To match a bunch of 15mm pirate and Redcoat preventive men from another random job lot of figures, I have added a coastal defence fort.
This is not the familiar Airfix WW2 one of my childhood but an original Napoleonic one – the Martello Tower.
I remember seeing these curious flowerpot coastal castles on childhood holidays to the south coast. I have a feeling I might have been inside one as well. We visited the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch area of Kent, the curious home of light railways, Dr. Syn, smuggling museums and marshes. All equally fascinating to a small child.
Martello Towers are the ultimate bucket and spade seaside sandcastle with a flag and a cannon on top.
If you are not familiar with them, there are several websites about them. Wikipedia has a wide range of information and a useful photo gallery from round the world on Martello Towers. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martello_tower
https://martellotowers.co.uk/armedforces covers the garrison of 24 men (cramped), Napoleonic era gun crews, Artillery Volunteers, Militia and “sea fencibles” (or ‘reformed’ smugglers).
There are in their 1990 English Heritage Martello Tower no. 24 booklet online here some wildly imaginative LacePunk / Steampunk original Napoleonic era prints of how the French might invade by raft, balloon and airship etc. – “typical shabby Nazi, sorry, Napoleonic tricks” as the 1805 version of Captain Mainwaring would say.
Several manufacturers make resin or even Paper ones on the unusual Paper Shipwright website (which has free downloads of some things).
Some useful Martello Tower words for instant expertise: The roof gunnery platform floor is called a terreplein. The irony – a French word for a seaside castle cannon platform against Napoleon. Impressed?
Building your Crumble Pot Martello Towers
So where to start?
What first gave me the idea was a bit of scrap recycling from a recent sweet treat gift, some mini crumble puddings.
“First eat your puddings …”
Add in the plastic top to some lovely lunchtime Itsu noodles, the only unrecyclable bit but which also comes in handy for flocking trays.
So in Blue Peter style you need in suitable size or scale for your figures, in this case 15mm:
Two plastic containers or flowerpot shapes, one cut down to sit inside the other to give the roof space.
A base or lid upturned to give extra height if needed
A spare cannon such as this one from the Risk boardgame,
Some lolly sticks for the gun pivot
A drawing pin for the pivot
Acrylic model paint to coat the plastic
Scalpel or sharp scissors to cut out the roof hole and cut down the inner pot.
Cut a neater hole in the base than I did (wrong sort of jaggy plastic, didn’t want to try the candle / knife method to smoothly melt the edges). This gives you your roof opening.
Place this cut open base over the other pot and work out how much you need to cut off to give you the gunnery space and shelter for the Gun Teams. Pop a figure and the gun inside to get an idea of size.
Cut in stages or strips away at the bottom part of the inner pot until your figures and gun sit right inside. Like Lockdown haircuts, you can’t add it back once you’ve cut it off.
The swivel: The gun is on a raised up platform to give that 360 degree swivel. Measure the lolly stick from middle of the pot top / base. Insert drawing pin as pivot. Put through plastic top. Secure pin bit underneath with a piece of thick card or balsa.
Paint the outside of the tower with an undercoat of white or light grey. Don’t forget to paint the inside (pot base) of the tower roof gunnery platform before you start sticking these together.
Stick your gun onto a short piece(s) of lollystick to step it up step by step on the swivel piece until it can freely move around the rim of the tower.
Dry Run – Once you have tried all the finished bits and bobs together, then glue the cutdown pot onto the noodle lid, and add the top pot.
The stepped cannon is the last fiddly bit to add, the barrel poking above the battlements and freely pivoting.
Avoiding cutting out recessed windows and doors into jaggy plastic, I used thin card to make the door and window frames.
These doors and windows were on the landward side to protect them from ship attack. The seaward walls were slightly thicker brick walls to cope with attack from the sea.
An external ladder from the Airfix Commando set was added but could be made from card. The doorway platform and ladder were designed to be easily taken inside or demolished by the tower gun crew.
Cleverly the towers had a rainwater collection from the roof to basement water tank or internal well to survive sieges. Tucked away are musket racks inside, gunnery stores, shot lockers, ration stores. Officers quarters were small but separate from the men’s. It is part castle, part stone naval ship.
Martello Towers were built all around the world so I can feature them in some ImagiNations and Colonial games like the Forgotten Minor States.
What next for gaming scenarios with the Martello tower?
a cheap plastic boat / ship (what is the difference anyway?) from a seaside toy shop pirates set stocked away for rainy days,
All this is surely a scratch recipe for a coastal / pirate / naval game of Close Little Pirate Wars! Pistols, cutlasses, cannons, blunderbusses, muskets …
This lovely Murray King postcard of Cornish Wreckers vs the Excise or Preventative Men gave me some uniform colour ideas. I have some random tricorne figures to paint up as Customs redcoats.
I mocked up a quick harbour scene with the Martello Tower in place, using a Tamiya stone paving baseplate.
I think you can see the influence of this St Nazaire harbour game in my simple dockyard buildings and warehouses using some crafty Christmas decoration presents:
These ‘make your own Christmas decoration houses’ were easy to transform into flexible 15mm warehouses. Other blocks of wood were used to add storehouses.
Further Gaming Scenarios
After 1815, Martello Towers around the world were reoccupied as needed by troops, coastguard and preventive men throughout troubled times in the 19th and 20th century. Some were adapted as signal stations.
Others were reused in WW2 for coastwatch, observer Corps and effectively as pillboxes against German invasion.
So Captain Mainwaring lives on, he can again guard the coast of the Novelty Rock Emporium to the Pier at Warmington on Sea against seaborne and airborne German troops – disguised as nuns? – another “typical shabby Nazi trick”. Mainwaring really ought to have a Martello Tower to defend as well.
Left over tiling spacer Xs turned into barricades, glued onto square bases. Long Matchsticks
32mm Pound store conversion figures man the barricades & stop two suspicious customers (Fantastic Beasts figures, The Works £1 each )
Barricades with smaller cocktail sticks for 15mm scrap ACW figures painted up as generic rebels.
I haven’t yet tried or make D-Day beach obstructions with the tile spacer Xs.
Sparkler wires reusable for spears, pikes, flagpoles etc
A few penny saving, time saving tips using scrap materials.
Do you have any favourite money or time saving tips to share?
I found this a few years back when there were still junk shops. I bought this because it was the Manual WO 8903 that would have been current when my late father did his National Service c. 1958.
He often talked about how rigorous the weapons training was but coming from a mechanical and engineering background, he would have found this far easier than me.
The figure poses remind me greatly of the Herald modern British Army figures that we all grew up with (featured in Tradgardland’s blog) and curiously of Airfix Multipose British Infantry.
Herald figures late 1950s to 1970s: These uniforms must’ve been very familiar to my National Serviceman Dad when he played toy soldiers with us kids.
The Bayonet Training chapters are interesting – not too dissimilar to the Cut Parry Lunge system of duelling that Donald Featherstone featured in Solo Wargaming.
This Manual certainly explains the many odd bayoneting poses by manufacturers.
Bayonet Drill or used in action – That would be a very niche toy soldier collection!
Update: As mentioned in my reply to comments, there is a range of military training manuals from a range of countries on the late Thor Shiel’s Milihistriot website (whilst this remains online). Check out his Sandpit rules and OMOG variants too
Keeping watch towards the disputed border, the Jagers of this watchtower scan the forest edges. These are the Jagers or border patrol for the Duchy of Reissenshein, that Forgotten Minor State of forest and mountains.
Glued on, tucked away on the hex edge, some mountain rabbitsRoof made removable with a little card retaining frame inside. Notice boards made for inside.15mm Peter Laing Jäger or Alpini figure, HO forest animals from Noch including fox with bird
Details of the two Noch sets including the Laser Cut Mini cardboard jagerstand
So much for getting a game in this morning, instead first I needed to build this old laser cut mini card kit from Noch.
Gallia Farmhouse with Peter Laing 15mm figures ECW / 1715-45 range
Lockdown Sort Out: One of the long surviving and bashed buildings I have is a resin farmhouse from the 15mm of range in the 1980s by Gallia.
This is not as you can tell the original chimney. This was lost sometime in storage over the years. However I found a suitable replacement chimney in a job lot bag which kind of fits, badly, in a characterful way.
If it got anymore wonky, Trumpton Fire Brigade would have to be called to fix it.
1983 Battle for Wargamers – Wargames Manual (Ed. By Stuart Asquith) advert for Gallia range
This Farmhouse was the only resin building that I bought then as I relied like everyone else on old bashed Airfix railway buildings, Airfix Forts, surviving parts of the Waterloo Farmhouse and homemade cardboard ones. Surprisingly large numbers of my games were fought then around strategic targets such as railway stations!
Gallia resin buildings were expensive enough c.1982/83 to have been chosen as a present. When it arrived, the resin still had a strong chemical smell which has thankfully faded over the years. I never tried their figure ranges.
One downside I found with this resin building is the fixed roof, so that you cannot place figures inside.
1982/83 magazine advert and prices. I assume ruined buildings were a bit cheaper than whole ones?
“What you see is what you get …” 2017 Digital Dawn Patrol Reconnaissance Photo
Back in 2017 on one of my “recconaissance flights over the digital front lines” or whatever it was Henry Hyde used to call his web, blog and podcast reviews in Miniature Wargames with Battle Games, I spotted this 1.3 kilos of 15mm lead scrap. In this fuzzy eBay picture I spotted some Peter Laing figures – his horses are very distinctive – and “took a punt” on buying for about a tenner with postage.
Now the Laing figure moulds are vanished and probably no more. From time to time I and others of the plucky and ever vigilant members of the Peter Laing Collectors Circle suit up, put on the flying goggles, get the engines running and chocks away, fly high and keep a watching brief on the Web and EBay to see what Laing figures come up for sale, glimpsed amongst the mass of figures far below online.
Me & my 54mm fellow plucky pilots from Ian Dury’s Flying Circus of the Digital Dawn Laing Patrol
On returning from our Digital Dawn Patrol, “we few, we plucky few” then pass the word round on the Peter Laing MeWe web community pages set up by Ian Dury. https://mewe.com/join/peterlaingfigures
Although “time spent in Reconnaissance is seldom wasted” (family WW2 saying but who first said that?), this haul was a bit of a Peter Laing dud. Not much a ‘show’! Here is the debrief and the photographic reconnaissance:
Stylish Peter Laing exotic Ottoman or Turkish type figures – well worth recasting more one day!The Peter Laing cavalry horse I spotted, and two swords and shield men.
The remaining 1.3 kilos of of white metal and lead scrap was 99% 15mm, mostly painted and unbroken, although minus the usual musket ends, bayonets and flags. Mixed manufacturers but 90% Napoleonic, no guns, few cavalry. A few stray Ancients and some ACW figures who might become guerrilla forces.
I don’t now know the origin of the various figures but it seemed a bit of crime to melt them down for homecasting. Some gamers somewhere had spent a lot of time painting these figures. It was not their tiny fault they had become detached from their units and so ended up unwanted as odds and ends with no RLS martial pride
Some figures as you can see in the original lead kilo photograph were on unit stands, most needed rebasing and flocking. This would add some unity to the varying heights, build, paintwork and stances of this mixed group.
Dividing the groups up was done mostly by uniform colour and style of head gear. This makes it easy to incorporate further random job lot figures in future.
Before repainting or re-uniforming, I photographed one or two features such as flags
I have temporarily misplaced most of the battered broken and unbased cavalry – no matter.
ImagiNations Inspiration for the Forgotten Minor States
For what follows, if you are outraged in a realist historical button counting way by the misidentification and mishmash of Napoleonic units, I will blame the following:
B) Antony Hope for writing the Prisoner of Zenda, here ably illustrated by Charles Dana Gibson in 1898
C) everyone else’s fictional ImagiNations, maps and campaigns at the moment from the Brontes through Hyboria onwards to Tradgardland and Ascaria.
D) the Brontes
E) Gilbert and Sullivan – not only their many Ruritanian states but also because it was the first time I got wear a “redcoat” (albeit from a theatrical costumiers).
The Forgotten Minor States and Principalitiesof MittelMittel Europe.
Along the Alpen fringes of MittelMittelEurope in the late 18th and 19th century were plenty of now Forgotten Minor States, now subsumed by unification, inattention, cartographical errors, inbreeding, insurrection, migration, invasion or royal marriage into other larger countries.
Few today now remember the triumphs and traditions, victories and defeats, failed colonies, romances and intrigues, scandals and petty squabbles of their plentiful heirs and claimants, Dukes and Duchesses, Princes and Princesses, Emperors and Electors, Statesmen and Generals, Chancellors and Presidents, Rebels, Republicans and Exiles.
Here are some of the fine forces of the FMS – Forgotten Minor States.
Verdigris
The dandyish young fops in command of the Third Verdigris Volunteer MilitiaMusket drill for the Third Verdigris Volunteer Militia – Fyreloque Section – directed by their NCO scout.
Guns for the artillery figures came as game pieces from the Napoleonic version of the Risk boardgame.
Light Artillery of the Verdigris Volunteer Militia – a suitably grey misty day for their grey green uniforms.
In this game world, these early to mid Nineteenth century troops have very light artillery pieces which can be horse drawn or dragged and manhandled on the battlefield by ropes by their four men crews and the rest of the “fire lock” or “fyreloque” company of troops. In mountainous regions the guns are disassembled and carried by Man or Mule.
Some spare Peter Laing horses and holders, artillery and baggage train will have to step in for future games.
The misty mountain regions of Verdigris is allied with Upper or Higher Plumea (see below). Its principal industry is copper mining, copper working for a range of industrial and artistic craft purposes, allied to the use of green pigment by artists. This has slowly declined since more stable green pigments were discovered and became available. As in Bleudelys, its pigment rival, the women of Verdigris play an important role in the processing of the pigment.
The flag reflects the mountain grey mist and the copper green of the Verdigris pigment industry.
Pompomerania
Here we see a fine contingent and drums of the Pompomeranian Grenadiers on field exercises, tramping through a field for exercise, as ever poorly commanded by their General Abysmal Notuptodemark. On this occasion he is not with them, being back at his headquarters, having a major fashion crisis trying to decide what to wear.
.
Notuptothemark’s Fashion Crisis depicted (Wikipedia source: Bismarck article.)
* Not to confused with the region of Pomerania mentioned by Prussian Otto von Bismarck who expressed a view that involvement in the turbulent Balkan wars was “not worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier”.
Pompomerania as a minor state or region has two main industries – goat and sheep herding and turning the wool into the exotic dyed pom-poms supplied to the many military uniforms of many countries worldwide. Dyes are sourced through many local wildflowers and plants in the well grazed mountain meadows of Upper Pompomerania, along with a trading approach to purchase such dye stuffs from many sources worldwide.
The excessively large white PomPoms on their shakos both signify the importance of sheep and goat wool to the national culture and economy, as well as advertising the national wares at any military event and occasion at home and abroad from wars to military tattoos, coronations and state funerals. Approaches and requests can be made through the Pompomeranian Embassy and Trade Delegation in your country.
As result of its military exports, it aims to achieve armed neutrality in most conflicts, except where its trading sources are threatened. When nations are at war, demands for adornments to military headgear increase including for splendid volunteer and yeomanry uniforms. During the occasional “Long Peace”, uniforms become even more impractical and flamboyant. A rare “win win” situation in peace and war.
Additional Note: The small quick firing cannon used in many countries is based on the Pompomeranian quick firing light artillery whose rapid fire sound “pom-pom-pom-pom” is due both to excellently choreographed artillery units (drill days Tuesdays Thursdays and Saturdays) and to the similarity to the rhythmic sound of some of the wool processing machinery powered by water mills in this mountainous and snowmelt terrain of Upper Pompomerania. This rhythm is also reflected in the drums and military bands of Pompomerania and the tuneless near wordless “Pom Pom Pom”ing Chorus Section of the national anthem.
An information request to the Pompomeranian embassy can confirm that the breed of local mountain dogs used to carry the sledge or dog cart artillery is indeed the tough and very fluffy White Pompomeranian breed. These also make excellent sheep herding dogs.
The Duchy of Hesseansachs
An advanced unit of Hesseansachs Grenadiers and military cadets.
This minor region and Duchy of Hesseansachs thrives on the supplies of the jute trade, rivalled only by Dundee and the curiously revolving town of Glasgae in Hibernia.
Like the Pompomeranian economy, Hesseansachs thrives in times of war and peace. In wartime it is busy supplying jute sandbags for fortifications or Hessean Sacks as they are known. In times of peace it supplies shopping bags and in case of heavy rainfall both in peace and war, hessean sacks are supplied as sandbags for flood prevention. The military personnel are trained to assist in these times of deluge. War, peace, disaster or shopping, the Jute mills of Hesseansachs are busy by day and sometimes by night. The national motto roughly translates as “Your disaster is our national income”.
A small Hesseansachs Navy and Marines force exists to protect the shipping and supply lines to the sources of jute such as India and Southeast Asia.
(Above) The “greenery yellary Grosvenor Gallery” uniforms of Gelbania depict the verdant greenery and sunshine of this mountainous state, whose inhabitants frequently indulge in arias and light operettas. They are noted for their harmonic marching songs as they trek up and down the mountain passes. On Sundays, small military bands play a selection of light airs at bandstands in each of the few towns. Here in this small platoon are some cadets and members of the Light Operetta Company of Gelbanian Volunteer Militia – Chorus Section.
“In fine voice, lads!” Singing and shooting, the two main occupations of Gelbanians.
Upper or Higher Plumea
The old green and red of the Higher Plumea Infantry
Thissmall selection of troops from Upper Plumea shows in its uniform the alliance by Royal marriages of the Duchess Maria of the flaming red hair to the reigning family of the small state of Verdigris.
You can clearly see the similarity to the dark green uniforms of the Verdigris Volunteer Militia, the main difference being the copper buttons and band instruments of the Verdigris troops. The two regions share misty and humid microclimates unusual in the Alpen regions. Verdigris is supported by its copper mining and copper working industry.
Upper or Higher Plumea’s mountainous valley economy is mostly based on breeding birds for their feather plumes to supply the military and civilian millinery industry, much like Pompomerania.
The Upper Plumean troops have a tall plume with red upper part and the lower green section reflecting the alliance with the Verdigris.
No one now remembers whathappened to Lower or Middle Plumea, whose troops must have had more restrained and unimpressive hats.
Weissenstein
Another mountainous minor state, its troops wear white uniforms and its few Marines of its tiny lake and river navy have attractive top hats.
Weissenstein Militia and CadetsWeissenstein Marines
Weissenstein Colonial Grenadier troops
Reissenshein
We are awaiting uniform information on this calisthenic nation of early risers.
Thyer-Brigadia
The proudest part of the Thyer Brigadian uniforms is the brass cavalry style plumed dragoon helmets which are often copiedby Fire Brigades worldwide. Interestingly these Volunteer Militia troops are also the Volunteer Fire Brigade in their various towns and villages (hence the variations in uniforms), making sure that their native Alpine wooden houses and mountain forests do not catch fire. A fireman’s axe is carried on fire duty and state occasions. The woodenfire towers are also part of Militia watch posts in each valley.
Standard Bearer and Thyer Brigadia Volunteer Militia and Fire Brigade
Thyer Brigadia Militia Infantry and Volunteer Fire fighting Corps
Cacadorias
Theseexcellent Rifleman are from the western edges of Southern Europe. Their brown uniforms provide good cover and camouflage.
Cacadores riflemen and guerilla leader
Bleudelys(Republique de)
Bleudelys Republican forces (below) wear light blue plumes on their darker blue uniforms. These are a selection of the Bleudelys Grenadiers (the ‘Grognards’) or the Old Guard. The uniform is based on that of the Royal Guard of the former Royaume de Bleudelys.
Bleudelys Grenadiers
Bleudelys forces include the Blue plumed Line Infantry, Artillery and Bicorne clad Marines.
Bleudelys Line Infantry
Bleudelys standard bearers
This Bleudelys Republic is currently run by one Revolutionary turned Emperor, the short and far from boney and skeletal Mediterranean-born former artillery officer Napoli de Leon (Napoli the Lion).
Bleudelys Artillery
And finally the Marine Corps and boatmen with their distinctive bicorne hats
Bleudelys Marines with Bicornes and blue plumes
Great Butlinnia and Hibernia
The redcoats of Great Butlinnia, a large island off the coast of MittelMittelEurope with its cheery Redcoat Army, its Navy, Marine, are allied with its North, the kilted Celtic redcoated troops of Hibernia.
Hibernian Infantry
Ruled by King William or ‘King Billy’, Great Butlinnia does not maintain a large standing Army except for the oppression of democracy and reform. In times of peace its Redcoats double up as family entertainers and variety artistes, its wartime barracks serving also as holiday camps for its many citizens and tourists.
Butlinnia Red Coat Infantry
As a result of its dual Redcoat nature, each regiment and branch of the armed forces is in great rivalry with its ornate uniforms, showy parade movements, music and marches on state occasions.
Butlinnia Grenadiers
Great Butlinnian Artillery Butlinnia Rifle BrigadeKing William (King Billy) of Butlinnia and his Commander in Chief
The Republic of the Uwessae
Uwessae, the phonetically spelt former colony of Great Butlinnia in the Neu Welt or New World of Northern Generica has kept the military shako of its former masters but changed its coat colours throughout revolution and independence to a Republican inspired Bleudelys dark blue to avoid confusion with the Redcoats.
More Bluecoated Uwessae Infantry and Officers.
Officer of Uwessae forces with the stars flag and command group with soft caps.
Uwessae Artillery
A troubled border exists to the north of the Uwessae where a mountainous forested country was once occupied by Bleudelys as a trading colony, alliances with warring tribes of the native Generican inhabitants and simmering friction with the existing dominant power of Great Butlinnia – the colony of Butlinnian North Generic or BNG.
For much of the rest of the early 19th Century world in this Napoli-de-Leonic Era of world war and Minor States, look no further than the Bronte ImagiNations of Gondal, Glasstown and Angria.
If you missed any parts, here are links to all three posts about my Unboxing my Blue Box of drawers, my ‘bits and bobs’ box of 1980s figures that I unpacked, explored and sometimes finished off this week.
What lead mountains, unfinished projects, forgotten boxes or stockpiles of your own figures have you raided over these Lockdown weeks?
Part 1 – 1/300, hair-rollers and other scales and the background to these posts:
Some of the random Airfix and Esci figures tucked away – great figures for an ImagiNations game?Some random bits and bobs in the Blue Box such as this RSA First Boer War related stamp.
Minifigs 15mm British Colonial Infantry c. 1879, finally based & flocked after 35 years!
Part 3: Mostly 15mm Peter Laing and other 15mm figures.
Peter Laing 15mm ECW musketeers, again finally based after 35 years.
My Blue Box of drawers reminded me of Peter Laing’s casting room wall of drawers. Some of my figures could have come out of these marked boxes from these very photographs. F1, F2, F3 …
These are the vanished moulds … December 1982 Mil Mod interview
I was already buying from Peter by then so it was interesting to see the man behind the figures.
What were your favourite parts, figures or drawers in the Blue Box?
Already the White Company pikes are in place, a new unit finally finished after 35 years patient waiting for basing and arming. These will eventually join my other Laing ECW regiments in Really Useful Boxes. They are no longer ‘odds and ends’.
What next for the Blue Box figures?
The box’s contents should give me some dedicated “Blue Box days” painting or gaming with the limited resources that I have in the Box.
Some of the random solo figures may be “returned to unit” if more exist elsewhere, packed away in my collections.
With unlimited figures available online now, it is quite restrictively creative in a ‘Desert Island Discs’ scenario that this Blue Box is all that you have …
This used to be the same going on holiday as a child (and still today) where you can only take a really limited box of figures, so you had to choose very carefully!
The portable Wargames 1960s Airfix style in a tackle box (2016)
What if / Blue Box games?
What If this was my Desert Island Discs box, my ‘fire box’, if this Blue Box from my 1980s gaming were all that survived, I think there is enough interesting variety to scratch together some skirmish games.
If these were the only figures you had in the world, what fantastical ImagiNations games these would be.
There would be enough for some Ancients and WW2 1/300 games, some 15mm ECW and Marlburian era games and OO/HO or 1/72 Plastic and metal figure games from various manufacturers and several 19th and 20th Century periods.
In an era of too much choice, I sometimes do this Time Machine thing with vintage Airfix games restricting the figures selection to those boxes available from 1959 to 1969.
What have I learned from several days rummaging through the Blue Box?
I have enjoyed sorting through the mixed figures, sample figures, lost figures, revisiting past projects begun and unfinished, sample figures. Some may have been long forgotten swaps. Sometimes I have no idea or memory why these painted figures were left unbased and unused.
It tells me I am still the easily distracted “Wargames Butterfly” that I was as a childhood or teenage gamer, who just likes collecting toy soldiers. Nothing much has changed.
Some of the junk bits and bobs have quite strong memories attached, from Owzthat dice to parts of long vanished 70s games or bits of houses like the old lead wiring cover strips from my childhood home that I planned to include in castings for my Dad.
Lovely flags! Peter Laing 15mm ECW Standard bearers who should be back with their regiments …
I still like, collect and use the Peter Laing 15mm figures that I eventually focussed on, choosing these above the odd 15mm Mike’s Model samples and for some reason (money?) never went with the 15mm or 25mm Minifigs.
The metal figures were part of the ‘eye candy’ temptation of what I was seeing in the wargames and modelling magazines. Outside of Featherstone books, ‘grown up gamers’ in magazines didn’t seem to use plastic figures. Plastic figures were for kids.
The Platoon 20 metal 20mm “Moderns” samples were good but expensive compared to similar Airfix, Matchbox, Atlantic or Esci plastic figure. That us, if you could find them in stock at the time. I still like and still use these plastic figures.
Early to mid 80s Esci Colonials
There was obviously in the early to mid 1980s a lot of distracting new figures, scales and ranges around to explore and choose from, ranging from tiny 1/300 to 54mm figures. Nowadays there is even more distractions and choice …
1/300 offered such a lot of figures for such a little amount of money. Such a lot of little figures. 1/300 were maybe too tiny for the skirmish level small group or individual figure games that I enjoyed then and still do now. The simple Featherstone War Games 1962 rules and Close Wars appendix still does nicely for me!
What is missing in the Blue Box is much trace of 54mm figures and 54mm gaming. Thankfully a representative sample of some of these original heroic plastic figures from my childhood have survived, despite paring down and house moves, in a separate metal engineers suitcase. For obvious ‘safety’ reasons, Lead 54mm and home casts were just not around in the shops and toy boxes of my childhood, metal 54mm meant Britain’s Deetail with metal bases.
The final four drawers from my Blue Box of drawers are hereby explored, a veritable time capsule of my 1980s games figures containing 15mm Peter Laing and other 15mm figures.
If you missed Part 1 and the background to these posts:
Peter Laing 15mm ECW range The ‘White Company’ – Musketeers
I spent a busy lockdown sunny day sorting through these final four drawers, finally basing Peter Laing and other 15mm figures that I painted mid 1980s and never got around to basing or using in games. Probably a shortage of plastic card pennies at the time.
These white coated musketeers and pikemen need their flag painted, pikes finally fixed and their officer finished. An ECW unit only thirty five years in the making.
There were several other units that I haven’t quite finished since starting them 35 odd years ago including these purple coated musketeers and pikemen. Well worth finishing off.
Purple Parliamentary Regiment Musketeers and Pikemen, some artillery men.Pikemen helmet repel cavalry F502 , F518 charge yr pike, hat standing F506, helmet standing F508
Fixing or refixing these Peter Laing supplied pin pikes will be a fiddly blast from the past.
A collection or muster of old Peter Laing pikes and useful pins.
Finally based after 35 years, 15mm Peter Laing pikemen (mostly F506) await the issuing of pikesAnother unit or two of musketeers with helmets firing (F517), hats (F501) and loading (F507)
Marlburian Peter Laing figures are even more slender and shorter than the later Peter Laing figures – they were Peter’s first figure range c. 1972 and probably the first 15mm figures designed in this new scale. The artillery and wagons are useful for several periods from English Civil War through to Napoleonic and 19th Century.
Peter Laing 15mm Marlburian cavalry, the Duke leading the way.
Marlburian artillery pieces
I featured some of my rebased Marlburians and ECW Peter Laing figures in 2016 here:
Peter Laing Marlburian odds and ends to paint, joining others slowly moving up the painting table.
I chose Peter Laing figures because they offered me figures that Airfix didn’t do. That’s probably why I didn’t collect his Ancients, Napoleonics, 19th Century, ACW and WW1/WW2 as I already had small Airfix forces of these. Esci plastic Colonials and Zulus also appeared at this time.
I think it might have been the colourful uniforms and especially the ECW flags that won me over after years of plastic khaki grunge.
As well as Peter Laing’s ECW figures and a few Marlburians, I really liked the Scots ECW extension range to do the 1715 / 1745 period.
Amongst some unfinished lowlanders in trews, which I will finish in hunting Rifle Green for another project, I picked up a year or two ago this vibrantly prepainted colourful handful of Lowlanders and Scots, with bashed muskets.
These overlapping ranges – English Civil War with Scots that did for 1715/1745 if you added some Marlburian troops which could share the baggage train helped to double up on figures and save money and paint.
I wonder now why I never went the next step to do the Featherstone ‘Close Wars’ type of French Indian Wars forest skirmishes with my Marlburian tricorne figures and some Laing Indian figures. Probably because I had this covered by Airfix Indians and AWI Washington’s Army tricorne plastic OO/HO figures.
A few odd Peter Laing 15mm Ancients and Pikemen. I have no idea why they aren’t with the rest of their units in Really Useful Boxes. That is the nature of the Blue Box and its drawers, a sanctuary or safe place for odds and ends.
Random Peter Laing 15mm Ancients and ECW PikemenPrince Rupert, King Charles, Cromwell and preacher on horseback 15mm figures – all old Minifigs?
15mm ECW cavalry and personality figures – old Minifigs? – but too chunky and large to match my slender Peter Laing ECW figures. These lances will need repair. Maybe they can join some of my ImagiNations “Cordery’s composite cavalry” type forces.
Random 15mm Napoleonics and Mike’s Models 15mm ECW samples. Hmmm …
There are a few odd 15mm figures that were probably “S.A.E for list and samples” including these D&D like dwarfish 15mm English Civil War figures from Mikes Models. Having seen these versus the 15mm Peter Laing English Civil Wars samples, I chose the more slender Laings. Each to his own.
Finally based, a few British Colonial Infantry c. Zulu Wars 1879 – Minifigs. I painted these c. 1985.
Now many of these figures are finally based up, they don’t all fit back into the Blue Box of drawers and will graduate to a Really Useful Box, keeping this Blue Box for its odds and ends role.
Final oddments found in these last four drawers of the fifteen in the Blue Box include a single game chit, a severed head and a prestigious military decoration:
The only surviving chit from Squad Leader, a teenage birthday gift, I never understood the rules.The first and ‘long lost’ head of my Man of TIN Guardsman photo profileHighly esteemed decoration for heroism in my ImagiNations, the Brontean Order of the Man of TIN?
Full circle back to Laing Marlburians and Stuart Asquith’s box of drawers that inspired these Blue Box unboxing three blog posts.
The Blue Box finally unboxed.
Which were your favourite finds out of all three ‘unboxing’ blog posts?
First, some Heroics and Ros 1/300 WW2 Infantry figures
This fridge magnet of Whitby Abbey becomes a useful church ruin for my 1/300 WW2 figures.
I’m not sure why I have such a random selection of British, German and possibly French Infantry and heavy weapons. I think they were part of a schoolboy swap.
A strange few extras of the Red Barons triple decker WW1 triplane, an old ship’s cannon (from a naval board game?) and a recent space droid and a Dalek.
Allied forces 1/300 WW2
I sorted the tiny 1/300 figures as best I could into German and Allied (British and French) based on helmet shape and backpacks. The kneeling figures need a further sort out with a good magnifying glass. There are not many photos to ID these figures on the 1/300 Heroics and Ros website:
1/300 German WW2 Infantry and Heavy Weapons
There are less German Infantry but they have heavier weapons.
Heroics and Ros 1/300 catalogue advert page, C.1983
French Infantry, possibly the Allied ones with pointy Adrian helmets?
Enough figures here for a tiny Infantry skirmish.
I also found my lovely little Dinky Supermarine Swift jet aircraft 734 that is a little too big and modern for the 1/300 figures: it could be a “large experimental bomber” at this scale.
If this was my Desert Island Discs box, my ‘fire box’, if this Blue Box from my 1980s gaming were all that survived, I think there is enough interesting variety to scratch together some skirmish games.
If these were the only figures you had in the world, what fantastical ImagiNations games these would be.
There would be enough for some Ancients and WW2 1/300 games, some 15mm ECW and Marlburian era games and OO/HO or 1/72 Plastic and metal figure games from various manufacturers and several 19th and 20th Century periods.
Plastic OO/HO or 1/72 and 1/76 figures from the Nineteenth Century – American Civil War period, Colonials and Napoleonic period. A complete painted box of Esci French and British Napoleonic Artillery was a pleasant surprise!
The WW2 period figures mostly from Airfix and Railway Civilians with some improvised artillery pieces and useful wheels and horse transport.
Colonials, mostly mid 1980s sets from Esci and some Airfix oddments and animals
American Civil War figures and Waggon Train with the usual awkward Airfix horses.
Interesting 1981 RSA South African centenary stamp from the First Boer War Battle of Amajuba
Finally the kit figures, some of these Eighth Army and Afrika Korps are clearly Airfix copies, a little larger than the normal Airfix version two figures.
Esci hard plastic Eighth Army kit figures with gun crew and spare radio from Red Devils Paratroop set
Some pirate OO/HO copies of Herald 54mm British Infantry are interesting oddments.
The key is to my long vanished LP Storage case for wargames figures made or crafted for my birthday by my family to store my Peter Laing ECW figures after reading an article in a modelling magazine. The LP case of plastic and card eventually fell apart but the inner wooden storage trays still survive in use with Peter Laing 15mm figures.
A small desert skirmish or WW2 action could be improvised from the various OO/HO figures in this Blue Box.
Finally to go from 1/300 to the other end of the scale, two random 54mm figures.
Two different 54mm Airfix US Infantry captains to repair together, a Timpo drum and Timpo 7th cavalryman
The two large shells are all that I have left of my much missed lovely Britains breech loading heavy siege howitzer, a powerful cannon for playing Little Wars with 1/32 or 54mm figures.
In the final forthcoming part of the Unboxing the Blue Box post, part 3 focuses on 15mm metal figures including some lovely Peter Laing figures.
Cinque Ports Volunteers reenactors https://theromneymarsh.net/martello24#inside
Digital Dawn Patrol 54mm scramble 
Man of Tin blog 