'Brae Heghland lads'

 

As the Summer returns I've got theses Schneider home-cast Highlanders based and painted (I've just noticed I have forgotten to base one of them - Upps !) . They are rather strange figures more "Brigadoon" than historical uniforms but with a certain style about them . Sadly only 4 of them so I will have to keep my eyes open for a few more.

First fruits of the inclement weather.

 

Got these semi-flat painted up and varnished, (.: Garden Toy Soldiers in the sun.) half of them were already painted and I tried to copy the original paint job . I have also put them on bases as they where not very stable and fall over at the drop of a hat .Here we see a patrol crossing the 'Great Patio' (Upper Region).

Scouts report back "all clear Sir, no enemy in sight !". The figures are homecasts from a Schneider type mould (click on photos to enlarge them) . The weather is still showery so more painting on the agenda . 

 

Rain stops play ! - but back to the paint table ! Huzza !

 

Well we where wanting rain for the gardens - and we got it ! , so work has come to a stop for the moment .

The up side of this means I can get back to painting figures , many of these have been undercoated and awaiting paint for quite a while , so if the rain continues I'll get a lot done in the next few days . 

One of my favorite photos .

 

There has been a lack of wargaming updates to to gardening jobs , but whilst scrolling through back posts I came across this photo which I think is one of my favorites . It portrays the opening of H.G. Wells adventure  .: The Curious Case of H.G.Wells and the El-Gin Marbles (1) which I rescued from my old defunct blog (curse you Blogger)(click on photo to enlarge)

Garden Toy Soldiers in the sun.

 

Whilst all the 'real world' work is going on I manage to snap a couple of pictures of a patrol of the Borcesters on patrol in the borders of the Great Patio lead by the redoubtable Sergeant Kyte ..

These are odd figures that appear quit often in various guises on eBay ., they are semi flat about 50mm tall (a tall 42mm figure and a short 54mm one) and I'm not sure which collection they will fit in ?. I would say they are home-casts from an old mold.

They are not very stable (the two outdoor photos took ages to snap as they kept blowing over) , so I'm sticking them to bases . Here they are with another few figures from a previous batch which were badly painted (daubed) I've stripped and been doing some repairs on them and I'll undercoat and paint up to match the others. 

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 .

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 .

 

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 ...... 

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.

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 ??? ...........

 

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 .

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.

Holiday desternation ? (well for the 1900s)

 

The Treborian Tourist Board is trying to push the area to attract foreign holidaymakers - unfortunately in the past the industry has had some very poor publicity ---

Who can forget the fervor in the International community over the above -.: H.G.Wells to the rescue (or a Daring Escapade) + .: Mr and Mrs Walker get arrested .

So hoping for better things they have a new publicity campaign.

They are emphasising the 'rural idyll' of the area.

The rugged mountain scenery and picturesque locals .

Various Euro/American personalities have been invited to help with the premotion. Here we see Mark Twain (in white) and a Lady 'who is definately not Mrs H G Wells .

Here we see Oscar Wilde visiting the Tomb of Vlad 'the Impaler' (?sic?) accompanied by the head of the Tourist Board .

The new Republic of Helenyka has got into the act as well (pity about the spelling mistake) on the poster - it will be interesting to see how the promotional campaign succeeds ? .

A load of new recruits for the Almannia Expeditionary Force (AEF)

I noticed these on eBay , they were Zinnbrigade homecasts I already have some which I painted up last year (.: Almannia Expeditionary Force (AEF) on parade. (tonystoysoldiers.blogspot.com) and wasn't sure I really needed more (of course I did) I placed a bid and rather forgot about it determinned not to get into  bidding war for them . Interestingly they were the only toy soldiers the seller had the rest being clothes, trainers and assorted junk - very odd !. And I won them ! with postage less than a pound a figure 

There are 53 of them which will make 3 units of 12 for AGM rules plus Officers and a Standard bearer and this rather smashing Band ! . They are not badly painted in a Toy Soldier style but need a few touch ups and basing and then a coat of gloss varnish which I hope to get done this week and then hopefully onto the tabletop .

 

Border Clash , the finale .

 

The Treborians start to counterattack moving their Dragoons up towards the damaged enemy infantry.

Whilst this was happening the other Rochaian infantry where wandering about the hills, I think the plan was a flank attack but a combination of poor movement dice and card draws - it didn't happen !

Finally thet realise they better change the plan and go and help their comrades down the valley.

The Alicia Dragoons charge the remnants of the Rochain infantry .

The combat was very one side and they polished of the enemy in short time !. To make things worse the ajoining Reserve infantry recieved a devistating volley and even though Major Velkro tried to rally them they retreated to the flank of their comrades.

The Treborian artillery changes it's target and opens fire on the enemy on the conical hill. Mark Twain recorded in his memoirs "I was invited by the by the Battery Commander to fire the gun ! - it was very exhilarating and I saw my shot explode into the enemy ranks !"

Then it was time to draw a chance card ! - Mark Twain records "whilst serving with the battery we smelt smoke ! and on looking round we where alarmed to see smoke pouring from the house I had hired !"- in his hurry to see all the excitement he had left his breakfast cooking - which set fire to the kitchen ! - in the insurance claim it was claimed "fire caused by enemy action" 

I then promptly drew ANOTHER chance card due to another Joker being drawn !

This however didn't stop the artillery zeroing in on the wandering Rochain infantry , things were not looking good for the Ferraro Rochain force as casualties mounted.

The game draws to a close , The Soldatii de Futuna continue to fail their morale tests and fall back towards the shelter of the woods , leaving only one unit standing in the way of the Treborian forces. Over on the left flank now the conical hill had been vacated by the enemy the British Legione start to accend it it's slopes again to recapture it.

With over half of their force casualties the Ferraro Rochain General signals a retreat . Another great game - the Ferraro Rochain were a bit unlucky when they couldn't build on their initial success and a series of good card draws gave the Treborians the upper hand and their artillery caused heavy casualties on the enemy infantry . And so we leave the scene of the conflict as the smoke from Mark Twains holiday villa drifts lazily across the stricken field .....

The Treborian British Legione - an aside .

 The origins of the British Legione (Britanska legija) , an aside after their recent tabletop behaviour 

Thursday, 21 April 2011

The British Legione

British Legione inspected by Archduke Albert

The Treborian High Command has decided to raise a Auxiliary force to help fight Ferraro Rocca . They have recruited a Legion of British ex servicemen . Unfortunately the quality of some of the recruits lack some of the more soldiery qualities , the Quartermasters department got a good deal on some ex British uniforms - sadly these are somewhat out of date (about 50 years) (no wonder they were cheap !). It remains to see how these brave chaps will fare against the enemy . The Archduke Albert was overheard to comment 'I hope they frighten the enemy - because they certainly  perturb me !' .

And now back to the battle ...........

Border Clash (part one)

The British Legione struggle uphill to crown the heights , the token denotes they have become disordered .

As the Rocherian infantry advance quickly but come under devistating artillery from the Treborian 'Quick Fire Artillery' , due to some lucky card drawing the Rocherian column suffered three turns of artillery fire and being in a march column didn't save any of the hits , but suprisingly past their morale test.

An overview of the action , the British Legion and the Soldatii de Futuna confront each other on the conical hill on the left and the advanced unit of the Rocharians are under artillery fire in the centre.

The Soldatii de Futuna race up the hill and fire into the British Legione who are catching their breath and deploying into line .

Startled by the fury of the attack the British Legione fail their morale test and fall back - they roll a double 6 and retire 12" !!! - Oh dear ! , a further instalment to come soon ........

 

 

A Border clash between Treboria and Ferraro Rocher.

 

So I've cleaned off the accumulated rubbish which has gathered on the tabletop and thought - "what shall I do next?" - there where many canditates, but I decided on my 40mm Imaginations which have not been on the table for a while .It will be a border clash between the forces of Treboria and Ferraro Rocher .

We are luck to have the first hand witness account from Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) who was spending a quiet holiday in a local cottage . He we see him looking on as the Treborian General Staff survey the battlefield. 

Mark Twain wrote " I was awoken early and looking out of my bedroom window I saw a Artillery piece unlimbering on the road below my cottage" . He wrote a short piece about this incident for 'Harpers Weekly' , but I have not been able to track this down yet.

Some of the Treborian forces patroling the Great Border Road , Reservists being lead by the famous British Legione 

The Ferraro Rocherian forces move forward to capture the important road and cut the lines of  communications for Treboria.. Nearest the camera two units of Regulars , then two units of Reserve Infantry in column .

The Ace up the Rocherian sleeve - a unit of the new ' Soldatii de Furtuna' , who are armed with the experimental 'Grenade ale mortii' , they are lead by the infamous Colonel Velkro ! . A battle report to follow .....