What have I done!

 As usual, an epic plan finally comes to realisation, and I have to confront the enormity of my decision. 

I decided that I needed to build armies for the  Napoleonic period. The small Dutch army has already been completed and obviously I need a much larger French army to beat them plus the purchased British army.

You plan an army or a new period and it is all fun and games until you have the figures ready for painting and you realise the job you have ahead of you.

So here it is:

300 Line Infantry        10 units of 30

55 Skirmishers              5 units of 11

60 Cavalry                    4 units of 15

9 Guns with 36 crew.

5 Command stands.

Optimistically, based on my speedy painting of the League of Augsburg armies, this should only take three months, give or take a year 🤣

One day I will think about it before I place the order, but not yet!

It is a bit like having children. "We are going to have so much fun playing with them." 

Somewhere and sometime there must be someone who knows what they are doing, it is NOT me. 😂

Expect to see a whole lot of poorly painted French Napoleonic's on the blog for the next six months.

Nemo and the Nautilus

 Another random army to add to the completed projects list. Nemo and the Nautilus and his soldiers.

Inspired by the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen's depiction of Nemo I decided to add Nemo and his force to my VSF collection.

As detailed in my post on the "Anti-Colonial Camel Corp or Sudan Dervish Army" I received a double delivery of a Pendraken order that Leon of Pendraken kindly suggested I keep. This doubled my Nemo inspired army, which is a good thing I thought but maybe not on reflection.

Here is the inspiration for the army.

Nemo and crew

Nautilus and equipment

 I have created the following army from my purchase.

Five line infantry units supported by five skirmisher units. All based as my other VSF armies.
Four armoured cars, two command units and the Nautilus.

Nemo command unit

Skirmisher support unit

Out of focus line units - not much better in focus I am afraid.

Armoured cars and slightly better shot of the line units

Nautilus - protected cruiser

Close up with Nemo on the bridge

Well, not particularly interesting. I used contrast paints for the army and the deck of the Nautilus.

I have to admit that my purchase of these was not well considered. The army is quite boring only having three elements as I did not buy any artillery or cavalry. A defect partially corrected by the armoured cars. I think it will be playable  but I really have to think more carefully in future about my purchases. Having retired I do have more time to plan my army purchases and hopefully I will not make the same error again. Although I am still considering the wisdom of the Chinese VSF army I purchased earlier this year and thinking I need some troops more recognizably Chinese than the 1905 Japanese army I purchased as proxies. 

I am also annoyed with my purchase of the ship. I have to stop buying these types of models as they are rarely, if ever, used, and cost me money and time assembling and then painting them.

Figures from Pendraken.

237 figures or vehicles painted

1 Large model completed. This is actually a Protected Cruiser built by the Chinese after the first Sino-Japanese war. It is 1/144th scale so perfect for 10mm figures and a lot cheaper than the Nautilus submarine that is available in the same scale. Also probably slightly more useful.

A good reduction in the unpainted lead mountain but a somewhat unsatisfying result. I do hope I get some use out of them.

Next up, I am not sure. I may return to posting once every two weeks.

Copenhagen Denmark

  In early May I went on an adventure to Stockholm and Copenhagen. Below are a very abbreviated selection of the photos I took in Copenhagen that I thought maybe of interest to my readers.

Copenhagen is a lovely city and very easy to walk around. Lots of wonderful buildings and streets and different from my native Sydney. I stayed in a 100 year old hotel near the main railway with lots if period touches including a rotary hotel phone.

So, what do you think this is? I saw it an immediately thought the "best civil war everrrr.... ACW". But no, it is Generallieutenant Krogh in 1850 fighting the Prussians (I think)

The following photos are from the Danish War Museum located in an old arsenal building.

Cannon from the middle ages. From the following photos I think it is apparent that the Danish military are hoarders. Which is great for us 😂

They would make small models of ships in scale and these would be used by the dockyard builders to make the ships as many could not read.

In 1658 Denmark-Norway was once again (their words)attacked by Swedish king Karl X Gustav who brought an army of 10,000 men and besieged Copenhagen. After six months with supplies running low the Danish sent a fleet of 35 ships to break the blockade and siege and deliver supplies and reinforcements. The Danish broke through and delivered the supplies and four months later, after a failed assault the Swedes withdrew. 

The Swedes seemed to get all their anger out during the 17th Century   😂

Diorama of the battle 

Close up. 

A model of the ship "Dronning Julianne Maria" to assist its construction in 1752 but unusually it can be disassembled to show the various decks.

After being bombed by the British in 1801 and 1809 (I think) the Danes created these bombard ships that would be able to operate in the calm waters around Copenhagen. Here is one British ship fighting them off. Not sure how it would have worked if there was a fleet of British ships.

And now for something completely unexpected.

The Danes would request example uniforms from different militaries to help them design their own. The above one is from the USA and according to the note is the only existing complete set of USA Infantry and Cavalry uniforms from 1860.

Close up with my usual abysmal photo skills

In addition to the ship models they also kept models of guns and artillery.

Losing your standard is the worst thing that could occur to any Regiment. Losing it on the battlefield was dreadful, your line was crushed, your square was broken. But the most embarrassing way to lose your standard was to leave it behind in the hotel when you leave the country.  The Eagle of the Franco-Spanish Auxiliary Corp left behind when they departed Copenhagen in 1806.

How the Vikings kept their shields on the sides of their ships. A thin strip of wood creating a slot to hold the shield. From the Viking ships recovered at Roskilde, the early capital of the Vikings, which is a bugger to get to from the sea, so they were nice and safe from any raiding parties... hypocrites!

Random display of ceramic toy British soldiers in India.

Copenhagen is generally low rise but has a couple of very high church towers, all requiring lots of walking up.

This one is the Rundetaarn.... aka The Round Tower.

View from the top. You can see the bridge to Sweden and also another very tall church tower, no not that one with the clock, the one with the ball on top.

So I went up this one too. 400 steps, about 100 on the outside. It was cold, very narrow staircase, wobbled a little in the wind, but the view was great.

In the never ending discussion of whether or not unpainted miniatures are allowed I have never heard of what should happen if your opponent is the Prince and his mini's are made out of gold with the occasional gem stone for highlights.

Prince Frederik V's mini collection of Africans and Romans. 

African camels

Spears?

Archers and Romans

Command group with baby elephants

Just when you thought you had the perfect model ship someone comes along with their model Frigate "Norske Love" that fought for Christian IV in the Torstensson war of 1643-1645 made out of ivory with cannons and details in silver. Pity they didn't paint it though 🤣

Well a trip to Copenhagen is not done until you visit the little mermaid. Unfortunately the little mermaid is a little disappointing. Fortunately, close by is the Kastellet which is a well preserved Vauban fortress, still a military base but you can wander around the walls. First one I had seen in the flesh.

Another view. Great to walk around, certainly got the step count up.

Well I hope it was all mildly interesting. I had a great time there and can definitely recommend it as a destination. Expensive to go out for dinner or drinks but otherwise no different to what I would pay in Sydney. Plenty of options if you don't want to pay too much.