Saturday, 8 March 2025

Toy Soldiers in Art No.25


Another postcard with some toy soldiers and a young lady (?) brandishing a sword . Obviously French by the uniform and the writing and probably from the early 20th century (?) , the figures seem quite large scale - 60mm plus ???  and the cannon is of a type I've not seen before . According to Google translate - Children's vocations,  Reve (?) medals, Soldiers-Batalions, Cannon-Horse,  This one will be General ! . The photographer was A. Ber?eret & co Nancy
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Sunday, 2 March 2025

The Action at Cidade Ferroviaria.

 


I decided to play the game when 'S' came around for our regular Friday gaming session. 'S' took the forces of Nuevo Rico and I the defenders . The Nuevo Riccion forces motored down the road towards the railway .


The Armoured Car was hit by rifle fire and driven off and also the leading truck was damaged forcing the infantry to debus .


On the right the Republican HMG had to redeploy to counter a flanking movement - the token donates that the unit has activated ( a suitable S. American postal stamp)


The Workers are outshot by the Regulars and driven back as the enemy capture the barricades and one end of the village.


At this point as the action grew hot I forgot to take photos ! , the Militia tried to do a flanking attack on the enemy but where driven off by well placed artillery fire and fled back across the Montanha de Ouro - the Llama donates that they are disordered and in flight. .


Another unit of 'La Cigarros' try to recapture the village but again were out gunned by the regulars (Regulars count as being open order but the Workers or the Militia due to there lack of training cannot) , at this point the forces of the Republic decided to retire having suffered heavy casualties . A good game with the adaptions to the rules seemed to work well . What will happen now ?! to be continued ..........



 



  



Friday, 28 February 2025

Nuevo Rico Invades !

 


The scene of the action, the town of Cidade Ferroviaria which sits on the important railway line which runs along the border between Nuevo Rico and the Republic of Cocos . The road runs from Nuevo Rico on the left and the Republic on the right .


The Iron Road stretches into the mountainous distance .


Intelligence has alerted the town that a mechanised force from Nuevo Rico is moving rapidly down the road to capture the village and sever the railway line and the workers have armed themselves ready to repel the invaders.


The workers block the road and fortify the houses .


A flanking force occupies the wood and await in ambush .


The only Republican force is a HMG which has been set up in a commanding position on the Montanha de Ouro to cover the railway junction. The Commander has sent a message to bring the local Militia (La Cigarros) to aid them 







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Sunday, 23 February 2025

Toy Soldiers in art No.24

 


No not me trying to explain wargaming to the long suffering Mrs K , a rather mawkish postcard (to modern eyes) of the aged parents looking at their son's toy soldiers collection - the child having grown up and enlisted in the army for the World War (?), very much a period piece .

Saturday, 15 February 2025

More Evzones and a bit of a mystery

 


In my previous post I was talking about the repairs and repainting of the 5 Britains Greek Evzones I bought , the problem of course was that I needed at least one more figure to make up a 'small' unit for AGW rule (6figures). I did a search on eBay and found that 'bigboycollctibles' had some for sale , so I kept an eye on them and as nobody was really interested I managed to get them for under £3 a figure which was a bargin and they where in better shape than the original ones I got and so didn't need repairs or a repaint - 'Happy Bunny' !!!


The strange thing was they came with an Officer type figure (well brandishing a sword which in my book = Officer), now Britains  didn't do an Officer figure for their set - he's a hollowcast figure - the paint job looks moderner/repaint ?  and he has no markings on the base ? - VERY puzzling indeed !. I must try and find out who made him , going to glue them onto bases to match my others , update to follow .....

PS I asked for info on a Toy Soldier Facebook group and am told it is by a French maker called George Munkel (GM) 



Sunday, 9 February 2025

The rejuvenated Evzones .

 


Well I've got the figures repaired , painted over the 'milliput' and gave the paint a slight varnish to try and match the original finish . I decided not to repaint anymore of the figures and leave scuffed paint as it is as a tribute to their past services .


The face of a veteran 



Wednesday, 5 February 2025

To repair or not to repair ? - that is the question.

 


I bought these off eBay (rather cheaply I think) they are Britains Greek Evzones from Set No.196 and the where produced from 1916 to 1966 - BUT these must be pre 1946 as they are red jackets - after this date they where painted in blue jackets . So that makes them at least 79 years old ! 


As you can see they have been in the wars , as well as the inevitable paint loss they have holes in the stomach area .


And a couple have holes in the back as well , I investigated and this seem to be dues to a very thin layer of metal (being hollow cast of course) 


One has a missing rifle as well . The dilemma is to repair or not ? , 'Proper Collectors' would say "No !" you devalue the figures ! , however I would like to use them on the tabletop- so I'm going to have a go at repairing them !


So I've packed the holes with tissue paper and filled them with 'milliput' , I repaired the rifle with a pared down cocktail stick coated in super glue . I will repaint the damaged bits but I think I will not touch up the original paint - leaving their battle scars as testament to their service over the years . Too be continued ...... 





 





Saturday, 1 February 2025

The annual pilgrimage to the local Model Railway show.

 


This weekend was the annual Model Railway show, I was surprised that when I turned up at lunch time I still had to queue to get in ! , it was well attended - a lot of grey haired older men . but a lot of families with small children which was nice to see.


Once again I was taken by the scenery as much as the model trains .


A herd of cows , those hedgerows look so realistic !


This layout had a film studio as a theme .


The cars in the carpark even moved about ! 


Look at that water feature ! - so realistic !


I did take the occasional photo of the actual trains as well .


The chute actually tipped gravel into the trucks .


These diesel motors remind me of our local railway as a child.


Most of the layouts had miniature lighting systems - micro technology at it's best !


Those cliffs cry out to be scaled by a team of WW2 Commandos .


Love this rural scene .


Oh dear a funeral at the local church - wonder you passed away ?


I came away feeling enthused by the positivity of the whole show , I know it isn't wargaming but it is a close cousin and I enjoy it immensely ! "a grand day out" ! 







 













 





Thursday, 30 January 2025

Yanitza 'La Jeanne D'Arc' of the Balkans.

 


I was browsing the Internet for Balkans war things and can across some illustrations of "Le Petit Journal" a French magazine which covered various stories on the war. I saw the above copy and thought  " I've got to make a model of this heroine"! 


I ordered some bits and pieces from Irregular's 40mm Homage range and produced the above figure as close as possible to the illustration in the magazine . The body is cantiniere , the head a nurse (I think?) and a rifle and sword . Here she is seen with of  her bodyguard in traditional dress, hopefully she will be appearing on the tabletop soon .......

PS Tringe Smajli - Wikipedia a bit more info on this woman .


Monday, 27 January 2025

The German Naval Attache - Redux.


Well I've got the German Naval Attache repainted and varnished after his brush with 'lead rot' .: The German Naval Attache goes down with 'lead rot' . and here he is being shown the new Sublime Porte's Machine Gun in a demonstration of it's firepower . If anything I think he looks better than he did before and I hope I've got the rot beaten once and for all .

 

Thursday, 23 January 2025

A wet day task .

 


Well I got the dog out early and just got back as the rain started - neither the dog or me are keen of the rain. These figures have been awaiting a varnish and I have bought a new tin , sadly not my usual brand - this one smells funny and takes ages to dry ! . The 54mm Zouaves are some I bought from eBay, three of which are quite old and I have decided only to based them and  not to repaint them . There is the German Naval Attache and another converted figure which I will tell of later ...... 

Tuesday, 21 January 2025

Toy Soldiers in art No. 23

 

"'you'll have someone's eye out with that !". Found on the internet - the authour looks on as the younger generation open fire at point blank range - Ah ! the joys of playing unsupervised with real gunpowder and deadly projectiles  ! (back to my fortcoming battle report soon) (click on photo to enlarge)

Thursday, 16 January 2025

The plot thickens ........

 


Having viewed the Ancient ruins the party returns to their 'steam coach' to return to the hotel - when they are approached by a strange somewhat disheveled man* who introduces himself to Miss Marples and passes here a envolope containing a message for the local Helenyk Commander.


Miss Marples on returning to her hotel secretly meets the local Army Commander and passes on the message . What does it contain ? - all will be revealed in the next episode ..........
*some authorites think this might be Richard Hannay who was know to be active in the Balkans at this time.



Tuesday, 14 January 2025

An (not so) Innocent abroad - Miss Marples .


Miss Jane Marples is holidaying in the Republic of Helenyka and has becided to visit the ancient Temple of Diana , she is being accompined by the Republic's Head of Antiquites Heinrich Schliemann and two stalwart local Mountineers as the site is very near the border with the Sublime Porte, who since the break away of the new Republic have still been contesting this region .All very innocent you might think !? BUT rumour has it that Miss Marples has links with the British Secret Service and has worked on behalf of both Treboria and the Helenyk Republic ! - could there be more to this holiday than meets the eye ??? ...........

 

Sunday, 12 January 2025

The German Naval Attache goes down with 'lead rot' .

 


Over my wargaming career of about 55 years I have been lucky in that I have only come across 'lead rot' a few times . I have been sorting out and re-boxing my 40mm Balkans Imagination collection when I came across this chap - he was purchased as part of a job lot and is a bit big (50mm) really but I cleaned him up , repainted him and he became the Naval Attache to the Sublime Porte . However he is now showing signs of the dreaded 'lead  rot' 


I'm not sure why he should have developed this as none of the other figures in the box have it ? , I believe he is more or less pure lead so this might be a contributing factor . So Ive cleaned all the old paint off , given him a vigorous brushing and a new sword scabbard that snapped off due the the cleaning and will undercoat and re-paint him .


The Naval Attache in happier times - this photo is from 6 years ago so hopefully I can return him to this condition .





Saturday, 11 January 2025

Gamer braves Artic condition for a game.

 


'S' braves the Winter conditions - outdoors and indoors - my wargaming room is notoriously cold in winter weather . However he succeeded in winning the game , sorry no more photos , probably had my hands in my pockets because of the temperatures . 40mm Imaginationns using AGW and an entertaining game whatever the weather.