New Recruits

I've got the first company of the 18th Foote (Royal Irish) cast up and painted .

For the basic infantryman I used a older Holger Erikson casting from Prince August . The first reason is that I've got two of the moulds so casting is quicker and easier - rarely a miss cast ! , the other is that having very little surface detail they are easier to paint - you simply paint the details on. The uniform is 'correctish' and will do for me, the drummer should really have a mitre cap but converting him would be tricky as he is one of the older slimmer models .

I also have converted and painted three new General Officers . I got these in a job lot off eBay and they were damaged and were destined for melting down , then I noticed that Ross on 'Battle Game of the Month' had converted a cavalry trooper into a General - so I decided to copy him .

I added wigs and sashes and converted damaged weapons into batons . No names yet but from left to right - vaguely French, Prussian (with a passing resemblance of 'Ald Fritz') and British (looks a bit like the Duke of Cumberland).

Oops ! I Got It Wrong !

Confession I'm told is good for the soul - so I must admit I've got the uniform for the above Schuamburg - Lippe- Buckeberg artillery wrong ! - there I feel better for that already !. The source I used was from the Partizan Press SYW  book and they quote Knotel giving the coat colour as light blue . However I was looking at the Seven Years War Project site and he says dark blue and Knotel got it wrong and its a common mistake - Oh Dear !. I've decided to leave them as they are as a example of my fallibility and THEY LOOK NICER as they are ! after all It's my army so there !

Schaumburg - Lippe - Buckeberg Artillery Limber.

On my other blog I was saying that I dislike painting artillery limbers and teams -  

http://thesteadfasttinsldier.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/one-of-things-i-dislike-to-paint-is.html and to prove I am a glutton for punishment I have painted another one up in 40mm .

I was lucky enough to be able to buy the horses and riders off EBay ready cast so all I had to do was cast up a limber . The horses and riders are the older version of Holger Erikson , slightly flatter but with more characture I think.

Here they are with the gun and crew I had already painted up , I need to cast up and paint the same again to complete the battery - I told you I was a glutton for punishment !.

Fresh Fields.

I found some brown corduroy in the cupboard that I had put there 'as it might be useful' (I believe  it came from a sadly lamented jacket of mine) and thought I could make some ploughed fields out of it . I used some thin mdf for the bases and edged it with Basetex plus a few added stones.

And in the great tradition of 'Blue Peter'* here's one I made earlier .

Not sure what has been planted in the field  but it doesn't look well or maybe it's weeds . I'm quite pleased with my efforts as making scenery does not come easy to me !. 

* a BBC TV children's program where they made things from egg cartons and toilet rolls.  

Lord Of The Rings Game.

'A' asked if I could put a game on for his eldest son 'K' as he was very impressed with the 'Hobbit' film and had got a second hand copy of the GW rules .

I set the table up with the objective being a cache of buried treasure in the centre .

My Orc Captain 'Two Heads' .

'K' sets up his Dwarfs - very linear with his archers on the flanks .

The melee is fierce in the centre over possession of the treasure , the game swung one way then the other - but my Orc Captain was wounded then killed by 'K's Dwarf Lord .

'K' and his father consider their next move.

With my casualties mounting and my leader dead the Orcs failed their moral test and fled the battlefield leaving the Dwarfs in possession of the golden hoard .

'K's force had a single Hobbit archer who from the cover of a statue held off 3 Orc archers .

'K's Dwarf Lord surveys the treasure , a close game and hopefully a good start to 'K's gaming career. 

You Can Never Have Enough Dice !

My first purchase of the New Year is this impressive amount of dice ! , if I'm going to roll dice I like to roll all the same colour or maybe have the odd different one to represent officer casualties (as in Featherstonre's H & M rules) . I got them very cheaply off EBay and am very pleased with them !(childish I know !) P.S. Blogger seems to be working again 

Problems .

I am having problems downloading photos to Blogger , so there may be a (hopefully) short break till normal service is resumed.