Category: If I had to start again

British Napoleonics 28mm

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My first love when I discovered metal soldiers was the Waterloo battle (see elsewhere in this same web page), then I was convinced that it was a British/French affair (lol)… much later I discovered the King’s German Legion, The Hanoverians, The Dutch&Belgian, the Nassauers and of course the Prussians! (LOL). It was a long journey… and now at seventy I know that the main pleasure was in the “journey”… all those years buying books, reading about it, checking (and double-checking ) my Armies compositions etc etc etc.

It was a great hobby, and I was entertained for more or around thirty years by it!… I have no regrets. But I must comment that one of the things that put me out of it was when the “finish of the painting job” become Military Modeling like!… I have nothing against it mind… but in my mind the point was not there, the pic of today shows what can be achieved in that scale (and inferiors too) by extremely good painters. Transforming a wargames unit (I must admit I was more Toy Soldier focused) in a mini diorama. You need all sorts you know!… Suddenly my painfully researched and balanced Waterloo Armies looked as “past” as a British Two Seater if you know what I mean (my other hobby been cars). So I quitted.

Military Modeling like minis…

Not wargaming mind, I still have the thrills!, but you’ll need a magnifying glass to see my 6mm ACW paintjobs! (lol again)… seriously even having a permanent quite big table (see elsewhere in the webpage) I love to have more “room to manoeuvre”… “no secure flanks”… and “lines of supply”… I understand perfectly the trend to downsize the minis and have more fun with the game itself. Now I simply collect in the traditional 54mm scale (as I have always done), display them on cabinets ad hoc… and wargame in 6mm.

Mind, I still love those units as the pic of today shows but my time for them has passed away, nor I have the room to field them, nor the funds or time to get them “right” (I have abstained to enter in the argument of “parade look” versus “campaign look” on purpose… I always preferred the former…).

So, without much more to say today… I will let you ponder on it. Enjoy.

Colonial 28mm

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Well, hereby you can find your daily dose of painted lead soldiers… as announced yesterday those are 28mm by the talented Perry Bros. Soldiers from the collection of Dave Docherty and pictures courtesy of Mark Freeth. Guess that all of this is easy enough to find in Facebook… but yours truly does the work of choosing and showing. That’s that. Wargaming with Toy Soldiers (here am I preaching again!) has nothing to do with Colonialism, Imperialism, Real War, or whatever other whimsy world facts… it is an ideal world to display fortitude courage and adventure in an old fashion way… it is not that times gone by were better at all… it is not that local people were NOT right in fighting Invaders mind!… it is just FUN. If you do not find funny better stop trying to understand.

By the way… another example of indulging wargaming with minis painted to such high standard that it looks like a Military Modeling Diorama… (nothing against it but OMG!)

Naval Brigade in the thick of it…
Highland Brigade…
Another view of the Highlanders
Fuzzy Wuzzy

My own efforts after years with 25mm MINIFIGS are now in 6mm scale (You know you need all sorts!).

Baccus 6mm
My Old MINIFIGS with some Perry’s too… (Sold them long time ago)
54mm still in my Collection… I do not use them for Wargames… only display I am afraid. various makers: Tradition of London, STEADFAST (R.Prati) and DUCAL.

Mix and Match

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A pic of the peak of my own 25/28mm Collection.

Funny, today I have a bit of time to write… well… the pic is to the point… by then I mixed and matched manufacturers… I did find DIXON horses fantastic coupled with FOUNDRY riders (but not exclusively… TO THE REDOUBT and OLD GLORY too!).

It was the apex of my involvement in wargaming on that scale, I had a moderate surplus of bits and pieces from here and there and I could easily change “heads” at will with my PROXON minidrill and vice… had a lot of horses of discarded projects (that I would use in fancy units as the mounted Regiment of the French Foreign Legion)… and life in the hobby was FUN.

I still used painting services for the rank and file, and only did paint myself “specials” or closer to my heart subjects. You see I had NO time enough to paint because my real life as an Architect used my time… and I have a family too!… so the only way was to organize, list, buy, get the parcels, customize, send the biggest part to the painters with full instructions… and paint a little myself.

I enjoyed those years of my hobby to the full because time was so scarce. I am older now… over seventy (bot my grandfather and father were dead at my age)… no longer can I have fantasies about long term projects… I’ve done that, been there, got the T-Shirt as they say… but surely enough those new technologies help me pass the time and share my experiences with other people with similar interests.

The Michigan Brigade of Volunteers is a pet subject (as the ACW is) and Custer was better served in the Civil War than in his “Indian times”… the famous 7th had NOT the same stamina as the wolverines… understandable too of course… I own more than a hundred volumes on the Little Big Horn and after reading them… you can have a moderate sympathy with Custer as a man doing his job… but the so called “Indian Wars” were frustrating from a military point of view.

That Custer is better known for his death in a NO WIN situation that for his campaigning in the ACW is one of those ironies in History.

Wow!… time to write without interruptions for a change!… count the present one as an extra Post. Hope you enjoy too.

MINIFIGS & others

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25/28mm have still charm enough… specially if well painted!

I know… I sold mine with a very few exceptions… but I still can appreciate their worth… they are not suitable for me because I love BIG battles (aka Gettysburg or Antietam) and 6mm are better for wargaming those SOLO… Enjoy!

Waterloo day…

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Poor chaps… their time had passed… they ended in an epic manner… but nevertheless 1805 was ten years away…

It is a curious thing (since I started this web page or Blog or whatever) that my obsession for thirty years (yes it was the Waterloo battle) reflected in the post MINIFIGS, Napoleon or Waterloo… is one with the less hits of all the manifold… strange I thought it would be popular… maybe its overexposed and overknown… well… it still surprises me… the time and energy I spent painting those hundreds of Anglo-Allied, French and Prussians WAS FUN!… so no complains at all… it simply puzzles me.

Seen in Facebook seconds ago…

Excellent Hussars painting job.

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28mm nappies painted to perfection (as seen in Facebook)

I know, I know, I know… a lot of Napoleonic stuff lately… after wargaming the period obsessively for thirty years it is quite normal to have a soft spot for those minis… In a way my own painting of them (mine can be seen under Waterloo or Napoleons posts in this web page) was much more an approach a bit more detailed than a traditional Toy Soldier (Think Britain’s 54mm) but never did I achieve that detail!… my bases were plain green (green grass with a bit of flock) and never painted eyes on them!… Those here today are simply superb! and shows that 25/28mm has the potential of been “Collecting stuff of the first order” due to the sheer quality of the casts… and the skills of the painters. Enjoy.

Not Napoleonic (for a change!)

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The Sport of Kings (as seen in Facebook)

I’ve been seeing a lot of nice Napoleonic stuff lately in Facebook, but thought it would be nice to show something different today. The Charles Grant (father&son) approach of the tricorne period was always appealing to me (not that this pic is related to them…). Charles Grant III is more WWII oriented I think…

Well, once I get home from this extended leave posts would be more profesional… not that it matters much… but I would be able to do it with my normal computer instead of the “mobile one”…