Saturday 31 August 2013
Uniform of the week
Charity Shops are Great for Books and Wallets
I was looking round charity shops today and for a grand total of £6.49 I bought:
Blandford- Military Uniforms of the World in Colour, a book who's plates always appear whenever I search any unit or period online. As the title would suggest it is filled with colour plates of armies and units (by period) from 1652 to the 1960s (when this book was published). For £2.50 what's not to like, especially since it's such a popular and revered tome.
My second purchase was the huge an again beautifully illustrated Cavalry (the history of a fighting elite) by V.Vuksic and Z.Grbasic as the name suggests this wonderful book is all about cavalry and it was only £3.99 which for a large hardback book is pretty amazing. Each page deals with 1 of 100 images of cavalrymen/mounts and gives detailed information as well as a full page colour plate.
Both lovely buys, well worth the tiny sum of money, I must go out more often.
Blandford- Military Uniforms of the World in Colour, a book who's plates always appear whenever I search any unit or period online. As the title would suggest it is filled with colour plates of armies and units (by period) from 1652 to the 1960s (when this book was published). For £2.50 what's not to like, especially since it's such a popular and revered tome.
My second purchase was the huge an again beautifully illustrated Cavalry (the history of a fighting elite) by V.Vuksic and Z.Grbasic as the name suggests this wonderful book is all about cavalry and it was only £3.99 which for a large hardback book is pretty amazing. Each page deals with 1 of 100 images of cavalrymen/mounts and gives detailed information as well as a full page colour plate.
Both lovely buys, well worth the tiny sum of money, I must go out more often.
Friday 30 August 2013
Perry Miniatures British Napoleonic Hussars Review
So I've finished making my hussars and have sprayed them in part (I ran out of spray half way through) and so I reckoned I should so a review of this kit for everyone who may be interested. This review will not contain images as I included some in an earlier post.
I'll start with the box and uniform guide, the box is a beautifully illustrated, eye catching affair with a lovely image of the 10th hussars in 1815 (as the uniform guide shows), it is well sized and features vague instructions which are the only ones found in the kit. I'm not going to say any more on the box because it's simply just a nice box and nothing more exciting. The uniform guide on the other hand is something to get a lot, more excited about, the images are detailed and accurate as well as being very nice to look at. The 4 page A5 guide has uniforms for all regiments including Hanoverians and shows all headgear worn, sadly this is a sign of bad things to come. The box and booklet are very nice and useful overall and are exactly what I would expect of Perry in terms of standard.
As a hobbyist my favourite aspect is building the models, which I know makes me rather unusual, the Perry Twins aim their models at people who want to build units quickly which is not really me but the models have always been so nice that I have ignored this. Sadly one thing I crave more than all is for no models to be simmilar because of my Gamesworkshop upbringing and in trying to be as accurate as possible these models have let me down. The sprues contain heads for five different hat types from different years, I am making a predominantly peninsula army that I may well use for Waterloo as I'm not a great stickler for accuracy, the problem is that because they have tried to offer hobbyist the most accurate models for any given year between 1808 and 1815 (including KGL) they have actually condemned the converter/modeller hobbyist. There are only three normal head types for each hat. This means that you have only 3 different heads for your 12 non command models meaning you only have 2 models (the command with different heads), another versitality problem is the arms which when glued only allow a small handful of poses. Otherwise there is nothing to complain about the models which are elegant with minimal mould lines or spare plastic and the horses (which allow for some variety in pose) are very well sculpted but for me the problems are pretty major.
Those problems are entirely personal however but the way the models have been laid on the frame is not, the positioning and the way the models are held onto the sprue means it is almost impossible not to savage the legs of your hussars and the horses saddles with your knife, the saddles in particular are horrendous for removing excess sprue attached to the model. The best way to remove these parts is to cut off all the other stems and then wiggle the last tricky part off but this still isn't that reliable. This I assume is not the fault of the Perry Twins but the moulding company Renedra but this is still their set.
Overall it's a good set idea with some great sculpting and a perfect presentation but from my perspective this set didn't entirely fit the bill, I love the topic but the lack of variety in the models and the difficult sprue layout lets this set down.
Carausius Rating: 3/5
I'll start with the box and uniform guide, the box is a beautifully illustrated, eye catching affair with a lovely image of the 10th hussars in 1815 (as the uniform guide shows), it is well sized and features vague instructions which are the only ones found in the kit. I'm not going to say any more on the box because it's simply just a nice box and nothing more exciting. The uniform guide on the other hand is something to get a lot, more excited about, the images are detailed and accurate as well as being very nice to look at. The 4 page A5 guide has uniforms for all regiments including Hanoverians and shows all headgear worn, sadly this is a sign of bad things to come. The box and booklet are very nice and useful overall and are exactly what I would expect of Perry in terms of standard.
As a hobbyist my favourite aspect is building the models, which I know makes me rather unusual, the Perry Twins aim their models at people who want to build units quickly which is not really me but the models have always been so nice that I have ignored this. Sadly one thing I crave more than all is for no models to be simmilar because of my Gamesworkshop upbringing and in trying to be as accurate as possible these models have let me down. The sprues contain heads for five different hat types from different years, I am making a predominantly peninsula army that I may well use for Waterloo as I'm not a great stickler for accuracy, the problem is that because they have tried to offer hobbyist the most accurate models for any given year between 1808 and 1815 (including KGL) they have actually condemned the converter/modeller hobbyist. There are only three normal head types for each hat. This means that you have only 3 different heads for your 12 non command models meaning you only have 2 models (the command with different heads), another versitality problem is the arms which when glued only allow a small handful of poses. Otherwise there is nothing to complain about the models which are elegant with minimal mould lines or spare plastic and the horses (which allow for some variety in pose) are very well sculpted but for me the problems are pretty major.
Those problems are entirely personal however but the way the models have been laid on the frame is not, the positioning and the way the models are held onto the sprue means it is almost impossible not to savage the legs of your hussars and the horses saddles with your knife, the saddles in particular are horrendous for removing excess sprue attached to the model. The best way to remove these parts is to cut off all the other stems and then wiggle the last tricky part off but this still isn't that reliable. This I assume is not the fault of the Perry Twins but the moulding company Renedra but this is still their set.
Overall it's a good set idea with some great sculpting and a perfect presentation but from my perspective this set didn't entirely fit the bill, I love the topic but the lack of variety in the models and the difficult sprue layout lets this set down.
Carausius Rating: 3/5
Saturday 24 August 2013
Perry Hussars Arrived
Cuirassiers, a vague history
The first cuirassiers of the late 1500s were the direct descendants of the medieval men at arms and were not that different in appearance either, though their armour was considerably less heavy than their predescesors. As, heavy cavalry the charge was as always the key strategy but as infantry weapons modernised it was soon realised that the heavy armour served little purpose and was restrictive when using the new weapon of choice, the pistol!
In the 17th century conflicts such as the English Civil War and Thirty Years War cavalry armed themselves with multiple pairs of pistols (a weapon specifically developed for use by cavalry) as well as the traditional sabres, this meant that the horsemen didn't have to bother reloading their weapons, which is difficult enough to do from a horse even without armour. The addition of pistols meant that cavalry could carry more force on the charge and though they attempted a variety of obscure firing tactics, the cuirassiers were still very much a blunt tool to batter the enemy with.
The Cuirassiers of the 1700s were even further simplified, generally they wore only the cuirass of their name sake and an iron skullcap hidden beneath an elegant tricorne. With the advent of flintlock musketry the cuirass started to decline in use and some armies, including Britain removed the cuirass from service. The cuirassiers as a group had begun to change, no longer were they the sons of nobility instead they were required to be the tallest and strongest me in the cavalry regardless of social status. Though shock cavalry charges often won the day, the allied infantry attack against the famous French cavalry at Minden and the square formation revealed that with modern tactics and careful strategy even the feared cuirassiers could be beaten back. Though many nations still used the cuirassiers into the 19th century, the first signs of weakness were showing for the revered cuirassiers and indeed most cavalry, it would not be long till they were rendered obsolete.
Though the majority of armies fielded them in name in the early 1800s, due to financial difficulties many armies tried to do cuirassiers on the cheap, the Prussian Cuirassiers wore no cuirass and the Austrians only wore the front half, which was a disaster when they inevitably retreated. Cuirassiers from all nations still fought effectively and it was an awe inspiring sight to see the French and allied and the Russian cuirassiers clashing at Borodino. Cuirassiers or equivalent life guards were still a feature of most European armies throughout the rest of the 19th century and even the once forward thinking British still practiced square formations till the turn of the century.
The last blast of the trumpet for the cuirassiers like most cavalry came in the first world war, despite their brown cloth covering to hide the shine of their breastplates the French cuirassiers were extremely ineffective and suffered huge losses, cavalry had been beaten back for a final time, not with square formations and flintlock musketry but with barbed wire and machine gun fire.
Some countries still have cuirassiers for ceremonial purposes but its not exactly the real deal.
Thanks for reading
In the 17th century conflicts such as the English Civil War and Thirty Years War cavalry armed themselves with multiple pairs of pistols (a weapon specifically developed for use by cavalry) as well as the traditional sabres, this meant that the horsemen didn't have to bother reloading their weapons, which is difficult enough to do from a horse even without armour. The addition of pistols meant that cavalry could carry more force on the charge and though they attempted a variety of obscure firing tactics, the cuirassiers were still very much a blunt tool to batter the enemy with.
The Cuirassiers of the 1700s were even further simplified, generally they wore only the cuirass of their name sake and an iron skullcap hidden beneath an elegant tricorne. With the advent of flintlock musketry the cuirass started to decline in use and some armies, including Britain removed the cuirass from service. The cuirassiers as a group had begun to change, no longer were they the sons of nobility instead they were required to be the tallest and strongest me in the cavalry regardless of social status. Though shock cavalry charges often won the day, the allied infantry attack against the famous French cavalry at Minden and the square formation revealed that with modern tactics and careful strategy even the feared cuirassiers could be beaten back. Though many nations still used the cuirassiers into the 19th century, the first signs of weakness were showing for the revered cuirassiers and indeed most cavalry, it would not be long till they were rendered obsolete.
Though the majority of armies fielded them in name in the early 1800s, due to financial difficulties many armies tried to do cuirassiers on the cheap, the Prussian Cuirassiers wore no cuirass and the Austrians only wore the front half, which was a disaster when they inevitably retreated. Cuirassiers from all nations still fought effectively and it was an awe inspiring sight to see the French and allied and the Russian cuirassiers clashing at Borodino. Cuirassiers or equivalent life guards were still a feature of most European armies throughout the rest of the 19th century and even the once forward thinking British still practiced square formations till the turn of the century.
The last blast of the trumpet for the cuirassiers like most cavalry came in the first world war, despite their brown cloth covering to hide the shine of their breastplates the French cuirassiers were extremely ineffective and suffered huge losses, cavalry had been beaten back for a final time, not with square formations and flintlock musketry but with barbed wire and machine gun fire.
Some countries still have cuirassiers for ceremonial purposes but its not exactly the real deal.
Thanks for reading
Monday 19 August 2013
Perry Brits
I recently found my old perry British napoleonic line set and started painting them again. My skills need brushing up a bit (pun intended) but so far things are going well. I ordered hussars this evening and can't wait for them to arrive.
Sunday 11 August 2013
33rd Foot for Junior General
I am a member of the wonderful Junior General website (you should join its a lovely community) and I contribute pretty regularly. For awhile I have been creating a series of British regiments from the 1700s, here are my 33rd foot. Click the image to see a full size version.
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Friday 9 August 2013
My strategy for Empire Total War land battles
Key:
Arrow- Skirmishers, if you don't have any use militia.
Rectangle- Line Infantry, the key troops for this strategy
Circle- Heavy/Elite Infantry the counter attack
Triangle- Cavalry, skirmishing and devil may care charges
Star- Commander
Red- Enemy
The number of units does not matter (my armies are usually full) but the rough proportions does, majority line infantry with small amounts of the rest.
The Setup
The line infantry from the horse show shape to protect the central artillery from enemy troops, the upper ones can form square if needs be. The skirmishing militia/light infantry are in position and set onto guard and or skirmish mode. The Cavalry are positioned to sweep down when they are needed and the grenadiers are in counter attack position.
The Defence
Other than the occasional light cavalry or skirmisher foray keep you troops in position and let the enemy come onto you, gradually move your back line infantry forward but make sure you are always pouring fire into the enemy. You must support units with each other for this to work. The enemy will not have as much chance to fire back and the work of the cannons should help. You have to time this well but once you think the enemy are breaking or are too close to the artillery start the counter attack.
The Counter Attack
Once the time is right, switch your units to combat mode and charge them, send the heavy infantry and remaining cavalry in support (if this is on campaign do not send your general in) even cavalry can break if charged by line infantry, quickly a route will happen and the enemy will begin to flee, press home the attack until you win. Send your heavies where the enemy are weakest and make sure you hold on to the advantage.
I am not bragging when I say I have never lost with this system, then again Etw is much easier to play as the defender.
Great Reference Website
I got this great link http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchT.aspx?V=CSearchT&SID=2K1KTSJNEEXXG&E=S_2K1KTSJNEEXXG&NoR=500&New=T from David Linienblatt of the wonderful http://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.co.uk/ blog. These are fantastic references for the period.
CarausiusCreative- 18th century miniatures
I hand drew these models and I am very pleased with them. They are in the rather unique 38mm scale and show British Footguards in the mid 18th century (based off a picture of Fontenoy). Once I finish these models I may make more and if so I will keep you posted. These models can of course be used for Fontenoy and other famous engagements such as Culloden.
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