in different facing colors. So far I have one each of Blue, Green and Yellow, with a White and Orange sitting in the painting que.

I based the third stand this afternoon and will apply the "mud" and fine gravel as the first step in the terraining of the base. We are going to see the movie "War Horse" in a short while, so pix and more will have to wait until this evening. After the movie, I will return with more of an update.

Merry Christmas From Hesse Seewald

2011-12-25T15:24:00.005-06:00

Lady Emma Cuddleston-Smythe extends her Christmas Greetings to all of our visitors at the Der Alte Fritz Journal.

Merry Christmas everyone. We wish everyone good health, good spirits and the best family gathering that one could ever hope for.

Lady Emma woke up the Erbprinz of Hesse Seewald and Mrs. Fritz bright and early at 8AM and bade us to attend the royal opening of the Christmas presents. Since I stayed up until 2:30AM painting AWI British Light Infantry, I was a bit tired and groggy as one might expect. However, 12 ounces of Diet Coke and a piece of warm Stollen found me up to the task of opening the presents.

I received some wonderful gifts, especially a box of artist acrylics and brushes from Lady Emma and a copy of the book "Money Ball", by Michael Lewis, which I have found to be fascinating. I can hardly put it down.

Well, I have to get back to our guests, we have 15 people, all family, at our home for Christmas Day dinner and there is much work left to do.

Merry Christmas to all.

Der Alte Fritz

Stollens & Guards & Lights Danced in my head

2011-12-24T23:22:00.004-06:00

The completed first battalion of British Guards in the AWI, circa 1777.

The British Guards were completed and based on Friday and I put the finishing touches of static grass and Silfor Tufts on the bases before setting up the unit for its photo shoot. I think that they look pretty nifty and ought to scare the socks off of any Continentals that dare to face them in battle.

Next we have a front and back view of the first of the British Light infantry that I finished painting last evening (or early this morning, in actuality). I have decided to put six on each base, with the same frontage as the 8-figure Guards stand shown above. The lights are in a more informal mob of men and I plan to add bits of rocks, trees, fences and tall grass on each of the stands so as to make each stand a mini diorama.

Fife & Drum British Light Infantry (front view)

The rear view of the British light infantry

Finally, after all of this hard work, I decided to give myself a treat and try some of the famous Dresdner Stollen that my friend Stokes Schwartz has been raving about. Mind you, this Stollen was not made by the Grand Duchess herself, but rather it was purchased locally in a sort of "high end" imported food emporium.

A store bought Dresdner Stollen.

I cut off the first piece and munched it down. It was OK, not great. I was a bit disappointed. Then it hit me that I should try warming it up with a little bit of butter spread over the top of the Stollen. That made all the world of difference! I have to admit that this Stollen was pretty good. Now tomorrow, when all of our guests arrive, I will warm up the Stollen AND sprinkle the white confectioners' sugar over the top and I am guessing that the sugar will make it even better. I give this Stollen a thumbs up, if warmed and covered with butter and sugar.

Merry Christmas Everybody! See you tomorrow.

An Enigma Is Solved?

2011-12-23T23:57:00.006-06:00

Colonel Enigma has a run in with the Regulators.

Colonel Enigma, the head of the Gallian Intelligence Service attached to the army in Western Germany, liked to work alone at times. He would don various disguises, from that of a mere peasant, to a Lutheran preacher, or even a Prussian officer. His efforts often paid good results, as his information was usually timely and very accurate. More than one Gallian victory had its roots in the information that Colonel Etienne Enigma delivered to the Gallian army.

Enigma led a charmed life as they like to say. He had many close calls passing through the lines. On one occasion he was disguised as an old hag and had nearly passed through the Germanian checkpoint when he literally ran into Colonel Bauer, his counterpart in the Germanian Secret Service. As both of them tumbled to the ground, Enigma's pistol fell out from under his garments and clattered on the cobblestones of the street. Bauer looked him straight in the eye (and I do mean "eye", because Enigma had lost sight in one eye and always wore an eye patch) and was about to give a shout when a thunder of musketry erupted from the woods. It was Gallian raid behind the lines and it seemed as if every Gallian light troop in the world was erupting forth from the woods.

Colonel Bauer now had more pressing concerns, his safety to be exact, and he dashed out of the street and into livery stable, where a squad of his grenadiers were seeking refuge. In all the excitement, the old hag slipped away, Bauer noting that she had dashed for the cover of the woods. But that is a story for another day.

This evening, General Chevert insisted that Colonel Enigma take Lieutenant Delacroix along with him. Enigma knew that he wouldn't be able to change Chevert's mind. When the general made a decision, he tended to stick to it. So off went Enigma and Delacroix towards Hesse Seewald, or to be exact, to the town of Vach at the eastern end of the Fulda Gap. Chevert needed to know if the Germanians were stirring from their encampments while the Gallian army was stealing a march through the undefended gap.

The trip started out uneventfully. It was a cloudy evening so there would be no moonlight to give them away. Furthermore, the road to Vach was decidedly empty of enemy patrols. Save for one: a squadron of Germanian hussars approached the two Gallians from a side road. They stopped to inspect the two travelers, but when they saw that it was a Prussian colonel and his aide, the hussar captain invited them to travel with them as they were all riding in the same general direction - east.

Enigma kept his cool and carried on a friendly banter with the Germanian hussar officer. Delacroix merely kept his mouth shut, as one might expect of an aide de camp of a Prussian officer. Eventually, the squadron arrived in Vach and the hussar officer bid farewell to Enigma and Delacroix. The hussars peeled off on a road bearing north, leaving Enigma and Delacroix alone once again.

Both men heaved a sigh of relief, especially Delacroix, who was soaked in perspiration. They continued on the road bearing east, passing several Germanian outposts, but still, nobody bothered to stop or challenge them. Well almost nobody.

A couple of miles beyond Vach (and they were now inside Hesse Seewald territory), the still of the night was interrupted by a crisp, clear voice shouting "Halt". Delacroix lost his nerve and kicked his horse with his spurs in an effort to get away. Enigma, who had clearly heard the sound and click of a score of musket firelocks being drawn back, did as he was told. Delacroix had gone no more than ten yard down the road when the night silence was interupted by the flash and thunder of musketry. Delacroix fell to the ground, his body riddled with lead.

The Regulators surround and apprehend Colonel Enigma.

Enigma kept his cool, hoping to talk his way out this pickle, but Delacroix's foolish dash had ruined his chances of doing that. He looked around and could see that he was surrounded, but he could not quite make out the uniforms of these men. They looked military, and yet they did not. Several lanterns were lit and approached . Enigma could make out the Prussian cut of the uniforms, but they were decidedly black rather than blue.

"Your papers please, Herr Colonel", said the large brute who seemed in charge. He was an ugly looking cur, with a scar across his right cheek, and he was a big one too, standing well over six feet tall, by Enigma's estimation. The man looked rather more like a pirate than he did a soldier. He had heard tales of Black Riders raiding behind Gallian lines, spreading fear and destruction where ever they went. Until now, he had not believed these stories, but there they were right before his eyes.

The ugly pirate took a glance at Enigma's identity papers. The brute did not seem to be convinced of their authenticity.

"Get off the horse, Colonel." he barked.

Enigma did as he was told. As long as he stuck to his story, that he was the inhaber of Prussian Kurprinz Regiment, his captors would have to pass him up the chain of command to the point where someone could verify his identity and papers. If he tried to escape, they would kill him on the spot for sure.

"This way Colonel. Follow me," said the pirate. An escort of a dozen or so black uniformed men fell in on either side of Enigma as they marched him off the road. Just ahead of them, he could make out the form of a coach and four parked in the glade beyond. It looked like he would be safe for now, because clearly the captors were taking him over to the coach. No doubt to drive him to some headquarters for further evaluation.

As they entered the glade, he could make out more of the features of his captors as there were more men with more lanterns. There even appeared to be a troop of uhlans. Everyone, foot soldiers, hussars and uhlans were dressed in black...

and as he neared the coach, he could finally see that it too was black, with red trim and a white eagle emblem on the door.

"Mon Dieu", he whispered to himself.

It was that Black Coach.

It's Quiet. Almost Too Quiet!

2011-12-22T23:40:00.000-06:00

The Regulators and that mysterious Black Coach. Black Scorpion Pirates and Marines painted as Lady de Winter's personal body guard of naer-do-wells. The coach and four are from Redoubt Miniatures (ECW range) and a couple of Stadden Black Hussars are checking things out. Coach driver is a one-off special made for me by the very talented John Ray. Click to enlarge... if you dare.

Come on, you just know that these bad boys are going to be showing up fairly soon. They are starting to get a bit annoyed about that little trollope and murderess, Diana Pettygree, traipsing about western Germany on one extended lark with her coterie of ditzy little girl friends. They seem to be totally oblivious to the fact that there has been a major war going on for the past six years.

The Regulators intend to remind Miss Pettygree that life is not all seashells and balloons when there is a war going on. Stay tuned, something BIG is about to happen.

**********

Today's random picture from the past reminded me that I have to increase the size of the Black Legion of Milady de Winter. I bought a couple of packets of Black Scorpion 18th Century Marines a few years ago with the idea of adding another company or two or Regulators (12-15 bad guys to a company). I also have another squadron of Crusader Bosniaks that need to be painted to boost that unit up to two squadrons. We cannot have Milady's guard du corps being outnumbered by the opposition now, can we?

I also thought about finally painting the Martin Hille 30mm Prussians that I bought back in 2005 and adding them as a grenadier guard for Milady. They will have the usual black & red garb, but I might put them in reverse colors and give them red coats, black facings and straw breeches and waistcoats.

Milady will also desire to add some 6-pound horse artillery to her little Black Legion. Word has it that those Frenchies are "on to her" so a little more protection might stand Herself in good stead.

Milady is very unhappy about recent events and attempts to kidnap Miss Pettygree. Someone is tipping off the French about her every move. Someone is going to pay with his or her life, I suspect. The fate of the unfortunate servant, Miss Catherine, will be revealed shortly. As you might recall, she was captured last year during a raid that almost nabbed the pesky Pettygree. It is not a very happy outcome, that is all that I can say for now.

See you tomorrow.

Oh, and be sure to lock your doors and windows tonight - the Regulators are on the prowl.

Lady Emma Cuddleston-Smythe

2011-12-21T23:24:00.000-06:00

Lady Emma, Herself, in 2008.

Here is another random photograph from my collection, showing Lady Emma Cuddleston-Smythe in grenadier kit. She is undoubtedly pleased with having defeated Lord Paddington Bear (Daddy) for the umpteenth time. She might have a future at West Point or Sandhurst one day.

I did not get much done on the painting table this evening, other than block in the blue facings on the AWI British Guards - I have 8 more figures remaining in a unit of 40 figures. These are relatively easier to paint than the Continentals as they have less equipment. These guys are built to travel fast and light.

I also glued some Light Bobs to card board bases in preparation for priming them with grey primer. I always use grey primer for red coats as white results in too bright a color for any warm color. Grey seems to be just right. Then I sprayed 45 of the little fellows just before retiring for the evening. I want to build up an inventory of primed AWI figures to paint over the Christmas holiday. I have the next 12 days off after tomorrow, so hopefully I can really churn out some figures over the period. I would like to finish, say, 40 British Light infantry, 20-24 American Militia, and a converged brigade of Delaware and Maryland troops for a 36 figure brigade.

Random Photos: Gettysburg!

2011-12-20T22:58:00.003-06:00

Union artillery battery on Cemetery Ridge. Click to enlarge.

I thought that I would pick some random photos from my vast and every-growing iPhotos library. These pictures were taken in 2008 on our trip to Historicon. Bill, Randy and I rented a van and hauled all of our big battalion SYW figures and terrain to Lancaster so that we could host a series of games at the convention.

A view of Hauk's Ridge and Devil's Den from the summit of Little Round Top.

I was really amazed at how different the terrain looks after the National Park Service restored this ground to its appearance back in July 1863. This entailed cutting down a lot of trees that had grown in the interim years. What you see in front of you used to be covered by a dense forest of trees. One could not comprehend what it would have been like to see Hood's attack developing because, well ....

You couldn't see anything since it was all obscured by the trees. Interesting, to say the least.

Fort Necessity - another stop on our trip to Pennsylvania.

Der Alte Fritz pays his respects to General Braddock.

Meanwhile, in Hesse Seewald, it has been a balmy Winter so far with little in the way of snow and temperatures in the 40s and 50s F. Now if this can just last through the end of this month, we will have knocked off a month of Winter. I could get used to Winter weather such as this.

See you tomorrow.

The British Brigade of Guards in the AWI

2011-12-20T01:14:00.002-06:00

British Brigade of Guards - Fife & Drum Miniatures (click to enlarge the view)

Here is a quick picture that I am posting before retiring to bed for the evening (actually it is 1:15 AM the next day). It depicts the AWI British Brigade of Guards circa 1777, using my Fife & Drum figures . There is still time to get orders sent before the Holidays are over, so drop me a line if you see any figures that you would like to order.

So far, I have painted 32 figures, based equally on four stands of 8 figures. I have one more stand to paint this week and then the first of two battalions of Guards will be completed. This battalion has the grenadier company attached. The 2nd Battalion will have the Light Company attached. They have the exact same uniform except that the grenadiers have a brass grenade on the cap front plate, while the Light Company has the letters "LI" embroidered on the plate.

We Have Always Governed Ourselves

2011-12-19T20:35:00.004-06:00

I picked up this paperback booklet, by Greg Novak, sometime around 1992 when I was painting my first AWI armies using the very nice Old Glory 28mm figures. This is probably the best source for information about the orders of battle for all of the actions in the Northern Theatre of the American Revolutionary War.

Novak covers each year of the war, starting with the state of the American and British forces, their location/base and their unit strength. From there, he provides orders of battle and regimental strengths for each battle in the North (which I define as from Pennsylvania to all points north of there).

I think that I recall seeing an advertisement that Old Glory has reprinted this book, and the companion work covering the Southern Theatre, with a nice color cover and more up to date fonts that make for an easier read.

If you are starting to research and game the American Revolution (and why wouldn't you now that those wonderful Fife & Drum figures are available), then this is a "must have" book for your library.

The Gremlins Are Gone (for now)!

2011-12-19T18:44:00.003-06:00

I am happy to report that I seem to have solved the broken scanner situation by simply turning off the computer and printers and rebooting the whole darn thing.

I have fallen behind a bit in my quest to blog every day up through Christmas, so I will try to catch up with the weekends events, briefly.

The first three stands of 8 British Guards have been completed and are now based. Pictures to follow, hopefully later this evening. The unit will eventually have 5 stands of 8 figures, for a total of 40 in the battalion. Then there will be a second battalion of the Guards, also at 40. So at 1:10 I will have 800 British Guards in my army.

As an experiment, I painted one Guard ranker in a green coat with white facings, kitted out as one of the Loyalist regiments fighting for Britain. Since very little is known about these regiments or their uniforms, I figured that I could get away with using the Guards casting as a Loyalist soldier. It looks pretty good to me.

AWI: The Guards are Coming!

2011-12-15T22:53:00.002-06:00

Just a short posting this evening as Mrs. Fritz had me loaded up with errands and chores and thus, not a lot was going on down in the Man Cave. I do have a 40-figure battalion of the British Brigade of Guards on the painting table.

Of course I am using my Fife & Drum figures for this unit, noting that no other range of figures in the 25mm to 30mm spectrum offers the correct Guards figures for the AWI. I nearly have the 8-figure grenadier company completed and have made a dent into the first of four centre companies. I hope to get these finished and based by Sunday evening, next, which also happens to be my birthday. Perhaps Mrs. Fritz and Lady Emma will give me some coupons for "painting time" so that I can hunker down in the Man Cave and paint my brains out. We can always hope.

Pennsylvania Battalions vs. Regts. of the Line?

2011-12-14T20:05:00.005-06:00

Fife & Drum Continentals painted as one of the Regiments of the Pennsylvania Line, circa 1777 (at least I think that they are). Click to enlarge the picture s'il vous plait. Fences by Herb Gundt.

I'm looking at my copy of Lefferts' "Uniforms of the War of the American Revolution" to identify regiments of Pennsylvania regiments to paint (using my Fife & Drum figures of course – see above) and I'm wondering what is the difference between:

1) Pennsylvania Battalions (numbered 1 through 6)
2) Pennsylvania State Regiment of Foot (only 1 of these)
3) Regiments of the Pennsylvania Line (numbered 1 through 13)

The Pennsylvania Battalions seem to have been formed in 1776 and were in Continental service. The State Regiment is obviously in State service. I'm inferring that there was some kind of reorganization of all units into new Pennsylvania Regiments of Line in Continental service. Am I on the right track?

So far, I've been using the Mollo book on American Revolution uniforms as my painting guide, but I'm not sure about the veracity of his information though. Lefferts almost gives you too much information (uniforms by the company within a regiment - highly variable). I guess that the point is that the uniforms were not, well, "uniform" within the same regiment.

Recipe for recreating the Continental Regiment shown above - mixing militia and Continentals in the same unit.

The figures used in the regiment pictured above include the following (stands numbered from left to right #1-#5) the numbering within each stand starts with the back row and then the front row

STAND #! (left side of the line)
A23 Continental NCO
A24 Continental Standing Firing
A26 Continental ramming musket
A6 Militia kneeling firing in hat
A5 Militia standing firing in hat

STAND #2
A26 Continental with ram rod
A4 Militia standing firing - hat
A4 (same)
A27 Continental cocking his musket (this is a very versatile pose - I use him in the front and second rank)
A6 Militia kneeling firing- hat

STAND #3 (command stand with flag)
A25 Continental at the ready
A3 Militia advancing - tricorn
A20 Continental officer
A21 Continental standard bearer
A22 Continental drummer

STAND #4
A26 Continental with ram rod
A25 Continental at the ready
A4 Militia standing firing - tricorn
A27 Continental cocking musket
A6 Militia kneeling firing - hat

STAND #5 (right hand side of the line)
A4 Militia standing firing - tricorn
A25 Continental at the ready
A4 Militia standing firing - tricorn
A6 Militia kneeling firing - hat
A1 Militia officer holding sword in both hands

COMMAND STAND
AC1 Mounted Brigadier General pointing
A1 Militia officer standing, holding sword in both hands (he works equally well as a Continental or Militia officer)

Continental Firing Line

2011-12-13T23:55:00.001-06:00

Fife & Drum Continental firing line using both Continental and Militia figures. As you can see, very few of the muskets extend beyond the edge of the base. This protects the figures from wear and tear breakage. Click or double click to enlarge the pix.

Here is a picture of the Continental firing line regiment that I completed over the weekend last. I used a mix of Continentals (13 figures) and American Militia (12 figures) to achieve a more diverse selection of poses and add more different types of coats and headgear. The goal was to depict a regiment that had recently recruited a lot of new men, who had not yet received their uniforms and other regimental equipment.

I was sorting figures to create a couple more American units: one militia and one Continental, to prime and paint over the upcoming holiday period. I like to place them on their stands so that I can figure out how best to mix up the poses on each stand. Once I have a layout to my liking, I take a sheet of paper and make a quick map of the regiment showing where each specific figure will be placed. Otherwise, I would forget where they belong.

Next in the painting queue: militia firing line (front) and Continentals marching (rear)

In the picture above, note the Continental unit in the second line and how it is split into two groups (2 stands and 3 stands). I am experimenting with the idea of painting a large 36-figure "brigade" rather than a regiment. Each regiment would have two stands of six or twelve total figures. One regiment would be the small Delaware Regiment (12 figures) and two more 12 figure units of Maryland regiments. Combined, they would comprise the "Maryland Brigade". So the Delawares could be painted in a more formal blue coat/red facings/white small clothes; one of the Maryland regiments could have grey coats and green facings and a third regiment could have anything else. Maybe even red coats.

Four regiments of Continentals have been painted so far (plus two more militia battalions).

The picture above depicts either a brigade of four regiments or two brigades of two regiments. I will probably increase the brigades to three regiments temporarily, with the ultimate goal of four regiments. There is also the militia brigade that I am working on. I figure that I can finish a total of 9 battalions of Americans in time for a game at the next SYWA convention. The British will have a battalion of Guards and Lights plus some Hessian regiments (using my Minden Prussians as fill ins until I can paint more regiments of British line troops).

Good Bye, Dave

2011-12-12T18:37:00.006-06:00

Dave - picture taken one week ago.

Today we finally had to put Dave down. Anne called me at work this morning and told me that he was limping badly with both front legs and feared that he might have fractured his leg, due to weakness of the bone from his bone cancer. A trip to the vet confirmed that we both agreed that it was Dave's time.

I regret that I could not be with Dave at the end, but with the amount of pain that he was probably having, it wasn't fair to Dave to prolong the inevitable any longer. We did the right thing. God bless you Dave- I will miss you every day.

Dave enjoying last winter's mega-snow storm with 24 inches of snow - January 2011.

So in the span of one month, we have had to put down both of our dogs. Don't feel sad, I am grateful for having Dave in our lives. We adopted him six years ago from a Golden Retriever rescue organization called "As Good As Gold" and we feel most fortunate that his previous owners were willing to give up Dave and let him be a part of our family. Rejoice in Dave's life, don't be sad. He had a lot of fun in life and he absolutely adored my wife Anne, following her everywhere she went. Farewell Big Guy.

Gremlins - They're Everywhere Rico!

2011-12-11T23:32:00.003-06:00

Technology seems to have my number today. I still can't get my scanner to work, I guess that the software when "kablewee!" and it shuts down everytime I try to start it up.

Then on top of that, I had set up a photo shoot of my newest AWI Continental regiment, turned on the camera, and then the camera automatically shut off because the battery was too low. So while I sit at my computer this evening, trying to squeeze in today's blog report before midnight, the battery is still recharging, so no pictures today.

We went to the Christmas Pageant at church today and it was fun watching all of the little children dressed up like angels, animals, shepherds, etc. Everyone in the congregation sang Christmas songs in between the telling of the Christmas story through scripture. After that, we high tailed it 90 miles to the west to visit the dog breeder that we are working with to secure our next generation of hounds. There are some real cuties in the current litter, but we have a dog, maybe two, reserved for the next litter that will be available in March 2012. We got to meet the bitch (haven't you always wanted to say that without getting into trouble?) who will produce our pup(s) in March. She looks very bright, alert and intelligent and very loving to boot. We are happy with our choice, especially Lady Emma. She and I are working on Mrs. Fritz to give us the OK to get two dogs. Lady Emma will get to name the female (she seems to have settled on the name Angel) and Mrs. Fritz and I will name the male. Herself immediately ruled out military names such as Napoleon, Wellington, Wellsley, Picton and Fritz.

Mrs. Fritz just came into the office to see what I was up to and after reading this, she said,

"I think that I want to go with Chester."

It sounds like her resistance is weakening. Hehehe.

A little while ago, I pulled some Fife & Drum figures from inventory and started sorting them out to create a couple of new militia regiments and another regiment of Continentals. I like to set them up on the wooden bases so that I can see how the various poses will look together. Then when I have the look that I'm looking for, I take out a pad of paper and sketch a diagram of each base so that I will remember which figures go onto which base once they are all painted and ready to go.

My next unit on the painting table is 40 AWI British Guards. My goal is to get them completed by next Saturday. It will be a tight schedule, but I think that I can pull it off in good style.

See you tomorrow, as I continue "The Twenty Blogs of Christmas". My camera will be recharged so I should have some AWI pictures to post. I promise.

The Case of the Mysterious No. 181

2011-12-10T16:07:00.002-06:00

For the past several days, I've noticed something kind of funny going on with the "Followers" gadget that you see in the upper left corner of my blog. It seems that every other day, the number of Followers changes from 180 to 181 and then back to 180 and then up to 181...

So my message to Mysterious Follower Number 181, please feel free to drop in from time to time and see what is going on. I'll keep the back door open and the light on. :)

Last night, or actually early this morning, I stayed up to nearly 3AM working on my next regiment of Continentals (blue coated firing line). I put on a few Christmas CDs and nursed a Diet Lime Coke through the early morning hours while I painted. I nearly completed the unit, save for some black and flesh highlighting and a dab of gold paint on a couple of the officer figures, but then an ounce of common sense kicked in and I tumbled off to bed (probably around the same time that Stokes was waking up over at Stollen Central, according to his blog entry for today).

I completed the Continentals and just finished applying the spackle and fine grit to the bases. After the spackle dries, I will then apply a coat of dark ink, let the ink dry, and then dry brush some light flesh over the dark bases. Flesh color really looks good when used for ground effects. Try and see if you like it. I hope to have a picture of the Continental firing line up later this evening, around midnight Chicago time.

I'm off to the store to pick up a trunk full of fire wood. It is darn cold at 20F degrees and we will want to have a nice warm fire tonight.

Tomorrow, we visit a breeder to look at their current litter of Golden Retriever pups, just for fun. We still plan to get a pup or two in the Spring. Dave and I took a nice walk a little while ago. I just let him lead the way and gave him all the time he wanted for sniffing at scents and what have you. Mrs. Fritz is cooking him some chicken and veggies for dinner tonight.

The Brigade of Guards in the AWI

2011-12-09T19:23:00.003-06:00

British Guards figures from Fife & Drum Miniatures. Painted by Ye Olde Tarleton.

Let's get back to talking about miniatures today, as I shamelessly plump for orders of my Fife & Drum range of AWI miniatures. Today's topic: the British Brigade of Guards in North America during the American Revolution.

The Guards figures were the very first ones that I had Richard Ansell work on, for several reasons. First, nobody else makes them in the 25mm to 30mm spectrum of figure sizes; and secondly, they look pretty cool, especially the flank company soldiers wearing a cap with a front plate. Again, nobody else makes these figures.

So here is what is available in the range so far:

B10 Guards Officer marching, carrying fusil

B11 Guards Centre Co. Drummer, marching

B12 Guards Centre Co. NCO marching

B13 Guards Centre Co. ranker, marching

B14 Guards Centre Co. standing firing

B15 Guards Centre Co. cocking his musket

B16 Flank Co. NCO (wearing cap), marching

B17 Flank Co. ranker (wearing cap), marching

I have been giving some thought as to how I will organize and use the British Guards in my AWI army. I was going to show you a scan of the cover of "We Have Always Governed Ourselves" Campaign Book #7, The War of Independence in the North by Greg Novak, but my scanner just crashed and it won't restart. Grrrrr!

Anyway, here is Novak's information (page 24-25):

"It was to have an overstrength infantry battalion with a grenadier company of 120 men, drawn from the 8 grenadier companies of the guards, 8 line companies of 93 men and a light company of 96 men. Since the Guards did not have any light companies at the time, the men of this company were drafted from all seven battalions. Two musicians, 8 NCO's and 3 officers completed each company, with a battalion headquarters for the entire force including (Brigade Commander, Quartermaster, Sergeant Major, Surgeon, Chaplain, Adjutant, Major, Drum Major and 3 Surgeon Mates. (By my count, that works out to a full strength of 1,101 men of all ranks.)

While the grenadier and light infantry companies were drawn from all of the said companies of the Guards, the line companies, with one exception were drawn from a single battalion. The first, second and third battalions of the First Guards furnished men for the first, second and third Line Companies, respectively. The first and second Battalions of the 3rd (Scots) Guards make up the 5th and 6th companies, while the 2nd (Coldstream) Guards, true to their tradition of not following the 1st Guards, had their first and second battalions make up the 7th and 8th Line Companies. The remaining company, the 4th, was known as the "Brigade" Company as drafted into it were 60 men from the 1st Regiment, 27 from the 2nd Regiment, and 17 men from the 3rd Regiment."

(skipping a few lines)

"Howe had its makeup changed on arrival at Staten Island into two battalions. The first battalion had the Grenadier Company and the 1st to 4th Line Companies, and the 2nd battalion had the Light Company and the 5th through 8th Line Companies. Trained in Howe's tactics, a quick complaint from the Guards was that with only 3 officers per company of 90 odd men, command control problems quickly became evident."

*******

Somewhere on the Internet you can find a web site for The Company of Military Historians that features a detailed history of the Guards Brigade in American and the uniform modifications that they made. Ah, here it is -- click on the words "Guards Uniforms" below. The link takes you to a terrific article that describes the Guards uniform changes for service in North America.

http://www.military-historians.org/company/journal/guards/guards.htm

Guards Uniforms

The most readily recognizable changes are the shortening of the coat, the removal of all of the lace from the coat and a major modification of the cocked hat. The hat was trimmed down in the back and sides and a front plate was added (from the left over felt or new material?) to create a sort of jockey style cap. The bayonet waistbelt was stored, and the bayonet was hung from the cartridge box instead. Trousers and half gaitors replaced breeches, and the blanket roll replaced the knapsack. Finally, a wooden barrel style of water canteen (it looks like the mini cask that a mountain rescue St. Bernard dog would have).

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

OK, so at 1:10, we are looking at a battalion at full strenght of 110 figures in two ranks. This is obviously too big for even my large wargame table. The solution is to divide each battalion into two "wings". Novak gives a battalion strength of 851 rank and file and 31 officers at the start of the 1777 campaign. The Guards were a part of Howe's army that traveled to Philadelphia by sea (actually, they traveled to Head of Elk and then fought their way into Philadelphia). Still, 882 men or 88 castings divided into two battalions gives us 44 figure battalions. At the start of the 1778 campaign, Novak lists both Guards battalions as having 18 officers and 435 rank and file. That equates to 45 figures.

I am going to arbitrarily decide that the actual campaign strength of both battalions would be closer to 400 men of all rank. Thus I would have two 40 figure wargame units. One battalion will have a stand of grenadiers and the other will have a stand of light infantry. Each battalion will have 5 companies (1 x grenadier or light+ 4 line companies), with each stand of 8 figures representing a company. Now there is no reason to depict companies in most rules, particularly so in my own AWI rules called "Sons of Liberty". It is just that it is CONVENIENT to have a stand represent a company.

So there you have it. I will have two Guards battalions in my British AWI army consisting of 4 centre company stands of 8 figures and one flank company stand of 8 figures. By the way, the only difference between the grenadier and light flank companies is that the grenadiers have a brass grenade emblem on the front plate and the light infantry have the letters "LI" embroidered on the front plate.

*****

Here is a "recipe" for a sample Guards company in the marching poses:

1 x B10 Officer

1 x B11 Drummer

1 x B12 NCO

5 x B13 Rank & File Marching

A company in a firing pose:

1 x B12 NCO Centre Co. (place in the front rank)

3 x B15 Centre Co. cocking musket (place in the front rank)

4 x B14 Centre Co. firing musket (place all firing figures in the second rank)

A flank company marching:

1 x B16 NCO Flank Co. (cap) marching

1 x B11 Centre Co Drummer (hat)

6 x B17 Flank Co. rank & file marching (cap)

(you could also add the B10 officer pose if you like)

I hope that you have found this information to be of interest, and I look forward to seeing lots and lots of Guards units on wargame tables soon.

Best regards,

Der Alte Fritz (Jim)

PS. Dave thanks all of you for your nice comments. He is very grateful for your thoughts and prayers.

Good Old Dave - A Farewell

2011-12-08T20:02:00.004-06:00

David J. Dog, or as we like to call him, just "Dave"

A month ago we had two hounds in our home, old Katie (age 15) and the younger pup Dave (age 11). As you may recall, we had to put Katie down less than 4 weeks ago. There was some comfort in the fact that we had Dave to keep us company. But Life had other plans for Dave - we discovered that he has bone cancer in his front left leg. So in the span of one month, we face losing both of our beloved hounds.

Dave had developed a limp during the summer and the initial diagnosis was arthritis in his knees. Anti-inflammatories seemed to be working and the limping subsided. Then, about a week before Katie passed away, Dave's limp returned, even more pronounced. Another vet visit and the same diagnosis. However, Dave did not improve. So Anne took him back to the vet one more time this past monday, and new x-rays revealed the presence of tumors in his legs.

We were told that either the leg would have to be amputated, or if the cancer had spread to his torso, then he would have to be put down. On wednesday, a visit to a Vet Oncologist gave us a prognosis of 1 to 3 months if we did nothing, maybe 6 to 9 months if Dave had radiation therapy, and several other "in between" options.

I can't see Dave having a very good life with only three legs, and we don't want to take "heroic measures" to prolong his life. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy might add several months to his life, but at a prohibitive financial cost. So now we are monitoring him, administering pain killers, and sort of figuring out when to put Dave down. The greatest concern is that the bone cancer weakens his leg bone and it could easily fracture if there is too much activity. That would result in putting him down immediately if he breaks his leg.

For now, Dave seems rather happy and cheerful and he is able to walk around the house without too much strain. It seems too early to put him down now. I don't want to wait too long, nor do I want to have it done before it is necessary. We will probably try one round of chemotherapy and see how that affects him. If he could handle it, then we would do this for several more weeks. If the chemo makes him too sick, then that would be the end of that.

We hope that Dave will be with us at least through Christmas and we are gradually entering the 'acceptance' phase of the grief cycle. We expected Katie's demise, but we really did not see this curve ball coming. That is what makes it so shocking and painful. The oncologist said that Dave is in pain, but that Goldens want to please their humans so much that they will hang on longer than most breeds.

As long as Dave is bright eyed and bushy tailed, we will cherish his remaining days. He is such a good fellow. These are sad times, but we are taking great joy from Dave's presence each and every day. Day by day until the time is right. I guess that we will know when that is.

*****

Tomorrow's posting will undoubtedly be more upbeat and less of a downer. We shall persevere. Coincidentally, we had scheduled a visit to a Golden Retreiver breeder this weekend to find a replacement for Katie. The plan for now is to hold off on a new dog until Spring.

More of Fritz's Painting Table

2011-12-07T19:37:00.004-06:00

Thing are quite a mess on my painting table - it feels as if Burnham Wood is closing in on me. Fife & Drum Continentals are in the foreground and the Guards Brigade figures in red are behind them. The black bits to the left are Front Rank wagons in primer. A nifty Eureka French 8-pdr is seen on the right.

I am almost ashamed to show you the mess that is on my painting table this evening. It is hardly in tip top Bristol Shape, as you can tell. Several weeks ago, I had cleared things off and made the surface a bit more tidy. However, like MacBeth watching Burnham Wood gradually creep closer and closer, so too do various bits and pieces of partially painted figures start to clog things up.

In the center of the table, you can see the Fife & Drum Continental firing line regiment that I am working on. The dozen uniformed figures in the center are nearly completed and I will shortly start to work on the militia figures to their right. I plan to include the militia in the regiment in order to depict new recruits who did not yet get uniforms or other bits of equipment.

Behind the Continentals, you may spot the red coated beginnings of my Brigade of Guards. The strength of this unit at Brandywine was around 800-900 men. At a 1:10 ratio of figures to men, that would translate to 80 or 90 figures. Yikes! The plan is to paint that many, but then divide them into two "wings" as the regiment likely was in practice.

Off in the distance, one might spot some black Front Rank 18th Century wagons that have been primed and are awaiting a coat of Austrian yellow ochre paint for my SYW Austrian army. Behind them are some casualty stands in black primer, mounted on 1-inch diameter circles. There is a lot going on at the table.

Fife & Drum Continental drummer.

Above you can see a close up of a Fife & Drum Continental drummer clothed in reverse colors with a red coat and blue facings. I really like the way that he turned out. In fact, I'm considering painting one of the "additional regiments" that were recruited in 1777 to augment the existing state and Continental regiments in Washington's army. Several of these sported red coats, probably captured from British stores. Eventually, they would have dyed the cloth brown.

On The Painting Table

2011-12-06T21:18:00.002-06:00

I have a couple more AWI units primed and ready to go on my painting table this evening. The first one will be a regiment in firing line poses using a mix of Fife & Drum Continentals and Militia. According to one of my friends in the UK, it was not uncommon for new recruits to join the regiment and sport their own civilian clothes for awhile. Supplying new uniforms for a regiment was a hit and miss sort of thing.

I was also looking at one of the Lefferts Plates on AWI uniforms today, and it looks like one of the Connecticut regiments had no lapels. So this means that I could use my militia figures for this regiment. I don't recall the number, but it had a brown coat, red cuffs and collar, brown waist coat and buff breeches.

Finally, I painted a drummer for my blue Continental firing line battalion and decided to go for the reverse colors look. So this fellow has a red coat and blue facings with buff breeches and a white waistcoat. Let me tell you that he looks very spiffy. So this had me scurrying to my Mollo book to look at some of the Continental regiments that wore red coats. I have a feeling that I will be adding a red coated unit of Continentals very soon.

Another idea, I'm generally painting units of 20/24/30 figures at a 1:10 ratio. Late in 1777, my chosen year for this project, there were many BRIGADES that had no more than 300 men, much less regiments of that size. So when I get ready to paint the Maryland Brigade, my thought is to paint three or four stands, each having different uniforms. The stands will all be labeled as the Maryland Brigade so that the gamer will know that each stand is part of the same unit. I'm looking forward to trying this idea out.

More tomorrow. By the way, I try to post at least 100 messages each year, and as you can see from the blog archives for 2011, I am way short of the required 100, so I expect to be blogging every day between now and Christmas. So see you tomorrow - I'll have some pictures up on the blog by then.

Leuthen Day: December 5, 1757-2011

2011-12-05T23:17:00.004-06:00

The army parades its standards under the approving eye of Der Alte Fritz after the Battle of Leuthen on December 5, 1757.

I can not let this day pass without reminding our Austrian friends that this is the anniversary of Frederick II's incredible victory over three times the number of Austrians as Prussians.

My Prussian army has been reduced by attrition from a peak of 20 battalions to the following core mainstays:

IR5 Alt Braunschweig

IR6 Grenadier Garde

IR12 Alt Darmstadt

IR15/II Second Battalion of the Garde

IR18 Prinz von Preussen

IR19 Margrave Karl

IR20 Bornstadt

IR24 Schwerin

IR34 Prinz Ferdinand

IR49 Diericke Fusilier Regiment

19/25 Heyden Grenadier Battalion

5/20 Grenadier Battalion

N/A Jager Battalion

CR2 Gelbe Cuirassiers

CR8 Seydlitz Cuirassiers

CR10 Gensdarmes (cuirassiers)

CR13 Garde du Corps (cuirassiers)

DR2 Jung Krakow Dragoons

HR2 Zieten Hussars

HR5 von Ruesch Hussars

N/A Bosniak Lancers

3 x 12 pd Brummers

2 x 12 pd cannon

2 x 6pd cannon

2 x 6pd horse artillery

4 x 3pd battalion guns

Perhaps peace will one day descend on Central Germany.

1st Pennsylvania - Fife & Drum Figures

2011-12-05T00:49:00.002-06:00

I completed my third regiment of Continental units for my AWI project, which will join the two militia units previous painted. This time I chose another brown-coated regiment from the state of Pennsylvania: the 1st Pennsylvania.

To differentiate it from the 3rd PA Regt., I chose action or firing line poses instead of the march attack pose used in the other regiments. The results can be seen above (please click the picture to enlarge).

I really like the way that this regiment turned out. I included four of the militia figures from the Fife & Drum range. Can you find them in the picture?

Next on the painting table is a similar Continental regiment in blue coat with red facings and buff breeches. I painted the drummer in reverse colors, so the coat will be red and the facings will be blue. I completed the drummer figure this evening, and wow, does he ever look good!

I would like to increase the American army to about 8 battalions by the end of December, afterwhich, the British line and grenadier figures should be ready and so I will switch to red coats in January and February. The goal is to have enough regiments painted in order to host a small AWI wargame at this year's SYW Assn. convention in South Bend.

I am really stoked about this range! I am gathering information on the artillery branch so that my equipment sculptor can work on some 6-pdrs and 3-pdrs for the British, and 3 and 6 pounders plus a galloper gun (4-pdr) and perhaps a "grasshopper" gun and a limber. So in conjunction with the equipment sculpting, I will have Richard work on the artillery crew and limber horses for the range the next time that I am in the queue. So I would expect that around June or July of 2012, I should have nearly all of the basics in the range that one would need for AWI wargaming.

The Game's Afoot! Kleine Krieg Tomorrow.

2011-12-02T22:08:00.006-06:00

The Regulators will be searching for Lady Pettygree tomorrow!

Tomorrow morning I will be traveling to Brown Deer for our Fourth Annual Light Troop Game at Chez Protz. This year's event features three games: Russians in Persia, French & Indian War, and Lady de Winter's perpetual attempt to capture Lady Diana Pettygree.

Apparently, Lady Pettygree and her gaggle of ditzy friends are flouncing about the countryside looking for places to have a picnic. As usual, she has an escort that is armed to the teeth. All of this makes her suspect in the eyes of the dark overlord back in Brandenburg. I mean, why is an English woman cavorting all over western Germany, at will, with a large bodyguard of French troops?

She must be a spy. In fact, there are rumors that she killed the Duke of Saxe Gotha whilst they were taking a romantic stroll through the Gotha-wald on a warm summer day. The poor Duke somehow took a tumble into the Trummelbach Gorge. Lady Pettygree was nowhere to be seen.

Ever since, it has been the mission of a certain lady who travels in a black coach to find and apprehend that little scamp, Lady Pettygree. And who exactly is it that travels in the black coach?

Why none other than:

Lady de Winter, the Black Rider, and the Regulators.

Come back tomorrow for a report on the day's events. Mwwhahahahahaha!

New Book About Frederick the Great

2011-12-01T20:57:00.002-06:00

There was an announcement on TMP the other day about a new book on Frederick the Great. It has tons of color pictures and is available in both English and German. While many of the artifacts pictured come from the post SYW period , say, circa 1780, the book does appear to have all the goods that would make it worth the high price at EUR129.90. Click on the link below to see sample pictures:

http://www.militaria.at/Book.aspx?book=2587200&Language=de

The text below is copied from the Verlag Militaria web page.

Frederick the Great The Uniforms of the Prussian Army under Frederick the Great from 1740 to 1786

Available as of end of November 2011
About the book
824 pages (linen bound with a protective cover, it comprises two volumes in a slipcase), ca. 1500 colour photographs and illustrations, Format: 29.5 cm x 26 cm
The authors
Daniel Hohrath, with additional contributions from Judith Zimmer and Elisabeth Boxberger
Price
€ 129,90
ISBN
978-3-902526-51-9 (English) 978-3-902526-50-2 (German)
Content
This work represents a new basis for the study of the Army of the Prussian King Frederick the Great; it is an indispensable standard work for anyone interested in the military and cultural history and the crafts of that era. It depicts the uniforms of an army whose military successes laid the foundation for the rise of 18th century Prussia as a major European power, and which, like its royal commander became the military ideal for all of Europe. Their particular style and the grandeur of their equipment were widely copied, and – uniquely for that day – collected by Frederick’s successors for posterity. The result of those efforts is the world’s best collection of 18th century uniforms, now in Berlin’s Deutsches Historisches Museum, located in the old Royal Arsenal, the Zeughaus. Here, for the first time, all of the more than 200 items are presented and described individually and in detail, with high quality colour photographs and precise measurements. Many of these original pieces were previously unknown, or had been seen only in drawings or poor quality old photographs. Supplementing these illustrations are photographs of items from other European collections. The total of some 1500 photographs shows an almost complete series of fusiliers’ and grenadiers’ caps, along with such items as cuirassiers’ coatees and hussars’ dolmans, sabretaches, caparisons, cartridge boxes and hats. There are also several uniform coats, including one worn by King Frederick himself. In addition, this work includes a complete reproduction of the Lace Pattern Book of 1755, a manuscript containing the original embroidery and braid patterns of over 100 Prussian regiments, which is kept at the Deutsches Historisches Museum. Finally it contains reproductions of the portraits of a large number of Prussian Army officers of the Seven Years’ War period, many of them previously barely known; most are from the Field Marshals’ Hall of the Prussian Military Academy in Groß-Lichterfelde. Also shown are drawings and black-and-white photographs of items from the old Zeughaus Collection that have since been lost. The text includes explanations of the uniforms and their development, and short histories of each regiment in the Old Prussian Army. It is prefaced by historical essays on the Army of Frederick the Great and the history of the Zeughaus Collection, and includes an in-depth examination of the materials, designs and production methods of the uniforms and trimmings, from the point of view of modern textile conservation.

Dad, Do You Know Anything about the French & Indian War?

2011-11-30T20:20:00.004-06:00

Hochkirch Church and the Alter Fritz Gasthaus. This has nothing to do with the French & Indian War, but I wanted to try out my scanner. Picture taken in 1994 on the Duffy Tour.

So my wife and daughter come home this evening from a school outing and Herself announces that it is time for Lady Emma Cuddlestone-Smythe to do her homework. Herself asks me, "Do you know anything about the French & Indian War? It's part of Lady Emma's homework assignment for this evening."

Do birds know how to fly? Do cheetahs know how to run fast? Here was a hanging curveball just waiting to be belted into the grandstands for a home run.

"Why yes," said I, "I happen to know a little bit about the F&I War."

I knew that my response was going to put me in charge of homework this evening, but this time I didn't care, in fact, I wanted to help. So Lady Emma sat down at the kitchen table and I got out a place mat so that we'd have a firm writing surface and not scratch the antique pine table. The mat also happened to have a map of the world on it.

So I took a look at the homework assignment and discovered that it had nothing to do with the French & Indian War, well at least not directly. The topic was merchantilism and the trade triangle between Britain, the American Colonies and the West Indies or Africa. Lady Emma had to determine whether certain historical events benefited the Colonies or Great Britain. Easy enough.

For a warm up exercise, I had Lady Emma point out geographic places: Britain, the Colonies, Mexico, Africa, China and the Indies. I wanted to make sure that she had the geography down pat. Then I went to the pantry and hauled out a bottle of molasses, a bag of sugar, some cotton balls from the medicine cabinet and a cloth table napkin. I had Lady Emma identify where each of these items might have come from. She didn't get many of them correct, but we quickly reviewed how sugar and molasses originated from the West Indies, cotton from the Southern Colonies, and cloth, buttons and nails came from Britain.

I then told her to imagine that we owned a farm in Pennsylvania (where my ancestors came from) and we were growing corn and raising sheep for wool. Our cousins in Virginia were growing tobacco and my other cousins were merchants living in Boston. We then worked through how the raw materials were harvested or extracted in the New World and sent to the Old World for processing into finished goods. At this point we would move the props (cotton balls, sugar, etc) around the map from the place of export to the destination.

In this manner, Lady Emma began to understand how the flow of trade occurred during the 18th Century. Most of the homework assignment covered the trade triangle and the Navigation Acts and various other tax acts imposed on the Colonies by Britain. Lady Emma then asked me,

"Dad, why do I have to buy rum and molasses from Britain when I can buy it directly from the West Indies?"

I was so proud to see the light bulb turn on inside her head. She was able to understand why the American Colonies were so upset with British trade policy and how that could lead to ill feelings for the Mother Country, which eventually manifested itself in the American Revolution. I think that I just might make a good history teacher.

As a sideline, we briefly covered the age old dispute between England and France and how it was naturally transported across the pond to Canada and the Colonies. Lady Emma began to see how valuable the colonies were to France and Britain and why they might start a war over control of the North American territories.

OK now, back to painting American Continentals. We have a war to fight.

I trust that in the near future, the homework will actually cover the F&I War, but I am confidant that Lady Emma understands some of the underlying reasons for the war.

1st & 3rd Pennsylvania Regiments - AWI

2011-11-28T01:01:00.005-06:00

3rd Pennsylvania Regt. circa 1777 - Fife & Drum Miniatures painted by Der Alte Fritz.

I have been working on this unit of Fife & Drum Continentals in brown coats for several weeks now. My painting mojo seems to have returned and so I finished the unit over the long Thanksgiving weekend and managed to get them based as well. I think that I like them better than the blue regiment that I painted several months ago.

Here is the start of my next AWI regiment - the 1st PA Regt. with green facings and red button lace. The whole regiment will use the Fife & Drum firing poses and mix in a few militia figures for variety. I really like the way these figures all fit together in their poses, as capably demonstrated in this picture.

Saturday evening I sat down at the painting table and tucked into my next regiment of Continentals - the 1st PA in green facings with red button lace. I wanted to use all of the action/firing line figures in the regiment to see how they would look together. This is a little bit of "thinking outside of the box" as these particular figures lend themselves well to skirmish stands (as shown in the round stands in the back ground).

For this unit, I set the figures closer to the back of the stand so that a minimal amount of the musket or bayonet is extending over the front edge of the stand. I always find that having all of the firing figures pointing off in at least a 30-degree angle prevents them from poking the stand in front of them in the rear, should you chose to form them into a march column. Just for grins, I added a militia man wearing a brimmed hat to this stand to add some extra variety to the poses. I am really excited about how good this stand looks and will be eager to finish the unit by the end of this week. I am painting six figures at a time (one stand) from start to finish, rather than going my normal "assembly line" routine for all 30 figures.

Fife & Drum mounted officers and standing militia officer painted as a Continental. Fencing, corn field and trees were made by Herb Gundt of H.G. Walls.

And finally, I got around to basing some of the general figures that I painted several months ago, as shown above. The brigadier general is on the round stand and the regimental commander is on the rectangular stand. I added the Fife & Drum militia officer to the brigadier's stand for composition purposes. It looks as if the mounted general is pointing to something in the distance and the dismounted figure is looking in the same direction. In the near future (i.e. probably during 2012) I plan to add personality figures for both British and Americans as well as a couple new horses.

Fife & Drum Continentals

2011-11-26T16:48:00.003-06:00

I have been working on a unit of Continentals in brown coats with white facings, and they really turned out nice! I almost like them better than the unit in the traditional blue coats with red facings. I will post pix this weekend, but wanted to provide a quick update. The painting mojo seems to be coming back. It's a good thing.

Next on the table: several companies of British Guards for the AWI, at least I want to think that they are next. I had a couple extra Continentals and started painting them as the 3rd Pennsylvania regiment (buff or tan breeches/white waistcoat/brown coat with green facings and red lace on the button holes). I finally found a color that I like for the traditional "Continental Tan" that many regiments (or at least the senior officers) wore. It is Howard Hues "Geo Hex Tan". However, I may have to mix my own highlight color, but now that I have the shade that I like, mixing the highlight is easy peasy.

The Battle of Lago Bosco in 1810

2011-11-20T20:13:00.012-06:00

A company of Royal Horse Artillery go into battery near the village of Lago Bosco, near the Spanish-Portuguese border, circa 1810. Click pix to enlarge the view.

On November 19, 2011 we played the inaugural battle in der Alte Fritz's new War Cave with a battle from the Napoleonic Wars in Spain, circa 1810. We had four players with Bill P. and Earl K. playing the British side, while Keith L. and yours truly played the French side. I actually wanted to play on the British side with Bill so that I could command my new 83rd Regiment, but then that would have placed the two most experienced BAR Napoleon players on the same side, so we split up.

The scenario was inspired, somewhat loosely, by the events in the book Sharp's Enemy, by Bernard Cornwell. It was November 1810 and the campaign season was coming to a close, with both sides going into winter quarters - the French in Spain, and the British quartered in Portugal. The British had established a number of forward posts along the main roads and mountain passes that separate the two countries. One such outpost lay at the mouth of a narrow defile, at the village of Lago Bosco in Spain.

The French were to make a reconnaisance in force with a brigade of infantry and a brigade of light cavalry. Their objective was to sieze and control the pass before the British could react and stop them. A small British force raced to the village to support the light infantry (2 companies of the 5/60th ) manning the post in Lago Bosco.

French Forces
4 battalions of infantry (Veterans) 72 figures per battalion
1 company of Baden Jagers (12 figures)
1 battery of foot artillery (3-8pdrs and 1 howitzer)
1 regiment of dragoons (4 squadrons)
5 squadrons of chasseurs a cheval

British Forces
2/83rd Foot (78 figures)
Royal Marines (32 figures)
2 companies 95th Rifles (24 figures)

2 squadrons of hussars (24 figures)
2 squadrons of light dragoons (24 figures)
1 squadron of KGL hussars
1 more squadron of light dragoons
1 section of Royal Horse Artillery (3 x 6pdrs with 15 crew and 3 limbers)

As you might surmise by the comparative rosters shown above, the French outnumber the British infantry by about 2 to 1. The objective of the British was to possibly prevent the French from passing through the defile, or failing that, to hold them at bay for 8 turns (which in theory would provide time for elements of the Wellington's army to come to the pass and stop the French from capturing this important terrain feature). Given the sizeable difference in forces, I set up the table with a lot of terrain features and fall back positions from the pass to the town. I envisioned that the British light infantry might delay and then fall back towards Lago Bosco.

The French enter the defile with light cavalry screening their advance. A company of 95th Rifles peppers the column with long range riflery. The French responded by facing the green jackets and blowing them all away with their high-powered first fire. In the distance you can barely make out a walled farm house that was manned by the light company of the 83rd and the Royal Marines.

Things did not start out well for the British. They had placed the rifle-armed companies of the 95th on both sides of the defile, but they opened up their fire too soon and too close to the French column that was advancing through the defile. The French 1/12e de Ligne lost a couple of figures, then turned left into line and fired about 70 rounds of musketry into the Rifles on the left hand hill, wiping them all out. The 1/12e then decided to scale the hill since it was no longer occuppied. This would pry open the British control of the valley.

A view of the imposing French column, from the British point of view, as they emerge from the defile. In the foreground you can see the light company of the 2/83rd on the right and some Royal Marines manning the walls of the farm compound. Again, note the French cavalry screen to the front.

RHA deploy facing the mouth of the defile, supported by the grenadier company of the 2/83rd. In the distance, you can see several squadrons of British light cavalry waiting to pounce on the French when they deploy on the plain.

The French deploy their artillery battery and elect to blast a hole in the walls of the farm compound, rather than assaulting it with infantry. The orange flashes are blinking LED lights from Warlord Games in the UK.

...and the walls came a tumbling down. The Marines decide to evacuate the compound after seeing the French artillery reducing the walls to rubble. At this point, the RHA also retired and fell back behind a protective ridge.

The fox is on the run as the hounds surge forward across the plain, infantry and French dragoons in close support.

In the picture above, you can see two French battalions. The one just coming off the hill, on the right, took three turns to get down a 12" slope. In BAR rules, you deduct two D6 from your movement for descending a steep slope and the French normally move 12 inches in line. As God is my witness, the French general rolled dice scores of 12, 11 and 10 in succession indicating moves of 0", 1" and 2" on those three turns. While that was going on, the French battalion on the left had marched around the base of the hill and was still ahead of the fellows who were clinging to the hill. :)

The British cavalry commander, Lord Paget (Bill P.) decided that there was nothing more that it could do now that the French were advancing out of the defile in force, so he ordered his brigade to retire behind Lago Bosco and cover the retreat of the infantry and horse artillery.

Captain Richard Sharp and Sgt. Harper point the direction, to Captain Hew Grant of the RHA, that the rest of the army is travelling. Elite Miniatures RHA figures and Sharp & Harper "specials" sculpted by Richard Ansell for Too Fat Lardies as a give-away for purchases of their "Sharpe Practice" rules. Sharp and Harper will march again soon.

So the British were pried out of their blocking position at the mouth of the defile by a skillful and methodical plan of attack by the French commander. They held off the French for 8 turns, so in that respect, they had succeeded in buying time for the rest of the army. The French were the victors by virtue of their control of the deflile and it seemed likely that they would probably roll over the defenders inside the town of Lago Bosco.

Some observations on my part: I had thought that the 2:1 advantage of the French could be negated by the terrain. My big mistake was in allowing the French to scale the heights of the hill on the left side of the defile. Once the French owned this position, the British defense was no longer tenable and they had to fall back or risk being cut off from the town. I should not have allowed any troops other than light infantry to scale the hill.

The British could have used one more battalion of regular infantry in all liklihood.

The player commanding the 95th Rifles was kind of new at all this. He has played BAR games with us for the SYW, but had never had a rifle-armed unit before. I have found that most gamers do not know how to use rifles at first. The advantage of the rifle is its long range compared to that of a musket. Rifles should be able to pepper away at the enemy, whilst they themselves are out of range of musketry. Thus rifles should never get too close to the enemy as their advantage is negated. Thus the first company of rifles was blown away by a single volley (first fire bonus too) of the French infantry. I have no doubt that the British player will take this lesson to heart and employ the rifles to better effect in future games.

This was a tough scenario for the British. I had minimal expectation that they could stop the French, but I though that they did well to hold them off for 8 turns. Had I not allowed troops on the heights over looking the defile, they may well have stopped the French. Bill P. later told me that he had contemplated massing all of his British cavalry at the mouth of the defile and lauching them into the French as they marched through the defile. That might well have worked and it would have been interesting to see how that tactic would work out.

The butcher's bill was very light for a BAR game. As French cavalry commander, I lost 22 horsemen and our infantry lost 9 or 10 soldiers. Most of the British losses were to the 24 cavalry that were stationed near the mouth of defile. I don't recall that they had many infantry casualties. So it really turned into a battle of maneuver, rather than one of fire. All in all, an intersting battle. A few tweeks in the scenario could make for a very fun game.

Peninsula War

2011-11-19T23:07:00.008-06:00

British staff having a pre-battle conference in front of my new windmill from HG Walls. Mounted figures from Elite Miniatures. Sharpe 95th Rifles figure from Alban Miniature.

This afternoon we christened the Man Cave with its first wargame since the remodelling, and tried out our new rules for the Napoleonic Era using a 1:10 ratio of figures to men and the BAR rules system. I will post more about the game tomorrow, but wanted to use this opportunity to show off some of the figures that I have been working on over the past several weeks.

Our group had established a "painting challenge" with a deadline of November 5, 2011. The only problem was that I was in the midst of a deep painting funk and couldn't bear the thought of picking up a paint brush. As a result, I had nothing to show on the deadline date. However, with today's game coming up, I knew that I had to whip out the Royal Horse Artillery and two companies of the 5/60th Rifles to use in this game, so the pressure was on.

24 members of the 5/60th Rifles defend a churchyard.

I started with the 24 rifles that we would need for the game since they are relatively easy to paint. The only problem was trying to figure out which color to use for their trousers. Various sources list blue, grey and even rifle green or brown (for that on campaign look). Since there seems to be no definitive proof, I opted for the more colorful blue pants. I painted a couple of the figures with grey, but didn't like them as much. For extra fun, I found an old Redoubt Sergeant Harper figure carrying his famous 7-barrel Nock Volley Gun. I can't wait to see him actually use it in a game.

Next on the list was three Royal Horse Artillery cannon with crew and limber teams. I opted for the Elite Miniatures range since Elite has the full limber crew in its range.

Elite Miniatures RHA deploy against the French somewhere in Spain. A grenadier company of the 83rd Foot provides support.

I started the three gun sections on Veterans Day holiday (friday) and had the guns and crew done by the following Sunday. Next came the limber and crew (4 horses, 2 horse rider, 2 limber riders and 1 limber = 9 pieces). I only had enough pieces to assemble and paint two limbers, but fortunately I was able to borrow a third limber for our game.

And finally, here is the complete 83rd Regiment of Foot deployed in line. It currently has 78 figures and I have one more centre company of 12 figures on hand that I could add at a later date. I finished these figures this past summer, but never had them on their movement tray for a photo shoot. You really get the senses for how long the 2-rank line is when compared to the French 3-rank line.

British 2-rank line deployed to receive two French battalions in attack column. Here you get a good idea of how easy it is for the British to overlap the columns on the flanks.

Closer view of the 83rd Regiment.

As you can see, I still have a lot of figure terraining work ahead of me to give the units a finished look. But I like the way that this project is shaping up.

Tomorrow: a report of the battle at Lago Bosco in Spain.

2011-11-08T20:14:00.002-06:00

Update: November 8, 2011
Katie passed away today around 4pm central standard time. The vet said that her muscle mass had deteriorated severely and that she was dehydrated. Clearly, it was Katie's time. My wife and daughter were there to make their final good byes and our hound was cremated along with her favorite toy.

I want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and kind comments about Katie. It is very much appreciated. Our daughter is having a hard time accepting things, but she seemed to have a better handle on things before she went to bed. We decided that we would hold an Irish Wake for Miss Katie this coming weekend. I also plan to visit the Rainbow Bridge web site that several of you have suggested. This will help too.

I imagine that Katie outlived all of her litter mates, probably because of all the walks that she took. I can picture her brothers and sisters, and her mother, Scout, waiting for Katie and wagging their tails in anticipation of seeing their sister at long last. She is in a better place - of that I am sure.

This weekend, we plan to visit the neighbor's down the street and introduce ourselves to their new Golden Retriever puppy. Seems like a good idea.

Finally, I want to thank Katie for being a terrific good luck charm last night. Without her, the Chicago Bears would not have defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the football game. :)

Rest in Peace Katie (1996 to 2011)

2011-11-07T20:04:00.006-06:00

Katie at about age 1 or 2.

Update: November 8, 2011

Katie passed away today around 4pm central standard time. The vet said that her muscle mass had deteriorated severely and that she was dehydrated. Clearly, it was Katie's time. My wife and daughter were there to make their final good byes and our hound was cremated along with her favorite toy.

I want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and kind comments about Katie. It is very much appreciated. Our daughter is having a hard time accepting things, but she seemed to have a better handle on things before she went to bed. We decided that we would hold an Irish Wake for Miss Katie this coming weekend. I also plan to visit the Rainbow Bridge web site that several of you have suggested. This will help too.

I imagine that Katie outlived all of her litter mates, probably because of all the walks that she took. I can picture her brothers and sisters, and her mother, Scout, waiting for Katie and wagging their tails in anticipation of seeing their sister at long last. She is in a better place - of that I am sure.

This weekend, we plan to visit the neighbor's down the street and introduce ourselves to their new Golden Retriever puppy. Seems like a good idea.

Finally, I want to thank Katie for being a terrific good luck charm last night. Without her, the Chicago Bears would not have defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the football game. :)

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

Original Posting

I am sad to announce that the oldest of our two Golden Retrievers, Katie, will be making her final visit to the vet's office tomorrow. Katie is 15 years and about 5 months old, which is pretty good for a medium-sized hound. Her vet calls Katie an "impressive senior".

Katie has been diagnosed with pancreitis (spelling?) and so she wasn't able to eat or keep down the little food that she could eat. I was feeding her baby food (chicken, strained) the past few days and she seemed to like that. Dang, I had wanted to cook her a nice juicy filet steak for her birthday, but I forgot all about it.

She ate some food last night, but this morning, well...... let's just say that the mess was coming out of both ends, so to speak. Our vet says she likely has lymphona too. Since she can barely stand up on her own (she's ok once she's on her feet) and won't eat, it is obvious that it is time to put her down. She has turned into a bag of bones, wasting away.

Katie and I went for a short walk this evening, and hopefully I made amends for all the times that I ignored her or took her for granted. We are watching the Bears-Eagles football game this evening, and she seems to have brought good luck to the Bears.

Unlike most dogs, Katie was never a "car dog". She hated riding in the car, in fact, she threw up all over my wife's sister when they brought Katie home from the breeder's for the first time. She never got over her disliking of cars and car rides.

Katie loved playing fetch (she's a Golden Retriever, after all) and once she had the bait or the ball, would not give it back to you. So instead, we played a game called, "I Want That Ball", or Keep Away, if you will. I don't think that I ever caught her unless she wanted me to catch her.

More stories later, we've got a game to watch and need to spend our last evening together.

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Katie liked her dog walks and seemed to take it upon herself to keep me trim and in shape. We used to go on long walks of three or four miles in every kind of weather, good or bad. At first, she didn't like the leash and fought it. We had to use a harness to get her to move. Eventually, she figured out that if she led me instead of pulling behind me, that walks could be a lot of fun. She was still going at least a mile a day twice a day up until about last week.

She was kind of an aggressive dog when she was around other dogs. Katie would growl and snarl at other dogs - couldn't get along with any of them, save one called Brampton - a German Shepherd-Golden mix. The two of them would nip and chase each other -- it looked like a dog fight, but you could tell that it was just rough housing.

She had a funny way of greeting visitors to the house. When the door bell would ring, she'd run to the door and nearly wag her tail off and whine. It wasn't just the tail that wagged, it was her entire posterior. She really enjoyed greeting visitors.

Later in her life, we felt that we weren't paying enough attention to her as our daughter required more and more of our time. So we thought that it would be a good idea to get her a companion. So we applied for an adoption with "As Good As Gold", an organization that places Golden Retrievers in new homes. This is how we acquired our new boy, "Dave". Dave loves everyone, man or beast. He'd try to nip at Katie and get her to play, but Katie clearly wanted to have nothing to do with Dave. She merely tolerated him.

We are happy to have Dave in our household. He is quite the comedian and a loveable old lug of a dog. His presence will make Katie's departure more tolerable, just barely.

Tomorrow, Mrs. Fritz and the Princess will take Katie on her last walk to the vet and say their good byes. I will have to give mine tonight and tomorrow morning, because I have to be at work. It will feel very strange to come home tomorrow evening and have no Katie to greet me.

Circle of life. Down the street, a household that lost their Golden recently got a new puppy Golden. She reminded me of Katie when we bought her.

I had never owned a dog from birth to death, so this is new territory for me. I'll miss Katie.

On The Road Again

2011-11-03T22:22:00.004-06:00

It's been a few weeks since I last posted anything, but that does not mean that I have not been active. I'm plugging away at some of my Fife & Drum Continentals, this time in brown coats and white facings. I kind of like them better than the usual red, white and blue. On the whole though, my painting output has nose dived, hit the brick wall, gone fishing, what have you. I think that the hobby has kind of burned me out lately, so I continue to go at it here and there when ever I feel like it, rather than force myself into an unrealistic painting schedule just for the sake of painting and finishing units.

The hobby needs to be fun, not a chore.

We do have an upcoming game of BAR Napoleon on November 19th at Schloss Fritz. This will be the inaugural game in the new Man Cave. Bill P. has been working like a demon to get four squadrons of British light cavalry done for our Peninsula armies. This game set up will be along the lines of Bill's Colonial Campaigns with Major General Pettygree, i.e. a few large units and an emphasis on grand skirmish gaming, rather than massive armies of French and British. Bill is painting some of MG Pettygrees ancestors, who history tells us fought bravely in Spain to defeat the mighty armies of Bones Apart. I'm looking forward to this game.

Genealogy has been my main interest of late. Tomorrow, I am traveling 350 miles to Ohio to search out my ancestors in Crawford County, Ohio. They come from Pennsylvania Dutch stock and moved west to Ohio around 1845. My great great grandfather, Jacob, seems to have lived off the grid for quite awhile as I'm having a devil of a time finding his exact birth and death dates. Hopefully, this trip will solve some of the questions.

A trip to the county courthouse probate office should turn up Jacob's death certificate and a copy of his will. These, in turn, should provide definitive vital statistics and pin point where his burial site is. Then, I plan to traipse through a few old cemeteries to find the head stones of Jacob and his family, and photograph them for posterity.

So far, I've traced the family back to Andrew, who was born somewhere in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, circa 1766. Once I get Jacob's data pinned down, then I will tackle the more difficult task of finding Andrew's birth place, name of his parents, and date of his marriage to Jane (we don't know what Jane's last name is). This involves searching through church records in Lancaster, because that is where such records were kept until the mid 19th century, when the counties started to track such things. Fortunately, I have a distant cousin in Lancaster who can read Old German and enjoys searching through dusty records and old cemeteries. It sounds like fun.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Richard Ansell has started on the next 16 Fife & Drum AWI figures -- British centre company men and Grenadiers in bearskins. These ought to be ready by January 2012. I have to say that I'm pleased with the work that Richard has done on this range as well as the superior casting work that I'm getting from Griffin Designs in the UK.

More later, I've got some tombstones to find.

Pennsylvania Regt. - AWI

2011-10-12T00:43:00.004-05:00

Continental Regiment featuring Fife & Drum figures painted by der Alte Fritz

Here is a quick posting of a few piccies that I took of the first Continental regiment that I have painted, using my Fife & Drum range of figures. This is supposed to be one of the Pennsylvania regiments. I am currently working on the 3rd Pennsylvania Regiment, with brown coats and white facings - looks pretty cool.

Closer view of the new command figures that were recently added to the range.

This picture shows the same three figures painted in blue and in brown coats. I really like the way that the brown coated unit is turning out.

The flag is from GMB Designs, which is simply the best provider of flags in the hobby.

The next figures in the production queue will be a set of British line infantry, marching and some British grenadiers in bearskins, also marching.

Prices Reduced - Figures Must Go!

2011-10-10T11:01:00.003-05:00

I am slashing the prices on the Old Glory items that were offered for sale two weeks ago as I need the storage space, so they are priced to sell:

1) over 400 unpainted Old Glory AWI figures @ $0.20 each = $80 for the lot.

2) 40 painted AWI British @ $2.00 each = $80 for the lot (super deal for some nicely painted figures)

3) 48 painted AWI Continentals (painted by me) = $120 for the lot.

Proceeds are going to be used to fund new Fife & Drum figures.

All inquiries: e-mail me at (altefritz1740) (@) (yahoo) (dot) (com). Remove the parentheses from the e-mail address when you type in the address.

The Road to Lancaster

2011-10-09T12:45:00.007-05:00

Click the picture to see the full view (half of the picture has been cut off on this blog page, but clicking the pix reveals the whole scene).

I found this interesting picture posted on TMP today, depicting the baggage train of General Forbes as it was leaving Lancaster, PA to march on Fort Duquesne and avenge the defeat of Braddock's army during the French & Indian War. The picture comes courtesy of an interesting blog called Flintlock & Tomahawk.

It is an interesting picture on several levels; for one, it provides a nice template for laying out Colonial America terrain for wargames. I see lots of ideas in that picture - different kinds of fencing and structure, some log cabins and others board and clapboard.

I foresee some serious orders sent to Herb Gundt for some of this terrain.

On another level, it reminds me of where my ancestors came from. I have been doing a lot of genealogic research on my family of late, and I have found that we are basically descendants of Pennsylvania Dutch settlers in the York and Lancaster counties of Pennsylvania. Undoubtedly my ancestors fled religious persecution in Germany in the early 18th Century and joined a lot of other Germans from the Rhenish and Palatinate parts of the country, landing in Philadelphia.

Somewhere along the way, an ancestor named Jacob married Rebecca Edwards, whose grandfather,Thomas Edwards, was the Lt. Colonel in charge of the 2nd Lancaster Militia battalion in 1780, during the American Revolution (or AWI for those of you on the other side of the pond). Edwards had emigrated from County Antrim in Ireland and married an English girl, whose daughter married a German. That is quite an ethnic stew for you.

I've also been working on some Continental regiments, using my Fife & Drum figures, and hope to post the first unit within the next day or two, after I have terrained the bases. Next in the queue, a Continental regiment in brown coats, rather than blue coats.

Old Glory AWI Sale & Clearout

2011-09-25T12:50:00.007-05:00

Old Glory Continental firing line. Click to enlarge.

American Continental regiment - could be Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey or Pennsylvania. Old Glory figures painted by der Alte Fritz. (click to enlarge)

I have a ton of unpainted Old Glory AWI figures that I would like to sell in one batch, funds to be reinvested in moulds for my Fife & Drum range of figures. I have about 400 foot and 40 mounted figures for a grand total of $175.00.

I also have a diorama of 44 Continental foot and 2 mounted officer for sale. I painted these a long time ago for Old Glory to use as their convention display. I later bought back the display for $200. I'm willing to sell it for $150 plus postage. The figures could be easily popped off of the large base and rebased as either singles or multiple figures on separate stands. I could help the eventual buyer with this, if required.

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Finally, I have a painted 40 man British regiment that I will sell for $2.50 per figure, or $100 for the regiment. They are not based so they could be mounted in any configuration that pleases you. These were painted for me by someone else, back when I collected AWI armies.

****************************************************************
Here is what the lot of unpainted Old Glory figures includes:

I just did an inventory and I have 209 Continental foot and 20 mounted Continental generals and dragoons (10 each i think).

The British have 201 foot and 21 mounted generals (includes 10 dragoons)

So that is 410 foot and 41 mounted in total. I thinking about $0.40 per foot and $0.80 per mounted figure, which works out to $196.00 for the lot. I'd take $175.00 for the whole shebang + cost of postage.

BRITISH FIGURES

5 x mtd personalities; 6 x mtd colonels
10 x Tarleton's Legion Dragoons mounted
9 x Tarleton's Legion foot
16 x Queens Rangers foot
11 x Front Rank brand dismounted dragoons (black primed)
43 x British line regt firing line poses in 2 ranks
36 x British Light Advancing
30 x British Light in cropped hat
24 x Grenadiers in bearskins
8 x Pioneers in bearskins
16 x Highlander foot
8 x British line regt advancing

CONTINENTALS

31 x Continental firing line poses (kneeling and standing + command)
30 x Continental light infantry advancing - cap with front plate
30 x Continental line in trousers/bicornes
16 x Continental line marching - mixed head gear
33x Continental line advancing - floppy hats
50 x frontier militia (black primed)
30 x Minute Men advancing

8 x continental mounted dragoons
7 x continental personalities mounted
5 x mounted foreign generals

So that's the break down. My preference would be to sell the unpainted figures in one lot so that I don't have to hassle with sending small individual orders to lots of people.

Let me know if you are interested. There is enough to get a really good start on the AWI

regards,

Jim (Der Alte Fritz)

What I Really Need Is Time

2011-09-17T02:32:00.002-05:00

It is three in the morning here in Hesse Seewald and I am waiting for a coat of grey primer to dry on some of my new Fife & Drum Continentals so that they will be ready for painting later on this afternoon. A few more minutes and then I can flip the figures over and give them one more spritz on the other side. Then it will be off to bed.

At any rate, since I seem to have a little bit of time to waste here, I was thinking how ironic it was that I am always seeking more time to do hobby related things, and for once I seem to have all the time in the world. Alas, it is not being spent on the moving of troops across the wargame table.

Many years ago, circa 1986 or so, I was just entering this hobby and I had ideas that I would always be setting up games or scenarios on my table and having a go at it solo. As my collection of figures grew, mostly in the Seven Years War period, I should have spent more time solo gaming and less time starting new historical gaming periods. However, the bug of Napoleonics caught my attention, and then ACW came along after that. With each new historical gaming period, I was spending more time at the painting table, building new armies, and less time doing any actual gaming.

Mind you, I was doing plenty of gaming with my group - probably once or twice a month, but the plan for solo games fell by the wayside. Fast forward to 2009 or 2010: I had disposed of my vast Napoleonics collection (around 10,000 28mm figures), the AWI and ACW armies were long gone, and I had even sold off my Dark Ages collection and terrain. My intention was to pare the collection down to primarily one period: the 18th Century, with a focus on the SYW.

Taking a page from John Ray in the UK, my plan was to build up my new SYW armies with a lot of detail and depth to include a lot of vignettes on the battlefield as well as more camplife dioramas. That was going alone fairly well, but then I found myself side tracked by another foray into Napoleonics (the Peninsula War this time) and then the AWI, as I started the new Fife & Drum range of figures. All of these wonderful plans have diverted my attention from the core SYW collection.

The Minden Project of Austrian and Prussian armies is about 75% complete at this time. I feel like one more solid push could get me over the finish line and then it would be off to the races with some free kriegspieling or what have you. I would like to do at least one solo game per month and get really granular with my Austrian and Prussian armies.

Typically though, my plans have been diverted again. This weekend, I find myself getting ready to paint more AWI Continentaals so that I have some sample units to show to the public, and hopefully gin up a few more sales so that I can plow the proceeds back into more AWI figures. Then it will be on to Peninsular Napoleonics as I need to get some more things completed before our first rules play test on November 1st. So that will keep me busy.

So I find myself once again without enough time to work on the Minden Project, much less game with the armies. I still need the following items:

Prussian cuirassier regiment
Prussian hussar regiment
Prussian grenadier battalion
Prussian fusilier battalion
2 more Prussian limbers and supply wagons

Austrian cuirassiers
Austrian hussars
A few more Austrian dragoons
1 Hungarian battalion
2 Austrian limber teams and 4 supply wagons
Austrian general staff and senior command

All of the above just covers items where I have the lead figures on hand. I just need, you guessed it, MORE TIME.

Oh well, those Fife & Drum figures should be ready for one more coat of primer, and then it is off to bed for me.

Good night everyone (3 AM right now).

Continental Command Figures Arrive!

2011-09-15T00:54:00.004-05:00

I received a nice heavy box of castings today that are full of the new Fife & Drum infantry command for the Continentals (officer, standard bearer, NCO and drummer) and lots of inventory for the Guards and the Continental rank and file figures. I will post pictures within the next day or two and probably get some samples painted over the weekend.

If you look through the archives on this blog you can at least see the 'greens' for the new command figures (click link below):

http://altefritz.blogspot.com/2011/06/awi-continental-command-fife-drum.html

We now have all the figures that one needs to start collecting regiments of Continentals. We also have lots of militia, British light infantry and British Guards Brigade figures as well.

In some unrelated news, I have discovered that my close up vision is not what it used to be and that a new eyeglass prescription is likely in my future and probably bifocals as well. I have been finding it harder and harder to paint things like eyes of late and noticed that reading was becoming a little difficult. So this evening I went to the local pharmacy and bought a pair of 1x reading glasses (for reading) and another pair of 1.5x glasses for my painting work. I tried out the new specs for a batch of Croats that I am currently painting (you know who you are) and low and behold, but I was now able to paint a decent pair of eyes using the new reading glasses.

As Stokes would say, "sigh".

Austrian Artillery in Action

2011-09-11T11:14:00.003-05:00

Minden Austrian crew, RSM limber horses & driver, and Berliner Zinnfiguren limber and cannon (12 lb.) Click to enlarge.

I was experimenting with my Austrian limber teams the other day and kind of stumbled onto something cool, but entirely inadvertent. I realized that if I limbered the cannon and pushed the gun crew stand behind the limber, as shown above, and then attached the extra stand of helpers at the rear, that it gave a fairly good portrayal of the gun section as it might appear on the move.

I examined some of the other gun crew stands that I had made and discovered that this only works if I keep the front of the crew stand clear of , well, crew. The front of the stand needs room for the cannon wheels when it is limbered.

Crew unlimbers the cannon.

The gun crew stand has been removed and the helpers are detaching the 12-pounder from the limber.

The section is deployed and ready to fire.

The gun section is now ready to fire as the crew man their positions, supported by the helpers. The limber moves to the back of the battery. I typically also have a stand for an ammunition wagon, which provides for a very long tail.

Other News

I finished a set of 16 Minden Croats painted as Kreutzer Croats, in white, for a client and am now starting work on some Croats in blue coats and red trousers, for the same client. They are looking very nice. I'll post pictures in several days when the set is completed.

Von Loudon Frei Regiment

2011-09-05T23:50:00.004-05:00

Von Loudon Frei Regiment using RSM figures.

I have been very busy the past couple of weeks, although the number of recent posts would seem to indicate otherwise. It's just that I have not had the time to take pictures and post blog entries. Recent work includes painting some Austrian dragoons with Minden figures, some of the new Fife & Drum figures that just arrived from the caster, and some Austrians (shown above) that are destined for one of the imagination duchies.

My customer wanted to add a colorful regiment to his sea of white coated Austrians, and so the Von Loudon Frei Korps or Green Loudon regiment seemed like an obvious choice. I used RSM figures and GMB Austrian flags for the unit. I also added a 6-pounder battalion gun to use with the regiment. I am not sure that the Green Loudons would have had battalion guns, but what the heck, why not?

Artillery piece with limber and crew, limbered position.

Artillery deployed in battery. Note that the gun model is not glued to the stand so that it can be shown with the limber, when it is limbered, and with the crew, when it unlimbers.

I figured that if the Green Loudon regiment had battalion guns, then they would use Austrian cannon, painted in ochre yellow Austrian colors, but would be manned by men from the regiment. Thus the gun crew are wearing the green with red facings livery of the regiment.

The client also asked me to make some more command stands for some of his existing units (Minden figures - the two right hand stands) plus some extra stands for a Hungarian and an Austrian regiment that I had previously painted for him. The other figures on the left are RSM figures.

Fife and Drum Continentals & British Guards
I have posted pictures of some of the new AWI figures that recently arrived and are available for sale. Head on over to my Fife & Drum blog for a look.

link

I also have some nifty looking pictures of my Austrian artillery that I will post in another day or two.

New Man Cave Unveiled!

2011-08-14T21:40:00.007-05:00

A view of the entry way into Fritz's new Man Cave or wargaming emporium.

For a long time now I have been eyeing the larger of two sections of the basement with the idea of eventually turning it into my wargame room. When we moved into Schloss Seewaldt seven years ago, I took the smaller section for my wargame room and allocated the larger part to Lady Emma Cuddlestone-Smythe for her play room. Since Lady EC-S is about to become a teenager, I thought that the time was ripe for presenting the idea of moving into the larger section to Mrs. Fritz.

To my great amazement, she said YES!

It helped that I spent my recently concluded two week vacation doing everything but wargaming and painting, so I suppose that I had built up some credits in the marital ledger. It also helped that I promised to turn the smaller, former wargame room, into a teenager pad for Lady EC-S. More about that later...

So taking the point of view that no time is better than the present, I delved into the gargantuan task of clearing out the larger part of the basement and moving all of my wargaming accoutrements into the new Man Cave. I spent about 6 hours on Saturday afternoon clearing out all of the old toys and accumulated junk and hauling much of it off to the local church, which accepts junk to sell at their annual rummage sale to raise funds. I then spent another couple of hours on Saturday night hauling all of the history books that I owned into their new quarters. If any of you have ever had the pleasure of moving several hundred books, you know what a back breaking task this can be.

So then, let's take a tour of the new digs (click pix to enlarge):

As you walk down the basement stairs (left) you enter my work bench area where I clean and prime figures and terrain bases. Behind the work bench I have now installed shelves that hold all of my collected rules, wargame magazines and "Tradition" military uniform magazines (the French version).

A view of the reading area complete with comfy chair, fake fireplace and tons of books. The painting table can also be partially viewed on the right. The chair belonged to my Father - it was his favorite chair so it holds some sentimental value to me.

The view from the reading corner to the back wall. The white stackable plastic boxes hold much of my buildings/terrain made by Herb Gundt. I can stack 8 plastic drawers high. To the front you can see my 6ft by 15ft wargame table. I could add another 5 ft of table if necessary. There is also room for back table (2.5ft x 15ft) running parallel to the main table, to provide depth to the table for reserves.

The view from the back of the room (near the storage shelves) look back towards the reading corner. You can see one of the "back tables" that run parallel to the main table. The old PC will be stored away and I can put down more terrain squares of the type shown on the main table.

Another view of the back end of the room, providing a closer view of the stackable storage drawers (left) and plastic storage shelves (I have two such shelves, but only one is shown hear).

Fritz's painting table. The reading corner is off to the left and the game tables are behind the painting table. I want to reorganize the paints into paint racks so that things look a little more tidier than they are at the present.

So there you have it, my new wargame room has been completed. I still have a lot of aching joints and muscles to show for it, but the pain is worth the gain of a new game area with lots and lots of space. As noted above, I currently have a 6ft wide by 15ft long table, with two back tables running parallel to the main table to provide depth for reserves and for flank marches.

I am really pleased with the way that this project turned out. The extra space is wonderful and the lighting is much better, with overhead flourescent light fixtures. It also provides me with enough room to gather all of my books into one area for reading as well as a well-lit painting area. The ample walls also enable me to hang all of my military prints on the walls for display.

I hope that you have enjoyed this tour of the new Man Cave.

Teddy Bear Wars: Battle of Sugar Town

2011-08-06T22:44:00.011-05:00

Lady Emma Cuddlestone-Smythe

This afternoon, my daughter, Lady Emma Cuddlestone-Smythe and I (Lord Paddington Bear) decided to test our military prowess on the kitchen table. To the victor would go the M&Ms.

"You're going down Bear!" said Lady Emma.

"We shall see Your Highness, we shall see" was the only retort that I could think of.

Lord Paddington Bear, AKA Beldar Conehead.

So I set the kitchen table with some terrain, including a couple of huts made by Gundt (the model maker, not the plush toy maker of bears), a few trees and some road sections in the manner shown below:

The field of battle, showing the Blue Bear Army of Lady EC-S at the lower left end of the table and the Pink Bear Army of Lord PB at the top right corner. Sugar Town Village lies in the middle of the table.

Those of you with a keen eye and an Old School way of thinking will immediately recognize this as the Bear version of the Sawmill Village scenario. Both armies enter the table in one of the corners and advance towards the village in the middle of the field. The village contains much needed supplies and vittles (in this case, M&M candies). The objective was to capture the most M&Ms and defeat the opponent in battle.

I offered Lady Emma the choice of armies, and she selected the Blue Bear force (24 figures) and I took command of the Pink Bear force by default. We rolled a D6 each turn to see who would move first and then another D6 to see who would get the first fire. The rest of the rules were very simple. Bears could walk 8" or run 12". You could run for up to two consecutive turns, but if you do so twice, then your bears would have to remain stationary for one turn to recover their breath. Shooting was done at a range of up to 12" (requiring a 5 or 6 on a D6, or 4, 5 or 6 at short range of 6" or less). Saving rolls were allowed for any bear that was "put to sleep" if the unit commander rolled a natural six on one D6 per injured bear. Any melees would be done on a figure to figure contact with each player rolling a D6 (with a +1 pip for a leader) and the higher die roll winning the individual combat.

Lady Emma marshals here Blue Bear army and marchs them down the road towards Sugar Town, in search of snacks.

Both forces march toward Sugar Town looking for snacks.

Uh oh! The veteran Pink Bears get caught in column by the Blue Bears, who have smartly deployed into line. Our rules allow two ranks to fire and Lady Emma won the first fire initiative with a higher die roll.

Things are off to a bad start for Lord Paddington Bear's Pink Army after the first firing of the game.

Lady Emma secures the first of the M&Ms in the game as one company of 12 bears fights in the streets while the second company of 12 bears searches for the snacks, er supplies in the village.

Our first melee in the garden of one of the homes in Sugar Town. Care to guess who won?

The remnants of the Pink Bear force hole up in one of the houses, which happened to be filled with M&Ms. This attracted nearly every Blue Bear on the table as they stormed the house and attempted to break down the door. The Pink Bears held the door for two turns before succumbing to the Blue Bears.

The Pink Bear army surrenders and is accorded honors of war. They march smartly out of Sugar Town between rows of Blue Bears.

The Loser: Lord Paddington Bear.

The Victor (yet again): Lady Emma Cuddlestone-Smythe.

The Spoils of Victory. Each side placed any captured M&Ms into their own ramikin. The side with the most M&Ms at the end won the game. You can see that it was a very lop-sided victory in favor of the Blue Bear Army.

Well, it was a total rout of the Pink Bear Army by the Blue Bear Army. Each side started the game with 24 bears, divided into two companies of 12 bears. At the end of the game, the Pink Bears had 4 alive, 7 captured and 13 "sleeping". In contrast, the Blue Bears only had 4 bears "sleeping" at the end. The Pink Bears secured only 4 M&Ms and the rest of the package was rounded up by the Blue Bears.

Now some of you might think Lord Paddington Bear let Lady Emma Cuddlestone-Smythe win, and you would be far from right. She won nearly all of the first fire initiatives on each turn -- my die rolling wasn't very good -- and I got clobbered in the garden melee and the break in of the supply house.

I am looking forward to avenging this loss in a rematch very soon. Stay tuned for further battles in the legendary Teddy Bear Wars.

Minden Day - August 1st

2011-08-01T19:57:00.003-05:00

The British cavalry is more noted for their lack of participation at Minden; nevertheless I thought that you would enjoy this picture of some Suren British Horse.

I almost missed the fact that today is Minden Day, i.e. the anniversary of the great British/Hanoverian/Hessian/et al victory over the French.

That being said, I did nothing particularly special to celebrate the anniversary, but I did prime two dozen Minden Austrian Dragoons today and will probably start coating them in red coats tomorrow. Yes, I've decided to choose one of the Austrian dragoon regiments clad in red.

I received my copy of Charles S. Grant's "Wargaming in History, Volume 4" today and that has temporarily derailed my painting aspirations, as I would much rather tuck into his book than I would to paint figures. This looks to be the best of the series yet, from first glance, with a noticeable increase in the number of color pictures and a nice pictorial from Bob Marrian that focuses on 18th Century hussars. Grant covers the battles of Hastenbeck, Rossbach and Leuthen (oooh, good choice, especially the latter one) as well as some background on his own Vereinigte Frei Stadte army that I found interesting from the standpoint of how to put a wargame army together. Finally, it covers the development of hussars and concludes with some information on Hadik's Raid on Berlin in 1757, with some ideas on how to wargame the event.

I promise to come back with a more thorough review after I have had a chance to read the book in detail. Sorry paint brushes, you will be going unused for the next couple of days. I have a book to read. :)

Minden Hussar Horseholders

2011-07-31T19:29:00.005-05:00

Minden Austrian Dismounted Hussars - Regt. Baranyay. This is one of my favorite hussar uniforms EVER. I like the dark green and the offsetting light blue breeches and the red piping on the dolman and pelise.

Here are a couple of pictures of the Minden Prussian Hussars horseholders and dismounted hussars in busbies. They are, however, painted as hussars in the Austrian regiment Baranyay. There are some minor differences in the Prussian and Austrian hussars, primarily in the horse furniture. The Austrians did not use the shabraque with the "Van Dyking" serrated edging, using instead, an even line of gold or yellow on the border. The other difference lies in the sabretache, which has the Prussian moniker "FR" for Frederick Rex. I just painted over the details on the sabertache.

Another view from the side. Look closely at the wire used for the reins leading to the hand of the horseholder.

These fellows will be on their way to the Duchy of Bierstein tomorrow, so I thought that I had better get them photographed and posted on the blog before they were packed away in shipping boxes. My own dismounted hussars (in mirlitons rather than busbies) are far down the list of things to paint, so it will be awhile before they see the light of day.

I used forists wire for the reins leading from the horse to the hand of the horseholder. For this commission, the hussar has to hold three sets of reins, which turns out to be a rather tight fit in the individual hussar's hands, but I managed to make it work. I had to drill a hole through the muzzle of each horse so that I could pass the wire through the hole and run it back to the horseholder. That was a little bit fiddly at first, but I managed to pull off the job in the end. I would recommend using an Exacto knife to make your own dimple in the side of the horse's muzzle and use this as a guide for your drill bit. In this manner, the drill bit won't slip and make a bad hole (thus rendering the horse unusable) and you will be able to drill a clean hole.

I am beginning two weeks of vacation tomorrow and look forward to having some additional time to paint figures. I am currently working on a batch of 16 of the 5/60th Rifles for my Peninsular Project. I like the Elite figures, but after awhile, I yearn to work on the more realistic looking Minden figures. Accordingly, I plan to prime some Minden Austrian Dragoons tonight so that I have some Minden figures to paint.

Battle of Waldeck - Part Two

2011-07-29T19:33:00.005-05:00

British Guards and Keith's Highlanders (both Suren figures) keep the French entertained on the allied right flank. They are backed up by two squadrons of Household Cavalry (Staddens) on the left and Hanoverian Dragoons (Front Rank) on the right. Click all pix once or twice to enhance your viewing pleasure.

Here are the remainder of the pictures that I took a couple of weeks ago at the Battle of Waldeck. My memory of the events is beginning to fade, so I will just post the pix with captions and let the captions tell the story.

In the center, the 3rd Dragoon Guards (RSM figures) protect the Hessian battery of 12-pounders (Foundry crew and Elite French 12-pounders)

Royal Welsh Fusiliers advance up the sunken road after chasing off the French Auvergne regiment. Elite Miniatures painted by Leonard Albright. He did a nice job on the flags too! This unit is proof that you can play the BAR rules with 30 figure regiments, such as this one.

The French Carabiniers (Elite Miniatures) arrive on the field. Les Gardes Francaises (Surens) form a second line on a handy ridge where the retreating French infantry can rally. Lanciers de Saxe (Surens) are skirmishing in the foreground.

Les Carabiniers manuever to the front of the French line. They were eventually well positioned to charge into the flank of one of the British battalions in the top right corner. They also took out the Allied 12-pounder battery, before the remnants retired back to their own lines, with many battle trophies.

Lord Granby gives the order for a general advance of the British army as the French fall back to the second ridge, anchored by Les Gardes Francaises. The 44th Foot (Surens) are in the foreground flanked by Hanoverian dragoons (Front Rank)

A pair of pictures showing the retirement of the Carabiniers. The Irish Regiment Bulkeley (Capitulations Figures) is seen in the foreground in their colorful red coats.

A rather interesting decision had to be made by the British commander (me) near the end of the game. Through some skillful maneuvering, the French Carbiniers had positioned themselves to charge into the flank of a British battalion on the ensuing turn. It would all come down to who drew the first initiative turn. I had a joker on hand so I could use it to trump any initiative card that the French might draw first, thus allowing the British battalion to turn its facing and fend off the inevitable cavalry charge.

However, it was a little more complicated then that. For on the prior turn, the British badly needed the first fire initiative card so that it could blow away the opposing French battle line My colleague commanding the threatened British battalion wanted me to save the joker in case it was needed to trump the French initiative on the next turn. But I felt that it was more important to use the joker trump card on the prior turn during the musketry phase. There had been a nice run of French cards from the card deck, so the odds were in favor of the first initiative card on the next turn being a red British card.

I weighed my choices: use first fire this turn and hope that the odds favor the British getting the first initiative on the next turn (thereby preventing the French from charging their horses into the flank of one British battalion; of two, cede the first fire on the current turn to the French and guarantee that the British would have the first initiative on the next turn, thus stopping the cavalry charge.

I chose to opt for the first fire on the current turn and take my chances on the initiative card draw. So I used the joker card to fire first -- a French battalion broke and ran while the other battalion was much reduced in strenght. So far so good. We all waiting for the first initiative card on the next turn. Would it be a black card (French ) or a red card (British)?

It was a black card!

The Carabiniers commenced their trot towards the flank of the first British battalion. I figured, oh well, we will probably lose the battalion but there is a chance that it wins the melee. But then Bill Protz did something that I was not expecting -- he peeled off a squadron of Carabiniers to charge into the Allied 12-pound battery. I was not expecting this move by Perfidious France. The battery was wiped out by the charge. So I would have lost it no matter who had the first initiative on the turn because I did not see this one coming.

The British battalion was struck in the flank. A second battalion to its right had time to change its facing towards the Carabiniers and avoid a similar fate. We then played out the melee, and darn it but the British nearly won the melee, losing by one casualty (the French did not roll very good dice during the melee, making a British win possible). They routed and the Carabiniers elected not to pursue into the teeth of the British battle line. Instead, they turned around and returned to their lines.

Who says that you need special rules to create a fog of war in the wargame? This goes to show that the individual players in the game create plenty of fog of war on their own, without the aid of restrictive special FoW rules. I had to make a decision with respect to the use of my trump card. Either way, the British would win a little and lose a little. So I elected the certainty of firing first on the current turn and waited for chance or Fate to determine what would happen on the ensuing turn. In none of my calculations did the possibility of losing all of our artillery come into play. It was not a possibility that I could envision, but there it was staring us all in the face and all of the four British players missed it.

It was a fun game with lots of to and fro, give and take, and unexpected turns of events. In a word, we had a blast.

So the French infantry began to tumble back to the last ridge line that was bulworked by the reserve of Les Gardes Francaises. The French rallied all of their infantry onto this position and presented a formidable defensive line. The British were not about to launch and assault on this ridge, not without their artillery, which was all gone by now. It was the concensus though that the British had won the battle, having pushed the French army back in the center and on both flanks. Huzzah, a redcoat victory at last!

Minden Fritz Painted

2011-07-27T21:02:00.002-05:00

Minden Fritz on his Mollwitz Grey (center) with the Duke of Brunswick (blue sash) and his ADC standing on the windmill platform to get a better look of the goings on. RSM officers flank Fritz on the left (Schwerin) and the right (Winterfeldt). Windmill and terrain pieces by Herb Gundt. Please click to enlarge.

I am rather surprised that I did not drop everything and paint all of the new Minden SYW Austrian and Prussian personalities and staff immediately. However, sometimes life throws other obstacles in the way and so I did not tuck into these little gems until a couple of days ago.

So here are the first three figures in the Prussian set that I have painted. I have not had time to put them on bases and terrain said bases, but the pictures give you a fairly good idea of how they look and how well they match the RSM figures in size and proportion.

A close-up view of Ferdinand of Brunswick (left), Frederick II (center) and an Aide de Camp (right). Click pix to enlarge.

I would imagine that the Prince Ferdinand figure on foot would be a useful figure for those of you who need a king or herzog for you fictional 18th Century countries.

Battle of Waldeck

2011-07-21T19:17:00.008-05:00

The British center at the start of the game. Click or double click all pix for amazingly larger view of the battle. Infantry include (l-r) 44th Foot (Suren) and the 8th Foot (Stadden) with Front Rank Hanoverian horse protecting their advance.

Last weekend we assembled at Chez Protz in Brown Deer, Wisconsin to have another go with our British and French SYW armies. The British had a rather long losing streak (maybe 4 in a row) in our BAR campaign that they hoped to end. We had players traveling from Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin and had a grand old time playing on Bill's expansive wargame tables (6ft by 24ft with two parallel side tables of the same length, but only 2.5 feet wide).

I had the honor of commanding the left flank of His Britannic Majesty's Army in Western Germany, while my colleague Derek commanded the main attack in the center. The father-son team of Todd and Andy, respectively, commanded the cavalry and the right wing.

The premise of the game was that the French army of Lt. General Chevert was on the move hoping to drive the Allies back into their base at Minden. The French had just crossed the Diemel River, near the town of Waldeck, in Westphalia, and they were rather spread out across the length of the table. Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, commander of the Allied army, saw an opportunity to smite the French as they crossed the Diemel and send them tumbling back to Frankfurt.

The British left, commanded by Der Alte Fritz in his alter-role as the Erbprinz. Keith's Highlanders (Suren figures) in the forground lead the attack supported by the 11th (Sowles) Foot (Staddens), British Guards (Suren), two troops of Life Guards horse (Staddens) with a half regiment of the 23rd (Huske's) Royal Welsh Fusiliers (Elite Miniatures). British artillery pieces are from Elite and are manned by Suren and Stadden artillery crew.

British right flank. Perry jagers lead the way, supported by some converged British grenadiers of various makes.

The advance guard of the French advance down the Sunken Road, rather haphazzardly, and place themselves in great danger.

French right wing, lead by Eureka Grassins and supported by Capitulations d'Eu Regt (in white) and the Bulkeley Regt (in red).

The British left advances towards the Arquebusiers de Grassin. The Life Guards position themselves for a glorious charge up the Sunken Road to put the French Auvergne regiment to the sword.

The British center shakes out into a symetrical battle order while the battery of Hessian 12-pounders takes up position on the high ground. Hanoverian cavalry cover the advance of the Hessian artillery. It will drop trail and start firing on the Auvergne Regiment in the Sunken Road. Auvergne is about to get hit from the front and the flank at the same time.

The Hessian artillery prepares to fire, while the 44th Foot move in on the Sunken Road.

That is about half of the pictures that I took of the game. I will post the other half later in the week so that you can see how the battle turned out.

I will give you a hint: the British army finally won a wargame!

83rd Foot Receives Its Flags

2011-07-17T23:46:00.005-05:00

Some lovely GMB Designs standards now grace the 83rd Foot. Lt. Colonel Collins and Major Carr supervise the turnout of the regiment. All figures are from Elite Miniatures. Click once or twice to enlarge the view.

I really got a lot of things done over the weekend: I completed both flank companies of the 83rd Regiment of Foot and now have six companies or 72 figures. I also participated in a SYW battle between the British and the French (somewhere in Western Germany). The grenadier company had been started earlier in the week and I was able to finish them off Friday evening. Then, after a day's gaming in Brown Deer, WI , I returned home and applied the first base coat of "Blood Red" Reaper paint to the light company. Somehow, I managed to find the time to finish the light company by Sunday evening.

You can see the whole regiment (6 companies of 12 = 72 figures + 2 standard bearers and three mounted officers):

Double click this picture to see all six companies on the parade ground. Buildings and large tree were made by Herb Gundt. Pico railroad back drop. Elite Miniatures figures.

The six companies take up a frontage of 30-inches and I will be adding one more center company (I currently have 4 center companies and 2 flank companies) to make it 5 center companies and 2 flank companies, for a total of 7 companies, or 84 figures. There will also be a 6-figure stand for the colour guard (2 ensigns, 3 drummers, and the RSM). The next company will be the last one in the 83rd Foot, which will be complete, save for a couple mounted officers. This is starting to look awesome!

Battle of Waldeck - SYW

I will post the pictures of the SYW game that we played over the weekend, tentatively called "The Battle of Waldeck", tomorrow night. I am pleased to announce that for the very first time in all of our BAR battles, the British finally won a battle. Huzzah! They also captured the standard of the Saxon Lieb Curassiers to make the victory that much sweeter.

The French army was moving across the Diemel River and the advance guard got a little too far ahead of the rest of the army. Ferdinand of Brunswick saw that the opportunity was ripe for a counter-attack and so he dispatched Lord Granby and his contingent of British infantry and cavalry to hurl the French back into the Diemel.

Minden Miniatures Frederick Arrives

Another bit of good news was that my order of Minden Austrian and Prussian senior officers arrived on Saturday. I will be priming some of the figures tomorrow night so that I can paint them this week. The figures look even better than the pictures that I have seen of these figures and I can't wait to paint them.

Weekend Preview - SYW Game

2011-07-15T17:25:00.001-05:00

Battle of Fontenoy - previously fought in 2010. (click to enlarge)

What with all of this Bones Apart nonsense of late, you might understandably wonder if Old Fritz was going to have anything to with the Seven Years War for awhile. Well, you would be wrong because I am travelling to Brown Deer tomorrow with my Red Coats to take on Monsieur Chevert's French across the table top. We have several of our colleagues from Minneapolis driving the 400+ miles to the Milwaukee area to game with us, so we want to make sure that we put on a spectacle that is worthy of the journey.

This will be a smaller game than we normally play, with about 8 battalions and 8 to 10 squadrons of cavalry. The original plan was for me to bring my Prussian army, but then it occured to me that my smaller British army would fit the requirements of the game quite nicely. I don't get to game with my SYW British army that often, so this is kind of a treat for me.

I will post pictures over the weekend. The British have not won a battle yet, so perhaps our luck will take a turn for the better. It might also spur me to paint up some more SYW British in the future. A good shellacking of your army provides plenty of incentive to make it stronger the next time.

Over the hills and far away, to Flanders, Portugal and Spain, King George commands and we'll obey, over the hills and far away...

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Napoleonics Update

My flags for the 83rd Regiment arrived from GMB Designs today and I am really looking forward to gluing them onto the flag staffs and taking some pictures. The flags are really very sharp, and they look nifty too.

Mrs. Fritz is going out this evening so I get to stay home and do some painting, after I pack my SYW gear into the car. The grenadier company is about half way done and hopefully I can complete it over the weekend. It will be hard to put in much painting time given that I'm spending the whole day Saturday having fun while Mrs. Fritz... Hmm, maybe I had better nix the painting, or at least not do very much.

Per some comments left by Rob and others, I've decided that the 5/60th Rifles will be used for my two companies of rifles in my Peninsula establishment. That sounds like a good idea to me. Also, I am searching for a new colonel's name as the Colonel Fitch that I mention had the misfortune of dying in Jamaica in the mid 1790s. More likely, a Lt. Colonel would have been commanding anyway.

There was also a discussion on TMP today about the use of the British light companies during a battle. The upshot is that they were not generally positioned on the firing line with the rest of the battalion once the shooting began. So this has me thinking that I can have 5 centre companies and 1 grenadier company on the firing line (divided into grand divisions of two companies each), resulting in 3 grand divisions (and a shorter linear frontage, sans the light company). So my battle line will have 6 companies or 72 figures with a frontage of 36 figures or about 24 inches of frontage in line formation, if I have done my math correctly. That seems to be more manageable in terms of the amount of space that it takes up.

Check back in on Sunday for some pictures of the weekend's activities.

Recruiting Continues for the 83rd Regiment

2011-07-14T00:27:00.003-05:00

No pictures to post this late evening, but I promise to follow up with some within the next day or two so that you can view the progress that I've made on the 83rd (Dublin) Regiment of Foot. As of this evening, I had completed four companies of 12 infantry plus two ensigns and 2 grenadiers, for a total of 52 foot. So I'm halfway there to the eventual goal of 102 figures. I have also painted Colonel Fitch and Major Banastre Lee-Mallory.

My order of reinforcements from Elite Miniatures arrived in record time: 3 days! A tip of the cap goes out to Peter Morbey for his excellent service. I wasn't planning on seeing the box for at least another 5 to 7 days. I immediately opened the parcel and sorted the various figures into their eventual units: Royal Horse Artillery equipment and crew, regimental officers and brigade officers, and some light infantry company figures for the 83rd.

I cleaned up Colonel Fitch and RHA Captain Hew Grant and gave them a coating of grey primer last evening so that I could paint them today. I only had time to work on Colonel Fitch, but managed to complete the painting of the mounted officer. This was due primarily to the need to finish the fourth center company today and to get a start on the grenadier company, which now has the primary colors blocked in. Once the tedious block painting is done, then the real fun starts as I begin to add the details and start shading and highlighting the uniform colors. At this point, the painting really begins to pick up speed and I can see the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel" with the 12 figure company.

Forty eight figures in a two deep line looks rather impressive (and long). This has caused me to reconsider the size of the regiment. I may reduce it from 102 to approximately 80 figures. That would work out to 5 centre companies (60 figures total) and 2 flank companies (24 total), or 84 figures plus 4-6 figures in the color guard. Hmm, 90 figures is not that much of a space savings afterall. So maybe I will only have 4 centre companies (completed as of today) plus 2 flan companies for a total of 72 figures plus the color guard. I can always add more companies later.

I've been giving some thought to the names of the officers in the regiment and have decided that each company captain must have a name, along with names for the senior officers and staff.

Regimental Colonel - Colonel Fitch
Major = Major Banastre Lee-Mallory

Regimental Sgt.-Maj. - Sargeant Major Padraic Quincannon
Regimental Chaplain - Barry Fitzgerald (he could also be a company captain)

Company A - Captain Patrick Fitzgerald
Company B - Captain Konrad Kinch
Company C - Captain Christoper Duffy
Company D - Captain Sean Thornton
Company E - Captain (to be named later if I paint a fifth centre company)

Grenadier Company - Captain Trevor Howard
Light Company - Captain O'Toole

I am sure that some or all of these names are familiar to all of my blog readers and followers, in some fashion.

Did British regiments have two majors? Then if so, I would also add a Major Dundee to the cast.

At my current painting pace I should have the regiment close to completion by the end of this month, July 2011. The grenadier company is currently on the painting table, with the light company to follow. For the latter company, I selected figures that are more active than the advancing pose used in the other companies. So the light company will have figures firing and loading and also have their own mounted officer.

The two companies of 95th Rifles and 3 sections of RHA will follow the completion of the 83rd, sometime in August.

Spanish Buildings by HG Walls

2011-07-10T10:41:00.009-05:00

The 83rd (Dublin) Regiment forms up for inspection in a remote town in Spain. Click pix to enlarge.

83rd Regt. (Elite Miniatures) and HG Walls bespoke buildings. Click pix to enlarge.

I finished the third company of the 83rd Regiment last evening, along with two standard bearers (who are awaiting their new GMB Designs flags, recently ordered) and thought that I would show them off in front of some of the Herb Gundt buildings that were made circa 1992-94. I haven't decided yet on how to finish the bases, verdant green or dusty/arid style?

I have one more centre company in primer that I will start on today, which would give me four companies of 12-figures, or 48 figures plus two ensigns and a mounted officer. I would have two more centre companies and two flank companies to add after that in order to complete the regiment. Hmm, I just might have most of this done by the end of July at this pace.

Aerial view of the Spanish town, showing 9 buildings made by Herb Gundt and one Battlements resin building (top right corner) from Ian Weekley. Click pix to enlarge.

The photo above gives you an idea of what I have in my Spanish Peninsula collection of buildings. These were all made for me by Herb Gundt in , I'm guessing, about 1992-94. They have been in storage since at least 1995 and had not seen the light of day until a couple of days ago. Even though I had sold my Peninsular War Napoleonics back in 2007, I had an inkling that I would regret it if I sold these buildings too. It turns out that I was right.

None of the roofs are lift-off-able, but that is OK for our wargaming purposes. They are also sized more for the older true 25mm figures that were on the market in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before "28mm" became the standard. So they are a little smaller than some of Herb's current works, but again, that is OK with me. It is just that if I have Herb make more buildings, I should probably give him one of these buildings to use in gauging the size of any new buildings, so that they are all compatible. I have in mind adding a cantina and a windmill in the future.

Close up view of one of the narrow streets in the village.

Closer view of the town church. (This picture does not enlarge for some reason).

The current collection also includes a lot of individual wall and gate sections that I can use to make a wide variety of enclosures around the various houses. I can probably make 2 to 4 smaller villages out of this lot, which should suit most of our wargaming needs in the future.

More Recruits for the 83rd Foot

2011-07-09T10:25:00.004-05:00

I completed the first two companies of 12 figures last weekend and have a decent start on the third company and the colour party. So I should have about 40 figures completed by the end of this weekend.

Now that I have a few figures done, I am starting to think about how the regiment should be organized. The initial plan is to have 6 centre companies of 12 figures (72 in total) plus a 8 figure colour party (two ensigns, two colour sergeants and four drummers) for a centre company total of 80 figures. Then there would be two flank companies, comprising the grenadier and light companies with 12 figures each, for a grand total of 104 figures in the regiment.

Now that is a lot of figures by any reckoning, especially given that we are using a 1:10 figure to man ratio. That means that I will initially have a full strength regiment with 1,040 effectives, which is far more men than any regiment would have had in the Peninsula. The idea is that there will be an attrition of the regiment over the course of the campaign through casualties, sickness, desertion, etc. (see our Campaign Attrition post for the details). My sense though is that a British regiment in Spain would probably have no more than 600 men, or 60 figures, at any time. If I wanted to employ the actual 10 company organization, then that might translate into 6 figure companies (6 x 10 = 60 figures) plus maybe 4-6 figures in the colour party, just for show.

Using 60+ figures might be a better option for several reasons: (1) it means fewer figures to paint, and (2) the need to deploy the regiment in two ranks, instead of three, means that the regiment's frontage will be huge no matter how many figures are eventually used.

On the other hand, the advantage of starting with 104 figures include (1) it would look really, really cool! , (2) it is the number of lead castings that I actually have on hand, and (3) the regiment will inevitably reduce to a more manageable size through attrition.

Let's look at the frontage issue. I am basing the figures on 3/4" metal stands and attaching them to magnetized movement trays made from MDF and magnetic sheet. For a 12 figure company in two ranks, the 6 figure frontage would be at least 4.5" (the actual base is closer to 4.75"). Thus the six centre companies that I had originally planned on painting would occupy a space of at least 27". Add in the two flank companies and the total frontage expands to 36", or one foot, in length. Now we have a 20 foot long table at General Pettygree's house, but still, a yard's worth of frontage takes up a lot of space. In contrast, a French battalion of 72 figures in three ranks only takes up 18" of frontage when deployed into line.

Let's suppose that I reduce the regiment to 10 companies of 8 figures, or 80 figures. I have enough castings on hand to create all 10 companies at a smaller size. The company stand would thus have a frontage of 4 figures or 3" in width. Thus 10 companies in line occupy a space of 30", which appears to be a more manageable figure. Also, 80 figures is closer to the theoretical strength of a brand spanking new regiment, but still a bit large.

If I went for the 60 figure regiment at the start, using 6 figures per company over 10 companies, would produce a regimental frontage of at least 22.5". Let's round that up to 24" for argument's sake. Thus the options are as follows:

104 figures = 36"

80 figures = 30"

60 figures = 24"

I'm thinking that the third option is probably the most playable and it would still look good. However, I think that I will keep painting the figures as if I were sticking with the first option. Given that the magnetic movement tray system gives me the flexibility to change the organization to any size, simply by changing the size of the movement tray, it probably makes sense to paint the maximum number of figures and then sort it out later. Also, there is nothing to say that we have to use all of the figures in a particular game. Maybe the scenario calls for a couple of companies of the 83rd going on a mission with a company or two of 95th Rifles, while the rest of the regiment remains at the barracks.

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Terrain Items

Later today I will post some pictures of the Herb Gundt buildings that he made for me in the early 1990s. They look pretty nifty. I have 8 Gundt buildings plus one larger church and cemetary that he made, plus one Ian Weekley resin Spanish building that I painted. Herb also made a lot of wall sections, so I can make any number of enclosures around each building for added flexibility.

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Closing in on 300,000 visitors

I would expect that we will hit the 300,000 milestone at some point today. As of last night we were within about 200 clicks of reaching that level. Wow, that is really impressive and I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to visit my potpouri of ideas, thoughts and pictures over the past three plus years. Update: as of 11AM CST in Chicago, the count was up to 299,940 so we only need 60 more hits to reach 300,000. I only wish that there was some way to identify who the magic visitor was so that I could make a gift to him or her in some fashion, a painted general or something like that.

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More SYW Figures Upcoming

After I finish the next two companies of the 83rd (48 in total), I shall go back to painting some of the Minden SYW figures that are accumulating in my Closet O' Lead, notably some Austrian dragoons and hussars. Plus, the new Minden Prussian and Austrian high command figures should be arriving within a week or two and I imagine that I will drop everything and tackle those figures immediately, upon their arrival.

King Frederick Arrives From Minden

2011-07-07T18:51:00.005-05:00

Frederick the Great - Minden Miniatures - shown on the new standing horse. Photos by Frank Hammond. Figures sculpted by Richard Ansell.

Well this really made my day - the announcement that the Austrian and Prussian senior generals and staff are now available from Minden Miniatures. Click Here.

I immediately bought two sets of everything with the Austrian and Prussian figures grouped into sets as follows:

Austrian Foot Command (3 senior officers on foot)

Austrian Mounted Command (Charles of Lorraine, Nadasty, and von Loudon)

Ferdinand of Brunswick (4 dismounted generals and staff officers)

Prussian High Command (4 figures: Frederick, Seydlitz, Ziethen and a dismounted ADC)

Ferdinand of Brunswick and three staff officers.

Just looking at the Prussian officers and staff on foot immediately conjures up all kinds of vignette possibilities. For example, you could combine the above group with one or more of the Minden hussar horseholders or the civilian horseholders to create a little staff meeting. Maybe add small table made from bass wood or balsa and card, print out a miniature map and spread it over the table and, Voila! Instant vignette.

Frank Hammond (Mr. Minden Himself) also announced that he has a standing horse available, in addition to the trotting horse, but you have to specifically request the standing horse when you order one of the mounted regimental colonels or else it is assumed that you wanted the walking or trotting horse. Regrettably there is no standing horse with saddle and horse furniture that one could use for vignettes, but perhaps this will be added later along with the pending 18th Century civilian range that is in the works. No problem, just make your own horse furniture with paper and green stuff and you are good to go. I will show you how to do it within a couple of weeks.

I am looking forward to adding the new Minden bling of personalities to my ever growing Minden Austrian and Prussian armies. This stuff is better than anything else on the market. Thank you Frank, and thanks to the talented Richard Ansell for sculpting these masterpieces.

Company A of the 83rd Foot

2011-07-04T20:01:00.000-05:00

Several views of my first 12 figures for the 83rd Regiment. Figures are all from Elite Miniatures. (click to enlarge).

I got at least one company of 12 figures painted over the holiday weekend, and hopefully will have a second company completed by Tuesday evening, given that I have the next two days off from work.

I've pretty much decided that the first regiment will be the 83rd Regiment of Foot, which was part of Colville's brigade (along with the 94th and 5th regiments) in Picton's Third Division of Wellington's Peninsular army. I don't know if I will ever paint the other two regiments in the brigade, but if I eventually choose to add more redcoats, then these will be the lads that I add.

I sent off an order to GMB Designs Flags yesterday, and now that they have a web site with a shopping cart feature, ordering flags is easy peasy and so all things are tickety-boo for now.

Happy Fourth of July

2011-07-04T13:24:00.008-05:00

ACW re-enactors traditionally lead off the Lake Bluff parade with Old Glory.

This morning I took Lady Emma Cuddleston-Smythe and her friend Lady Cecily Penshurst to the annual Lake Bluff, IL July 4th parade. It was a very hot day with the morning temperatures in the mid 80-degrees Fahrenheit, but it sure beats getting pelted by rain. The parade typically is lead by a company of Union ACW re-enactors, who stop at every intersection of streets and fire off a volley. Very stirring stuff for both wargamers and non-gamers.

Lady Cecily (left) and Lady Emma (right) enjoy the parade

Methinks that the Ladies Emma and Cecily only pretend to enjoy the parade, as they seemed to be more focused on gathering up all of the candy that is thrown from the passing parade floats. There was a company in the parade advertising their fitness club and they were handing out free bottles of water, which proved to be a Godsend since we had not brought any water of our own.

The parade always includes some of the rediculous:

Shriners motorcycle patrol

A bear riding a Segway cycle.

The famous Lake Bluff Precision Drill Lawn Mower team ( a parody of the Shriners's motor cycle routine).

The annual theme of the Lawn Mower team focused on some of our wayward politicians in the US Congress. Ahem.

The lads were wearing plastic pig snouts. Note the newspaper headline on the lawn mower.

And it always includes marching bands and Pipe Bands, which I particularly like. It almost makes me want to go home and paint some Black Watch Highlanders.

One of two Highland bands that participated in this year's parade.

We had a fun time, but we finally had to bug out after about an hour, as we were baking in the hot sun and wanted to find some cool water for refreshment. Sometimes a small cup or bottle of water is the greatest treasure that one could find.

Afterwords, we headed home and Mrs. Fritz offered to take Ladies Emma and Cecily to the beach for the afternoon, meaning that yours truly will be heading off to the basement to paint figures for awhile.

A view of the clutter on my painting table today. It's not very tidy so I will have to do something about that soon, as I'm running out of space. You can see the first company of the 83rd Regiment of Foot in the middle of the table, with the second company in the foreground, waiting their turn to get their uniforms from the quarter master.

I am off to the painting table now. I will post some pictures of the first company of the 83rd Regiment, later this evening. So do come back later.

BTW, we are within a thousand page hits of reaching the 300,000 milestone. Thank you everyone for your continued support of my blog. I only wish that there was some way of figuring out who the 300th thousand person was.

A Short History of the 83rd Regiment of Foot

2011-07-03T10:33:00.003-05:00

Here is an excerpt of the regimental history of the 83rd Regiment of Foot taken from the web site of the Royal Irish Rangers, an amalgamation of the 27th, 83rd and 87th regiments in 1968. The 83rd does not seem to have a separate name (e.g. a county name or a nickname such the The Buffs, etc.), so if this becomes my Peninsular regiment, I don't know what I would call it. Does anyone have any ideas?

I took another peak at my stock of GMB flags and discovered an error; I did not have a flag for the 88th Connaught Rangers, but rather I had the 20th, 27th and 2/83rd. The 20th doesn't seem to have played an important role in Wellington's army, the facings of the first dozen figures painted are probably too bright of a yellow to use for the 27th (Inniskillings), so by default, that sort leaves the second battalion of the 83rd as my choice, or some other regiment with similar facings. They could still become the 88th by virtue of ordering new flags from GMB. This would entail painting a silver button color rather than a gold button color on the figures. I am holding off on this until I decide the name of the regiment. I think that I may reorder the flags anyway (as my old ones look like Grahame used a different technology in the start up days of his business, i.e. the newer flags look much sharper and natural in their color and shading, compared to the set that I have), so they could still end up being the 88th.

The first dozen figures are nearly complete, along with a mounted officer.

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History of the 83rd Regiment (courtesy of the Royal Irish Rangers web site)

The 83rd Regiment was raised in Dublin by Colonel William Fitch and soon saw active service in the West Indies. Thereafter they remained in garrison in Jamaica for seven years, losing many casualties from yellow fever. The 83rd had returned to Ireland and raised a 2nd Battalion to meet the expansion of the Army required by the Napoleonic Wars. In 1805 the 1st/83rd landed at Cape Town and swiftly overcame the resistance of the small Dutch force, then remained as garrison of the Cape of Good Hope until 1818.

The 2nd/83rd joined the Peninsular Expeditionary Army in Portugal in 1809. They- had before them five years of stiff campaigning with long marches up and down the length of Spain and Portugal and eventually across the French frontier, gaining twelve battle honours. One of their earliest battles but certainly the bloodiest was "Talavera". The battalion suffered in casualties over half its strength including the Colonel killed and many taken prisoner, not to be released for five years. Sergeant Major Swinburne was commissioned in the field for gallant conduct. He eventually retired as a Lieutenant Colonel some 44 years later, much honoured by The Regiment.

There followed the battle of Busaco in 1810, the storming of the fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz in 1812 and the engagement at Fuentes d' Onoro (referred to by the soldiers as "Fountains of Horror"). At Badajoz Sergeant Hazlehurst saved the life of Captain Powys, the first man through the breach, by laying about him with his halberd. Hazlehurst served right through the Peninsular campaign being awarded twelve clasps to his Peninsular medal.

"Salamanca", "Vittoria", "Pyrenees", "Nivelles", "Orthez" and finally "Toulouse" were the further honours won by 2nd/83rd. 83rd’s march since their early days had been "Garry Owen".

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I rather like it that their regiment song was Garry Owen. Harry Flashman talks about hearing this tune played by a number of infantry and cavalry regiments over the course of his travels, of course including Custer's U.S 7th Cavalry regiment. So it would appear that the use of Garry Owen might be somewhat common. Hmm, I could call it the Garry Owen Regiment.

Campaign Attrition System

2011-07-02T09:44:00.004-05:00

I draw your attention to Bill P.'s Major General Pettygree blog, which has posted the following campaign attrition system that we will be using to govern our campaign in Spain. It is simple to use and involves minimal record keeping:

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New Easier Attrition System

My former system was laborious and complicated. This one will be easier! After a game throw 1D6 per unit that had losses.

1. You HOLD the field or the game is a draw recover:
1= 70%, 2= 75%, 3-4= 80%, 5= 85% and 6= 90%.

2. RETREATING FROM the field recover:
1= 60%, 2= 65%, 3-4= 70%, 5= 75% and 6= 80%.

Modifiers: (Minimum result = 1. Maximum result = 6)
Poor supply situation, July or August, poor quality soldiers -1. (only one can be used)
Arty., Engineers, Cavalry and Elites +1 (only can be used)
Captured prodigious amounts of supplies +1
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KIA-MIA-In Hospital Box:
Miniatures that remain casualties are placed in this box and don't come back - usually. Some will eventually return as replacements,escapees or from hospital.
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Reinforcements should be added before the next game.
Throw 2D6 for a big unit and 1D6 for a small one. The result is the number of replacements arriving from the homeland or back from hospital; (the KIA-MIA-In Hospital Box)
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A system like the above needs to be generous so units don't become skeletal too soon and it needs to be easy on the record keeping side of things. This might do it.
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Of course now I might have to give some thought about collecting figures to build up a medical staff and have an infirmiry at the regimental barracks.

I also direct your attention to the slide show presented by Joe Dever of the Coruna demonstration game by messers Ringrose and Browning. The details and the hundreds of little vignettes are probably the best that I have ever seen, and I'm not exagerating. This collection is as impressive as the famed Bill Gaskin Peninsular collection. Click the link to TMP and then click on Joe's links to his photoshop slideshows.

Click Here

The Peninsular Project Gets Underway

2011-06-30T23:10:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update to let you know that the first two companies of British infantry were primed in grey this evening and with a long 4-day weekend for me, due to the July 4th Holiday, I should be able to find time to get at least one company of 12 figures completed.

I have two GMB Designs flags in my inventory: the 83rd Regt of Foot and the 88th (Connaught Rangers) Regt of Foot. I am trying to decide which one to paint, although I think that their facing colors are the same: yellow. So I won't have to make a final decision until I actually attach the flags in a few weeks.

The Connaught Rangers are very famous and well known, but I know nothing about the 83rd Regiment. It doesn't even seem to have a unique "county" designation like most other regiments. Who are the 83rd, where was their depot, where did they recruit from?

On a related matter, I am looking for dismounted British officer figures that I can use as personalities for photo shoots and scenes in the tales of the Peninsular War. This will likely be told in the same format as Major General Pettygree's serial stories. If I'm lucky, I might even get Pettygree himself to set up the stories and tell the tales. We shall have to see how that goes.

So if you have any ideas on where to find unarmed dismounted officers and orderlies figures in the 28mm or 30mm size, then please pass that information on to me.

After talking with Bill P. about this, we will initially have a regiment of 106 red coat soldiers stationed somewhere in Spain, circa 1805 to 1809. We will use Bill's campaign attrition system for battle casualties (some die outright, some are lightly wounded and out of action for a short time, others have more serious wounds, and others are sent back to Olde Blighty to recover).

There will also be a couple of companies of Rifles and two RHA 6-pounders to complete the initial garrison in Spain. Bill is even talking about painting up a unit of British Light Dragoons. That would be really cool! These British forces will be built up at a leisurely pace so as to avoid burnout. Eventually the day will come when we have enough British to actually stage a small skirmish game. Over the next several years then, we will gradually build up our forces and add a regiment (100 figures) of Spanish allies, some guerillas, and God knows what else. (I have some Vistula Lancers that I've been itching to paint and add to my French army in the Peninsula, and maybe add a battalion of the Paris Guard in red uniforms).

BAR Napoleon (in Spain no less)

2011-06-29T21:50:00.002-05:00

A British regiment (Elite Miniatures figures) organized into 5 centre companies, 1 colour guard, and 2 flank companies: 106 figures. Also shown at top left, 20 95th Rifles = 1 company.

The other day I was talking with Major General Pettygree (Bill P.) and complimenting him on the fine job that he has done with his British 19th Century Colonial Campaign, and to my surprise, the Major General indicated that he had an interest in fighting the Peninsula War in Spain. He further declared that he had managed to fend off the butterflies of a new project.

But damn his eyes if he didn't stir up the kernel of an idea in my own mind with regards to the Napoleonic war in Spain.

It occurred to me that we already had enough French to fight in Spain on the small grand skirmish level employed in Bill's Colonial Campaign. Between us, we have about 9 battalions of 72 figures and plenty of light cavalry for the French.

I have a bunch of Spanish buildings that Herb Gundt made for me back in 1994 that we could use for the project. Oh drat, I've said that nasty word: "project". Thus the terrain is already on hand.

The only thing that we really need are a some British and perhaps some Portuguese or Spanish allies and then we would be good to go. I recalled that I still had a stash of British infantry from Elite Miniatures that had never seen a drop of paint. So I hauled them out of storage this evening to see what I had.

Close up view of one British centre company consisting of 12 rank and file, one captain and one NCO.

As it turned out, I had enough figures to build one decent sized regiment of 106 figures, or 1,060 men at the 1:10 ratio that we use for our BAR war games. I also had a large company of 20 British riflemen plus two 6-pound Royal Horse Artillery cannon with limbers. I also have 30 Highlanders, but I'm not sure that I will use them for this project.

So as I said, Bill and I got to talking about how we could do a Pettygree-like campaign in Spain, set in 1806 - 1807, sort of, and keep things on the small side. I know, the British and French weren't fighting in Spain in 1807, but in our little world they are. So there!

I can envision the following forces for the British and allies team:

1 x British Regiment (106 figures)

4 x Rifle companies (48 figures)

2 x RHA 6-pound guns

2 x squadrons of British light cavalry (light dragoons or hussars)

I might later add another British regiment of around 48 to 60 figures, using some of the old Connoisseur Miniatures by Peter Gilder. Even though these are old figures, I like them and they still look nice when painted and collected en masse. I particularly like the marching pose/stovepipe shako/gaitors pose and this could represent a regiment that had been on campaign a bit longer than the large 106 figure regiment.

So you can see that I have quite a bit of painting ahead of me. This is going to take awhile to get a small British force on the table, but it will surely look splendid. Imagine, 106 figures and a pair of GMB Designs flags. It doesn't get any better than that.

Then we would have to start collecting various civilians, Spanish guerillas, and dismounted British officers -- the latter to use in set designs showing the officers and personalities in the officer's mess or in the camp ground, etc, so that we can advance the story line. Undoubtedly a similar search for figures will need to be done for the French team. Perry Miniatures produces a broad range of French marshals, generals and ADCs for Waterloo and I think that many of these would be suitable for some "on stage" presence done in Bill's Pettygree blog.

The whole point is to do the Peninsula War as a small game and not go overboard in the building of armies for the conflict.

I can envision having a personality figure representing one of the Exploring Officers in the Corps of Guides going on a mission behind the lines to meet up with a guerrilla leader to gain some vital intelligence. I suppose that company of Rifles would accompany him (where have we seen this before?). Other scenarios might involve a foraging expedition, or rescuing some VIP or escorting a convoy through the lines. The possibilities are endless. We could really develop an interesting story line and follow the career of this generation of Pettygrees and see what happens. It could be a lot of fun.

Game on!

Minden Hussar Horse Holders

2011-06-28T22:58:00.005-05:00

Minden Prussian hussars in busbies painted as the Austrian Baranyai Hussars. Click the picture to activate the Enlargemetron.

I have been working on a set of Austrian hussar horseholders for one of my clients and was able to apply the first step of the basing - spackle compound dipped into fine ballast. I will let the stands dry overnight and then apply a coating of brown ink for the second step. After the ink dries, a little dry brushing with a sand or tan color, followed by the application of static grass.

The figures are actually Minden Prussian Hussars in Busbies, but since the Austrian versions are not available at this time, the client decided to use the Prussians, but painted as Austrians. There is not a whole lot of difference between the two, other than the valise on the back of the saddle, which the Austrians did not have, and the royal cypher of King Frederick, which appears on the sabretache.

I drilled out holes in the muzzle of the horses so that I could fit a piece of florists wire through to represent the horse's reins. Then the wires led back to the horse holder's hands, which were also drilled out. I think that two horses per holder works a little bit better, because it is hard to fit the wire from three different horses into the hole drilled into the horse holder's hands.

The round base will eventually become the Croat infantry command stand. I may draft the mounted hussar officer into my new unit of Austrian hussars and paint a new officer mounted on an RSM standing horse, rather than using the walking Minden horse. (For some reason this picture doesn't enlarge when you click it)

I really like the color combinations for this uniform. The sky blue breeches provide a nice contrast to the dark green dolman and pelise, with red trim. In fact I liked the finished product so much that I just ordered two squadrons (24 figures) from Minden so that I can add the Baranyai Hussars to my own Minden Austrian army.

The second picture above shows one of the round command stands that I use in my rules. All command stands are on round bases to distinguish them from cavalry stands, which are squares. As noted in the caption, I may paint another Austrian hussar commander, but this time I will put him on an RSM standing horse instead of the Minden walking horse. The standing pose might look better with the Croat foot officer that will also appear on the base. I will have to place a bead of green putty underneath the hussar officer so that he fits better on the RSM horse, but other than that, the change requires little conversion work.

The Little Things In Life Mean A Lot

2011-06-23T00:59:00.002-05:00

When something basic such as electric power, heat during the winter, and hot/cold running water are taken away from you, at once, you realize what things are the most important. Aside from family, I would rank electricity near the top of the list.

On tuesday night around 9PM, there were severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings in Hesse Seewald. The police were even driving through the neighborhoods broadcasting warnings over their loud speakers to get into the basement. We duly obeyed and made a bee line for the cellar, when suddenly the lights flickered once, then twice and then total darkness. Fritz had the presence of mind to bring several flash lights and candle sticks with him to the cellar, which was a good thing.

By 9:30PM the threat had passed, but I figured that if we did not have the power restored within a couple of hours, that we were in for a long spell of darkness. And that is what happened. Some 26 hours later, around 11pm this evening, the lights popped back on.

We had previously lit up the entire downstairs part of the house with candle sticks and a few high beam flash lights, and we lit the gas fireplace to provide additional light. It all had a quaint 18th Century feel to it, but the niceness of that was offset by the fact that it was impossible to read a book by candlelight. I can only assume that our forefathers either had ten times more candles lit in the evening, or else they did not read books after the sun went down.

My primary concern had been about the electric sump pump and the backup battery that powered it. How long would the battery last before giving out? And should the skies open up with more rain, we ran the risk of a flooded basement. The power company indicated that we would not have power restored until midnight thursday, at the earliest, and possibly as late as saturday afternoon. So I was having major sump pump fears all the while. Fortunately, our prayers were answered and we now have the electric power restored.

I am very grateful to have electricity again, and no doubt the basics of running water, sewers and central heating are now suitably appreciated.

One other little draw back to this whole episode is that my painting ground to a halt. I had just finished a beautiful sample of a Minden Austrian hussar, painted as one of the colorful Baranyay Hussars (Green dolman and pelisse, with light blue breeches). I was eager to paint a couple more of these little beauties. I will post some piccies soon, but for now, it is off to bed and a good night's sleep.

More Croats Pix

2011-06-19T19:18:00.002-05:00

Minden Croats painted as the Karlstadter Oguliner regiment. Click once or twice for the enlargement of the pix.

I have been working on another regiment of Croats to add to my own Austrian army. This is what happens when one contracts a case of Croat Fever. This will be the second of three regiments that I will have painted recently, one for myself and two painted on commission. (a red and a white coated unit, each).

As usual with all of my light infantry, I base the figures on a 30mm by 60mm base placing only three figures on each stand, so as to give the appearance of men in an irregular looking open order formation. In my rules, when you see a stand like this, then you know that the unit can not operate as a "formed" unit. (which is really bad if the unformed is charged by a formed unit).

I then terrain the heck out of the stands, building little stone walls from pebbles that I find when I walk the royal hounds, or add bits of twigs cut down to size to represent logs or tree stumps. I don't want the muskets to break off from use, so I pose the firing figures at nearly 45 degree angles so that very little of the musket extends beyond the edge of the base. I also like to have some of the muskets resting on tree branches or stumps, or even rocks, which look like boulders at this scale.

Next on the list: a Croat command stand using a Minden Austrian Hussar Officer and a dismounted Croat officer. Both appear to be pointing off in some direction (I don't know what it is that they see). They should make for a nice little vignette.

Since it was Fathers Day, I spent a lot of time with Lady Emma Cuddlestone-Smythe and simply enjoying being a Dad on a day like this. We were going to play catch in the front yard, but then one of Lady Emma's friends came along and wanted to play. Oh well, we can play catch some other time.

Continental Mounted Officer Greens

2011-06-16T20:46:00.003-05:00

American mounted brigadier officer, pointing. Sculpted by Richard Ansell.

I was very excited to see an e-mail from Richard containing the pictures of the American mounted officers that he just finished. Aren't they dandy?

American colonel riding with his sword at his side.

This completes the set of 16 Continentals that I commissioned with Richard Ansell for the Fife & Drum Miniatures range of AWI figures. I would imagine that these fine fellows could also be useful for those of you who are building "imaginations armies" as they would fit in nicely with other 18th Century figures. In fact, all of the other Fife & Drum figures would make for suitable generic 18th Century soldiers and troops.

Hopefully we can deliver the Continental greens to the caster next week and have the master moulds made. Thereafter, we can get the range into production. This should turn out to be an exciting summer for AWI enthusiasts.

I'm looking forward to painting a bunch of the new Continentals this summer. Exciting times are ahead.
m

Sudan Game

2011-06-11T22:36:00.012-05:00

The Dervish prepare to attack Fort Bombay, somewhere in Mafrica.

I spent a delightful day at General Pettygree's home re-enacting a little known battle in the Sudan, circa 1898. In fact, it is so obscure that I cannot remember the name of the action or the town in which it was fought.

A thrilling encounter in the Sudan -

by Edward Speake, London Times Correspondent

(Fort Bombay, Mafrica) June 11, 1898

Your correspondent began his journey in Fort Grant, deep inside Tranjipour. There, he boarded the HMS Zanzibar and joined elements of the 66th Bershires and the 78th Seaforth Highlanders in a voyage to Fort Bombay, located in the obscure continent of Mafrica.

The busy port at Fort Bombay, where your correspondent disembarked.

After many days at sea, too many to keep count of, we reached Port Suez and changed boats, taking a smaller riverboat steamer up river to Fort Bombay. We reached our destination after 4 days of travel, and I must tell you how relieved I was to see the Union Jack flying proudly over the busy port of Fort Bombay.

Aerial view of Fort Bombay. The old stone tower guards the dock area on the eastern side of the fort. The walls are seen to be in a bit of disrepair in this section, as Her Majesty's Forces had only recently occuppied the fort and immediately set to in improving the defenses. Note the forward watch tower and the sandbag redoubt to the right (manned by a regiment of Sikhs).

A certain Captain Bartlett, of Her Majesty's 11th Hussars, asked me if I would like to join him in a little scouting expedition, just beyond the heavily wooded ridge, seen to the west of the fort. The Captain explained that he had orders to find a team of archeologists who were sifting through some ancient ruins, not too far from the fort. It was certain to be a rather routine scouting trip, and I imagined that we would be back in a jiff, so I agreed to accompany the 1st Squadron of the 11th Hussars, along with a squadron of the 9th Bengal Lancers.

A certain Trooper Thornton, a rather husky sort, was assigned to protect me (or escort me, as Captain Bartlett put it) on the expedition. Seeing that Thornton had the grizzled look of a veteran, I decided that my life would be in good hands if I stayed next to him during the journey. Thornton walked me over to the stables and helped me select a suitable mount, a fine Roan by the name of Ajax. We departed within the hour and as we rode west, I looked back at Fort Bombay and dearly hoped that I would see it again before the day was out.

As I looked back, here is the view that I saw of Fort Bombay from the west.

We quickly rode past the forward outpost, consisting of wood observation tower and a row of tents that looked sufficient to to hold a company of infantry. Off to the North, I took a last look at the Sikh infantry manning one of the forward redoubts. It was with some trepidation that I watched the last vestige of civilization and safety slip out of view. We passed through a narrow defile of trees -- scouts were sent ahead of the cavalry column to make sure that we were in for safe passage. It occurred to me that Captain Bartlett knew his trade well, and that helped to ease some of the anxiety that I had about this journey.

Captain Bartlett's cavalry column approaches Sir Henry Biedecker's camp.

A couple of hours out of the fort, we arrived in a lush valley of verdant green, and there before us were some splendid Greek ruins. I had not been aware that the Greeks had colonized parts of Mafrica, but apparently they did. I noticed a tidy row of tents and was told by Captain Bartlett that this was the site of Sir Henry Biedecker's archeological expedition. It seems that he had made an important discover of some sort. What it was was very hush, hush. All that I was told was that we were to escort Sir Henry and Lady Charlotte Biedecker back to Fort Bombay, post haste.

The ancient Greek ruins of Alexandropolis.

Captain Bartlett and a couple of troopers rode ahead into Biedecker's camp. Lieutenant Faversham was left in command of the column and he he quickly fanned out the Hussars to his left, along with several troops of Lancers. The remaining troop of Lancers rode off to the right and took up position atop a small knoll, where they could keep an eye out for any trouble that might come from that direction. Sergeant Bourne was in command of this smaller detachment and as a further precaution, he sent Privates Ham and Burns off to scout some of the wadis to make certain that there were no Dervish lurking about.

"Dervish". The mere mention of the name was enough to send shivers down my spine. I knew what they were all about and didn't particularly fancy meeting up with any of them today. The only thing worse would be to stumble upon a hoard of Hadendowa, the famed Fuzzy Wuzzy.

Sergeant Bourne could tell that I was a little bit agitated and he ambled over to me and Ajax to give me some assurance that everything would be all right.

"Mister Speake, sir. Perhaps it would ease your mind a bit if you rode over there and took a look at those ruins. I don't imagine that you've seen anything like them and I doubt that we will be coming back here anytime soon."

I wasn't sure that it was a good idea to get very far from my escort, but Sergeant Bourne's confidence made me feel a little bit better. I reasoned that if a seasoned veteran such as he was not perturbed, then I had best not let on that I was shivering in my boots from fright.

"Very well Sergeant," said I, " I think that I shall ride forward and take a closer look at the ruins."

Well, no sooner had I crested the knoll upon which the ruins lay, when I looked off to the south and could see a cloud of dust spilling into the horizon. I did not like the look of that. I could see that Trooper Thornton and another fellow had been sent forward to investigate the happenings on our left. I could also see that Thornton was slapping leather and riding pell mell back to the ruins. There he reported to Captain Bartlett, snapped off a tidy salute, and came trotting towards me.

"Captain says that we should be getting back to the baggage train right now and where you will be safe." he said. "as you can see, we have some trouble brewing yonder".

This was what Trooper Thornton saw. Dervish horsemen, and they were riding towards me!

The Dervish horse close in from the left, the Fuzzies close in rapidly from the right. Sir Henry and Lady Biedecker can be seen riding down the road between the two Imperial cavalry groups. You can see me, Edward Speake, in the blue coat mounted on horse behind the left hand section of cavalry.

Things were desperate on the left, as the 11th Hussars and the Bengal Lancers were greatly outnumbered by the heathen hoard. We were fighting for our lives, with little hope of seeing the sun set today.

Sergeant Bourne led his troop of Bengal Lancers straight into the Hadendowa foot, hoping to buy time for the rest of the Imperials to escape down the valley.

Well, to make a long story short, the Dervish cavalry surged forward from our left and Lt. Faversham readied his troopers to charge them so that Captain Bartlett and I could escort the archeological party to safety. The first round of melee was an awful affair, with many a good hussar falling. At the height of the melee, the Bengal Lancers suddenly pulled back, trying to regroup for another charge. But instead, the rearward movement turned to panic and I was horror struck as I watched them ride away.

Captain Bartlett looked at me and Thornton and said, "Mr. Speake, I would advise you to ride down that road with the Biedeckers and make sure that they get back to Fort Bombay -- and do look to your own safety as well, I'm afraid that we are done for here."

With that, Bartlett put spur to his horse and yelled, "come on Thornton, let's have at them. There is nothing left to do."

Bartlett rode into the melee to meet his death with the remainder of his squadron of the 11th Hussars.

" Aw, now why would the Captain go ahead and do something daffy such as thay?" said Thornton. He spurred his horse and said to me, "get out of here Speake, save your hide while you still can!"

Believe me, I was sorely tempted to take Thornton's advise and high tail it down the road. I glanced over on the right and could see that Sergeant Bourne's troop was pitching into the Fuzzies in order to keep the valley road open for the rest of the column. But for some reason, and I can't exactly explain why, I chose to join Bartlett and Thornton. I rode like a madman towards the melee, screaming like a Banshee and trying to catch up with the Captain. I took one last look behind me and could see that a troop of hussars were escorting the Biedeckers to safety. I really longed to join them, but figured that the Fuzzies would cut me off. So I did the only sensible thing (so it seemed at the time) and rode after Bartlett.

Life can be very strange at times and sometimes it is hard to understand why things turn out the way that they do. You would think that a small troop of hussars would get cut down by the teeming mob of Dervish horse. But you would be wrong.

I drew my sword as I approached the swirling mass of horses, hacking and slashing as I cut my way towards the colours. I figured that as long as I was doomed anyway, I might as well perish with the colours. It was the darndest thing though, for suddenly the Dervish broke away and began streaming away from us.

As the dust settled, I looked around me and there were but five of us remaining in our saddles: Captain Bartlett, Ensign Phillips, Troopers Hardy and Thornton, and me. We all looked at one another in disbelief. Somehow, someway, we were still alive.

"It must have been Mr. Speake's screaming like a stuck pig that scared them off", said Thornton, with a grin.

"Whatever it was, it has given us a respite," said Bartlett, "and we had better take good advantage of it get out of here right now!"

We could not ride back down the valley to the fort. The passage was full of angry Hadendowa and they were Hell bent on going to Fort Bombay. So the way home was blocked. Neither could we ride off to the left and work our way to the southern approach to the fort. That too, was full of Dervish.

There was only one way out: going back to the ruins. We followed Captain Bartlett as he picked his way over the rocks and gained the path that led to the ruins. They were surrounded by dense thicket of trees, and we reasoned that we could seek shelter therein until the Fuzzies had moved down the valley to the fort. So that is what we did.

We reached the thicket and dismounted, then we quickly melded into the woods where no pair of eyes would find us. The battle was over for us. At least for today. I had no idea of what would happen at Fort Bombay.

The Hadendowa assemble on the plain in front of Fort Bombay and muster their forces for the attack.

A band of Dervish attack the fort from the south, in concert with the Hadendowa attack from the west.

A gritty band of defenders were determined that Fort Bombay would not fall.

Mr. Speake et al appear to be safe for now, but what of the garrison at Fort Bombay? I do not know the outcome of that fight, but pray that Britannia would prevail on this day.

AWI Continental Command - Fife & Drum

2011-06-09T23:32:00.003-05:00

Fife & Drum Continental Command Figures (l-r) officer, standard bearer, drummer and NCO. Please click the pix to enlarge the view.

Rear view of the Continental Command figures.

Here are pictures of the last four figures in the current batch of AWI Continentals that are on the work bench of Richard Ansell. They are in marching poses to match those of the Continental rank and file figures shown a couple of days ago.

The standard bearer will require the employment of a pin vise so that you can drill holes through the hands. Richard made the Minden ensigns in the same manner and from my experience, this results in a stronger attachment of the flag pole to the figure, i.e. the flag is never going to fall out of the figures hands due to rough handling on the table top.

AWI Continentals Greens - Fife & Drum Range

2011-06-08T19:45:00.004-05:00

AWI Continental soldiers for a firing line. Greens by Richard Ansell

Rear view of the firing line figures. Note the different packs/blanket rolls.

It is time to show everyone a few more of the sculpts that Richard Ansell has made for the Fife & Drum range of AWI figures. The first two poses, shown above - front and rear views - are ramming a musket and standing firing. I happen to like figures that are firing their muskets because, afterall, that is what they do in battle. You could pair these up for use as individual skirmish figures or place them in the firing line of a Continental regiment. You could also fill in a few of the American Militia figures into your Continental regiment for some variety.

Next we have a pair of figures that would also look nice in the firing line. One is cocking his musket firelock and the other is standing at a ready position (he kind of looks like the Hartford Continental logo for the insurance company). I can envision these two fellows making up their own regiment, all at the ready and waiting for the British to advance within firing range.

Continental soldiers "at the ready".

Rear view of the "at the ready" figures. Note the variety of packs: blanket roll on the left and tumpline on the right. Nice!

I will post the four command figures for the Continentals tomorrow evening (officer, drummer, standard bearer and NCO). So come on back tomorrow and see the rest of the new figures. I think that these are real little beauties.

Austrian Army Organization

2011-06-07T20:59:00.000-05:00

I have been adding more units to my Austrian Army for my Minden Miniatures Project so as to bring both sides (Austrians and Prussians) into balance. When I started this project, I painted nothing but Prussians because, well, I like the Prussians better. I also find that painting things white can get a bit boring. Hence, I am not a great fan of painting Austrians. On the other hand, you cannot have a SYW game with out some opposition.

My Austrian infantry is basically organized along facing color lines. I currently have three infantry regiments, each with two battalions of 30 figures, and each of a different facing color. For example, there is the MacGuire Regt. with red lapels, the Botta Regt. with dark blue lapels, and the Hungarian Josef Esterhazy Regt which, being Hungarian, looks completely different than anything else. Eventually, I will add a green regiment (probably Wied) and a rose/pink regiment (de Ligne) to the army. That would be five regiments with a total of ten battalions of line infantry.

Each battalion also has a stand of grenadiers. So a two-battalion regiment contributes two stands of grenadiers to the army. A converged grenadier battalion will then have four stands of grenadiers (2 from 2 different regiments). This will yield two more battalions of grenadiers plus two extra stands. I could split the two extra grenadier stands, adding them to the existing four stand grenadier battalions, thereby increasing them to five stands (or 30 figures), putting them at the same strength as a line infanatry battalion.

So that gets my Austrian army up to 12 battalions of infantry (8 line battalions and two grenadier battalions). To that I will add a couple battalions of Croat light infantry, bringing the establishment up to 14 battalions. There is one little problem with this: I like things nice and symetrical and I want each command to have 4 battalions. So I will need two more battalions to bring the total up to 16 battalions. This is a nice number that is easily divisible by 4. The solution might be to add another Hungarian regiment, maybe in blue trousers and then brigade the two grenadier battalions with the two Croat battalions.

We end up with something like this:

1st Brigade: Botta (blue) and MacGuire (red) regiments = 4 btns

2nd Brigade: Wied (green) and de Ligne (rose) regiments = 4 btns

3rd Brigade: Josef Esterhazy (red trousers) and Gyulai (blue trousers) = 4 btns

4th Brigade: Ottocaner (red) and Oguliner (blue) Croats + 2 converged grenadier btns = 4 btns

I would imagine that each brigade would have a couple of 3-pound battalion guns and a battery of field artillery consisting of one 6-pound and one 12-pound cannon.

Austrian battery attached to a brigade of infantry. The cannon are from Berlin Zinfiguren, the gun crew are Minden Austrians, and the helpers in waistcoats at the rear are the generic Pioneers that Minden makes. You can paint the Pioneers as either Prussians (straw color) or Austrians (grey brown) .

I don't have much in the way of cavalry for my Austrians. I envision a cavalry brigade consisting of two cuirassier regiments (32 figures) and one dragoon regiment (32 figures). I might also add a regiment of hussars, but these were not employed on the main battlefield by the Austrians, so I either won't have hussars or will attach them to the Croat contingent.

New Minden Austrian Senior Command Figures

There was a nice piece of timely news announced by Frank Hammond on his Minden Miniatures blog, i.e. the addition of six new Austrian generals and staff officers to the range. Click on the link below to see these wonderful works of art:

http://mindenminis.blogspot.com/2011/06/austrian-high-command-greens.html

Here are a couple pictures of Prince Charles of Lorraine and some of the Austrian staff officers on foot. The vignette possibilities will be endless with these fine figures. Do click on the link above to see the rest of the new greens that Frank announced today.

Prince Charles of Lorraine - New Minden Austrian Command

Austrian Staff Officers Greens - new Minden figures

I don't have any senior Austrian command stands as of yet, primarily because I knew that these new Minden beauties were in the pipeline. The wait is well worth it.

More Golconda Stuff

2011-06-07T00:31:00.001-05:00

Golconda Rising Miniatures - Hindu irregular warriors. Click pix to enlarge the view.

Blue Willow left a comment asking what paint colors I used for the flesh on these Hindu warriors. So rather than burying the response in the comments, I will tell you which paints I used:

Reaper Master Series (in an eye dropper bottle) tanned flesh triad, although I only used two of the colors:

09043 Tanned Shadow
09044 Tanned Skin

I found that these two colors were sufficient to give me the look that I desired. I did not use #09045 Tanned Highlights. All figures were painted over a coating of Armoury Grey Primer.

I should add that the fellow on the left was covered in Reaper Pro Paints "Shield Brown". I don't have the stock number at hand, but I understand that this series is going out of production and that all future paint selections will be in the smaller eye dropper bottle. I used Shiild Brown as my first sample and wasn't entirely pleased with the result, so I tried the Tanned Flesh triad, which I liked much more.

The archer has been moderately modified with the addition of a piece of wire to simulate the bow string. This little addition makes a world of difference in the final result, so I strongly recommend adding wire bow strings to these figures.

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

I am starting to give some thought about building armies for the SYW in India, using the Golconda Rising figures as the cornerstone figures for the project. Nic at Eureka Miniatures informs me that the Mysorean (on the French side) and the Bengali (on the British side) sepoys will be ready soon, so that has me thinking about the size and composition of the armies that I would field on the tabletop.

Given that I know very little about this period, I will probably use the army lists in Tod Kershner's "Age of Reason" rules, but I will double the size of the AOR units (from 16 to 32 figure for native units and from 12 to 24 or 30 figures in European infantry units). Kershner basically recommends using an infantry force with 60% native levies armed with bows, swords or matchlocks; 20% trained native sepoys and 20% European (French or British) infantry. I plan to use Minden and RSM95 figures for my British and French battalions.

At the moment, I have no idea of which figures to use for the native cavalry. I will probably just sit back and wait to see what Golconda does with cavalry. I might be able to use some of the RSM Ottoman cavalry for India.

Foundry has some nice nellies (elephants) to use for army command stands, although at $45.00 a copy, they don't come cheap. Perhaps Old Glory or some other company produces an elephant at a more affordable price. Any suggestions?

Uxbridge: "Good God Sir, I believe that you have initiated an official project"

Wellsley: "Good God, sir I believe that I have!"

Oguliner Croats

2011-06-06T18:33:00.003-05:00

Karlstadter Oguliner regiment of Croats. Click once or twice to see them in all of their glory!

Update: I may have found a way of posting the 'adjusted pictures' to this blog. I copied the actual picture in iPhotos and placed it in a folder that already exists on the desktop. This seems to work as you can see from the above picture (adjusted) versus a similar picture, below, that is 'unadjusted' and underexposed. It's a bit clunky to do it this way, but if it works...

While we are at it, here is an adjusted picture of the Josef Esterhazy regiment of Minden Hungarians that I recently completed, save for the basing. Double click please.

Here is a picture of some of the Minden Croats that I have been working on recently. This is the Karlstadter Oguliner regiment, sporting blue coats and waist coats and red breeches. Uniform piping is in yellow and the barrel sash around the waist is red and green. They were part of the Karlstadter border region which included the Liccaner, Ottochaner, Oguliner and Szuliner regiments.

I'm still having problems with the new iPhotos software, but at least this version can be expanded by clicking once or twice on the photo. This version is a little bit underexposed, but when it is enlarged, the details of the Minden figures become clearer.

If I don't find out how to upload my adjusted photos into Blogger, I might have to resort to posting entries without pictures (worst case) or temporarily use the old iMac that we have. At least I can upload the pix from that computer, clunky though it is.

2011-06-06T01:38:00.003-05:00

OK, I'm going to try loading the modified pictures into my blog, this time using Safari instead of Fire Fox. For some reason, this seems to make a difference. So click on the picture above and take a closer look at the Golconda figures that I painted over the weekend. I used the Osprey book about the Moghul armies as my painting guide. The two officer figures on the right appear to have been copied from this book, so I guess that the Osprey serves as a decent painting guide.

The following two pix apparently are not the modified versions with the exposure and other factors modified. I give up, I'm going to bed.

Golconda Figures & Minden SYW

2011-06-06T00:43:00.003-05:00

I'm having problems with the iPhoto application on our new iMac. I downloaded the pictures and made adjustments to them, then sent them to the library, but now I can not find the modified pix. All I can find are the unmodified, which turned out cruddy since they are not modified. If anyone has any suggestions or advise on the new iPhotos then I'd appreciate your help.

At any rate, here are some crappy pix of the Golconda minitures that I painted over the weekend and a picture of some Minden Hungarians (too dark). It's not worth posting the other pix until I can figure out where they went on my computer. I am really sick about this, as the pictures were very nice.

By the way, I enjoyed painting the Golconda figures. My apologies for the bad piccies.

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Some New Purchases From Eureka USA

2011-06-02T21:11:00.005-05:00

Eureka 18th Century Camp Tent set - 9 pieces (click pix to enlarge)

Last Tuesday I placed an order with Eureka USA for a set of 18th Century tents, modelled in resin by Herb Gundt and based on actual dimensions of the tents used in Prussian camps. The tents are not listed on the Eureka web page, but if you ask Rob (in the USA) or Nic (at the Mother Ship in Australia), they will take care of your order.

I also purchased two sets of the Golconda Rising miniatures for Hindu troops in India. I've seen these on the Great White Zulu's "Golconda Rising" blog and had to see them for myself.

A Minden Miniatures Prussian officer (on the left) compared to two Golconda figures (centre and right). As you can see, both ranges have a comparable height, heft and body proportions.

I have provided some sample pictures of this fine range of figures and placed a Minden figure in each picture for comparative purposes. As you can see, both ranges are compatitable in size and body proportions. This is a big plus in favor of the Golconda figures, as far as I'm concerned. I strongly favor realistic looking figures and these beauties definitely fill the bill.

I can definitely see building some large armies for the SYW in India, knowing that I can augment the Golconda figures with selected French and British infantry from the RSM and Minden figure ranges.

Now I only need to find a painting guide of some sort so that I can paint the samples and post the pictures on this blog. By the way, Eureka USA sells the 8 figures as a set for now, so you get one of each with each purchase. This is not particularly handy if you intend to build up armies and need, say, 60 Hindus firing. You will want to purchase similar figures in bulk quantities rather than in sets. Rob indicated that this is a temporary arrangement until they can set things up administratively. So I would imagine that going forward, the figures will be available in some other manner that is more conducive to army building.

I am very impressed with these figures and will have to start collecting information so that I can determine how many figures will be needed to create an army, how to paint them, and how to organize them. My initial thought is a BAR India variant sometime in the future (we are probably looking at a 2012-13 timeframe here, as my 2011 schedule is full of AWI and SYW figures).

Another comparison of Golconda figures (the three on the left) with two Minden figures (on the right)

I