Heroes of Rorkes Drift complete

Huzzah!  They are done and mounted on Litko round 25mm wooden bases with 3mm depth.  I will be using them with Daniel Mersey's new rules The Men Who Would be Kings and In Her Majesty's Name.

IHMN: Meanwhile in North Piddle . . .

In 1795, a large stony meteorite was observed during its fall to Earth at a cottage near Wold Newton in Yorkshire, England and a piece of it, known as the Wold Cottage meteorite, was carefully analyzed by both British and French authorities and they concluded that an extraterrestrial origin was likely.

The village of North Piddle is a small civil parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, England.  North Piddle was named after Piddle Brook, on which it stands, and has approximately 200 inhabitants. On December 17, 1896 there was an earthquake in the region that "exceeded in violence any previous instance of seismic energy there within the present century".  The earthquake was preceded by a loud roar "as of thunder" or "a rushing mighty wind", and residents whose windows were facing north saw a "great light", which some attributed to a large meteor . . .

 The meteor strike near North Piddle

The village of North Piddle is the setting for many of our adventures in the world of In Her Majesty's Name.  The infamous Dr. Nemor (inventor of the so called disintegration ray) lives nearby.  A scenario, including the rumored meteorite, will involve four companies all with competing objectives.

The outskirts of North Piddle

The ruins of the North Piddle manor

Piddle Brook

 The farm at Gostell Field

         The companies that will be participating in the great adventure in North Piddle will be: 

 Teddy Roosevelt and The Explorer's Club

 General Ronglu's Imperial Chinese 

 The Witch King of Sokar

Scotland Yard

Up Next: The Scenario

Heroes, Villains and Fiends and the Heroe's of Rorke's Drift

Bonus figure and crossover!  Honorable Son #3 (IHMN Engineer)
 
From Honorable Son #3 (Engineer Level 3) and his Sweet Fiance gave me Heroes, Villains and Fiends for Christmas. This the first supplement for one of my favorite game's In Her Majesty's Name (IHMN).  It provides more talents, mystical powers, weapons and weird science for the late 19th Century.  There are also more companies from Africa, North America and Europe.

More companies from Africa . . . like The Queens Own African Rifles featuring Lieutenant's Caine and Baker!  I love it when a plan comes together!

 Huzzah!

Heroes of Rorke's Drift WIP #1

Here is a quick update on the "Heroes of Rorke's Drift" Hollywood version.  Am I keeping with a simple painting method as I have discovered that this will give the figures a realistic "in the field" look.

Here is the color scheme I used after priming the figures in a flat black wash but not in the order I painted:

1. Uniform Coat.  I did two coats of Vallejo Red thinned down just a bit with water.
2. Pants.  Base coat is GW's Kantor Blue and highlights with Ultramarine blue.  Pants stripe is Vallejo Red.
3. Helmet.  Base coat is Vallejo Flat Brown.  Second coat is Vallejo Buff with highlights from Vallejo Flat White.
4. Helmet Crest.  Base is Vallejo Flat Black and the GW Shiny Gold.
5. Webbing and rifle straps. Vallejo Buff and then Vallejo Flat White.
6. Rifle.  Vallejo Flat Brown. Metal parts on rifle Vallejo Silver.
7. Facing Colors.  For the 24th I used GW Goblin Green and for the Royal Engineers I used Ultramarine blue. I decided to make the facing colors look lighter as that looked better in 28 mm.
8. Undershirt. Base is GW Dawnstone and then the second coat is equal parts GW Dawnstone with Vallejo flat white.  Buttons are Flat White.
9. Officer shoulder boards, lace and buttons.  Vallejo Flat Black and then GW Shiny Gold.
10. Other ranks lace and piping.  Vallejo Flat White.
10. Holsters. GW Vermin Brown.
11. NCO sash.  GW Khorne Red.
12. Boots and gaiters.  Vallejo Flat Black.

Get ready for nit-picking! Here is a still shot from the movie Zulu showing Colour Sergeant Bourne in action.

Here is Empress Miniature's Colour Sergeant Bourne on the right sans chevrons!  I hate free handing chevrons. (I told you it was nit-picking)  Still a great figure.

Hollywood Version: Heroes of Rorkes Drift

I can't wait for Daniel Mersey's latest set of historical rules which are scheduled for publication in August 2016. It will be a set of Colonial rules titled The Men Who Would be Kings. Figures are mounted individually for casualty removal but fight as a unit. Knowing Daniel's track record and the play tests I have read I am going to step out and predict that this will be another success.  

To get a head start, I'm going to start painting units for the Anglo-Zulu War.  I used to have a 15 mm Zulu army and played regularly in this period in the 1990's with the good chaps of the Fort Monroe, VA area.  This time around I am going to do it in 28 mm primarily with miniatures from Warlord Games/Empress miniatures.  To get me started, Honorable Son #1 (The Librarian) and his wife The Future Doctor sent me "The Defenders of Rorke Drift" from Warlord Games/Empress Miniatures. This is the Hollywood versions of  the sullen but doughty Private Hook; VC, the stoic but reluctant Lt. Chard, VC; the dandy English gentleman Lt. Bromhead,VC; and the unflappable bayonet fighting Colour Sgt Bourne, DSO.

This is my first experience with Empress Miniatures and needless to say I am impressed.  I have long admired the photos of their Anglo-Zulu, English Civil War and Indian Mutiny and the actual miniatures do not disappoint.  I now have miniature representations of James Booth (Private Henry Hook, VC),  Michale Caine (Lt. Gonville Bromhead, VC), Stanley Baker (Lt. John Chard, R.E., VC) and Nigel Green (Colour Sergeant Bourne, DSO).

Here are the figures with a black wash applied as primer which also allows the detail to stand out.  I have done the flesh with a base of Brown Flesh (GW) with Dark Flesh (Vallejo) over. 

 Private Henry Hook, VC

 

Lt. Gonville Bromhead, VC

Note the sleeve details with the knots!  Impressive!

 Lt. John Chard, R.E., V

 

 Colour Sergeant Bourne, DSO

One last toast from Henry Hook!