Seen at the London Toy Soldier Show March 2019

The show in London last weekend seemed a little flat to me, but it was nice to meet old friends and I spent most of my money so that's what counts, here are a few of the things that took my fancy:

This little collection appealed to me, I really liked the tractor, it makes a change form horse drawn limbers and I'm sure it would be easy enough to bodge one out of some bits and pieces of tin and wood.

I have a descent sized Roman collection and I'm slowly building up the Gauls/Barbarians to go with them but the project has lost momentum so I took this pic to provide me with some inspiration, I think the figures are by King & Country.

I've just finished painting up 50 Vikings, Normans and Saxons but have another 100 or so to go, mine don't look as good as this so the pic gives me something to aim for.

These superb Conquistadors are from a range made by Morgan Miniatures, my current project is a TudorBethan mish mash of 16th Century types so I took this pic to give me some reference points.

I'm not mad about tanks and vehicles but I do quite like some of the quirky stuff produced in that period of development between the wars

My stash from the show was mostly modern production, here the two sets of Conquistadors from Chintoys, I currently have two sets on the paint table and these additions will be used for conversions.  In the middle a lone pikeman from Replicants, found in a junk box, and at the back a mounted Russian made Teutonic knight alongside William of Normandy by Del Prado, the latter is a bit large but I find their personality figures ideal for command groups and at the moment they are as cheap as chips for the quality.  

My only vintage purchases of the day, some Italian composition, I think made by Salpa but I need to check, they represent modern infantry which isn't really my thing but they were very cheap and I just liked the poses.

Rounding off, some Conte Normans on the right, to the left more of the unnamed Russian made Teutonic knights along with Seljuk Turks from the same manufacturer.  The knights vary in size from about 60mm (which is just about okay) up to 70mm, very nice sculpts but just too big for me so I will be passing some of them on at the forthcoming Plastic Warrior show on 11th May.

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.

The Toy Soldier Artistry of Holger Eriksson

Lou Sandbote is a well known name among toy soldier collectors, he has been editor of the Holger Eriksson Collectors Society newsletter since the early 1990's and his enduring passion for the subject has been a great inspiration to all of us.  Since those early days there has always been talk of a book but it seemed as though it would never materialise, part of the problem being that it is a monumental story following the movements of several major characters across three Continents, new information was constantly coming to light and indeed it continues to do so.  The book is now published and here it is:

With just over 300 pages it contains pictures of 6,607 toy soldiers (I didn't count them but Norman Joplin says so in his Introduction to the book).  Chapters include a look at the individuals who made the figures, an Identification Guide, 54mm Comet-Authenticast and SAE, Malleable Mouldings, Eriksson's own connoisseur range, 30mm SAE and AHI figures.

A taster of the page layout and format of the book, every page is illustrated in full colour, it really is an inspiring piece of work.

This is a self published work so (at present) you can only order it direct from Lou Sandbote, 3521 Potomac Avenue, Highland Park, Texas, 75205 USA.  ISBN no. 978-0-692-08536-3.  I have Lou's email address but I'm not going to put it out on the internet, if you would like it please leave me a message.  Lou tells me that so far 200 copies have been printed and more than half have already been sold, so if you want a copy don't hang around, my copy cost $95 plus $69 p&p to the UK.

Battle Cry Isandlwana with 54mm toy soldiers

The new year has seen a long awaited return to playing games with toy soldiers, give or take a day it was the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Isandlawna so it seemed only fitting to recreate it on the table.  Anthony has been diligently building up a superb Zulu War collection made by Little Legion Toy Soldiers and found a scenario for Isandlwana on the internet using the Battle Cry game system devised by Richard Borg.  We were joined by John, a long standing enthusiast of H G Wells "Little Wars" who acted as umpire.  Here's how it went:

The Zulus deployed in traditional "Buffalo Head" formation, the main body (chest) formed up across the donga while the horns work their way around the flanks. The British infantry form up in line behind the donga, with Durnford's Natal Native Horse on the left flank and a gun in the centre covering the right flank.

The Zulu line makes an impressive sight, they have no firepower but if they can close to contact their units have greater resilience in hand to hand combat.  The Zulu also have a slight advantage in command control to reflect their mobility and tactical use of terrain.

The British depend on being able to bring their superior firepower to bear.

A few of my Zulus, produced by "A Call to Arms" made up the numbers, painting the laces on Zulu shields is a most laborious chore. 

The British line waits steadily for the onslaught.

The Zulu right horn falls on the British left flank and steadily wears it down.

Durnford's troopers attack the Zulu left horn and stall the advance on that flank but are wiped out in the process.

With the main action taking place on both flanks the Zulu centre waits to see the outcome.

The British line moves up to shorten the range and fires off a volley forcing some of the Zulu units to fall back.

With the flanks being steadily overwhelmed by the horns, the chest surges forward in an all out attack.

The British line fragments, and suddenly it's all over.

The game played out surprisingly similar to the historical narrative, which is the mark of a well designed scenario and what we always aim for.  It took about three hours to play (including a break for beer and bacon butties).   

LITTLE WARS REVISITED GAMES DAY 2019

The above event will be held on 16th March 2019 in Woking and you can find all the details on the Group Forum here: LWR Forum 2019 Games Day  Anthony plans to put on another game using his Little Legions Zulu War collection at the event and will be using the Portable Wargame rules devised by Bob Cordery.  So if you want to watch or take part in some great wargames played using 54mm toy soldiers why not come along for the day.

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.

London Toy Soldier Show

It seems I took these pictures at the London Toy Soldier Show in December 2017 and started a post but never published it, so here it is, nearly a year late but at least it serves as a reminder that the next show will be on Saturday 1st December 2018 more details HERE.  I can't remember who any of the makers of these figures are, but they are all regulars at the show, so I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

If you know who made any of these figures do let me know and I'll give them the plug they deserve.  I use pictures like this to to give me inspiration when it comes to making conversions and also for ideas on painting schemes so I hope it will be of some help to others too.

Vintage Cherilea Marlborough

Way back in the early formative years of my toy soldier collecting interest I recall a picture of the hollowcast metal figure of the Duke of Marlborough made by toy manufacturer Cherilea. I think I may have seen it in one of J G Garratt's books?  Whatever, but it struck me as a very fine piece and I've admired it ever since. Everything turns up eventually and after nearly 50 years one finally came my way, so I thought I'd share it.

Cherilea have a well deserved reputation for producing some of the most poorly sculpted and anatomically challenged figures in the entire world of Toy Soldiers, but it wasn't always the case. Back in the 1930's Wilfred Cherrington, a co-founder of Cherilea, worked with the gifted figure sculptor Richard Courtenay and produced the moulds for his early series of medieval knights (Greenhill, Old Toy Soldier Newsletter 1987).  Influence of some sort must have played between the two men as Courtney's early foot figures are very toy like while Cherilea later produced a short range of very fine figures known as the "Baronial Series"

The Baronial Series only ran to three figures, described in the catalogue as:
M1. 15th Century Knight in Gothic Armour
M2. John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
M3. Edward the Black Prince

For some reason the figure of Marlborough came with the horse and sword designed for the Black Prince, I wonder why they did that?  I always thought the figure looked a bit over sized for this horse but both are nice sculpts.  Alongside the Cherilea figure is an Infantry Officer of the period made by Tradition, this is a modern white metal collectors figure.

The M1 knight (often called the Great Helm Knight) was also made in plastic from the original hollowcast moulds but sadly Marlborough and the Black Prince never made that transition.  I don't believe in being prissy with my toys so this Marlborough will be taking his place on the wargames table just as soon as I get his troops painted up.