The final batch - odds and sods.

 

Some of the Perrys Men at Arms with the odd Mercenary body thrown in .

Archers for Richard Duke of York's retinue - sadly this close uop photo rather shows up some of the mold lines I failed to see whilst painting them up .

Richard Duke of York (father of Richard III) , the splendid flag is provided in the Perry box . Time to get these figures onto the tabletop ...........

Toy soldiers in art No.16

 

I found this postcard on the internet, it shows a small French boy dressed as a Turco (?) with a selection of toy soldiers and a cannon , interestingly it also has the reverse side with the message , it was posted on the 6th December 1914 - unfortunately my French is of the 'Del Boy*' variety so I can't translate it .

*Only Fools and Horses - BBC sitcom character.

Personalities for The Cousin's War .

 

Warwick - 'The Kinge Maker' , these are a mixture the Mercenary sprue and the Men at Arms sprue.

John Clifford 9th Lord of Skipton .(Butcher Clifford)

The murder of Rutland by Lord Clifford at Wakefield - think Clifford may have been a victim of Tudor 'Black Propoganda' - it is thought that the Earl Rutland was killed in the battle.

Toy soldiers in art No. 15

 

Found this illustration in a book I'm reading , it's by Gioacchino Toma and portays Piccoli Patrioti (patriotic children) and was painted in1862 . The children are obviously fans of Garibaldi as they are firing on what seems to be a Papal flag and there is a print of Garibaldi on the wall behind them . The kneeing lad seems to be firing a cannon ! - I wonder how many accidents were caused by the use of real gunpowder ? . It's hard to make out what type of toy soldiers are being used.

Another one I found , no toy soldiers but the yoiung patriots are gazing at portraits of Garibaldi and I think Victor Emmanuel II - by the same artist ?

The Cousin's War - even more figures done.

 

I got a box of the Perrys Mercenaries to add to the various forces for my Lion Rampant armies.

Here is a unit of Crossbowen - when they are in units of sixes they count as skirmishers. These units will be painted agnosticly so they can be used by either side .

Another unit of skirmishers , this time Handgonners , again painted so that they can be used by either side.

The Cousin's War - more figures painted.

So chugging away in the background of lost wi-fi , real life issues etc, I have been painting away at my Perry plastic WOTR's figures , here we have a unit of bowmen of the Percy retinue. 

And a unit of Billmen again for the Earl of Northumberlands retinue . They are in groups of 12 for the Lion Rampant rules which I will be using for this project.

 

Toy Soldiers in art No.14

 

Mrs K has just been to the doctors for a hearing test - I must stop using high explosives in my games ! , found on the interweb - obviously to do with our American cousins.

The Library in tidy mode (for now)

 

I've finally got my bookshelves (or more grandly - The Library) tidy , a veiw to the north . I now think I know where all my books are and although to the untrained eye it appears a jumble .

The veiw to the south , rather awkward trying to photograph them without clambering over the spare bed etc .The shelves are adorned with various knick-nacks , memorabilia and my collection of WW1 pilot/aircrew figures . I'm pleased to have got it done and slightly alarmed at the number books that have been taken to various charity shops , but I feel strangly cleansed and rather pleased.(click on the photos to enlarge and peruse the shelves)

A photo of the author as young man.

When I've been clearing up my library I have been checking the books for old photos etc , as I  have a habit of using them as book marks , I came across this one - It's of myself repairing the cobbles in the village of Dent - once in Yorkshire then reorganised into Cumbria (my boss who hated the place used to say nobody wanted the b***er !)(it's a long way from anywhere). It must be back in the 80s I think ?- Dent still had a Post Office then !, I remember they would'nt close the road and we had to lay steel plates to get wagons and tractors past , which also limited how much we could repair at a time as there was only me and my mate and a rather battered pick up. It took a long time and rained quite a bit as can be seen in the photo . I look rather Dickensian ! = Health and Safety was in it's infancy in those days ! . Dent is notable for it's cobbles and gets very busy in the tourist season nowadays .

 

End game.

Well I've managed to finish off my SYW game that has been delayed by various real life issues . The Prussian Cavalry drive off the remaining Russian Cavalry but due to the replacement lack lustre Brigadier they stall.

On the other flank the Russian Infantry manage to rally themselves and start to move forward. Yes we have got sunshine - nice weatherwise but not for photography .

The Russians get their act together and move forward to the attack - they are being harrassed by the Frei Korp .

And after - The leading Battalion breaks and flees crashing into the next one and that flees as well , a third one has to retire to try and rally it's casualties off. . Oh dear ! 

That ended the battle in favour of the Prussians , the Russians having lost half their units, the army morale broke and they are forced to retire . On the far left the Prussian Cavalry and Grenadiers are stalled, the forces in the centre took little part in the battle and on the near right the Russians were defeated by a combination of the constant snipping of the Frei Korp , effective Prussian Artillery cannister fire and the blundering control of their Generals . A great game which took longer to play than I expected , but the rules worked well and the fact that I didn't have to paint any of the figures was a bonus ! .