Lancers on Patrol

The needs of the Empire are great, the forces few but elite. These lancers-the 17th-have yet to see a true battle on the frontiers but they are willing. Carbine, and light cavalry swords were also carried by the troopers, but the lance was the weapon upon which their unit name rested.

They will have to wait until the 1890's Sudan Campaign to test their metal.  By then the lance was more effective in training then in real battle, but the cavalrymen of Europe would not realize this fact until the blood baths of the Great War. In fact some countries continued to equip their troopers with lances as late as the opening battles of the Second World War!

These 25mm metal pieces are from Minifig, cast in the 1970's, I painted them in the early '80's for my British Colonial Army. 

Here Come The Marines

Marine re-enforcements for the beleaguered defenders of Peking in 1900 (last year of the 19th Century) pass a makeshift defense on the march from the coast to the Chinese capital.

Pulled from the ships companies of the Asian squadron, this ad-hoc unit is part of the 6000 man allied force put together to rescue the legations trapped by the "Boxers Rebellion."

Lt. Max Kornors leads his small patrol with thoughts of glory, and promotion, running in his head.

While the Marines in Peking were armed with 6mm Winchester-Lee's, 1st Marine regiment relief troops were armed with .30 Krag-Jorgensens while the ships detachments were still armed with the old .45-70 Trapdoor Springfields...talk about a headache for the quartermaster (page 158 "The Marines," by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation). These men represent the ships detachments, hence their makeshift equipment, and armed with Trapdoors (or in a pinch the straight pull Winchester-Lees's if the scenario calls for them).

These 28mm metal pieces are from Artizan Design.

The Pharaoh Returns-WIP

Racing out of the desert sands of time come a trio of the Pharaoh's finest war chariots.

The long dead Pharaoh and his minions have appeared to have even conquered death in their goal of maintaining power over the Ancient World.

These plastic pieces are from Games Workshops Warhammer Fantasy Battle lines.

Pathan Mountain Gunners

Not all Pathans shot at their foes with a rifle .

These two gunners, Ahmed and Kazim, man a small mountain gun.

All three pieces are metal 28mm scale from Foundry.

Here come the Marines WIP

Re-enforcements for the beleaguered defenders of Peking in 1900 (last year of the 19th Century).  While the Marines in Peking were armed with 6mm Winchester-Lee's, 1st Marine regiment relief troops were armed with .30 Krag-Jorgensens while the ships detachments were still armed with the old .45-70 Trapdoor Springfields...talk about a headache for the quartermaster (page 158 The Marines, by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation).  These men represent the ships detachments, hence their makeshift equipment, and armed with Trapdoors (or in a pinch the straight pull Winchester-Lees's if the scenario calls for them).

28mm metal pieces from Artizan Designs.

Cavalry of the Han

From tombs almost 2000 years old come a troop of Imperial Han cavalry miniatures.

Made of baked clay, these horseman each stand about a foot tall.

These are from a touring exhibition at the Bowers Museum.

How Big Am I

Another light field piece right, but how big is she?

Are you surprised at how small, she is approximately 15mm scale.

The funny thing is I pained these two pieces more than a decade apart.  The small one was painted in the late 1990's, the larger this month.  Both are metal, the smaller I think is an old 15mm Minifig Renaissance piece, the larger is a 28mm from Foundry.

Finally!

"Finally-I get to be seen and not a "artillery piece" in sight," thinks Fezix the Gaul. A plastic 28mm piece from Warlord and a nice break from all the cannons and gunners of the last few posts.

Battery and Crew

The great cannon "Commodore" stands manned and ready for action.

Mortell Effrayé has taken command of gunner Nikk Aadstok

and crewmen Bril Laadstok and Lam Kanonskogel.

A fast gun crew could spell the difference between victory and defeat, and Mortell has trained his men to work at a fever piece like a well oiled machine.

The crewmen are all metal pieces from Privateer Press.

"Gun Crew Ready"

The gun crew is ready for action.

All are metal pieces from Privateer Press.

"At my command...FIRE!"

Mortell Effrayé, master gunner knows the deadly effect a well place broadside can do to even the strongest enemy vessel.

An expert at estimating the range and movement of his ship in relation to the target, Mortell has earned a reputation as a battle winner.

Mortell is a metal piece from Warmachine Mercenary line of Privateer Press.

Doing magic does not require large size

Giffon Biiritiis war wizard know the truth of magic-power comes to wizards of skill-size doesn't matter.

Casting spells in battle requires calm, strong control and massive concentration.

Griffon is a metal piece smaller than a quarter made for Games Workshops Warmaster line.  I painted him around the turn of the century.

Coastal Artillery-Siege Artillery Are Really Big

The heavy siege cannon or conversely a fortification or coastal artillery piece was by its very nature larger and more powerful than their smaller field piece cousins.

These pieces where too heavy for field armies.  Some of the largest weighted up to 100,000 pounds and fired cannon balls weighing up to 800 pounds.

Effective range for most coastal artillery pieces of the early to mid-19th century was around three miles. Which explains one of the reasons why that number was the boundry of a countries territorial waters until the 20th century.

Typical ammunition included solid shot, explosive shell, grapeshot and hot shot. 

Hot shot involved heating the cannon ball in a furnace and firing the super heated shot into the highly flammable innards of the wooden sailing ships of the day.

The recoil of the piece was taken by the rails the heavy artillery piece rested upon.

This metal piece is in 25mm scale and was from a now defunct manufacture in Texas. I painted it in the 1980's for 19th century Colonial Battles. The gun platform is a scratch built piece and is part of a larger trench, field siege set I also built for Colonial Battles.

And the real thing, a 32 pdr that protected the harbour of Halifax from a potential 19th century invasion fleet.

Big Gun-Bigger Spear

Steam powered destruction with your choice of powered blade of firepower.

This a a metal light jack from Tom's Cygnar Army for Privateer Press' Warmachine.