Sunday 25 February 2018

Cavalier 2018

It feels like such a long time since my last wargames show and winter has been sooooo long! I always look forward to the Cavalier show in Tonbridge as its a chance to see old friends, restock and treat myself. As usual I took a  lot of photo's and here's a selection.


Cavalier 2018

Ray... been hitting the nog again!

Friday Night Firefight Club- Ring the Bell! (28mm)

Friday Night Firefight Club- Ring the Bell! (28mm)

S.E.E.M.S. - Big Tanks (28mm)

S.E.E.M.S. - Big Tanks (28mm)

Maidstone Wargames Society - Twisting the Dragon’s Tail WW1 - Zeebrugge 1918 (28mm)

Maidstone Wargames Society - Twisting the Dragon’s Tail WW1 - ZeeBrugge 1918 (28mm)

Deal Wargames Club - Behind Enemy Lines - Battle of Yangmigbao 1937 (28mm)

Deal Wargames Club - Behind Enemy Lines - Battle of Yangmigbao 1937 (28mm)

Deal Wargames Club - Behind Enemy Lines - Battle of Yangmigbao 1937 (28mm)

Deal Wargames Club - Behind Enemy Lines - Battle of Yangmigbao 1937 (28mm)

Little Wars Revisited Forum - 19th C Portable Wargame (54mm)

Little Wars Revisited Forum - 19th C Portable Wargame (54mm)

Hailsham Wargames Club - Outbreak Z (28mm)

Hailsham Wargames Club - Outbreak Z (28mm)

Crawley Wargames Club - The Siege of Girona 1796  (15mm)

Crawley Wargames Club - The Siege of Girona 1796  (15mm)

North London Wargame Group - Crug Mawr 1136 (15mm)

North London Wargame Group - Crug Mawr 1136 (15mm)

Tonbridge Wargames Club - Battle of Segesvar 1849 (10mm)

Tonbridge Wargames Club - Battle of Segesvar 1849 (10mm)

The Bring and Buy

Society of Ancients - Raphia 217BC (28mm)
  
Gravesend Gamers Guild - Panzer Vor

Southend Wargames Club - Air War over Malta (6mm)

Southend Wargames Club - Air War over Malta (6mm)

Southend Wargames Club - Air War over Malta (6mm)

My Loot from the show. Several excellent books, a T-Shirt, Paint and Grass Tufts

All in all an excellent day.

Thursday 22 February 2018

Waggons, Oxen and Tents

I've been plugging away at various projects this week and decided to complete some logistical items for my British forces. These were relatively easy to complete and gave me time to prepare other models for coming weeks and to research some of the units I want to paint. First off I have painted some wagons and Ox teams for the British.



Lord Chelmsford's original plan for the invasion of Zululand was predicated upon several completely erroneous assumptions. He was convinced that the Zulu's would avoid a direct confrontation with his forces and he believed there was a very real prospect of the Zulu army slipping past his forces and counter invading Natal. In order to bring the Zulu's to battle he concluded he would have to dominate as much of Zululand as he could and to that end he decided to invade with five columns converging on the Zulu capital at Ulundi. The problem was there just weren't enough wagons in the whole of Natal available to equip five columns.



In the end Chelmsford was forced to amend his plan for various reasons (not just lack of wagons) to three invading columns and, although he still worried he wouldn't be able to bring the Zulu's to battle, he was confident that his forces would eventually succeed in crushing the Zulus. Little did he realise that Cetshwayo had no intention of counter invading Natal* and instead was looking for a decisive win against the British to force them back to the negotiating table. (*Cetshwayo gave specific orders not to cross the border, although it didn't stop his younger brother Dabulamanzi from attacking the mission station at Rourke's Drift.)  



In addition to the wagons I also painted 24 Bell Tents. Photo's of period often show rows of these distinctive white tents in the centre of camps. 



8 Wagons each with a six Oxen team to pull them (ie 48 Cattle and 8 Vehicles) should net me 32 points. As for the Bell Tents your guess is as good as mine. Their combined volume (generously calculated!) is about 5% of a 6 inch cube, so I guess they are worth 1 point! 

Monday 19 February 2018

Pineapple Chiefs: Target Acquired!

This was a fun Bonus round because I got to be a bit 'Childish' for the 'Childhood' round. I bought these figures last year and as soon as I saw the list of categories I knew exactly what I was going to paint. I bought these models from Colonel Bills but they are actually made by EMP Games for their Lost Horizon range.




The models are 28mm white metal and these two were wonderfully cast with virtually no mould lines or flash needing to be removed before painting. As usual I washed them in detergent before applying a brown undercoat. The beauty of fantasy miniatures is that some of the neglected colours from your pallet get a chance to be used, and these two guys are no exception.








These guys were not just fun to paint they represent a new personal best for my participation in the Challenge and more importantly took my points tally above my 1000 point target. I'm slightly amazed that I have managed to hit my objective, and more amazingly have done it with time to spare!



I have plenty more to paint but not quite enough to justify upping my target at such a late date. I have a load more Zulu's to finish off and they will keep me quite busy over the final weeks of the challenge. I also have a few odd units and some terrain items to work on but nothing significant. I have more British units that need painting but I need to do more research to determine if I have the correct figures! I'm more than happy with what I have painted so for and by the end of the Painting Challenge my Anglo Zulu War project will be in full swing.     

Thursday 15 February 2018

24th Foot at Isandlwana... plus Cattle!

As promised my own brand of insanity continues with six companies of 1st Battalion, 24th Foot from the Zulu War, this time formed up in a firing line. For those that have been following my recent painting projects you may by now have realised that I have been rather selective in my choice of units. I am focusing primarily on troops that were present at the Battle of Isandlwana, 22nd January 1879. Six companies were involved in the battle, five from the 1/24th and one unlucky company from the 2/24th. The aim - eventually, a long way down the line - is to play a few 'what-if' scenarios regarding this disastrous engagement. I expect I'll be painting units for this battle and for the wider Zulu war long after the painting challenge has ended... so don't be surprised if you see more of this project in Challenge Nine!





My original plan was to have the command figures amongst the ranks on a single base but at the last minute I decided I wanted the company commanders to be based separately. In keeping with the theme each if the bases is labelled with their company details and the name of the commanding officer. 




Once again I have lavished as much detail on these figures as my rapidly fading sanity (and eyesight) would allow. Overall I am happy with how these turned out, although it has to be said that I'm terribly self critical and no sooner had I finished than I began picking out details I could have done better. Luckily these won't be the last British infantry to cross my painting desk so I expect I'll have plenty of opportunity for improvement! 





I'm also submitting several bases of cattle that I managed to get finished this week. 'Steak on the Hoof' was used by both sides as a source of fresh meat for the troops.



96 infantry figures plus six commanders will net 51 points with a further 22 points for 45 cattle which should earn me a grand total of 73 points. This should bring me to within a whisker of my challenge target and and my best performance yet. I'm not about to stop though, I have yet more Zulu's to paint, imperial cavalry, wagons and more besides. 

Friday 9 February 2018

Royal Artillery

Just a small entry to the Painting Challenge this week, but considering how busy and tired I have been I consider this a success. I was planning on getting more infantry companies painted but was making such slow progress I switched to something a little easier just to make sure I could submit something this week.




Royal artillery uniforms were dark blue with red collars and red stripes down the outside of the trouser legs. I opted for a slightly lighter blue as the original dark blue would have looked almost black after the usual ink wash, especially at this scale. I rather like the result, although I'm sure uniform purists will be pulling their hair out.




At the start of the Anglo Zulu war the N/5 Battery Royal Artillery, consisted of Six 7pdr 200 lb Rifled Muzzle Loading (RML) guns. These were mounted on Colonial or Kaffraria carriages - low slung with large wheels and narrow tracks - which were considered more stable and therefore suitable for African conditions. This battery arrived in the Cape Colony in 1878, taking part in the closing stages of the war against Sandili before being assigned to the invasion of Zululand. Field batteries were usually equipped with 9pdrs at this time, but this battery had 7 prs which were thought to be more mobile and therefore better suited to the rough terrain.



One Gatling Gun was also brought into the early stages of the war via a Naval Brigade from HMS Active. After Isandlwana more Gatlings were brought into the Order of Battle and played an important part in the closing battles of the war. I expect I'll be painting more of these at some point in the future but with naval troops manning them rather than RA gunners.