The Nightengale Expedition

The Nightengale Expedition of 1896 has not been officially organized yet for In Her Majesty's Name, but as I am planning it did give me an excuse to take some pictures of some of my favorite miniatures.

Battlefield in a Box: Desert Buildings

Wow.  I should have starting using these a long time ago.  Simply superb and adaptable for multiple periods in the 15mm world.

Items from the Desert Walls, Medium house, and Small houses box sets. 

First up is the Desert Wall box which comes with 4 tall wall sections, a tall gate, 4 low wall sections and a well.

All of the boxed sets were very well packaged with plenty of bubble wrap.

Contents of the boxed set.

Closeup of the high gate with a Bren carrier and Valentine tank for scale.

 The small Desert Houses box comes with one "long" small house and one square small house.

 The removable roofs are a nice touch to allow the placement of troops inside.

Australian infantry occupy the roof of the long house.

Here is the Medium Desert house.  My only complaint is the box on the roof which makes it difficult to put two stands of infantry on the top of the roof but two fit nicely inside.

 The three boxed sets, which are reasonably priced (I found a great deal on eBay) really spice up the battlefield and provide cover and key terrain to fight over.

 The jewel of the Desert Walls set is the well.

Bren carriers navigating between the walls of the village.

Captain John Good

 Captain John Good

A "short, stout, and dark" man Captain John Good is one of the heroes of King Solomon's Mines as narrated by Allan Quatermain.  Quatermain rightly suspects him of being a naval man upon first seeing him.  Good desires to help his friend, Sir Henry Curtis, find his brother, but he also seeks the riches of King Solomon's Mines.

Quatermain mocks Good's fastidiousness about his personal appearance. In one case, Quatermain attributes Good's near death by elephant to Good's refusal to dress appropriately for the African wild. Good's overweening pride in his appearance is dealt a blow when the Kukuanas first see him without his trousers, which necessitates a long journey without pants so that he might not cover up his "beautiful white legs."

 Quatermain and Good

The Kukuanas

Quatermain Company for In Her Majesty's Name

I decided to repaint the figure I am using as Allan Quatermain and in celebration I put together some shots of the adventuring company I'm putting together that he will be leading.

 The Company so far.

Quatermain and Umslopogaas.

 Quatermain's war poodle near the porters.

 Hans.

 Quatermain's faithful dog (war poodle).

 

Inspector Stanley Hopkins of Scotland Yard

Inspector Stanley Hopkins is a Scotland Yard detective and a student of Holmes's deductive methods, who attempts to apply them in his own investigations. A promising detective, in whose career Holmes had several times shown a very practical interest. He is the youngest inspector in the Yard and often is assigned what appear to be mundane and investigations that may be the figment of other's imagination.

 Inspector Stanley Hopkins

Nothing could be further from the truth.  Though inexperienced as an inspector, his mentoring by Sherlock Holmes and his unmatched bravery for Queen and Country have made him a rising star; however, others would like to see him fail.  He has recently be reassigned on "extended" service in the small parish of North Piddle in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, England.

 Sergeant Ridgewell Hawkes of the North Piddle Constabulary with Inspector Hopkins

Here are the statistics for In Her Majesty's Name:

Name: Inspector Stanley Hopkins
Pluck: 3+

Leadership: +2

Speed: +0

Fighting Value: +2

Shooting Value: +3

Talents: Fearless, Impervious, Meticulous Planning

Basic Equipment: Pistol

Armor: Brigandine

Cost: 61

" Not exactly what I was expecting during a normal robbery investigation."

My Afrika Korps miniatures featured in A Wargamers Guide to The Desert War 1940 - 1943

I'm honored to have some of my Afrika Korps miniatures featured in Daniel Mersey's latest book A Wargamers's Guide to The Desert War 1940-1943 available on Amazon and at other fine retailers.

It's humbling to see miniatures you have painted in the same company with Michael Perry of Perry Miniatures, Wargames Illustrated and Big Lee himself!  (If you have not seen Big Lee's Miniature Adventures, you are in for a treat!)

Afrika Korps 88mm Gun featured in the book

If you want to see the other photos, you have to buy Dan's book!  Here is the summary: Continuing this exciting new series of guides for wargamers, Dan Mersey gives a wargamer's perspective on the North African campaign of World War II. Dan gives an overview of events from the opening British successes against the Italians, to the famous duels between Monty and the Rommel (the Desert Fox), right up to the US-led invasion of Operation Torch and the eventual defeat of the Afrika Korps, and offers advice on how to recreate these on the gaming table. Daniel Mersey discusses factors to consider when choosing an appropriate set of commercially available rules, or devising your own, to best suit the scale and style of battle you want and to capture the flavour of the period. The relevant ranges of figures and vehicle models are also reviewed. Analysis of the forces involved, organization, tactics and strategies will help with building your armies and there are interesting scenarios included. Whether this is a new period for you, or you are looking to refresh your existing interest in the period, this handy guide is sure to hold much if interest for you.

Explorer's Expedition Auction

I've been having fun painting Victorian figures for the games I really enjoy such as In Her Majesty's Name.  As part of the genre, North Star has been putting together sets for the game Congo.  Here is the "Explorer's Expedition" which is on auction at eBay here:  Auction. 

For Congo this is a 70 points Expedition that is made up of:

Your Characters: The Explorer and the Reporter.

 The Adventurers.

 Auxiliaries (Bearers) and Soldiers.

 Scouts.

 Young Warriors.

Askaris.

Independence Day

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

 Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

My Favorite Terrain Piece

Back in ancient times of lore, when Warhammer was Warhammer, the 4th edition of the boxed game came with two card stock terrain pieces; a cottage and a stone tower. I still have both of them and the cottage has probably been in more of my tabletop battles than any other piece of terrain.

The classic Warhammer cottage.

Lord of the Rings battle.

Continental Firing line to the side of the cottage.

Another LOTR battle. 

Prince Rupert leads the War Poodle's own Regiment of Foot during the English Civil War. 

Green Regiment of the London Trained Bands. 

Action in the Peninsular.

World War II British Paratroopers.

The Wild West. 

 The Doctor and Sherlock Holmes.

Colonial Action. 

Lord Essex.