Back to (Old) School...

Another downside of having no hobby time (just a damn long commute and everyone asleep when I do get home) does mean the mind begins to wander. 

I have been following the excellent "With Pyjamas through the Desert" blog for some time now and have purchased the excellent Gilder based "Sand of the Sudan" rules. I am halfway through reading Harry Pearson's "Achtung Schweinehund!"  for the third time - still as laugh out loud as the first read.

This and other random thoughts and ideas have lead me towards the next "big plan". An Old School Sudan collection using the 20mm Jacklex figures available from Spencer Smith Miniatures.

I have also come to the conclusion that 20mm really is "my scale" and frankly I see no reason to dabble in any other.

Hopefully the first of the British will be up for show early December and not a wobbly lip among them!

Been A Bit Busy Lately

My new department was in a bit of a mess so I have had some long, long hours to put in at work.  Hopefully things will calm down soon and I can get a little painting time in, probably some Franco Prussian or Crimean War figures.

In the meantime here is one of the illustrations that hooked me into the 19th Century period.

Bringing Up the Guns

I finally have something new to show for October...hoorah!

18pdr Limber & Crew from the Tumbling Dice "Old Contemptibles" 20mm range.

 It has been a very unusual month...two weeks ago I was transferred to a completely different department with 48 hours notice and have not stopped running myself ragged since then. No hobby time at all but fortunately they honoured my previously booked holiday and so I was able to finish this little arrangement to add to my 1914 BEF collection.

Hopefully things will calm down after a while otherwise my (already slow) painting output will become positively glacial. For now though I have a few more 1914 German infantry prepped and ready for painting-hopefully finished before I go back to work next week.

After that I intend to have look again at some of the "classic" 19th Century Continental Wars.

British Infantry 1914

As the highly imaginative title for this post says at last we have the beginnings of a British Rifle Company to add to the BEF. For some reason the colours seem a bit muted in these shots.

 I am actually running low on TD figures and in particular do not have many more British infantry left in the lead pile. However I have promised myself no more figure purchases for a while (certainly not until next year), so I will just have to finish up what I have*.

Next up will be some additions to the British 18pdrs, followed by more Germans.

*HUGE caveat on the new Airfix WW1 releases!

A Nice Big British Gun

I thought I would pick up with the British to start with this month and what better than a little morale boosting support in the shape of a 60 pdr? Tumbling Dice figures and models again and although they are "wargames" figures I do believe they make a lovely little vignette.

 

Sadly they do not produce a limber for this piece nor can the barrel be modeled in the transporting configuration however I have found a company that do so watch this space!

 

 A Medium Gun battery for "Crush the Kaiser" consists of 1 gun and 5 crew-including the FOO. I have placed the FOO on the base just because he looks good with the gun and will mark his real position on the battlefield with a suitable map marker.

Anyway I am working on the first British rifle company and more 18 pdr artillery. May even have something to post again by Sunday.