Here’s the completed British raiding force for “Winter Sports”, comprising 32 raiders and a couple of snipers. They’ve been a good project to do in January and February – different enough to keep my interest up, but nothing too demanding during the cold winter weekends.
As I’ve mentioned before, the figures are a mixture of Great War Miniatures, Musketeer Miniatures and First Corps. I still need to add barbed wire to a few of the bases to finally finish these guys off, but otherwise they’re ready to go. Here’s the British “Big Men” for the trench raiding party, shown by their hexagonal bases, and a close-up of the raid commander. If you liked the figure of the raid commander, standing on the duckboards next to a grasping hand of a fallen enemy, the credit for that idea goes entirely to Phil Robinson (check out his great blog
"News from the Front"). I shamelessly ripped off Phil’s idea for the figure. 'On the shoulders of giants', as they say!
I’ve added a photo from Stephen Bull’s recent book
“Trench” which captures the gritty, resourceful look of a raiding party very well. The wargames figures available in 28mm are a pretty good likeness for these troops as they drift into No Man’s Land on a “smack and back” raid. “Trench” has a good chapter on raiding parties and sniping in No Man’s Land. It’s a handsome volume, and while readers of Dr Bull’s other works might not get much new out of it, it’s very enjoyable to read through.
To finish up, here’s a couple of posed pictures of a raiding party working their way along a line of entrenched shell craters. I’ve added one in sepia, just for fun as well as another evocative print from “War Illustrated”.
Next up, will be a book review of the recently published
"Landrecies to Cambrai", and some pictures from another of our wargames set in No Man’s Land (“The Devil’s Breath”) using the "Through the Mud & the Blood" rules, plus some German trench raiders to round off my “Winter Sports” project as Spring slowly arrives. Hope you can join me for these.
As I’ve mentioned before, the figures are a mixture of Great War Miniatures, Musketeer Miniatures and First Corps. I still need to add barbed wire to a few of the bases to finally finish these guys off, but otherwise they’re ready to go. Here’s the British “Big Men” for the trench raiding party, shown by their hexagonal bases, and a close-up of the raid commander. If you liked the figure of the raid commander, standing on the duckboards next to a grasping hand of a fallen enemy, the credit for that idea goes entirely to Phil Robinson (check out his great blog "News from the Front"). I shamelessly ripped off Phil’s idea for the figure. 'On the shoulders of giants', as they say!
I’ve added a photo from Stephen Bull’s recent book “Trench” which captures the gritty, resourceful look of a raiding party very well. The wargames figures available in 28mm are a pretty good likeness for these troops as they drift into No Man’s Land on a “smack and back” raid. “Trench” has a good chapter on raiding parties and sniping in No Man’s Land. It’s a handsome volume, and while readers of Dr Bull’s other works might not get much new out of it, it’s very enjoyable to read through.
To finish up, here’s a couple of posed pictures of a raiding party working their way along a line of entrenched shell craters. I’ve added one in sepia, just for fun as well as another evocative print from “War Illustrated”.
Next up, will be a book review of the recently published "Landrecies to Cambrai", and some pictures from another of our wargames set in No Man’s Land (“The Devil’s Breath”) using the "Through the Mud & the Blood" rules, plus some German trench raiders to round off my “Winter Sports” project as Spring slowly arrives. Hope you can join me for these.
They're great painted figures and lovely scenery, very nice work in a period I used to once do until forced to sell it.
ReplyDeleteLovely...the one in sepia really looks "period"
ReplyDeleteCheers
Paul
Great work as always. I may have to check out that book...
ReplyDeleteGuys,
ReplyDeleteThanks as always for all the comments.
@Muskie - great to hear from you. Yes, "Trench" is a good book and an interesting read. Dr. Bull has included about a dozen trench maps in colour with a commentary on each relating to the fighting of those parts of the line. They are a good addition to an already handsome publication. As I mentioned in the Blog Post, the book is nothing really 'new', but is just one of those books it's very enjoyable to read!
Sidney, very nice photos. After your comments in the TFL Yahoo Group I finally ordered "Trench" as my wife's gift for Father's Day (taking place March 19 in Spain) so hopefully I'll have it next week end.
ReplyDeleteReally atmospheric WWI terrain and figures. Well done!
ReplyDeleteCheers
Christopher
Excellent stuff again, may just be the spur to get me to crack on and finish my raiders, only the one you mentioned and two others done so far.
ReplyDeleteThanks again, everyone. I'm glad you liked the photos. I've been getting ready for the club game of "The Devil's Breath" in exactly a week's time, so more photos and an AAR to come soon.
ReplyDeleteOh yes...those trenches are back and you really do a fantastic job on them
ReplyDelete