The Thin Red Line .

Russell's quote in his dispatch to The Times was actually - "a thin red streak tipped with a line of steel". I enjoyed painting the 93rd  Regiment (Sutherland Highlanders) and as Conrad sent me some more Highlanders I will be able to to the Highland Brigade in the future.

I was impressed by the Stretlets figures which are remarkably accurately modelled and with only a few 'odd' pose . Painting the moulded on flag took a bit of thought , but I'm pleased with the result.

I now need some Russian Hussars to charge them and these are being cleaned up ready for spraying . Another unit per side and I have enough for a small game . I am going to use 'Black Powder' with suitable adjustments for the period.

1st Battalion Dnieper Regiment

I've got my Highlander finish but haven't been able to photograph them as the weather is rather wet . But luckily I'd got the next Russian unit already photographed , they are the 1st Battalion of the Dnieper Regiment.

As you can see they are in the Russian summer/full dress uniform without the more usual greatcoat .

I rather like this uniform , but don't think it was seen or used much in the Crimea as most of the action was in the Autumn and Winter of 1854 .

However the original purpose of the Crimean expedition was to help the Turks in Bulgaria , the Allies landed at Varna on the Bulgarian coast only to find that the Russian threat had diminished due to the Turks beating then at the siege of Silistra and diplomatic pressure from Austria .

However ! if I was to squint at history a little bit I could base a campaign in this area - so the Russians could wear their rather pretty Summer uniforms .

And the British Guards could wear their Summer uniform which had white trousers I think - how cute would that be !? . The Light (Cavalry) Brigade did a disastrous recce inland from Varna which resulted in a heavy loss of horses due to the hot weather and incompetence and of course that's were the Allies first contacted Cholera .  So I'm not stretching history to much and it gets me away from a lot of the clichés associated with the actual Crimean campaign .

Reinforcements For The Crimea .

The postman delivered this impressive parcel this morning , a kind gift from fellow blogger Conrad Kinch (http://joyandforgetfulness.blogspot.co.uk/) full of very useful Stretlets figures which he has donated to my Crimean project . Lots of British infantry (which I didn't have any of) and Russian and British cavalry , so I'm going to spend the afternoon sorting it all out ! . Cheers Conrad !

Brae Heelan Lads (Work In Progress).

Just a quick glimpse of my next unit for the Crimean project the 93rd (Highland) Regiment .

Crimean British Artillery.

Finally got my British artillery done and based up, so I took the opportunity between showers to photograph them outside.

The gunners come with a mixture of head gear , forage caps and the odd 'Albert' shako .

I'm still not convinced by the advantages of photographing outdoors , the lighting looks more natural , but you have to try a take the photo without the neighbours garage appearing in the background.

The figures are 1/72nd Strelets and the guns are from the 'A Call to Arms' British Napoleonic box . I'm now working on another Russian infantry unit which will be ready soon.

Another Inspirational Site

Another site that got me into TSATF Colonial gaming , full of marvellous wargaming photos http://web.archive.org/web/20060614041903/http://zeitcom.com/majgen/index.html

Major General Tremorden Rederring's Colonial-era Wargames Page

My Inspiration .

Somebody asked how I became interested in gaming the French Foreign Legion their involvement in North Africa , the site that inspired me was -http://www.warflag.com/shadow/index.html
, real 'Old School' Colonial gaming and a mine of information.