General Cornelius Wood...

...and his attendant trumpeter were finished but unbased before our trip "Oop North". Despite my bad back - result of a misstep while we were away - they are now based and have joined their command on the tabletop battlefield here in GHQ.  The figures are from Warfare Miniatures of course and the base from Warbases. I hope they will meet with your approval ~

Phil painted the horses of course, leaving me to wield the Brush of Doom over the figures!

Here they are about to lead the charge! There will be a third Squadron added now Phil has returned the completed horses. They will be from Wood's Regiment of Horse with green facings, if I stick to my plan...

It will be a while though now before I can share any further additions to the retro-nostalgia project as my back injury seriously limits time I can sit and wield the Brush of Doom.  Next in line are a Battery of British Field Guns and crew, from Ebor Miniatures to match with the British infantry already completed for the project. After those I have the third Squadron of Horse of course and a fourth British infantry regiment next in line. These could all take a while I fear.

The Queen's Regiment of Horse...

...also known as Lumley's from 1702-03 mustered into GHQ just before we set off Oop North. You will have already caught a glimpse of them in my previous post I think if you were looking carefully. Just to the rear of the Scots Grey Dragoons on the left of the photo ~

And here they are in a closer picture on my chosen 120×60mm squadron base. The figures are from Warfare Miniatures, utilising castings from three different codes as I outlined in the post featuring the Scots Grey Dragoons. 

Once again Phil painted the horses for me, leaving me to wield the Brush of Doom over the human figures! I really do like the sense of movement in the Troopers and the Officer, while the Trumpeter seems to be posed in a rather less animated way in my eye.

A closer view of the Officer and Trumpeter might serve to show what I mean more clearly than words. Of course, as with much in our marvellous hobby, it comes down to individual opinions in the matter of figure preferences.

The Trooper figures come with separate sword arms, some with pistol alternatives, giving a degree of choice in the final appearance of individual Troopers and of the unit as a whole.

Though it needs to be said that the natural fit of the arms seems to lead to a fairly narrow range of position. To some extent I ameliorated this by judicious application of some liquid green stuff. The figures also come with separate sword scabards which again lend a sense of movement to figures and unit. I found them very fiddly to fit, and was not always successful first time! Then again, my hands are not as nibble as they once were sadly.

Phil has told me that the third set of five horses are now completed and will be with me on Friday. They are slated to represent a Squadron of Wood's Regiment of Horse. Appropriate really as the next almost completed base for the project is a command stand representing the cavalry commander in Flanders, General Cornelius Wood, and his Trumpeter.

River's Regiment of Foot

One part of the nostalgia project managed to pass under the Brush of Doom and muster into GHQ before we left for our northern R&R. The third British infantry regiment in the shape of River's Regiment of Foot has taken its place on the tabletop battlefield here in GHQ ~

The figures are once again from Ebor Miniatures, using one of the British regiment deals augmented by six additional figures ordered independently.  The flags are from Flags of War and the MDF bases fro Warbases of course. 

I gave this regiment, like its predecessors, three standards mainly as there were three on the sheet! One quibble with the regiment deals, at least for me, is in inclusion of two drummers. Drummers are second only to horses in my all time painting dislikes!

A poor effort at the regimental emblem on their mitre I'm afraid but that's my best at present! At least I got to position the shouting officer in a different location!

The pointing sergeant, a pose for officers and nco's found in many ranges I'm sure! Kneeling figures currently third after drummers on my list!

The completed British elements in the collection to date. In the Lead Pimple awaiting their appointment with the Brush of Doom are a further squadron of Horse (Currently with Phil of course), a battery of field guns, a further infantry regiment,  and two command stands. I'd hope to work my way through those before the festivities hove into view.

The Scots Grey Dragoons

As Phil had returned the first six horses painted to my specification in double quick time it was only polite of me to advance their completion, by painting the riders, to the head of the painting queue! To refresh your memory these are my first Warfare Miniatures figures and proved to be almost at the limits of my hand and eye when it came to colouring them in. Not that I'd like to give the wrong impression though: they are sharply sculpted and cleanly cast, in fact the latter is outstanding as no clean up is required at all as Barrie sees to that before posting them out. The figures are posed full of life and movement too, so see what you think ~

The standard is from David Morffit's wonderful blog, 'Not by Appointment', which I make no apology for printing out in larger format as I just liked it! 

The figures come from three of the many available packs: Horse Command; Horse Charging; and Horse Charging Enthusiastically. 

I really like the look of the finished Squadron base using the figures from the three packs, a charge in full flow. They may have been Dragoons, but they participated in charges alongside their Cavalry companions!

I've included this picture of one of the Troopers to give an idea of the quality of the sculpting. The face is beautifully modelled in my opinion and painted up nicely I think.

The officer figure is nicely animated, I especially liked the full wig flowing over his shoulders! The poor effort at picking out his waistcoat buttons though clearly shows the limits of my colouring in! But I know you will cut me some slack there!

Next up for their time under the Brush of Doom are the third British Foot regiment, River's Regiment of Foot, again using Ebor Miniatures figures.  As I didn't buy any figures at The Other Partizan on Sunday I have treated myself to an order for a fourth Foot regiment! More on all that in due course though.

 

Churchill's Regiment of Foot

I have been painting these Ebor Miniatures figures for what seems like eons, but certainly since well before we slopped off to Tenby for a lovely week's R&R. These are the second infantry regiment I have completed for the British tranche of my War of the Spanish Succession project. You may recall the first, Orkney's Regiment of Foot featured three standards, solely because three were on the Flags of War sheet, so I have added an extra Ensign with the English national flag to the regiment.

Ebor Miniatures sell various deals to reduce costs even more, with the Infantry Regiment deals having 18 figures. As I aim for 24-27 figures on three 80x60mm bases I have supplemented each regiment with six extra figures: an Ensign; two Grenadiers; an Officer; and two hatmen.

The central base features the regiment's command elements, in this case the Colonel, three Ensigns and two drummers. I'm not a fan of painting drums I have to say, second only to my dislike of painting horses!

The left hand base, as you look at the regiment drawn up in firing line, features four grenadiers and an officer, plus four hatmen. 

The right hand base balances this look with eight hatmen and a sergeant. Unlike the Danish infantry I didn't add any casualty figures to these bases.

The third infantry regiment was delivered by Royal Mail as I settled to write this blog entry, accompanied by a battery of British 12lb field guns. By way of variety for painting the infantry regiment will feature some kneeling figures in the firing line. While I waited for the delivery I started on the first of the Scots Grey Dragoons using Warfare Miniatures figures, the first of three planned cavalry squadrons in the British tranche of the project. If all goes well I shall add some Dutch after these are all completed, probably early in the new year. Plans though, we wargamers know what all too often befalls them...

Orkney's Regiment of Foot

Having completed painting the Danes using the Wargames Foundry elements of the retro-nostalgia project my focus has turned next to the British infantry in the form of my first Ebor Miniatures figures. I purchased one of the 18 figure regiment offers with a few additional individual figures to bring the count up to my strength of choice, 24-27 figures on three bases. I had purchased a few cut price Flags of War flag sheets from Colonel Bill's at the outset of the project, the first being Orkney's. The sheet has three flags, so the extras include an additional officer/ensign figure. Waste not, want not after all...

First then a view of the whole regiment drawn up in line as they might appear in action on the tabletop battlefield here in GHQ. I chose to portray them in their earlier white cuffs, using Foundry Boneyard Light over Arctic Grey Shade to reduce the otherwise stark look of white. 

The central base features three drummers, three Ensigns and the Colonel. The drummers are wearing reverse colour coats as seems to have been the norm, while the officers are wearing all red, not being yet obliged by regulation to show regimental cuffs & linings. With the wigs worn by officers I've restricted a powdered look to just the Colonel, for effect hopefully.

The 18 figure regiment deal includes a pointing sergeant figure. To my mind he fits nicely on the end of a base of firing infantry, pointing out the target as he is! One nice point about all the tricorns by the way is the sculpting on of hat lace on rank & file figures, so much easier to paint!

The regiment pack deal also contains two grenadiers. I thought I'd like more so added two extra figures and an officer to balance the composition of the whole line. Detail of the mitres from the period is vague, so Ive settled on a few squiggles which might suggest a crowned royal cypher...or not.

Before we came away for our brief late summer break in SW Wales I had started on my second regiment, Churchill's regiment of Foot, completing the central base and the grenadier element. I have to order my next tranche when we are back home which will comprise a third infantry regiment together with a Battery of British field guns. As an aside, the British cavalry, numbering three Squadrons as with the Danes, will be Warfare Miniatures figures. I've already purchased those and Phil is kindly painting the horses for me ~

The first Squadron's horses are already underway, can you guess which they will be? By the way, I chose to use the Warfare Miniatures' range simply for their wild and exuberant poses! That brings us pretty much up to date with the project's progress. After the British are done, hopefully by mid November-ish, I'd like to add some Dutch infantry and artillery, perhaps a couple of cavalry Squadrons, and I'd be done then. We will see...

🎼🎵🎶There is nothing like a Dane!

 I painted my first figure for this retro-nostalgia project in early July, starting with figures from Wargames Foundry representing Danes in the service of the Maritime Powers 1702-1704. This part of the project has now reached its conclusion so I thought that I would celebrate the first milestone with this post. As ever your comments are very welcome ~

Figures by Wargames Foundry, bar the mortar which is from Warfare Miniatures; bases from Warbases; flags and standards from David Morffit's wonderful blog Not By Appointment. On to the second element next, the British, with Infantry from Ebor Miniatures and Horse from Warfare Miniatures. As yet I've not settled on which will be the prefered source for their artillery, as I want to complete the planned purchase of the infantry arm first.

Moving Forward Steadily...

...with my War of the Spanish Succession project sees the third, and for now at least the final, Danish infantry regiment finished to complete the three regiment brigade. These are the Fynske regiment, chosen for no other reason than I had downloaded their flags from David Morffit's wonderful blog 'Not By Appointment'! If you don't know this site and are interested in C18th armies then you are missing out. Here are the chaps in question without more addo ~

Foundry figures of course, a range sculpted by the Perrys back when the world and I were young. The figures have stood the test of time better than I have!

The central base features the regiment's commanding officer, colours and a drummer alongside three rank and file figures.

The officer adds a touch of colour to the otherwise drab grey-white of the rank and file figures, whilst the casualty adds a touch of movement and adds interest. The figure does not come with a musket, but fortunately there were spares in the bits box!

Similarly the third base sees the officer adding colour to the unit and the alternate casualty figure a point of interest. I added his musket after taking the picture, must plead age there, sorry! I've been adding a touch of seven o'clock shadow to the faces of figures in this project using a mix of Foundry Expert Flesh and British Gun Grey with mixed success, some being a darker shade than others. I put this down to differing beard growth between individuals, or different opportunities to shave while in the field!

In addition to these I've completed three more Danish artillerymen, the remnants of the eight figure pack and a spare figure of a sergeant pointing. They will crew a large mortar, currently in the post from Warfare Miniatures, along with figures for a third Squadron of British Horse. As an aside I've also ordered figures from Ebor Miniatures for a second British infantry regiment.

Meanwhile I made a tentative start on the first figure from Foundry for the cavalry element of the Danish tranche of the project in the form of a cuirassier charging with sword arm outstretched. I think it will be the middle of the month before any of these are finished though! More as and when...

Danish 12lbers

While I sorted out the missing/incorrect figures with Carol and Sam at Wargames Foundry I pressed on with painting two 12lb guns and crew figures for my small Danish contingent. To say that the colour combinations of the pieces and the gunners uniforms are garish is perhaps being mild, rather they evoke fairground rides in my mind. See what you think either way ~

One point of irritation with the packaging of the artillery crew figures might be of interest to readers. This venerable figure range predates the blistering of figures and clearly displays the weakness of the 'lump them in' approach, in that the eight figures' poses make it difficult to utilise all of them in two crews of four figures. I settled for one gun crew suggesting firing and the other suggesting repositioning after recoil from firing. The two figures left over I have combined with a spare sergeant figure for a third crew. I was going to order another 12lber from Foundry but I see Warfare Miniatures do a lovely period mortar, so I may order one of those, we shall have to wait and see where the muse leads me... 

In the meantime I've completed painting the figures for the first base of my third Danish infantry regiment. More on those will be shared with readers in due time of course. Meanwhile we are accommodating William and Emma for a couple of days so painting will slow to a snail's pace I expect... Not that I'm complaining I have to say!

The Kindness of Friends...

...is a constant theme in this wonderful hobby of ours I find. Last week Phil presented me with a small box. It contained a few figures, he said, which would be useful for my nostalgia driven War of the Spanish Succession project. Opening it up back home revealed four finished figures and two others. The finished figures comprised: a mounted Dutch general by Ebor Miniatures; a mounted British general by Dixon Miniatures; two British officers on foot ~ one by Ebor Miniatures, the other by Dixon Miniatures. The two other figures were both drummers, one by Ebor Miniatures and one by Dixon Miniatures, always useful for filling out command stands or vignettes.

I have combined the three British figures to make a command stand for my planned first British infantry brigade. "Lord Rawnsley receives the latest news from Captain Watkiss, while Colonel Bykleigh looks on." ~

I have almost completed the Danish battery of 12lb guns, just a few highlights and then the bases to texture, colour wash and vegetate. I still hope to have these finished and blogged for Monday, if this heat ever eases that is.