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.

Romano-British Army and Arthur Dux Bellorum

 Arthur, Dux Bellorum of Britain leads the elite of Britain against the Saxon invaders.

My Romano-British army composed primarily of Wargames Foundry figures with some Old Glory miniatures is finished and battle tested.  They are mounted for Dux Bellorum on 120mm wide bases.  In Dux Bellorum game terms I organized the army as my own interpretation of King Arthur:

1 Mounted Companions: 5 points

3 Noble Riders: 15 points

2 Ordinary Shieldwall: 6 points

1 Mounted Skirmishers: 2 points

Of course I utilize the Experience Warlord and Imposing Horsemen option!

The assembled War host.

Shieldwall infantry #1.

Shield Wall infantry #2.

Arthur is the middle figure from Wargames Foundry flanked by Old Glory miniatures. Since he was also known as the "Bear" I added an extra flag to go along with the traditional Pendragon standard.

Okay . . . I'm showing off the dragon painted on the shield.

Another view of the mounted force.

One of the most useful units are my mounted skirmishers for making Saxon Warbands charge when they don't want to. I have also discovered that dismounted skirmishers with javelins are very useful.

I love the priest from Wargames Foundry.

One last look at the "overlooked" infantry of Arthur's army.

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).