Just Like Christmas

Since it would be churlish to comment on the fact that it took Royal Mail’s guaranteed-next-day Special Delivery service two days to get the thing here, I shall simply state that I was very pleased to get a parcel this morning from Norfolk. Inside were all sorts of good things – converted Hinton Hunt models, the work of the esteemed Pete Bateman, and all for my Peninsular War armies.

There is something very pleasing about good conversions based on Hinton Hunt figures – I don’t have a great many, but they always feel like the sort of thing a proper wargames army should have (strong echoes of Peter Gilder), they bring a unique element and some welcome variety to the forces in The Cupboard, they provide troop types which otherwise would not be available and – especially if they are the work of someone with a lot more skill than I have – they are interesting and good to look at. Also, because this lot are individually converted, heads are all at slightly different angles and each figure is a character in his own right.

I’ve started basing and organising the new arrivals, and here’s some early results, which I’m very happy with. I have two new light cavalry units for the Spanish army, which fill a very prominent gap in the OOB. [Please note that my artificial light photos have started washing out red tones again – the paint is much brighter than this, and the reds are RED.] The horsemen in green are the Voluntarios de Espana, who, despite their name, are an old-established unit of regular Cazadores a Caballo. The other fellows are the Husares de Extremadura, formerly known as the Husares de Maria Luisa – I have no idea why they changed their name – maybe Maria Luisa lost them at cards. Both these units fought throughout the war, and they are presented here with hats which would fit any period from 1810 onwards. They have no flags yet, but I’m working on it.

There are also some cheerfully eccentric Spanish staff figures...

...and an interesting custom figure for General Von Neuenstein, who commanded a Confederation brigade in the Armée du Centre. Von Neuenstein is, authentically, wearing the uniform of a general officer of the Duchy of Baden – HH enthusiasts will spot that part of him may have been Russian in a previous existence!

Tomorrow, time permitting, there are some artillery and logistics items to sort out, so this is a particularly good parcel. Unpacking this lot has been just like Christmas...

What the Hex That Thing?

Well, since you asked, that's the first instalment of my new Stack-o-Hex scenic plates, manufactured to order and sent to me by Uncle Tony at ERM. They are 7 inches across the flats, same as my table hexes, and are laser-cut from 3mm MDF. They are going to be painted in the regulation baseboard green (Dulux Crested Moss #1) and then will be adorned with various hand-painted sections of road, stream, village and wood bases and so on - whatever else takes my fancy, or is required by whimsical scenarios (what's the plural of scenario - could it be scenariones? - hmmm...).

3mm weight is heavier than I intended, but it makes a neater job, and will help avoid warping - they are also less liable to slide about in moments of stress than thinner ones would be.

This is all a reaction to the embarrassment I felt as the result of deploying some old laminated paper scenic plates at my recent Battle of Nantwich. I'll work away at a few examples of the new type, and once I know what I am doing I'll crack on. The idea is to keep them flat and pretty much flock-free, so they stack in a compact manner and don't get damaged much. There will be some plain green ones, too, so that I can, if I need to, buy myself a little extra level ground to position houses around the edges of a BUA.

The little unit of 20mm French sappers is just to give an idea of what a 7 inch hex looks like. This is, after all, sort of a job for the engineers.

More Spanish Thoughts - Milicias Urbanas

With thanks to everyone who offered comments and email advice following my last rambling post, I am pleased to report that I think I may have made some progress. Perhaps.

The first, and probably most significant, point is that my Spanish army is a fair size already, so any infantry I add to it is just organic expansion rather than any major change in the Grand Plan – or it may just be completing some missing bits from the Grand Plan.

I acquired the unpainted bicorne troops along the way – some NapoleoN, some Falcata, and I have access to more Falcatas if I need them. My 1812-style army currently has, I reckon, 11 battalions of troops which would not sit comfortably with any white-coated 1808 types.

So big idea No.1 was let’s paint up 11 or so battalions of bicornes, and then I can field an 1808 or an 1812 army by switching the line infantry. Cool, eh? This is very attractive, but has two downsides:

(1) I would need to get in a lot more bicorne soldiers to make up this amount – the project just grew arms and legs. A bit like building a second house to get rid of half a dozen bricks you found in the garden.

(2) There is the issue of inconsistency with the dating of the other Peninsular armies which I mentioned previously.

So, somewhat reluctantly, I have moved on to not-quite-so-big idea No.2. This is to identify units which might reasonably have been seen in bicornes in 1812, and add them to the army I already have. Further research indicates that the Milicias Urbanas might be just the boys. The JM Bueno picture at the top, admittedly, shows uniforms from 1808, but it seems these chaps looked like this for much of the war. There was a variety of uniforms for the various towns and cities, but all along this general style. We might debate how far from home some of these units might be deployed, but they certainly saw plenty of active service. The Milicias Urbanas of Ciudad Rodrigo, for example (and not unreasonably), were present at the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (the French being the besiegers), and were dressed identically to the Madrid soldier pictured in the last post.

The Milicia Urbana are necessarily going to be poor quality troops, which frequently adds to their unpredictability and entertainment value on the tabletop, and they also seem to have had interesting flags. My current thinking, then, is that I have (or can easily scratch together) enough figures for about 4 battalions of MU, plus associated skirmishers, and thus I can run up an extra brigade for Morillo’s Division. If they only do garrison duties, that should still get them a few outings. I think I’ll go with this.

Strangely, for such a vague decision, I feel quite comforted. Having made a choice, I don’t actually have to do anything about it for a while. But at least the things I am not doing will be different things. I am reminded of the bit in Herman Hesse’s Steppenwolf where the main character decides he will commit suicide, but that there is no rush – the decision is an end in itself...

Spanish Thoughts

1812 Spaniards in bicornes?

As ever, I find myself going about with a head full of plenty of half-formed ideas, but very little that is clear enough to do much about. It helps when a particular thread is hit simultaneously from two different directions – then there is an implication that a bit more focus is needed.

Napoleonic Spain is one such area at the moment. I had another friendly poke from Martin by email, asking me when the solo campaign is going to come out of the freezer and get moving again – which is a good question, pertinent, even, and I shall come back to this in a moment – and then I was doing some more clearing of the spares boxes and I came back to the old question of what am I ever going to do with my 1808-style Spanish infantry. Let’s have a look at this second bit first, just to be awkward.

I have a fair mound of unpainted Baylen-period Spaniards with nothing to do. Because my French and Anglo-Portuguese Peninsular armies are dressed for the later stages of the war (originally because of availability of figures, but now simply because that is what I have, and the momentum is established), it made sense to add Spanish forces from the same period, so my Spanish Nationalist line infantry have the post-1811 British style uniform. Blue jackets and shakos and all that. A sprinkling of white-clad chaps from 1808, in bicornes, in what was an old fashioned uniform even in 1808, would not sit well. They might look nice, but the anachronism would grate with me. Mind you, they would look nice...

This is how it always goes. This is not helped by the fact that my existing army contains a good proportion of milicias and voluntarios in round hats, not to mention guerrilleros, all of whom could be comfortably wheeled out at any date from 1808 onwards. Which, in turn, got me thinking that maybe I could make up some 1808 line units which could be combined with the irregulars to make an alternative Spanish army, for earlier in the war. Hmmm.

Mind you, they would have to fight Frenchies, some of whom are wearing distinctly 1812-style uniforms – I could just about live with that. But then, if they fought alongside the Brits, there are a good few of those who are straight from Waterloo, and that would be upsetting. Worst of all, I would have difficulty combining the two alternative Spanish armies into one big one for special occasions, which you can see would be a disappointment at a more childish level.

The alternative approach is to go back to studying the various books and bits and pieces and see if I can identify any units in bicornes which could justifiably be added to the existing 1811-12 army. JM Bueno’s Uniformes Espanoles de la Guerra de Independencia is always a treasure trove, and I turned up various odd militia units raised from colleges and academies who seem to have dressed in a rather outdated style, but they may be a bit rarefied. They might have been drinking clubs rather than regiments (no – I don’t mean it, I’m sure these guys fought like heroes).

The two Bueno pictures at the top of this post look more promising. The soldier on the left is from the Milicia Nacional Urbana de Madrid of 1812 – apparently, as soon as the French evacuated Madrid following the Battle of Salamanca, the local movers and shakers raised 8 battalions, no less, of these fine chaps, plus an attractive-looking unit of cavalry. Now you’re talking. Unfortunately, JJ Sanudo’s database of service records makes no mention of such a unit (or maybe I just missed it), so maybe they were disbanded, smartish, when Wellington went back to Portugal after Burgos. The jury is out on the Madrid boys – they are interesting, though.

The other soldier is from the line battalions of the Voluntarios Distinguidos of Cadiz. He is in parade dress, but apparently this unit was dressed like this throughout the war, and they have a very long and worthy record in Sanudo. They look good, too, eh? Sadly, they were, of course, rather stuck, not to mention besieged, in Cadiz, and would not be a convincing addition to an army in Castile. I am continuing to ponder the matter. There must have been other, similar, units which I could utilise.

The solo campaign. I have waffled on about how I was disappointed with some aspects of how the rules worked, and have been gently accused of putting the campaign on hold in a fit of petulance, which I would protest is only partly true. The campaign had reached an interesting phase, and I am determined to get back to it when the Autumn comes (which may mean when the lawns no longer need cutting). It would certainly be a pity to abandon it, and I have received an extra boost from the imminent arrival of some Spanish light cavalry (at last!), and a couple of new general figures, of which you will hear more. Admittedly, the acquisition of new toy soldiers does not make a very good reason to fire up the campaign again, but it all helps. Watch this space.

There you go – another entire blog post which doesn’t quite say anything.

Hooptedoodle #92 – With My Little Ukulele in My Hand

Everyone's favourite ukulele player - Marilyn Monroe in "Some Like It Hot"

As part of the rather daunting job of migrating my document files over to the new iMac desktop, I was ploughing through a load of old stuff, much of which is just to be deleted, when I found a (sort of) poem. This, I recall, was a competition entry commissioned by my good wife. The person submitting the best piece on the subject of Owning a Ukulele (in the opinion of the judges) would win a concert-quality instrument which would be the envy of all their friends and neighbours...

Owning a Ukulele

Owning a ukulele, why,

It changed my entire way of life.
I practised till I was ready,

And I said cheerio to the wife.

Then I set off to make my fortune,

The world’s greatest one-man band.

Oh, those cheers, all that adulation –

I was feted throughout the land.

People would come up and shake my hand,

Sometimes in groups, sometimes singly,

But, now that my Nationwide tour is done,

I’m back outside Bradford & Bingley.

MSF

You will be reassured to learn that this did not win anything. It should be recited in a George Formby accent for full effect.

If non-UK readers do not understand the buskers’ joke about UK building societies, don’t worry about it – not worth explaining. If you do not know who or what George Formby was then you have my congratulations. Here is a short YouTube clip to show the man at his peak, revealing why the tradition of British music-hall is famed and hated the world over.

Hooptedoodle #91 - Hitler's Trousers, and This and That

Die Festung Hohensalzburg - if you're going to have a castle, make it a good one

Greetings from our continuing holiday in Austria. We did a couple of nice walks, but it’s been rather hot for such activities, and I’ll spare you a full catalogue of ice creams and such. Sadly, the Contesse has had a fall which required stitches in a very nasty head cut, so we are having a quiet few days while she recovers her strength and grace. Prior to this, we did the planned trip to Salzburg, which was excellent, and we went to Berchtesgarten, including a visit to the Kehlstein, Hitler’s fabled “Eagle’s Nest”.

This post is really just a collection of snaps, but I found Hitler’s place interesting in a spooky sort of way. The engineering – particularly in view of the date – is fantastic, and it was designed to show Germany’s expertise in construction technology. I found it very thought provoking that the little brass elevator which takes you up to the top level must often have contained Borman, Göring, Hitler himself and any number of visiting dignitaries. Nothing ever disappears completely – do you think there are still traces of them in there?

Old Max Foy inspects the defences at Salzburg

Mozart's parents showed something of a lack of imagination,
bringing him into the world on the 3rd floor of a building with
his name all over the front of it. Enthusiasts for young Wolfgang's
egalitarian beliefs will note the SPAR grocery store on the ground
floor with some satisfaction, I feel

Interesting (and possibly well-known) tit-bit on the Eagle’s Nest. It was a well-kept secret that Hitler suffered badly from both claustrophobia and vertigo. It was concealed because it might be considered something of a failing in the leader of the German master-race, but it made the Eagle’s Nest – a gift from the Nazi party in 1938 – the cruellest present imaginable. How Adolf managed to survive the terrifying motor trip up to the summit is beyond me. The little elevator (which is still powered by a U-boat engine, I believe) is brass, and is polished like a mirror inside, since this makes it appear larger than it is, and would help avoid the Fuhrer’s arriving to meet his guests with inappropriately wet trousers.

It seems that he was also very uncomfortable in the gloomy little tunnel into the mountain which takes you to the bottom of the elevator. To overcome this, Hitler and guests were driven the 150 metres or so in a big staff car, and alighted at the lift door. That in itself is an acceptable piece of protocol, whatever the reasoning behind it. However, the tunnel is too narrow for the car to turn, so the driver had to reverse the full length, turn round and reverse all the way back in again to be in position for the Grand Exit. These guys were good, make no mistake about it!

One of the cruise boats working the ferry runs on Lake Wolfgang is the 1873
paddle-wheeler Kaiser Franz Josef I, a lovely old thing. If you catch this boat,
you pay an extra 1 euro "Nostalgia Charge" on top of your fare. Yes, it's probably
a rip-off, but somehow it feels like a privilege

Eagle's Nest - not for the faint hearted

Late edit - I forgot to include these pics. Anyone know what this is, or when
it dates from? It's badged as an Auto Union, complete with 4-circles logo

Hooptedoodle #90 - The Electric Sheep

Just arrived on Summer holibags with the family. Nothing has actually happened yet, since we’ve spent a little time catching up with our sleep since we got here, but the place seems nice enough – hot, though. We are staying in the Austrian Salzkammergut, the Lake District. We are at Lake Wolfgang, and it’s about 45 minutes into Salzburg by the local Postbus route #150 – haven’t been there yet, that’s for tomorrow.

I’m gently getting on with my 1809 Danube campaign reading, and have been scoring some minor Napoleonic spotters’ points around these parts. The Austrian army’s crossing of the River Inn into Bavaria, on 10^th April 1809 took place fairly close to here. The left flank of the advance - the Armeekorps of Hiller and Archduke Ludwig  - crossed the river at Braunau, which is just a little way away, and the left flank was covered by Jellacic’s VI Korps, which was at Salzburg itself, in the superb old castle.

Only other thing I’ve seen of relevance thus far in the little town is a rather interesting establishment called the Hotel Radetzky, which has impressive murals on the outside walls of Wagram-period Austrian soldiers.

The picture at the top of the post is the view from my balcony at 06:30 this morning, which is pleasant enough, but I was especially taken with a little electric robot lawnmower which the hotel has clipping the grass in the early mornings and late at night. I’ve seen similarly inspired devices which clean the bottoms of swimming pools, and I’ve heard of one which vacuums the house while you’re out, but I’ve never seen one of these grass-cutting gizmos before. Not only is  it clever, but it’s also hilariously funny – my son and I happily watched it bumbling about like a demented electric sheep for at least half an hour, with Nick providing commentary subtitles, such as “uh-oh!” when it was headed for a tree or similar. It always sorted itself out of problem corners, though there appeared to be a few emergency stops. We keep expecting to meet it in the hotel’s corridors, patiently clipping away, keeping the carpet neat.

These things may be very common – possibly every home in Santa Barbara has one – who knows? – but such technology is new to me, and we definitely want one. No matter that we would have to redesign the garden so that it would not have to cope with stone steps – there must be a way. Anyway, we want one, though we may have moved on to something else by tomorrow. This one is Italian, by the way.

Broadband wi-fi is not good here, and is switched off for large parts of the day – in fact I have a suspicion I may be hacking into a network I’m not supposed to, but I'll keep trying intermittently.

The little town has an interesting WW2 war memorial, which I hope to get a decent look at. We are going on a day trip to Berchtesgarten and the Eagle’s Nest next week, which I’m looking forward to, and the hiking and cycling potential around here seems very good, so once we’ve recovered from the 2-hours’-sleep-a-day regime which early morning charter flights from UK provincial airports force upon us we should be busy enough.

Excellent.

On a slight downbeat note, I am a little disappointed that the local representative of our British holiday company speaks no German at all, though she has been based here for a couple of years. Not a bloody word, though this is not an area where English is spoken as widely as in, say, the Tyrol. She even appears to take a pride in this achievement. Oh well – no point having a national stereotype if we don’t take the chance to reinforce it now and then, though it does seem a bit like employing a man with no arms as a goalkeeper. I must say that the British tourists here are well looked after, but we seem to be expected somehow to be a bit dim. Very like Americans used to be regarded in Paris when I used to go there years ago.

Not to worry – Oi, Radetzky! Get us another beer, will you, me old son?