Guards Update and more fun in the desert

I had hoped to be showing you the completed Coldstream Guard unit but other distractions on the painting desk have put paid to that for this week. I can report however that all the rank and file are finished and part of the command - just have the two standard bearers left to do.

These are all vintage figures - the two officers are amongst my favourite of Marcus Hinton's creations.

One very pleasant distraction during the week was a trip to Goya's new seaside residence where Mrs S and I were treated to a lovely lunch. Goya had cunningly planned it so that whilst Mrs S & G toured the grounds we retired to his study for a quick colonial game using the 'Men Who Would be Kings' rules.

I played the British in this encounter whilst Goya played a rabble of foreign types. The lancers have been beautifully painted, the infantry shown are all S-range Minifigs.

You can't have a game like this without camels.

Goya's new study easily accommodated a 5' x 4' table and he reckons a 10' x 4' is possible at a push.

If you have camels you must have palm trees too, it's a rule in colonial wargames.

It was a great looking table like something straight out of Featherstone or Morschauser!

The rules encourage you to name your leaders and these cavalry were under the command of one W. Churchill.

This was a tense moment when a band of tribesmen suddenly appeared on my flank - thank goodness for the stiff upper lip.

We didn;t quite finish play before the ladies returned but I think my force managed to live to fight another day.

If you've never played these rules I highly recommend it, you don't need many figures and things move along at quite a pace whilst not overstretching your brain which for me is a plus!

A garrison for Hougoumont

I decided that I wanted a unit to represent the Coldstream Guards for our forthcoming refight of Waterloo. Last time we played the game in 2023 (link) the Nassauers were given the job of defending Hougoumont which although in terms of numbers may be justified, doesn't have the same appeal as a garrison comprised of the lads in red.

The unit will be made up of BN/4 Private (firing). This is the test figure.

My existing British Guard unit (who before were simply designated 'The Guards') will now become the Grenadier Guards. Production is well underway so hopefully they'll be ready for your inspection soon.

Austrian Infantry on Parade

I've been promising a parade for a while so here it is, my complete force of Austrian infantry - 240 Hinton Hunt figures - enjoy!

L to R, back row: IR 4, 23, 26 third row: IR 32, 51, 59 second row: Grenadiers and Grenzers, front row: Jagers. 

Archduke Charles leads the review.

Don's flag rather showing up my own efforts to be not quite right but I'm not going to change them now!

The two Grenadier units are my favourite.

That's a whole lot of white - the Austrian army laundry bill must have been huge.

Will there be more? Well, who knows...

This time last year I was struggling to find the figures to make up a force of five units but thanks to the generosity of Don and the labours of Goya I finally have a force that General Mack would be proud to surrender to Napoleon.

Now for something completely different...

...er, not really it's actually more Austrians! This is another unit expertly restored for me by Goya from the collection of Don W. They are painted to represent Hungarian IR 32 Esterhazy although the charging figures are AN/4 Austrian Musketeer rather than Hungarian ones.

The original brushwork on these figures (including the nifty lace work) is all Don's to which Goya has added the black lining to the straps and the yellow stripes to the trousers together with a bit of general tarting up. Zoom in and take time to admire that amazing flag painted by Don some 40+ years ago, I am in awe.

Prussian Landwehr Lancers

I've finished the Landwehr Lancers and made the required changes to the original six figures so the whole lot now represent a Kumark Regiment. I'm very pleased with the way these have turned out as I think my painting (front row) has blended well with Matthew's (rear row).

The figures are:

6 x PN.39 Landwehr Lancer Trooper (mounted) charging

6 x 139/1 Der Kreigspieler Landwehr Lancer

I had to carry out a fair bit of restoration work on the Hinton Hunt castings fitting a few new lances but I quite enjoy the challenge that presents.

I didn't have any of these figures in my 1970s Prussian army so it has been nice to include them now. I like the idea of having some 'C' grade cavalry but if they're anything like as effective as their friends in the infantry the French Guard cavalry will be very afraid.

Tirailleur, Grenadier of the Guard

I didn't have time to properly introduce these gentlemen to you before they were tumbled headlong into the battle of Dresden. They are Tirailleur Grenadiers of the (Young) Guard painted as per the Hinton Hunt painting instruction sheet.

This is possibly the fastest I have ever painted a unit of Hinton Hunt figures as I did the whole lot in one batch - not sure if I'll use that technique again as I find it midly stressful.

The figures I used were:

22 x FN/71 Tirailleur Guard (charging) - one converted to drummer

1 x FN/70 Young Guard Officer (charging) - converted to standard bearer

1 x FN/74 Young Guard Officer (marching)

The flag is another of my hand-painted Pepsi-Max can ones. I'm not very happy with it particularly when it's stood next to the fantastic flag WM painted for the Voltigeurs.

I thought the flag would be relatively easy but it just wasn't!

On the subject of superb painting by WM I'm currently in the process of upgrading the Prussian Brandenburg Uhlans he painted for me 10 years ago. If you remember the unit is comprised of 6 x Uhlans and 6 x Landwehr Lancers as they were the only figures I had at the time. The recent influx of Prussian Uhlan castings means I can expand them to a full unit.

To do this I'm having to attempt the impossible and try to match WM's style. Difficult not just because he is an exceptionally talented painter but also because he uses enamel paints whilst I use Acrylics.

PN.39 Landwehr Lancer Trooper (mounted) charging - the one on the left is mine and the one on the right is WM's.

Stage one has been to increase the Landwehr Lancers by 6 using some castings generously donated by Goya and Nigel. I will have to make a few small changes to the original figures (lance colour and shoulder tabs) to transform the whole lot into a Kumark Regiment but I think they will work well together.

Vintage Dresden - The Game

I was joined by Nigel, Tony and Goya for the game. Each player commanded the troops on their half of the table with reserves to be fed in and assigned to a player on arrival. We started with a round of artillery bombardment and then got stuck in.

Schwarzenberg (Nigel) wasted no time in getting things moving on the allied left, his men launching an immediate attack towards the village of Lobtau (worth 10VP to the allies, 3VP to the French). The Austrian 4th Hussars (foreground) are obvioulsy eager to cross swords with the enemy in their first outing as a full unit.

On the other side of the Weisseritz River the rest of Nigel's infantry are making for Plauen (worth 5VP to either side). All that painting and refurb work on the Austrians appears to have paid off.

Meanwhile Wittgenstein (Goya) brings up the Prusso-Russians to within striking distance of the Great Garden. At this stage the garden was thinly defended by a handfull of French Voltigeurs and a single unit of Young Guard.

The 26th, 51st (Splenys) and 59th Austrian infantry regiments advance behind a screen of Jagers who are exchanging shots with the French Voltigeurs in front of Plauen.

The Russians near the walls of the Great Garden - so far so good for the Allies.

The French left is in danger of being enveloped. The Great Garden is worth 10VP to either side whilst Windmill Hill (in the rear) is worth 10VP to the Allies but nothing to the French.

Fortunately for the French Ney (Tony) is on hand with the Young Guard. The Marines supported by the 9th legere (seconded to the Guard for the day) move up to meet the Prussian hordes. In the distance the Eclaireurs are clashing with the Silesian Hussars.

Turn 3 and out of nowhere the entire Allied heavy cavalry appeared and descend on the French centre. The Allies drew the card for their arrival from reserve and placed them in their front line (sneaky). This was my (St Cyr) section of the line held by the 45th and 24th regiments. The 24th managed to form square in the nick of time but the 45th became disordered - eek!

On the French right, the arrival of Victor's Corps enabled me to reinforce the position at Lobtau. At this point the river could be forded anywhere but that situation was not to last.

The fighting for the garden is in full swing with Prussians already in the grounds while the Marines and 9th legere slog it out on the extreme left of the French line.

The Prussians are swarming into the Great Garden, I do hope they're not trampling the flowers!

Over at Lobtau there is one heck of a cavalry melee developing as the Austrian Hussars mix it with the 5th Lancers. Believe it or not it was the French who eventually came out on top in this scrap.

The curse of the new unit - the Grenzers took some heavy casualties in the fighting for Lobtau and were eventually reduced and removed from play.

Nigel's Prussian Dragoons bounce off the square of the 24th ligne. The square has only stood due to the morale bonus imparted by La Bedoyere who rode forward in the nick of time to steady the ranks. His plume may not be the right colour but he certainly inspired confidence in the men!

The Allied heavy cavalry slams into the poor 45th ligne. In the distance you can see that the Toskana Dragoons have just overrun a French artillery redoubt. The French centre is looking awfully exposed.

The Russians are at the gates!

The Silesian Landwehr move up in support of their commrades engaged with the Young Guard (You know things are getting serious when the Landwehr arrive). In the distance the Eclaireurs and Prussian Hussars are still meleeing - I believe this fight lasted for three turns.

Turn 4 and suddenly the lights went out! Unperturbed we soldiered on by candle light (actually there was plenty of light coming through the cabin windows). This provided a dramatic backdrop to the drawing of the Joker card - a torrential rain storm had occured flooding the River Weisseritz so that it could now only be crossed at the bridge.

The pesky Toskanas ride on and overrun another of my batteries while the 45th ligne are trampled under the hooves of the Prussian and Austrian Cuirassiers.

Nigel continues to push his infantry forward towards Plauen while assembling a grand battery to pummel the place into submission.

At Lobtau the Austrians try but fail to dislodge the 25th ligne. The rather nice building is from Goya's collection.

Finally some good news for the French - the heavy cavalry have arrived and plug the gap in the centre. The Allies decide that discretion is the better part of valour and their own heavies do a quick about face and retire!

At this point we had to call it a day and it turned out to be a French win on points as of all the victory locations only the Great Garden was (partially) in Allied hands. The French Guard had never even made it onto the table.

Despite my optimism that the movement trays would help speed things along we only managed 5 turns which was the same as last year's game. Clearly there were just too many troops on the table as my desire to see all those Austrians/Prussians/Russians in action got the better of me when planning the scenario. It was still a good game though and I think we all thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle.

My thanks to the visiting generals for making the effort to come along and playing in such good humour, and a special thanks to Mrs S whose quick thinking allowed her field kitchen to operate despite the hour and a half power cut!