The Thin Red Line .

Russell's quote in his dispatch to The Times was actually - "a thin red streak tipped with a line of steel". I enjoyed painting the 93rd  Regiment (Sutherland Highlanders) and as Conrad sent me some more Highlanders I will be able to to the Highland Brigade in the future.

I was impressed by the Stretlets figures which are remarkably accurately modelled and with only a few 'odd' pose . Painting the moulded on flag took a bit of thought , but I'm pleased with the result.

I now need some Russian Hussars to charge them and these are being cleaned up ready for spraying . Another unit per side and I have enough for a small game . I am going to use 'Black Powder' with suitable adjustments for the period.

1st Battalion Dnieper Regiment

I've got my Highlander finish but haven't been able to photograph them as the weather is rather wet . But luckily I'd got the next Russian unit already photographed , they are the 1st Battalion of the Dnieper Regiment.

As you can see they are in the Russian summer/full dress uniform without the more usual greatcoat .

I rather like this uniform , but don't think it was seen or used much in the Crimea as most of the action was in the Autumn and Winter of 1854 .

However the original purpose of the Crimean expedition was to help the Turks in Bulgaria , the Allies landed at Varna on the Bulgarian coast only to find that the Russian threat had diminished due to the Turks beating then at the siege of Silistra and diplomatic pressure from Austria .

However ! if I was to squint at history a little bit I could base a campaign in this area - so the Russians could wear their rather pretty Summer uniforms .

And the British Guards could wear their Summer uniform which had white trousers I think - how cute would that be !? . The Light (Cavalry) Brigade did a disastrous recce inland from Varna which resulted in a heavy loss of horses due to the hot weather and incompetence and of course that's were the Allies first contacted Cholera .  So I'm not stretching history to much and it gets me away from a lot of the clichés associated with the actual Crimean campaign .

Reinforcements For The Crimea .

The postman delivered this impressive parcel this morning , a kind gift from fellow blogger Conrad Kinch (http://joyandforgetfulness.blogspot.co.uk/) full of very useful Stretlets figures which he has donated to my Crimean project . Lots of British infantry (which I didn't have any of) and Russian and British cavalry , so I'm going to spend the afternoon sorting it all out ! . Cheers Conrad !

Brae Heelan Lads (Work In Progress).

Just a quick glimpse of my next unit for the Crimean project the 93rd (Highland) Regiment .

Crimean British Artillery.

Finally got my British artillery done and based up, so I took the opportunity between showers to photograph them outside.

The gunners come with a mixture of head gear , forage caps and the odd 'Albert' shako .

I'm still not convinced by the advantages of photographing outdoors , the lighting looks more natural , but you have to try a take the photo without the neighbours garage appearing in the background.

The figures are 1/72nd Strelets and the guns are from the 'A Call to Arms' British Napoleonic box . I'm now working on another Russian infantry unit which will be ready soon.

Another Inspirational Site

Another site that got me into TSATF Colonial gaming , full of marvellous wargaming photos http://web.archive.org/web/20060614041903/http://zeitcom.com/majgen/index.html

Major General Tremorden Rederring's Colonial-era Wargames Page

My Inspiration .

Somebody asked how I became interested in gaming the French Foreign Legion their involvement in North Africa , the site that inspired me was -http://www.warflag.com/shadow/index.html
, real 'Old School' Colonial gaming and a mine of information.

Revenge Of Le Legion !.

Thirsting for revenge Captain Cousteau gathers a force to recapture the ammunition supply stolen from him in the previous game . Two Companies of the Legion and a Mountain Gun .

The Spahis move to outflank the Arabs (the stack of pennies are their ammo supply).

The Arabs are defending the waterhole and reinforcements are on the way !.

Attici Ag Amellal is coming to help and save the captured ammunition for his own prestige .

The Legion deploy .

The first volley from the French kills the Arab leader and his warband goes berserk and charges the nearest French unit .

But they are cut down by withering fire from the Legion and only a couple of them reach the French , wounding the units Officer before perishing !.

The Legion move in to assault the village - 'Only the Bayonet !'

The Mountain gun has moved into position and opens fire on the Arab reinforcements .

A direct hit !.

The Spahis continue moving to cut off the Arab's retreat .

The Arab garrison flee the wrath of the Legion !.

The French drive the Arabs before them .

The Spahis charge into the rear of the Arab reinforcements .

The Spahis cut the Arabs down and they flee !.

Confusion reigns as the French close in and a stray shot brings down Mussa Ag Amastane , wounded he evades capture it is said by hiding under a pile of bodies .

The Legion shoot down the fleeing Arabs and only a fast horse saves Attici Ag Amellal from capture . The French have recaptured the camels with the ammunition and revenged their fallen comrades - also it has got Captain Cousteau off the hook ! . Another great game - I'm sure Attici Ag Amellal  'The Leopard amongst the enemy' will be back soon to get his own back ! .

A Disaster For La Legion !.

I set up the terrain at random and the French force of - a Company of the Foreign Legion , a unit of Algerian Tirailleurs and a squadron of Chasseurs D' Africa were picked at random from the first box file I came across . I have a list of twenty different Arab forces which I diced for and came up with four units of cavalry . Ammunition for units in TSATF is decided by dice throws and the Arab force only got two rounds each !? - I thought ' Ah ! '-  that must be the reason for them attacking the French column - to get more ammo ! - I quickly added a couple of camels for the French to escort .

I diced for the location of the Arab forces and unfortunately they appeared very close to the French .

The Arabs charged in to the French before they had properly deployed- and the Foreign Legion hadn't even arrived on the table ! .

The unit of  Tuareg Camel charged home into the Tirailleurs killing all the French command figures but were wiped out by the resolute Algerians .

The Legion Company escorting the camels were caught still in column when the initiative cards allowed the Arab cavalry a second movement and cut them down ! . On the other flank a fierce cavalry melee resulted in the Chasseurs fleeing ! - not a good day for the French .

Next move the Arabs captured the camels and drove them off the board - thus ending the game ! . Over in four moves!, the poor French - what a disaster !

The loser - Capt. Jaq Cousteau , what a disgrace ! . If word gets back to Sidi Bel Abbes about this fiasco he's finished - another force must be gathered quickly , those natives punished and the ammunition recovered .

The winner Mussa Ag Amastane , he parades the captured camels through his followers , rather pleased that he has got one up on the French and more importantly his rival -

Attici Ag Amellal - who because the game ended so quickly  never appeared on the table - due to repairs to his weaponry (see previous post) , he's annoyed ! and as the true leader of his people the prestige and the ammunition belong to him ! - people don't believe that his prayers brought victory ! . So the scene is set for the next game - the table has been cleared , the terrain reset and forces decided on . Too be continued .........

A Worthy Thing To Do.

In keeping with the spell of rather hot weather I decided to set up a game of 'The Sword And The Flame' using my collection of Foreign Legion and Arab figures . When I opened the box file which housed the Arab forces I found the CinC 's sword was broken ! Blast ! (to make matters worse I seemed to remember it was a bit wonky when I last played with them).

I thought I couldn't have the Arab General weaponless so I got a pin and flattened it out , drilled out his hand and glued in the newly formed sword , will touch the paint up tomorrow . So I give you - Attici Ag Amellal  'The Leopard Amongst  The Enemy' (the figure is an 'Old Glory' figure from their 'Sons of the Desert' range)

A Problem And A Solution

I've been getting on well with my Crimean project - but lurking in the wings was a problem ! - Stretlets don't do field artillery ! - they do siege artillery for the Russians and the British - but no field artillery ! - Blast ! . However I found that Emhar do a suitable box for the Russians , so that's them sorted ! (strange box artwork used by Stretlets)

What to do for the British ? - I recalled that the same type of guns were used as in the Napoleonic wars so I bought a box of 'A Call To Arms' British Foot artillery which has four of these very nice guns - now for the crews .

I checked up on the British Siege Artillery box and found that the crew were more suited for field artillery than the heavy guns that came with them.

So picking through them I've come up with enough crew for two guns - I'm rather pleased , I did think I might have to buy in some metal figures to overcome the problem . So having cleaned them up I'll get them sprayed tomorrow and start painting them .