Friday, April 17, 2020

From NoelW: Napoleonics, Zulu war and some buildings


For my third quarantine post I decided to concentrate on buildings more than figures, though there’s a few figures here, too.

Firstly, a Sarissa bandstand. This is a lovely model and paints up nicely. It will take pride of place in my Walmington on Sea setup although, sadly, there’s no band to play there. Probably their instruments have been melted down to make Spitfires.




Next one of the Perry/Renedra plastic American farmsteads. This is likely to be used in several different contexts, so I’ve not based it or adorned it with fences, barrels etc (even though the kit contains a few of these which I'll probably use for scatter terrain, including a chair for the front porch.) I’ll count it against my AWI target, though it will certainly appear on ACW battlefields and in a small recently settled Western town, as yet unnamed, but which is gradually growing as new settlers drift in. I guess it might work in other colonial contexts, too. (Was Manifest Destiny colonialism? Discuss)




Third in this offering are four adobe buildings. These are my first stab at a collection my son bought from a Bring and Buy ten or more years ago, with the plan of using them for Somalia (to game Black Hawk Down). Unfortunately, the game never took place, as his interest in figure gaming was usurped by board and online games (I know! How could this happen?) so I’m intending to use them in the Sudan (they’ll become Khartoum rather than Mogadishu) and probably Egypt and Afghanistan, too.




A detailed inspection of the models suggests they’re actually intended for a context something like ancient Troy, as there’s a crescent shield hanging on one wall, and the pottery definitely is amphora-esque. I’ve not been able to discover their manufacturer, however. Possibly Grand Manner (they’re big heavy resin buildings, very much like those they produce, but not in their catalogue as far as I can see), possibly Ainsty, possibly Village Green. But probably not any of these.

As you can see, they’re painted simply, with a sprayed base and then “detailed” (I use that word incorrectly) with contrast paints and washes. The overall effect is pleasing enough and, as roofs and upper floors come apart, I can see the potential for a really big skirmish (is that an oxymoron?) game when I’ve managed to finish the lot.

Now, for those of you who’ve been patient enough to read this far, here are a few figures. They're from two projects started long ago, but still ticking over. Two of my favourites, in fact. I mentioned in my previous post Islandwana and the Zulu War more generally. So, speaking of generals, here’s Lord Chelmsford himself, arrogantly on his way to Ulundi whilst his army is savaged behind him.




And here’s one of his subcommanders, Colonel Charles Pearson, who led number 1 column in the invasion of Zululand. He’s depicted here being surprised by news of Islandwana. Or perhaps he’s just arguing with a subordinate about the exact location of the Zulus.




Pearson and Chelmsford come from the Perrys’ Victoria’s Little Wars range, whilst the officer Pearson is arguing with is from their plastic British Infantry Zulu Wars set. I do love the Perrys’ plastics. They’re the nearest thing to the youthful thrill of discovering a new Airfix boxed set.

Finally, three long-languishing elements of my British-against-the-French-in-Egypt project. Here’s Major General John Moore and companion, apparently having a discussion not unlike that conducted by Pearson. This is the John Moore of Corunna fame, not the owner of the Littlewoods chain of shops, the man behind Liverpool’s university of that name (that’s actually, John Moores, but who’s counting?) In 1801 in Egypt he was one of the most trusted of Abercromby’s subordinates.




Here’s one of his a colonels, of an indeterminate regiment with black facings (I’ve not painted one yet).




And finally, de Rolls’ regiment. This was composed of Swiss and Germans in British Service. As with several of the foreign regiments in British service, it’s hard to find the correct flags. The late Terry Wise’s Osprey on Napoleonic Flags contains a flag of 1805 for De Rolls, but it carries "Egypt" and the sphinx as battle honours. It’s also yellow, though the regiments’ facings are sky blue. Lacking any other info, removing the honours from the Wise flag seems the best option.




I award myself the imaginary points of 20 for all the buildings, 25 for the Zulu wars commanders, and 90 for the British generals and regiment.

Project
New Task
‘Points’
Old Task
‘Points’
Agincourt




AWI
Farmstead
3


Black Seas (1/700th)




British in Egypt: 1801


Generals
de Rolls’ regiment
30
60
Cape Wars
12 infantry
60


Carthaginians




Crusades
Command group
20


ECW




French in Egypt: 1801




Frostgrave/fantasy
3 Treemen
24
Frankie
5
Italian Wars




Lord of the Rings




Minden (15mm)




Ottoman




Peninsular War


12 Spanish
60
Republican Romans




Sikh/Afghan Wars




1860s British IF




1880s, the Sudan
Buildings
15


Walmington/Sealion


3 Civvies
6 zombies
Bandstand
15
30
2
Waterloo




WW2 Desert




Zulu War
NNI
30
Pearson and Chelmsford
25
TOTAL

152

227

11 comments:

  1. Hi Noel - think we are on same UK time, sorry posted right behind you without a time space, but glad I can comment first on your models. Love the British Napoleonics in top hats with tufts ! Impressed with your range of modelling stuff going on.

    Cheers Jez - Coventry based gamer

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  2. Lovely terrain Troy,Mogadishu, Afghanistan whatever all good! The Zulu wars stuff is good but the Egyptian campaign figures are ace!
    Best Iain

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  3. Great mash up of figures and Terrain, keep em coming 👍

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  4. Nice work. I really like your command vignettes, Col. Pearson looks thoroughly cheesed off about the news from Chelmsford.

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  5. Smashing selection, I’ve been really tempted by that bandstand too and seeing one painted doesn’t help with my resolve....

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  6. Wow, lovely work Noel. I do think those buildings are Grand Manner, and if so, what a find! They look superb. I'm also admiring your British-in-Egypt figures. I'd love to do some of these, but the regulation British headgear for this campaign inspires me very little (a big understatement). In the war of cool early 19th century headgear the Brits had a lot of catching up to do. ;)

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  7. Another Noel grab bag. I’m loving the Egyptian stuff too, but rather like the hat options on the British

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  8. Lovely work spectrum Noel! And all good stuff too 👍🏻

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  9. Excellent work all around! The buildings are great, and the vignettes really hit the mark. And the infantry looks very fine too, love those hats!

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