Something old, something new

I have been gaming with miniatures since '73, maybe even a little earlier. In that time I have painted up a fair amount of stuff, whether it's figures, terrain, vehicles, or what nots.

Once in awhile I get to revisit a unit I had previously painted.  Mostly this happens when I start collecting a new line of figures or the 'scale creep' affects my choice in continuing a type of unit.  I have probably painted  the winged hussars of 17th century Poland the most, with at least 4 iterations: old Mini-fig (pre '78), 'new Minifig (post 1978), Ral Partha, and the latest,  Old Glory.

But what happened recently made me think about how far we've come , as gamers, with the resources we have in the 40 odd years I've seen.

I had once upon a time collected a small British Napoleonic army in the scale of the day, 25mm, using Mini-figs.  Naturally the one, and probably the first, of the cavalry units I painted was the Scots Greys, or Royal North British Dragoons.  What drew me to doing the unit was the animation of the castings available for the unit, probably based on the painting 'Lady Grey" which captures all the chaos and movement of a cavalry unit at the charge. This was the only cavalry unit the minifig line had in such a multitude of poses.   I found the unit, one of only a couple left from days gone by...the other British castings long ago traded or sold off.


Wow, you must be thinking, this guy is old!  Well, you'd be right.  These are figures from and painted  in the mid 70's



Of course, time marches on, and in preparing my units for Quatre Bras I kept visiting the Perry Miniatures website and quite often viewed and gazed on their version of the unit as it appeared at Waterloo. 'Nuff said, I purchased them in the fall, they're here and they're painted and in all the glory my skills can render:  I know they did not appear at Quatre Bras, but they did do some good work a couple of days later.  Besides, I needed some heavier cavalry for my imagination campaign...these guys and the other two regiments of the Union Brigade will fit the bill just fine.


 Note the bearskins are covered as they appeared in June 1815.  Except for the Colonel's figure.



There was also the same situation with a Highland mounted officer from then....


and now.....


So much for the trip down memory lane!  Now back to either painting or going to see Hansel and Gretel, Witchhunters at the picture show.  Honest, the boss said we should go. ;-)

Comments

Gonsalvo said…
I especially like the new Highhland Officer. I still like the old MF Scots Greys; of course I would, as I have more than enough MiniFigs as company for them.

After I finish my Prussian Expansion project for 1813, it is on to a small British force. I will have to coordinate that with what you have, targeting Waterloo for 2015! :-)

Peter
benglish said…
"They are the noblest cavawy in Europe ... and the worst led."
pancerni said…
As long as they do well on the table top.....

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