It's been a while

It's been nearly a year since I last posted... Where has the time gone? 

It's been hectic. Major family strife. Both the Boss and I made redundant in the same month. Major home renovations, new job, broken bones, travel - etc..  ok, excuses over. I have been printing and buying and painting... 

Trying to cover a whole year in one post is just insane, so I will try to break this up a bit. 

1745 and War of Austrian Succession

The Flags of War Charity Hessian

Flags of War Garde Francaise - bought these at Targe in mid November.

Good enough for Government Work

Lovely Ratnik Civilians

American War of Independence

Perries Join the Ranks

Warbases?

French Deployment Point

Another French Deployment Point

Books

I seem to have bought a ton of books this year, some second hand, others... this is only a fraction of what I bought, but I now have to stick to the Kindle as I think it would strain things if I brought another book into the house...

  

I think that's quite enough for one update....  back with more soon. Stay safe, get some games in.

Never mind the b*llocks, here's the.... More 1745 painting

Only lightly censored, I've added another group (12 figures) of rebellious Scots - ready too be crushed by the forces of the Crown. 

For a bit of fun, I threw in the 2 'Naughty Highlanders' figures from the Flags of War range, (censored here - just lightly), and I believe the only non Flags of War figure in the collection so far, a piper from Alternative Armies, picked up when I purchased their Highland civilian women. To my eye, the Alternative Army figures are not as crisply sculpted or aesthetically pleasing as the FoW ones, but are pretty compatible in height and bulk. I also drafted in a standard bearer, as I didn't have enough of the Highland ones. It will pass.

And with that, I am now over 50% of the Jacobite Groups. And only another 24 Highlanders to do. The Lowlanders will need some care and attention soon, but next up, I think a few Government infantry units for balance, another two or three of those will give me enough for a first 1745 Sharp Practice game.  It's been a long road since 2018, but it feels like real progress.

Bagot's Hussars

Another unit for the Jacobites. This time 'Bagot's Hussars' also known as the 'Scotch Hussars'. They saw a lot of action in the '45, and were used extensively as scouts. They are by no means battlefield cavalry, but as the Jacobites were very short of cavalry, it's probably appropriate to model them, rather than a unit of FitzJames, which would be better than the Government Dragoons. It would be a little odd if the Jacobites had superior cavalry!

The figures, like virtually every other one in the army, are from Flags of War. The forces are creeping up in size. 

The initial plan was:

 This has now changed because I added in a few extras... 

So progress is steady...

Here's the latest, plus a couple of mounted leaders, Colonel Anne MacIntosh and Lord George Murray.

And here's the lot...  so far. Bottom right is the next group (12) of Highlanders that is underway. I must check in with Stiu to see how he is going with his 'Sausagemen'.

Roll Out the Barrel's

The first sort of 'straight' Government unit rolls (slowly) off the production line. Barrel's (4th) Regiment of Foot. A perennial favourite of wargamers, they famously suffered the heaviest casualties of any Government unit at Culloden. As usual, figures and flags from Flags of War.

Disappointingly, a varnishing incident has resulted in frosting on the left side of the flags, but I think I can rescue that. 

The one point to note is that the cuff lace on the FoW figures is the 'gate' type, whereas Barrel's wore a sort of spine and feathers arrangement. A certain type of wargamer would have filed the lace off and painted in the correct style. Clearly I am not that type of wargamer.

The full unit arrayed. For Sharp Practice, 3-4 groups of 8 (if regular infantry) are commonly grouped together under a single leader, or leader and sub-officer/sergeant. Adding a command base allows me to field a 'regiment' for differently scaled rules. 

What's this 'column' thingy then?

Hat company rear.

 

A Most UnScottish Jacobite Army

On checking the dates of my posts I note I haven't posted anything this month. This is despite continuing to add (albeit gradually) to the Jacobite forces. And notably, I realised I had been painting more or less all the 'non-Scottish' elements of the Jacobite army.

I also managed to get a game in with near neighbour Martin, Sharp Practice 2 (SP2) set in the American War of Independence. Having not played SP2 for a while, this was very much a baby-steps exercise for both of us. Luckily, Martin is a quick learner, and I am sure he will be keeping me on the straight and narrow in future games. 

Anyway, on to the painting... 

More Highlanders 

The second half of the unit of 12

Not happy with the one on the right..

Fewer jackets, more shirts makes for easier painting

I think my tartan is getting better

Regiment de Lally, Irish Piquets

Frontal view

Repurposed AWI figures masquerading as the Manchester Regiment

They will also do duty in my AWI forces

Rear View

North British Fusiliers 21st Regiment

North British Fusiliers 21st Regiment - Rear View

I am now actually starting to get to the point where a few more groups will make it possible to run a small game..  I'm very much looking forward to that.