Slowly getting there. The 7th Cavalry built for the Little Big Horn 1876 campaign doubles nicely as the ACW Michigan Brigade just changing hats for kepis. Custer is a different figure and uniform.
Curiously I like to confront a real unit with a fictional one, the Confederates are the Texas Light Cavalry of Dusty Fog literary fame (but I guess some real units can be done just getting a new commander because there are very good real one’s!).
Added the horses from the pool (pool of horses and equipment ALWAYS!), and got the appropiate sabers, pistols, carabines and what not.
Hope you enjoy.
The Michigan Brigade. The Union Cavalry can be increased at whim because I have a lot of them.Frontal view.The REBS outfit (waiting for some grey kepis to arrive).Frontal view (with provisional hats)Grey kepis and hats have arrived! Have to paint the visors black though…Painted and varnished kepis visors
We checked all the figures, added a few lost items (very few), did some changes of headgear (mainly ADC’s), took a lot of pics, and enjoyed the time.
Their collections are in great shape as you can see in the pics. Armies usually have 4 line Infantry Units (regulars), 1 Light Company, 1 Grenadier Company; two units of Cavalry: Light Dragoons and Cuirassiers; Artillery (a couple of pieces); Sappers, and even a Doctor and assistants. Actually the Armies also have a mounted spy (masked) and a Religion Priest. Plenty of Generals and ADC’s too of course. Mainly the figures are straightaway from Playmobil figures and pieces (you are really spoilt for choice in the “tricorne period”) and apart from some resin headgear variations for the sake of shaking a bit the “uniformity” it is fairly easy to build your Armies. Old School Wargaming is probably the best approach IMHO
BTW the Red Army (British) is in the hands of the younger of my grandsons, but I do not mess with it because he is too young to take it too seriously and has to parade them a few years more I guess.
I reread the rules “Three Inch Glory” wargaming (XVIII Century) available for download free in google, recently they added a skirmish rules for 10/12 figures I must read too!
As usual an image is worth a thousand words, so here they are.
Enjoy
A set of rules (the only one I know).The back of the headgear of the Grenadiers.A basic unit, a company of regulars of the “white Army” (Spanish or Austrian is just a matter of clipping the right colours in the hands of the standard-bearers)Sorry for the “angle” but it was the only way to get a pic of the table.The White Army Light Dragoons.The White Army Cuirassiers.Cavalry Commander with guidon bearer.The Grenadiers of the Blue Army (French or Prussian if need be)The basic Unit a regular Company of Infantry.In the front facing left the Cavalry of the Blue Army (looking right you can see the backs of the White Army Cavalry Units).A close up.The Blue Army Light Dragoons (resin helmets by Javier Jimenez – MALONE-)
The Blue Army Cuirassiers.
The Blue Army Colours (French in this case)A French King with dog. (In fact is based on a Prussian King figure!)The White Army Colours (Spanish this time)
This is a summing up, there are more Posts in this present web page about Playmobil Toys… probably never intended to become Toy Soldiers (in the true sense) at all mind, but the GEOBRA brand did enjoy producing Pirate Ships and Romans (probably very reality hard core violent subjects in the real world)… so it is more a matter of deluding themselves I guess.
The Sport of Kings it was called, and small profesional Armies took rendez-vous (more or less) shooted a bit to each other and claimed victory (sometimes both sides) see Barry Lyndon film.
Football and TV had not yet been invented so you had to do something completely different if you follow my thoughts.
Seriously, the potential as entertaining friendly wargaming is there, I recognized, collected, customized, and give as a gift to my grandchildren (I am more into lead Toy Soldiers myself). But still have kept some in my own collection!
Yesterday, we took a look at their collections, well preserved (to my surprise!) and reorganized the whole lot. It was my intention (completely wrong) to buy from them instead from ebay the imaginary “scraps” of the lot because I feared once interest outgrown it is always the bin nowadays… LOL… WHAT A SURPRISE!… Now I will probably buy some items (the less interesting that anyway they will inherit no matter what!) to give them pocket money… but will preserve their collections (the best parts)… and stop messing about with them. Sometimes with the best of intentions you are proved completely wrong!
If I have time (and interest) I will probably write a fastplay set of rules for them. (I only know about the “3,5 inch rules” that are not bad at all… but I love them more concise and not so complicated.
Have some pics (I will add more today I think!) as a summing up.
Shades of TOMBSTONE…Tim Tyler’s LuckDid those customs myself long agoI added a RSM todayColonel Le Sage et the three Geste brothersSome characters Union ACWTexas Light Cavalry Company C (Dusty Fog’s own)Yesterday pic, nice Spanish Grenadiers with custom headgear. More pics today.Finally displayed on a bookshelve.Detailadded a bugleadded my personal avataradded a painted by me dogHow time flies!… I remember showing themselves how to parade them… they have grown up a lot! the elders are 17 and 15 this year… and I thought (maybe wrongly) that their interest would have faded and toys forgotten… LOL. I did not mess up with the small boy in the middle and his even younger sister because they still play with them from time to time I have been told.I heavily customized some characters in their collections, and it was FUN!Those are my personal pets (I still have some in my collection… YES… I have a small collection myself too!)The Band of the Guards took me a lot of time to complete… hard to find Tubas I remember.Trooping the Colour is one of my pet subjects in any scale…The 7th Cavalry… I even tried to sell them to no avail… LOLFrench Foreign Legion (I sold some of them)… the rest are for keeps.
Maybe in 2025 you will see “FASHODA GONE WRONG” an Old Toy Soldiers & Old Wargame entertainment (SOLO). 54MM AGW affair using British and French Colonials (NO entente cordiale… LOL)… in fact I am pretty sure that this one would be my next wargame (Old School).
You see I do not like to “kill” natives or indigenous people in my wargames… I do not collect them as “cannon fodder” (Not even in 6mm mind!)… One thing is collecting miniatures (read Toy Soldiers) and the other is not being aware of the more grim aspects of colonialism (as if Persian, Greeks and Romans… to name a few were not “colonialist” or “conquerors”)… BUT here is not the place for discussing seriously the inhuman race.
Get a sight of the troops that would be involved on the pics below. All the affair would be precipitated by the French Commander in place… General Armand d´Hubry et Nemesis desire to win the Legion d’Honneur…
Finally finished Army (The armoured car is a secret weapon proptotype only used in the NWF)… same as the Indian Army Units (Guides&Gurkhas)… Bengal Lancers not going to FASHODA either. This pic shows the full Kakhi British Army in its proper cabinet next to the wargames table).French Troops (99% by Dorset Soldiers and a REPLICA General!)More French XIXth Corps d’Afrique.British and Allies (meaning Indian Raj Troops) by REPLICA and Dorset Soldiers.The British “proper” minis…
Of course, after that incident and its consequences either Calais or Dover would be involved in a messy action… follow that here website for more!
Britains Little Army (soon to be reinforced) is awaiting the second battle as a consequence…Much more recent picture!
The very first game (or wargame) we played with dice was METAURUS (Great Battles of the World series).
It was a hit.
We never looked back after that boardgame with 54mm plastic minis… of course more than fifty years later the plastic minis are gone and forgotten… years ago I bought metal minis to use the map with them… actually after several tries with Baccus 6mm correct figures (meaning Gauls, Carthaginian, Elephants, and Republican Romans).
The private edition by my brother is not available commercially if I understood correctly!… will post actualizations once I got my complimentary copy! (After all it was me who introduced my little brother to wargames at a very early age… that he later will transform that passion into a business still puzzles me!).
Enjoy!
First sketches from a private reedition (100 copies) for the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of DEVIR (a boardgames multinational company which has as CEO my brother!… LOL) fantastic expectations…My sixties old boardgame still in good shape!The Baccus 6mm I use with it nowadays…For a time I used Greek miniatures from Wargames Foundry in 28mm (that way both players had elephants!… but it was too symmetrical I guess…
It is over… the Gettysburg reenacment (solo wargaming to a point) took me 63 “days” in real time… not continuosly OF COURSE!… there were real life intrusions on the project (trips, business, contracts… you name it!)… but the obvious bonus fact of having a permanent big table (green top if you like)… payed off. It has been a long life project… I wanted to do Gettysburg for years (even when I was napoleonic wargaming in 25MM).
Well, as the expected anticlimax I give you 3rd day PartII. I was satisfied with the result (you can not have it at regimental level… but you can wargame at regimental level parts of it).
Pics will show you “Pickett’s charge” (because Heth was inconscious) it has gone down in History with that name… but was a pell-mell of scraped brigades from Ist Corps and III Corps… and Pickett’s were the only “fresh” troops of the lot.
Lee gambled hard and lost… the conflict would last for nearly two years more but the men the South lost as casualties were not there anymore. Stonewall Jackson had already said that the South lacked the manpower to explote a victory…
A sad affair (as war always is)… you are deeply affected even wargaming it!
The advancing Confederate Brigades as on parade!Union artillery fire starts disrutping the charge…Union musketry becomes to play on too…The clash!The High Water Mark…General Lee receives his men with the heartfelt apology “It was my fault… not yours”… with hindsight they would have had to search for peace there and then… but History is different!
The third day of the battle General Lee after having attacked both flanks on previous days… designs a grand attack by 13 brigades (as much as a Corps but amalgamated from Ist and IInd)… Picket’s Division been the only fresh troops for the attack.
It would be preceded by an Artillery action of a massed guns battery. It would be effective to a less degree than hoped, much overshooting the target… (and quite defective ammo sometimes).
The Confederate Cavalry tries to join the main battlefield on the rear of the Union… but would be stopped in a draw fight (inconclusive)… and prevented by the Union Cavalry to complete that objective.
The battle is ready for the grand final…
Enjoy!
The Confederate Grand battery…The shot and shell mainly affects the rear area of the Union position…The Union cavalry stops Jeb Stuart tired troopers…Custer wons his reputation that day (among others)…End of the Bombardment…
The second day at Gettysburg saw hard fighting, it has been said that General Lee intended an envelopping attack clockwise: first Longstreet, then Hill (Anderson Division) and then Ewell.
It went like that more or less in my tabletop.
The Peach Orchard, the Whratfield and the Valley of Death were a place of hard fighting… IIIrd Corps (Union) made a gallant defense but was spent and had to retreat. Luckily for General Meade reinforcements come on in the nick of time.
Little Round Top (truly enough) went like an History book… Vincent had very good dice throws.
Anderson also did a half hearted attack (not for the real men involved I guess).
And Ewell was not at his best but nearly one Brigade went through the Union defenses… but there no fresh troops available and the Union quickly plugged the gap.
It was hard work wargaming it (so to say) SOLO… but now Dusk has fallen and the Confederate Army has not broken the Union line.
Hope you enjoy!
IIIrd Corps fight!Anderson’s Division advanceThe Center of the Union Line.Ewell troops advance upon Culp’s HillThe Valley of DeathHard fightingLittle Round TopA near breakthrough!Dusk puts an end to hostilities…
At last Longstreet attacks with his two divisions. Ewell would delay his for two more hours.
As a reenactment, it proved quiet right about Hood he was wounded early in the fight… curiously the dice favoured Union III Corps and they offered an spirited fight.
The morning in Culp’s hill has been well employed entrenching the position.
The start of the fight on the souther part of the field.Union II Corps is retreating but fighting.On the other flank entrecnhments are done.The Confederates are up Big Round Top.Another view of Culp’s Hill (a very hard nut to crack).Aerial view at mid afternoon 2 of July.
The book to read imperatively…Perfect at Brigade level.So much detail… perfect if you would like to play a particular fase of the big battle at regimental level.Very helpful to paint your minis even in 6MMExcellent orders of battle.
