Projects in the Pipeline

  Well, here is an update of what I've doing at the moment in terms of wargaming. First up is Fort William Henry/ Fort (insert french name). I am planning to use this for the French and Indian Wargame as Fort William Henry and also as a French fort. To do this, I have come up with the idea of having different flag poles with different flags on them that I can switch around when I want the fort to change ownership. This idea was inspired by these two blogs: http://jayswargamingmadness.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Fort%20William%20Henry
http://www.shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-colonels-daughters.html
  The fort I'm building is nowhere near as good as the one on the first blog! I'm afraid I don't have any pictures of the fort at the moment, I will post pictures when it is nearer to completion.
  Some things I do have pictures of though are my Napoleonic figures. The first figures I bought were a set of British and a set of French Infantry from Perry's about three years ago. Since then I've collected the Imperial Guard and Highlander sets from Victrix and the French Hussars from Perry. Most of these figures are still lying in the lead (or plastic) pile. I'm hoping to use these for a Napoleonic wargame using General de Brigade some time in the future and have based the figures according to those rules (or from what I gather as I don't have a copy of the rules- yet!).

The Command stand for the 3rd Foot Guards. My aim is to build up the Guards Brigade as they were at the Battle of Talavera, comprising the 1/1st Foot Guards and the 1/3rd Guards, along with a company of the 5/60th Royal American Rifles.

The Light Company of the 1/1st Guards. The rules suggest (or so I gather) that on a 6 figure unit. each rank of three represents a company. As the Guards had more men than a line regiment though (average regiment was between 500-700 men, the Guards had between 1000-1200) I've decided to make the flank companies larger. In the future, I plan to get more men to make the whole regiment larger.

Rear view of the Light Company. From what I've found, the 1/1st had brownish coloured  Knapsacks (backpacks) with the symbol of their regiment on whilst the 1/3rd has Black Knapsacks with their symbol on.

The Colour of the 9th company. The Guards had (and still have as far as I'm aware) a different system of colours to the rest of the army. Unlike each line regiment, which had a regimental colour and a kings colour, the Guards had a colour for each senior officer (Colonel, Lt Colonel and Major) which were red, and a colour for each company, which had the Union Jack with various symbols. The 1/3rd Guards took the colour of the 9th company (shown above) with them during this time and was their colour at Talavera. 

The Regimental Colour of the 3rd Foot Guards. From their formation in the mid 17th Century until the 1720's they were known as the Scots Guards, hence why the Lion of Scotland is present. in the 1830's, William IV granted them the title of Scots Fusilier Guards, which they have held ever since.

A rear view of the 5/60th Royal Americans. Sorry I don't have a better image of them, the camera has been playing up lately.

  I will try to make more progress on the Napoleonics, but I fear that I will be having to forsake work on them for the French and Indian War figures that I should have coming for Christmas. Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My First Taste of Napoleonic warfare

  This first proper post is not really anything to do with wargaming (sorry!), Instead, here are some picture of the first time I saw the 44th.

  I was 14 at the time and went to go and see them at Castle Rising and was immediately impressed with what I saw and, by the end of the day, I had joined the regiment.
  This re-enactment included a skirmish between French troops of the 45eme (I think) on one side and troops of the King's German Legion artillery, 9th East Norfolk, 44th East Essex and the 95th Rifles. In terms of a battle it was a small encounter and the outcome was obvious (the British would win!). What I love about the Napoleonic era is the elegant uniforms, the tactics and the many great characters that fought during the war (Napoleon, Wellington, Nelson, Blucher etc.), along with the fact that it was one of the most important wars in European history but,  apart from Trafalgar and Waterloo, it seems to be largely forgotten today. I will post some more pictures of other re-enactments as time goes on. Some will be battle, other will be just living history displays.

A mixture of the 44th and the 9th. The 44th can be identified by their gaiters, which they wear over their white trousers (most other regiments seem to wear their trousers over them), slightly more cylindrical stovepipe Shakos (in service from the early 1800's till 1812, when they were replaced by the Belgic) and the evenly spacing of the lace on their uniforms (the 9th's are in pairs). We regularly join together with the 9th as they are a member of the same division as us. 

The King's Colour of the 44th. Every battalion in the British army carried two Colours (flags). The King's Colour, which was the Union Jack with the regiments number in the middle, and the Regimental colour, which would have the Union Jack in the top corner, whilst the rest of the flag would be, in the case of the 44th, yellow
 

The 95th Rifles. This re-enactment group portrays the first battalion of this famous regiment (there were three battalions in total, and three groups to re-create them). The job of the 95th, and their counterparts in the 60th Rifles and other 'Light' regiments was to act as skirmishers, going ahead of the main battalions to pick off the enemy officers, drummers, colour bearers etc.  

The French army embraces modern technology! Throughout the year, us Napoleonic re-enactors have to travel across the country and the world, so some modern transportation is in order! This particular French soldier is a Voltigeur (literary 'Vaulters'), who were basically the equivalent of the 95th and other lights in our army.   

  Hope you have enjoyed these pictures. Next up will probably be an update of what Napoleonic wargame troops I have in the pipeline. Oh, and happy 1st of December!

Hello!

  Hello, I've set up this little blog mainly as an account of my various wargaming adventures. I run a club at the High school I attend (I'm currently doing A levels!) and, so far this year, we have done Lord of the Rings and Word War Two. Coming up soon is Last of the Mohicans, a Zombie game of some sort and (hopefully) a Napoleonic one.

  I will also be posting about other things I like, such as re-enacting. I am a member of the 44th East Essex Regiment of Foot, a group that portrays the second battalion of this regiment from the early 1800's till the battle of Waterloo in 1815. I may also talk about my love of history, which  will become more an more apparent as this bog goes on!
  I will try to post at least once  a week but forgive me if there are periods where I don't post. This will become more likely in May/June when I take my A2 exams.
  Anyway, I've waffled enough now. Hope you enjoy reading and welcome to the blog!