Haitian Revolution - French Grenadiers

 

More figures for my Haitian Revolution project, the figures were actually painted up a few weeks

ago, but I've only just had the chance to base them up.

The figures are from Trent Miniatures bought from Arcane minis.

Here, for £5 for a pack of 4 figures, which is a tad on the expensive side, but hey ho what you gonna do ah?

I've made up 2 units of 8, but they may be used in 6's instead for games, but who knows?

Happy Christmas 2020!!!

 

I'd like to wish all my friends and readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Let's hope 2021 is an improvement on 2020, lets face it it can't get any worse, can it?

I haven't played a proper game since March and I'm getting a little cranky!!!

(Note, the lack of social distancing in the pic above!)

Donnybrook - English Grenadiers

 I've been wanting to paint up some Grenadiers for my Donnybrook Shenanigans for some time, so during the lockdown I thought I'd take a small break from the Haitian Revolution and go Donnybrook once again. 

Its all Martin from 28mm Heroes blogs fault. After getting the great pressie in the post a month ago, Martin mentioned that he had some Grand Alliance figures for sale, so I bought a few from him, they got a little damaged in the post So I tarted them up a little, then varnished them several times in matt to get rid of Martin's old style gloss.

After painting basing them up I decided to finally get around to doing a few more. So out came the mega pile of unpainted lead I bought from fellow blogger Dave Crook the summer before last (I think?)

They're all Dixon minis which are a little smaller than most nowadays, but they're still crackin looking figures. Mistake No 1, I should have checked the Donnybrook ruleset for numbers in units ( you'd have thought I knew this off by heart by the amount of Donnybrook posts I've done??)

I painted 6 figures when it should have been 8? Don't tell anyone......

The first unit represents Leslies regt or could be any other red coated and red cuffed unit in the English, Jacobite or Dutch armies.

Blue? I hear you ask? Yes blue, up until 1690 the Earl of Bath regt wore a blue coated faced red.

A very generic looking unit, mine are the 1st Guards commanded by the Duke of Schomberg, but again 

they could pass for any blue cuffed regt in the 3 armies.

The buff cuffed unit is Charles Churchill's regt otherwise known as the Holland regt, later known as The Buffs. Incidentally Churchill was the brother of the other Churchill, The Duke himself.

Many regts had the cuff colour white, including many of the Scots regiments, so I've gone for the Earl of Levan's regt for mine. Of course it could also be any of the others.

Lastly, yellow was a popular colour for cuffs in the English army, so these could represent army units,

Mine is Trelawney's regt, otherwise known as the 2nd Tangier regt.

The 11th Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

Can't believe its that time of year once again? 

The Dark Lord otherwise known as Curt has announced the 11th Analogue Painting Challenge "The Chambers of Challenge"

So if you'd like to sign up, beware there's only 80 people in it this year, so get your skates on,  then click this link for Curt's page with all the info you need.

I'm sure most of you guys out there have seen on my blog just how the Challenge motivates

you to get things painted up, so give it a go!!

 

A Taste of Victory & Every Bullet has its Billet.....Yes Please!

 

Just in time for Christmas comes these 2 new books for the best period in wargaming history!!!

Do we actually need more books on the Wars of the Late 17th century, I hear you ask???

Oh course we bloody do!!!!

Today's post is a bit of a homage to Mr Barry Hilton as the very clever chappie wrote both of these books!

The first is the long eagerly waited A Taste of Victory. Rather than me write about the book I've pinched Barry's blurb from his League of Augsburg blog.

 "All systems appear GO! I am expecting delivery of Taste of Victory! in the third week of December so am gearing up for the pre order. Delivery will be as soon as possible after that pending the usual Christmas postal challenges.

The book is 116 pages, full colour, hardback and printed by the same company who did such a good job on With Talon and Claw.

It contains 18 scenarios for Beneath the Lily Banners. Each can be played on a table between 6 x 4 and 6 x 6 feet in size over 2-3 hours.

The period covered by these scenarios is 1676 to 1693. The theatres are: Skane Wars, Great Turkish War, Morean War, Tangier, Sedgemoor Rebellion, Jacobite Wars in Ireland and Scotland, Nine Years War in Flanders, Rhineland, The Caribbean and North America.

The book is priced at £30 and postage will be £5 anywhere in the world for the pre-order reverting to normal postage rates when it goes on general release.

It is available here to pre order:  A TASTE OF VICTORY!

Pre-order link for USA: A TASTE OF VICTORY"

The second book Every Bullet has its Billet written by Mr Hilton and published by the almighty Helion & Company, is also available in December, you can register your interest on Helion's website here.

Once again why write my own when Helion explain the book excellently.

"From the Restoration of England’s monarchy until the end of the War of the League of Augsburg, nearly every country in Europe experienced conflict. Until recently, this period was perceived as a wargaming backwater overshadowed by the Thirty Years War fought 1618-1648 and the War of the Spanish Succession which followed from 1701-1714.
It is one of military history’s most colourful and exciting eras which saw the birth of regular armies and navies for most major European powers. Massive battles were fought on land and at sea from the frozen winters of Scandinavia to the searing summer heat of North Africa. Alliances were agreed, broken and remade and thrones changed hands in the name of religion and the pursuit of power.
This guide provides the kind of information wargamers require to take the step into a new period or, begin collecting a new army. It overviews the main conflicts and outlines major, minor and unusual battles.
How to create and paint your troops, information on uniforms and flags, which regiments fought where, the evolution of tactics and battlefield doctrines together with information on the legendary commanders who created them is all included.##The book is designed to act as a reference source and is not aligned with any particular rule set.
The title is a quote from a man who was a major influence on the entire period; Willem van Oranje, King William III."

Haitian Revolution - Lieutenant Col Thomas Maitland

I've been meaning to post this figure for a few weeks now, but couldn't find the time or 

willpower to post.

The whole family have been ill for the past 2 weeks, but finally were on the road to recovery!

The figure is from the fabulous Trent minis and represents Sir John Moore, but I've painted my figure up as Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Maitland of the 62nd foot.

Maitland was commissioned into the Edinburgh Light Horse, shortly after his birth, but did not take up his commission until he joined the 78th Foot as a Captain in 1778. He transferred to the 72nd Foot, and then to the 62nd Foot as a Major in 1790. He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in 1794 and Colonel and Brigadier-General in 1798.

In 1797, Maitland landed in Saint-Domingue, under orders to capture the French Colony. Maitland realised that his forces were quickly dying in droves due to yellow fever, and he began to negotiate a retreat with the rebel leader, Toussaint L'Ouverture.

Haitian Revolution - French Colonial Dragoons

I saw these figures painted up on Stuart's blog Dust Tears & Dice back in 2018. Its thanks to Stuart's

wonderful work that I'm now painting up hordes of Haitians, French & Brits myself.

There's not a great deal of info on the Colonial Dragoons to be perfectly honest.

There's not a great deal of info on the Colonial Dragoons to be perfectly honest.

Other than what's written in the Osprey book Napoleon's Overseas Armies.

Men at Arms 211.

"The unit wore all green jackets with round hats, and a shipping invoice tells us it was well equipped with green Dragoon housing, saddles, etc. It seems to have incorporated the cavalry brought over by General Leclerc, as well as finding recruits among the local populace favourable to the French 

metropolitan army"

 

Haitian Revolution - Rebel sharpshooters

I had a text the other week from Martin over on 28mm Heroes blog. Asking for my address as he had a little pressie for me????? A few days later these 14 Foundry Pirates arrived in the post!!

To say I was pleased is rather an understatement! And what made it even better (what can be better than free figures?) is that last month I had my finger hovering over the buy button for the same figures on Foundry's website!

I planned on getting 2 small units of 6 figures each, to have as Haitian Sharpshooters or skirmishers and perhaps a few command figures so I thought about these Pirates as they look different to the Trent miniatures I've already painted. 

I'm very glad I didn't buy them now, thank you very much Mr Cook!!!!

Unfortunately the figures got a little damaged in the post, so I had to paint over a few chips, which took no time at all. Then I followed that with a coat of Army Painter Strong tone stain, matt varnish and topped it off with my usual style of basing.

Brilliant!!!

Thank again Martin.

 

Donnybrook - Tangier/Moroccan Civilians 1680

I originally bought the Sally Forth Market with Tangier in mind, so I needed some North African

civilians to inhabit my little part of Tangier. The figures are from a variety of manufacturers.

Perry minis, from Their Crusade range,  Irregular minis and some Indian civilians doubling up as Moors from Eureka  minis ( a cheap and great buy from ebay!)

And here they are in the same market as my last post.

With 1 change?

Out goes the beer tent and in comes the Weaver selling his colourful rugs and carpets!

And no, none of them can fly!

Yes I know it does indeed look a tad too green and lush in the background

but hey ho, just look at the carpets instead, which were included in the market set from Sally Forth. 

 

Donnybrook - 17th Century Market

 

Its been relatively quiet on my blog over the last few weeks, but I have been busy elsewhere. No games I'm afraid, I'm not sure the Rejects will be getting a game for the rest of the year, which is a pretty depressing thought?

But I do have my Market to show off. You may recognise most of the civilian figures, which have made their way onto my blog over the last month or so, unlike all the different Market stalls on show.

Most are from the excellent Sally Forth, and are sold as "The Souk - Set Dressing.

They're made from MDF and paper and can be bout for only £20!

Which is a bargain.

You can buy most goods at the market....

The tables on the bottom right are from Warbases and are metal.

I bought the tables and benches at SELWG a few years ago, but can't remember who from?

The stripped top stall comes from SHQ and is made from resin, but I can't find it on their site??? The Green topped stall is a metal piece and is from Steve Barber Models.

I've seen a few bloggers moaning about the new blogger layout. I've gotta say, I think its bloody useless!!! Its taken me twice as long to write this post, I usually put up all my photos then start writing deleting photos as appropriate. How ridiculous that you can't delete photos as you go. Blogger's Definitely taken a few steps back!

Rant over!

Haitian Revolution - Haitian Infantry

More from Haiti or Saint Domingue as the French used to call it.

The figures are from Trent Miniatures as per usual with this project.

I bought 3 packs of CAR10 from Arcane Scenery & Models or rather my daughters did!

I've not put these chaps in units yet as I'm still unsure of which rules I'll be using.

I've kept them fairly generic so they can be used fighting against the French

or with them.

You can also see a glimpse of some of the jungle terrain I've been making in the background.

More on that at a later date.

Donnybrook - Col Bill's Villagers

 Bit of a change for today's post. I've painted a a few more Donnybrook civilians, as if I haven't enough already!!!!

I've had these Col Bill's Depot Battalion figures since they were first released a few years ago.

So I'm pleased to finally get them painted.

I've been collecting various manufacturers Market Stalls, for a scenario I'm trying to get together. Hopefully more on this soon!

Haitian Revolution - Slaves and Townsfolk

 

I wanted a few civilians for my Haitian Revolution project and they come from allsorts of companies!!

Figures 1, 2 & 5 in the pic are from Perry miniatures AWI Civilian pack.

The others I'm not sure of?

These figures came to me as part of a collection from the late Eric Knowles, via my chum & blogger Dave Crook. All bar figure 5 who's a Perry Miniature, come from Front Rank from various ranges. 

Yeh I know by this time the late 1790's the tricorn was out of fashion, but this is the colonies so they'd be lagging behind what's going on back in France at the time. 

So Tricorn's it is.

And I had then to paint up..........

The last figure is again from Perry minis, not sure about the other kids?

And lastly we have a few more Ladies and Gentlemen.

These were originally lined up to add to my 1690's Donnybrook collection, but at a pinch these will be transported through time 100 years to also appear in 1790's Saint Domingue!!

All figures are once again from Eric via Dave Crook and Front Rank!!!

Haitian Revolution - Terrain - Sugarcane field

 

My first terrain build for the Haitian Revolution and I decided on a Sugarcane field. Other crops grown were Cotton, Cacao and Coffee, with Sugarcane being the most prolific and important crop. 

The plants were an ebay buy from of all places Veitnam! In 1 pack you get 30 plants 15 yellow and 15 brown/purple. I'm not sure what the difference is but rightly or wrongly I chose to mix the colours on the bases. Here's an ebay link

A Perry Miniatures AWI Civilian or Plantation owner for scale

I mounted 4 plants on 16 warbases 40x40mm bases using a hot glue gun.

The large base is also from Warbases, I asked Martin to cut me loads of irregular sized bases all shapes and sizes, then stuck some lollypop sticks in a 164mm sqaure leaving a bit of a gap 4mm incase of spread.

A dash or two of polyfiller, then my usual sand and stone sprinkle over a watered down PVA solution.

Gotta say I'm mighty pleased how it turned out. I do have a few plants left, so I might make a smaller field to add to my Plantation or I might see if I can buy another crop to burn!!!