Imagi-"Nation"

Whilst perusing the internet i happened upon The Miniatures Page and as usual i had a look at the new releases therein and i was really taken with the new range of Tyroleans released by Eureka minis of Australia.Now these figs are intended for the first decade of the nineteenth century to do battle with Napoleonic French and Bavarians,as i have very little interest in Naps i immediately stated to think of other uses for them.
I assume that Tyrolean dress stayed pretty much the same for most of the 19th century so i`m going to buy some figs paint `em up and use them as irregulars/rebels but i`m going to put them in a later 19th century setting,the 1860`s to be more precise,and use the Helion Austrians and Germans as opposition,obviously this never happened in real life,but i have been thinking about setting my later 19th century games in imaginary lands,basing the armies on their German and Austrian counterparts.
One thing i have a problem with are suitable names for the protagonists,the common way seems to be to use the names of German beers,so we could have "Bakalar"(that`s a Czech one),or "Zwiec"(that`s a Polish one) it`s something i`m going to have to work on.
Anyway, i have decided on a name for the area inhabited by the "Tyroleans" and it`s going to be the "LechMark" with a principal town of "Koneigstadt" and several smaller towns and villages and the population will be organised along the lines of the Scottish clans-should be interesting,i`ll post more when i know more.

cheers,Andy

Hussars

The Austrian hussars from Helion arrived today and they are beautiful figs.I`ve bought the 2 "skirmishing" packs,the "casualties" pack and the command in reserve pack,i`m going to paint some as the 14th regiment,but i`m going to paint some to represent the other regiments,which ones i`m not too sure yet,and make up some vignettes and skirmishing bases.When i buy a full regiment of figs the first will be painted as the 14th and will consist of 3 command figures and 15 rank and file(12 troopers and 3 ncos).The question is will they be charging or in reserve?

cheers,Andy

The ASHES come home

What a fantastic display from the England cricket team,a truly worthy win,we`ve been the best team this series and the result is a fair one,and we`ve done it without Freddie or KP enough said,Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad we salute you!Johnathon Trott,you are English despite your accent.
Belgian infantry are still number one on the painting table,but i`m wondering about chasseur a pied uniforms and the exact colour of "Marengo Grey"although the sources say it varied.
I`m still waiting for my Austro-Hungarian hussars from Helion,but they`ll be here soon,i hope,and the uniform will be for the 14th regiment,nice red trousers.

cheers,Andy.

Belgians,Belgians,Belgians!

Not only did i recieve the first pack of GWM WW1 Belgian infantry,then 3 days later the first pack of carbiniers turn up,so at the minute,what with the cricket finishing a couple of days early,i`m painting up one of each to get the colours right.The line infantry are pretty straightforward with very dark blue overcoats and grey-blue trousers,but according to the Osprey book,the carbiniers` dark green coats were actually black and their "marengo grey"trousers varied in shade.So i`ve gone with the Foundry "Russian Green"palette for the coats(it`s a green shade of black,i know what i mean) and i`m using the "Granite"palette for the trousers,it`s a brownish shade of grey and it looks right to me,so i`m happy.At the moment i`ve only painted the coats and trousers so the figs still look very dark,but once i get some flesh on them they should start to brighten up.
I`ve just finished watching "Mongol"so i`ve now got the urge to go and buy some TAG Tartars and start dabbling in 17th century Eastern Europe again,maybe one day?

cheers,Andy

Normal service has been resumed.

102 all out,says it all,ah well,we had the Ashes in our grasp,still there`s always 2011 in Australia.On a brighter note the GWM Belgians have arrived and they are stunning,and i mean STUNNING,great looking figs and the poses are pretty similar,so i could actually use them as a formed unit,who knows,the little heard of Franco-Belgian war of 1911 could soon be gamed on a table-top in Oldham.
The S-H jagers have arrived from Waterloo to Mons and they`re pretty nice too,well worth the wait.Artizan have released some Sharifan infantry in their WW1 range and i`m very tempted,although they are just British infantry with Arab head-dresses.
Next week sees the release of Helions Austrian hussars,so that`s cool.

cheers,Andy

At Last

Great news the first of GWM WW1 Belgian range has been released,just one pack of infantry,but it`s been ordered,also Waterloo to mons have the S-H jager available and,they too,have been ordered,the Helion Austrian hussars are next and let`s hope England make it 2-0 in the third test starting tomorrow at Edgbaston.All in all a pretty good day.

cheers,Andy

Inspiration

To be perfectly honest,inspiration,has been sadly lacking of late,i`ve reached a place where i know what figs i want and i don`t seem to be getting tempted by passing fancies the way i used to.
GWM have released some WW1 dis-mounted cavalry for the BEF,but they`re in moving poses rather than the firing line i was hoping for,still at least they`re here and i believe that French and German cavalry are in the pipeline so that`s all good,the only ones lacking are Belgians and then the Western Front in 1914 will be all systems go.
I`m waiting for Waterloo to Mons to release marching infantry before i buy any more figs although i`ll be ordering the S-H jagers as soon as they become available on the site,hopefully the end of the week should see them here,the mounted command figs are super little castings,so the cavalry should be a treat.Speaking of cavalry the Helion Austrian hussars should be out soon,and the pre-production figs are looking great.
Finally TAG have got some figs of Spanish artillery on the work-bench page,along with a very impressive looking Hernan Cortes personality figure,some Conquistador dog handlers,and dogs,and for me the pick of the bunch,a fully armoured Spanish Sergeant who,i think,would look equally at home leading a Scottish pike block at Flodden,as slaughtering Aztec priests,or struggling up the Amazon in search of El Dorado,although in full plate armour i think Central America would be extremely uncomfortable.

cheers,Andy