I have also been slowly carrying on with the creation of buildings for our planned Border Reivers gaming, so hope to have something actually completed to post in the next few days - in the meantime, here are the four Lanciers…..
Monday 31 August 2020
Weekend Progress
Over the past few days, I have completed another four of the Warlord hard plastic French Napoleonic Lancers. I have ended up with three of the five lancer bases including the 45 degree pose, which is fine. In the end, I didn't use the standard bearer arm nor the sword carrying arm, although I did convert one of the 45 degree arms with the help of a Stanley knife and one of the sword carrying arms - thanks Steve J!
I have also been slowly carrying on with the creation of buildings for our planned Border Reivers gaming, so hope to have something actually completed to post in the next few days - in the meantime, here are the four Lanciers…..
I have also been slowly carrying on with the creation of buildings for our planned Border Reivers gaming, so hope to have something actually completed to post in the next few days - in the meantime, here are the four Lanciers…..
Wednesday 26 August 2020
Compagnie d' Elite. 3eme Lanciers
Tonight I have finished basing the elite company (differentiated by the addition of red fringed epaulettes) of the 3eme Regiment. The rest of the figures will look fundamentally the same, minus the epaulettes. I have still not yet decided whether to use the standard bearer arm - I am tending towards a yes, because I do not really like the "across the body" lance position and using the standard bearer will mean I can use one less of that pose. I had decided, as the unit will mostly be deployed in a line on the table, I would not model half of the troopers as the second rank, sword armed variety - but I may use one sword arm to represent an NCO and just to have another bit of variety.
I didn't think I really need to put a description with each image, they basically can speak for themselves - a bientot, mes amis
Monday 24 August 2020
3eme Regiment des Chevau-Legers Lanciers de la Ligne
Or as we Anglos would say, the 3rd Line Lancer Regiment.
This is the first stand completed of the Warlord figures - the officer (fully metal) and trumpeter (metal figure on a standard plastic horse). I decided to make this new regiment the 3rd as they have pink facings, which sounded very pretty - and I already have the 1er Regiment (red) and the 5eme Regiment (sky blue). Reference for the uniforms was taken from a combination of the box art work/painted examples and "An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars", a nice catchy title there!
Head on view of officer and bugler - I have a habit of mounting cavalry musicians on greys, which does have some historical validity. The Background is Google Earth views from a Spanish highway, which I thought was appropriate!
The pink is MUCH brighter than it appears here - I must have had the angle poise lamp too close to the figures I guess
Rear view of the command group - the officers pouch has a bugle sculpted on, which is a nice detail.
Final comparison shot of Warlord figures v's two of my twenty year old Front Rank 5eme Lancers. Strangely, although Front Rank would be one of my favourite ranges to paint, they don't look so nice when sitting next to the finer Warlord figures.
Next up, I will finish off the two elite company lancers. They are in fact completed now, barring the pigmenting of their horses, which is the part of painting cavalry that I find incredibly tedious, for some reason!
This is the first stand completed of the Warlord figures - the officer (fully metal) and trumpeter (metal figure on a standard plastic horse). I decided to make this new regiment the 3rd as they have pink facings, which sounded very pretty - and I already have the 1er Regiment (red) and the 5eme Regiment (sky blue). Reference for the uniforms was taken from a combination of the box art work/painted examples and "An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars", a nice catchy title there!
Above and below - one of the many Napoleonic reference books in my library. I must say, having been reminded that a number of the later batch of converted Line Lancers wore the Polish style uniform, I am now tempted to do anther lancer regiment.....!
Head on view of officer and bugler - I have a habit of mounting cavalry musicians on greys, which does have some historical validity. The Background is Google Earth views from a Spanish highway, which I thought was appropriate!
The pink is MUCH brighter than it appears here - I must have had the angle poise lamp too close to the figures I guess
Rear view of the command group - the officers pouch has a bugle sculpted on, which is a nice detail.
Final comparison shot of Warlord figures v's two of my twenty year old Front Rank 5eme Lancers. Strangely, although Front Rank would be one of my favourite ranges to paint, they don't look so nice when sitting next to the finer Warlord figures.
Next up, I will finish off the two elite company lancers. They are in fact completed now, barring the pigmenting of their horses, which is the part of painting cavalry that I find incredibly tedious, for some reason!
Thursday 20 August 2020
Welcome Reinforcememts
I had a birthday yesterday -number 58 for Gods sake - how did that happen?! As we are back at our restrictive Alert Level 3 and amongst the confirmed cases of Covid are two employees of New Zealand Post, there have been some delays in courier deliveries - which is the reason I was given for a dearth of presents this year ie EVEN less than usual!
The one arrival was courtesy of my son, who having little inclination to use his own imagination in selecting a present, thankfully followed myinstructions suggestions, and produced this pack of Napoleonic French Line Lancers. So I will have some figures to paint (and post) over the next week or two- yay!
Hope all is well wherever you are and that life is not too stressful or inconvenient for any of you - stay safe!
The metal components - officer, officers horse and sword arm, trumpeter, trumpeters head and a spare arm in case you want to make one of the plastic figures a standard bearer
The are six plastic sprues to create two lancers per sprue, including one set of epaulettes so you can make up to six elite company lancers if you wished. There is also a sword arm - I believe perhaps only the front rank troopers actually carried a lance.....
The one arrival was courtesy of my son, who having little inclination to use his own imagination in selecting a present, thankfully followed my
Hope all is well wherever you are and that life is not too stressful or inconvenient for any of you - stay safe!
The front and rear art work on the box
The metal components - officer, officers horse and sword arm, trumpeter, trumpeters head and a spare arm in case you want to make one of the plastic figures a standard bearer
The are six plastic sprues to create two lancers per sprue, including one set of epaulettes so you can make up to six elite company lancers if you wished. There is also a sword arm - I believe perhaps only the front rank troopers actually carried a lance.....
Front and rear views of the plastic sprue
Friday 14 August 2020
Covid Part Two
I had been toying with the idea of a non gaming post on this subject and have just seen Marks reference to it, so that decided me to proceed! I hope its not too maudlin - I think its good to occasionally let the real world creep into our gaming blogs, but others may disagree - I guess the proof will be the number of visits/comments I get!
I have seen headlines on both BBC World and CNN websites about the fact that we now have a new cluster of community transmission cases in Auckland and a few other places in the N Island, so I assume most of you will be aware of this unfortunate event here. What is reassuring though, as Jonathon has alluded to in his comment on Marks post, is that our government has reacted with commendable speed and re imposed a fairly draconian (by NZ standards) level of control and containment in an attempt to prevent the spread. Residents of the largest city (by far) Auckland, are not permitted to travel outside the city unless on essential services etc EG freight vehicles and the police and armed forces (unarmed, it is New Zealand!) are deployed to enforce this policy.
Unlike Mark, I allegedly qualify as an essential worker because I work in the freight industry, so I have continued to travel the 50km in to work in Auckland, but the head office of our company, where I work, only has about six of us physically there - most people are working from home again. My family are lucky - well I think so - in that we are all still able to go out to work as normal - my son is a builder and is permitted to carry on working and my daughter a flight attendant with Air NZ. On Wednesday, the first day of lockdown, she flew from Auckland to Queenstown - originally the A320 was fully booked, but on the day of the flight, they only had 12 passengers - the only ones who were essential or Queenstown residents returning home I guess. They did bring about 100 back however.
At 1730 today we had another announcement from our PM Jacinda Ardern, saying that the current alert levels - 3 in Auckland and 2 in the rest of the country - will remain in place for another ten days. I think this is what most of us expected and we are glad I think, because the only other possible announcement would have been a move to even an stricter lockdown.
Following are a random mixture of pictures, including some gaming related ones at the end. Hopefully you have not been bored to tears or irritated by my posting about this minor speed wobble here when many of you are living in countries where the virus is rampant and completely out of control - our issues here probably seem quite minor in comparison to your own.....
First up a press image that I put first so it shows as the title image for the blog, followed by two random pictures I have had for a while and not had an opportunity to post - or I have forgotten to do so!
Several views of a "Bastle House" I have created to complement the Pele Tower - figures to give an idea of scale
A few derelict wrecked buildings to scatter around the table - just need to actually buy some Reivers now!
I have seen headlines on both BBC World and CNN websites about the fact that we now have a new cluster of community transmission cases in Auckland and a few other places in the N Island, so I assume most of you will be aware of this unfortunate event here. What is reassuring though, as Jonathon has alluded to in his comment on Marks post, is that our government has reacted with commendable speed and re imposed a fairly draconian (by NZ standards) level of control and containment in an attempt to prevent the spread. Residents of the largest city (by far) Auckland, are not permitted to travel outside the city unless on essential services etc EG freight vehicles and the police and armed forces (unarmed, it is New Zealand!) are deployed to enforce this policy.
Unlike Mark, I allegedly qualify as an essential worker because I work in the freight industry, so I have continued to travel the 50km in to work in Auckland, but the head office of our company, where I work, only has about six of us physically there - most people are working from home again. My family are lucky - well I think so - in that we are all still able to go out to work as normal - my son is a builder and is permitted to carry on working and my daughter a flight attendant with Air NZ. On Wednesday, the first day of lockdown, she flew from Auckland to Queenstown - originally the A320 was fully booked, but on the day of the flight, they only had 12 passengers - the only ones who were essential or Queenstown residents returning home I guess. They did bring about 100 back however.
At 1730 today we had another announcement from our PM Jacinda Ardern, saying that the current alert levels - 3 in Auckland and 2 in the rest of the country - will remain in place for another ten days. I think this is what most of us expected and we are glad I think, because the only other possible announcement would have been a move to even an stricter lockdown.
Following are a random mixture of pictures, including some gaming related ones at the end. Hopefully you have not been bored to tears or irritated by my posting about this minor speed wobble here when many of you are living in countries where the virus is rampant and completely out of control - our issues here probably seem quite minor in comparison to your own.....
First up a press image that I put first so it shows as the title image for the blog, followed by two random pictures I have had for a while and not had an opportunity to post - or I have forgotten to do so!
This has happened twice so far in our winter - since 1 June - ice on the windscreen at 6am - that's the coldest it gets here in Auckland - no snow, no ice on the roads....just a little bit of frost half a dozen times over the three months of winter...
And is this global warming? I have never seen strawberries grow and ripen in mid winter - its weird!
Press images of the checkpoint I have to drive past on the way to work ( I don't have to stop as I am staying within Auckland) - fortunately on the way home I can get off at an earlier exit and take an alternative route, or I would be waiting in a queue for half an hour or longer....
Below is an image I took getting on the motorway the first day of the L3 lockdown, of the vehicles queued up at 7am to pass through the police checkpoint before continuing their journey south out of Auckland - that's what I avoid by getting off the motorway at an earlier ramp!
Every cloud has a silver lining however - compare the two images below - the first on the way home 5pm the day of L3 coming back into force....
...and this one is roughly the same area at the same time a couple of weeks ago!
Finally, some toy soldier related pictures - if you have made it this far without decamping
Several views of a "Bastle House" I have created to complement the Pele Tower - figures to give an idea of scale
A few village homes for the peasants to inhabit
A few derelict wrecked buildings to scatter around the table - just need to actually buy some Reivers now!
That's it - thanks for visiting.
Monday 10 August 2020
Sunday Game - Napoleonic Encounter
As promised, here is my report on our Napoleonic game yesterday. We had almost a full house, four players per side plus Paul as umpire. The scenario was an encounter between the Austro Russians on our side and a motley collection of Germans and Poles on the other! The battle ebbed and flowed for much of the day although ominously, the Coalition right wing made steady progress against Julian on the Austrian left. In retrospect, we made an error is leaving Julian with a quarter of our force to hold half our front line, although that was the initial disposition mandated by Paul in his scenario.
The basic idea was that the Coalition was part of the 1812 invasion force and the Russians, having gained fore knowledge of this attack, intended to pre-empt it with a counter strike of their own, dragging the Austrians along for the ride.
I was the Austro Russian commander so I guess you can lay the responsibility for poor planning and placement of troops on my shoulders. We didn't really discuss a plan so in effect, we fought three separate battles - another tactical error! Despite these problems, in the middle third of the game, the Austrians were in the ascendancy - with Julian doing a sterling job holding off Rick and Chris's combined forces - although they claimed they had hardly any more troops than Julian did ...… but it didn't look like that - you may judge for yourselves from the images below!
The Austrian commander - so me, in fact! My OG figures
Coalition left flank - Marks Perry plastic Prussians, facing off against Nick with some old school Russians
General view of the table - Austro Russians to the left. The aim of the game was to control the roads
Some of Barry's old style Minifigs Bavarians
More old style 1970's era 25mm Austrians, commanded by Julian
Rick commences the assault on our left wing, commanded by Julian
In the centre, my Sash and Sabre/Old Glory Austrians commence the advance towards Barry's Bavarians
The Russians comprised our right flank, commanded by Nick
Supported by Chris in the Coalitions centre with the Poles - mostly Minifigs I believe
Just prior to lunch, I launched a massive assault on Barry's Bavarians - two columns head onto a line, plus a third column coming in from the flank - 9 dice to 3 needing a 5 or 6 for a hit.....and we got one each!
The Bavarians rushed in reinforcements to hit my stalled assault - and also failed - a draw!
A view from the Bavarian commanders position,
The Russians to this point had sheltered in the dead ground on the far side of a hill, whilst the Prussians had practised the art of masterly inactivity - but Nick got bored with that.....
A seemingly unstoppable tide of Bavarians mass to attack my Austrians in the centre
Meanwhile, off on our extreme left, Julian and Rick continued their tussle. Julian had a number of remarkable successes with the dice to keep himself in the game
As Chris moved forward with a mass of Polish infantry
At the other end of the table, Nicks Russian command charged into Marks leading units
The view from the receiving end of the Russian assault
And the view from behind the Poles moving inexorably towards Julian's second brigade
The end was nigh on our left flank as Rick finally started to get the upper hand
My cavalry ponced around in the centre, adding some class but little else to the affair
Close up of my OG Grenzers
Barry's Bavarian artillery occupied this position for the entire game and did good execution upon the Austrians
The old school Minifigs Russians assault the Perry plastic Prussians
Our left flank starts to disintegrate - where has that brigade of Austrians gone Julian?!
That looks like an awful lot of Poles mate!
The ongoing melee on our right wing
John commanded a small force of Russian Pavlovski Guards who came up between Nick and me to support both our attacks
Solid Austrian lines poured fire into the advancing Bavarians, causing their commander to lose heart temporarily
But all was saved by the charge of the Russian cavalry, who destroyed the Pavolvski guards then broke through onto one of my Austrian battalions and sept them away too
At the same time, the last of Julian's command were assaulted simultaneously from front and flank
Final view from the now empty left wing of the Austro Russian position - we called the game at this point, with our left wing demolished, the centre on the back foot and our attack on the right a stalemate with Mark's Prussians.
A great scenario and the fortunes of war swung in the balance more than once. Perhaps the pivotal action was my failure to gain victory over Barry's Bavarians in my 9 to 3 assault. If that had succeeded as the odds would have suggested it should, we may well have been able to collapse the Coalition centre at the halfway point of the game - but it wasn't to be!
The basic idea was that the Coalition was part of the 1812 invasion force and the Russians, having gained fore knowledge of this attack, intended to pre-empt it with a counter strike of their own, dragging the Austrians along for the ride.
I was the Austro Russian commander so I guess you can lay the responsibility for poor planning and placement of troops on my shoulders. We didn't really discuss a plan so in effect, we fought three separate battles - another tactical error! Despite these problems, in the middle third of the game, the Austrians were in the ascendancy - with Julian doing a sterling job holding off Rick and Chris's combined forces - although they claimed they had hardly any more troops than Julian did ...… but it didn't look like that - you may judge for yourselves from the images below!
The Austrian commander - so me, in fact! My OG figures
Coalition left flank - Marks Perry plastic Prussians, facing off against Nick with some old school Russians
General view of the table - Austro Russians to the left. The aim of the game was to control the roads
Some of Barry's old style Minifigs Bavarians
More old style 1970's era 25mm Austrians, commanded by Julian
Rick commences the assault on our left wing, commanded by Julian
In the centre, my Sash and Sabre/Old Glory Austrians commence the advance towards Barry's Bavarians
The Russians comprised our right flank, commanded by Nick
More old school figures in action - Rick assaults Julian...
Supported by Chris in the Coalitions centre with the Poles - mostly Minifigs I believe
Barry managed to occupy this farm and held it for the entire game although his unit was carrying the maximum number of hits permissible for half the time
Just prior to lunch, I launched a massive assault on Barry's Bavarians - two columns head onto a line, plus a third column coming in from the flank - 9 dice to 3 needing a 5 or 6 for a hit.....and we got one each!
The Bavarians rushed in reinforcements to hit my stalled assault - and also failed - a draw!
A view from the Bavarian commanders position,
The Russians to this point had sheltered in the dead ground on the far side of a hill, whilst the Prussians had practised the art of masterly inactivity - but Nick got bored with that.....
A seemingly unstoppable tide of Bavarians mass to attack my Austrians in the centre
Meanwhile, off on our extreme left, Julian and Rick continued their tussle. Julian had a number of remarkable successes with the dice to keep himself in the game
As Chris moved forward with a mass of Polish infantry
At the other end of the table, Nicks Russian command charged into Marks leading units
The view from the receiving end of the Russian assault
And the view from behind the Poles moving inexorably towards Julian's second brigade
The end was nigh on our left flank as Rick finally started to get the upper hand
My cavalry ponced around in the centre, adding some class but little else to the affair
Close up of my OG Grenzers
Barry's Bavarian artillery occupied this position for the entire game and did good execution upon the Austrians
The old school Minifigs Russians assault the Perry plastic Prussians
Our left flank starts to disintegrate - where has that brigade of Austrians gone Julian?!
That looks like an awful lot of Poles mate!
The ongoing melee on our right wing
John commanded a small force of Russian Pavlovski Guards who came up between Nick and me to support both our attacks
Solid Austrian lines poured fire into the advancing Bavarians, causing their commander to lose heart temporarily
But all was saved by the charge of the Russian cavalry, who destroyed the Pavolvski guards then broke through onto one of my Austrian battalions and sept them away too
At the same time, the last of Julian's command were assaulted simultaneously from front and flank
Final view from the now empty left wing of the Austro Russian position - we called the game at this point, with our left wing demolished, the centre on the back foot and our attack on the right a stalemate with Mark's Prussians.
A great scenario and the fortunes of war swung in the balance more than once. Perhaps the pivotal action was my failure to gain victory over Barry's Bavarians in my 9 to 3 assault. If that had succeeded as the odds would have suggested it should, we may well have been able to collapse the Coalition centre at the halfway point of the game - but it wasn't to be!
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