"Our tribute to the heroic past is its armies in miniature, today." Recreating a 1970s Wargame army using 20mm vintage figures.
Tuesday 28 December 2010
Muskets & Marshals
That said I am pretty happy with the rule set as they stand and I certainly had a lot of fun playing the game using them. The firing system involves throwing a lot of dice and I’ve found over the years that this always tends to make a wargame more fun than the slide rule/logarithm approach.
The rules are an amalgamation of various rule systems and ideas nicked or created over the last 40 odd years. The movement rates and ranges are straight out of the London Wargames Section Napoleonic Rules (1968). The melee system is spookily like the one from the board game Risk. Many of the other ideas were developed for a set of ACW rules my brother and myself knocked up in the 1980s. The emphasis is on fun and speed of play.
Saturday 25 December 2010
Stille Nacht
Monday 20 December 2010
Battle of the crossroads – Part 3
D’Hilliers wasted no time in ordering his cavalry to charge straight at the Union brigade forcing them to make an immediate morale test. This they took on a minus one (because of Ponsonby’s demise) that left them shaken and unable to counter charge. A few more rubbish dice rolls meant the resulting melee was lost – the unthinkable had happen, the Union brigade was in full retreat!
Meanwhile in the centre of the field things were going from bad to worse for Wellington. Mercer’s battery had been steadily losing casualties to the fire of the 10th Legere and yet another failed morale test for the Allies saw his guns limbered up and making haste to the rear. All this as the columns of the Nassau grenadiers and 45th Ligne were closing on the position held by Picton and the Naval battalion.
A volley at long range from Picton’s men took out three of the Nassauers and for a moment it looked like the line might just hold but then the Nassau colour-bearer ran forward holding his flag aloft (he has a very strong hand) and the Nassauers were in amongst the British with the bayonet. Even the presence of the Duke (with his plus one to morale rolls) wasn’t enough to save the situation and the Naval Battalion broke and fled.
The Allies were in full retreat and a dejected Wellington sat upon his trusty horse Copenhagen looking on at the sorry scene. “A hard pounding eh, gentlemen?” “A hard pounding indeed your grace.” said Lord Hill and Picton.
On the other side of the field the Emperor looked upon the same scene but was in a very different mood “I told you the English were not good soldiers Bernadotte, did I not?” “Yes sire, you did.” replied Bernadotte. “They may have the best cavalry in Europe but it is the worst led and anyway, I’m sure those ones on the grey horse were drunk!”
The battle was over but the war had only just begun…
Sunday 19 December 2010
Battle of the crossroads – Part 2
Forward the Union Brigade.
Cavalry units may not make a passage of lines through friendly cavalry. They may however make a charge move through friendly infantry (they incur a 100yd movement penalty and must be able to end the move in contact with an enemy unit). The infantry unit will become disordered and must test morale.
The troopers charged through the Prussian Landwehr and on into the French skirmishes who failed to form a skirmish square in response (If charged by cavalry skirmishers may form a skirmish square on a roll of 5 or 6 (4,5,6 if elite) otherwise they are ridden down). Ponsonby was elated as the Grey’s cut down the enemy to a man but a final musket shot from the French knocked the poor general from his horse!
It can be said with little doubt that neither Blucher nor the Duke was at all pleased with Ponsonby’s movement. “Mein Gott!” cursed the Prussian Marshal “Vot are zees dumkoff drunken vools up to?”. With a die roll of 2 the Landwehr failed their morale test, broke and fled – a spectacular own goal for the Allies.
Meanwhile the French responded to the sudden appearance of the British cavalry by forming the 4th Swiss into square and advancing D’Hillier’s heavy cavalry to meet the threat. The Carabiniers in the lead were confident and positioned themselves for a charge while the ranks behind them (being DK castings) were slightly more nervous.
All along the line the Allies were now very hard pressed and even Mercer’s battery was losing heavy casualties to the incessant French skirmisher fire. The situation for the Duke was starting to look serious.
To be continued…
Saturday 11 December 2010
Battle of the crossroads – Part 1
The Duke of Wellington (with his ADC Lord Hill) had deployed the Allied force in line to defend a vital crossroads. On the left were the Naval Battalion commanded by Sir Thomas Picton (resplendent in red coat and top hat) and on the right were the Silesian Landwehr under the watchful eye of old Marshal Vorwarts. Ponsonby’s Union brigade supported the Landwehr while Mercer’s horse artillery was placed across the main road between the two infantry battalions.
The Allied army deployed in line ready to defend the crossroads.
Marshal Lannes becomes a “fallen leader”.
The Naval battalion were visibly shaken by the ordeal as Picton rode up and down the line trying to restore order in their ranks.
At his command post near the church Wellington looked on “Hot work Lord Hill, what time is it now?” “Just past turn two your grace.” Replied Hill. “I think I may ride forward to give Picton a hand (and an extra plus 1 on morale), I’m sure Blucher will hold on the right with the support of Ponsonby’s cavalry.”
To be continued…
Saturday 4 December 2010
On the carpet
A line of Russians
Advancing in column
For some reason Hinton Hunt Russian figures are the hardest to come by in my experience. Apart from this unit I have a regiment of Pavlovski grenadiers (really looking forward to painting those), a single squadron of cavalry and one gun crew. It’s a small contingent but the figures are amongst my favourites – I hope to get them all painted up in time for the World Cup in 2018!
“Come on comrades, quick march!”
You will be pleased to hear that I have nearly finished those French grenadiers and I will post on them next. I did however have a bit of a mishap whilst painting them when I managed to knock over my pot of Foundry 47a Copper Wash. It was a slow motion moment as the little tidal wave of brown paint made its way towards me down the desk - the question was do I save my jeans or the carpet? I opted for my jeans – wrong!
The wonderful new carpet effect I have perfected plus the offending pot of 47a
Throughout the whole drama our old labrador Snuff (who you may remember shares my study) remained singularly unhelpful. There was no Lassie style rush to my rescue with kitchen roll or a damp sponge, in fact she just looked rather annoyed at all the commotion.
Not Lassie
Those of you who have read back through my older posts may have noted that this is not the first time that I have had an incident with my 47a Copper Wash. I knocked over my last pot almost three years ago to the day, that time however I managed to keep most of it off the carpet and out of Mrs S’s line of vision. I fear I have not been so lucky on this occasion.
Saturday 27 November 2010
4th Swiss on parade
The 4th Swiss in line.
Advancing in column.
Here they are from the rear – not running away, this is the view their supports would have.
A close up showing the grenadier company (actually composed of FN23 Old Guard grenadier, firing).
One of the reasons I’ve not been painting recently is that we took a trip north of the border last weekend to visit our daughter in Perth (that’s the original one in Scotland not the one in Oz). Whilst up there we were taken to Killiecrankie ‘gateway to the highlands’ where we walked to soldiers leap. This is a rock in the middle of the river Garry where a government soldier made a huge leap to safety on the opposite shore pursued by Jacobite forces in the aftermath of the battle.
Soldier’s leap sign.
Another sign told us that Queen Victoria visited the place once and proclaimed the jump ‘impossible’ – I’m not sure how she came to this conclusion as I am guessing she was never chased by a bunch of claymore wielding highlanders.
It’s a bloody long way up.
Friday 12 November 2010
Chasseur-a-cheval (take 2)
They really are lovely little castings that are amongst the best in the Hinton Hunt range in my humble opinion.
Chasseurs of the Line are perhaps a bit under represented on the wargame table being less glamorous than their friends in the Hussars and lancers. However, I hope you will agree that these lads are looking pretty smart. I have a couple of squadrons of the one-piece version to add to their ranks – eventually.
Saturday 6 November 2010
Nassau Grenadiers
21 x NN/2 Nassau Grenadier (charging)
3 x NN/3 Nassau Officer (charging) – one converted as a standard bearer
The figures are vintage Hinton Hunt castings and all but one (no prizes for guessing which one) were painted by Matt Golding.
The full battalion on parade
Bionic-hand man waves the flag
About face!
Inclining to the left (really I should have stuck them on the diagonal but that’s a bit fiddly). It’s bugging me slightly but I won’t re-base them, er, not today anyway...
I’m very pleased with them and they are a useful addition to my Hinton Hunt army especially as they can be used to fight either with or against the French. I suppose that given recent developments in the entente cordiale it would probably be best if I choose the latter option, as my British forces may no longer be available to fulfil that role.
Saturday 30 October 2010
Purest Green Stuff
Figure painted by Matt Golding, flag by Revo, conversion by yours truly
Tuesday 26 October 2010
Welcome men of Nassau
The uniform green looks quite dark in this shot but is less so in the flesh and will brighten up when I varnish and base them. That’s the next job then.
Saturday 23 October 2010
That was the week that was
Tuesday – FN361 General Nansouty arrived in the post. My first successful Hinton Hunt eBay purchase for a long time and a welcome arrival as it means I am only missing one French HH personality figure now – cool (as the young people and old hippies say). Nansouty will be at the back of a very long painting queue, probably looking over the shoulder of Massena trying to see what the hold up is.
Tuesday (a few seconds after Nansouty’s arrival) – A copy of the Hinton Hunt export price list from 1972 arrived in the post from Don in the US. This list is almost identical to my UK list except that the prices don’t include VAT. Slightly strange as you would think that the export prices would be cheaper without the VAT. Click on the image to make it readable.
Thursday – Matt emailed me a picture of the completed Nassau grenadiers letting me know that they would be with me after the weekend. They look brilliant and I can’t wait for their arrival. Seems to be something of a Nassau theme running on some of my favourite blogs at the moment.
Saturday – Stopped off in Arundel on Friday night and went to visit the castle today. Quite amazed as I was expecting the usual sort of damp windswept ruin – had no idea it was still the fully functional residence for the Duke of Norfolk. We spent over three hours there and had a great time. I didn’t have my camera but the place is spectacular and well worth a visit - click here to take a look at the castle website.
That’s it then – the week is almost over.
Friday 15 October 2010
Painted Black
I have a certain affection for these “Death’s Head Hussars” which I’m sure is shared by many other Napoleonic wargamers. Apparently Lady de Lancey compared the Corps to “an immense moving hearse” when she saw them on the march during the Waterloo campaign. The Hussars fought under the Duke of Brunswick at Quatre Bras where they gave a good account of themselves.
The other reason I like them of course is the ease of painting or at any rate the theoretical ease of painting – after all I could just splash them all over in black as the previous owners have done. However I think I should put a little bit more effort in so intend to use a dark grey for the uniform and then black on the straps for some contrast. Anyway, surely even I can paint these up relatively fast although of course I have to finish those French grenadiers first.
Saturday 2 October 2010
The cost of wargaming
Hinton Hunt Figures were never the cheapest option for building a wargame army and their mail order service was not particularly fast when compared to contemporaries like Minifigs. However to me they were the figures to have because they were the ones featured in Miniature Warfare magazine and the ones that Callan used. The problem was that you had to order over 150 figures to get the best price (6p infantry, 12p cavalry) and that was a lot of pocket money but it did make for an exciting package when they finally arrived.
The figures could also be bought ready painted (25p infantry, 50p cavalry) although that was way beyond my pocket as a kid but I dreamed of being able to order complete ready painted armies. Since then, having heard various tales about the quality of the paint job, I can see that perhaps I might have been disappointed on that score.
Saturday 25 September 2010
Secret Weapon (phase two)
I’m very fortunate that Matt (my secret weapon) has agreed to paint up the rest of the unit for me. This means that I have had the fun part of working out the way I want them to look without the hard work of mass production. Matt’s work is superb and he puts me to shame with the sheer speed of his output but at the moment this is a huge help to me.
Now I do feel a bit guilty about all this as part of the point of this project was that I was going to paint all the figures myself. However a couple of things have changed since I started this blog; firstly I have accumulated way more figures than I ever thought possible and secondly I have less time to paint them than I did back then. The result is (as regular readers may have noted) a bit of a drought of painted figures, in fact I still haven’t completed the unit of French grenadiers I started last autumn. I do intend to rectify this in the future but for now I am very glad of Matt’s help.
Friday 17 September 2010
Fall in the 45th (again)
Thanks to the generosity of Paul however the three missing figures of FN5 Fusilier (charging) turned up here a few weeks ago and I have finally got around to painting and basing them up. The result seemed so pleasing that Marshal Lannes just had to assemble the battalion and put them through some drill.