Welcome to my blog, the story of my continuing journey into the World of Zombie Wargames.

Monday 19 September 2016

The Opposition (more Pirate stuff)

Hip, Hip, a tray (of figures)...
So it wasn't as difficult finding the figures I would be using to oppose my pirate forces.
For some inexplicable reason, I seemed to have organised them into groups of sixteen.
They're all Irregular Miniatures from their 28mm Marlborough range. I like them ( a lot) and not just because they're cheap and I'm a tight-wad!
These figures cost a measly 90p when bought singly, that goes down to 75p when buying 24 or more and a mere 72p when buying 100!  Value for money or what ?
The view from inside the tray
I did buy a dozen or so cavalry from the range too (still unpainted after fifteen years!) - again cheap at £1.80 each or £1.50 when buying eight . 
I'm sure that when I bought these, alongside all my pirates, I was trying to emulate someone else's game with a central island/town etc. in a grand treasure-hunt or similar. There was one thing that I was a bit disappointed with when I re-discovered them - although they looked finished, they weren't!
There's not a lot to do on them, they're fairly usable as they are and at least the bases have been finished (Bases - Bah, the bane of my life)
The Officer core
There's quite a variety of figures in the range though the left-most Officer in the photograph on the right would also make good piratical captains I don't thik he's originally part of the range.
I'm fairly sure that some aficionados among the readership will spot inaccuracies with regard to uniforms etc, but this range is a generic range. Mine are painted up to represent British forces, but could just as easily represent the other major powers in the Caribbean (Spain, France etc.)
Drummers (Who'd have guessed )
The colour choice of coat-lining, turn-ups etc. was based on my local regiment of fusiliers that had 'Gosling green' facings, rather than the all-too familiar blue of 'royal regiments.
Drummers of course wore reverse colours, hence mine all have green coats with red facings.
The units that can be seen in the top photograph all have a drummer present save for the 'Grenadier' unit (I don't know why - I may have been under the impression they didn' have them).

The NCOs and Ensign
A well as the Officers, there are also NCO  figures armed with a Halberd and one suitable as a ensign - though I haven't decided upon which flag I would use.
The stances of he NCOs do show the fairly limited number of poses (something I like) and whilst the standard line infantry have firing poses I've opted to to have any.
Showing the two poses I use for the foot figures


I opted for marching figures and figures with ported weapons as they match nicely with the NCOs
These jolly fine chaps fit in really well with the majority of my pirate figures, they're well proportioned and don't have stubby looking muskets, these look great, even if their bayonets aren't fixed.
The grenadiers I intended to have striped stockings and would be used as marines, - yet another bit of painting yet to be done!

And that's it for another week, one day I may find the cavalry figures I bought way back when and may even get them painted up, but don't hold your breath!

Thanks for taking the time to visit and as always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.

22 comments:

  1. Wow thats a ton of marines! Those filthy scoundrels had better run to the high seas!

    Well lets hope not otherwise games would be boring!

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    1. I wanted a lot to give the feel of a large scale battle, akin to what Morgan di in Panama.
      The pirate had nothing to gain by running away and fought many land battles (especially against the Spaniards pre-1700)

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  2. Fabulous! Those Pirates better look out!

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    1. Thanks Michael, considering the number of pirates I can field, these guys may be a little too outnumbered.

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  3. Ranked up they look FORMIDABLE. I cannot imagine the pirates winning a pitched battle. A skirmish yes, but not a battle.

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    1. I wished I'd had the time to take them from their filing cabinet tray and actually do that Clint. I'm some of the dirty tricks the pirates would emply would give them an edge, but facing this lot head on would probably not be a good idea.

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  4. I really like those. I know I'd definitely want to play as the opposition forces instead of any pirates.
    Could the 'whole' be viewed as a half-battalion, do you think? Four Battalion Companies and a Flank. If they did, you could possibly thrown in a 3-pdr battalion gun just for a bit of fun.

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    1. Thanks Roy, if I recall correctly I viewed them exactly as you proposed i.e. a half battalion. I wanted to be able to pick and mix the size of force for different sized engagements, including an attack on a large piratial town (e.g. Nassau) to being able to represent a small contingent of marines employed on a warship.

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  5. Thanks Michal, they do the job for me.

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  6. These look very nice Joe, can see a company of marines fending off piratical boarding parties!

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    1. Thanks dGG, there's enough for quite a few different scenarios.

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  7. They look great Joe - a very determined looking pose and even better at the price!

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    1. Thanks Colin, if nothing else, you can't argue over value for money.

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  8. Great looking figs. The pirates will have a hard time now :)

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  9. Nice figures and the paintjob is excellent.Are you also building up a force of sailors? My "defenders" are in plastic and I am planning to paint them in english colours.I will also make some cannons for heavy support.My figures are from the war of the spanish Succession and some french napoleonics.

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    1. Thanks Ptr. Sailors, as opposed to pirates, will just be enlisted from theless piratical looking figures I have. There are a lot of era that you can draw on for pforces during the "Golden Age of Piracy" anything from about 1650 to 1750 at a pinch.

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  10. Wow, that's a lot of redcoats! Hmm, maybe they need some artillery as well :-) ?

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    1. You're right on both counts C6 and I have no idea why I didn't get some at the time. I've a feeling they be forress guns so I would use my ships guns for the purpose and my old Spencer Smith plasic arillerymen for crew.

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  11. 160 redcoats, you were going to run a big game. They look finished to me.

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    1. 160? I must be missing some or maybe a recount is in order ?
      I did intend to have some larger land Battle along the lines of Henry Morgan's invasion of Panama with his 2000 pirates!

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