Highlanders & Playing by Email

93rd Highlanders prepare to receive a French charge

(Sir Donogh McCarthy RA)

There's been very little going on here at Chez Kinch other than course work and study, though the end is very much in sight.

Above you can see some of the fruits of last years painting, these are Crimean Highlanders from Strelets range. I liked them so much that I decided to use them in my Napoleonic army and the anti-bread faction could go hang. Painted by the stalwart Mark Bevis, these gallant Highlanders received a charge of French cuirassiers in line, a thin red streak tipped with steel if you will.

Sadly, their stand did not go as well as their counterparts in Robert Gibbs famous paintings and they were ridden down like dogs after being wracked with shot and shell.

The hill behind our Scottish friends is made of two inch upholsterers foam, cut with a kitchen knife and sprayed green. I used Army Painter Green Primer. The whole construction took about half an hour to make three hills from start to finish. They're light, durable and don't need looking after.

A picture tutorial might be forthcoming, though to be honest the process is about as taxing as a three piece jigsaw puzzle.

Most of my figures are packed away at present, though I managed to get a little gaming into my life between course work and baton training. I'm running a play by email Kriegspiel game of the Waterloo campaign, which is proving very interesting. We're getting through about one turn a week, though some players require more chivying than others. I'm enjoying the game greatly

and I am considering running a larger version, with more players and smaller forces when this one is finished. The idea being that smaller forces mean that players have fewer things to worry about while more players allows you to create a chain of command, which offers greater opportunities for roleplaying.

More players does mean more players to chivy though...

...that said, given that shift work will be my lot for the forseeable future, a game that doesn't require all the players to be on the same schedule, while still scratching that wargaming itch might be no bad thing.