A multitude of Sharpes and Harpers

This is a sight that would strike fear into the heart of any Frenchman – a whole company of Sharpes and Harpers charging down onto them from oe’r the hill and far away! 

The two figures on the left came free with the original release of the ‘Sharp Practice’ rule-set from Too Fat Lardies. Next to them are foot and mounted versions made by Brigade Games. Beside them are a pair by Chiltern Miniatures, with Sharpe wearing the tatty raincoat from the Sharpe’s Waterloo video. Finally, the 40mm versions on the right are by Sash and Sabre. 

Here’s a closer look at the Sharpe and Harper figures by Brigade Games. From amongst my collection of Sharpes, I think Brigade Games have best captured Sean Bean’s likeness.

Brigade Games also make a set of 95th Rifles figures that are very obviously based on some of the characters from the TV series.

First comes Francis Cooper, born and bred in the London slums, where he learnt his trade in thieving, pick pocketing, and housebreaking.

Then there’s Isaiah Tongue, an educated man, but also an alcoholic. He could recite passages from the Bible, and was one of the few soldiers who was able to read.

To the right of Sharpe and Harper is Rifleman Harris, red-haired and ever cheerful,  clever, well-read, amusing, and loyal.

The oldest rifleman is Daniel Hagman, a former poacher who, when caught, was given the choice of prison or the army.

Finally there’s Ben Perkins, the youngest Chosen Man in the 95th Rifles.

Brigade Games also make a range of other characters from the TV series. Many of them come in both foot and mounted versions. Here is Michael Hogan, the middle-aged, snuff addicted Irishman of the Royal Engineers, who also serves as an exploring officer for Wellington.

Sharpe married Spanish guerrilla leader Teresa Morales the day after the sack of Badajoz She fights under the nom de guerre, la Aguja, or The Needle, a name given to her by Sharpe. 

One of my favourite characters is William Frederickson, or ‘Sweet William’, a captain of the 60th Royal American Rifles. He suffered serious facial wounds which destroyed his left eye, tore away most of his right ear, and knocked out several teeth. When fighting he takes out his false teeth, and removes his wig and eye patch, to terrifying effect.

Then, of course, there are Sharpe’s enemies.

Pierre Ducos is a political animal, spymaster, and master manipulator. He was a protégé of Joseph Fouché, the notorious secret policeman of the revolutionary period. Weak and timid when physically confronted, he claims to detest ‘unnecessary violence’ but is utterly indifferent to the suffering of others.

And who can forget the evil Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill. He fears nothing, truly believes he cannot die, and thoroughly hates Sharpe as a man who does not fear him, and as an upstart. In his shako he carries a stolen painting of his colonel’s wife, which he talks to as if it’s his mother.

I have used a pinning technique for the mounted figures, so that the horse can be easily displayed with or without its rider.

The figures are mainly painted with GW’s Contrast paints, apart from Ducos’ jacket (which I wanted in a different shade of green than the Rifles’ coats) and the oil-painted horses.

On parade: 40mm Napoleonic French

This is the second of two ‘On Parade’ articles featuring my 40mm Napoleonic figures.  This time we look at the French. These are a mixture of Perry Miniatures and Sash and Sabre figures.

The shako numbers indicate that these men are from the 85ème Régiment d’Infanterie de Ligne. I picked this particular regiment because back in 2005 my son and I were invited to participate with the recreated 85ème in a reenactment of the Battle of Waterloo.

Here’s my entire French contingent – a unit of grenadiers, and another of volitguers.

Grenadiers

Voltiguers

This is the last of the Napoleonic postings for ‘On Parade’. Next time I’ll be featuring  something completely different from my wargaming collection. See you soon!

Visit my previous ‘On Parade’ postings:

• 40mm British and Spanish
• Confederation of the Rhine
• French generals
• French guard
• French artillery
• French cavalry
• French infantry
• Portuguese
• Spanish
• British

On Parade: 40mm British & Spanish Napoleonics

In my last ‘On Parade’ article I mentioned that the next posting would still be Napoleonic, but a little bit different. Well, here we are, and the difference is that these aren’t my usual 28mm figures.

Back in June 2008 I bought a few of what was then a relatively new line from the Perry Miniatures – 40mm tall Napoleonic figures.

I was impressed at the excellent sculpting, realistic posing and fine detail of these lovely models. Each figure seemed to have a character and personality of its own.

I eventually added a more figures by other makers (including some rather Sharpe-ish figures). These ranges included the Honourable Lead Boilersuit Company, Sash and Saber, and Trident Miniatures.

Sad to say, I never progressed any further in actually playing with these 40mm figures than in one test skirmish game. But truth to tell, many of my other wargaming units seldom get to face battle on the tabletop either, as I game so infrequently!

One issue that did emerge during our sole play-test with the 40mm figures was that they could only be used on a flat battleground. I had made the mistake of glueing them onto such light plastic bases that their height and weight caused them to become top-heavy, and they continually fell over at the drop of a hat.

But even though they haven’t been gamed with much, I really enjoy the look of these figures, and they form a treasured part of my overall model soldier collection.

In this first of two ‘On Parade’ articles about my 40mm collection, let’s look at the British and their Spanish allies.

By the way, the windmill in the background of many of these photos is a resin Grand Manner piece that really sets the scene for any Peninsular War game. The walls and fences are by Games Workshop (Warhammer). All these scenic items are actually designed for 28mm figures, but as you can see they work well enough for 40mm as well.

As usual, click on the pictures if you want to examine them more closely – but prepare to be shocked by my rather impressionistic painting style that looks good from a few feet away, but very messy when seen close up!

British light infantry

British 95th Rifles

Royal Navy

Spanish guerillas

The next ‘On Parade’ will feature my 40mm French collection. See you soon!

Visit my previous ‘On Parade’ postings:

• Confederation of the Rhine
• French generals
• French guard
• French artillery
• French cavalry
• French infantry
• Portuguese
• Spanish
• British

 

Reacquainting myself with Sharpe and Harper

The Sharpe novels by Bernard Cornwell seem to get a lot of stick from some wargamers. But I’ve been re-reading the series over the last few weeks, and it has brought back to me just how much I enjoy his stories featuring the eponymous rifles officer Richard Sharpe.

If I want a light story with some wonderful descriptions of life in the British Army, a pack of larger-than-life characters to cheer for or hiss at, and battle scenes where I can almost  see, hear, feel and smell the action, then Sharpie’s my man.

To me, Cornwell is the master storyteller of land-based Napoleonic derring-do.  I’ve tried other authors who write fiction about soldiers of this period, but most of them I find don’t have the deft touch that turns a painstaking Napoleonic military procedural into a dramatic story.  Cornwell even gives the well-known naval authors a good run for their money in some of the Sharpe stories where our hero finds himself on the ocean wave.

I still recall coming across my first Sharpe novel in an airport book shop many years ago.  This was Cornwell’s first story, Sharpe’s Eagle, in which Sharpe and his trusty companion Sgt Patrick Harper strive to capture a French eagle during the Battle of Talavera.  I was instantly captured by the story, which brought to life a wargaming period I loved.  My enjoyment of the book was tinged with a slight bit of jealousy though, as I had always fancied writing a novel about a soldier in an historic setting (to be true, a rather unlikely dream with my lack of fiction-writing ability).

I’ll be the first to admit that the Sharpe novels aren’t ‘real’ literature, but then they don’t purport to be.  If I want something more high-brow, I also enjoy Patrick O’Brian’s sea-going novels featuring Captain Jack Aubrey, which are written in an erudite and almost Jane Austen-ish style.  But if I want to be entertained by a simple well-told yarn I’ll turn to Cornwell, who to me is like the written form of an ancient storyteller seated at a campfire, enthralling his eager listeners with each dramatic cliffhanger in his tall tale.

Cornwell writes knowledgeably enough about the period.  Despite some occasional minor clangers, you’ll learn a lot about Napoleonic warfare – and not only how it took place, but what it actually felt like for the soldier on the ground, whether trudging on campaign, charging into battle, victorious or defeated.

If I was to try to distill what it is I like most about the books, I think it is the Dickensian characters. They don’t generally develop much through the stories, but I’m not a  stickler for a novel only being able to be classified as good if the characters change during the course of the story.  In the Sharpe books, in most cases what you see is what you get.  Villains are utterly evil, inept, treasonous or … gasp … they’re lawyers (Cornwell obviously has a bee in his bonnet about the legal profession).   The heroes are generally good chaps, though sometimes rather morally suspect in their use of ‘the means justifies the end’ – I’ve lost count of how many baddies Sharpe has despatched without recourse to trial.

Despite the lack of development, Cornwell’s characters never seem one-dimensional. They’re fully fleshed out with superb descriptions, armed with idiosyncratic traits, and given language that gives itself expression and accent in your head as you read.

I’ve also got the Sharpe videos.  Again, it is the wonderfully-drawn and well-acted characters who make these special.  Who can forget the ugly one-eyed, bewigged, false-toothed but faithful Captain Frederickson; the pompous blow-hard Colonel Henry Simmerson;  the smarmy, twitchy-eyed and utterly evil Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill; the French spymaster Pierre Ducos with his reptilian eyes; or the youthful, brash and foolhardy Prince of Orange?

As a fan of Sharpe and Harper, I’ve of course had to incorporate this dynamic duo into my Napoleonic armies.  Below are my 40mm versions, made by Sash and Sabre. Sgt Harper is carrying his heavy multi-barrelled Nock gun.  Sharpe is modelled on Sean Bean from the videos, with his trademark blonde mullet – in the books, Sharpe is a much leaner character with jet-black hair.

And here they are again, this time in 28mm made by Chiltern Miniatures.  Harper’s menacing Nock gun is again evident.  Sharpe is wearing the tatty raincoat he is depicted with in the Sharpe’s Waterloo video.

The skirmishing officer and riflemen in the picture below aren’t specifically Sharpe and his Chosen Men, but they could be.  These are my 28mm 95th Rifles by Front Rank .  (If you click to enlarge the picture, please excuse the goggle eyes – these were painted in the old days, before I learned it was better to merely  hint at eyes with a dark wash rather than trying to try to paint them in detail.)

Finally, Perhaps the picture below is a Napoleonic fellowship of the ring, with men and hobbits?!

Sharpie and Harper in the cherry blossoms

I’ve been working on some cherry-blossom trees for my samurai project, but also promised to post some photos of my 40mm Sharpe-like riflemen.  So here they all are in some combined shots!

The blossom trees are el cheapos from Hong Kong, mounted with a hot glue gun onto heavy steel washers. I still have to finish the scenics on the bases.

I can’t recall the maker of the 40mm Sharpish figures. But they do have a certain hint of those books and the TV programme, right down to the sergeant’s multi-barrelled firearm.

As a bonus, I’ve managed to catch in the background a couple of large plastic Napoleonic toys, and a distinctly un-Sharpish Citroen H Gendarmerie van!

My ‘bits and pieces’ display case

Do you find that when you are playing a wargame at someone’s house where they have their other armies in display cases or on shelves, your eyes are continually drawn to their arrayed troops?  Whenever there is a break in the play, I love studying other people’s miniatures collections, no matter what the era. 

Often the most interesting display cases are not the ones with the owner’s main armies, but the cabinets that store all their extraneous bits and pieces.  I particularly like it when there is an element of clutter, where you just can’t predict what units will be sitting beside each other, or what individual figures, bits of scenery or even non-related items get tossed into the mix.   

So that is what I want to show off on the blog today: my ‘bits and pieces’ display cabinet.  I’ve photographed it exactly as it is, without any attempt to tidy up or re-arrange.  So, let’s take a look (and, as usual on my blog, don’t forget to click the pictures to get a closer view!):

[above]  Well, here’s my bits and pieces display cabinet opened up for you.  Later we’ll explore what’s in each of the shelves.  But for now, in this photo you can see that on top of the cabinet itself are parts of the 28mm Spanish town and some 40mm houses I made a few years ago.  A 1:43 diecast Swiss ‘Polizei’ VW Beetle seems to have made it up there, too … not sure why I put that there!  And there’s also an old board game called Campaign that I’ve never played (and is missing some of the pieces anyway).

On top of the drawer unit lies part of the overflow from my bookcase, my beloved Sharpe DVD set, a couple of 1:72 Italeri houses  and a lovely resin La Belle Alliance inn from Waterloo.  Also a baby picture of one of my children seems to have migrated from the dresser in our lounge.  The little parcel on the right is an old one from Minifigs – a friend sold me some cannon still in the box he got them in years ago. 

I can’t recall where I got the American flag that hangs to one side – I’m a New Zealander, not from the USA.  But the flag looks splendid hanging there, anyway. 

[above] OK, let’s start with one of the top shelves of the cabinet.  This one contains a selection of 28mm Napoleonic British and Spanish command bases.  There are also a few British and Spanish figures based singly to act as ‘Big Men’ for the Napoleonic skirmish ruleset, Sharp Practice. 

In the background there’s a resin house and also a couple of hangovers from my days of collecting model police cars  – a 1:43 Citroen H van of the French ‘Gendarmerie’ (isn’t that shape of van so Gallic?!) and a Dutch ‘Rijkspolitie’ (State Police) Shorland armoured car. 

[above] This shelf contains my 28mm Napoleonic French command bases, along with a unit of voltigeurs that there isn’t room for in my main display case. 

The houses in the background are low relief ceramics that my wife and I bought during our honeymoon in Paris some 20 years ago.  They were quite expensive compared to wargaming scenery, but do look nice, and oh so French!

[above] This shelf has a really eclectic selection.  First, more 28mm Big Men for Sharp Practice, both on foot and mounted.  On the right are several colonial New Zealand wars figures by Eureka Miniatures –  Maori warriors and also NZ Armed Constabulary in their distinctive blanket-wrapped bush uniform.  In the background are some units from the small Warhammer Empire army, which was the first army I painted on my return to the wargaming hobby about ten years ago. 

In the left background is a diorama made up of German 30mm flats, showing the poet Schiller reading to some of his friends – even the tree is a lead flat.  I bought these flats on my trip to Europe in the late 1970s, in the tin figure museum at Kulmbach (Germany) if I recall correctly, and painted them on my return home. 

[above] Another rather odd mish-mash of figures.  On the left are some 28mm Spanish civilians by the Perry twins.  Front centre are a quintet of  cowboys I painted for use in Western games – though sadly they haven’t walked the dusty streets of Laredo yet.  Behind them is one of my favourite pieces, but one that again hasn’t seen a tabletop as yet: my Brittannia Miniatures armed longboat.  Off to the right are a couple of Napoleonic French vignettes, including a rendition of the famous David painting of Napoleon crossing the Alps. 

Sitting at the back are a couple of Napoleonic French vignettes (including a lovely Foundry cantiniere), some of my British rocket troops, and a miscellaneous Front Rank cart.   There are also a few other little odds and sods if you look carefully, including a Front Rank conversion to the Scarlet Pimpernel (wearing a natty yellowish coat), and another conversion to his nemesis French policeman (in a rather fanciful black outfit).

[above] This shelf contains my entire collection of 40mm Napoleonics, made up of a number of makes such as Sash and Saber, Perry Miniatures, Trident Miniatures and the Honourable Lead Boilersuit Company.  You can see French on the left, British on the right (including the ubiquitous Sharpe and Harper figures) and even some sailors at top right.  At the back are a few Spanish guerillas.  The resin windmill is a 28mm Grand Manner piece that really sets the scene for any Peninsular War game.  

[above] The final shelf is again a real mixture of periods and pieces.  Most of the miniatures are 28mm American Civil War by Redoubt.  In fact, this is my entire ACW army!  While it is a period that I like, it is not one that has enthused me enough to continue collecting the armies.  The banknote is an obvious fake!  Also shown are some Conflix resin carts, and a well by the same maker. 

Finally, yes, some more police vehicles:  a Cadillac Gage armoured car of the Los Angeles Police Department (sadly the long ram on the front has snapped off – on the real vehicle the ram was used to smash into crack houses, and was adorned with a smiley ‘have a nice day’ face!), a tiny German ‘Polizei’ BMW Isetta, and a Dutch ‘Rijkspolitie’ Porsche 911 – particularly meaningful for me as I did a police exchange to the Netherlands in 1992 and actually went on patrol in one of these iconic and ultimate patrol cars!

So, there we have it … my bits and pieces display case as it stands this cold and rainy weekend in late May 2010.  I hope you’ve enjoyed the browse round, and do leave a comment if you can.