28mm Zulu Wars Rourkes drift set

This are the figures for Empress Miniatures 28mm Zulu Wars Rourkes drift set. There are also some buildings and sandbag/box/wagon barricades which I haven't started yet. There are more figures than pictured here. There are 40 plastic Zulus plus a couple of metals, including one mounted. I can't remember off hand how many British there are.

Note the guy in striped trousers. I found that he was wearing these on the day according to some sources. It adds a bit of interest to the set.

28mm Napoleonic French Sailors of the Guard

Yo, ho, ho and shiver me timbers, ship mates! Here I present you with the latest addition to my Napoleonic collection. These are the Sailors of the French Imperial Guard. They were present at the disastrous battle of Bailén.

The figures are mainly Old Glory. The mounted officer, and one foot officer per battalion, are from Connoisseur miniatures which seem to fit in with Old Glory. I have no idea why I painted two of these battalions. There is inflation everywhere these days!

The highlights on these figures are a bit too subtle to come out in pictures.

28mm Napoleonic Portuguese line

I bought the castings for the bulk of these figures from a friend about a dozen years ago. He told me that he had bought them from Doug Mason. It is nice to have something from the great man.There are piles of variety in these lovelies. I'm not sure which figures they were originally based upon. I got them painted years ago but lacked a mounted Colonel. That Colonel has now been furnished from Elite miniatures and the boys are ready for war.

The Portuguese Legion

The Portuguese Legion was in the service of Napoleon from 1807-1814. You have to credit Boney for a serious boost to the Napoleonic miniatures market. There are loads of nice contingents to paint up. It seems that wherever he went he managed to drum up new and colourful units. Perhaps some early toy industrialists slipped him a few shekels?


I now have three battalions of these boys in brown. 

28mm Napoleonic Pavlov Grenadiers (Elite miniatures)

The metal is from Elite miniatures. I've sixteen painted infantry and grenadier battalions already. I believe I have about 70 more waiting to paint up. This is going to be a long war!

There are plenty of gems in the Elite miniatures catalogue. I think these are lovely.

Onward, for Beer and Pretzels! My Bavarian Guard Grenadiers.

At last these stalwarts have been added to my Bavarian army. Bavarian Guard Grenadiers are not easy to find. I bought the majority of the figures from Bicorne miniatures three years ago at the Salute show in London (they are from the Connoisseur range). The nice chaps at the Bicorne stand explained I needed to add a mounted officer, a drummer and a standard bearer - probably from Elite miniatures Old Guard Chasseurs - as Connoisseur don't make these. In the end I bought a Guard Gendarme officer (Connoisseur), a standard bearer from Connoisseur (Guard Chasseur) and a Guard Chasseur drummer from Elite miniatures. Painted and based they all work together OK. Connoisseur/Bicorne/Firing line have vast ranges which vary in style. But the faces, dimensions and size of these Bavarian Guard Grenadiers seem to work well with Elite Guard Chasseurs and the other Connoisseur bits. I only just got around to putting everything together and getting these based up. Part of the delay was due to me deciding to make this a 36 man unit rather than a 32, which is what I had bought figures for initially.

The Guard Gendarme officer didn't have a plume, cords or flounders. I made the plume with a bit of wire, drilled into the bearskin. The cords were made by braiding very thin copper wire. The flounders were made with green stuff over a bit of epoxy resin which drizzled down from the right side of chappies bearskin. This is the sort of thing people did ye olden times to keep themselves amused.

The figures are based for "In The Grand Manner". I used some Silfor tufts, from Warlord Games, and some static grass, from Scenic Express on the bases. The rest is ground up sea shells dusted over PVA glue.

 

Reinforcements by post

Six Napoleonic Westphalian line infantry battalions

I have finally finished six line infantry battalions and two skirmisher screens to add to my Westphalian contingent. I screwed up and ordered them all with Grenadiers in bearskins whereas only the first regiment had Grenadiers in bearskins, with other regiments having Grenadiers in Shakos. Oh well, I can always replace those bases later if I get around to it. Some times things like this niggle me. Hopefully this won't!

The battalions are painted for about 1810 which is before all facing colours were changed to dark blue. 

I still have the cavalry and artillery to paint. Before I get around to that I've three battalions of Portuguese Legion, the Zastrow and Guard du Corps Cuirassier of Saxony, a couple of Portuguese officers, for line regiments I finished years ago, to complete .

These are Elite miniatures. The figures are based for "In The Grand Manner". The rule system is 1:20 figure to men ratio. Obviously it is quite a job to collect for this system. If you don't have the space or time have a look at the Wargames Holiday Center. Mark Freeth, your genial host, can supply the figures and gaming space. It is an amazing spectacle.

If you like the Westphalians you may enjoy reading this ebook written by a contemporary courtier.