You Can't have too many Elephants.

My various Indian projects often move with almost glacial slowness- what with work and other stuff getting in the way-  but I do get the odd item finished every now and again  so here are a few pictures of the most recent efforts that I have actually finished myself. 

Rohillas Jezzailichis, or Pathans if you prefer.
All Old Glory 28mm from the same pack CNP2

 
 

There will be a fair amount of intermixing here between the various units and forces stretching from the late 18th century until the end of the Indian Mutiny and in a few cases even later- though of course much of the earlier stuff is not usable for the later campaigns.

Another shot of the Pathans/Rohillas.

A pair of old Willies !
A couple from the old Suren 'Willie' range of 30mm figures 
These from his Sikh Wars range.

Now for the finale as you might say. One of the reasons for wargaming Indian campaigns is the simple fact that you can model Elephants. I have a couple on the painting table currently - in the queue as it were- but this is the first one to be finished. 

Elephant drawn 24pdr gun.

Another shot of the same model..

The elephant and limber are from AW miniatures who do some nice stuff for India - though perhaps it it on the large side for some tastes. The gun , which fits in perfectly, is an old Hinchliffe model from the 30mm range but you can get a nice 24pdr from AW.. I had a couple of these Hinchliffe pieces lying about so it  seemed appropriate to use them.  Different crews from  the 1790s onwards will use this in various scenarios. 

 This will be having its first outing tomorrow as I am umpiring a small game for our little group .

 Should be fun! 

Last Salute 2-Not with a bang but a whimper.

 Last Saturday saw the re-vamped Salute 2020  at  Ex-cel in London actually happened. Well when I say happened .......

I had decided beforehand that this would be my last Salute. After all I've done 28 as a trader and I've had enough of the travelling and all around faffing about. As I've said previously I'm pulling back a bit from shows so next year will only see me and the crew (that's you Jim) at 3 events as traders. Mail order will of course carry on as normal.

So back to the show. As usual the Warlords organisation was pretty flawless, despite extra Covid related faffing set up went like a dream. No problems.

 Getting to the Hotel  cost us an extra 30 quid in congestion charges for the weekend (Hope you enjoy the extra cash Sayid) but that is not the Warlord's fault.

 Saturday dawns and again a bit of extra faff  to enter the venue  but this was not unexpected- though perhaps ex-cel could have made the info a bit clearer but again once inside, no problems.

However where the hell did Salute go?

Trader numbers were down . I was told 35 no shows by one of the Warlords. And as for the games , basically there seemed to be more blank empty tables than  full ones. Wide acres of empty space that SHOULD have been a-bustle with games,  greeted the wanderer in his spare moments. Again not the Warlords fault but the fault of the no-shows who didn't turn up. Obviously many had not bothered to inform the Warlords or the tables needn't have been set out- nice of those no-shows  to be so well mannered.

One nice game stood out for me, a lovely Wellington in India affair put on by Martin Gane as his friends - who I think were all Warlords- the 6 pages (yes a mere 6 pages) of rules they used look interesting too.. once I get time to read them properly.

What amazed me was that I actually had time to see the show .... except that it wasn't there. Trade was pretty sluggish but again that was expected due to Brexit and Covid- almost no Europeans turned up.. There was no point this year  where we were rushed off our feet - which in the past has been 'Salute Normal'.

Of course none of the particular problems of this years show can be laid at the door of the Warlords. But the combination of circumstances did rather take the shine off an event that is usually the showcase for the wargaming hobby . It wasn't Salute it was A.N.Other wargames show.

So the end of an era- for me at least and no it did not end with a bang.

Last Salute

 The re0imagined 'SALUTE 2020' is now little over a week away .

This will be my last Salute.

Two nights in a hotel  and 12 hours in a van(6 hours each way - less if we are lucky) plus the rigours of the show itself are no longer as easy as they used to be- nor are they as much fun.

 Time was when I did 26 shows a year before the internet and, like horseshit, I was never off the road but the world has changed since those 1990s days.

 I've done 28 Salutes as a trader plus a couple as a demonstrator and its enough. 

It's the travelling that gets you.

After this I'm sticking to shows closer to home, maybe even do some as a demonstrator again - which would be nice.

Now don't misunderstand I'm still selling soldiers and  there and back in a day shows such as York and Partizan are still in my sights but long journeys and  bloody hotels are off the menu.

 Been there done that.

Minot 30mm

 Over the last few years I have amassed a fair collection of 30mm models for the 'shinyloo' project. Most of these have been Stadden with a few Willie and some not quite 30mm Connoisseur or Hinchliffe 'Foremost'. The point being that they were all designed  before 1984 some having been sculpted  2 decades or more earlier.

Four Minot 30mm French Cuirassiers giving it some ! I have another half a dozen of these in various stages of disrepair. 

 However another maker from the latter part of that time  I have become something of a fan of is Barry Minot. Probably best known for his rather esoteric fantasy ranges, he had several ranges of 30mm historical figures out there as well. I am aware of 5 - though there may be others.

 A Battle of Jena range of which I only have 2 examples.

A Zulu War range centred around Rourke's Drift- some lovely active figures though I don't currently have any.

Another view of the Cuirassiers.

A retreat from Moscow range with lots of cold looking French which I have and some predatory Cossacks which I don't. Those I do have need quite a bit of TLC before a public viewing.

A Sudan range - which I have seen pictures of.

 and Finally

For a long time this was the only Minot model I had. 

 A Waterloo range which a have quite a few of and are the pictures on this post. I would not claim to have them all as I only have  2 highlanders and by no means all of the British Infantry. Doubtless there are plenty of others to  find as well.

French Imperial Guard. This was the first completed Minot unit. I now have plenty of these to paint in most of the poses that Minot made. 

 I love the movement of these blokes even if compared to some the small details may be lacking- but of course that means no buttons the size of golf balls or such other silliness and anyhow  you can paint the details in. It is not that hard. Or leave 'em off if you prefer. 

British Infantry. These paint up really well and once I get some of the more active poses into the collection .....

 

 All in all these Minots make a decent addition to the 'Shinyloo' collection. 

Back in the Saddle 3 It's Showtime.

 Bloody Hell I ache as if some unfriendly dude from a misspent past has caught up with me and given me a kicking. No he didn't, it just feels that way, after my first trade show for 20 months. Muscles I'd forgotten I had were forced to work for a living humping a van full of  soldiers to the trade stand  and then hump a (significantly lighter) load back again .

' Twas a fine show mind. Some cracking games. Battle of Dieg my personal favourite, very closely followed by a wonderful 40mm 18th century game  with two magnificent ships. There was a rather nice Sikh Wars game as well. Oh and a 54mm size Ancients encounter with a big elephant and some Persians. Doubtless there may have been assorted dwarfs and spacemen on other tables but I  didn't see 'em - didn't look either.

 So Partizan is back,  a show that treats you like an adult- well mostly-  and welcome it is too. Saw a whole host of the 'usual suspects' ,chaps I'd not seen for  two years or so.

See here for some pics of the Battle of Dieg game

https://www.facebook.com/groups/300248167746857/

Mind you, we- Jim and I had a bit of strife- the Van Hire outfit wanted the drivers NI number - which is not something you usually carry about with you - well I don't nor did Jim- so a job that should have take a couple of hours took 4  and a twenty quid cab fare , which we could well have done without but all went right in the end.

 The show was very busy until mid afternoon when I got a little wander - would have taken some photos but to add to the amusement my phone snuffed it inconveniently, no worries Facebook and other places have plenty of pics about.. Worth checking out if you didn't make it. There were games I didn't get to see so I will be having a butchers myself when the pain dies down to a dull ache !

 Nice to be back and a good show to start on as well.

 My next is Salute which for the record will be my last Salute  as I am pulling back from long distance shows. 6 hours each way in a van is no longer my idea of fun so next year I shall be restricting my show travelling to roughly speaking 'England Above Trent' 

 So yes I'll still be dong Partizan. 

Back in the Saddle - 2

 Spent much of yesterday- when I wasn't on the phone- sorting out new bin stacks for ranges added during the past couple of years that have not- so far- been to a show.

The list was surprisingly long so it will mean that we will have to drop some other ranges off the van to make room for the new stuff for Partizan in October. The ranges dropped will be form our 28mm lines and with one important exception all the new stuff added will be 15mm .

The added ranges are

Blue Moon 15mm.

HYW Crecy and Poitiers period 35 pack range including Scots, Germans, Spanish, Low Countries as well as English and French.

HYW Agincourt period- just in -16 packs for the earlier 15th century.

ECW Scots covenanters added to our substantial ECW range which now stands at over 60 packs including artillery pieces.

French Revolution French and Austrian Infantry and artillery and Vendean Rebels- a very few of these had just come out before shows stopped.

Napoleonic Spanish- now a substantial range of around 30 packs including cavalry militia and of course guerrillas.

French Imperial guard cavalry.

The Indian Mutiny- just in- 26 new packs of miniatures for both sides use Napoleonic guns .

Sash and Saber 28mm

The French and Indian War - almost 100 packs of figures for this popular conflict.

So that is about 200 or so new packs of miniatures that have never been to a show. It will be a new experience for them!

Like

Comment

Share

Back in the Saddle.

 It has been a long time since  our last game at the pub, indeed it has been a long time since our last game. The  idea of remote gaming never appealed as I'm simply not that enamoured of the dice rolling to bother with the extra faffing about required. No games fanatic me - there has always been far more to this hobby that the mere gaming. If the dice rolling and counter pushing was all there was I wouldn't bother. It's not as if I was lying about doing nothing during the various lockdowns and boozer shuttings that I was desperate to roll dice.. had that been so then possibly my mental health would have been in jeopardy!

The Spartans - or wa it the Athenians - anyway Andrew's army 

The Athenians - or was it the Spartans- Shaun's army though of course they were all Shaun's armies.. 

General view of the terrain. 

2 views of the punch -up. 

 Happily that is not the case, so when the Tantobie Warfare And Tactical Society had the chance to re-activate its monthly meetings we  agreed - not least because of the lure of Landlady Jean's Beef Butties 

 However there was a snag - only 3 of us could make it due to other chaps having work commitments so we decided upon a 15mm Peloponnesian War encounter as Mechanical Shaun has more Hoplites than any sane man should have, so it was a piece of cake for him to provide Spartan and Athenian armies for the coming encounter. ( Ignorant games loonies please note, these are not mere gaming 'factions' but the armies of two Classical Greek City states. Read a book why don't you?.)

Tactica - being our usual go- to set for Ancients games- was the chosen rules set as it's style and mechanisms really do suit Classical Warfare. Nevertheless Gentle Reader you good Umpire will admit to being a tad 'ring-rusty' here so it took a while to get properly back into the saddle. The scenario was deliberately over simple for that reason.

Basically the scenario was built to get a Hoplite  slogging match  with 2 armies that were fairly evenly balanced. Differing only in detail. The idea was simply to get us back into the wargaming saddle after a lay off of 19 months.

Mostly it all came flooding back- especially after the application of throat lubrication in the form of Consett Brewery's fine light ale - lovely 'session beer'  not too heavy so easily quaffed brought all the wargamey stuff back into soft focus.

Oh and the game?  Shaun won the Hoplite grind by ranking his troops deeper - Theban style- 4 ranks deep on the table despite some early bother with Andrew's  peltasts. He had forgotten how effective they could be-  but in the event they were only a nuisance.

As usual a good time had by all and thanks as always to Landlady Jean  for looking after us.

 Next in the chair is Andrew with a Cold War Naval encounter ......