The lost photos of the 'Gallant Captain Parker'

Whilst having a clean up of my stored photos I came across the following sequence of photos , which I think must date back over 10 years or more , I can't remember them appearing on my blog so I think they deserve saving and publishing .

I do vaguely remember converting the Grenadier Officer figure using a home cast Prince August 40mm mould , which obviously involved a head swap and an added musket.

And there is even an atmospheric 'period' print of the completed figure. It's a while since these figures graced the tabletop , so maybe it's time to get them out again .....

 

The Volontaires Estranger (finally).

 

About twelve months ago I started casting and painting a new unit for my SYW-ish collection .The Volontaires Estranger and I have finally finished painting them 

The figures are of course 40mm Prince August , a mixture of moulds to get a unit of 12 soldiers , an Officer, Trumpeter and a NCO .

I also found a semi-flat camp fire in my bits box which will do as a objective marker .

Ssh ! don't tell the Mrs !

Been meaning to cast up some command figures for my 40mm SYW-ish project and taking advantage of the absence of my wife and dog I brought my melting pot into the kitchen and started casting . The rather battered old saucepan is half full of sand to so catch any metal spillage when pouring into the mould.

The fruits of the casting , an Officer, Trumpeter and a figure for a NCO . I even managed to get a figure from the antiquated metal mould of a 54mm semi flat figure (ACW ?) which will be converted into a General for my Army 'Pantalon Rouge' . Rather pleased with my afternoons work and all tidied away before the Memsahib returned .

 

If you go down in the woods today - in 40mm

 

Been busy getting these figures done before we go on holiday. I enjoyed getting back into painting 40mm and as the figures are very old Holgar Erikson Prince August moulds they have minimal details so I just did a 'toy soldier' paint job and a good gloss varnish.

I found a spare Prussian advancing casting and painted him as an Officer to command the unit .I hope to get these into action on my return from holiday.

A return to 40mm .

 

It's ages since I painted any figures for my Homecast 40mm Prince August SYW-ish collection . These have been sat on my bookcase for years and to make them usable I needed some more to make up a viable unit. 

So I rooted around in my box of moulds and one wet afternoon I cast these up to go with them . I've got them based and undercoated and hopefully will get a start on them next week .

To celebrate the rare appearence of the sun I took the painted ones out onto 'The Great Patio' (which needs weeding) for a photograph. 

What's going on ! ?

 

I started these 40mm Prince August French SYW-ish figures about six month ago .: Starting painting my 40mm SYW-ish . (tonystoysoldiers.blogspot.com) and they got put into a cupboard and somewhat forgotten . Having a clear out looking for something else I came across them and decided I must get them finished . They are the Volonttaires Estranger a unit of French Light Infantry. 

In the same tray I found this 54mm Blacksmith figure and anvil - for the life in me I can't remember where he came from !? - eBay ? , think he might be a hollowcast Britains as the anvil has Britains stamped on it , hmm do I repaint him ? - will have to think about that.

Starting painting my 40mm SYW-ish .

 

Started painting up my 40mm homecast French SYW , it's been a while since I painted any of these figures and I don't think I've got the shading right on these figures , hopefully the next batch will be better. These will be varnished when I get them all done.

Here's the rest undercoated ready , sadly the undercoat shows up the casting inperfections - hopefully a coat of paint and a couple of coats of gloss varnish should hide all the mold lines.

Fruits of the castng pot .

 

Having 'fettled' my mold I brought my casting pot indoors (it being cold outside in the shed) and started warming up my metal in the kitchen - my wife passed me by and said "you won't burn the house down will you !?" * 

After a few false starts , I started getting some good castings - the Godess of Homecasting smiled on me and I have enough figures for a small unit now. 

*you'll be pleased to know I didn't .

A return to folly (sic)

So I have decided to add another unit of infantry to my 40mm Homecast SYW-ish collection . It's been ages since I cast any figures up so this will be a nice change of pace . I've been cleaning up some of the castings and adding a couple of vents to one of the molds which wasn't casting properly . 

It will be a company of the Volontaires Estranger, a unit of French Light Infantry with rather acttractive green facings . The molds are a selection by Prince August. I hope to get the other castings done in the coming week.

 

Gaming in stereo .

So I'm playing through the four scenarios from the Command and Colors Russian Napoleonic box and I got the yearning to have a miniature game as well , so having half the table to use I set up a AGW SYW-ish game on the other half..

The fourth scenario - the French are attempting to storm the Raevski Redoubts, after three games  things are in the balance - so all to play for.

A  action with Allied Frei-Korps and Hussars versus  Uhlans and Swiss Infantry for the French, a small battle , but it should prove interesting . 

 

Clearing up the painting tray .

I've had these awaiting varnishing for a week or two as I ran out of yacht varnish , but with the easing of 'lock down' I've got a fresh one . They are the second unit for my Freikorps Von Kleist's 'Green Croats' with a mounted officer to command the two units . They are of course Prince August SYW molds which I've cast up myself . 

I also got these 3 Irregular 40mm figures done, they will be joining the ranks of the 'Black Hand' or the Hellenyk Republic irregulars - again 40mm Irregular figures .

The final figure is this Irregular Deutsch Homage 40mm , haven't got a back story for her yet - Mary Poppins ? - Agatha Christie ? . These will be appearing on my tabletop soon . Having got these finished I can continue painting up my 28mm SPQR figures .

The Green Croats .

Finally got my SYW-ish Croats done , seemed to have taken forever to finish them - dabbling in to many other painting projects that's my problem . The figures are from the new Prince August 40mm SYW  Austrian Hungarian moulds I bought off  Ebay  . I have painted them in the uniform of the Freikorps Von Kleist 'Green Croats' as I don't have any Austrian troops in my collection . I'm in the process of casting up another dozen figures to add a second company to this unit .

An early birthday present to myself .

I saw this book on sale and thought that it would be an ideal own birthday present . I've not bought the whole series but this one features small actions and skirmishes and I thought it would be just the thing for my 40mm SYWish collection and the AGW rules .

Not cheap but a beautiful book , I'm looking forward to trying some of the scenarios out .

AGM SYW-ish game (part3)

The game is coming to a close and the French manage to activate the Regt. D Roi who charge and overrun the Allied battery and capturing the guns .

The next card turned was the sixth Joker so ending the game . 

The stricken field , nearest the camera the French have taken the hill and captured the battery . In the centre the Allies hold the church and village and in the distance they are preparing to counterattack the Swiss . I think I must give the game to the French , the capture of the Allied guns sealed the day for them .  Both sides lost heavily with the French Regt Bearn and the Nassau Saarbruck heavy cavalry taking the most casualties . On the Allied side the 20th Foote and the Prussian Hussars took the most hits as well as the artillery being lost .Using the Colonels as 'brigadiers' under the rules worked well as regiments could move together . Towards the end of the game both sides ran out of cards held in hand which stopped them reacting to situations (the Prussian Hussars not being able to counter charge) . I enjoyed playing it , now to tidy up and think of what next to do . 

AGM SYW-ish game (part 2)

Using their last card in hand the French heavy cavalry charge the Prussian Hussars , who being disordered and having already activated cannot respond - oh dear !

They are cut to ribbons and flee - but they did manage to cause a couple of casualties on the French who decided rather than follow up they will retire .

On the other flank the British 20th Foote retires away from the advancing Swiss .

On the French left the Regiment D' Roi advance swiftly (some high dice rolling for movement there) and bear down on the Allied artillery on the hill .

The 18th Foote see off the French Regiment Bearn in the centre with heavy casualties .

The Brunswick Regiment Von Zastrow moves across to shore up the Allied left . I had hoped to get this game finish today , but real life has intervened in the form of hedge cutting and house work but the game will end when the next joker is drawn (night falls) , so that should be tomorrow . I'm wondering which game to play next , but think it will be Old School - I'm in that frame of mind at the moment .

Harvested from the interweb .

SYW-ish AGM battle (part 1)

The battle and my bad back are both ongoing , here we see the 20th Foote advancing to the left of the church as a company of the Royal Irish enter the church yard . In the background the French Swiss Castellas Regiment advance supported by the Chasseurs de Granpre . The problem with this game is going to be whilst leaning over the table moving figures and getting engrossed in the action my back stiffens up and 'sets' , which then has me walking about like Quasimodo for the next half hour .

The British infantry charge the French Chasseurs and are driven off with heavy casualties , another company piles in and drive the Chasseurs off , but the Swiss advance quickly and open fire at close range, causing heavy casualties and force the British to retire .

On the other flank the French heavy cavalry charge the Royal Irish right hand company but are routed with heavy casualties .

In the centre The French Regt Bearn attack the church but are routed and the centre company of the 18th push the French back . I'm about half way through the game and both sides are about even with casualties , more to follow ......

SYW-ish 'A Gentleman's War' game .

I've decided to give SYW-ish  AGM a proper try out by setting up this big battle . Whilst the rest of the world is going down with flu I've got sciatica and last night I had trouble sleeping so I got up and set out this game , each side has 14 units and I just set up the units via dice throws and then adjusted them to look logical .

The Allies are under General 'Fatty' Cumberland , initially you deal out six cards - one side getting black the other red - he got five of them ! , It reflects his great tactical skills he thinks (I believe luck has more to do with it) . Foot regiments are made up of  3 units which can make a 'brigade' move when commanded by their mounted Colonels . The coins are stacked ready near the General to mark when a unit has been activated.

General Count Fru-Fru with his paltry one card , however he has the dubious assistance of Voltaire seen here pointing out the faults in the Allied deployment . Each side has 3 Regiments of foot (9 units) 2 cavalry and 2 guns . 

The British line , 18th Foote (Royal Irish) nearest the camera to it's left the 20th Foote . I usually time the game by the number of Jokers drawn , this one will end on the sixth Joker . Will report on the first moves soon ....

Pimping my game .

I've started using 'A Gentleman's War' with my SYW-ish 40mm figures, when I play with my Balkans Imaginations I use Victorian pennies and a Russian pack of cards to play the game  and add flavour . However I've been thinking I needed different markers for the 18th century , I found a pack of Swedish (?) playing cards which look suitably antique , I happened to pass our local 'The Works' and noticed they had on display a children's 'Pirate Adventure set' which came with a eye patch , a treasure map and best of all some pirate money which will do for markers for my SYW games . I have discarded the eyepatch , but may investigate the map further .