Keeping on, keeping on.

Some day their paint will come...

There's been very little progress on the painting front of late, though I did take delivery of some additional Indian and Ottoman cavalry for Afghanistan and the Crimea respectively, thanks to the good offices of Mark Bevis.  These chaps are some Italeri French hussars that are needed to finish two units of French light horse that I have been tipping away at for a while.

In the meantime, Mrs Kinch and I retired to the country where Mrs. Kinch senior has a cottage and a garden.  Our two day rural idyll was mainly spent sleeping and reading - but I took an occasional curative gin and tonic (for my health, you understand) in the garden. It occurred to me that there are some of you that like that sort of thing and so I thought I'd share a few pictures.

I hope you enjoy them.

Airfix Polish Lancer

If you can't smell the horseflesh and feel a little thrill of exhilaration 

when you see this magnificent sight, we probably don't have a lot in common. 

This chap is currently charging across my desk as I write this and he is without doubt one of the most fabulous models I have ever seen.  The kit itself is the venerable Airfix Polish lancer, the assembly and painting was done by our mystery man in Budapest.

 

The delicacy of the work on the lance and bridle is astonishing 

 The Polish lancers of the Guard were originally a small almost ceremonial unit made up of the sons of Polish aristocrats.  There appears to have been a squadron who acted as an honour guard to Bonaparte in the 1806 campaign and the regiment was formally raised as an addition to the Guard in 1807.  

Another view 

The Lancers saw action in Spain, most notably at Somosierra Pass where they took part in a headlong charge down a narrow pass, routing the Spanish defenders, but at considerable cost to themselves. This charge took place under the eye (and it must be said at the direction) of Bonaparte himself.

It was a light cavalry action in the style of the more famous Charge of the Light Brigade with the lancers charging straight at a series of batteries.  The Spanish gunners fought their pieces, but their supporting infantry fled and unlike the more famous incident at Balaklava - there was immediate infantry support of the cavalry attack.

The sense of movement that the painter has managed to impart is extraordinary 

Unfortunately, this fellow took some knocks between Budapest and Dublin and is currently in the hospital wing of my desk, but rest assured what minor work he requires will be done shortly and he will be back in full charging form very soon.

I would comment on the quality of the build and the paintwork, but I think my gushing on the point is growing monotonous. Suffice to say, I consider myself very fortunate to be able to add this dashing beau sabreur to my collection and if you would like to view some more of this artist's work, I will be adding a page very shortly.

18th (King's Irish) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars)

"

"For King, for Law, for Country we strive."

Motto of the 18th Royal Irish

A rum looking lot of fellows, to be sure. 

I'm going off to London in about ten days to take part in a Waterloo bicentennial Little Wars game which I'm particularly looking forward to. Not least because I will get the chance to catch up with some of my fellow bloggers, young Masters Gow and  Cordery. It will also be a chance to play Little Wars in the open air with matchstick firing cannon, as God (or in this case HGW) intended. 

However casting my eye over the order of battle, there was a distinct lack of Irish units on show.  Having given this two perhaps three seconds thought, I realised that this state of affairs could not stand.  The phrase that has launched a thousand disasters danced through my brain. 

"Something must be done."

In this case, something meant contacting my old chum Shifty "Cut me own throat" Gow, who set me up with ten 54mm hussars which I believe fell off the back of a passing expeditionary force and into his white van. This is not the start of a new collection, I hasten to add. Starting a second collection of Napoleonics in a new scale would be the mark of a man so lost to sense that he might marry a horse (or wargame in 15mm). 

No, this is a small unit of Hussars being brought over to the UK to fly the flag so to speak. 

The unit in question is the 18th Light Dragoons otherwise known as the Drogheda Cossacks.  I have written about them before, but in brief, they were a hard drinking, hard fighting lot and developed a lamentable reputation for looting, being described by irate Dublin man Sir. Arthur Wellesley as "...a disgrace to the name of soldier..."

But they did the business in their time, proving I suppose the old adage that saints rarely wear regimentals. 

1st Hussars

(click to embiggen)

After all that time stealing other mens glory - I thought it might be time to post some pictures of figures that I've painted myself.  These are hussars of the 1st Regiment of Hussars in the French service.  They were originally know as the Hussars of Bercheny, but were renamed during the Revolutionary unpleasantness.  

I love commanding cavalry on the tabletop, but I hate painting them. With that in mind, I purchased some French hussars from a german collector last year.  Now as it happens, I managed to get enough figures to do one and a half units.  

(click to embiggen)

So I gritted my teeth and based up some extra Italeri hussars that I had lying around and painted up the spares.  These fellas complete one unit and I will have to paint up officers and a bugler for the second. 

The first served at Eylau, Friedland and Leipzig so they will see some service against my Russians.  

Not the finest paint job ever to grace a toy soldier, but they fit with the rest of the unit and that's the main thing.  

(click to embiggen)

I don't have any Napoleonic games planned right now and I do actually have three units of Chasseurs in stock should I need them, but occasionally one needs more than three units of French lights cavalry for large games. 

Not that there any of those planned right now. 

To be honest, there's probably dozens of things I should have painted before these (and I have another four lads to go!) like for example Afghan jezails,  VBCW BEF and Crimean turks, but I suppose this just goes to show the innate perversity of the wargamer. 

Thirsty Red Lancer

The Red Lancers or to give them their full title, the 2ieme regiment de chevau-leger lanciers de la Garde Imperiale, were a light cavalry regiment in the Imperial Guard. This chap is from Master Box and was done up by our fellow in Budapest, known only by the top secret code name, "Krisztian's Mate". 

The Red Lancers were originally hussars of the Royal Dutch Guard, but were taken were later taken into Napoleon's Imperial Guard in 1810.  They marched into Russia in 1812 and suffered massive losses, but were reformed to serve on through 1813-14, though lacking many of the original Dutchmen. 

I think you can agree that this is an extraordinary piece of work.  Perhaps this fellow is taking refreshment during the retreat from Waterloo. The Red Lancers escorted Napoleon away from the fatal field of Waterloo.  No doubt it was thirsty work. 

The reins in particular are just a fantastic example of the modelers art. The Belgian housewife is an interesting study. I'm not sure if she is looking wistfully at the Lancer, as all the nice girls like a man in uniform, or simply waiting for this unwelcome intruder, still reeking of horse sweat, blood and gunsmoke, to be gone from her home. 

Who can say? 

Airfix French Cuirassier

Photo by Takacs Krisztian 

One of the pleasures of the Sunday game was that I got to meet up with Krisztian (not painting Krisztian, gaming Krisztian)* and he beat me hollow at Memoir '44. I settled his hash at Arnhem, but he hammered me at Samur and in the Courland Pocket. Krisztian brought with him some figures from Hungary which will be appearing here in short order. But first amongst them was an Airfix French Cuirassier. 

Photo by Takacs Krisztian 

This was painted by a friend of Krisztians.  A man he described as "...the talented one." Now, I mostly collect figures for wargaming purposes, but every so often one picks up a toy soldier for the sheer pleasure of looking at a toy soldier. All I can say is what a beauty. I don't know if the chap is looking for commission work, but I will gladly forward the details of any blog reader that is interested. 

Photo by Takacs Krisztian 

The use of colour, the attention to details, the beautiful work on the horse - this dastardly Frencher is sitting on my desk at the moment (I'm meant to be writing an article) and I've just been spellbound. What a piece of work. 

Photo by Takacs Krisztian 

I think the work on the face of the cuirassier and the horses eyes are particularly good. You can almost smell the sweat.  On the few occasions I've had the privilege of working with the mounted unit, the thing that has always struck me is the heat that radiates from a horse on a cold day and the strong musky scent. Having this chap coming at you at full tilt must have been a nerve wracking experience. 

Hold boys! Hold! 

The battle of Quatre Bras by Lady Butler

(of which I am really inordinately fond) 

Note the dismounted cuirassier in the right foreground. 

Another look at that fantastic horse - I can only presume that the painter was working in oils to get such a wonderful sheen on the horses coat. 

Artist's impression of Kinch

I'd just like to conclude this post by observing that don't talented people make you sick to your stomach? Look at them with their hard won skill, achieved by work, application and God given talent - thinking their better than you.  And knowing that they are right. 

I'm just going to sit here and stew in my own mediocrity. 

Bah humbug. 

But, still and all, what a figure - just wow. I'm still marvelling at him as I write this. 

Note: Should anyone wish to get in touch with the painter, drop me a comment and I'll put you in touch.  He works exclusively in large scale figures. 

*I have a theory that all Hungarians are in fact called Krisztian.  Old John maintains that this is true, though there is one Hungarian called Zolt apparently.  He must have been terribly picked on in school. 

The archaeology of collecting

One of the things that keep cropping up as I clean out and organise the War Room is that I keep coming across the remains of old projects. 

These are Italeri British Light Dragoons, I started painting them about six years ago and I think I got about eight of thirty finished. I'm not sure what exactly I should do with them, I have absolutely tons of British Lights so there's no need to add another two units. 

My options are I suppose, dispose of them somehow, sell them or paint convert them to something else.  

Something to mull over in the flurry of basing and tidying. 

17th Lancers

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?

Regiment Gluchow

Pictures of the Regiment Gluchow from Our Man in Budapest 

These are Russian cuirassiers for Command & Colours Napoleonics. The figures are Zvesda Russian cuirassiers and I think they are particularly lovely. 

Officer & Bugler

Having finished what was probably one of the longest weeks I've spent in work ever - I will hopefully get a chance to make some more progress on the War Room. I would at least like to finish off the ceiling and get some start on the woodwork. We shall see. 

Rear view

The Gluchow Cuirassiers were originally a unit of carbiniers in the 1790s and were converted to cuirassiers at that time.  They served with distinction at the Shevardino Redoubt at the battle of Borodino. 

Trooper

They served in the Russian army that harried Napoleon out of Russia and also in the 1813 campaigns, being awarded a St. Georges standard for their service. 

Troopers from the side

As I always play the allies, I have never actually had the chance to play with cuirassiers (I've always been on the receiving end), so I'm looking forward to seeing just exactly what sort of damage I can do to Frenchy with these. 

The last thing many a Frenchman every sees

You can hear the thunder of hooves

Urrah!

Onward

Banner flying

I must also thank Uwe Wilde of History in 1/72 for his assistance with flag information. The man is an endless flood of erudition. 

Charging off into the sunset.

Le Blesse

I am always eager to have casualty figures as they greatly simplify the business of keeping score when playing Command & Colours Napoleonics. The figures themselves are still with Krisztian in Budapest, but hopefully by the time I get my greasy paws on them, I will have been able to get a table into the War Room.

In other news, welcome aboard to some new followers.

Grigork

alastair

thedancingcaketin.blogspot.com

Pierre le Poilu

Surfless in Chicago

Millsy

MiniMike

shaun

Captain Richard's miniature Civil War

jacksarge