Pickets

 "The Picket Guard is a Body of Men always to be ready, lying with their Arms in their Hands, to turn out in case of an Alarm; but are not commanded by the next Officer on Detail, but such as are appointed by the Picket; but must march either faster or slower, to sustain Out-posts, Foraging, Escourts, or any other Service; and it shall be allowed them in their Tour of Duty"

These are men of the 36th, and accompanied by a member of the 10th dragoons. They are keeping an eye out for Jacobites as they were painted for the '45. In November 1745 there was snow on the ground and Carlisle had fallen on the 15th, captured because Wade had been held up by the weather.

The weather has taken a cold snap here too and rather than a trip south to see my son we too were turned back. It was bad enough driving...quite how 18th century armies made it in the snow and driving wind beggars belief. 

They are Warrior Miniatures, from the club's collection and rebased by me as these are the only such figures which we received from this manufacturer. As such there is just enough to represent men on picket duty. 

Stuff from the Lead Pile

 Rotten weather this weekend meant a chance to catch up with some painting. My 19thC kick continues with these Rifle Brigade figures from Great War Miniatures. They've been kicking around half done for ages, so I decided that had to change.

Getting the dark rifle green was a little tricky but I added a wash of Citadel Contrast Dark Angels Green and that seemed to get that "darker than bottle but not black green" colour I was after. The poses are excellent - lots of movement and action in them, perfect for skirmishers. 

Raking about in the drawer I found an RA artillery pack and 17 Warlord plastic Russians.....17...one short! If anyone has a Warlord or Great War Russian officer going spare let me know!!!

Once those are finished all of my Crimean War figures will be done - another project nailed.

Painting will slow now. I have some writing to do, some 18thC figures to base and some photos to take. 

Sikh Wars - Akali Warriors.

 Some time ago I bought a box of Sikh Wars figures from Graham Cummings. I have almost finished painting all of that little treasure trove and have been adding to it here and there and expanding into the earlier Afghan War of 1839-42. 

The most colourful figures in there were these Sikh Nihang or Akali warriors, clad in blue and yellow. Graham started off a couple of them and I've now finished off the rest of the unit. 

The Akali movement saw themselves as the armed protectors of the Sikh faith and used traditional weapons including sharpened steel quoits which were spun and cast towards the enemy. Their colourful clothing is depicted in several superb paintings one of which is shown below. 

These figures are from Wargames Foundry. Studio Miniatures also make Sikh wars figures but they are very tall 28's and sadly incompatible, I feel, with Foundry's well sculpted but smaller 25's. Iron Duke's Indian Mutiny figures also provide some useful figures and are much more similar in size to Foundry, albeit in a more dynamic and modern style, sculpted by Paul Hicks. These two ranges will provide what I need to finish this project, supplemented here and there with choice bits like the Carlist Wars Rocket Battery and plastic Afghans from Perry and the Afghans from Wargames Atlantic. 

 For The Men Would Be Kings, this unit of tribal infantry will be Fierce. It will lead from the front, for at the time of the Sikh wars the Sikh leadership saw them as a group of fanatics who should be allowed to sacrifice themselves and thus rid them of potential troublemakers.

We've already had a Sikh Wars game at Oldmeldrum and have another one planned this week. I've made up a campaign which I hope to run shortly and I understand that the Quartermaster in Chief has spoken to the Colonial Steamboat Company and some scenery is under construction for Xmas delivery. See what you started Graham!😁

Before I sign off, some 18thC news. My mojo has much returned of late and I'm now all but finished Against Spain. Proof reading highlighted some changes that were required and a few tweaks were needed to the scenarios. Stay tuned! 

The Wargames Annual 2022 - a wee plug!

 I got an email this morning to say that Graham and I's Partizan demo game made it to the pages of Charles Grant's "Wargames Annual 2022" and that he also mentioned this blog. 

For those of you not familiar with it, this really is an excellent publication and for anyone seeking inspiration, an excellent stocking filler for the upcoming winter solstice seasonal celebration! 

Copies are available on eBay and from Caliver books.

My copy is on its way!

40mm Austrians v Prussians

This weekend it was time to catch up with Graham H and have a game with his 40mm collection, which is never a chore. 

Graham sent me a map to which I was to sketch my deployment, internet gremlins made this more difficult than it seems and for a while it looked like my Prussians would be lacking orders as the courier (ie email) was not getting through! 

Not being sure of what I was expecting I set up a fairly balanced deployment. Two lines of infantry with my heavy cavalry on my right and my lights and grenadiers on my left, these to capture a village on that side of the table while the cavalry were to deny any flanking moves by the Austrians until such time as I was able to shift my rear line to one flank or the other to decide the battle. 

Graham with the Austrians began the game with his troops in March column, intent on moving across the table quickly to take the high ground in the middle of the table. While his Hungarians to the village to his left while two big units of infantry threatened the village on the right 

Graham's centre was this bunched up and didn't have a lot of room to deploy. This meant I was able to pick them off with musketry with the odds in my favour rather than facing units one to one in a line similar to my own. The deployment of Austrian cavalry as the "hinge" between the Hungarian left and the rest of the Austrian army at times masked the Austrian guns which otherwise would have carved up my right. 

On the left my freikorps were able to get into the village, but facing two full infantry regiments they and their supporting grenadiers were outnumbered and the flank march was quite a ways from the main body. So instead of fighting it out they looted the village and set it alight ! Their accompanying dragoons demonstrated and kept the Austrians in place long enough for them to be kept out of the battle.

Back in the centre the decisive moments of the game had been reached. I'd lost two units of Prussian infantry from my front line but my second had come up in support and stabilised things. These now poured in a weight of shot and caused the Austrians in their turn to break. On my right I was able to bring an artillery battery and battalion guns to bear and staved off involvement from the cavalry. 

The odds had shifted in my favour. The Austrians on the hill were shattered and my centre stabilised, my left flank was secure and my right had occupied a village and was sitting with three fresh heavy cavalry units. Graham had recalled units from his right, pulled his central cavalry back to cover the hill and set his Hungarians in place on his left, but it was clear that he had nothing to attack with and would, with the arrival on the rest of my heavy artillery from flank duties on my left, would have to quit the field. 

Huzzah! Victory for Prussia!

Good to be playing a big game once again. We will be getting together for another game in December.

Afterwards we chatted about the demo game at Partizan and kicked around some ideas for what to do for next year. No details or indeed firm plans yet, but we shall be making an appearance at what was a great show. I understand from Graham that there will be photos and details of the game in next months WI and MW.