Command for Army 'Pantalon Rouge' .

 

When I fought my last 54mm battle using my Army 'Pantalon Rouge' I suddenly realised they didn't have a General to command them ! . So in my last casting session I cast up a semi-flat figure and converted him into a suitable General .

Toy Soldiers in Art No.19

 

Another postcard ?) found on the Internet and not a photo of the author as a young man ! .Interesting mix of figures - Camels , Highlanders , a mix of Cavalry , Artillery pieces and a rather smart fort ! . I do like the young man's helmet . I assume turn of the century Britains figures perhaps . (click on photo to enlarge)

A glimpse from the Britains factory .

 

I found these photos on the Britains Toy Soldier Facebook page , the are of the Britains factory at the time of the 1953 Coronation .

This young lady seems to be painting figures.

OMG ! fancy having to paint all those figures !!!

The full Coronatin coach and escort - bet it cost a pretty penny in those days - it certainly would now !

A Gentleman's War in 54mm (part 3)

 

The forces of Army Pantalon Rouge crest the ridge and their firepower drives the depleated ranks of Army Blue back.

On the other flank the cavalry forces finally square up to each other - but it's to late the fate of the battle is being played out on the other side of the battlefield. 

The Blue Army Jaeger had been slowly advancing when they take a devistating volley from the Zouaves and even though in skirmish order fail to save any of their casualties and are forced to fall back . Incidently the Wurtemberg infantry on the road have show a distrinct lack of interest in getting into action over 4 moves they only moved 10 inches !!!

With mounting casualties in the centre Army Blue decides to call it a day and retire giving the game to Army Pantalon Rouge ! . Army Blue had some bad luck with the acctivation cards and when they did shoot failed to hit anyone, whilst Army Pantalon Rouge got off some cracking volleys . Incidently the left hand unit was reduced to only 4 figures by artillery fire but kept in the game by the encouragementof the War Correspondent Mr Kipling ! . So a resounding win to Army Pantalon Rouge - an excellant game indeed !

A Gentleman's War in 54mm (part2)

 

Thought I'd do a quick update on the game . At this point both Generals (ie Me !) lost sight of the scenario objectives and became obsessed with the ridge dominating the centre objective. The Zouaves open fire on the Blue army infantry cresting the ridge.

The Blue Army managed to deploy their Artillery to cover the road junction.

At this poin I drew the first Jocker , followed in a few cards by the second one , which rather upset the  activation of units .

The Army Pantalon Rouge moved theit Infantry forward and open fire on the enemy on the ridge and caused heavy casualties which drove them back !

The Army Pantalon Rouge advanced up the hill , at this point the Blue Army General thought it a good idea to dramatically charge their second unit of infantry forward over the hill and into the disordered enemy Infantry . Being disordered Army Pantalon Rouge had to play their remaining face card to get them to fire at close range into the enemy.

Luckily having the War Correspondent with them allowed the Army Pantalon Rouge to reroll a dice which enabled them to beat and drive back the enemy . The Blue Army had lost about half of their Infantry in the last few moves - which is not good - to be continued .............

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 .

 

A Gentleman's War in 54mm (part 1)

 

Thought I would get my 54mm out onto the tabletop again . This time it would be a battle to control the main road from Toieland to Wundareland between Army 'Pantalon Rouge' and Army 'Blue' ,.

In command of 'Army'Pantalon Rouge' is Col. Flashman (I do not have a suitable General for 'Pantalon Rouge' yet) and he has drawn a cameo apperance of a War Correspondent in the shape of Mr Kipling .

Army 'Blue' is commanded by Prince Rupert of Hentza and has a Sergeant Major as his cameo .

The left hand objective marker Mrs Miggins's Cottage .

The centre objective The home of Mr H.G. Wells 

And on the extreme right a mysterious figure ! , whoever hold 2 of the 3 objectives at the end of the game is the winner.

The 'Blue' Army sets up and starts moving forward.

Unfortunately the Jaegers deploy early instead of rushing down the road, as the Infantry move up onto the ridge.

The Army 'Pantalon Rouge' finally get to move and the Zouaves advance to the hill.

Having 'crowned' the heights with their gun the Sailors from HMS Zenobia advance under the watchful gaze of their officer Captain 'Jolly' Rogers. Move of the battle as it unfolds .......

PS sad to say in a mega clean up of my computer I managed to delete and shred my stored photos of my TSATF Darkest Africa game .... Ooops !