The last knockings? (Part 2)

Hello again.

Following my last post of a couple of days ago, when the Rangers got an outing, I hereby present a somewhat less martial group, but no less important to the defence of North America/ assault on New France during the French & Indian Wars.

These are again Redoubt figures, bought at the WMMS show back in March. I painted them late in May/ early June, varnished and based them last week, and present them here as almost the last unit I could paint for this most enjoyable of projects. I would have liked a bit more variety, but you get what you pay for.

All I have left is a mortar and crew (not really viable for the usual FIW action, certainly not for "Muskets & Tomahawks" [???], but who knows if I will ever get a siege underway), a couple of officer-types for both sides and a quartet of Indians in winter clothing. That quite literally is it. But there are still those plans to acquire a couple of units of Regulars for both sides and the all-important terrain items...

G

The last knockings?

Hello again.

My French and Indian Wars project has featured a number of times over the past twelve months or so, as I have worked my way through various random purchases from Regulars to Civilians via Indians and Irregulars. It has been a most enjoyable affair for me, different to my usual fayre, with plenty of variety and an end in sight early on, because it was basically the sort of large, skirmish affair I had so enjoyed with my SAGA forces. It was always destined to be a couple of hundred figures at most and I am almost there, at the aforementioned "last knockings".

Or am I?

I have painted practically everything I bought for this project, with the sum total of around a dozen figures left in the shoe box I have used to store castings for this project. This definitely constitutes a "last knockings" in my book.

But, I have no specific buildings yet. There are no log cabins, no longhouses, no stockades or maize fields or whatever. I bought a Perry North American Church kit several years ago and have not even built it yet. That would do for a start. I bought two canoes at WMMS back in March and they are still in their packaging. They would do too. And I have a desire still to add some more Regulars to the collection, but I cannot truly say whether I will do so or not...
And then there is the option of some artillery, perhaps some grenadiers, some light infantry...

Yet here, for your attention, is the penultimate group of figures I had on the "agenda". The leader is a Dixon Miniatures figure I bought early on in the project (the majority of that order actually being for Vikings!). The other figures are Redoubt bought towards the end of the project duration, at the WMMS show again last March. Based as before on 25mm circles (plastic or mdf, whatever I have to hand at the time) and textured with my usual mix of Basetex, model railway ballast, paint, static grass, the odd varnish puddle, etc, they fit nicely into the spare space in the box in which I keep this collection, sitting neatly in their mdf tray alongside the other "British and allies" troops.

So, here are the reinforcements for my Rangers.

All I need now is to get in a few more games. The last one was a couple of months ago...

G

A little shorter than most of the figures I have for this period, but not everyone is the same size in real life and he actually fits in well. I am never sure if he is smiling, grimacing, has just been shot or whether I have painted him wrongly with those prominent teeth. Did Freddie Mercury ever have any American ancestors?

Simple kit options for the frontier fighter.

Squad 1. I have still not done the research into specific units and what headgear each wore, so am happy to mix and match.

Squad 2. This now makes 18 Rangers plus an officer in my collection, so I an do a complete Ranger force for smaller games or a Ranger-led force for larger ones if I want.

More loot and a late Christmas present

Hello again.

I have finally taken delivery of a present I bought myself, ostensibly for Christmas last year, on the basis that it might have been published by then. Five months later (about a month or so ago now), I finally took delivery!

 

 



 I have been a fan of these "Wargaming in History" books since the first one came out a few years back and have bought most of them to date. This is the second covering the Seven Weeks' War of 1866 and, on first browse, seems to be every bit as good as the first volume, which dealt with the early battles. Perhaps I will review it properly once I have actually read it!

This era is one I am seriously looking to get into, being the owner of several hundred Austrian figures in 15mm, roughly 30% of the relevant infantry being in the Kittel tunic (more 1859) and the rest in the greatcoat so synonymous with 1866. I also have a couple of hundred Prussians too. On top of that, I made a serious investment in 10mm ACW last year and treated myself to some 10mm Crimean War Russians earlier this. Why the small scale? Well, my table size for games has shrunk by half as changes in the family home have eaten into space, so smaller figures is the way to go for me at the moment. I WILL do this at some time...

A small snapshot of just one of the fine photo/ map pages.

The book is chock-full of great photos (hence the high cost of these books) and good maps clearly showing table layouts for playing games. These layouts are also used to show the movement of the troops during the game recreations covered in the book.

 

 

Finally, as I reach the "end" of my French & Indian Wars project (famous last words, as I do have plans to buy a few units of regulars for both sides as I have something in mind...), I thought I would add some terrain to my sundry collections. All the above was bought at a model railway show for less than £20. I have also been collecting lollipop sticks of a particular type for a while now, namely round ones rather than the usual flat variety, to use as log cabin walls. A recent article by Diane Sutherland in Miniature Wargames showed how to do it, so a few settler cabins for the FIW are not far away(I hope).

 

And that is about it for now. Painting time is very limited at present due to a change in my work hours to straight days whilst work undergoes some major changes, but I have at last managed to finish more Rangers and some Militia for the FIW, so will show them soon.

 

I have also just undercoated some Viking archers, which I hope to have ready for the Wyrley Retinue outing to the Barrage Show in Stafford on 9th July - just four weeks today! We will be showing our "Storri's Trek 2: The Rath of Cahan" game again, but always change something between outings to try and freshen things up and give the paying public something else to see should they have seen the game in a previous incarnation.

 

G