I have once again been the recipient of a lovely piece of generosity, this time from no less than Ross Macfarlane of 'Battle Game of the Month' fame.
Back in March, I showed a picture of my 15mm Thirty Years' War period French troops, including some 1980s vintage Minfigs and Mike's Models/Essex. Ross spotted that picture and commented as follows:
if you're interested, I believe there are some 15mm 17thc Highland mercenaries lurking in my cupboard. Old strip minifigs painted in my cabin on HMCS Ottawa in 1977 and a few of their friends that haven't seen action in ..maybe 40 yrs? I think they would be happy to cross the ocean to see action, checkout the local damsels and whiskey etc.
Let me know and I'll send the provosts to round them up.
Well, that sounded very interesting, and of course very generous of Ross. He sent a couple of pictures (including the one above) which looked even more interesting, and I was happy to accept his kind offer. A bit more description from Ross :
I'm not sure how many there are and suspect a careful inspection would find the occasional scrape or broken something (eadily fixed or possibly excused) but they are escorting some obviously not highland cattle and some carts. There are some conversions in there Heritage mounted napoleonic landwehr lancers now wearing bonnet and plaid though they seem to gotten tired of carrying their lancers.
Anyway, they are 49!! Years old (how is that possible) but have been sleeping in a cave for decades now after many victories over the Sassanachs so hopefully they have earned some lenience and maybe even gloss varnish if suitable .
All very good stuff, and lovely to have a bit of provenance. I hope the sea wasn't too rough during the painting sessions all those years ago.. I also liked the cattle, wagons etc, those are bound to come in handy - the troops come with their own supply train and food 'on the hoof'! Most appropriate for 17th Century forces.
I was able to reciprocate to some extent, as I had a set of good old Airfix 1:72 ACW Artillery which Ross liked the look of, so back at the end of March we wrapped and posted our respective parcels, and the two contingents began their journeys between Suffolk and Nova Scotia. About a week later Ross confirmed the ACW gunners had reached him safely, and I waited for the Scots to arrive.. and waited.. After several weeks, sadly I became resigned to the poor wee chaps ( and livestock ) being lost and/or binned somewhere in the postal system ( being low-value items, we had agreed not to waste money on expensive delivery tracking ). No loss to me, I suppose, but it was very sad to think of them being dumped somewhere. However I should have had more faith in them, because one day in late May (2 months on!) I arrived home to find a parcel from Nova Scotia on my doorstep - hurrah! Labelled as 'By Air', by the way - they must be using some slowish 'planes these days... but they got here in the end.
So now I am pleased to introduce these much-travelled veteran Scots.
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| the full complement on parade |
I think these must inevitably join my forces as Macfarlane's regiment, a much-travelled and battle-hardened body of men on hire to the highest bidder - initially augmenting the forces of the French and/or Bernadines in their campaigns against Bavaria and the Empire. As you see, the regiment brings its own artillery and a troop of horse, and those wagons and livestock, which turns out to include cattle, goats and a faithful hound.
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| the supply train |
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| regimental artillery |
As described, there is an interesting mixture of figures, indeed I think mostly Minifigs early 'strip mounted' 15mms of 1970s vintage, mostly musketeers but some sword and axemen, officers and even a bagpiper! And I like the painting - even some colourful tartans being worn ( sadly I think Humbrol's tartan paint range is long discontinued ) .
They make me think that for a bit more inspiration, perhaps I can use this:
'The Lion of the North. a tale of the times of Gustavus Adolphus' by G.A. Henty ( 1886 ), which follows the adventures of Munro's regiment in the Swedish service. The style is, well, rather Victorian, and I suspect his views on Empire, race and nationalism may look quite dodgy these days ( I think in this case, the muscular Protestantism of Gustavus was thoroughly approved of ). But I'll give it a go sometime, bearing all that in mind, and I think there might be some good scenario ideas..
Meanwhile, I need to get the wee men onto proper bases - I think I will resist glossy varnish at the moment, I think they look fine as they are. Once that is done, they can take their place on the battlefield for the first time in a long while, albeit quite a distance from their original home - just like their real-life counterparts from the highlands, campaigning in far-off 'higher Germany'. Let's hope they fight as well as they look. When they do get into action, you can read about it here, of course.
Many, many thanks of course to Ross Macfarlane for a terrific piece of wargaming generosity, very much appreciated!
Keep safe, and well, everyone.
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