Friday, December 29, 2017

I was a painting fool!



  Looking back on 2017 I found this to be the year of massive painting.    I should not be surprised about this as I had replenish my supplies of paint and brushes with some very large purchases.  I was also very motivated by the time periods and the figures themselves to pick up brushes and paint.  I found I like to paint certain figures but not others.  Perry miniatures are a chore for me to paint. Very time consuming.   Fife and Drum, Crann Tara, RSM and Knuckleduster miniatures are a joy.  Not judging the miniatures, but what fits my painting style.


  But still the amounts done are surprising to me.  Best of all I now have good sized armies for American Rev War and War of 1812 ready to go for next year.  I might add a few new regiments.  Ok, who am I kidding here;  with all my favorite miniature companies adding new must have figures I will be adding a few new regiments.   I do have a number of scenarios and small campaigns written for games for next year.  Perhaps this will be the phase of my gaming life I play more then I paint.   I have also starting reviewing my terrain to see what I need and what I want to improve.  Redoing my basing for woods, adding more fence, a Crimean War and eighteenth century camps and other terrain pieces would be nice.  I have also started playing with paper buildings.  There are a interesting variety out there and very cost effective.  After all we play table top miniature games because of the visual appeal!





War of 1812 armies.
Command figures. 4
Royal artillery gunners.   12 figures
American gunners. 6 figures
1st regiment. 24 figures
8th regiment. 24 figured
100th regiment. 24 figures
Incorporated militia regiment. 24 figures
Glengary light infantry regiment. 24 figures
Lincoln militia. 24 figured
1st American rifle regiment. 24 figures
Indians. 24 figures
Niagara Dragoon.   6 figures
19th light Dragoon.  6 figures
1st American Dragoon. 6 figures
Royal marine rocket battery. 4 figures
89th regiment. 24 figures
Upper Canadian militia regiment. 24 figures
49th regiment. 24 figures

286 Infantry
   22 cavalry




American Rev War
Mounted command figures. 4 figures
New York volunteers. 30 figures
Volunteers of Ireland. 30 figures
British legion cavalry. 30 figures
British legion infantry. 30 figures
Royal artillery grasshopper. 4 crew
Regiment von Bose. 30 figures
3 Regiments Of militia. 90 figures
Hunting shirt regiment. 30 figures
3rd light Dragoon. 10 figures
Lee's legion cavalry. 10 figures
Mounted militia. 6 figures
17th Light Dragoons. 6 figures
State regiment. 30 figures

300 Infantry
 36  cavalry or command figures


WAS/SYW   
Dillon. 24 figures
Clare. 24 figures
Royal Ecossais. 24 figures
Orleans. 24 figures
Tournaisis. 24 figures
Saintonge. 24 figures

144 infantry



Total number of painted figures for 2017
730 Infantry
  58 Cavalry

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Merry Chrismas


                          Happy Holidays And  A Very Merry Christmas to all!



Fritz the Yorkie says chill out
 and enjoy the day.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Guns and Horses; a WIP





  Got more figures from Crann Tara the other day.  Soon will be adding a cavalry regiment (FitzJanes), artillery and light infantry.  Right now the gun and cavalry are primed and just need a dry brushing of white.  As an experiment I have mounted the cavalry on their stands rather then popsicle sticks and will try and paint them this way.  Perhaps speed things up a bit?  We will see.


  Next up will be the lights and some mounted commanded figures.  The Frenchman is taking shape!  Next year will start the British.

Sunday, December 10, 2017

The Crimean War Then and Now.



The Crimean War Then and Now.
David R. Jones

I recently became aware of this book through a visit to my blog by the author.  After mentioning his book I took the time to look it up and was fascinated by what I found.  Visitors here know of my long time interest in the Crimean war and I have done a number of posts on photography of the battlefields.  I have done this to get a flavor of the terrain so that I can translate it to the table top.  Afterall, one reason we play miniature war games is for the visual appeal.  Well, here are a unique collection of period photography, sketches and engravings from the time of the war and contrasting photographs and maps from today.

The book is a labor of love. Each chapter describes a battle of action, includes maps pointing out locations and then contrasts period illustrations with a view from the same angle today.  It is fascinating how the terrain here has changed in a little over a hundred years.  More trees and orchards change the look of many battlefields.  The river Alma has also changed greatly as shown in the pictures today.  The viewer also gets a better idea of the terrain.  The hill that the Light Division rushed up to capture the great redoubt looks very gentle compared to some prints.  The area the 93rd Highlanders held, and the area the Heavy Brigade charged have me better understanding of this actions.  A mystery to me has been the photographs taken by Colonel Vladislav Klembovsky in 1900 of the battlefields.  I finally know who this man was and his tragic story during the revolution.


The book is not cheep,but is well worth it.  I bought the kindle edition and am very happy with it.  Highly recommended!

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Nathan and Mark's excellent adventure



  Thanksgiving is my favorite time of the year.  Family and friends get together, you eat more then you should and there is no tyranny of gift giving.  Both our  kids come home which is the best thing ever.  Alexandra lives in the city (Boston) and Nathaniel is off at school.  So it is great when we are altogeher.   It is also Nathan's  birthday.   Last year we were in Florida and  we went to a Tampa Bay football game. What to do this year?  Go see the home team! New England Patriots vs Miami Dolphins.

The series of events which led us to Gillette Stadium starts with our stations fourth anniversary.  Jetblue has been at Worcester for four years, longer then any other airline and next year we are expanding with flights to JFK.  The anniversary was a time for awards and I got two tickets for the game against the Dolphins as well as two tickets for the catered tailgate party.  Although Janine wanted to go we both decided it would be a great birthday present for Nathan and a perfect father son adventure.



We left the house early, driving in the decked out PT Cruiser.  Checked out the
stadium and other fans on arrival.  Then went to the catered tailgate party.  This is open two hours before the game and has lots of food and a open bar.  Very nice!


  Then into the game.  Turns out there were a number of people I used to work with in Boston Logan in ground operations so it was a little like old home week.  The game was fun and exciting and a great view of the field from our seats. Patriots "squished the fish"  and won convincingly.   I made sure I kept Janine up to date with pictures and text.  After the game we hung around before starting our ride home.It

  After getting home Nathan had to pack up his car and head back to school.  A long drive and then a early morning ckass.  But he said it was worth it.  Best day ever!


Thursday, November 23, 2017



Happy Thanksgiving to all!

And here is the key for who is who in the dinner....

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Regiment Saintonge 1745




Why do you add certain regiments to your collection?  Most times I add regiments if they are a favorite of mine (have to the Royal Welch Fusiliers), or are in a historical order of battle (like my Niagara 1814 project).  Sometimes I add them because they look incredible or have brilliant uniforms.  But sometimes I add them because they are special on a personal level.


One such regiment is the French regiment Saintonge.  Way back during the Bicentennial of the American Revolution a local recreated militia group decided for Yorktown they would  do something special.  They would recreate a French regiment. For over a year they researched and created the uniforms and equipment  while they drilled and trained.  At Yorktown they fielded about one hundred soldiers and were an incredible impressive sight.  In later years during my time with the National Park Service I had the pleasure to work with members of the Saintonge. It was always a great experience and they were a very nice group of people.

So when adding regiments to my 1745 French army i just had to add these fine fellows.



Saturday, November 11, 2017

November 11, Armistice Day





My grandfather, Edward McNamara from Lexington Massachusetts served with the 101st Regiment (Medical company), 26th Yankee Division in the first world war.  He seldom talked about it, and when he did it was a terrible memory which haunted him.  But  I will always remember his smile when he told me how at 11:00 A.M. on 11th November the guns stopped and he and his friends knew they would live, knew they had survived.  

And as this date is now called Veterans Day I say thank you to my father in law, Aldrich Stevens  who served in the  3rd Ranger Battalion (Darby's Rangers) in the Second World War.  He joined the Rangers in North Africa, and took part in the invasion of both Sicily and Italy.  He could not take part in the Anzio  landing because of his wounds so missed the Battle of Cisterna.  Like my grandfather he too was haunted by the memories of what he saw, experienced and especialy those he lost.   

I remember their sacrifices and hope both have found peace.


Friday, November 10, 2017

Regiment Tournaisis 1745




  Another French regiment for my 1745 army.  The Regiment Tournaisis.



   I am getting the painting of white uniforms down to where I am comfortable.  I use a light grey, set brush a off white then dry brush white.  Gaiters are dark grey then dry brush white.  I like how it looks.  Next order with Crann Tara will be to add artillery, cavalry and mounted staff officers.  I am off and running!

Friday, November 3, 2017

Regiment Dillon 1745



My second regiment from the famed Irish Brigade is the Regiment Dillon.  The black cuffs set off rather nicely from the red coats.  Again, the pose is just right for the Irish.  A disinterested but impatience for the up coming brawl.


The Dillon regiment has always held my attention since I became interested in you soldiers. I remember reading a story as a very young boy that the King of France said to the commander of the Dillon regiment that his regiment caused more trouble than the rest of his army combined.  The Irish commander bowed and replied your enemies say the same thing.   I have   remembered the story and if it is not true have felt it should be.

Figures are from Crann Tara miniatures.  Flag from GMB Design (and a work of art it is).


Thursday, November 2, 2017

Regiment Clare 1745



  A beautiful regiment from the Irish Brigade in the service of the French.  I picked the Clare regiment as it was recruited from the area of Ireland where my mother's side of the family came from.  Possibly there were a few McNamara's who fought in its ranks.  At least some of the family thinks so.  Elements of the Regiment were sent to Scotland and fought at Falkirk and Culloden.




Figures are from Crann Tara miniatures.  Flags again from the beautiful works offset from GMB Design.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

The Charge: The Real Reason Why the Light Brigade was Lost. By Mark Adkin





" An officer named Captain Nolan, who writes books, and was a great man in his own estimation..."
 Colonel Lord George Paget

  October 25 is a very special day for me.  It is my wife Janine's birthday.  It was the day (after I retired from the National Park Service after thirty years) that I started my second career with jetblue.  And it is the anniversary of the Battle of Balaclava and the Charge of the Light Brigade.  I am fascinated with the Crimean War and The Charge has been one of those incidents I return to time and again.  So when I found This book back in 2001 I picked it up.  I read it in one sitting and it has been re-read numerous times since.  I am delighted it has just been released in a kindle edition.


  This is the kind of book that shows how military history should be written.  It is a careful analysis of the Battle of Balaclava and especially the Light Brigade's charge with the emphasis on untangling the hows and whys that resulted in the charge.  The book is extremely well researched, with well thought out explanations, good illustrations and especially outstanding maps. Many, many maps.

  Complimenting the maps (and tied into them) are a series of battle and topographical drawings which are very effective in understanding the battle.  These drawings are based on a series of photographs done by the photographer Fenton which show the actual battlefield from where Lord Raglan watched and sent his infamous order from.  The photographs were taken slightly after The battle so they provide a you are there view.

 The usual villain responsible for the disaster in most books was Lord Lucan the Cavalry Division commander.  I am glad to say he is given a fair shake here and is partly exonerated;   but with serious criticism.  I do wish the author discussed more about Lucan's decision to pull back The Heavy Brigade during the Light Brigades charge. A fascinating what if.   The primary culprits in Adkin's view are Lord Raglan and his ADC Captain Nolan.  Raglan was clearly over his head as army commander.  I find little positive about him and blame him for the disaster that the army suffered that terrible winter.  Cardigan by the way comes out as a very brave man who had not the foggest idea of what was what.  If you saw the 1968 movie of the Charge of the Light Brigade these three main actors really captured and look the part of their historical characters.  In my opinion of course.

 Adkin believes Captain Nolan may have deliberately indicated the incorrect objective.   In my opinion the author makes an excellent case that Nolan deliberately misrepresented Lord Raglan's order when he delivered It to Lord Lucan.   Nolan, a self educated authority on cavalry had never served on campaign not been in battle.  But he was certain that British cavalry were being misused and was very  vocally critical of all commanders but especialy  Lucan And Cardigan.    He was certain Light Cavalry could overthrow anything in its way and that neither infantry nor artillery could stop them.   He had once demonstrated  in a  classroom how light cavalry alone could charge and take out a battery from the front.   Nolan possibly did not have second thoughts about the liberty he took as aide-de-camp in misinterpreting Lord Raglan's written order. His death, the first casualty of The Charge prevented his being questioned after.  The author suggests and I agree Nolan wasn't trying to stop the charge when he was killed.  Most who took part in the action certainly though so.

Also interesting is the account of the actual charge.  Details such as such as how many rounds were fired at the brigade, how a artillery battery operated, how cavalry horses were so trained they remained in formation after their riders were killed,  and how the casualties were not as spectacular as is often claimed.  The Light Brigade was no longer combat efficient due to the horrendous number of horses killed which could not be replaced.

 I especially enjoyed the  epilogue - A Balaclava Banquet about the 1875 dinner for the survivors, which sounds like a rockous good time.  The appendix section entitled The Last Survivors was moving to read.  Those who were impoverished were provided for by a wealthy Fleet Street publisher who established the Roberts Relief Fund to provide them with a pension. The last survivor passed away in 1927.


Monday, October 23, 2017

Royal Ecossais 1745



  In the pages of the Fife and Drum forum was where I first saw pictures of the figures for this regiment.  They were very different and had a air about them. The short coats and bonnets are Scottish, but there is also something French about them. So with my first order I made sure I got a regiment.




My reading about their history suggests the uniform was what might  have been worn when they landed in Scotland to assist in the 1745 Rebellion.  Along with the picqets from the Irish Brigade they were the token effort sent by France to help out.  At Culloden they covered the retreat of the Jacobite right wing from the battle.

Figures are from Crann Tara miniatures.  Flag from GMB design.

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Regiment Orleans 1745


I have made great progress on my project of painting a mid eighteenth century army to refight the table top teasers and other actions from the books of Charles Grant both father and son.  Since starting the project  I now have four infantry regiments finished and two more primed and readying go.  I am looking at a small army of eight regiments line, there cavalry and two guns for each side to start.  Where it goes from there who knows!


 I picked the era of 1745, The War of Austrian Succession for the slightly different uniforms, the interesting history and for the outstanding figures offered by Graham at Crann Tara miniatures.

 The first of my regiments for my mid eighteenth century project is the Regiment Orleans.   I know very little about The actual regiment but liked the red cuffs contrasted in the white coats.  Not sure I got the correct white painting method for the uniforms yet.  But out looks nice and it's a start.  Figures are from Crann Tara.  Flags from GMB


Saturday, October 21, 2017

An Saturday afternoon playing toy soldiers





  I as extremely lucky to be a part of a true miniature wargame experience.  Ed, from Ed M's Wargaming Means a blog put on a amazing game.   It was a massive Napoleonic game, French vs Prussians.  It was fought over a main table of 20'  with two similar size tables for the match on area.  So troops could be deployed and moved off table before marching into the main table.  Very ingenious.  To assist commanders looking across the room at the enemy armies Ed provided miniature telescopes!
Great fun trying to ID what those troops entering the table could be.

Both Ed
 http://edmwargamemeanderings.blogspot.com
and AJ
http://ajs-wargaming.blogspot.com/2017/10/northern-conspiracy-october-2017-game.html

blogs provided outstanding reviews of the great battle. Since I was a lowly brigade commander i was lost in the middle of the table and honesty cannot tell you what was happening around me.  Fog of war indeed.

Again many thanks to Ed for the great amount of work he put into this game and the incredible experience he provided to us all.  Thank you Ed!

Friday, October 20, 2017

CURTISS P-40B TOMAHAWK at ORH









I was leaving work at Worcester Airport  (ORH) when I noticed another aircraft from The Collins Foundation parked by The hangers.  The story about The plane is fascinating.

The text is from The Collins Foundation website
at http://www.collingsfoundation.org/aircrafts/curtiss-p-40b-tomahawk/

The P-40 was the third-most numerous US fighter of World War II.  An early prototype version of the P-40 was the first American fighter capable of speeds greater than 300 mph.
Thanks to a very generous sponsor, the world’s only  P-40B and only surviving airworthy American fighter from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor joined the Collings Foundation.
One of the 131 P-40Bs built at the Curtiss facility in Buffalo, New York during 1940-1941 and allocated the Bu No. 41-13297, this fighter was delivered to the US Army Air Corp in March 1941. It was quickly sent to Wheeler Field, Hawaii in April of that year, becoming part of the 19th Pursuit Squadron of the 18th Pursuit Group. In October 1941, seven months after delivery, this P-40 was involved in a wheels-up landing, requiring her to be placed in a maintenance hangar for repair.
This aircraft was still in the hanger undergoing repairs when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. That seemingly minor twist of fate most likely saved P-40B 41-13297 from being destroyed. Following repairs it was returned to flight worthy status. Then, on January 24, 1942, in another ironic twist of fate, with only nine months of service and 56 hours of flight time, while on a routine training flight the plane spun out of control. The pilot, Lt. Kenneth Wayne Sprankle, was unable to recover from the spin, crashing into the side of a mountain, killing him. The crash occurred in a rather inaccessible area of the island. So, after recovery of the body the aircraft was left in place.
In 1985 the Tomahawk’s remains were ‘rediscovered.’ After some preliminary investigation, it was determined the air frame was not severely damaged and if it could be removed was restorable. Some parts were recovered during 1985. A second recovery mission in 1989 salvaged the rest of the air frame.
In 1989, the Curtiss Wright Historical Association in Torrance, California was formed and serious restoration of the recovered P-40 began. The restoration was named “Project Tomahawk.” Whenever possible parts indigenous to the plane were used. Two other P-40B’s, the 39-285 that also crashed in Hawaii in 1941 and 39-287, that went down in a severe storm over the Sierra Nevadas October 24, 1941 were utilized for parts. When completed, the Tomahawk eventually joined “The Fighter Collection” at Duxford (UK) in 2003. P-40B Tomahawk 41-13297 flies wearing the scheme she wore during her time in
Hawaii with the 18th Pursuit Group.