The Charge of the Light Brigade by Caton-Woodville
I've written before about how every wargamer as "the battle" one that has captured his imagination and never quite lets go. I would say the Waterloo is "that battle" so far as I'm concerned, but failing that - Balaklava is a close second. I, like most, came to it via Tennyson, but my interest was further piqued by Flashman, read at a too tender age in the public library and the Errol Flynn film. Though it took me a little while to realise the Mohammed Khan was not in fact an integral part of the story.
The Crimea is a sometime thing for me and I will be building armies for it. I just intend not to hurry. In the meantime, these chaps will be serving on the sub continent.
These are Strelets British Lancers, painted and sometimes converted by our man in Budapest.
These look like a Caton Woodville come to live. Wonderful stuff.
The chap on the left is a bit of a puzzlement. The 17th didn't carry standards at the charge, so I was a bit mystified when I saw this figure. I eventually decided that a lancer waving a Russian flag is a fine victory point marker and I asked Kris to proceed accordingly.
I like to think of him, snatching it from the remnants of a shattered Russian column and riding off, bullets whizzing around him.
Two lancers at the charge and a casualty.
The last thing many Russian gunners ever see.
Moving forward.
I love the sense of movement in these figures - if I was in two minds about the Crimea before, I'm decided now.
Group photo.
You can almost hear the thunder of hooves.
A forest of lance points.
Clearly, the officer in the centre is a bit more enthusiastic than the other ranks.
Looking very sharp indeed.
Charge!
Run away!
I usually use casualty figures to mark where a unit has been wiped out. It helps keep track of victory points and so forth. Now as it happened, this isn't the casualty figure from the Strelets set.
On the other hand, I really like the pose, it looks like a photograph that shows a stricken lancer who has been thrown clear. There is a casualty figure of a lancer being thrown over his horses head, but Kris has rather cleverly converted him into another charging lancer. Can you spot him in the pictures above?