The 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own)

Got another regiment done for my Light Brigade, this time  a hussar regiment - the 11th Hussars - 'Prince Albert's Own' , nicknamed the 'Cherrypickers' or the 'Cherubums' due to their crimson trousers. The figures are of course Strelets , only one photo of them as the battery packed up in my camera . Next up their (in) famous commander Lord Cardigan.

Sunday Morning Casting .

Ceasing the opportunity of the absence of dog and wife I have been up early and got the last company of my Prussian Fusiliers cast up, based and ready for spraying . I have now got the little plastic spigots (must be some sort of heat resistant resin) that fit into the body molds , which leave a hole for the heads to fit into and this has sped up the process  . I have done quite a bit of venting on the molds which has produced almost perfect castings each pour , so got them done quite quickly  ! .

Toy Soldier Poem .

Shamelessly borrowed off Facebook from the Paperboys Page .

Well We Have Done It ! .

This Morning myself and Charlie did our thousandth mile , I started recording the mileage on the 31/01/18 and it has taken 43 weeks and that works out of an average of 3.3 miles per day . I missed recording any miles on 9 days - due to illness, bad weather and travelling to and from holiday . I've only recorded mileage when I've been walking the dog so going round to the shop etc . has not been noted. 

Here is my co-walker Charlie (posing nicely for once) being a Spaniel he has probably done at least 1,500 miles with his constant toing and froing . I am going to continue recording our mileage till the end of the year to see what the final total will be .

I thought I would take a photo to commemorate of 1000th mile , so took my camera with us . Unfortunately there was nobody about to take the photo so I had to balance the camera on the top of a field gate and put the timer on . This is about the fourth attempt (and not a brilliant one at that) - it fell over about twice taking shots of the sky and another that was very blurry and there was the problem of keeping the dog in shot (his interest in the project was waning after the second failure) so that is why I have a worried look on my face. I'm pleased I've done it and will give it another go next year.

The 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment Of Foot.

Back to the painting table with a vengeance this week and have completed the next regiment of foot for my Crimean British force this being the 30th , another battalion of Pennefathers Brigade . Note Mrs Duberly sheltering behind their ranks.

Lots of dramatic poses amongst the Strelets figures ! .

Having a multitude of spare figures I have decided to give each unit a separate base of  skirmishers mounted on some round MDF bases I had handy - here's the one for the 55th Foot.

A rather more lively one for the 42nd Foot. I've started painting up some Hussars for the Light Brigade which I hope to photo in the next few days .

Mrs Duberly On Parade .

My wife has been on holiday the last week so we have been doing 'real life' things and I haven't got too much done , but I have got Mrs Duberly finished. I made a guess at her colour scheme which is a dark colour - so I went for blue . I gave the figure a gloss coat of varnish and then a matt one and did the base up . I'm pleased how she has turned out and it does bear a resemblance to the real lady I think . In a moment of serendipity I came across the above book in my local bookshop - "Mrs Duberly's War - Journal and letters from the Crimea" so it will be interesting to read about the lady behind the plastic figure. 

Interfering with Mrs Duberly .

Not as racy as it sounds , several weeks ago I asked if anybody had a Airfix Maid Marion figure (http://tonystoysoldiers.blogspot.com/2018/09/does-anybody-have.html) to convert into the Crimean personality Mrs Fanny Duberly . Very kindly fellow blogger Springinsfeld sent me one - so fixing a new scalpel blade to my knife I set off CAREFULLY cutting back the medieval harness on the horse and the cloak she is wearing to try and reform as a Victorian lady .

It was easier than I first thought , I added a straw (?) hat to her head using 'green stuff' , the hardest part was getting the horse to fit the base (much bad language and cursing of Airfix) and I resorted to a pin through the base and into the horses stomach to hold it in place . 

The original Mrs Duberly with her husband in the Crimea . 

Whilst I was on a Crimean bent I decided to do another six Hussar figures for my Light Brigade .

I also cleaned up another regiment of British infantry and based up the Earl of Cardigan to take command of the Light Brigade . I've got a new can of black undercoat and so will get these sprayed ready for painting and will post an update this week .

TSATF Sudan Game .

As the Egyptians advance to secure the bridge the captured artillery manned by captive Egyptian gunners encouraged by a Dervish overseer opens fire ! .

- and causes casualties on the Lancers who dash to cross the bridge before the Dervish infantry can arrive . 

The movement in TSATF is determined by dice and the Lancers took forever to cross the bridge and received several rounds of fire and were forced to retire as the Dervish tribesmen move up .

The Hadenoa tribesmen move to attack the Egyptian left .

Two units of  Dervishes are directed to the bridge and arrive to drive the shaken Lancers back .

The Egyptians are having more problems - one unit commander begins to behave oddly ! and the unit is not moved forward as ordered ( an overdose of Hashish ?) 

The Egyptians go on the defensive ! .

The Egyptian line drives off an Dervish attack .

The Nordenfelt gun comes into action ! .

- and is overrun ! opps ! 

Hicks Pasha joins the Bashi Bazooks to try and save the situation - but the Dervishes get to charge first and in the following melee Hicks Pasha is forced to flee (in his memoirs he says his horse bolted !?) , the cavalry fled the field leaving the Egyptians without leadership ! .

The end of the game , the Egyptian retire with a bloody nose , the Hadenoa  having taken heavy casualties are happy to let them go and retire parading their captured machine gun with them ! . An excellent game TSATF delivers once again .