Tag: strelets 1/72

Scaling the Heights

James Fisher has a fascinating blog on Napoleonics. James asked me about Warrior Miniatures. Now I will say at this point Warrior Miniatures and I go back to the mid 1970’s, however my association has only ever been as a paying customer. So any effusive comments about them is simply reflecting my enthusiasm for their products.

So James wondered about plastics and the metals from Warrior Miniatures which I would add, shown here, are from their advertised 25mm range.

Now I have chosen to show the figures randomly arranged. Previously I have posted with some attempt to show exact height difference. Yet I think that ultimately it is the opinion that matters not the maths. So do they look ok?

Just for fun here are some other figure comparisons – I think hinds and caliver books still run these “retro” minifig/hinchliffe lines. I have posted elsewhere the gross sculpture change Greenwood & Ball did between their Garrison Normans and Vikings. I think the bigger more detailed Vikings shown here sunk without trace – while the older G&B figures were rerun for a time into the 2000’s?

Here is another oddity – again a short life production from Minifigs

Now I have dug out a later 25mm 1700 grenadier – I think its a foundry chap with practically no base.

Now some finished and based figures to compare against

To sum up, when it comes to height, I have become ever more tolerant and actually it is anatomy which jarrs my view. This is why I struggle with Perry figures – they are just so perfect. Which shows you just can’t please some people.

Finally a book which started my wargaming in earnest and is a celebration of fantasy gaming – I kid you not!

I leave you with this image from that book – published in 1967 – when it really probably was bad form not to have the correct facings or turnback colours etc. Lawford and Young said “play fantasy” and in the game photos they showed that scale was not a big issue. These look like 30mm figures rubbing shoulders with 45mm figures?????

Above all if it looks right to you then it is fine – play* away.

*tournament players will not be so lucky methinks.

Tags 20-25mm, 20mm, 20mm plastics, 25mm, 25mm metals, figure scales, hat 1/72, hat miniatures, strelets, strelets 1/72, warrior miniatures, waterloo 1815 1/72

metal miniatures miniatures painting Vienna Treaty Wars wargaming

Hey its Summer!

Summer is here and some fine weather is in prospect, following on a week or so of warm and sunny days.

So the paint brush gang have packed their bags and headed for the seaside or wherever paintbrushes go in holiday.

That means the Painting Pedestal stands bare.

Hopefully the Painting Pedestal will return later this year. Meanwhile the Painting Table is crowded with a queue of figures pleading to be painted or have their bases finished off……..

Enjoy your Summer whatever the weather and whatever you do.

Tags hat 1/72, Irregular miniatures, painting miniatures, strelets 1/72, the painting pedestal, warrior miniatures

garibaldi wargaming Mid 19th Century Wargaming miniatures painting wargaming

The Painting Pedestal: The Kingdom of Sardinia

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 30th Mar 2021
No Comments on The Painting Pedestal: The Kingdom of Sardinia

Italy in the mid 19th century continues to fascinate me with my project to build armies of the Risorgimento, Wars of the Italian Unification (WotIU), or even the decline and fall of the Austro Hungarian Empire. The fact is that “The Empire”, once Holy Roman and western successor to the original Roman Empire, had its hands all over Italy having displaced French and Spanish interests after the fall of Napoleon in 1815.

The Kingdom of Sardinia is confusingly also known as the Kingdom of Piedmont which was just part of its claim.

So you often get written descriptions of Piedmontese fighting or occasionally Sardinians but usually Bersaglieri (who did all the fighting!). My recent Bersagleri efforts can be seen in this post.

https://thewargamingerratic.home.blog/tag/piquet-wargame-rules/

Actually it is not true about the Bersagleri being the only soldiers in Italian armies – its a bit like British Grenadiers being the only useful infantry in a british army. Bersaglieri (sharpshooters) were elite troops armed with rifled muskets and latterly breech loading rifles, who were often in the thick of the fighting, used as shock troops, and using a freedom of action which in turn required much greater discipline.

So in the wargaming world it is not surprising the mainstream manufacturers have gone for Bersaglieri.

Sadly this range by Waterloo 1815 remains incomplete

Waterloo 1815 make their Italian Bersaglieri in 1/72. Strelets actually name their offering Sardinians – technically correct – again their are characteristically Bersaglieri.

Strelets’ only adventure into this war era – although they did a lot of Crimean figures – key ones are now out of production – and yes the Bersagleri really fought there alongside the French, Turks and British.

The poor old line infantry of Sardinia/Piedmont get short shrift. The saving grace is the Amercian Civil War where manufacturers offer an abundance of figures which can be borrowed………..

Shakoes can be a problem, yet even here clothing fashion in military terms meant armies in the mid 19th century tended to be either “french” (kepis/short shakoes) or “germanic” (helmets/caps) or “british” (short shakoes/caps) in styling. And then of course you get emulation. The British love of “bearskin” clad soldiers dates from the demise of Napoleons’ Imperial Guard. Within a few years the French had resurrected their own Bearskin Guardsmen as well. And it seems everyone had a post Napoleonic frenzy in glitzy uniforms for almost 40 years until barrel rifling and breech loaders changed warfare.

Finally you find tucked away a manufacturer who has provided apparently everything you need for the Sardinian kingdom.

Lucky Toys made two sets – garibaldi’s redshirts (very 1859 I think) and Piedmont Infantry and Bersaglieri (again circa 1859 I think). Thats easy to explain – 1859 was the war year which saw the Austrian grip on Italy collapse.

All this adds up to lots of possibilities for mid 19th century armies fighting across Italy.

Here is Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia courtesy of Lucky Toys.

So there will be some posts on my latest additions to the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Question is – which decade?

Tags bersaglieri, King Victor Emmanuel, Kingdom of Sardinia, lucky toys, Lucky Toys Garibaldeans, piedmont, piedmontese, risorgimento, strelets 1/72, wars of the italian unification, waterloo 1815 bersaglieri

1/72 scale figures 20/25/28mm figures Mid 19th Century Wargaming miniatures painting wargaming

The Painting Pedestal: Brigata Dunne

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 22nd Mar 2021
2 Comments on The Painting Pedestal: Brigata Dunne

Gabriele Esposito has written a fine Osprey about the Italian Wars of Unification. In fact he has two: Part 1 covering Sardinia/Piedmont plus the two Sicilies while part 2 covers Papal States, Minor States and Volunteers.

They are Men-at-Arms series Nos 512 ansd 520.

This particular unit is based for my preferred rulesets by Neil Thomas and Piquet Field of Battle.

With only 12 figures for a battalion they may not be to some people’s liking. Equally they are 1/72 and plastic so 28mm metal fans will have no joy here.

I am quite taken with MAA 520 because it is not just the colour plates that offer so much opportunity and variety. Often in the past Ospreys offered little on uniforms beyond the text for the plates – much of the other text dwelling on potted histories and organisation. These MAA’s offer lots of uniform detail. The black and white plates are very relevant (not always the case in Ospreys), well chosen and in the case of volunteers lots of choice.

I have discovered that there was an English battalion of volunteers in the Sicily campaign of 1860 during the Second War of Unification. It was followed by an English Legion which saw no action. They were all part of the Brigade or Brigata named Dunne after its English Commander.

Plate H1 showing an english volunteer of Brigata Dunne also figures on the front cover of MAA 520.

I used Strelets 1877 Russians in summer dress as they offered the nearest thing to this figure in my view. You might say – well there are plenty of ACW figures that would fill the gap. Well I did look and somehow none looked the part when compared with Strelets 1877 Russians.

Plastic Solder Review complained about the missing bayonets which applies here as well.

I can live with that – 1/72 plastics is often about compromise. I am pleased with the result. In this case Guiseppe Ravas’ illustration made the job easy.

Tags Brigata Dunne, Gabriele Esposito, Neil Thomas Wargame Rules, osprey books, osprey MAA 512, osprey MAA 520, plastic soldier review, sicily 1860, strelets 1/72, strelets 1877 Russians, wars of italian unification, wars of the italian unification

1/72 scale figures 20/25/28mm figures basing Mid 19th Century Wargaming miniatures painting

The Painting Pedestal: Bersaglieri

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 5th Mar 2021
3 Comments on The Painting Pedestal: Bersaglieri

In my last post I mentioned some pesky Bersaglieri – so here they are. 1848/1859 and all that………..

My own preference these days is to have command bases even where the rules don’t require them. Impetus rules tempted me away from the rigidity of DBA and with its larger bases plus the variable figure poses offered by 1/72 I really like the combination.

Yes these chaps are the slightly maligned Lucky Toys which stand at almost 26mm high.

In build along with some Piedmont Line Infantry and Red Shirts, so you know what is coming down the line sometime……..

Read the Plastic Soldier Review, be horrified and then pay about £4 for 30 odd figures which you have to build yourself just like Perry plastics!

These Bersaglieri are meant to represent Piedmontese/Sardinians in summer dress (white trousers) and will work from the 1840’s to 1870ish.

I paint the bases in burnt umber followed by a yellow ochre heavy dry brush and finish with a pale yellow highlight. I prefer the clumps of grass which to my mind looks right even though Lombardy can look just like the bright green fields of England on its day.

Artists license as they say.

Tags bersaglieri, lucky toys, piedmontese, Piquet Wargame Rules, plastic soldier review, sardinians, strelets 1/72, the painting pedestal

1/72 scale figures 20/25/28mm figures Mid 19th Century Wargaming miniatures painting wargaming

Piedmontese Unit 1 Complete

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 12th Jan 2021
No Comments on Piedmontese Unit 1 Complete

The first milestone is complete. I have a unit of Piedmontese for the period around 1850. Probably the first figures in this era I have painted (well since the year DOT Airfix ACW figures that started me off wargaming).

Next up on the painting board are some Austrians looking quite serious and on the other hand Bersaglieri – complete with capercaillie feathers.

Tags 1/72 plastics, austrians, bersaglieri, Field of Battle rules, piedmontese, Piquet Wargame Rules, plastic soldier review, strelets 1/72, woodland scenics

1/72 scale figures new additions wargaming

Plan A 2021

The beauty of a written plan is you can tear it up and then reflect later on whether things got better or worse as a result!

So here is plan A for 2021.

Whats in a Name

My wargames plan A for 2020 was about Normans in the South (NitS) and that plan “went south” which is in the negative. At least Plan B gave me plenty of wargames pleasure.

For 2021 I am in the nineteenth century and specifically it is the wars of Italian Unification which have me dazzled.

Abbreviations give me WoIU. Not very catchy. Or I could tweak it to get WotIU – Watteu.

hmmmmmm.

OK we will run with that WotIU.

WotIU in my plan runs from Napoleon to Nation State as Lucy Riall says on the cover of her book entitled “Risorgimento”. So I could go with “Risorgimento”. That feels a bit constricting though.

And low and behold Neil Thomas gives you a book – Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe 1815-1878.

Excellent. Too Excellent as Neil Thomas offers you a myriad of armies to choose from. And it is anything but uniform in this period.

Skakos, coatees, knee gaiters, stovepipes, kittels, greatcoats, kepis, short gaiters, spikey helmets, zoaves, bersaglieri……….and red shirts.

So where do I begin?

Two armies around 1855 – looking a bit like

Austrian – kittels, trousers and small tapered shakos

Piedmont – kepi, trousers and frock coats or tunics

It seems the cavalry still resembled napoleonic styles but with trousers.

So I have made a start with some ACW Union Infantry being repurposed as Piedmontese Line Infantry.

The aim will be to get some forces on the table.

So posts might be thin on the ground if I am painting well……..

Tags lucy riall, Neil Thomas, painting figures, painting miniatures, risorgimento, strelets 1/72, wargames projects, wars of italian unification

anglo saxons miniatures painting wargaming

More Progress with Anglo Saxons

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 17th Jul 2020
No Comments on More Progress with Anglo Saxons

My anglo saxon army is growing with the addition of many more bases. I am settled on 80mm wide impetus style basing where the idea is to inject a little variety into figure presentation. This is quite easy with strelets who produce a reasonable pose mix with each set they make. In the case of the anglo saxons it gets even better when you buy they big battle sets as I did. The stamford bridge set is the only one currently available though.

I decorate the base with budgie grit on pva glue (games workshop idea) and use a three colour painting technique. Dark red earth base colour with heavy dry brush of yellow ochre over it followed by a light yellow/white top dry brush. I am looking for sandy and dare I say summer like conditions, no green green grass of home for my troops.

I used some little big man shield transfers for 28mm anglo saxon bucklers on a few of the figures. They blend in ok I think.

I finish with some foliage. In this case I am using Peco Railway scenics which are autumnal or greenish brown grasses.

So thats it for now, next up on show are my first “el cid” Hat 1/72 figures posing as Italo-Normans.

Tags 1/72 plastics, anglo saxon strelets, anglo saxons, basing miniatures, little big man transfers, miniature figures, miniatures painting, painting figures, peco grass foliage, strelets 1/72

wargaming

Shieldwall

Many years ago, although it seems only recently to me, I bought several titles from the Warhammer Ancient Battles booklist – they included Siege & Conquest – all about the siege; Chariot Wars; the WAB basic rule set itself; The Chinese Warring States and all that plus Shieldwall. A fairly random mix you might say which is correct.

I never really bought into Warhammer or Games Workshop after I returned to wargaming in the late 1990’s. I dropped neatly into 15mm and DBA. The 600mm square tabletop battlefield, relatively small metal mountains that could be painted and a simple ruleset that was popular all fitted my constrained interests and time.

And yet despite plenty of enjoyment 15mm became a compromise and once the restrictions on table size were removed I returned to the idea of 25mm (old style) which I suppose is my roots. Despite buying some 28mm figures that size has failed to ignite my interest.

I have discovered that 20mm/25mm or 1/72 is the figure size that appeals to me: Sufficient in size for each individual warrior, painting repays in the visual look while the table top is of the order 6′ x 4′ or 1.8m x 1.2m which is my limit.

And my 25mm wargaming odyssey has taken me back to the past with 1/72 plastics displacing metals but in the modern style from prolific manufacturers such as Zvezda, Strelets, Hat, Ceasar and the occasional Orion, Mars, Emhar and ok even vintage Revell. But it is not all plastic – tumbling dice miniatures have offered up some really nice figures to compliment the plastics. And so to have SHQ, Newline and Irregular Miniatures.

One thing I have done since returning to the hobby is read and that includes reading rulesets. In fact reading them more than I play them!

You need only one ruleset to play wargames for any one period. So I can’t explain why I have dozens. Yet rulesets are personal statements. In their way they seem to me someones interpretation of history albeit through their take on gaming mechanisms. So they are still history books in a way and thats how I consume them.

I only have historic wargames rulesets – fantasy wargaming is something I left behind in the 1970’s – Sci-Fi I could never get my head round.

And fantasy was for me doing dungeons and dragons in the 1970’s before it all took off. And yet my historical interests have always been tempered by an interest in historical fiction. Not the Sharp novels ilk. More a case of a parallel universe where so much is instantly recognisable yet the story lines, characters, countries have different names.

Each to their own as they say.

Well being inclined to Anglo-Saxons at the moment I dug out the Shieldwall book which I kept because like Chariot Wars it felt like a well researched and back then a well designed package. I never played the WAB ruleset with Shieldwall. Just maybe I might give it a go now.

Of course it is approaching vintage (25 years plus) and oldhammer is probably in the Oxford dictionary as a particular type of old wargamer already.

The constant theme though is to enjoy reading history, enjoy imaginative history and paint miniatures and if with a fair wind play some games. In short it is escapism – taking pleasure in playing with imagination.

anglo saxons miniatures painting

1/72 Strelets Anglo Saxons

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 19th Jun 2020
No Comments on 1/72 Strelets Anglo Saxons

After what seems like an age my latest painting efforts are nearing completion. This dark age group is the largest I have painted in one round and that has taught me a lesson. Small is beautiful as in 40 odd figures take a while to get completed. Volume means quicker painting but overall completion is longer. I like the idea of completing one or two bases and then starting over again. That feels like a better painting cycle.

Tags miniature figures, miniatures painting, strelets 1/72, strelets saxons