Battlefields trip - part I

Over the weekend I was fortunate to enough to get the chance to tour some battlefields in Europe with Mick. We took in the battlefields of Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Blenhiem, Schellenburg at Donauworth, Gravelotte, Mars-la-Tour, Froschwiller and Alesia.

Walking across these battlefields gives a greater perspective of the events. Something that you don't get just from studying the maps. There are the sunken road at Oudenarde that Overkirk used to flank the French position or the dead ground before Lutzingen and Froschwiller. Many of the photos I took will to the non wargamer just look like a bunch of trees or fields. But to me they were the chance to stand on the ground where troops would have actually been deployed.  I also got a greater perspective of the size of these battles. Standing at Schewnenbach and just picking out the Church spire of Blenhiem in the distance.

I also had the opportunity to visit a couple of visitor centres. The first in Gravelotte, covering the Franco Prussian War. It had some excellent displays of the uniforms as well as weapons including a mitrilliause. I also managed to pick up a decent book n the war.

In part 2 I will cover the Visitor centre at Alesia which had a replica of the Roman defences.

More 15mm MDF buildings

I finally finished the rest of the models I picked up at the Border Reiver show from https://m.empiresatwar.co.uk/ . I'm very happy with how they've all turned out. I still need to clean off some of the excess glue.

First up are the 2 town houses. 1 of which is 3 stories high. Like the first model they have lift off roofs and internal floors

The fourth building I picked up was a stable block, will go handy with the farm house. This model had card with the planning effect to glue on the outside of the basic model. Looks very effective.

So that's 4 ready painted models I picked up for £20 at the show. All in took about 2 hours to build all 4 kits.

I can't recommend these buildings enough. Check the website, the 28mm scale Roman stuff is superb.

15mm MDF buildings

At the Border Reiver show today I picked up 4 15mm buildings from https://m.empiresatwar.co.uk . When I hit home I decided to see how they put together. The models are pre-painted and come with clear instructions.

You do need glue for these kits. I also like the card inserts for the internal rooms. They have the window frames cut into them for added detail. All told it took approximately 20 minutes to put the kit together. The roof is separate to allow access to both the upper and ground floor.

I've now got another 3 kits to build over the weekend. These are excellent value at £5 each.

Ottoman review

Firstly a few more additions to my Ottoman infantry. There is a unit of Azabs with muskets and 2 units of Jannisarries. The Azabs are from Friekorp. The Jannisarries are mainly Roundway with Friekorp officers.

I chose the yellow coats for the Jannisarries as I liked a picture of them in these colours in an old Osprey book I had on the Ottomans. Quite catching but the next 2 regiments will be in the more traditional blue.

As I was packing these away I decided to have a quick review if the army. So far I have 27 squadrons of heavy cavalry, but only 6 squadrons of of lights. The infantry is well served so far with 5 regiments of Jannisarries, 1 regiment of Tufecki, 6 regiments of Azabs and 5 regiments of Irregulars.

I reckon I'm about 70% complete with this army. I do have 4 more regiments of Jannisarries to complete with another 12 squadrons of various light cavalry.

So what else do I need. A few more officers would be helpful along with some artillery. A few more squadrons of Sipahi and Akinji would also be nice. After that any additions would be limited.

Yet more Ottomans

With my enthusiasm still holding for this project, I've been able to make some more progress on the unpainted lead. First up is 6 additional squadrons of Sipahi. These are more of the lovely figures from Legio Heroica.

As with the others I need to add some banners. I'll hopefully pick some up at the Border Reiver show next weekend.

I've also added a couple more units of Azabs. These figures are from Friekorps. Not the best but I've had them for years. I painted the uniformed. Not sure how historically accurate this will be.

Next up I've got a few commanders to paint up and then some Delli light cavalry to tackle.

Ottoman cavalry

I've made some more progress on my Ottomans to take part in the Great Northern War. These are more of the batch of figures I picked up from Legio Heroica. They are labelled as Beslu/Gonulla cavalry and will provide support to my Sipahi.

I still need to add some pennants to their lances. So that's 3 more regiments added. There were also a handful of spare figures left over which I've painted up as commanders to lead the army.

Next up on the painting table are some more Sipahi and musket armed azabs.

Ottoman conquest

And so it begins. Some further additions to the start of this project. First up I completed some old figures from the original Mikes model range. Quite chunky compared to more modern sculpt, but still full of character.

So first up 2 squadrons of Delli's. Now these are not as nice as more modern sculpts but will suffice.

The infantry are some of my favourites. I've added 2 units of irregulars armed with hand weapons and 1 unit with bows. The other now armed unit are old rebased figures.

Next to be completed were some new figures from Legio Herocia, 6 squadrons of Sipahi. There should have been 3 more squadrons but I ran out of bases. They will be added once the bases arrive.

These Sipahi are some of my favourite figures. I already have another 12 squadrons of them my painting table. I just need to source some flags and pennants to add to the landed.