Who am I? - Mystery Death Mask

I dropped into Mrs Kinch great uncles home the other day. It was mainly for a medicinal sherry and a bit of chin wag, but while I was there, he mentioned that there were one or two death masks in his collection that he couldn't put names to.

I should mention that this fellow possesses a really fine collection of death masks including a rather good Inconnu of the Siene, a Cromwell, Napoleon, Frederick the Great and all the gang - including a rather fanciful Joan of Arc.  It keeps him busy along when his collection of 19th century celebrities wallpaper, German carte d'visite from the Great War and portraits of Parisian tarts aren't occupying his time. 




So if anyone can venture a guess as to this chaps identity, I'd be very glad to pass it along. The mask was bought in Berlin about twenty years ago.

Any ideas gentlemen?

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The Battle of Assaye

Expatriot Mercenary General Gorman leads the Tippoos troops on the field of Assaye. The elephant palanquin is just slightly out of shot, my apologies.

Uwe over at History in 1/72 may be interested in Seringapatam, I on the otherhand am rather more interested in the Battle of Assaye. Wellington once described as the victory he was proudest of, which means something from the chap generally accepted to have won the Battle of Waterloo (quiet at the back Hofschroer) .

I've been tinkering with ideas for scenarios set during Wellington's campaigns in India for a while now, so I finally sat down and put a scenario down on paper.

Those of you who have been reading for a while, know that I had something rather special planned for the 12th of July. Sadly, that has had to be postponed and as a result, along with being called to court at short notice, I was in a foul humour. I was contemplating a evening spent profitably kicking the cat and glowering at Mrs Kinch, while denying that anything was wrong. Then Gorman suggested that we might have a game after all. Savage came along as well along with Tootsie, that's Mrs Savage, and she and Mrs Kinch repaired to the kitchen where they smoked and do whatever it is that women do when they could be playing wargames.

Rather magnificent Mysorean rocket artillery from Uwe, painted by Krisztian. I keep toying with special rules for these chaps, but at present they're just standing in for artillery.

So we played a lot of games, did justice do some of General Gorman's port and finished off my remaining stock of Asbach Urband. The Peninsula games I'll put up in due course, but I was most pleased with how the Assaye games went. We used the rules I'd sketched out previously and a map I cobbled together from a mixture of Weller and the Osprey. We used my fictional Khala-akatans to stand in for the Maratha's. The games went well, with the honours even at two victories a piece. 

I will need more cavalry however.

More of Uwe's crew, this time manning monster gun - I presume a Revell knock off, as it was originally in a box of Mars 17th century artillery

The British won by a greater margin, but I've weakened their forces somewhat to make it a little more even and hopefully with some blind playtests it might be fit to see the light of day. Drop me a line in the comments box and I'll send you a copy, just let me know how it turns out.

 The British centre looking decidly thin - I seem to recall I lost this one.

It was a good night and all the better for being unexpected. I'm much more confident about my scenario designs that I was a while ago, where I suspected it was more a sort of black art that I didn't really understand. Which I suppose shows that nothing beats doing a thing.

And we will get to the Boyne. 


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Boom, boom, boom

 Jacobite & Williamite Artillery for the Boyne

Baldricks war poetry aside, these guns will be doing duty at the Boyne in the near future. Sadly, they will not be doing so this week.  A trip to the hospital has confirmed that while the majority of what has been ailing Kinch is cuts, bruises and injured pride, I also have a bruised femur* and some soft tissue damage on my leg which will not permit of the sort of country ramble that we've been planning. 

Irregular miniatures painted by Krisztian Takacs, guns by Old John 

To be honest, I'm a bit downhearted about the whole thing as the medical wallah was of the opinion that I won't be fit to march for ten days or so. I'll be taking leave from work, but to be honest I'm very unhappy that this is having to be postponed. General Gorman has been very good about it and his "we'll do it together or not do it all" attitude lifted my spirits considerably. 

That said, far worse things happen at sea and have been happening on land. 

This fine fellows will be for sale in the near futur

That said, far worse things happen at sea and have been happening on land. Though this week was not entirely without good news. I hope to return to blogging at the usual pace very shortly.  

*I know. It was new to me too. I knew you could bruise skin, egos and feel




ings, but never considered the possibility that you could bruise bones.

Normal service will resume shortly

Jacobite cavalry, don't they look smart?

Chaps, just a brief note to assure you that I haven't shuffled off this mortal coil.

A more than usually heavy work and domestic schedule, exacerbated by an off duty injury  complicated by an on-duty injury,  is occupying most of my time at present.

In the mean time talk amongst yourselves, read my column in Battlegames and I'll be back in a jiffy.

Janissaries of the Sun King

 A Frenchmen in any other coat would be as dastardly

To recap - my regular opponent General Gorman and I are marching from Dublin to the site of the Boyne battlefield. This is a distance of fifty kilometres as they measure such things on the continent.

We are men of portly habit and this is not something we would have undertaken lightly.

However, last year a wargaming chum of ours lost a child, Kathryn. She lived for eleven days and brought great joy into her parents life.   She was cared for in Temple Street Children's Hospital, which for reasons that baffle me doesn't have all the equipment it needs. During Kathryn's stay in Temple Street, she was hooked up to a monitor, a piece of equipment that costs €20,000 and that lasts for five years.

Young Gorman and I have managed to raise €3,500 in sponsorship for our Boyne walk. We're hoping to raise a little more than that in the final furlong.

Should you wish to check our bona fides or donate securely you may do so here.

 What has this to do with the Boyne, you ask? Nothing much really - it was a place that we picked because we could probably walk there in a day. It's also one of the more signicant battles that has taken place in Ireland and to be honest, there may have been alcohol consumed while we were discussing this course of action.

Shocked? I know, we're an abstimeous pair. I can only suppose that Gorman had a touch to much of the sherry trifle at the church fete.

Not content with walking there, we raised additional sponsorship by promising to carry a wargame of the battle with us and play it on our arrival. The troops above, painted by Krisztian Takacs, are for this game and they will be representing the French infantry of James II army.

The figures themselves are from Irregular miniatures and will be for sale along with the rest of the collection once the walk is over and I will be boring you with further pictures for quite some time.

We are doing everything in our power to raise additional funds, so if you have any ideas do let us know.

For those of you who'd like to see how our training has been going you can see some pictures here.

Battle of Salamanca (French Left) 22nd July 1812 Part Two

The French counter-attack my Portuguese cavalry

So there I was, surrounded by Frenchmen...

When I last wrote of this battle, things were looking grim for the home team. A sudden charge by the Swiss on my left had been blunted by volleys from the 4th Foot, but they were then engaged by French cavalry who pinned them in square. Honours were about equal, I had driven a battalion of Swiss from the field, while Mr E, my opponent, had destroyed the 60th Rifles. But with three units in square on my left, I was running perilously short of cards to play.

I had launched an attack on my right, hoping to use my cavalry superiority on that flank to do unto Mr E as he had done unto me. My portuguese dragoons did some damage to the Legione Irlandaise and forced one battalion of the 8ieme Ligne into square, but they were counter attacked by French troops from the centre, which left one squadron of Portuguese teetering on one block. I moved the 18th Hussars up in support, but it did not look that it would be enough.

The struggle continues on the British left

Mr E was finding himself in a bit of a pickle on his right as well. His cavalry were doing sterling work, holding my chaps pinned - but the perennial problem of cavalry facing infantry raised its ugly head. He could hold me in square and ride me down to red ruin if I came out of it, but couldn't harm me if I remained in square. His infantry were too far away to do me much harm for a turn or two and were so understrength that it would be a bold move to let me get within reach of them.

The cavalry infantry stalemate on the British right takes a turn for the worse with the arrival of some French chasseurs. The Legione Irelandaise badly shaken need to be rescued before they're driven off, but the Pork & Beans shatter one French battalion in return. The honours so far 2-1 to me.

But soft, what light from yonder hill flashes? Christ! It's a twelve pounder gun.

One of the disadvantages of Mr E surprise spoiling attack was that he was left without much in the way of artillery support. Like the canny General that he is, he set about putting this to rights.

And was rewarded when held in square by the cavalry and now pummelled by gunfire, the 4th Foot went for its tea thus evening the odds.

Things were not looking entirely rosey on the right flank either, the French chasseurs supports by a battalion of the 8ieme Ligne rode down first one, then two Portuguese squadrons. 4-2 to Mr E. Damnation.

Revanche!

However never daunted, the 18th Hussars ride down the French chasseurs. They may be slow talking fellows in Drogheda, but they ride fast horses! 4-3 to Mr E.

Now this is where it begins to get interesting

As you can see Mr E is a good position here. He has two full strength French battalions supported by guns on the hill. He can advance under cover of gunfire, even better if he had a Bayonet charge in hand which would allow him to close the distance speedily. My Portuguese valiant fellows that they are, cannot stand toe to toe with Mr E veterans. I have numbers on my side, but he has quality.

The second squadron of Chassuers supports Mr E's guns. 

While the 8ieme Ligne advances. The 18th Hussars fall back.

Now this is where is gets really interesting.

The Second Battalion 4th Foot move in on the weakened 1ieme Swisse

Mr E had handled my little army rather roughly so far, but some turns ago he had managed to drive off the 4th Foot with gunfire. However, it doesn't matter that they ran away, they will surely come back again and in coming of out of square, they freed up a very useful card, Bayonet Charge. Bayonet Charge allows four infantry units anywhere on the board to move two hexes, twice their usual allowance, and attack in melee. Used correctly it can be devastating and I had every intention of using it correctly.

However, I was only going to have one chance at this stroke and with Mr E level on cards and one ahead on points, it was going to take some carefuly handling.

And in a puff of smoke and a gleam of bayonets they were gone.

With the scores now even at 4-4, I managed to drive off one squadron of French hussars with fire from the two remaining squares. I forgot to take a picture of them, but they had been taking desultory fire for several turns and it was more a case of chipping away than a sudden collapse. 

The charge goes in...

 ...and it's crushing. My brave Portuguese, who I'd been so worried about earlier, did me so proud. They advanced with a Waterloo Picton waving an umbrella at their head. Up, up, up towards the enemy!

And it's all over. 

This was a game of hard pounding, Mr E came close to defeating me decisively by his typically bold moves early on in the game, but my counter attack badly weakened his infantry and made it impossible for him to support the success of his cavalry. His hussars and chasseurs did good service pinning me in square, but ended up riding around and around my squares fruitlessly, while my own cavalry managed to take some of the pressure off on my right. I was lucky to get the Bayonet Charge card when I needed it. No doubt he will weigh in with his own observation in time.

Mr E was a worthy opponent and we did justice to a wonderful bottle of Madeira while we did battle. A very pleasent evening spent in good company and another Command & Colours scenario ticked off the list.

HAT Spanish Infantry

Infantry sprue

For ease of reference each ruled square is 5/8 of an inch (click to embiggen)

I was very lucky to get my paws on some early released sprues of HAT Industries rather handsome new Spanish infantry. These will be of no real interest to those for whom it is eternally 1810 (I'm looking at you Foy), but for those of use who would like to play Bailen and the Sieges of Saragossa, these figures offer the first opportunity to do so in platic.

The figures themselves are made in the soft plastic familiar from most of HAT recent releases. It glues and takes paint well. The numbers of poses feature a pleasently large number of marching men, which will make it a great deal easier to make up whole units. 

Marching poses           6
At Attention                2
Advancing                   2
Firing                           1
Loading                        1

Command sprue (click to embiggen)

The command sprue is a mixture of figures. There is a Infantry Line officer, two ensigns (one of whom is a grenadier), two sergeants (one of whom from his belly bullet box* and poncho, I believe is a light infantryman), a pioneer (with seperate arm bearing a spade), a light infantry hornist, a grenadier drummer and another officer with a sash. The final figure (bottom right hand corner) is a drummer or perhaps a flautist, he's carrying something that looks awfully like drumsticks, but there is only one drum.

Perhaps prospective buyers will have to choose between wanting a grenadier drummer or one from the line.

Some HAT marching infantry lined up with advancing Falcata chaps

I spared no time and set to with stanley blade and superglue and put a unit together with the figures from the sprues and some Falcata spares that I had lying around. I shall have to consult my sources, as I'm not sure what Spanish infantry regiments I'm short, but I think you'll agree they look well.

A close up of three of the command figures, officer, pioneer, sergeant

The command figures are nice, I particularly like casual air of officer, marching into battles while tapping the palm of his hand with his sword - a pose reminiscent of a particularly repellant Irish teacher I had in primary school. Our Spanish friend is better dressed though.

Falcata and HAT side by side

I think the Falcata are slightly heftier, which is understandable given that they are metal, however I think they are a good match for the HAT figures and I expect to use them to supplement the plastic set in my growing Spanish army. This is a set I'm looking forward to seeing more of.

Viva Espagne!

*And if that isn't a phrase that gives pleasure for simple alliteration, I don't know what is. I shall say it again - belly bullet box.