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!

The Men Who Would Be Colonial Wargamers (off topic #34)

Goya came over this afternoon so we could have a run through with The Men Who Would Be Kings ruleset for colonial wargames. He brought with him everything we needed in a single box, British and Mahdist 20mm armies, Rule book, desert terrain mat, rocks and some really nice palm trees.

As you know, I have a bit of a thing about colonial wargames but I had never played these rules and was keen to see how they worked. We had a fun little game for a couple of hour’s and I think managed about eight turns.

We played on the kitchen table rather than in the cabin as it was a bit chilly outside. The game ran longways up the table, Mahdists nearest the camera, British top right. I love those palm trees. 

Goya did tell me what make these were but I have forgotten - lovely slender castings and superbly painted.

I commanded the Mahdists, these are my cavalry and camelry charging forward (who doesn't like troops riding camels?). Goya painted the flag freehand. 

My infantry start to make an appearance but, to be honest, it was a bit difficult to get them to do what I wanted although I liked the rule mechanism for orders that caused this.

Ouch! This melee ended in a draw.

My forces eventually started to make a bit of progress.

Until they came up against a solid wall of British riflemen. The chaps in red are Minifigs S-Range.

I did have the advantage in artillery however - can you guess what make that gun is? (yes it is plastic)

My poor camels!!!

Well, I was never going to get very far against the soldiers of the Queen was I? 

In other news, work on the fusiliers continues but more on that next time.

He who hesitates is lost

11.07 – ring ring, ring ring, ring ring…
Me “Hello?”
Mark “I’m back in the Oxfam shop, they’ve got some more Hinton Hunt in including some Colonial stuff, 24 painted figures for twelve quid are you interested?”
Me (thinks) “hmm, Hinton Hunt, my precious, hmm… No! No! stop that, you don’t need any more Hinton Hunt be strong!”
Me “Mark that’s really good of you to call me but I think I’ll pass.”
Mark “No problem I’m just buying some Napoleonics.”
Me (gritted teeth) “ Cheers Mark, thanks for thinking of me” (hangs up)
11.10 - Mrs S “Who was that?”
Me “That was Mark back in the Oxfam shop, they have some more Hinton Hunt.”
Mrs S “Are you going to get them?”
Me (mumbling) “No, I don’t need any more Hinton Hunt.”
Mrs S “Are you sure?”
Me (weakly) “Yes, I’m sure…”
11.20 - Me (thinks) “ those Colonials would be useful for my Boer War project, clearly I do need them!”
Ring ring, ring ring, ring ring…
Me “Hello Mark, I think I do want them can you go back to the shop and buy them for me?”
Mark “No worries, I’ll send you a photo.”
Me (feeling warm inside)“Fantastic!” (hangs up)
11.30 – ring ring, ring ring, ring ring…
Me “Hi Mark.”
Mark “ Hi Ian, I just got back in the shop and the bloke in front of me had just bought all those Colonial figures, sorry.”
Me (thinks) “What a swine, Mark should have punched him, hmm Hinton Hunt, my precious…”
Me (feebly) “Thanks anyway Mark…” (low sobs)

The Washing of the Zulu

Having said he was relatively easy to paint and having looked at the figure again, I realised that in fact I wasn’t very happy with my paint job. The big problem is that my block painting technique doesn’t lend itself well to large areas of the same colour – in this case flesh.

So I applied another coat of Foundry 6A Dusky Flesh and then applied a wash of 47B Leather and Metal Brown Wash to give the flesh areas a bit more definition (thanks for the idea Don). It doesn’t show up well to the camera but looks much better in the flesh, so to speak.

I also repainted the shield front because I felt I could do a bit better. All in all I’m much happier with the final result – just need another 99 figures and I’ll have a decent sized Impi!

Zulu!

Not thousands of ‘em, I have half a dozen due to a recent impulse foray on eBay. The reason for this diversion is that as a teenager I had visions of buying several hundred Hinton Hunt Zulus in order to wargame Rorke’s Drift. Like many kids growing up in the 60’s I was influenced by the famous film and can remember going to Hounslow Odeon to see it when it first came out.

I never did buy any Zulus back then but I thought it would be nice to take a proper look at some now. This figure is listed in the Hinton Hunt Catalogue as a “Warrior of a Headring Regiment” ZWZ6 Zulu, running with stabbing spear at the ready.

The figure is a pretty basic sculpt and was relatively easy to paint compared to Napoleonic types. Individually I’m not all that impressed with this one but I would think that a whole massed Impi would be passable on the wargame table.