HG Wells and Holmes meet Ai

 Taking advantage of the pleasant weather Sherlock Holmes has gone to Germany to take the air and relax . He was pleased to meet up with his old friend H.G. Wells and his companion (?) (a woman who is certainly NOT Mrs Wells) , also there was Professor Moriarty who Holmes had met before but was not too keen on if truth be told . They go on an outing to a spectacular waterfall and gorge which is best veiwed from a rather narrow ledge .

Moriarty is facinated by it -  HG and his companion less so ! 

On the return journey HG Wells takes Holmes to one side to voice his opinion on the Professor which is not complementary !. Of course I have been dabbling with AI again ! and not taking my figures abroad ! (Click on the photos to enlarge )(the waterfall photos have added AI waterfall spray and the last one I asked for a Tyrolean backdrop and a rustic sign ) 

My latest castings on parade !

 

Got a couple of French Chevau-Leger Lancers regiments done and was pleased how easily they cast up , getting the lances to fit the hands was a problem, but super glue and green stuff did the job 

The mounted Officer are Hinchliffe Models and rather nice, their style is still  brilliant after all these years (50 years ?)

Meanwhile what have these two spotted ?........

If Mathew Brady (Junior) had access to AI

 

He we see Mathew Brady (junior) taking an outdoor photo of two military men near his studio in Toyeland, he has relocated there because of some problems withe the Authorities in France over some photos he had taken of young country girls in a state of undress - he prefers to call the genre ' Females in the state of nature' 

His photograph .

And me playing with AI , I must admit I'm rather pleased with this effect ! 

A glimpse of the distant past .

Whilst searching through my old blogs I came across this from 14 years ago (that would make the game mentioned 38 years ago 🙄 ) I put it up to embarass two of the participants who occasionaly look at my blog . I of course was a mere child at the time ! (Click on photo to enlarge) 

 

Historical guest apperence on a tabletop near me

In nearly 60 years of wargaming I don't think I've ever had a historical personality General and definately not the 'Corsican Ogre' , so I thought it was about time I did !, thanks to 'S' who has been supplying my mounted command . 

And his adversary Blucher 'Marshal Vorwarts' again a Hinchliffe model . I suspect they might be an guest apperance on the tabletop as I think my generalship might be lacking their skills . (click on photo to enlarge) 

 

Wargaming humour No. 12

Hopefully me when we are on holiday in N. Wales and passing Porthmadog Model shop this summer.

 

Toy Soldiers in Art No.35 (and a sad story)

I don't normaly post things straight from Facebook , but as we are having problems with the internet (AGAIN !!!!)  I'm having to use my i pad and mobile phone and I find them difficult to be creative on them . This is from Military Toys from our childhood Facebook page , and has an interesting and rather sad story behind it . 

I think HG Wells sums it up best - 'prancing monarch' , 'adventures' , 'excitable patriots' etc ! , I can make a list of present politicians etc who should be locked away with a plentiful supply of toy soldiers and leave the rest of use alone ! - end of rant !

Click on photos to enlarge 

 

New toys shinning in the sun .

I took the oppertunity of the return of summer to photo some of the recent 'fruits of the brush' , first up my converted Prussian foot artillery.

These are the Prince August French artillery which I have converted into Prussians. Luckily the uniforms are similar and I added rolled greatcoats and shako covers to alter them. Think they look suitably different ! 

Next are the Prussian Dragoons which are converted from some British Household cavalry with head swaps and the coats lenghtened using 'green stuff' 

There seems to be some disagreement of the colour of the uniforms , illustrations vary from navy blue to sky blue , I went for a mid blue . More conversions are in the pipeline .

 

A very odd mould indeed .

 

Whilst sorting out my collection of moulds I came across this old one I'd forgotten I had . I don't remember were it came - probably from ebay and I don't think I've ever tried casting from it , so I thought I would have a go . This is the result a small (20mm?) Lancer the the figure above it is a 25mm Napoleonic Prince August figure for scale .

Here is a better close up of the figure , it looks perhaps French ?? ,I need to clean him up and investigate more . Sadly he is of interest only as he does not match any on my existing collections .

PS 

I did a bit of research and found this from something I posted about several months ago ,

There he is in the bottom right , this is from the Henry C. Schiercke catalogue from the 1930s (?) . I think the moulds must have come in various sizes as I have some of these moulds/figures in 54mm and 70mm (ish) .

Home cast problems and a problem solved !

So the problem with using the 25mm Prince August molds is the lack of Prussian cavalry . I have used a Hussar mould for their Hussars , but I had a problem with making some Dragoons !

I had a root amongst my moulds and found what I think was a British Household cavalry mould . I cast some up, cut their heads off and added Prussian infantry heads with the good old covered shako ( a VERY fiddly job of which more anon) .

I then added the longer coat using 'green stuff' 

Think they will look okay with a black undercoat , will report back when I get more done. 

 

AI meets Toy Soldiers

Messing about with AI , I took this photo several years and asked AI to reproduce it as a Victorian postcard .

Interesting how AI can get carried away with itself - by putting the stamp on the wrong side of the cards, probably to enhance the Victorian feel of them. I'm still in two minds on AI !?.......

....... I remember HAL in 2001 A Space Odessey !

 

A bit of varnishing .

 

One of the advantages of this spell of hot weather is that is ideal for varnishing toy soldiers. This is my latest batch - the last of the French Infantry (for now) , the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Legere and a French Cavalry General on a new 'dramatic' horse care of my wargaming collegue 'S' who is the proprietor Hinchliffe models and has kindly provided me with the General Staff . Some better photos to follow once they are dry.

Hand crafted Prussian Artillery .

 

I've had these cast up for a while (before the heat-wave) and as Prince August don't do any Prussin artillery and crews I have decided to convert the French ones. Luckily if you squint there is not much difference between the uniforms (well nothing a coat of paint won't cover up)and the guns are similar. I've added Shako covers to the hats and a greatcoat roll around the bodies to give them that 'Prussian' look. The guns cast up well this time without a lot of failures and cursing and any imperfections repaired using 'green stuff' , they are next on the painting list and I'll update when they are done.

'Kugelhagel' The Battle for the Bridge (Part 2 )

 

The French get lucky ! reinforcements are on the way ! (Hinchliffe General and a Minifigs Artillery Officer)

Tramp , tramp, tramp ! 2 Battalions of the 2nd Legere march to the rescue !

Just in time as the leading French Battalion breakes and flees , however the Prussian elation is short lived !. The victorious Prussian Battalion comes under Artillery fire and breaks as well - and even worse their CinC is killed trying to rally them ! (rolled a double 6 on his wound chart)

The reinforcement move up and engage the enemy - just in time as another French unit breaks under harassing fire from the Prussian Jaegers . The newly arrived French General used his 'Jokers' to move his units up and into position.

The Prussian Landwehr Lancers move around the open flank but the bridge is held by a French Battallion . Time is ticking and we are on move 5 out of 6 .

The Prussians force forward breaking the leading Battalion of the Legere, the other forms square to counter the threat of the enemy Cavalry and the French General plays his 'Joker' cards to evacuate the Artillery towards the bridge .

The ' Emporer's Daughters ' are safe across the bridge as the remaining 2 Battalions come under pressure from the Prussians .

End game ! the rather battered French have held the bridge for 6 moves and so win the scenario. I think the French being agressive early on bought them time and disorganised the Prussians , they were also lucky getting reinforcements so early and the crafty playing of 'Jokers' allowed the French to retire and get the guns away . An exciting game ! which could have gone either way . I think I'm getting my head around the rules, which plays quickly , there are a few quirky bits which had to scratch my head about , but I'm going to play some more games as they are ideal for solo play.

'Kugelhagel' The Battle for the Bridge (Part 1)

 

As this is the first battle using these rules I decided to keep it simple . The Prussians have to push aside the French and capture the bridge within 6 moves . French advance units in the centre , the Prussians coming down the road in the distance . 

The initial French force 3 Battalions of the 45th Ligne and a Battery of Artillery - reinforcement will arrive on a D6 dice roll .

The Prussians march onto the table they hane a Fusilier Batt. (count as Light Infantry) 2 Musketeer Battalions , 2 small units of Jaegers and a unit of Landwehr Lancers - both sides are more or less equal points with a slight advantage to the Prussians .

The French decide to take the battle to the enemy and advance the 1st. Battalion and open fire on the Prussian Fusileers who are disordered by the volleys from the French.

The Prussians draw this card and get to move a unit 3 times .I'm using an old deck of Skat cards - you only use 7,8,9,10 and Aces. 7,8 = 1 move activation - 9 = 2 activations 10, Ace = 3 activations .

Towards the end of the first turn , the white markers show how many times the unit has been activated (can be activated twice per move) . The forwards movement by the French has rather halted the Prussian advance forcing them to deploy early and holding up the arrival of the rest of the column.

The Prussians the Fusileer Battalion has deployed in open order to screen the column but has been disrupted by enemy fire, the Jaegers are deploying to the flanks and the Musketeer Battalions are starting to form assault columns.

The French get lucky and reinforcements will arrive next move , the Brigadier has 2 'Joker' cards which he can use to disrupt the order of play and activate a unit 3 times - very useful ! - Part 2 soon ! 

The way forward - 'Kugelhagel'

 

I've been 'umming and arrhing' which rules to use with my homecast Prince August 25mm Napoleonic collection . I bought this copy of 'Kugelhagel' * , the English translation of a German set of Horse & Muskets era rules - they are sort of  Black Powder with card activation - which I like as it is ideal for solo play ! .. They have taken some getting my head around as although simple D6 based the translation is a bit strange at times. Luckily there is an active Facebook group ((1) Facebook) where my questions have swiftly answered .

Have got a couple of more units done - here the 2nd Legere .

A Prussian Volunteer Jaeger unit - using that strange little figure I find quite cute ! 

The tabletop is set up ready for the game - a report from 'the Tabletop of Mars' coming soon ! 

*'Hail of Bullets'