A close run thing!

Some off might of noticed how my walking score has been hovering near the 1000 miles completion total , well today braving a serious case of 'man flu' I've completed it , about a month late but better late than never. I wouldn't have minded not completing it for say 50 miles but missing out on the last few wuld have been an insult. Here's to next year!

 

1st Baron Greenway , Toy Soldier collector.

Found on Facebook ,part of the collection of Baron Charles Greenway , seem to be mainly Britains(?) I can't find any reference to him collecting toy soldiers - 'the love that dare not speak it's name' ? . Perhaps people knew but didn't say anything - just lie HG Wells.

Now if ever a man looked like he should collect toy soldiers it's this chap ! ' a businessman involved in the oil industry lived 1857-1934 - I'm sure he was a barrel of laughs when you got to know him .

 

The Season's Wargaming Humour.

 

A Merry Christmas to all in Bloggerland.

 

Winter Solstice game.

 

So my wargaming colleague 'S' called round for a 'Winter Solstice' game, we did a 'AGW' game using my 54mm collection. (note how well wrapped up 'S' is - my gaming room is notoriously cold)

The table with the initial set of troops - my infantry in the foreground and my cavalry on the road right of the photo. 'S's on the far side of the table.

Things did not go well for me - my infantry take the wood but come under accurate fire from 'S's Zouaves and my newly painted cavalry are hit by accurate artillery fire and are forced back onto the hill

To add insult to injury my General drew a 'Chance' card and had to retire from the game.

My reinforcement finally come on - as my remaining cavalry is forced to retire . 

'S's Zouaves take the wood and drive off all comers .I was glad to see his cavalry had the same lack of success as mine did and left the table promptly .

'S' ponders the game which was a convincing win for him, my army never really got going and I lost my artillery as well to a spirited charge from his Rifle Volunteers.. A good game which flowed well and proves that once more that A Gentleman's War delivers.

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Blue Army Hussars- The Brandenburgers.

Got the Blue Army Hussars done and was going to do a photoshoot outdoors - but it's pouring down ! . So here they are with a seasonal feel. They will be taking to the tabletop this week when 'S' is calling round for a game. (click on photo to enlarge)

 

Extra Cavalry for 'Blue' Army.

Whilst I was re-boxing my 54mm collection it became apparent that Army Blue was a bit short on cavalry compared to the Red army . So I've managed to collect these six Britians hollowcasts to be turned into Teutonic Hussars . Being soaked in Dettol for two days has failed to fully remove the existing paint so they will have to do as they are . I've based them on MDF for stability and will be undercoating them.

Three of them were missing plumes, so I drilled into the busbies

 added a pin and coated it in super glue to thicken it . I've looked in various book and found that the figures are Britains Type A 3rd Hussars Officer (?) on head up spindly horse first issued in 1925. I'm looking forward to choosing a Prussian Hussar uniform to paint them up.

Think I might be going with the Brandenburg Hussars.

 

The Republic de los Cocos Militia

One of the forces that make up the Republic's army is the militia, uniformed in cheap brown uniforms they are usually know by the nickname "la cigarros"- because of the tobacco coloured  clothing. They are only lightly armed without any heavy weapons and vary greatly in efficiency on the battlefield. Having got these finished I'm going to get them onto the table to take part in a game.

 

Another Toy Soldier Postcard .

 

Either these children are very small or the figures are a very large scale . Found on Facebook from the 'Military Toys from our Childhood' group.

Other peoples figures.

Been busy painting 'A's backlog of figures and although this is good for my wargaming bank balance I haven't got anymore of my own done yet. Think these are 28mm Crann Tara miniatures, on the left in white coats the Mainz Regt. from the Reichsarmee and on the right in red British Marines - before they became 'Royal' . Hope to get more of my Nacho Wars stuff done after I'm finished with these.

 

Toy soldier postcard

 

                               Think the French lad's getting a bit carried away with the game here. 

Reinforcements for Nacho Wars

 

Got my latest batch of 'Mark's Little Soldiers' from Copplestone Miniatures. Here we see a patrol of the Policia do Estado looking for chocolate smugglers in one of the narrow passes of the Salsa Mountains.

The Neuvo Rico police are dressed in blue uniforms with black leatherwork belts, they are only lightly armed with rifles and sub-machine guns. I haven't got much done this last week or so as I've been painting figures for other people and various 'real life' issues have got in the way, however I hope to get some more of these done and onto the table soon.

A new development in Toieland.

 

There has been new building work in Toieland, a new cottage has been erected and the locals are not happy! "Next thing it will be those new bungyloos !" says Awld Jethro to farmer Gabriel Oaks and for once his wife is lost for words!

The proud owner is the distinguished author Mr. H.G. Wells, here with a lady that is DEFINATELY not Mrs. Wells showing his property off to Mr. John Buchan a close friend and fellow writer. "It's just the place I need to finish off my latest book 'Small Battles'* in peace" he says.

A futuristic aerial shot of the property; a substantial building made of 3mm MDF which is designed to be decorated as a Christmas themed present holder. Bought rather cheaply from eBay but is ideal for my 54mm collection. 

* working title - the Lady who is DEFINATELY not Mrs. Wells favours  "Little Wars" as a better one, H.G. dismisses this - "what do girls know about Toy Soldiers!"

  

 

Felpersham Rifle Volunteers.

Taking advantage of the unseasonal weather I took the newly painted 54mm Rifle Volunteers out into the garden for a photo shoot. Here we see them going through their drill being watched by some literary notables.

Why its H.G. Wells, a lady who is definitely NOT Mrs. Wells and Mr. Kipling who are taking the afternoon air. I'm pleased how these figures have turned out and the repair of the rifle using a shaped cocktail stick looks okay and is not noticeable. (Click on the photo to enlarge - taken with a new camera app. and my tripod)

 

Next up for painting.

I have slowly been amassing these figures and have finally got the last two to make a viable unit foe 'A     Gentleman's War' . I was going to strip the figures but have no Dettol at the moment to clean them so I will just undercoat them. I have enough red coated infantry so these will be Rifle Volunteers. Annoyingly one of the figures has a damaged rifle so I will have to repair it with a cocktail stick. 

Having just watched a video on how to take better photos of models I have bought a tripod that will hold my camera phone so hopefully (fingers crossed) my photos will improve. My wife obligingly took a picture of my setup of the above photo.

 

You Can UPGRADE Your Miniature Photography!

Interesting video on photographing miniatures with your smart phone.

Air warfare over the Salsa Valley.

Nacho Wars goes into the realms of the air!  Here we see the Neuvo Rico air ace Wilheim Von Richthofen (the famous Red Baron's cousin) diving out of the clouds on an unsuspecting Republican plane.

I picked up a couple of diecast planes from Ebay, this Italian Ansaldo now sporting the roundels of the Republic del los Cocos. 

And this German Aviatik now with the Nuevo Rician markings. I scraped off the old stickers and photocopied new markings which were stuck onto the wings, I then cut off the propellers and added clear discs to represent the spinning props. 

I drilled a hole in the underside of the models for the stand, which is a bamboo skewer drilled into three MDF bases glued together suitably painted in a reverse ground perspective. 

The finished product, I wanted diecast planes for the 'toy soldier' look also durability, I don't think plastic kits will survive long in the rough and tumble of Nacho Wars.

Here is the Republican Ansaldo Fighter piloted by a chap called Bigglesworth. I've no rules worked out for air-ground or air-air combat yet, but they must be simple D6 ones. 

 

 

 

The Olde Gods.

Well, this terrain piece has resurfaced! I keep finding it hidden in the dark recesses under the table. I haven't the foggiest idea where or when it was purchased? I think it might date back from when I purchased my Foundry Bronze Age armies back in 2001 (?), back then Foundry did some cracking army deals - buy one get the second half price! (It was a different world then) so I took advantage of the deal and bought 2 European Bronze Age armies. These have been painted up years ago but never seen much tabletop action I'm afraid. So, I thought I'd paint it up - I added a few suitable shields as trophies/offerings.

It only took me about half an hour to get it done (mainly dry brushing) and here it is in a suitable setting with some of my figures. I think it portrays Cernunous the Horned God of the forest - having got it on the table I think I should set up a game involving it. (Click on photos to enlarge)

 

A Lady of fortune.

One of the byproducts of my re-boxing of my 54mm figures has been the resurfacing of some forgotten in the mists of time. This is a lady on a horse, riding side-saddle, I've given her a simple paint job, mounted the model on a base and just gloss varnished her. She will be the 'General's Mistress' one of the 'Cameo' cards used in 'A Gentleman's War' rules. Having got her ready, she will be appearing in the new game I'm setting up - as soon as her varnish dries.     

 

What's in the box ?

The problem I've been having with my 54mm collection is storage, at the present they are stored in two draws in a writing desk. This is not very satisfactory as they are hard to access and becoming jumbled. So, on a visit to our local Asda, I found some plastic storage boxes - £11 for three - a bargain! Box one Red army cavalry, Commanders and gun crews. 

Box two Red army Infantry, Naval contingent, Cyclists and Commanders. These boxes will make choosing figures for games a lot easier.

Blue army in Box three, Cavalry, Infantry and Commanders - Hmm! I could do with a few more Heavy Cavalry for this army. (Click on photo to enlarge).

At this point I realised I was short of boxes! luckily, I found one which we had used for camping equipment/utensils etc.so this has the overflow of Blue armies Infantry and various odds and sods. I must admit I'm rather pleased with myself organising not being one of my strong points. These boxes are a great idea which will enhance my gaming as I can pick and choose units much easier now I can see them properly. I must celebrate with a game using these figures! 

 

Northumbrian jaunt.

 

    We've been away on holiday staying in a cottage in Northumbria, the weather was brilliant although there was a cool wind - it is Northumberland after all. Here we seen Mr. and Mrs. Walker on the beach at Alnmouth, very bracing!

We did a fair amount of walking along the River Tyne and here is the rather splendid bridge over it at Corbridge. 

The view of the River Tyne looking upstream from the afore said bridge.

Came across this impressive pile of dressed sandstone blocks (dog for scale).

The explanation of the edifice. (Click on photo to enlarge)

Much to Mrs. Ks alarm our path took use over the Carlisle-Newcastle railway tracks - she always thinks I'm capable of doing something silly in circumstances like this. I explained to her how as a small child we used to place pennies on our local railway tracks to get them squashed by the speeding trains - the problem was finding them after the train had passed! (Health and Safety wasn't a thing then) 

We stopped for lunch, and I thought a photo shoot with Mr. and Mrs. Walker overlooking the Tyne Valley was in order.

Further on we had to cross the 'Dyvils' Water via the 'Dyvils' Bridge - a new one. the old stone one was washed away by floods - the authour and hound for scale. The dog is on the lead because of pheasants in whose presence he has a tendency to disgrace himself. 

The 'Dyvils' Water from the bridge rather innocuous at the moment but a raging torrent capable of sweeping bridges away it seems in spate.

The theme for this holiday seems to be bridges, another fine one here at Hexham . 

What was I saying about bridges-upstream is the remains of an old branch line bridge which was demolished in the 1950's when the line closed.

Since the authour had been a good boy and not got himself run over on the railway tracks he got to visit 'Barter Books' in Anwick sited in the old railway station - a huge secondhand bookshop which is always well wort a visit, much to Mrs. Ks alarm I proceeded to try and take a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Walker outside the entrance - she thinks the passing public will think I'm 'odd' and her by association, hence the hurried out of focus picture as somebody was coming. 

We had to have a cup of tea and cakes in their cafe and I perused the bookshelves, coming away with a modest haul of a couple of 'Bill Bryson's' and a book on collecting Toy Soldiers. I was intrigued to see a copy of Charles Grant's 'Wargaming Tactics' in the locked display cabinets they keep for rare expensive books for the price of £56! - I have a copy at home that cost me about £2.50 when it came out in 1979, A grand holiday with fine weather all the week.