More From Marlborough Man.

Well its dammned ticklish- just when I thought I'd sorted out how I was going to finally approach Marlboroughs wars I get stymied. I mean you don't expect it do you? A mate of mine John Reidy by name- known to at least 2 folowers of this blg- vpainted a battalion of the new Bluemoon 15mm Marburians for me - for my display case at shows. I ummedd and arred over flagging and basing them but finally did the deed- dammed fiddly it was too but worth it as you can see from the picture - yep those are 15mm. Grand paint job by John I only added the "smoke and Mirrors" but the end result is a bit tasty. Now the problem with 15mm is like any of the shorter dudes you need loads of 'em to get the effect but it has to be said that I've 25mm that didn't look this good so I think I'll have at least a few more units . This won't stop me painting those Drabant 40mm though but these little fellas are dammed tasty all the same.

Uniforms and "accuracy"

Now the New Year is upon us and I'm back at work slaving over a hot casting machine but I did manage to complete a few figures for my personal collection . Mostly 40mm 7YW Brits pictured here. I have- unusually for me based them singly on round bases for Charge type game both in Europe and more approriately in America where marching along they stand a rreasonable chance of getting a right "Braddocking" until their supporting light troops get painted.
However When I recieved these from one of my painters he'd done them in the White smallclothes Braddock had made for his 2 regiments- nothing wrong with that but I re-painted them red so I could use them for other units. This made me think a bit about wargamers and accurate uniforms- where we know them of course- My painter had made several simple errors- no facing colour on the sergeants sash indeed the sashes were closer to purple than red or crimson Officers lace was not consistant- he used both gold and silver seemingly at whim. This kind of stuff is not uncommon I always ask a painter if he has the info he needs but its not always enough. In the past I've had some true corkers- Parrot green ECW "Greencoats" French line infantry of 180 with red lapels and once a mud- brown elephantand an Iron Grey horse with yellow mane and tail . Certainly enough to make you wonder if all painters can actually read. Now most of the painter I use know their stuff or will ask so its not a problem- these 40mm came as part of a deal I did and were a long time coming. I have about another 20 or so hatemen to deal with plus a few others I picked up on ebay to go into the same unit - should be 4 companies when finished - maybe 5 . So while most of the lads I use- Jim the painter Tony Runkee Northumbrian painters etc know what they are about Ido have to keep awake.
Nevertheless making models "accurate to source" is important for my historical soul even if they campaign in fictional scenarios they have to look the part. Anyhow I can always make sure by painting them myself .

not forgettin' the Man Himself....

and finally the les Higgin Marlborough that started off this train of thought.

Marlborough man

And not a ciggie in sight.

One of the periods I've continually looked at but never actually had a proper set of armies for any length of time in is the War of Spanish Succession. I did once have a 15mm collection but sold it on when I suffered from a small bout of T.F.E. I had some nice minifigs 25mm too but never painted 'em sold those too . I've looked at the various available ranges and never really had my skirt blown up by any of them. I like the OG 25mm Infantry but am less keen on the cavalry- mainly because there are several types missing but its still a good basic range. I'm very keen on the new Bliemoon 15mm - well 18mm really but someone else will have to paint them for me also here I can't decide between the WSS or the GNW- the voting is currently going North but you never know.
I know chaps rave about the Front Rank offerings and I can see why but no the coats don't hang right and the muskets are too short they are just too stiff for my taste. As for the new plastic 28mm well less said. I'd lose the will to live building 'em they will fall to bits in the hurly burly of the table- even if careful and the photos I've seen don't convince me anyway so I'll simply pass a veil over that and move on.
So what's a chap to do ? I even have the most perfect little Marlborough to lead the allies. A lovely little Les Higgins 30mm Jason figure one of only about 20 of the range I possesand the only mounted example one of the best 30mm figures I've ever seen put a good bit of the modern stuff to shame and almost 40 years since they were last made. I'll never have an army's worth but perhaps enough to make the couple of OG regiemnt I have raise their game.
Of course there is always Drabant but that is likely to be a bit on the dear side nevertheless its tempting to do at least a small force or two just for the look of the thing. I have about 20 painted and want to do more but its a slowjob along with all the other gazillion projects but here are a few pictures of myfinished figures.
Regt Dorrington.
English Footguards
A French Dragoon
Regt Navarre
All to be added to inthe fullness of time.
Maybe one day I'll even run a Marlburian game you never know....

Russian Magic .

Now it may not have escaped your notice Gentle Reader that I'm a devotee of 40mm size models- in scale terms this works out at about 1/43rd or Railway O guage or 7mm = 1 foot.
I have a fair collection of these figures and a couple of ranges of my own aside from Sash and Saber.
Also I have Drabant Miniatures of Moscow . These are what is known as a bit tasty and I've been importing them into the UK for the last 4 or 5 years or thereabouts.
They are not cheap- about the Same price as Foundry's re-released 40mm ACW BUT IMHO far superior and Remember Moscow is a long way off so they have a way to travel - not just down the road in Nottingham.
For myself I'm slowly building a Marlburian Collection and will get around to some TYW in the fullness of time. I have a few ACW in my largely Sash and Saber Collection and our own line of Ancient Greeks was largely sculpted by the Drabant team.
So when Drabant owner Nick Bokarev sent me these pictures I thought I'd share them .
The first shows Dutch Guards of the very late 17th- early 18th century and the second a Swedish Heavy gun and crew of the Great Northern War period.

More shiny toys.

As ever these things take longer than you'd like but I now have a second release in the "Glorious Victorian Toy Soldiers" range. These new figures cover the Rifle and Fusilier regiemts of the British Army . Now I've always had a soft spot for the Green jacket- especially when it carries the red distinctions of the KRRC( my Dad was a rifleman in the early 60s in the 2nd Green Jackets - The KRRC ) or the 60th Rifles - depending upon date. Now thanks to Sean Bean and Sharpe the 95th get the glory but the 5th Bn 60th had rifles first- not by a long time its true- about 3 years or so but first nevertheless and definitely senior in the line - 60th against 95th until both regiments were taken out of the line to become the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and the Rifle Brigade respectivly. Despite the perfectly normal interegiemental rivalry both regiments and thier modern successoors- The Rifles speak for themselves and in the case of the 60th starts in the French and Indain War in the mid- 18th century and continues in Afghanistan today seeing on the way such diverse fields as Talvera , Albuhera, Delhi Ridge , Spion Kop the Somme Calais etc etc etc By Gum you may say the lads have been about a bit and just like the rst of our Armed services so they have.
So here are the rifles available in both helmet and busby - paintable as either KRRC or Rifle Brigade- and doubtless as RIR and possibly Canadians too .
In addition you can now also get the Fusilier regiements or at least the non-scottish ones- I plan Scots in the future. so the British Army marches on in toy form as by God we hope it continues to do despite the actions of its enemies- mostly those in Parliament .
Andy

High Standards from John "The Flag"

Now it has to be said I can be a tad picky.Whenever I'm building a unit or an army I do the best job I can.Not for me the "i just painted 'em quicly to get them on the table " excuse Nahh do it right or don't bother. Now this can get you into trouble in soooooo many ways - it means you spendd a small fortune on booksand your painting speed drops to something less than the speed of a government department giving out tax refunds.
But what it does mean is you look out for the best your wallet can bear. Now when I build a unit I want them to have proper and accurate flags banners ,colours and standard- which ever is appropriate to type. In the past I've painted by own - which I still do but less often, used various paper printed flags - ranging from not bad at all to bloody awful- ALL of these need a greater or lesser amount of touching up even if its just to paoint the edges - which many chaps miss- it look awful if you don't- you get a white edge round the flag yeauch!!
However I now have a fine , almost perfect solution - get 'em from John the Flag - this needs explanation. Johns lovely flags are printed on cloth and come fitted to the pole. He does lots of different ones in addition to those I have I have seen ACW AWI and more ECW as well as WSS and Napoleonic. Most of mine are fro my 40mm collection but he does them for 25/ 28/30 mm too. I've found nothing better.
The pics show - first
25mm Royal Eccossais.
40mm Napoleonic British-3rd foot
40mm ECW Sir John Gells regt(stars) and John Lampughs .
40mm Spanish Napoleonics. Leals de FernadoVII(blue coats) and a unit whose name I forget.
Contact john on jondhut@ntlworld.com .
Getting these is a bit slow- John works for a living- but the wait is well worth it.