Big Wars

When I first came back to the Wargaming fraternity late last year a lot of my old reference books were in storage in the loft. I 'knew' that somewhere among them was a copy of Stuart Asquith and Jack Alexander's rule book for 54mm battles; BIG WARS. An initial search was ineffective but it transpired I was looking for a bookcover of the wrong colour, I was searching for what I remembered as a red book, while in effect once I found it (looking for something else) I discovered it was blue.

This A4 stapled booklet was privately published in 1993 and contains 15 pages of rules with as many of adverts for figure manufacturers (GBE, Ensign, Dorset, etc.) and  photocopied colonial period pictures. I think the appeal to me was that Line Infantry battalions are of 10 men plus an officer, Light Infantry battalions are 5 men (with or without officer) and Cavalry regiments are 4 men. Armies are therefore a lot smaller than current thinking. This must be where my 10 man regiment comes from, though I make my cavalry units 8 troopers as the smaller unit doesn't look large enough.

My project units are slowly evolving, there should be group photos soon, and then I can try some small scenarios with these rules, just to get the feel back.

In the meantime, Mr William Freese-Greene, of the 'Daily Messenger', has come up with a scoop, a photo taken at great risk, of the spies Altamont and Ashenden.

These are actually castings from my stockpile, of Holmes and Watson, made by 'Music in Miniature'.The car is from an old Highway Pioneers plastic kit and I've forgotten its make.

Building a Volunteer

Attached is a photo of my first conversion for many years. Done mainly to see if I still could, and to see what such a figure would look like. The main parts are a body from Prince August British Guard casting, arms from same, head from Langley castings, pack from spares box (Fort Henry Guard casting) and the rest, (straps, haversack, and much packing of joints) from assorted strips and lumps of miliput. Unfortunately, I know where all the mistakes are, so this chap will be relegated to guard duty somewhere away from the public eye.

Information for the uniform came from a CD purchased from Sean Ryan, runner of the Uniforms Of The World website, who sell CDs covering many varieties of uniform, all at a reasonable price and very easy to use. This is the illustration I used for my figure. (Used with Sean's permission) His website also has an extensive forum section, well worth a visit.

 http://www.uniformsotw.com/

I shall be having another go soon. I understand that Prince August have a mould making service if you provide a suitable master, so if I get a decent figure I might avail myself of that to produce the regiment.

Xmas presents

I received these three books over the Xmas period. Fully illistrated with at least one picture on each page, covering the works of all the well known artists. A lot of inspirational information covering most of the 19th century.

I hope you all got something that you wanted for Xmas.

Ah well, that's it all over for another year. Back to work at 7.30 tomorrow (wednesday).

Compliments of the Season

I didn't realise that I'd been so dilatory this month. Due to the seasonal takeover of my workroom/photo studio/library for present packing and storage, plus its proper use as spare bedroom, I have not got a great deal done. Also, I'm having trouble with my camera at the moment, so no photos anyway. I have bought quite a few 'picture' books over the past few weeks so have been studying those.

My resolution for next year is to do better on all fronts.

In the meantime, best wishes to all, and a card by one of my favourite cartoonists.

A Little Taster.

Here is a map, from some site on the web (possibly Wikipedia) showing the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, or the basis for my alternate 19th century Britain. As I said last time, I'm currently working on the political and military 'what is what' for the various kingdoms, and trying to find reasons for various disagreements. These will mainly be over the various successions as they become available, or complaints about trade and border disputes. I'm not going to go into great historical detail, or worry much about what is happening in the rest of the world, though the various French Republican Wars and the wars between the French and Spanish areas of America (ACW in disguise) will bear upon us, as well as the various attempts at German and Italian unification, as many in our little Islands favour a similar structure, so further grounds for military argument.

The full text may take some time, but I will let snippets fall as they become available.

In the meantime, here is a photo, with apologies for not being as sharp as I'd like it to be, of Grand Duchess Gloriana, ruler of East Anglia, newly repainted (see the post of Nov 16th for the original) in her parade uniform. The only alterations to the model are a base and new plume.

Uniforms for her army are decided, the infantry are in various shades of grey, with a couple of greens. I'm having difficulty tracking down the appropriate style of flat topped cap (which no manufacturer, at least of parts, that I've contacted seems to make. I've had various alternatives but they all need work) I'm hoping that my trip to the Toy Soldier show on saturday will help. If not. I'll have to go the long way of conversion, mould making and casting my own heads.

Cavalry, only four units, are a mixture of lancer, hussar, and dragoon uniforms. Artillery currently stands at one Langley field gun and Horse Artillery crew, with a limber and team waiting to be made up.

I shall try to get some more photos of the finished units out by next time.

Book Suggestions

I know I promised some background to my alternative British Isles this time round, but I'm still working on the fundamentables, si that will have to wait. In the meantime, here are details of a couple of book titles that I've seen reviewed and have booked from the local library.
1. Vanished Kingdoms by Norman Davies, which is an 'examination of half-forgotten duchies, kingdoms, empires and republics, providing an original and surprising perspective on Europe's history'. Should be an interesting read.
2. The Sleeping Army by Francesca Simon. A novel set in  world where Christianity never happened, so Britain never stopped worshipping the Norse and Anglo-Saxon gods, hence the state religion, headed by the Queen, is Wodenism - and nobody is called Christopher. I think it's meant to be a children's 'fantasy' title, but that never stopped me before.
Knowing our local library I may have to wait some weeks.

References and Recruitment

I thought I'd show a couple of photos of some reference books I'm using to base my various army uniforms on. This first one is a splendid general overview of the main European armies throughout the 19th century, and I think the illustrations have a lovely 'toy soldier' look about them.

Second we have just three of my small collection concerning the various volunteer forces. I've practically worked out the order of battle for a small division using these units, and am currently trying to source figures with a particular headgear for a couple of them. No one seems to make exactly the right sort of straight-sided peaked cap that I'm after. I shall be going to the Toy Soldier show on Dec.3rd to try direct research.

Next. a picture of the figure I picked up on e-bay recently. This is a little worse for wear, but when i've got the paint off  and rebuilt a plume I shall be painting it as Grand Duchess Gloriana, in a grey based uniform suitable for the armies theme.

Meanwhile, in the shires, recruitment goes on. The recruiting sergeant has been out with his shillings dragging in the willing and unwilling. These three figures are based on a painting by the artist Colin Carr, and were mastered by Kieth Over of Whittlesey Miniatures some years ago.

The final photo is of Mr William Freese-Greene, official photographer for the 'Daily Messenger'. This little chap and his bulky camera get everywhere, and we'll see some of his work later. He has got a small Ford T which he uses to get about but it doen't appear in the photo.

While I wait for a delivery of troops to paint I'm catching up with a few of the personality castings I have lying about. Currntly on the painitng table are Ashenden and Altamont, the spies, with their boss M. If we're lucky we may get a picture, but they do like to be discreet.

I shall follow this up with Mr Llanfanihagel Penbedw, newly elected President of the Republic of Wales.

Next time I'll try give a little background on our alternative little Island and its make-up, politics, and of course, it's little arguments.