Bennet Burleigh

Another special character for The Men Who Would be Kings (Paid Link). Bennet Graham Burley (1840 – 1914) was a Scottish-born pirate and Confederate spy . . . so of course he became a journalist! Later in life, he changed his surname to Burleigh and became a celebrated war correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph.

Bennet Burleigh watching the 14th Sikhs march out from a mission station to Chaimbellistan.

In 1881, Burleigh was hired by the London Telegraph to cover the war in Sudan.  He was a correspondent for the Central News Agency during the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882.  Burleigh was the first to report the failure of the Gordon relief expedition, which led to the slaughter of the Khartoum garrison. He also covered the Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War. He authored several books on his experiences reporting on conflict.

 Bennet Burleigh in 1898.

In 189? he was one of the first correspondents to cover the war in The Princely State of Chaimbellistan during the Fiction Anglo-Russian War.

Bennet is a Perry Miniatures figure from their Newspaper Correspondents pack.

I am creating my own ImagiNations around the fictional country of Chaimbellistan and the Batal Colony for my Colonial forces to operate in and around using The Men Who Would be Kings (Paid Link) and In Her Majesty's Name.  Bennet of course will be covering the action.

2022: The Plan

Me and the "gang" working on the plan.

 

I have had more success with my hobby by developing a plan over the last few years and 2022 will be no exception. This year will be a little different though. When I started writing this post it was Mid-December of 2021 and inflation in the United States is at a 40 year high. Since I like to eat and keep a roof over my head, some of my goals and plans will need to be approved by the Ministry of Finance. On with the plan:

1. Continue to make my hobby self-sustaining as much as possible with eBay sales, commissions and the blog. By the way, if you are interested in having figures painted, feel free to contact me at nreinwald@yahoo.com.

2. Scottish Units for the English Civil War. Nothing like already having unpainted figures to encourage you to save money - especially when you really want to paint them! My goal is to:

    a. Paint one to two Regiments of Foot. The actual number of regiments will depend on some conversions I need to due for musketeers as I have plenty of pike.

    b. Two units of Horse/Mounted Dragoons. No dismounted dragoons yet!

    c. One big honking cannon - pretty sure it's a Saker from Warlord Games but I'm too lazy to go up to the War Room and look right now.

Where is my cavalry?

3. Imperial Russian Army circa somewhere in my imaginary universe from 1880 to 1910. I've been having fun with my Fictional conflict of the Anglo-Russian War. Be a Daniel Mersey fan of many years, I use The Men Who Would be Kings (Paid Link) as my rules; though, I am thinking about giving The East is Ablaze a try. (Ministry of Finance) Yep, a sucker for Hollywood style and fun rules.

    a. One unit of Regular Infantry.

    b. One unit of Dragoons. (Ministry of Finance)

    c. One unit of Cossacks. (Ministry of Finance)

"Where are my fellow Sowars?"

4. The British Indian Army.

    a. One unit of Sikh Cavalry (The 3rd Bombay Light Cavalry).

    b. One unit of Bengal Lancers.  (Ministry of Finance)

    b. One unit of Highlanders. (Ministry of Finance)

    c. One unit of Gurkhas. (Ministry of Finance)

    d. A British Political Officer in Native Dress. How can you have the Great Game without a Political Officer? I'm planning on using a figure from the Perry Miniatures Hard Plastic Afghan Tribesman (Paid Link) box.

5. Afghanistan.

    a. Two units of 16 figures each of Perry Miniatures hard plastic Tribal Infantry. (Paid Link)

    b. Anything else will depend on tribute . . . err . . . subsidies from the British Raj or Imperial Russia.

Three down, three to go.

6. French and Indian War. Did someone mention I'm a Daniel Mersey fan. Continuing on with the French and Indian War using Rebels and Patriots. (Paid Link)

    a. Finish one more unit of Native Skirmishers. 

    b. One unit of French Regulars. (Ministry of Finance)

    c. One unit of British Regulars or Colonial Regulars/Militia. (Ministry of Finance)

Old GW Warhammer figures to use with Dragon Rampant.

7. Elite Heavy Elf Infantry for Dragon Rampant (Paid Link): This is a carryover from last year and won't take too long to finish.

8. In Her Majesty's Name, 2nd Edition.

    a. Update my Adventuring Company's to the 2nd Edition. 

    b. Finish drafting and then play our campaign for 2022. Locally we had a multi-year campaign called "The War of the Witches" which involved, whenever available, friends, kids of friends, my Honorable Sons, and me (usually getting my butt kicked or being the gamemaster/umpire). With the victory of the Forces of Good (they had Teddy Roosevelt!) over the Forces of Evil (BWAH HAH HAH!) it's time to start another campaign. Two of the main, evil Adventuring Companies somehow managed to escape the defeat . . . and of course Professor Moriarty figured out which way the wind was blowing and helped (kinda). The first game will have the premier of my new Adventuring Company in the Highlands of Scotland.

The fools THINK they won. BWAH HAH HAH!!!

    c. Do some odds and ends that will be needed for the campaign; you know - unexpected surprises!

9. Terrain.

    a. Paint the roof of the mill and some other parts! I spent some time in New England visiting Honorable Son #1 (The Librarian) and his Beautiful Bride (The Doctor) plus Honorable Son #3 (The Engineer) and his Beautiful Bride (The Social Warrior) and was able to take a look at some real mills in the area. And some other areas of interest - but that is for another post.

    b. Put together an MDF Tavern that was given to me by Honorable Son #2 (The Captain) and his Beautiful Bride (The Lawyer). Looking forward to putting this together and using it on the tabletop.

    c. Scratch build a frontier fort.

10. Play games!

    a. English Civil War.

    b. The Anglo-Russian War.

    c. The French and Indian War.

    d. The IHMN2 campaign (need to come up with a name of impending doom for the world).

11. Secret projects.

    a. Getting back to my gaming roots. This will be the subject of a future post whether it is financed or not. (Ministry of Finance)

    b. A board game/miniature project. (Ministry of Finance)

I hope everyone has a great hobby year!

Melton Prior

With the addition of rules for Correspondents in The Men Who Would be Kings, (Paid Link) of course we would have to send our own representative to cover Her Majesty's forces.

Melton Prior (12 September 1845 – 2 November 1910), was an English artist and war correspondent for The Illustrated London News from the early 1870s until 1904. Prior was one of the leading illustrators of late Victorian Britain, noted for his ability to quickly sketch scenes. His pencil sketches were sent back to London where they were re-drawn by studio artists and engraved on wood-blocks for printing in the Saturday issues of the Illustrated London News.

Prior was born in Camden Town, London, and studied under his father, William Henry Prior (1812–1882), a landscape artist, painter and illustrator. In 1873, he was contracted by the Illustrated London News to travel to West Africa to cover the Ashanti War. This was followed by covering the fighting against the Carlists in Spain before heading to eastern Europe where Prior sketched the events in Herzegovina and the Russo-Turkish War.

 Hold that pose . . . almost done.

In 1879, Prior traveled to Durban to report on the Zulu War which had just broken out. While he missed the events at Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift, he did witness subsequent actions including the final Battle of Ulundi He was also with the group who discovered the body of the Prince Imperial. Although Boer farmers had assisted the British in the war against the Zulus, they resented the encroachment by English farmers and industrialists on their lands, and sought the independence of the Transvaal and Orange Free State. Following the breakdown of negotiations, hostilities broke out, and Prior witnessed the aftermath of the British disaster at Majuba Hill.

 Aftermath of Isandlwana

The following year, Prior found himself offshore on a Royal Navy ship during the bombardment of Alexandria. Later, he accompanied the British forces under General Sir Garnet Wolseley on the expedition down the Nile which culminated with the destruction of the Egyptian Army at Tel-el-Kebir on 13 September 1882. In 1884-85, he accompanied the relief expedition for General Charles Gordon and was present at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.

 A Melton Prior sketch from the Sudan.

Following the events in Sudan, Prior was sent to the Far East to cover the operations in Burma. The mid-1890s found him back in South Africa, covering the failed Jameson Raid, the Matabele uprising and the subsequent Boer War, although he also covered the campaign in the Tirah on the North-West Frontier of British India in 1897. During the fighting against the Boers, Prior found himself besieged at Ladysmith.

 

Melton is a Perry Miniatures figure from their Newspaper Correspondents pack.

Prior's last campaigns were the Somaliland Expedition of 1903, and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. He died in London on 2 November 1910. His body was buried at Hither Green Cemetery. A monument to Melton Prior with a bas-relief portrait exists within the crypt at St Paul's Cathedral in London.

Rules:  Reporters, witch doctors, and holy men: Add as an extra model in the unit. For every enemy unit removed from play by this unit while this character is present, the player gains +1 victory point. If this special character is killed or the unit is removed from play, the player suffers -4 victory points. Does not count as a model in the unit for combat or morale purposes. Adds 2 points to a unit’s cost, and a player may only field one such model in a Field Force.

Happy New Year!

 

 Happy New Year to all of my friends around the world!!!

Fourth Quarter 2021 Update: How did the Plan go?

Here is the plan I developed for 2021; let's see how it ended up:

1. The French and Indian War. His Most Catholic Majesty, King Louis XV has requested politely (something about it being a pain in my neck if I don't get going) that I finish the initial French force for the French and Indian War. I'm planning on using one of the suggested force listings from Rebels and Patriots (Paid Link):

a. Two units of Light Infantry at 6 points each (Compagnies Franches de la Marine). ALL COMPLETE!

Unit #1

Unit #2.

b.  One unit of Skirmishers (Canadian Militia) for Rebels and Patriots (Paid Link) that are Sharpshooters at 6 points. COMPLETE!

c. One Large unit of Aggressive Natives at 6 points for Rebels and Patriots (Paid Link). COMPLETE!

2. The Great Game goes Hot! The Russian Empire vs. The British Empire in a fictional (and I mean fictional) war in Central Asia that impacts the British Raj. I'm planning on using both The Men Who Would be Kings (Paid Link) and In Her Majesty's Name (Paid Link) for all of the fun. It will take place between 1895 and 1920 so I can pick what figures I think look cool for the fight; in other words, be prepared for uniforms and troop types that don't go together historically (I said it would be fictional!). And what's not to like? It will have Wolseley Helmets (just like fezzes, Wolseley Helmets are cool), Russian spies, Political Officers, dashing semi-historical uniforms, Maxim Machine Guns, Pathans, Sikhs, Cossacks, Boris and Natasha, mustaches on stiff upper lips, etc. The conflict will start with a disputed succession of a princedom and a threat to the Khyber pass. The opening shots have been fired! 

 

Initial Russian Field Force: COMPLETE! But . . . Force Creep! I've added the Putilov 76mm gun to the Imperial Russian Army. COMPLETE! Maybe those Cossacks will show up by the end of the year?

"Well done General, we now have enough troops to deal with the Britishers and their lackeys."

The Izmaylovsky Lifeguards

14th Frontier Guards

Imperial Russian Naval Brigade

Russian Maxim Machine Gun

Putilov 76mm Quick Firing gun

The British Raj: The Initial Force is complete - PLUS SOME EXTRAS! As expected (see above) I'm expanding the British Indian Army with more Indian Forces. I completed two more British Indian Unit (Jacob's Rifles) and the 1st Madras Pioneers which will be in the British Indian Army and also Princely State units. I'm planning on adding at least one more British Indian Unit by the end of the year which might be some cavalry.

The 19th Punjabis

The 14th Sikhs

The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)

Indian Army Maxim Machine gun

The Royal Regiment of Chaimbellistan

Tribal Infantry for both sides!

Jacob's Rifles (also known in the Princely State of Chaimbellistan as the 1st (Swords of Judgment) Regiment of the Royal Chaimbellistan Army).

The 1st Madras Pioneers. 

Swap out the flag stand and now they are the 2nd (Thundering Herd) Regiment of the fictional Princely State of Chaimbellistan.

Test figure for the Sikh Squadron, 3rd Bombay Light Cavalry.

3. The adventures of the TFS (The Free Ship) Audacity. Rules will probably mostly be IHMN Edition 2 ( I also need to finish painting the Audacity). PAINTED AND COMPLETE!

TFS Audacity

Picture of Lady Helen Quartermain and some of her crew that was used in the Second Edition of In Her Majesty's Name.

4. Paint some old GW Phoenix Guard for Honorable Son #5 (The Skirmisher). They will be used as some sort of elite infantry in Dragon Rampant. (Paid Link) 

Almost done!

 

5. Try to finish the generic Scottish Infantry (two units) for my English Civil War project. If I really get on a roll, I'll add two units of Scottish horse and one Scottish Artillery Piece. ONE UNIT COMPLETE.

6. Keep my hobby self-funded with commissions and eBay (if interested in any commissioned work feel free to contact me at nreinwald@yahoo.com):

8. I built some more terrain for the French and Indian War using Rebels and Patriots (Paid Link) and the Anglo-Russian War using The Men Who Would be Kings . . . other games!

Yep, showing off Jacob's Rifles from Perry Miniatures again but with some of the new terrain.

The Imperial Russians get to use the new terrain too!

Trees using Litko bases.

Sarissa MDF Buildings.

A watermill.

And more hills, trees and rocks:

9. A nicely converted figure to use with In Her Majesty's Name.

10. And of course games!

Well, that was the plan for 2021. I hope you and yours are doing well!