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Thursday, September 17, 2020

US Volunteer Infantry in 1898

This week, I finished off a second 30-figure bag of Old Glory infantry for the Spanish-American War project.  Rather than Spanish in the blue tunics of their Foreign Service uniform (see Spanish in Foreign Service Dress), I have US volunteer infantry in its familiar blue shirt.  As always with this project, the Old Glory figures are a real joy to paint.  Simple uniforms, bold details, and few accoutrements, what is not to like? 
The Spanish-American War project is another collection whereby I am drawing down the inventory of unpainted lead.  While I have not taken an assessment of the size of the collection to date, I must surely have enough painted figures to hold a large action.  Two more 30-figure bags remain in The Lead Pile but there is no hurry to bring them to the workbench since I am in the midst of switching gears.

By switching gears, I mean focusing attention to 25mm Hittites and 15mm 18th Century projects.  Expect SYW and 1799 units to march off the painting desk as they alternate with additional Hittites which are slated for completion by year-end. 

Unfortunately, as I draw down The Lead Pile for a few projects, more orders arrive to replenish other projects.  With a number of recent summer-ending sales, more 25mm Biblicals from Newline Designs, 15mm SYW and 1859 figures from 19th Century Miniatures, and 15mm SYW and Napoleonics from Eureka arrive.  This is a never ending battle.  

Also off the painting desk are a handful of Jump Off markers for Chain of Command.  With Jake busy fielding British paras (see More Paratroopers), it would be fun to see this long dormant project back on the gaming table.  Once the situation allows, of course.  The crate selection is from a recent order from Brigade Games.
On the gaming front, not much action over the last two weeks since my last F2F outing at the boardgame table.  Several games are under consideration including a second round of 15mm AWI battles using Fields of Honor.  Of course, these will be solo contests.  I delayed returning to the gridded AWI battles while I awaited a resupply of Woodland Scenics flock to dress up my bare, green hexes before tackling more hex-based games.  That order arrived in yesterday's post.  I may have a small project for the weekend.  

On the New Blogger front, I notice that the interface still is undergoing revision.  Today, the options available for photos have changed from my last post four days ago.  It would be useful to see a Change Log as developers are mucking around with this new interface.  With a Change Log, at least we would know what pitfalls have been covered and which may still lay ahead.

Finally, the Northwest continues to be blanketed in smoke from numerous fires burning across the region.  While cycling has been confined to the indoor trainer for the last five days, air quality is slowly showing signs of improvement today.  Rather than the Hazardous reading of the past several days, air quality is merely Very Unhealthy.  I may have a chance to return outdoors by Friday or Saturday.

53 comments:

  1. Another nice unit Jonathan. I've found Old Glory do a reasonable figure and as you said very easy to paint. Sorry to hear about the bush fires in your neck of the woods.The last two days in Sydney have been a bit smokey with the Rural Fire Service doing back burns to reduce the fuel load before we hit our bush fire season. Cheers Greg

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    1. Thanks, Greg! Old Glory figures are hit and miss in my opinion. Some ranges are excellent, some very good, some average, and some not so good. the SAW range is excellent to my eye and I have painted lots of them.

      Hopefully, you experience a mild fire season this year.

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  2. More great SAW figures Jonathan - its a conflict I know next to nothing about, so am interested to see you get the troops on the table and run through some scenarios! CoC - that takes me back - I have small collections of 20mm Brits and Germans for this rule set - Julian and I had a few games of it two or three years ago...alas, they have languished in barracks ever since! The fires seem to continue to rage - helmet cam footage from firefighters on our TV news this evening - scary stuff! Hope they get it under control soon, so you can get out on your bile again in the beautiful scenery - stay safe

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    1. Thank you, Keith! Once I begin working through a few scenarios, your interest will be piqued?

      CoC has not seen the table in years here as well. Another period and game to which I would enjoy returning to play.

      The fire season has been violent this year but perhaps short-lived. We have been in no real danger but the constant smoke is a health hazard, for sure. We have been advised to remain inside.

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  3. Excellent infantry Jonathan! I hope all the fires over there are under control soon, last summer here we had two months of it.

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    1. Thank you, Mike! Hopefully, your next fire season will be less dangerous and of shorter duration.

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  4. Another lovely unit Jonathan! You certainly have quite a few irons in the fire with your projects. Glad to hear that the air quality is slowly getting better and figners crossed it continues to do so.

    On the Blogger front, the option to revert to the Legacy version has disappeared, so I fear many of us will be tearing our hair out trying to figure out the new interface. Bizarre that they are still making changes when it should have all been done and dusted before the upgrade!

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    1. Much appreciated, Steve! Probably too many irons in the fire if you ask some. I do enjoy painting and collecting toy soldiers.

      I had not noticed that Legacy Blogger option was no more. I checked and you are quite right! I wonder if everyone has been pushed onto the new platform now?

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  5. Plenty to post about, the Volunteer Infantry are an attractive addition, with a very effective (rather than simple) uniform. The crates look great, are they cast like that in 1 solid piece or have you stacked them ...... who ever stacked them have done so in a very pleasing and thoughtful way.

    Blogger ..... I am a big fan of the upgrade for no other reason than it shows a firm commitment from Google to the platform going forward, but I was bemused by the graphic change, which seems a little less intuitive on first contact. I did notice though that this time it did automatically recognise my square graphic as a square, which has been a bit of a hassle in the past.

    Flocked hexes, a chance to play with lots of glue .... all good fun and a big hit for relatively low investment (in time at least).

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    1. Hi Norm! Yes, always plenty to post about on my front. For the crates, most are cast as one piece although a few I combined by stacking.

      On blogger, posting square photos have not been an issue for me. It is the non-square rectangular ones that force me to go in and modify the HTML code.

      Flocking a pile of hexes ought to be an easy task without much stress. Let's see how many I can do this weekend. With luck, I can return to a grid game soon while Fields of Honor is still fresh in mind.

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  6. Hi Jonathan - nice to see the US Troops - you've done an excellent job with the Old Glory figures. Cheers. KEV.

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  7. The troops do really look the part Jonathan! Sounds like you're going to be very busy in the closing months of 2020! Looking forward to more 7YW figures.

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    1. Thanks, Ray! Seems the painting desk is always an active place although sessions have been shorter and less frequent of late. If you are looking forward to more 7YW troops, you will be pleased. More Hittites will be vying for time, though.

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  8. Great stuff again Jonathan. COVID-19, broken legs and bushfires; do you ever think that 2020 doesn't want you to cycle?

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    1. I also meant to add that I had my second game of 'Command and Colors' over the weekend. Completely trounced this time, so it is one-all playing the Rolica scenario. Two hour from start-to-finish, and I thoroughly enjoyed it again.

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    2. Thanks, Lawrence! Yes, I think the Gods are conspiring against us all this year. It will be good to see 2020 in hindsight!

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    3. Commands & Colors is a terrific system. It is the ONE game we can all agree to play no matter the situation or mood. A perfect beer and pretzels style of light wargame. Our challenge is deciding which one! Glad you are enjoying it!

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  9. A wonderful looking unit, which are very pleasing to the eye.

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  10. Beautiful volonteeres and markers, excellent job Jonathan!

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  11. I love the way you say, “ Unfortunately, as I draw down The Lead Pile for a few projects, more orders arrive”. Has your wife been secretly placing orders? 😆

    JF: nope nothing to do with me 🙄

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    1. Very funny. Yes, I take ownership as the raison d'etre for these new orders...

      I can't help myself.

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  12. Good to see the SAW project taking shape so nicely. Looking forward to the first encounter. In the meantime it’s a relief that air quality is showing signs of improvement. Hopefully the fires will be brought under control. Keep safe.

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    1. Mike, I have enough figures for some good sized games now. It is just a matter of getting them to the table.

      We are beginning to breathe easier (literally) now that the smoke is starting to disperse. Still unhealthy but improving.

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  13. Lovely looking toys..as always Jonathan...
    I find these late 19th early 20th century American uniforms quite interesting and colourful...
    Here’s to plenty games...

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thank you, Aly! I am fond of the late 19th Century American uniform, myself. One day, I will push them into a game.

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  14. Very handsome troops, Jon. Did the flags have that white strip where they attached to the pole?

    One thing I hadn't realized until I read more about the SAW, was how important it was in truly re-uniting the US decades after the end of the Civil War, although those of African American descent might have justifiably different viewpoint of the transition.

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    1. Thanks, Peter! As for the flag, I don’t know. This is how they are printed from GMB. I need to look into your question.

      The Black soldiers of the regular army with experience fighting on the frontier were needed and cheered when departing to Florida before embarking for Cuba. With men and officers from both sides fighting together against a common foe, the SAW did help in facilitating reunification. It really was the dawn of the American Century.

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  15. A variety of projects on the go is one of your strengths. Nice painting and I especially like the CoC jump off points. Simple and effective. 😀

    Down here we finally have less smoke and it’s not too hot, so outside has become an option.

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    1. Thank you, Stew! You always offer great encouragement!

      Good to see that smoke in your area is lessening. Still smoky here but the situation is improving. Should be much better by Saturday or Sunday.

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  16. Great looking unit Jonathan! Here is hoping for a change in your weather to knock out some of those fires.

    I am liking some of the changes to blogger as it introduces some controls that were lacking previously (the improvement of the stylesheet being the key one). The introduction of proper inline graphics also opens up a lot of design possibilities. And the recent changes to graphics handling (undocumented as they are) are a considerable improvement to the previous clunkiness...although I notice that my post thumbnail has vanished in the last few posts.

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    1. Thank you, Mark! we are expecting a change in the weather soon.

      I like much of the new blogger too. Analytics are better as is the ability to position photos and graphics. Formatting seems easier too.

      For a solution to the missing thumbnail, see my post on "Blogger: Under My Thumb(nail)."

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  17. Nice work, I was hoping you had found a source for the regimental flag, but alas not. I think our planned conquest of the road to Cataldo is still on hold. They closed seven miles of trail this week for the fire hazard. That and our air quality continues to rival Beijing.

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    1. Thank you! No regimental flag, unfortunately. I guess one needs to create his own.

      I figured the Cataldo Ride may need postponing due to the fires and smoke. I wager our air quality is worse than Beijing at present. I have been stuck on the indoor trainer all week but ventured out today when the AQI dipped to 160. By the time I returned two hours later, the AQI was back up to 250. Hopefully, we can get the ride in before it gets too cold.

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  18. Lovely looking volunteers! I've been lucky and only had good experience of old Glory, pretty sure I'm still on legacy, I know the option to choose it was finite, no doubt I'll have to change eventually, going down to very unhealthy doesn't sound great, we're enjoying an Indian summer, I expect it to end imminently and return to traditional rain!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you, Iain!

      We have a chance for rain today. If it happens, perhaps the rain will knock some of this smoke to the ground?

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  19. Great looking troops, Jonathan! Love the period and uniforms. Reminds me of the Wind and the Lion :)

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    1. Thanks, Dean! The Wind and the Lion is a great one! “Ignorance is a steep hill with perilous rocks at the bottom.”

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  20. Great stuff Johnathon, stay safe re the fires mate

    Cheers
    Matt
    French Wargame Holidays

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  21. Very nice Jonathan as always. Have you tried Post of Honour yet or been tempted?

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    1. Thank you, George! I have not tried PoH having been satisfied with HoW. Are you considering moving from HoW to PoH for you SYW battles?

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    2. Not really, just wonder why a guy would bring out a free set in opposition to his retail set. I do agree however all officers move at the end of movement, but no, very happy with HoW.

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  22. Great looking troops and jump off markers Jonathan!

    Christopher

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  23. Those Volunteers look very impressive with those nice blue uniforms and splendid flags.

    Glad to hear the air quality is improving in your area. Here it's gotten far better, thankfully.

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    1. Thank you!

      Yes, air quality is much, much improved here. Glad you are experiencing the same.

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  24. They are terrific figures and a smart looking unit - fascinating to see how the US Army in that era has one foot in the ACW and another foot in the future - you can see the Doughboy uniform of WW1 a bit there. My granddad, who died long long before I was born, wore that uniform in the Philippines.

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    1. It was a time of transition in uniform design and a move toward practicality too. I love this uniform and you do see the transition from blue to khaki in 1898 leading to the doughboy uniform of the Great War.

      There must be some good stories about your granddad and the Philippines.

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