Mexican High Command

The old chap in the middle and raising his hat is General Jose Diaz (affectionately nicknamed by his troops as 'El Muerto' with respect to his generalship abilities and I'm reliably told its not a compliment either. The figures are in fact the Sudan command set by the Perry brothers! For the basing I've made a combination of grit, sand and flock that does the trick - I've gone off the idea of painting the bases and then dry brushing, given my abilities I dont think its worth the effort. So I'm now missing that stage out.

Mexican Light Infantry #1

These are Old Glory (what else!) 25mm figures. They are in fact Spanish infantry from American/Spanish war of Teddy Roosevelt fame. Since the game at Ayton in May will be based on a desert scenario (circa 1880's)I wanted to go for the khaki look. They go quite well with my Mexican militia infantry who are more or less buff/khaki uniformed.

They are ok apart from one typical OG "look at me I'm about to trip up and fall pose!". However, I find something less than satisfactory about sandal wearing infantry such as these. Maybe because you cant give an enemy a good kicking or whatever....anyway the next two regiments will be made of OG British Boer war infantry. I painted a red square on the left side of the sun helmets and painted a "1" to identify them as the 1st regiment. The flag is by Battle Flag - these were left over from the ACW game from two years ago.

I based them on the 40x30 MDF bases I normally use to hold eight 15mm figures. I want these to be able to skirmish as well as fight in ranks so they are based in threes for open order/skirmish and can be combined into the more usual six per base.

Mexican Bad Guys

These are 28mm figures from Dixon Miniatures - I bought them two years ago for the ACW game we were playing but in fact I never got around to painting them. There are only six of them so I guess they are too small for a unit and just about right for a vignette or some special purpose. As far as the write up for the game scenario they are ex-cons entrusted with the protection of the Mexican expeditions wagon train. I'm sure it'll all end in tears.

Gatling Gun

Not only is it 25mm it isn't even Napoleonic! What is going on?

This is an OG British Navy Gatling gun crew (Zulu War period) and is painted for the May game held in Ayton (Nr Scarborough). I usually get trounced by artillery and all things projectile based at these games so I'd thought to bring a little canned-heat with me this time. This year the rules are supposed to reduce the dominance of artillery but why take the chance? I have another Gatling gun to paint up and much, much more artillery. The figures are supposed to be Mexicans by the way - I couldn't find any references for them on the internet but assumed they'd be not too different from any other Navy.

7th & 8th Cuirassiers & command

I've just finished these guys - they have yellow facings so would be good for the 7th, 8th and 9th regiments. As usual with AB they are easy to paint up, however I did notice that the 'at rest' pose hides more detail than the charging pose. I have another four 12 man regiments of these to paint. I was envisaging Marshal Ney leading an all out charge up the slope at Mont st Jean!

Flags are by AB this time.

The command is supposed to represent one of the Corps commanders, although the actual Nansouty figure is hidden on the 7ths command base!

WIP and backlog

I have far too many unfinished units and so have decided to get rid of the backlog. As you can see from the sea of black primer there are all sorts here. I wonder if you guys are the same?

 Two units of Cuirassiers are now getting the love and attention they need after 1.5 years sitting on the shelf.

Two units of AB British peninsular infantry (the guards) sitting next to the Austrian staff and generals.,

 Can't bear to face these guys and regret getting so many - Prussian Uhlans and Landwehr cavalry.

The most recent - and the most likely to be completed - Austrian and Russian infantry.