Not to be a Boer, but...

The last of the companies for IHMN that I've painted for Geoff is these Black Tree Designs Boers.

The full Boer force

Boer command, complete with pinstripe jacket on the man in charge and my attempt at corduroy on the guy in the middle.

A few more Commandos

I like to think the guy in the middle has just left his bank job, thrown on his old brown jacket and taken to the field.

The last three figures, including another corduroy jacket.

These aren't the best of Black Tree's castings that I've painted, but they still turned out rather nice. The limited colour pallet did get a bit 'boering'... I'll get my hat...

Nate

A British Company ready for a South African tour

The latest figures to roll off the production line for Geoff, these are the 10 British figures that I kept back for an IHMN company.

The three characters - 2 officers and a man waving - which means he must be important.

It's hot work under the South African sun.

A couple of lads about to break into 'Men of Harlech'.

And the last three - two bearded types and another loading pose. I don't know why I ended up with two of the same pose, there were plenty of others. I can't have been thinking straight.

I really enjoyed painting these figures. If there had been no Zulus in the Zulu War I may have even seen the project through to fruition... To be fair I did contemplate just doing the 1881 Boer War with British and Boers, and that was probably quite achievable. Never mind, it isn't as if I don't have a whole pile of other projects to get on with.

Nate

Some Zulus

A while back I bought a whole pile of Black Tree Designs Zulu Wars figures while they were having a sale. I then decided that I was never going to get around to painting them all and sold them to Brian down south. He has since painted them all up and ordered more!
I did keep a dozen figures each of Zulus, British and Boers though, with the idea that these might be the basis for companies for In Her Majesty's Name.  As I sold the other IHMN companies to Geoff in the South Island, I thought I'd paint up the rest of these figures and offer them to him as well. So here are the first lot - the Zulus.

Zulu characters.

Four Zulu Warriors

And another four warriors, two with firearms.

The fact that these guys took me so long to do and don't look any better than Brian's efforts helps me realise that I made the correct decision not to pursue a large scale Zulu Wars project. Painting 120+ Zulus would have driven me insane(r)!

Nate

Lord Curr's Company

After selling off all of my In Her Majesty's Name companies I was still left with the unpainted Lord Curr's Company. I asked Geoff if he was interested in them if I painted them, and he said yes, so I guess this is something of a commission.

The full company of 11 figures.

Some of the Incorrigibles.

More Incorrigibles

The characters - Lord Curr, Mad Mick, Mohan Singh and Lady Felicity

So there they all are, Christchurch bound. I thought I'd put them here so Geoff can decide if he is happy with them.
I have to admit, it was very therapeutic getting the brushes out after all of that marking.
Nate

The Leibgarde of the Empress Elizabeth

My Lord

In response to your request to investigate the events in Milan of April 12 last, I have compiled the following information.

As you will no doubt remember, you encountered Von Stroheim and the Society of Thule in your attempt to recover the Ruby of Roland, a gem of vast value and rumoured occult powers. In the ensuing battle you were hard-pressed, having few Incorrigibles with you compared to the hordes of Jager/Todtruppen. Upon this scene arrived several men on horseback, riding wildly with great skill who sliced the Todtruppen apart with their sabres while other men at a distance picked off the Prussians with supurb shooting. Other soldiers appeared who charged with the bayonet and turned the tables of the fight. Then a masked lady appeared briefly, dispatching several Todtruppen, only to disappear again. Within a few more seconds both the interlopers and the members of the Society of Thule had vanished, along with the Ruby ,leaving you in possession of nothing more than questions.

Your suspicions were indeed correct and the company which interfered with your procurement of the Ruby of Roland does originate in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The clue that enabled me to confirm this was the supurb horsemanship of the Hussars that you observed. 

It appears that these beasts were trained in the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, and amongst the riders was none other than an Oberst Nazadzy. Nazadzy is an Hungarian nobleman who has won fame throughout the Empire for his dash and skill. 

This is where the plot thickens, my Lord, for on further investigation it appears that Nazadzy is no longer serving in the Royal Hungarian army. Nor is he to be found in the Imperial Austrian army, nor in the K.u.K. army.  I can tell you it has taken me no small amount of digging to reveal the current placement of the Oberst. Money has had to exchange hands in no small amounts and difficulties have had to be ‘eliminated’.  I can now reveal, however, with relative certainty, that Nazadzy is in command of the Body guard of none other than the Empress Elizabeth herself. This is a somewhat startling revelation. You see, my Lord, the 'Leibgarde von Kaiserin Elizabeth'  officially does not exist. Furthermore, it offers fresh complications. Your initial request to me made much of the appearance of a masked lady who not only killed several Todtruppen with whom you were also engaged, but was responsible, so you think, for capturing the Ruby of Roland and making off with it. Your letter makes much of her stunning beauty (almost unseemly at times) and marksmanship. I must confess that I have not been able to affirm the identity of this woman, but it is fairly certain that she is a highly trained lady in waiting to the Empress. At least one source suggested that it was the Empress herself, but I dismissed this out of hand as being absurd, and the source himself is (sorry, was) a notable drunk and cad.

Accompanying this company you correctly identified soldiers of the Royal and Imperial Army, and indeed the chaps that you identified as having half a dead cockerel on their head were Imperial Jagers.

 I have managed to ascertain that these are again men that do not exist on the books of the Austro-Hungarian military establishment, but have been seconded due to their skills and fortitude.

As to the whereabouts of the Ruby of Roland, I have found no trace. It would seem through other intelligence sources that it was not gathered by Von Stroheim or the Society of Thule. My investigations will continue.

Yours,

Agent 7

P.S. During my investigations I came across this, produced by the Skoda works. It may be of note for the future.

The Leibgarde of the Empress Elizabeth

	Pluck	FV	SV	Speed	Cost	Talents	Equipment
The Masked Lady	2+	+1	+3	+1	71	Leadership +2, Inspirational, Startling beauty, fearless, marksman	Lined coat, Rifle, Magneto Static umbrella
Oberst Nazadzy	4+	+2	+3	+0	41	Cavalryman, Tough, Leadership +1	Sabre, Carbine,  Cavalry Horse, Brigandine
Huszar	4+	+2	+2	+0	31	Cavalryman	Sabre, Carbine,  Cavalry Horse, Brigandine
Jager	5+	+1	+3	+1	28	Marksman, Bayonet drill	Military rifle and bayonet, lined coat
Soldat	5+	+2	+2	+1	22	Bayonet drill	Military rifle and bayonet, lined coat
Startling beauty works the same as Erudite Wit and costs the same points.

I have not yet statted up the Skoda panzerstompwagen. The basic company consists of the Masked Lady, Nazadzy, 2 huszars, 2 jagers and 2 soldats which comes to 274 points. I've painted enough figures that the Masked Lady can be removed and with Nazadzy's leadership increased an extra jager and soldat can be taken as an option.

Again, like the GES not a particularly Victorian Sci-Fi company, mostly just tough soldiers and a woman of mystery. I wanted an Austro-Hungarian company that was more reflective of the historical empire than Vlad the Impaler. Having loved Vienna when I visited I couldn't help but note the Empress Sisi was everywhere. The Viennese seem to have a real love affair with the tragic Empress, and I knew she needed to figure in any late 19th century company I created. Between this, the Spanish Riding School, the colourful Hungarian Huszars, and the Tyrolean Jager I had a company sketched out in my mind. I'm now looking forward to giving them a run against some of the other companies, particularly Razin and his Cossacks.

That completes my companies for the main Continental European powers - Russia, Prussia, France and Austria-Hungary. For the British I have Lord Curr's company still to paint, plus a whole Zulu War project that can provide me with British soldiers and Zulus (and Boers).

Next on the painting tray, though, is my Trojan War project for Of Gods and Mortals.

Nate

Scratch-built arc rifles for IHMN

The photos of the GES that I used in the previous post didn't have any shots of their rear (oo-er), and I thought I'd post a photo of them just to show the scratch built Victorian Sci-Fi paraphernalia I've added.

Voila les derrieres. 

Sgt Eclair (left) sports the latest fashion in La Belle France this decade for the Legionnaire who wants to add a little zap to his life. His arc ensemble is made from a Lewis gun formerly part of an Old Glory Mark IV tank kit, added to a hollow piece of tubing which links with the fuel tank off a 1/72 model tank (a Panzer IV I think). Glued on top is a selection of broken 1/72 tank sprue pieces, all finished in a lovely Vallejo brass.

Commandant Fromage has a magneto-static projection device attached to his pouch. This little piece of equipment is from a 1/72 Revell US infantry Mortar stand, but does the job splendidly with its shape reminiscent of a fleur de lys.

Finally the Professor's back sports a 1/72 Esci WW2 Soviet Radio Operator's radio. The tubing runs from the antenna on the top of the radio down to a pin drilled into the handle of his revolver to create the arc pistol that will be all the rage among secret agents in Paris this spring.

None of the conversions above required a great deal of work, and I think that they are pretty good representations of steampunk style weaponry.

Right, my copy of Heroes, Villains and Fiends showed up today, so I'm off for a read. Happy Easter everyone.

Nate

My Foreign Legion company for In Her Majesty's Name

After what seems like a very long time, I finally managed to finish off my French Foreign Legion company for In Her Majesty's Name. This is a special investigations group - the GES (Groupe des Enquetes Speciales) whose role is to keep an eye on the more wacky things that the enemies of France may be plotting. This means that they are not only there to spy on and sabotage the Germans and English, but also those groups like the Company of Pharaonic Revivalists who threaten the world order through their secret agendas. 

The company is made up of Artizan figures from the 'March or Die' range and these figures are full of character as you would expect in Mike Owen sculpts. I've converted a couple of figures in order to make them more Victorian Sci-Fi.

The characters of the company, Sergeant Eclair, Professor Prune, Commandant Fromage and Sergeant Grognard. The Professor graduated from the Sorbonne with three doctorates. Grognard has been known to give people sore bones that three doctors are unable to fix.

A close up of the Commandant evincing a suitable look of Gallic disdain.

Sergeant Henri Eclair with his scratch-built arc rifle. It is a shirt sleeves kind of day.

Three veteran Legionnaires to support the Commandant and Professor in their missions. "Ah Pierre, quelle merde we are in again."

3 Tirailleurs Algeriens, seconded to the GES because of their unique investigative talents.*
*said talents may include rough and ruthless handling of enemies

The whole company together defending the entrance to the Mummy's tomb. Artifacts must be removed before the Pharaonic Revivalists arrive to claim them.

(Edit 13th April)
The stats are as follows:

	Pluck	FV	SV	Speed	Cost	Talents	Equipment
Commandant Fromage	2+	+2	+3	+1	69	Leadership +2, Inspirational, Erudite Wit, Duellist (with pistol), fearless	Lined coat, Automatic pistol (treat as carbine), Magneto Static projection barrier
Professor Prune	4+	+1	+1	+0	20	Engineer	Arc pistol, Brigandine
Sgt Eclair	4+	+2	+2	+0	18		arc rifle, lined coat,
Sgt Grognard	3+	+3	+2	+1	49	Tough, Bayonet Drill, fearless, Leadership +1	Military rifle and bayonet, lined coat
Legionnaire	4+	+2	+2	+1	24	Bayonet drill	Military rifle and bayonet, lined coat
Tirailleurs Algeriens	4+	+3	+1	+1	25	Bayonet drill	Military rifle and bayonet, lined coat

I haven't created any options for the company yet. The four characters plus 2 Legionnaires and three Tirailleurs comes to 279 points. Hopefully I'll be able to take them out into the field soon.

Apologies for the shocking schoolboy French and the number of characters named after things that are edible. To be fair, Eclair is named after lightning, not the yummy desert, and Professor Prune is a translation of Professor Plum from the Cluedo game. But Fromage is a just a cheesy name for the Commandant.

Nate

Three Nil Germany over Russia

Finally played my third game of In Her Majesty's Name last night against Michael. I once more ran the society of Thule against the Imperial Cossacks, this time to try and claim some objectives. What would the outcome be this time? Would Razin roll low and be dispatched ignominiously again? Would Solokhna manage to cast a spell without knocking herself over? Would Grigori live up to his reputation as a bare (bear)-knuckle brawler? Would Yuri ever get hold of a pic-a-nic basket? Read on true believer!

Olga and Colonel Razin line up on one side of the old house while...

...Grigori and Yuri are on the other side.

Across the battlefield the Society of Thule deploys in the open. They are planning a swift snatch and grab!

Dr Kobalt stays in range to resurrect any jager who falls.

Yuri bounds forward to recover an objective. It looks uncannily like a smackeral of honey...

Long range gun fight and the jagers take first blood! Down goes Olga...

Only for Colonel Razin to deliver the same fate to Feldwebel Krieg! poor Krieg never seems to have much luck.

On the far side of the battlefield the Cossack Riflemen appear and open fire. You can just make out Solokhna skulking.

Ooops. That's what happens when you expose yourself! (Ooo-er)

On their way to capture an objective Von Stroheim and his trusty jager sidekick stumble across and over one of the crazy Cossacks!

Two lowly jagers take on a hand to hand specialist and a heroic leader. This won't end well.

Whaddaya know - Razin rolls a one. Who would have guessed?

A jager snaffles an objective. 'Say, zis tastes like honey...'

The hand to hand specialist at least manages to outlast his leader.

For some reason this is where I stopped taking photos. Yuri charged into Von Stroheim after returning form getting his objective away, and the Cossacks charged in to create one big melee. Yuri eventually fell to a bayonet in his nether-regions, and the Cossacks conceded the field. The end result was not as one sided as it might seem. The difference was that I gained more victory points for taking out Colonel Razin.

In answer to the questions above - Yes, yes, no and yes. Watching Solokhna fall over trying to raise one of the Cossack Riflemen for the second game in a row was quite amusing, I must admit.

Michael enjoyed the game, and it probably would have finished a lot faster if we hadn't been so busy talking and eating the food that John's wife Rose provided for us!

Nate

Finally - the Cossack Riflemen

I haven't had much time to paint in the last month, so here are the completed Cossack Riflemen (pre-deceased) for the Imperial Cossack Company.

Urrah! We're not Sand People anymore!

These are Musketeer Miniatures World War One Russians in Greatcoat, and they are very nice models. I've pictured them with Colonel Razin to show how well they fit in with the Artizan figures.

Nate