No More an Unknown Soldier

Some months ago, I purchased a batch of Franco-Prussian War figures that included 24 painted Prussian infantry mounted four to a stand.  I had never seen this type of sculpt but I figured that they were an older sculpting just from the more slender appearance.

Unfortunately the bases were too big for the rule set I use, Chassepot and Needlegun.  So I was forced to soak and separate the figures from the bases, which went without any problems.  Once the figures were cleaned of glue and flocking, I searched for any markings.

Here is a picture of one of the infantrymen showing the round base.  There were no markings on bottom of the base but there was something engraved on the top.

As I looked at all of the bases, there were several where the base color had remained in the etching.

And lo, almost like the "One Ring," I could discern the word "Willie."  These were vintage Willie figures!!

So now I have a battalion of Willie German infantry.  With a little judicious repainting, mainly the cuffs, they have become the 2nd Battalion, 1st Hessian Infantry Regiment, Lieb Garde, of the 49th Infantry Brigade, 25th Ducal Hessian Infantry Division, IX Corps.  Their compatriot 1st Battalion is composed of vintage 1" Scruby figures.  And being the Lieb Garde, it is only fitting that both battalions be composed of such vintage figures.

Gotha Raid on a Bridge

Lats Thursday several of the retired Jackson Gamers gathered for our weekly lunch and game.  This time we again flew the "unfriendly" skies of war-torn Europe using my Wings of War/Wings of Glory airplanes.  The scenario originally was for two German Gotha bombers to raid targets behind the allied lines with six allied two-seaters operating in defense.  But I only had enough maneuver cards for three allied planes so I reduced the bomber strength to one.

The bomber (flown by me) had a choice of two targets.  I chose the bridge which was only "protected" by one allied fighter.  It was an interesting mission as I overflew my turn-in point for the bomb run and had to make a different approach.  I think that mistake sealed my doom as you'll see below.

We had a plethora of engine's smoking and catching fire on both sides as well as many machine guns jamming.

As usual, please click on the pictures for a larger image.

After making the turn toward the bridge target, my Gotha is pursued by two enemy fighters.

After the successful bombing run, I head for home, pursued by all three enemy fighters.  "Ace" pilot Lord Sterling (red shirt) ruefully considers the consequences of allowing the Gotha to get away.

But I didn't.  The Belgian "ace" Russ shot me down just before I could cross the front lines.

Having missed my turn-in point was my downfall.  That extra set of maneuvering I had to do was what sealed my doom.  But it was a fun and exciting game especially as machine guns jammed just at the worst (or best for the traget's point of view) times.  At one time I had both my forward and aft guns jammed for a series of three maneuver cards.

Killing the Wako

Last Saturday, five of the Jackson Gamers met at Russ' house for a samurai game using his magnificently painted 25/28mm figures.  Russ had set up a scenario where a local daimyo's forces were attacking a wako (pirate) base.  Three of us controlled the daimyo's forces and two controlled the pirates.

My command, on the right flank, consisted of six ashigaru units, five with melee weapons and one with bows.  We used a highly modified samurai warfare version of the venerable "Rules by Ral."

Here are a few pictures I took using the camera on my phone.  They are not the best since I have an inexpensive phone (not really needing anything better).  I had forgotten to bring my regular camera.

My command marches forward towards the wako village.

My target was a small stretch of wattle wall just to the right of the main gate.

But we were distracted by a couple of ambushes.  On my right one of my ashigaru units spotted some pirates hiding in rough terrain.  They got the jump and charged me but my men fought them off and forced them to fall back.  I followed up and destroyed those pirates.

While on my left a group of armed peasants tried the same thing but, seeing my staunch fellows, couldn't get up the nerve to attack.  My ashigaru charged them and they wouldn't stand, fleeing to the rear.  My men followed them through the rough terrain and scattered them completely.  That's two enemy units destroyed!

After my bowmen had softened up the defenders, I launched my first attack.  I could only fit one unit at a time into the attack.  My first unit didn't do so well, eventually losing all but two men  and fleeing to the rear after the unit's samurai leader was killed in the attack.

My next unit didn't do so well either, losing its samurai leader and half the ashigaru.  But the defenders had been whittled down.  Maybe my next attack would be successful.

But my third attack was also unsuccessful though this unit's leader wasn't killed.  They would rally and come back to support my final attacks.

My final attack killed two of the last four defenders but lost five of their own.  I still had another complete unit to throw in when the pirates, realizing further resistance was futile, threw down their weapons.

While I was involved attacking on the right flank, my two compatriots launched their attacks on the center and left.  The center force consisted of two mounted and three foot samurai units and aimed for the main gate.  The left flank force had the same composition as mine.  Both ran into ambushes but successfully fought them off.  Their attacks finally went in and destroyed almost all the pirates causing the game to be called.

We had a good game, especially using Russ' exquisite figures and his wonderful terrain.  Russ is a retired college art professor and has a deft hand with a paint brush.  We always enjoy his games.

September American Revolution Painting

As I stated in my August American Revolution painting post, I only had two more units to paint in this current batch of figures.  They were the Loyalist 3rd Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers and the American 6th Virginia State Line Regiment.  The latter is a speculative unit designation.

As usual, please click on the pictures to get a larger image.

The 3rd Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers, is a Loyalist unit that saw action both around New York city and in the south so it gives me different battle options.  They are wearing the earlier green coat.  The figures are all Custom Cast.  With white facings the battalion carries a British-style white regimental color.

The 6th Virginia State Line Regiment is a speculative unit designation although Virginia did have a number of state line regiments.  The uniforms are a mix of two of the different French coats and pants mixes that were provided to them as well as some brown dyed British coats.  The figures are a mix of vintage Scruby Miniatures, older Miniature Figurines, and Custom Cast.  Even though two of the 3-figure stands are wearing light infantry regalia, the entire unit is a standard line infantry battalion.  The flag is a speculative one based on the Virginia seal.

And I thought that I would again show the method that I use to identify each unit.  I developed a Word table form that has one row of cells containing just the unit identification that is just tall enough to cover the back of each stand and then a row of cells that is almost as wide as the stand and contains the unit designation, the manufacturer of the figures, and the month and year in which they were painted.

The British, German, and Loyalist units have red unit labels while the Americans have blue unit labels.

The labels are arranged in thin and then thick rows.  After printing, I cut them apart, remembering not to separate the two parts of the label.  I score the dividing line and fold the label, then glue it to the base with standard PVA  (Elmer's) glue.

Next up in October are more "companies" for the Gallian (French) Royale Ecossais Regiment and, hopefully, two small Carpanian (Prussian) battalions for my Imagi-Nations armies.