28mm Napoleonic French Hussar Regiment

The troopers and Elite are all Foundry models, whilst the command are Front Rank. Accidentally bought the latter with tall shakos without checking at the Triples show, so had to swap the heads with some Perry's I had spare! Also the horses and saddles needed adjustment with trimming and the addition of some modelling clay. This is the second regiment of Hussars I have. The French Napoleonics definitely dominate my collection right now, and I'm quite pleased to say that they're finally looking like the army I always wanted and envisaged!

28mm ECW Parliament Pike and Cavalry

I exchanged a few blisters of unpainted Flames of War British with my mate Darren for these Dixons ECW models a few weeks ago. There was an assortment of Pike, Foot and Cavalry with the latter both Scots and English. These are the ones I've painted-up so far. I didn't want to take forever as I was anxious to get them done and on the battlefield asap. There's been a few ECW games at the local club and I was looking forwards to fielding some of my own models. To this end I went for a quick black undercoat with one flat colour and occasional highlight on top. I'm happy with the outcome. The cavalry as you can see are a selection of lobsters, dragoons etc. I intend to purchase more and make them up into proper squadrons. Also just noticed there's some individual characters in the bag Darren gave me: William Waller and Cromwell himself. Both Bicorne Miniatures. Nice!

These are the first Dixons Miniatures I've ever had, and I must say I really like them. They've a nice old school feel and I'll certainly be buying a few more in the future.

28mm Napoleonics 'Republic to Empire' Rules. British Vs French

We had our first grapple with the 'Republic to Empire' rules at the Quorn Wargames Club (http://www.sonsofsimondemontfort.org.uk/) yesterday. I was feeling slightly daunted to begin with, this being my third introduction to a Napoleonic ruleset in just a few weeks - the previous being 'Napoleon' and 'General de Brigade'. I was actually quite surprised how quickly we began to pick it up. The point system for actions which was decided with the rolling of 4 average dice each turn made the system less rigid. So for example you could divide up 14 points with moving, changing formation, issuing new orders etc. Obviously there were still some restrictions (as experienced by Chris who voiced his frustration at not being able to unlimber his British 9lb cannons and fire at the Frenchies rapidly advancing up the hill towards him in the same turn - something only Horse Artillery and 6lb cannons could do). I also liked how swiftly we could make it across the board and begin to engage. Brilliant for a good size game that you could easily complete within 4-5 hours.

Another very good aspect was artillery fire. First shot on a new target was inflicted with a few minus points to the die roll, unlike in other games where you'd get plus points. It was deduced that the former was more realistic in that you'd have to range in the cannons with the first few wild shots, and then later increase your accuracy.

The second photo above shows another example of rash heroics (or "Raglan's Blunder") as the British cavalry decided to charge enemy artillery from the front. Accompanied by the immortal words "well, it might just work..." these chaps unfortunately were forced into a rout back to the medical tent to have the canister shot removed from their posterior.

It was an all round great evening, with lots of fun and a nice ruleset which deserves more testing and exploration in the future.