Lord Bygon defends the Koukialika Pass (part one)

The battle starts off badly for the Helenyk forces as the enemy land a direct hit on the Naval M/G .

The War Correspondent Orson Wells is imbeded with the Volunteers of the 'Sportsman Rifles' .

The Sublime Porte infantry drive the local mountaineers of the summit and capture the hill .

Orson Wells comes under fire (he was to dine out on this incident many times over the coming years )

The 'Black Hand' and Garibaldi Volunteers recapture the hill , causing heavy casualties on the enemy .

However the moral of the 'Black Hand' breaks when they take casualties and they flee ! (count as 'wavering' and have to test moral at every casualty taken)

On the extreme right of the Helenyk line a cavalry melee breaks out which does not go well for the 'Green' Hussars .

The Sublime Porte still hold the hill but at a great cost as the 'Garibaldi' Volunteers open a accurate fire with their somewhat antiquated weapons . Part two to follow soon .......

 

Lord Bygon defends the independence of Helenyka .

Lord  Bygon swears an oath at Missolonghi to defend the independence of the Republic of Helenyka (painting on the works of Ludovico Lipparini) .

Lord Bygon gives a somewhat ill advised interview with the war correspondent  Orson Wells - the controversial American cousin of  H.G. Wells - who writes for 'The World' magazine - quote " I not only write the news -I make it!" (people have pointed out that he also makes a good bit of the news up ) . 'My plan is to give Johnny Turk a good thrashing !' quote - Lord Bygon .

Bygon's somewhat motley force deploys on the road to the important Koukialika Pass to block the way of the invading Sublime Porte Army . It is made up of a couple of bands of 'Black Hand' revolutionaries , local mountaineers and a force of 'Garibaldi' Volunteers  . The only regulars are a small unit of Hussars and a Naval machine gun and crew.

The Naval M/G sets up on the road as the 'Garibaldi' Volunteers move down the road to deploy .

Lord Bygon helps to position it .

The Sublime Porte's army appears through the morning mist - a mainly Infantry heavy force .

it seems .

However a detachment of Rifles secure a wooded hill and a signal station is set up (?)

The Sublime Porte has brought it's Heavy Artillery to shell the rebels into submission .

An added complication - the appearance of Lady Caroline Lambe the ex paramour of Lord Bygon who has scores to settle ! ('Mad , Bad and Dangerous to know') . A further report of the action is forthcoming..... .....

 

Off at a tangent (again)

So as is my want when I should be doing something - I go off at a tangent ! .I've had these 'Test of Honour' Samurai for ages , I don't have any mounted figures and I had read that these where swines to put together (which may be the reason why they have languished unmade for so long) . I do enjoy gluing plastic figures together - so I thought it was time to 'man up' and get them done . 

The actual models went together quite well, BUT  the horses needed pinning to their bases with a pin through the base and into the horses stomach to hold them secure . 

I was surprised how quickly I got them painted up , I once had a bit of a phobia about painting Samurai but having got my head around the subject I enjoy painting them and hope to get them in action soon . I must get back to my other outstanding projects now.

 

The fruits of the mold .

Well I finally got around to trying out the mold I vented , the first few where not a success !- with the rifle not casting properly - Hmm ! . However as the mold heated up after a few pourings I began to get some good castings .

The first six figures, even for a semi-flat figure they are VERY two dimensional . They are going to take some cleaning up but they look a rather nice figure , I think I will have to do some shading on them because of their flatness rather than the usual 'toy soldier' paint job . I will have to do another six to field a unit and I'm not at the moment sure why they should be involved in the Balkans - something to do with King Ludwig II or one of his relatives perhaps (?) 

 

A recalcitrant mold .

 

I've had this mold for quite a while , I got it cheap off  Ebay but never managed to get a proper casting from it . It is from a German firm called SCAD and is of a Franco-Prussian Bavarian infantryman in 40mm and semi flat . I thought I might add a unit to my Balkans War Imaginations collection to represent the little know Bavarian intervention in that conflict . 

So today being very wet outdoors I settled down to cut some vents into the mold to help the air escape and aid the molten metal flow around it . I'm waiting till tomorrow and the absence of my wife to test it out - not sure she fully approves of me using the cooker hob and sparing her the bad language if it doesn't work .

Here's the mold (upper right) with the other two ones I bought, I've cast the other ones without any problems . I will report back on the progress . 

A work in progress .

Been repairing some hollow cast Cowboys - hence the' green stuff ' six-shooter .

 

Thinking of Christmas - already !

Sadly I can't find any pictures of the 'Great Miniature Battle' or 'War Tableaux'  - especially when when the artillery used REAL gunpowder ! (click on photo to enlarge)

 

Toy soldier family fun .

Fun for all the family !,  even the 'intelligent sort of girls' , just wait till somebody has an eye put out by a errant missile , seen on Facebook . (click on photo to enlarge)

 

The decay of history.

Whilst on holiday near Bamburgh in Northumbria I came across this sad example of the decay of historic monuments . This is what is left of a WW2 concrete pillbox which has been washed out by the action of the sea and time from the sand dunes - the dog is for scale .

A better preserved example on a local golf course . Corrugated iron sheeting has been used as shuttering when pouring the concrete to build the pillbox . It's sad when these pieces of history disappear , it is hoped the sites and structures have been recorded by somebody as they are as important as many grander structures in telling history .

The worlds largest dice !? - author and dog for scale , think they might be to prevent coastal erosion .

PS Defence of Britain Database: Introduction (archaeologydataservice.ac.uk)

found this on the internet 

 

Back to figure painting .

Got back off holiday and finished these French Artillery for my Italian Wars of Independence . My French have been rather neglected of late and these gun and crew have been wanting completing for quite a while , I even did the hated limber and team - as you know I hate doing these BUT when done they always add something to the tabletop/game . Overseeing the crew is another mounted French Officer , the figures are of course Irregular 28mm . I have another gun and crew to paint and a small unit of Cavalry whilst I'm in this mood .

 

The Adventures of the Walkers No. 3

The Walkers continue their holiday by a walk along the beach on Lindisfarne (Holy Island)

Taking in the local flora (my wife said "why is Mr Walker always in front of Mrs Walker ?" - 'because like me he 'thinks' he knows where he's going ')

In the distance Lindisfarne Castle (I need to resolve the focusing issue - my phone will only focus on one subject at once , so I must dig out my camera and give it a go)