Toysoldiers - "Battle on the Monongahela" - Rearranging the showcase

Manufacturer:   JohnJenkinsDesign

Scale:   60mm (1:30)

Hi,

last week I tried to rearrange my showcase of the "Battle on the Monongahela" that took place on th of July in 1755.

A force of about 2.200 British soldiers under command of General Braddock marched towards Fort Duquesne (present day Pittburgh, Pennsylvania) in order to arrest it from the French.

On July 7, Braddock´s columns reached the mouth of Turtle Creek, a stream entering the Monongahela about 13 km from its junction with the Alleghemy River where Fort Duquesne was located. The direct and shortest way lay through a difficult country and a dangerous defile, Accordingly Braddock preferred to ford the Monongahela twice in order to reach his destination.

The French decided to ambush the advancing British column with some 900 men. The French Commander Beaujeu only convinced his native allies to join the war party after he had dressed himself up as an Indian.

The outcome of the engagement was a desaster for the British. General Braddock had been morally wounded. On the British side from the 1.33 NCO´s and men who took part to the engagement, only 43 came off unharmed. Of 86 officers, 73 were killed or disabled. The wounded men left on the field were killed.

There is a very good scene from the series "The war that made America" on YouTube that tells a bit more about the battle.

"The war that made America" - Monongahela

I had been inspired to rearrange my showcase because I had currently seen the trailer of "Young Washington", a movie that will be published on July 3rd in the US. I hope that this movie will also be published in Germany for the trailer looks really good.

Trailer "Young Washington"

I also just watched the TV mini series "George Washington" on YouTube. This series is from 1984 with James Mason and Trevor Howard. Within this movie there is also a part dedicated to the "Battle on the Monongahela".

TV mini series "George Washington"

Rearranging my own showcase I got aware that it is very hard to place terrain and figures on a limited space of about 95cm by 55cm. I was not able to place the British artillery and the ammunition cart that I already was able to include into my collection. So either the collection is already too big or the showcase is just too small. 

The first option is fake for sure because there are still some sets from this range by JohnJenkins that my collection is still missing. So I guess it must be the second option - the showcase is too small. In lack of being able to stretch the shelves it may be a good idea to split the battle on two shelves, every one of them showing different stages of the engagement.

Hope you enjoy watching the videos and also the pictures.

Cheers

Mike

General Braddock mortally wounded and young George Washington´s attempt to rescue him.

The Redcoats are suffering heavy casualties.

Attackint with a cruel warcry.

The death of the French commander Beaujeu.

Ambush.

Fierce melee fighting.

The warband of native warriors ...

... attacks the Redcoats from all sides.

Toysoldiers - A short video about some FIW stuff

Manufacturer:   JohnJenkinsDesign

Scale:   60mm (1:30)

Hi,

just a short video showing a part of my collection of figures of the FrenchIndianWar. All figures are JohnJenkinsDesign. The tents are JGMiniatures and the big log cabin and the big palisade are selfmade.

I tried to combine some different ranges. Refugees (own range) are arriving at an fortified outpost (St.Francis-range). I know that there are some palisades missing in the front of the display. But to be honest I used to display this scene in this way. But the palisades just obstructed the view on the figures. I am sure this won´t be the final attempt to display the scene.

Cheers

Mike

Toysoldiers - Newest additions to my collection

Manufacturer:    JohnJenkinsDesign

Scale:    60mm (1:30)

Hi again,

today´s post is about my newest addition to my collection of toysoldiers scaled 1:30. I bought them on eBay for very good prices as some of these items had been sold half of their original price. Lucky shot. :)

The only thing was that I had to wait a longer time to be able to unpack the figures. I had to go to hospital for two weeks and my release had been yesterday. So guess what had been one of the first things to do after my arrival at home. ;)

The figures I bought are all from JohnJankinsDesigns and are some good reinforcements for the ranges I am already collecting. 

I was able to get at least two further figures for my collection of Rome and its enemies. A gallic cavalryman and a mounted Roman General. So my collection of "Little Alesia", as I call it, now looks like this.

My "Little Alesia" so far - a mixture of mainly JohnJenkinsDesings, some King&Country,
FirstLegion, Kronprinz Toysoldiers and some figures from a Russian Manufacturer I don´t 
remember.

Attack on the gate.

The "new" mounted warrior ...

... accompanied by his fellows. The figure in the middle is from King&Country.

The Roman General ...

... who commands a very, very small unit of Roman Cavalry. I have to point out that these figures
are always produced in limited numbers. Some of the ranges are hard to get for good prices. So it
will take me some years to increase the collection.

The following figures are belonging to my beloved ranges concerning the FrenchIndianWar.

Another Fifer for my British march column

Also got a marching British Grenadier ...

... and an officer ,,,

... because you cannot have enough men for building a good looking 
march column.

Two British soldiers firing their muskets ...

... because you also cannot have enough men for building a good looking firing line either.

I also got another British cannon ...

... so my collection of the range of "The Battle on the plains of Abraham" so far looks like this.

The last figure of the reinforcements had been this guy. Though I don´t collect the range
"The fur trade" this figure was half of its normal price. So it was no doubt to get it. 

And the figure fits perfectly to the Roger´s Rangers of my existing collection. Maybe he was a
trapper hired for scouting acions or something like that. Who knows? :)

I hope you liked this pictures and got some inspiration for our hobby. Keep on gaming, collecting and having fun playing with toysoldiers or wargaming minis.

Cheers,

Mike

Toysoldiers - JohnJenkinsDesigns - A comparison of the older and new versions of Roger´s Rangers

Manufacturer:   JohnJenkinsDesigns

Scale:   60mm (1:30)

Hi,

one of my favorite manufacturers concerning Toysoldiers is "JohnJenkinsDesigns".

I like this company because of the ranges they offer for FrenchIndianWar and for their style of miniatures.

One of these ranges is called "Raid on St.Francis". It is an older range and JohnJenkins decided to give some more figures to it - especially some more versions of Roger´s Rangers. Here you can find some more information about "The Raid on St:Francis".

The new versions are a bit more filigrane and the faces are a bit smaller. But the older and the new versions do fit perfect in my opinion.

So here they are.

Cheers

Mike

The force of my collection of Roger´s Rangers so far. A mix of the old and the new versions

The "old" versions. Not complete as there are still some poses missing. I especially like the three
guys sitting next to the barrels.

The new versions. Again not complete.

A comparison of the new versions (figures 1 and 3 from left to right) and the older ones
(figures 2 and 4)

Toysoldiers - A quite huge addition to my collection of FrenchIndianWar figures from JohnJenkinsDesigns

Manufacturer:   JohnJenkinsDesigns

Scale:   60mm (1:30)

Hi,

on our trip to England I met a guy who was selling his FIW-ranges of JohnJenkinsDesigns and I was lucky to find some sets I was searching for. Especially the set of "Death of General Wolfe" has been a set I was looking after for some time. It is hard to find - at least in Germany.

But not only did I find some rare figures - the seller also gave me a calendar and a "Collector´s Club Annual" of 2010 as a gift. I have never seen those before and I was really impressed by them. The calendar of 2010 has the theme of the "Battle on snowshoes", a range that I have already completed. Each monthly page is dedicated to this battle and shows arrangements of this fightings, telling its story and development. A very nice way to give some information to the collectors.

So this post will not only include pictures about my newest figures but also a showing of the calendar mentioned above.

Hope you´ll enjoy the pictures.

Cheers

Mike

A complete overlook on the newest additions to my collection.

Starting with the calendar.

At the moment I am mixing the ranges of "Battle on the Monongahela" and "Battle on the Plains of
Abraham" for displaying a fierce fighting in the woods.

The new figures of the French Regiment LaSarre - in the background "The death of Montcalm".