It's surprising what turns up.

The recent mild weather in the South East (UK)  has ushered in the start of the Car Boot Sale season a little earlier than usual.  Our local one is held on a farm, so it's a good long walk in the early morning fresh air, and I like to go along as often as I can for the exercise.  Who am I kidding, I go along for the bacon rolls and to hunt toy soldiers!   It can be very hit or miss but  here's what I picked up this week and last:

A group of modern white metal figures made by Del Prado, the first one depicting Captain Souter of the 44th Regiment of Foot could have walked straight out of the Last Stand at Gandamak painting by William Barnes Wollen.  The remaining five are all types of the French Foreign Legion, this series was issued in France but not in the UK so they are harder to find here, I use them mostly for uniform research and at less than £2 each they had to come home with me.

I know nothing about old tin toys, except that I like them, and I do like to include them as set dressing in wargames.  The saloon car is about the rights size for 54mm toy soldiers while the Omnibus is a bit small but I think we'll get away with it, they both need a bit of cleaning up and straightening out but nothing too drastic.  I don't think there's any great age to them, they look like modern reproductions to me but for a couple of quid each they had to go in the bag.  Likewise the ceramic stable block which was made to take a tea light candle but will now illuminate my toy village.

Finally a hotch-potch of odds and ends that came in at about 50p each from various junk boxes.  The first three Britains/Herald Robin Hood figures are so damaged and scuffed that they will end up as conversion fodder.  The Evzone and horse from the Lone Star Lone Ranger figure will be passed on to someone else at the forthcoming Plastic Warrior Show next month.

The remaining two figures I'll keep, the chap in green is a Starlux character figure of Barberousse (Red beard) from the ORTF (Office de Radiodiffusion Television Francaise) TV series Richard Coeur de Lion.  The set was issued in the mid 1960's and included two foot figures each of Richard, Redbeard and Blondel and one mounted figure of Richard, they're quite hard to find.  The diminutive figure of Napoleon was made in France by MDM.  The palm tree is a modern white metal item.

The Plastic Warrior Show is being held on Saturday 11th May and further details can be found on the Plastic Warrior blog, link in the column to the left.  Good Hunting!

An interlude while I do some 1:1 scale painting

This past week I've been up a ladder with a paint brush redecorating the hall and this has necessitated taking down the display of toy soldiers I have there.  The figures need to be individually removed and dusted so I took these photos to remind me where they go when I put the display back up, as I'd taken the pics I thought I might as well share them with you dear reader.

Discreetly camouflaged by several years of dust, the figures here are not any particular favourites just odds and ends that I've taken a shine to and picked up over time. Occasionally things get moved around but the order of display is largely governed by the size of each compartment.

I've always been very open about collecting toy soldiers and when I mention my interest to anyone they immediately assume that I mean lead guardsmen standing to attention in red tunics (and in fairness there are a few of those), so this little display is my way of showing the diversity of the subject.  Click on a picture to enlarge, there are no prizes for identifying what they are but it might give you a minute or two of fun, now where did I put that duster?

Woking Wargames Day 2019

Spending a whole day just enjoying yourself can be quite exhausting, but that's what the various members of the Little Wars Revisited group (and a few others) did last weekend at the LWR Forum 2019 Games Day in Woking.  The event boasted five games played using 54mm toy soldiers and here's a taster of how it went:

Eric Kemp put on a skirmish game using his own rules set in the Schleswig-Holstein War and featuring his rather superb conversions

If you want to refight an obscure period like this in 54mm you have to go with metal figures (expensive and heavy to transport) or plastic conversions (requiring skill and time to make) so skirmish games rather than big battles are the order of the day.  And this shows what a spectacle you can provide with just a 4'x4' table and about 20 figures a side.

Anthony Morton brought out his "Little Legions" Zulu war collection for the Battle of Isandlwana using "The Portable Wargame" rules by Bob Cordery.

The modular terrain blocks are made by Mike Lewis of Black Hat Miniatures (who organises the Woking Wargames Day) and provides an infinite variety of options for landscaping a battlefield, its also idea for grid based games like The Portable Wargame.

Mike Lewis, mentioned above, staged a 19th Century game using his own Little Wars Revisited range of metal figures using a draft version of  "A Gentleman's War" rules which are due to be published right about now by Howard Whitehouse.

Keen eyed readers will recognise this layout as the battle of Hook's Farm from H G Wells' "Little Wars" an ideal scenario as A Gentleman's War is played in much the same manner as Wells' rules.

As you can see here, smaller scale buildings work perfectly well with 54mm figures, well I think so anyway.

My own humble efforts using Britains Deetail and various other converted figures, 

the rule system was "Battle Cry" by Richard Borg and the scenario selected was The Battle of Falling Waters

The beauty of a system like Battle Cry for an event like this is that it's very quick and easy to pick up an understanding of the rules.  On this occasion my opponent was already well versed in the Ancients version of the game so had a feel for the order of the game and lead his Confederates to a resounding victory over my numerically superior Federals. 

Tim Rose offered us "A Very British Civil War" using his own rules the game is set during the 1937 Tithe Wars in East Anglia, never heard of them? me neither but Tim gave us a very interesting potted history on the background of them.

I played this game in the afternoon session and thoroughly enjoyed it, it's a true toy soldier game with each individual figure counted as using whatever armament he's been made with, be it a grenade, rifle or anti-tank weapon. It's all very 1930's and introduces lots of factions like Fascist Blackshorts, Foresters, Yeomanry, Territorials, Anglican League and Communist Militia.

Tim did an admirable job as umpire, controlling the chaos we were  making on the table and occasionally adding to it by feeding in unexpected reinforcements.  A fast free flowing game and great fun.

It is nice to get your toys out of the shoebox once in a while and play with them.

Memoir 44 - Battle of Carpiquet in 54mm part 2

As part of Operation Windsor of 4th July 1944 the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade advanced from the Normandy bridgehead to capture the airfield outside the village of Carpiquet and this is the scenario that Anthony and I chose to play using 54mm toy soldiers and the Memoir 44 game system devised by Richard Borg.

The Canadian armour advances, this game system is very much about the tanks, they have great mobility and firepower but their full potential can only be exercised in open country, their effectiveness is much diminished against troops in cover.

On the German left wing, infantry of both sides move cautiously forward, probing and making maximum use of terrain for cover.

The two panzer units on the German right wing have elite status, which gives them a marginal edge in tank on tank combat, they launched an all out attack and made short work of the opposing Shermans

Infantry have great resilience when in cover, several times the defenders were forced out of their positions but quickly regrouped and returned to the fray.

The Allied armour eventually broke out of the bocage but by then the panzers had command of the open ground and there was nothing for it but to fall back.

The game was fast paced and the outcome played out very similar to the original action in 1944, from that point of view we judged it to have worked well.  Visually it was nice to see the Britains Deetail figures on the table and six figure units looked about right but I think we need to work on the representation of built up areas (which I feel is an issue with grid based games) and perhaps some explosive blast markers.  It lasted about an hour and a half.

Elsewhere, the latest issue of Plastic Warrior magazine arrived in the post this morning (see PW link in column on the left), the Woking Games Day is being held this Saturday (for details see the Little Wars Revisited link in the column on the left) and we also have the London Toy Soldier Show coming up on the 30th March, so a busy few weeks ahead.

Memoir 44 in 54mm - Battle for Carpiquet

For those that don't know (which included me until a couple of weeks ago), Memoir 44 is the WW2 version of the boardgame Battle Cry, more specifically it's about the campaign in Europe after the D Day landings in Normandy.  The scenario we chose to play was the drive on Carpiquet by the Canadians of 8th Brigade facing 12th SS Panzer Division, Anthony and I have adapted Battle Cry quite successfully to 54mm for the ACW and Zulu wars but how would it fare with WW2?

The initial set up, the Canadians have five armoured and eight infantry units, The Germans have three armoured (two of which are elite) and seven infantry units all in well prepared defensive positions.  The Canadians objective, the village of Carpiquet, is on the right hand baseline, half way up the table nestling behind the hills and woods.

Canadian infantry advance, probing the way for their armour.

On the Allied right, the Sherman tanks of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers rumble through the winding Normandy bocage......

......while the Panzer Grenadiers are dug in waiting for them.

On the Allied left the Canadians begin clearing the small villages of their defenders.

The seemingly endless grind through the bocage.

In the centre the Canadians make better going as the land opens to rolling fields.

The mat and toys were all Anthony's, infantry units are represented by six figures and armour by a single tank.

The mortar units look impressive, for the purpose of this game they count the same as any other infantry unit.

More tomorrow, or the day after, perhaps.

Lost and Found

I recently recovered the hard drive from a laptop long since out of use, among numerous pictures of cats and holidays there were a few of toy soldiers, including these:

Clearly the early moves of a wargame but I don't remember when, who was playing or what the rules were.  No matter, it's always nice to see old toys out on the table.  I think I originally posted these pics up on one of the old Yahoo Groups so there may be more of the same wafting around in the ether.

A close up of the Allied Command.  Most of the mounted figures came from the collection of John Ruddle and have seen action in his legendary garden wargames, a few of the foot conversions are my own humble efforts.

Wishing a peaceful, happy Christmas to one and all, hopefully there will be more toy soldiers in the New Year.

War of 1812

A deputation from the Funny Little Wars group visited recently in the form of Paul and Jack, looking to try out some ideas for smoke, confusion and subterfuge in the age of Napoleon. Keen to get a recently acquired collection from the War of 1812 on the table, I thought this would be an ideal scenario to try out the new ideas.

Setting the scene, a company of British infantry picquetted in the outlying town, across the river from their stockade, are surprised by a raiding party of American regulars, militia and native scouts. A firefight breaks out but the company are quickly overwhelmed and forced to flee for the safety of the fort as the Americans overrun the village.

Troops in the fort stand to and give supporting fire to the hard pressed company. Guns fire every other move and puffs of smoke indicate they are reloading. Similarly blankets of smoke are laid down for each infantry volley, with each successive volley more smoke is laid and begins to role away but has the effect of obscuring aim, it also gives irregular troops the opportunity to slip away unseen, only to reappear elsewhere.

At this point the forlorn Company find their way to the fort blocked, pinned on three sides they decide to try crossing the river.  At this juncture a band of natives, allied to the British emerged from the woods to the right of the stockade, their musketry forces the American Militia across the footbridge to fall back but it is too little too late to save the beleaguered company across the river.

A salvo from the American guns dispersed the native allies, while our gallant Company, caught in a crossfire, were unable to cross the river and surrendered to the Yankee Regulars.

The action concluded with the American Militia snipping on the stockade from the safety of the woods while their Regulars formed up for a frontal assault which they carried despite fearful casualties.

The new rules were easy to administer and worked very well, the scenario itself made for an interesting game which could have gone either way.  A very pleasant way to spend a midweek afternoon with old friends and it's great to be getting more gaming in.

Toy Soldier Auction at Sheffield Auction Gallery

Time for a post on proper toy soldiers!  Last week a large collection of toy soldiers went up for sale at the Sheffield Auction Gallery, I didn't get along to it myself but I hear from those who did that the bidding was brisk.  Surprise of the show must be the prices achieved for boxes of Airfix figures: 17 assorted boxes of 1/32 made £220 against Estimate (E) £30/50 while 17 assorted boxes of HO/OO made £320 (E) £60/100, That's about £13 a box for 54mm, which seems reasonable and about £19 a box for 20mm, which doesn't, or am I out of touch?

Anyway here are pics of some of the more interesting lots, or at least the ones that I thought were.  As always, click the picture to enlarge, click again it's even bigger, all photos courtesy of Sheffield Auction Gallery:

One of the earlier lots typical of those being offered this one went for £35 (E) £30/50, many similar lots were (E) £20/30 and sold in the range of £30/40.  I'm showcasing this particular lot because it has some interesting Continental figures and I noticed several Malleable Mouldings in there. Most of the other mixed lots of this size were less interesting and generally sold above estimate.

This Marx Big Top Circus made in Swansea reached £28 (E) £20/30, the box is tatty but the tinplate tent was there without any figures.  How much would this have sold for in the USA? No doubt someone will tell us, there isn't the same interest in Marx tinplate in the UK and several other lots went for prices that our American colleagues haven't seen in decades.

This shot has a good view of the Marx Movable Indian with all his accessories, issued about 1967, I remember seeing them in the shops and they have remained a firm favourite ever since. Sold £22 (E) £20/30.

The Barzo Davy Crockett Playset, of recent manufacture in the style of the old Marx playsets it is now out of production and eagerly sought after in the USA. Sold £40 (E) £20/40

An original Marx Cape Canaveral playset, I'm not really interested in anything non military but included this because we didn't get these playsets over here in Europe during the 1950s and 60s so a lot of people won't be familiar with them and this is quite a good example. Sold £70 (E) £50/80

A selection of 17 Carmen figures, solid lead, made in the 1930s/50s by W Y Carman (President of the British Model Soldier Society) for adult collectors, these are a bit knocked about but I love 'em.  Sold £180 (E) £30/50.

A good selection of rareish plastics: an original box of Cavendish "British Regiments 1751" made for the tourist trade along with Henry VIII and his numerous wives, an unpainted SEGOM figure from France, Monarch Highlanders, several pieces from the Charbens Francis Drake set, 2 from the Gemodels Humpty Dumpty set and various Cherilea/Crescent oddments. Overall a great lot. Sold £120 (E) £60/80

A complete set of the Benbros hollowcast Robin Hood set, nothing special about it but it's a good pic of a very nice set.  I have them in plastic....what's that you say...but Benbros never made them in plastic! True they didn't but Giles Brown of Dorset Soldiers acquired the original moulds and cast a few sets when he was experimenting with plastics. Sold £110 (E) £25/40 (I did say it was a nice set!)

A nice pic of the box art for the Cherilea Medieval Castle, notice the strange squared off triangle shape of the Keep, I could never figure out why they did that? Also the Cherilea Toys logo, the late version after the company had been taken over by Sharna Ware and the gawky Hong Kong knockoffs of Timpo swoppet knights. The castle was made to go with their 65mm knights so why didn't they use them in the picture? Sold £28 (E) £20/40

There's nothing special about the Kleeware castle, it turns up all the time and was reissued by Timpo at one point but again it's a nice pic of the original box art. Sold £25 (E) £25/40

Britains hollowcast Territorial Army, these five unremarkable figures sold for £440 (E) £20/40 so they must have something going for them!

Two figures of Charles II by Courtney, again they aren't really toy soldiers, having been made for the adult collectors market, but they do have a certain vintage and you don't see them very often so it's nice to be able to showcase such a good shot. Sold £80 (E) £20/40

More Courtney's, this time 2 x Elizabeth I together with Henry VIII and three of those unfortunate spouses, Sir Francis Drake resplendent in white, someone bowing that I can't make out and one other by Vertunni. Sold £160 (E) £80/100

Finally a group of 5 figures based on the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II by Graham Farish, the sixth figure on the extreme right (which has been misdescribed in the catalogue) is Marie de la Queillerie made by SAE (Swedish African Engineers) and was given given away free with petrol in South Africa

There was lots of other good stuff, not least of which was a Lone Star Dick Turpin which sold for a respectable £75 (E) £20/40 and you can view more of them here Sheffield Auction Gallery I don't know how long they keep these results up for so take a look soon if you're interested.  Having worked in the auction industry I can tell you that on average a general art sale will expect to get a sell through rate of about 50%, specialist sales like this tend to get a much better hit rate, looking through the results I could only find three lots that didn't sell out of 320 in the toy soldier section, that's over 99%.  A stonking good result and food for thought for all those Jonah's out there who delight in telling us that the hobby is dying.