Charging Cuirassiers

What first drew my attention to the figures produced by First Legion was an advert in TS&MF magazine which had as its centre piece some of their Bavarian Napoleonic infantry. From that moment on, I was completely hooked and their Napoleonic figures, their flagship range, remain some of my personal favourites. None more so than these exquisitely painted and dynamically sculpted cavalry

Galloping on to the scene in the form of nine differently posed figures, they have been designed to complement perfectly the previously released French personalities and Carabiniers charging, en masse, the British squares at the Battle of Waterloo

With deep enough pockets, and a suitably large display space, one could create an historically accurate and aesthetically quite beautiful depiction of the scene with these, and their companion, figures from First Legion who have already produced British Guards, Gordon Highlanders, British Dragoons and British artillery, as well as allied infantry from Nassau and Brunswick and a handful of personalities to range against them

The release comprises an officer, standard bearer and trumpeter, together with four charging troopers, one of whom is armed with a slung carbine in addition to his sabre, a trooper in the process of being thrown from his horse and, lastly but my no means least, a dazed and shaken trooper propping himself up next to his wounded mount. Such figures, I know, are not to everyone's taste so we will have to wait and see just how popular it proves to be

Take a look at the following photos and I'm sure you will agree with me that with every release this company's figures just get better and better. As always, further information and details are available from the company's website

Charging officer, standard bearer and trumpeter, on his regulation grey steed

One of four charging troopers, all differently posed

A trooper in the process of being thrown from his horse. You can almost 'feel' their sense of shock and trepidation

Dazed and down! Horse and rider, together, having coming to the end of their exhilarating, but all too brief, journey

As beautiful as these figures undoubtedly are, I for one won't be buying them, and I'll tell you why

Like many collectors,  I decided at the outset of my own toy soldier collecting adventure to place certain restrictions on myself, to concentrate on certain themes, historical periods, and manufacturers. So I decided to limit myself to collecting figures representing German soldiers

Most of my collection to date consists of World War 2 figures produced by K+C,  and the Collectors Showcase, however, I have recently expanded the bounds of my self-imposed restraints to include certain ranges from First Legion, namely their Stalingrad and Napoleonic Germans, and it won't be long before I buy some of their Teutonic crusaders! I won't be buying the French Cuirassiers because I am waiting, with eager anticipation, for the day when they announce the release of some equally spectacular German horse

With this in mind, I fired off an email to Matt Pavone the other day and was delighted to receive a reply within the day. Here is my original email, followed by Matt's reply, reproduced faithfully

Dear Matt


I've been collecting your German Stalingrad and German Napoleonic figures for a
little while now, and am about to start on some of the Crusaders

I absolutely love the French Cuirassiers you have done, however, since I
limit myself to collecting figures of German soldiers, I won't be buying
them. I was wondering whether you have any plans afoot to add some similarly
stunning cavalry sets to your German series? Likewise, one or two German
personalities and artillery sets would go down very well, too, I am sure. I
for one would certainly buy them

Yours, in anticipation

Dave Fell


Hi, Dave,

Thanks for your email and the very kind words about our figures.  Since you
limit your collecting to German figures, would you consider collecting saxon
or Bavarian cavalry/artillery or are you limiting yourself to
Prussian/Austrians?  In the end, we'll do cavalry for all of them, however,
we have our eyes on producing some of the Conferation of the Rhine cavalry
in the not too distant future.  For the Prussians we'll also add Cavalry,
artillery, and personalities, with the personalities most likely coming
first.  Unfortunately, for all of the above I can't exactly say when we will
release these figures, but they are on our list and something Napoleonic
from a German nation will most definitely come this year.

Hope you are well and if you have any additional questions, please don't
hesitate to ask.

Best,

Matt


Apart from the above correspondence, I have absolutely no insider knowledge so please don't take this as any kind of guarantee or 'unofficial announcement' of future releases, but it sounds promising. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some Saxon Garde du Corps or Zastrow Cuirassiers, maybe even some bright and breezy Westphalian Hussars. Whatever the future brings, it's sure to be delightful, and I can barely wait

Mommy's Little Soldier

Okay, I know this isn't strictly speaking about soldiers, toy soldiers, model soldiers, grown men pretending to be soldiers, or anything else soldier related, but hey, forgive me a moment or two of self indulgence, and a completely shameless plug for a family friend and work colleague with an interest in developing a photography business as a sideline

Here are one or two more photos of 'our little fella', Matthew Charles, looking completely at home in front of the camera

Both of the above shots were taken at home and are low resolution to facilitate their being sent to us via email. I will certainly be putting one or two of the finished, high res, shots up here as soon as I get them

In the mean time, why not take a trip over to Louise's website and take a look at more of her excellent work

Black is Back

Please forgive the rather mysterious, nay corny, title but I thought I'd let you know about a couple of things currently happening, or being planned for, at Fireball Squadron

Firstly, the Black Op's games which take place every third Sunday of the month. More details, and booking information, can be found on the website by following the link. The games are played on part of the NPF Paintball site and are designed around their Embassy/Kill House building and a small area of woodland complete with stacks of barrels, bunkers, wooden barricades and a handful of big trucks!

The focus is most definitely CQB, with lots of 'up close and personal' encounters and games that are short, sharp and often turn around style affairs or played against the clock. Take a look at the video below



The other thing I wanted to mention was The Black Angel Weekender being put on and hosted by Fireball in conjunction with UKAPU. Please go and look at the site, and then book yourself a place or two on the game, you know you want to. Alternatively, read on and you will get an idea of the scenario and the booking arrangements, restrictions etc.

Part of the scenario, taken from the FS website

Black Angel Weekender Booking & Info

Fireball's 2011 Weekender Black Angel will be held on June 10th, 11th and 12th

This event is open for over 18’s only

Camping will be available on site and is included in the cost

The game will be run on the 11th and 12th with the site being open for players to register and setup camp from 14:00 on the 10th. Cost is £65 for the full weekend with a £25 deposit per player and this includes lunch on Saturday. Please indicate if you are a vegetarian. For an additional cost of £1.50 per day we can provide a hot breakfast roll. These are only available by pre booking. Once you submit the booking form we will confirm your place/s and supply details of how to pay your deposit

There will be two sides, clearly identified by clothing

American and British Forces
Unit 1: British -  British DPM camo
Unit 2: American - multi cam / desert marpat / ACU camo
Unit 3: PMC’s - Tan, or any other tan based, camo

Kadjikistan Forces
Unit 1: Elite Guard - Black camo
Unit 2: Kadjikistan Army - Green/OD based camo
Unit 3: Merc Unit - Olive drab based camo

Well, that's about it for this little plug. Hope to see some of you out on the skirmish field!

Poor Bloody Infantry

No, not an exclamation of despair, although it could quite easily be one, merely a reference to the WW2 airsoft and living history group mentioned in an earlier post

I'd like to add my heartiest congratulations to the lads and lasses of the group on their being awarded 'Best WW2 Airsoft Group' in the country by the team at 'WWII Re-Enactors Magazine'

Well done, and well deserved. As numerous people, myself included, have already observed 'the walls are coming down'. If that means nothing to you, take a look at the earlier post on GD Recon, and check out the CIA website and forum for further enlightenment

Hope to see some of you around and about soon, chaps. Until then, keep the flags flying

PBI marching at a living history event

One of their number taking aim at an airsoft event

February Fireball

This weekend saw the February woodland game at Fireball Squadron, my regular airsoft site. Sadly, I was unable to attend due to family commitments, namely the birth of baby Matthew Charles, so by way of satisfying my need for a regular fix of the hobby I have grown to love, to a degree that almost borders on obsession, I thought I'd take a look at some of the photos put up on the site and share a few with you

Thanks to Nick, aka Blackblood, one of the management team, for snapping these wonderful images

"The rumours are true. Eat enough of the food at this place and this is what happens to you!"

A fellow Fireball member and one of the D-Boys team, Dave 'Pop' Anderson

"Good shot fella"

In the foreground of this shot is another member of the D-Boys team, Steve 'DB-1' Anderson

"I'm sure if I fiddle with this button for a bit longer something will come shooting out the end of this thing"

Hmmm. Is that an Atac Masada I can see there? Nice!

'We've got 'em on the run, lads. Let's go for it"

"Anyone else for a free lunch?"

Sadly, perhaps, free bottles of plonk are certainly not on the menu and there are no club rule changes afoot to make them so. However, one or two club rules were amended this weekend, subsequent to the AGM which was held after the Saturday game. As stated on the website:

Fireball Squadron are pleased to announce that the age limit to play at Fireball woodland games has been reduced to 16 and over. Please bring proof of age, or have a parent drop in, to avoid confusion. Once you have played this will not be needed [in future] as you will be registered with us
(For the time being, Black Ops games and weekend events will remain restricted to 18s and over)

It was also decided that starting in March, 'knife kills' will be allowed as part of the in game rules. I for one welcome this, even though I don't carry anything long and rubber on my person in the game zone, and would argue that anyone stealthy enough to be able to execute such an action ought to be acknowledged and duly rewarded

Looking forward to the next outing, lads. Until then, hang tough

Cacti in Scotland

Cacti growing in Scotland? Not in the wild I wouldn't have thought, but if you care to take a trip over to Cowdenbeath and pay a visit to Airsoft World later this month you will see some of these beauties from Cactus Hobbies in the States, arguably the best manufacturers of quirky horror/sci-fi masks for airsofters

The Templar mask in blue.....

.....also available in green, orange and black. These masks are part of the new 'Premium' range just about to be released. "Premium masks feature new washable and removable pads with 'AirFree' Technology. After several painstaking months of research and testing, we have come up with a pad design which prevents heat and sweat buildup while providing for proper air circulation in between the contact areas of the pads and the face."

The Robbery Skull mask

The Salem mask in original flame.....

.....also available in green and blue flame, or plain black with no flame at all

They are currently available on pre-order from the AW website and are estimated to arrive around about the middle of the month. There are 20 masks currently available, so quite a range, all retailing at the same price of £69.99. If you buy one, or two, you will earn reward points, in the same way you do when popping in to your friendly, out of town supermarket. As far as I know, AW are the first, and perhaps the only as I write, airsoft retailer in the UK to offer such a system. I could be wrong, so feel free to put me right if you know any better. Incidentally AW, I'm loving the logo. Very nice indeed!

GD Recon in Print

Whilst browsing in a local newsagents the other day I happened to see the latest issue of the magazine pictured below, sporting on its front cover a truly atmospheric picture of some of the lads of GD Recon
 
Some of them live quite local to me and before I discovered the delights of WW2 airsofting I was seriously contemplating joining their living history group. In the end I didn't. I decided I couldn't give enough quality time to both interests and would have to choose one or the other. Choose, I did, and it was airsoft, not specifically WW2 airsoft, that won out. Incidentally, one of the WW2 loadouts I have is a GD Recon/GD Infantry one

Since I've been involved with airsoft, about three years or so now, there has been an increasing amount of 'cross-fertilisation' taking place within the once separate worlds of WW2 'filmsim' airsofting and WW2 reenacting or living history display, with enthusiasts from both sides of the divide discovering the delights that 'the other camp' has to offer. There is an article relating to this very subject in the same issue of the magazine, penned by one G. Harvey, a prominent member of  Comrades In Arms and up until fairly recently a staff writer with Airsoft International. He is also a founding member of PBI, one such 'cross-over' group who portray WW2 British infantry soldiers at both living history and WW2 airsoft events across the country

GD Recon portray, as accurately as possible, rifle men of an armoured reconnaissance unit within the elite ‘Grossdeutschland’ Division that mainly saw active service on the Russian front during World War 2

Members have many reasons for joining the group. Some have a keen historical interest in WWII, some have an interest in the weapons and tactics used, others join for the ‘Kameradschaft’, but the main aim is to share knowledge and research about the conflict and the soldiers that fought in it 

Last year, having been in existence for 5 years, the group became motorised and membership rose to over 25. This year the GDR will be participating in some of the most exciting and respected shows in the UK such as the Bovington ‘Tank Fest’, the English Heritage ‘Festival of History’ and the Victory Show

As you will see from the pictures on the site they attend a wide variety of events throughout the season, from tactical weekends to public displays, and have also taken part in TV & film work as extras

They are always on the lookout for motivated recruits with historical knowledge and a genuine interest in WWII, and especially ‘Grossdeutschland’, so if you have any questions, or are interested in joining a rapidly growing group with a rapidly growing and varied events calendar, go along to one of their shows and have a chat
Failing that, you can always get in touch with the group via the website

Some of the lads pictured at the Battle of Konigsberg event in 2010

Keep 'Em Coming, K and C

Well, February is here and so is the latest King and Country Dispatches, the regular monthly newsletter detailing future releases and newly retired pieces. For more details, click on the link in the news section of the blog, but here is a taster

Being released in February or March are more reinforcements for Monty's beleaguered forces in Africa, some First World War Germans, a handful of Crusaders, Saracens on camels, Ancient Egyptian civilians going about their work, a Spitfire, various Volksturm defending the crumbling Reich in 1945 and at the other extreme, yet more additions to the hugely popular, and expansive, Berlin '38 range. Oh, and one or two scenic items. Phew. I don't know how they do it. Time for some pictures. Here are the ones I'll be adding to my 'wants list'

In a desperate attempt to hold off the Allied Armies even this grandfather has been drafted into the "Volksturm".
Still wearing civilian clothes only his army 'ski cap', armband and weapons mark him down as a 'soldier'

Another 'old-timer' marches off... but at least he has a helmet, backpack and a uniform greatcoat!

This veteran infantryman carries a bundle of deadly "Panzerfausts" (the cheap but effective German Rocket Propelled Grenade). His job is to help instruct and lead the "odds 'n' sods" of the Volksturm

The young and the old... a teenager "Hitlerjugend" member takes aim while his much older comrade gingerly "follows suit"

Set to accompany these 'die hards' into battle is this little beauty, K and C's largest and heaviest armoured vehicle to date, the Jagdtiger tank destroyer which will be limited to a run of 750 pieces. One of them will be mine! Weighing over 70 tons this "behemoth" of a tank-killer was one of the last gasps of the once mighty German armaments industry. Mounting a massive 128mm gun less than 100 of these heavy metal monsters were actually produced. This battle-worn version comes in a realistic two-colour, late war camouflage and is one of the "Henschel Production" models. It comes with 3 partial crew figures

Four views of this stunning looking new model. Reinforced shelving not supplied!!

Even at this late, desperate stage of the war there were some Germans who still believed in the Fuhrer... another Volksturm "volunteer", still wearing his SA uniform, salutes with one hand while clutching his Panzerfaust in the other

Three individual HJ boys ranging from 13 to 17 years of age... the elder being the "youth leader" of the group

Two teenage girls from the "League of German Maidens"... the female equivalent of the "Hitlerjugend"

Four sections of sand bags, and a selection of oil drums. Three extremely versatile display items that will help bring any WW2 diorama to life

That just about brings this little round up to a close, save to say that I might just splash out on this over the next day or two, a late war Normandy set that I initially discounted and is now being retired, and I have since decided to reconsider, purely and simply because of its sheer quirkiness

New Russian Guns

OK, strictly speaking, the first gun referred to here isn't all that new, its imminent arrival having been announced back in December, nevertheless I thought it was well worth a second look



This is the 1944 model of the classic Mosin Nagant sniper rifle, reproduced here in real wood and steel by Zeta Lab. It is available from E-Hobby Asia, who made the above video, and comes with a leather and canvas sling, and a built in/on resin, side folding bayonet for that extra little touch of authenticity, not to mention menace, on the skirmish field or as part of a living history display

The Mosin Nagant in all its glory

Being a springer, you won't have any worries where gas and batteries are concerned, and the FPS comes in at a fairly reasonable 360-380, nothing out of the ordinary for a single shot bolt action sniper. It holds 10 rounds of 6mm ammunition, loaded via an opening in the underside of the gun, which might make reloading a little troublesome in the heat of a skirmish, but hey, small price to pay in my opinion for a gun that looks this good, and when you know something of the pedigree and history of the 'real steel'

Female Russian snipers, trusty weapons in hand, pictured at Konigsberg

Side views of the MG, showing sling points and bayonet folded to the right

The second gun to have caught my eye recently is a pistol. KWA are set to release the TKV 33, a version of the classic Tokarev TT-33 pistol, built around their NS2/System 7 full GBB mechanism

I've had a gander on the KWA website and can see no sign, nor mention, of it anywhere, not even in the news section. However, take a trip over to YouTube, or better still take a look at the following video right here, and you will see it proudly perched on a display stand at the 2010 Shot Show in the USA

Both guns would look equally fine as part and parcel of a WW2 Russian impression, or as captured, trophy pieces wielded by a member of the Wehrmacht or Waffen SS. They are certainly added to my 'can't wait to see those beauties' list and, well, I can't wait to see them. How about you?