The Russians are coming!

The first Russian troops have been dispatched and should be here tomorrow. Soon as I have them washed in detergent and dried I'll get the first battalion based and undercoated. As with my previous Napoleonic blog I'll take pictures stage by stage as painting progresses. This is the part of the hobby I enjoy most. I'll be using a standard black undercoat then using the Foundry paint system, shade/base/highlight colours as supplied. Been reading and researching furiously!

To get you in the mood here's a quote from the pre battle speech given to the Highland Brigade (The 93rd, The Camerons & The Black watch 42nd) at The Battle of The Alma by the brigade commander Sir Colin Campbell. Campbell was an old veteran with 44 years distinguished service,and had seen action under Moore and Wellington. He had fought all over the world and had been wounded four times in action. No other brigade commander in the Crimea was as respected by his soldiers.

" Now men, you are going into action. Remember this: whoever is wounded - I dont care what his rank is - whoever it is must lie down where he falls till the bandsmen come to attend him. No soldier must go carrying off wounded men...... Don't be in a hurry about firing, your officers will tell you when to do so. Be steady. Keep silent & fire low".

The brigade broke the vast Russian columns that day with their steady fire and discipline. Campbell had his horse shot from under him. Afterwards he was seen to approach Lord Raglan with tears in eyes and asked permission to wear a Scottish bonnet as his men had done so well which Raglan granted with a smile and a nod sensing the emotion of the moment.

Hopefully the above will impart some of the passion I feel for this much neglected period.

Strelets to the rescue!

Having spent months looking at ranges I decided finally to take the plunge and go plastic! I have a clear idea of what I hope to achive and that is units of figures in active poses, well painted and based. I dont want units of 16 figures all the same, I want units that represent battalions in action, advancing, loading and firing and so to this end the Strelets range is perfect. This Russian company produce most sets for the Crimean war with more planned for future release including British, Russian French and Turks. Sculpting is excellent with lots of detail. Multi poses make the kind of lively animated unit I am looking for possible.

First boxes are on order, Russian Line infantry. Heres what you get, 40+ figures in different poses, yet all sutable for advancing/firing battalions! Soon as I have the first unit based and undercoated I'll update the blog. Pics show Strleets box front and back and the sprue.

So why the Crimea?

Well for me it was the very first wargame I ever saw! Back in the mid seventies I picked up a Sunday suppliment and inside was a feature on wargaming. It featured some amazing pictures of a Crimean war collection of over 1,000 figures it looked great and I was hooked! Since that time I have painted hundreds of figures both for myself and for others. I lost touch with the hobby for a few years then had another go at Napoleonics but I had done it all before and I got bored rather quickly with it. So I looked around and saw Rafael Pardos superb blog/site. This is a wonderful site full of 20mm plastic figures including many conversions (see link on links section). I figures it would be quite a challenge to produce quality Crimean armies from existing ranges but could see that all the component parts were available.

My first unit is infact going to a Russian line battalion of 16 figures. Below is a picture of a typical Russian infantry man of the period in campaign dress (right.) The helmets were gradually being replaced by 1855 with a cylindrical shako, although the Guard continued to wear the helmet. The greatcoat was a very long heavy garment,longer than the Napoleonic version infact it reached almost to the ankles but many soldiers simply tied up the bottoms or tucked it in the boots! British troops recalled the odd 'rubbery' smell of the Russian infantry which would indicate some sort of waterproofing. The quality of the Russian conscripts was good, British troops having a hard time of it when they came up against them, one soldier desribing them as 'grim, grey faced and determined'.