Guest Contributor Issue - Steve Cooney

 Always a pleasure to hear from Steve, and he very kindly sent some photos of his wondrous ECW collection.

Steve writes:

...inspired me to take a look at my Hinton Hunt ECW collection last week and dug out some of the old figures .

Attached pics of some conversions I did way back when my sight was a bit better , shows a small Forlorn Hope party , all conversions done with soldering iron and needle files , no filler , and painted with oils.

 

Excellent - thanks for these, Steve - inspirational stuff. I'm hoping to get back to some figure painting in a month or so!

 

More Hills and Even Further Away

 Travelling again - my life seems to have taken on an unfamiliar level of sophistication, not to mention luxury. I have just returned from the home of the Archduke, in the mountains of Northern England - a wild region which was once known as Scottish Cumberland, I understand. There we were joined by more travellers - Stryker and Goya - for a very fine day of Old School Napoleonic gaming, and of gazing in awe at the resident soldier collection.

Our game scenario was from 1809, the setting being what is now known as the Battle of Aspern-Essling, taken as a single action, and fought on the open ground between the two villages. I shall not attempt a detailed account of the action, but will include a series of my own photos, to give a taste of what the day looked like. I was Hiller, commanding the Austrian right flank, fighting alongside Stryker. [You will find rather better pictures and a more coherent narrative on Stryker's blog here.]  

 

General view at commencement; Austrians on the left. Both sides are expecting reinforcements, but the French reserves may only arrive if they can still get across the Danube. The Danube, you understand, is just off the table-edge on your right, and there is a wooden bridge on the edge of the table to represent this crossing 

 

This is my command, the Austrian right flank. You can see me (Hiller) bravely leading the infantry forward

 

 A look over towards the Austrian left. The cavalry unit nearest the camera is the best the army has to offer - because of problems with Austrian command, all the rest of the cavalry were rated as "militia". The unit pictured here looks very impressive, and it took me 5 or 6 turns to remember that these were mere chevauxlegers (O'Reilly), however smartly turned out

 

Here I am, with me boys, steadfastly remembering not to fight uphill

 

Our plan was to get cracking, just detaching small forces to watch the edges of the villages and sweeping everyone else forward and toward the bridge in the centre. The idea was that this would restrict the space in which the French could deploy their reserves, and in any case capture of the bridge was a potential game-winner. Here you see my advance getting a little bogged down, as my own regiment of infantry takes a battering from the French artillery

 

View from the French side. The battery in the lower left corner caused me a lot of discomfort throughout the day. I should mention that for years it has puzzled me that one's own army in a wargame always looks more intimidating from the front...

 

After a while, the Austrians are definitely cramping the space available for the French reinforcements. You may notice a number of guns facing the wrong way - this is obviously because they are now limbered up, trying to advance with the army. We were reminded that if you rush forward over flat terrain there is a tendency to mask your own artillery

 

The French are bringing more troops over - things getting more crowded all the time

 

At the very end of the day, I made a token attack on the brickyard of the village at my end of the table, and was reminded that stone walls are tough going. At this stage we ran out of time, and had to end our game to address the requirements of transport and dinner 

At the point at which we broke off, there was still some fighting to be done, and the Archduke continued later, solo, for about 4 hours; once again history required the Battle of Aspern-Essling to extend into a second day. He subsequently sent a photo of the Austrians in command of the crossing of the Danube, so Stryker and I had won, if only in absentia. It could be argued that we are usually at our best in absentia, anyway, but that's a discussion for another time.

My thanks go to my colleagues for their company and enthusiasm, and most especially to our hosts (Mr and Mrs Archduke) for their kind hospitality and a great deal of work - a splendid trip in every way, and very much appreciated.  

Over the Hills and Far Away

 Excellent day out yesterday; I drove up north to Stryker's estates, for one of his fabulous Napoleonic extravaganzas. Waterloo re-revisited, and very good too. I know Ian will make a wonderful job of putting together an appropriate report, so this is the most humble of glimpses of what went on - no thunder will be stolen. Here are a few of my own photos of the battle, just to give a taster.

It's been 12 weeks since my last involvement in any wargaming at all, and yesterday was really most enjoyable; Stryker's magnificent collection of Hinton Hunt figures, proper Old School rules and organisation and game management, faultless hospitality and a sunny day spent in the company of friends. Good chat, no issues with attitudes or alternative agendas. Restorative.

My thanks to Baron and Baroness Stryker for all their hard work and kindness, and to everyone involved. 

Guest Spot: More of Steve Cooney's ECW Troops

 Always delighted to feature samples from Steve's collections.

Steve very kindly sent me this photo; the description is his:

Nothing to do on a wet dismal September day...so spent a few hours digging through the old figure boxes and found these (attached ). They represent the ECW Parliamentarian Command Group , mounted Oliver Cromwell , Thomas Fairfax and the Earl of Essex with Drummer and Commonwealth Standard Bearer on foot .

 

All are smartened up Hinton Hunt or Les Higgins 20mm figures I converted way back. Thought they might be worth an airing!

 

As ever, thanks very much Steve - great work

 

Guest Spot - More of Steve Cooney's 20mm ECW Collection

 Steve Cooney occasionally shares photos of his fine 20mm ECW collection. This week there are some shots of the artillery. All sorts of goodies on view, featuring Steve's legendary conversion work; from great big demi-Culverins to little Scottish frames and horse teams. I particularly like the fellows loading a big mortar grenadoe with a shoulder-yoke.

Steve writes:

Attached photos of ECW artillery , figures are Hinton Hunt with a few Les Higgins conversions and Demi-culverin cannon are mostly Hinchliffe 20mm range .

Hope you like them

 

 Thanks very much Steve; I like them very much!

Busy Week - Fighting in Two Continents

 Great fun this week - on Tuesday I was very pleased to attend one of Jon Freitag's excellent Zoom games. This was one of his biblical scenarios. I was a Hittite, fighting against the army of Ramesses II, in about 1275 BC. I am delighted to say that I was on the winning side; my masterstroke was to manage to more or less hold my flank together, while my colleague The Jolly Broom Man, masquerading as King Muršili III for the occasion, proceeded to win the game all on his own - and decisively too.

My thanks and compliments to Jon for laying on such a great game, and umpiring and game-mastering to his customary high standard. Best wishes also to the other players, for their excellent company and good humour. Jon's excellent battle report can be found on his blog here.

The following day I set off early in pouring rain, courtesy of Storm Ciarán, to drive down to Westmorland, where I was invited to a big, traditional Napoleonic game at the country seat of The Archduke. It was a delightful visit and a fine game. The Archduke was umpire and rules consultant, the scenario was a hacked version of the "Arrival of the Prussians" section of the Battle of Waterloo. I commanded the French, and Stryker, who heroically overcame all sorts of logistical problems to make the trip, was Blücher.

My photos should give a general idea of the atmosphere of the day. I lost (5-2) on units eliminated, but there were also Victory Points available for possession of 3 objectives. My 5ème Légère were finally driven out of Plancenoit Church in the last turn; if I'd held on to it, I'd have scraped the victory on points - though I admit I would not have deserved it!

 

Situation near the start, with Plancenoit Church at one end, the walled farm of Papelotte at the other, and a monument in the centre as defined objectives to gain bonus points

 

 

Prussians attack the 19e Ligne at Papelotte

 

Very quickly, a huge brawl [Scots: Stramash] developed in the centre, while the two armies raced to seize the church

 

 

The attack on Papelotte was eventually unsuccessful, though the garrison suffered heavy losses, and the French took the initiative here on their left

 

 

Elsewhere, however, the Prussians were successful - my cavalry was especially erratic, though that probably goes without saying

 

 

Eventually the 8th turn was completed, and I managed to lose the church just in time. Final reckoning was that the Prussians won 5-2 on eliminated units, and also 15-10 on bonus objectives. The quality of The Archduke's collection and the elegance of his new games room are apparent, I think. These are 20mm figures - a great many Hinton Hunt, all beautifully painted, and also Qualiticast - just marvellous. I also took some pictures of some of the troops who were not taking part, in his very fine display cases - my photos certainly do not do justice to any of this, but I hope they give an idea

 

 

A Load of Old Bullocks

 I've done very little painting for some months now. Apart from painting sabots with a 3/4-inch brush, a lot of stuff has been on hold, mostly because I have been having trouble with blepharitis again. Nothing dramatic, just a mild inflammation of my eyes which causes them to tear up and is a nuisance when I'm trying to read - or paint toy soldiers, as it happens. 

I've been getting some treatment for the old mince-pies, which includes heating up a bag of plastic pellets in the microwave and applying some unpleasant ointment, and it does seem to be improving. So on Saturday I did a very simple touch-up-and-varnish job on some Spanish muleteers which came my way via eBay. It's a very small start, but it is a start!

The only reason this is worthy of a photo at all is that the carts here have been painted and waiting 12 years for their drivers - you know it's never wise to rush these things. I have a reasonable number of such carts already complete, not to mention a handsome string of mules, quite happy to serve either side in the Peninsular War logistics department, so it's another small step for a man (or something).

The carts are Minifigs, I think, the oxen are Minifigs and Jacklex, and the "new" old drivers are Hinton Hunt. 

 Time to get back to the WSS lead pile, I think.

Be Careful What You Wish For

 A slightly unusual tale.

Here's a photo borrowed from the late Clive Smithers' blog. It is one of a set of pictures he took at my house in June 2010. He brought a stack of his own soldiers with him, and we fought a Peninsular Battle here, using a hex board and my own rules (this was pre-Commands & Colors).

In the right foreground you will see two units of [Hinton Hunt] Portuguese (blue uniforms, dark green bases). They are mounted on borrowed sabots, which adds to the confusion a little, but they were part of Clive's visiting army, and he thought it was a nice touch to bring these particular soldiers on a visit, since he had obtained them from me about 5 years earlier, in a swap deal.

In 2005 I had been in the process of replacing my Portuguese troops with more modern 20mm castings, so the Hinton Hunt boys became surplus to requirements, and Clive was keen to get hold of them. At the time, I had a brief twinge of megalomania, and quite fancied the idea of hanging onto them, so that I would have extra Portuguese [you can never have too many Portuguese]. Anyway, I thought better of it, and happily passed them on. The swap took place in the cafe of the Brocksbushes farm shop, near Corbridge, I recall, accompanied by pie and chips. Clive subsequently rebased the Portuguese and added in a few other castings he had already.

I was pleasantly surprised to meet them again briefly when he brought them on his visit five years later, and then I subsequently forgot all about them. 

Until a couple of weeks ago, when I saw them on eBay. My old hand-drawn flags are just as awful as they were all those years ago, and instantly recognisable. The seller had obviously bought them from the recent auctions of Clive's collections. After some pondering, I made an offer for them, and was surprised to be successful. They have now reached me safely, I have removed them from Clive's replacement bases, and am now thinking what I might do with them. I could put them back into the front line, in which case my new house standards will require some extra command figures and a change of facing colours, or else I could use them as siege troops, in which case they are fine as they are. 

In the meantime, I have to say that they are exactly as they were in 2005, and I shall put them safely in a storage box while I decide what to do. In another context, could this be construed as "getting my own back"? I am pleased to have them, though the circumstances are very sad.

Away Day - Another Grand Day Out

 Last Thursday I was privileged to take part in one of Stryker's extravaganzas - Up North - so set off early to pick up Matt from Edinburgh Park (a place where the normal rules of Physics do not apply) and cross over the Forth on our way to battle.

Ian has been quick off the mark, serialising the official history of this battle on his blog, so I shall be careful not to drop any spoilers here. Suffice it to say that the game was spectacular, and faultlessly set up, and the company and the hospitality were excellent, as always. Thanks to Ian and everyone involved - hugely enjoyable.

 

[Non-Spoiler:] My combined Guard Lancer unit gets off to an early start, and takes some losses, but they recovered to have quite a good day...