French Cavalry Regt. Nassau Sarrebruck .

 

Got the second squadron of the French Nassau Sarrebruck finished in a mammoth painting session , I also painted the command figures as well . 

 

 

A lot of casting time and lead in this unit !

 

 

The Regimental Standard and Kettle drummer .

 

 

I think the Kettle drummer is soooo cute , must be in my Top Ten Wargaming Figure chart. Must start on a Allied cavalry unit to balance things up next.

 

 

 

Patio Wars - Reconnaisannce .

 

Encouraged by the Spring like weather General in Command of 'Red Army' R.Crawley ('Creepy' to his men !) rides out with a small escort of Hussars to reconnoitre the ground for the big push which he has been planning over winter.

 

 

They pause to view the land in the cover of Spring foliage .

 

 

But suddenly they spot the enemy ! - Uhlans ! and the enemy spots them !

 

 

As the lancers form line - the General decides discretion is the better part of valour and retires. I have not done any work on my 54mm Funny Little Wars figures for quite a while but like General Crawley perhaps the better weather will inspire me into casting up more reinforcements ready for the Spring campaign.

 

 

Meanwhile in Nova Scotia a similar patrol sets out but in slightly different weather ! - Photo care of Ross Macfarlane - http://gameofmonth.blogspot.co.uk/

 

 

 

 

Another Side of my Hobby.

 

I have always been interested in the classic 'Toy Soldier' scene (54mm scale figures) and for years I did nothing about it other than subscribing to 'Toy Soldier Collecter' magazine . A couple of years ago I read an article about starting a collection and they recommended you concentrated on a particular period and type of figure . I decided I would collect World War One pilot figures - a narrow niche but surprisingly fruitful !. Above one of my favourite sets - German pilots and mechanic (I think the central figure is Richthofen)

 

 

Another set - a British pilot and ground crew. I mainly purchase off EBay and TRY not to spend to much !. Think my interest of this period was generated by the 'Biggles' books

 

 

They come in all sizes ! . The centre figure is a 54mm figure, the one on the right a pre-war Skybirds pilot repainted by me and the left a large hollow cast figure from America . Initialy I was going to stick to just the 54mm figures but now I collect any figure that portrays a pre WW2 airforce figures.

 

 

Command Figures for Regiment Castellas .

 

Having got 2 of the required 3 companies of the French Regt. Castellas done , I thought it was time I painted up some command for them.

 

 

Hmm ! I could have picked easier flags to paint !

 

 

On the casting front the foundry is moving into the 21st century , my wife has been heard muttering darkly about how she hopes the camping gas stove will be cleaned up and ready for our Spring camping trip . Oh dear ! - I had better start renovating it NOW ! . This combined with the problems I have been having with it in the cold weather spurred me on to purchase a electric hotplate cheap off  EBay . In initial tests it seems to perform well , so marital bliss is restored !.

 

 

A Busy Weekend.

 

Over the weekend I cast up 2 squadrons worth of 40mm cavalry , using some of the unwanted figures 'A' gave me . The figures at the back of the photo are the second squadron for the French Regt. Nassau-Sarrebruck as well as the H.Q. figures for this regiment. The figures at the front are the first of a yet unidentified Allied heavy cavalry unit .

 

 

The Nassau-Sarrebruck command - the kettle drummer is SOOOO cute !

 

 

The basic figure for the new Allied regiment . Cleverly the mold produces a horse with 5 legs and 2 tails ! , which of course you remove one of the legs and one of the tails allowing for variants . I cast the figures in three sessions over the weekend , it took this long because of the number of miss casts which is higher in cavalry figure molds and the weather being cold (the snow finally arrived) which causes the camping gas stove I use to burn poorly - something to do with the liquid gas and the cold - I remember in my youth camping in cold weather and having to take the small gas canister into the sleeping bag to keep it warm so that in the morning you could brew up tea. I have the pleasure now of selecting the unit for the next Allied cavalry , was going to make it British but not sure, at moment it may be one of the German states, going to start thumbing through my Osprey books . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holding The Vlliage (Finale)

 

The cavalry melee goes into it's second move and results in the French Hussars retreating .

 

 

Move Allied reinforcements arrive , events are turning against the French .

 

 

The company of the French Regt. Du Roi manage to break into the village and take over the large house , however Allied infantry are closing in and they have manoeuvred their gun to fire at the building at close range !.

 

 

French reinforcements arrive in the form of another company of the Swiss Regt. Castellas , newly painted and the varnish still tacky - but to late to save the day for the French.

 

 

With mounting casualties and both flanks now threatened by Allied cavalry, Comte Du Fru-Fru decides discretion is the better part of valour and signals for his forces to retire . A overwhelming Allied victory with the French suffering double the number of casualties . The French were unlucky with their reinforcement dice and I was perhaps to generous with allowing the Allied reinforcements a chance to arrive early . A great game which played well and was exciting to the very end. Now I'm off to cast up some more cavalry for the next game.  P.S. Blogger has seemed to have cured itself and is now allowing photos to be loaded as normal without using Picassa - I do wish they would stop messing with it !.

 

 

 

 

Holding The Village (Parte the Thirde)

I brave the near Arctic conditions of my wargaming room (the 'toy soldier' room my wife calls it !?) to bring you the third instalment of this increasingly exciting battle .

 

The Regt. Du Roi storms the village , they succeed in forcing a entry but are ejected by the brave Jaegers and lose heavily. (a bit of a blurred photo - camera shake probably due to the cold !)

 

 

The survivor's of the attack retreat.

 

 

More reinforcements for the Allies arrive - 2 companies of the British 20th Foote. (if I were to play this game again I might make it a bit harder for the Allied reinforcements to arrive - but such are the vagaries of the dice !)

 

 

On the right of the village the two forces of Hussars clash in a protracted melee.

 

 

Uncle Toby encourages the British Foote on !

 

 

A second attempt to storm the village struggles to gain a foothold.

 

 

Sensing victory is on hand the Carbineers attack the reformed Chasseurs and drive them off again . The remnants of the Regt. Du Roi rally to their standards in the centre.

 

 

The situation about half way through the day, on the right of the village the cavalry fight continues , the French infantry try again to force a entry into the houses but British troops are moving up to flank them. In the centre Count De Fru-Fru tries to reorganise the French Foote. The Allied Carbineers are victorious on the left , in the distance French reinforcement move up - but will they be in time ? Too be continued ........