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Tuesday, 12 November 2024

My Belle Époque armies

Whilst I was feeling somewhat under the weather after my recent 'flu and COVID jabs, I did manage to sort out my Belle Époque armies and label each unit base with a small self-adhesive 25mm x 10mm laser-printed label. I also moved them from storage in a variety of different plastic boxes and onto A4-sized self-adhesive magnetic sheets that had been fixed to 3mm-thick sheet of plywood.

As I did this, I took the opportunity to photograph each army:

Republic of Burgundy

Kingdom of Schwarzenberg

Sultanate of Khakistan

Emirate of Khyberistan

Principality of Hyderapore

Sultanate of Sahel

Principality of Stalbania

Khedivate of Zubia

Sultanate of Harabia

The majority of the figures are from the Colonial ranges produced by Essex Miniatures, but there are also a significant number from Miniature Figurines (mainly the Burgundian infantry, which are from the American Civil War range, and the Stalbanians, which are from the American World War I range), and Irregular Miniatures (the Khyberistanis, which are from the Colonial range). Most of the artillery pieces were manufactured by Peter Laing Miniatures.

Some of these figures have been in my collection for a very long time. For example, I painted what are now the Burgundian and Schwarzenberg infantry in the early 1980s and acquired the bulk of the Essex Miniatures in the late 1990s. The latter were already painted and were supplied by a company whose name I cannot recall.


An associated YouTube video will be available later today.

20 comments:

  1. Fine looking armies Bob - time for some games!

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    Replies
    1. Maudlin Jack Tar,

      Cheers! Most of my terrain is in storage, so before I can fight some tabletop battles, I have to get fit enough to get there to collect it. I hope to get there soon!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. BOB,
    Those are very nice looking 15mm and concise armies that you have painted and collected....yes, soon there will be some time for some games? Cheers. KEV.

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    Replies
    1. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      Cheers! I hope to use them on my tabletop before Christmas.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Nice. I love army reviews - both seeing and doing.

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    Replies
    1. Rob Young,

      I’ll be adding more armies as and when I can … so there’ll be some more to see soon … I hope!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. A very nice collection! Perhaps we see them in action in a Hare and Hounds campaign?

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    Replies
    1. Mark Cordone,

      Cheers! I hope that it won’t be too long before they get used in an H&H mini-campaign.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  5. Bob - they look really good!
    Out of curiousity, have you worked out which army those Pioneer Miniatures Austrian/Romanians that I sent you will be yet?
    Also, do you remember who makes the heavy gun that you have in your Khakistan Army (I don't believe it is a Laing, unless a conversion of his WW1 6" howitzer)

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    Replies
    1. Ian Dury,

      Cheers! The Austrian/Romanian figures are hopefully destined to become a sort of Austria-Hungarian/Imperial Russian mashup. They are currently in storage, but are on my ‘to do’ list.

      The gun was bought via eBay so I’ve no idea of its origins. It might be a Really Useful Gun from Irregular Miniatures. (I do have a Peter Laing 6” howitzer … but it’s doing service as a 75mm mountain gun in my German 20mm WW2 army.)

      All the best,

      Bob

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  6. Good looking collection there Bob, some very nice armies.Venerable figures ready to fight once more!

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    Replies
    1. Donnie McGibbon,

      Cheers! It was great to find a use for the figures I painted so long ago.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  7. Bob -
    Wonderful looking armies - and plenty of variety to be had! One can hardly wait to see them in action. Puts me in mind of the Second Blacklands War. Twice now I've poked around the organisations (with the information from the 'Balkan League' book), but still haven't quite made up my mind how I'm going to do this - or even whether or not to switch to my hex table...

    Man, your armies look good!
    Cheers,
    Ion

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    Replies
    1. Archduke Piccolo (Ion),

      Cheers! I’m rather pleased with the way these armies have developed … and creating the backstories has given me loads of enjoyment.

      I look forward to getting these armies into action on a tabletop soon … just as soon as I’ve retrieved my terrain from our storage unit.

      I do hope that you are able to fight the Second Blacklands War one day … once you’ve finished fighting your wonderful naval battles!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  8. Hi Bob

    A fine looking collection, and great to be able to use figures from your collection which have not seen the light of day for so long. Like everyone else, I am looking forward to seeing some wargames.

    regards

    Paul

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    Replies
    1. Jan Leniston (Paul),

      Cheers! I’m about to start on my next army, which will be the army of the Commonwealth of Albion, which is my fictional equivalent of Great Britain.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  9. A fine mix of forces there Bob and look forward to seeing them in action in due course. Hope you feel better soon.

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    Replies
    1. Steve J.,

      Cheers! I look forward to fighting battles with these armies in the near future. As to my mobility … well, it’s getting better slowly but surely.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  10. Hi Bob these armies look wonderful! I can see you have kept them very consistent which is important aesthetically, end result is great looking armies. Looking forward to see your other armies. Quinn

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    Replies
    1. Glory to Ruritania (Quinn),

      Cheers! I think the answer is to use a simple and consistent basing style. I use black-edged 3mm MDF bases covered with naturally-coloured cork flock. This is neutral enough not to look out of place on most terrain.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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