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Greetings!

'A gaping silken dragon,/Puffed by the wind, suffices us for God./We, not the City, are the Empire's soul:/A rotten tree lives only in its rind.'

Sunday 4 June 2017

Regiment...

... raised.

Short of a sixth unit for the next planned 'One Hour' game, I dug out some already undercoated 'Emhar' 'British Infantry, Peninsular War 1807-14'. These are very nice figures indeed, and a better hand with the paint brush could make a really fine job of them, whether as our noble lads (Irish - given the Peninsular ?) , or as Yankees:


While painting up the Americans, I came across this fellow:


He is a true veteran, and first graced my tabletop (the same table he is on here) sometime back in the early 1970s, sporting an even worse paint job, in gloss blues and greys. Of course, he is a figure from the Airfix Waterloo RHA set.  After years spent knocking around in an old sweet tin, then the last few years in a makeshift sand-pit, his loyalty has been rewarded. Now in the uniform of a Provincial cavalry regiment, he, too, will join the 1812 'One Hour'.

While doing this emergency painting, I had occasional ponders about the planned 'One Hour'. The core rules for all the periods covered are pretty constant, as one would expect, and therein lies the beauty of the system. However, thinking about 1812 and the initial invasions of Canada/British North America, I decided that assigning 15 points to every unit would be just too ahistorical. Militias played an important part on both sides. However, whereas the militias from Upper and Lower Canada performed well, the US militias (with some exceptions) performed very poorly indeed. The answer is, I think, to reduce their starting points value to 12, or even 10. Similarly, although the scenario has six units per side, the British-Canadian forces were very much outnumbered at the start of the war, so I  think one unit needs to go.

Recently, the crazed fuckwits that are the Islamists have been redoubling their murder efforts - in Egypt (against Christians), in the Philippines, in Kabul, in Syria, and, of course, in my homeland.  I hope the UK government ACTS.  

But, in the world there is still beauty and perfection:


17 comments:

  1. Your RHA fellow reminds me of the boxes of Airfix Napoleonics I have somewhere up at the back of the 'top' cupboard. All painted in thick gloss enamels (apparently indestructible), I'd reckon up to 45 years ago. No value beyond nostalgia, I should probably move them on to landfill... :o(

    Cheers, Dave

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    1. Yes, it's true, the gloss enamel WAS thicker! I've got a very strong memory off Christmas 1970, when I was given one of the larger sized tins of Humbrol gloss blue. I can still smell the paint as I prised open the lid, and remember the pleasure of having a 'big' tin of the stuff! As for your veterans going to landfill - no!! See the message below from Chris.

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  2. Good to see your painting mojo in full swing. Mrs Kinch was suitably impressed with your roses. I shall pre order your latest work.

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    1. Yes, I've got some Glengarry Light Infantry on the table now, plus some 28mm Late Western Romans. The secret is that I bought some new brushes!!
      My thanks, and kind regards, to your good lady. My garden is really a sort of woodland in suburbia, but I've edged much of the fencing with climbers and ramblers (Rambling Rector, Albertine - the names alone!). And I've got a sunny patch down the bottom with some of David Austen's finest, 'suitable for pots' roses. These get much TLC!
      hanks for the pre-order - that'll only leave 2,999 to go!!

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  3. Ahhhh a long time favourite figure! Sadly I don't even know what happened to mine old Airfix Naps.

    As for 1812, I think the numbers disparity is a scenario thing. Without sitting down to so a proper study, it seems to me that while we like to remember the battles where a handful of lads in red repulsed the blue hordes, there were several engagements where the numbers were even as well as several where the boys in blue were outnumbered. The odd thing is that the largest side almost always lost regardless of colour. Its a mystery.

    I also have to say that the New York militia seems to have fought well in defence of their homes vs British incursions, they just didn't want to go abroad and that their part-time non-uniformed Canadian counterparts were only rarely asked to fight, and then only as skirmishers. The handful of full time, uniformed Canadian militia were pretty much equivalent to US infantry units not militia.

    I'm looking forward to seeing your OHW 1812 hit the table.

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    1. Yes, he really is rather fine. He has that relaxed, but professional air - all in 20mm of cream plastic!
      Thanks for the notes on 1812. After them, I decided to go for equal unit numbers, but with reduced values for some US militia.

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  4. Excellent project progressing...sorry I have been silent of late. My middle son Arthur (10) is playing a jaunty little tune on his fiddle at the moment called The 8th of January, sadly commemorating the British defeat at New Orleans, but it's a great tune. We called into a disused church in the Vale of Pewsey recently and there was a small marble memorial to a 20 year old ensign killed at that very battle (which read something like " .... who fell in the disastrous assault on the enemy barricades..."). Apropos your penultimate paragraph, I doubt they will....they might risk losing a vote or upsetting someone.

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    1. No need to apologise - I was silent for most of last year! Arthur is both a fine name, and playing a fiddle is even better! That's the great thing about our churches - they are little time capsules of history, and in a way that it often unbelievably immediate, as if the plaques had only just been put up, or the flags mounted in the roof. Just a few weeks ago, I was in the church where Nelson whorshipped in Burnham Overy. I've been before, but, for the first time noticed outside, in the churchyard, the grave marker of a married couple, with the names of all three of their sons who were killed in the Great War. There are no real words for that. Or for much else in the world. I'm not a religious man, but it is very easy to see why the ancients saw us as 'fallen'.

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  6. About those old Airfix: don't toss 'em! My club paints up and gives away 6 complete war-game set-ups every Summer for 10-year-olds and younger. Each set includes 2 opposing armies, rules, dice, and terrain (the last made by yours truly). This brings in new gamers, astonishes their parents, and just generally produces good feelings all around. Perhaps you could find a home for the figures--10-year-olds aren't terribly picky--or contribute them to a club that's doing something similar in the UK. Just a thought!

    Best regards,

    Chris Johnson

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    1. Chris,
      What an excellent scheme. Dave M is in the Antipodes, but he may donate his veterans to some local group. My own grandson (aged 8) is very much hooked on the weirdness of Warhammer 40k (it's his father's fault, even though started him off with 15mm ACW!). However, I have my long-term plans to take my grandson into saner toy soldier realms!

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  7. Nothing wrong with your painting, sir, they look fabulous.

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    Really appreciate this wonderful post that you have provided for us.

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