27 October 2013

Colonel Lambert of the Guards

Colonel Lambert leads the way.

The commanding officer for the Guards Camel Regiment is the Connoisseur figure of General Gordon of Khartoum.  The figure is very nice however he will not feature prominently in my table top battles as such as he is holed up awaiting the relief column.

Instead this figure represents my fictional Colonel Richard Lambert fresh off the boat after scoring a first half goal against Fulham (yes I am a huge Saints fan!!).  Obviously the journey was longish as he has had time to grow a resplendent moustache.

He sports a nice scar across his right cheek as a reminder of his encounters with the fuzzies at Omara Springs some years previously and prefers the finery of his blue matinee coat and trousers to the uncomfortable army issue rags he conveniently lost somewhere in transit over the Mediterranean.

Helmet strapped to the side in case of some nastiness from the locals.

The one modification I did make to the figure is the helmet which I chopped off a Redoubt Camel Corp Officer who had unfortunately lost his hand somewhere in the spares box and fastened to the side of the figure which I think looks quite smart.                                                                                                 

The good Colonel prepares to give the regiment the
order to open  fire...or is that an order for a nice gin and tonic?


21 October 2013

Guard Camel Corps - dismounted and in for a big surprise!


"This seemed like a good place to camp last night Jenkins?".
Guards look like they are up against it near the cooling oasis.

A few posts ago I put up a few shots of the Guards Camel Corp resplendent upon their steeds and looking quite smart in their Khaki and Blue..ish...tunics.  I also commented that their was a heck of a lot of metal in the regiment and that was without these boys on show.

"Nice and steady now chaps ...that's a good boy Gumbleton". 
Connoisseur Camel corps troops firing in the standing and kneeling
position and a wonderfully sculpted officer keeping them all in order.

 This unit contains 48 foot figures, 47 wonderful dismounted camels and one highly efficient and dedicated native servant who looks after these camels like they were his own...or at least they will be when his uncle the Emir of Kafira is finished with this lot.

Nice view from the...well...the rear.  "Stop that snickering
private haven't you ever seen a camels arse before?".


It is tough keeping these beasts happy at the best of times let alone with all this yelling!

The Camels can serve several purposes on the battlefield.  Obviously they look the part when the boys dismount and believe me in these rules you do not want to be British troops fighting hte brave Mahdists on camel let me assure you.  Also they can be fought behind at a push providing some level of cover.  Just might be tough remounting afterwards if you go down that path!



Nice view of the desert pool cleverly made by my good friend Mike out
of an old photo frame on sale for a dollar and some mdf.  He really is clever our Wardy! 


Nice shot of the boys in their finery looking at the challenge ahead.



That table edge can be a bit of a bugger when you are the Inmperial player.

Nice view of the boys from another angle. 
Hope the boys have remembered the "Rapid Fire" rule.

Next post hopefully before the weekend will be the final installment of the rules and then a few play throughs of the rules and hopefully a few qusetions and requests for rules and event cards.  Lets see what happens.

7 October 2013

"Hussars sah...hundreds of the buggers!"


19th Hussars resplendent in grey and brown!

As the Gilder Sudan project motors along it has proved to be a perfect fillip for me to get things moving that have shall we say lay dormant for quite sometime...and I am not talking about the need for prune juice and fibre for the clever dicks out there!!

Having the enormous amount of lead that was acquired from Connoisseur in both past and present from both Chris and Andrew, the need was to get them painted, based and ready for action.

Connoisseur Sudan Hussars and horses though
 slightly limited in poses available are still wonderfully animated.

The 19th Hussars are a new unit and quite resplendent in their grey jackets and brown trousers.  They have yet to see action however that will change quite shortly.


Another view of the 19th Hussars


"Follow me chaps" ...what could possibly go
wrong for the "Hero of Ndoko Gorge!"

Lovely Connoisseur horses still stand the test of time - tremendously wonderful sculpts.

A very much older unit that I have had in the collection for quite some time are the wonderfully battle hardened veterans of the 10th Hussars.  These boys have fought in every campaign that we have played at the NWS and, similarly to the 21st Lancers in an earlier post, have been remounted on Connoisseur horses rather than the mish-mash of Elite and other assorted "nags" that I had at the time.


10th Hussars parades their first two squadrons.

I have certainly found that the regular posts on the blog have helped me stay focused on the quite large product of basing the new figures, tarting up the old bases as well as certainly sprucing up the old figures that were painted quite some time ago.  The task is a big one when as so many of you would already attest, one is juggling family life, a career and all that goes with them.  It is very easy to suddenly have lost a weekend in the garden, on sporting fields or simply in a good book.


Once again Sudan Connoisseur range
Hussars with some slight modifications to their helmet.

These Hussars were painted for me many years ago by the very talented Gerry Webb  of Castaway Arts fame who also modified the figures to have the famous spike atop the 10th's helmets.  They are a favourite unit and their blue trousers with yellow stripe look, in my opinion, quite sharp!

"Hard to keep the kit pristine in this damned country you know Faversham"

"At least the heat helps keep the creases quite sharp sir!"
Next post will be the final instalment of the rules along with some thoughts on modifications to the reaction cards and the start of some walk-throughs with actual battles on the table top.

Until then.