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 - 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)

JohnJenkinsDesign - "Battle of the Plains of Abraham"

Manufacturer:   JohnJenkinsDesigns

Scale:   60mm (1:30)

Hi,

just a short post about today´s arrival - some reinforcements for my collection of FIW-figures from JohnJenkinsDesign. I was lucky to win an auction on eBay for a very good price. 

These figures are from the range of  "Battle of the Plains of Abraham" and I love the style of uniforms. SevenYearsWar and FrenchIndianWar are my favorite interest.

I will always remember the date of this battle as the British climbed up the hills in the night of September 12th. That´s the birthday of my first daughter. The battle took place on September 13th.

And there is another date I will always remember, too. The date of the battle of Rossbach on November 5th.. This is the birthday of my second daughter.

For the ones who are interested in the "Battle of the Plains of Abraham" - just follow this link.

https://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=1759-09-13_-_Battle_of_Qu%C3%A9bec

Cheers

Mike

The Officer added to his soldiers.

The first figure of today´s reinforcements.

The new soldiers of the French Regiment de Bearn added to their comrades.

The second part of today´s delivery.

FrenchIndianWar - new recruits for my collection of JohnJenkins miniatures

Manufacturer:   JohnJenkinsDesign

Scale:   1:30, 60mm

Hi again,

today´s post is about my new recruits for my collection of JohnJenkins miniatures. 

This time I was glad to find some figures of the range about the "Raid on St.Francis" and also two sets of the range of the "Battle on snowshoes". Concerning the "Battle on snowshoes" there are only 5 or 6 sets left to complete this range. But these are rather hard to find, but my search for them will go on.

As there are still some figures missing I just arranged the scene on a white board with some stones and small trees. This is not the final status quo. This will be done after the last set is added to my collection as I can´t plan a showcase without possessing all of the figures. At the moment I store them in a IKEA Billy shelf and there´s already almost no space left. Maybe I will split the scene so it is departed into a French and also into a British section of the scene. i don´t know about it right now.

Collecting ToySoldiers in 1:30 has become a real kind of addiction for me, but my normal wargaming collection will also grow as I am finding reassurance in painting up my pile of shame consisting of unpainted figures for SYW, FIW, WildWest, Crusaders and so on... :)

Cheers

Mike

The company of soldiers waiting for their commands

Toy Soldiers in 1:30 - some more JohnJenikins Woodland Indians

Manufacturer:   JohnJenkinsDesign

Scale:   28mm

Hi again,

This week I got some more WoodlandIndians for my collection of 1:30 ToySoldiers of the FrenchIndianWar that I just had to set into scene for a small photo-shooting. :)

The moduls of terrain and also the trees are normally used for 28mm wargaming so it could be they appear a little bit too small. But in my opinion it has done its work.

There are a new canoe and also three new fierce warriors. Due to the fact that I only have three British soldiers in fighting poses the scene shows a real masacre. Poor Redcoats.

More to come about this project. :)

Cheers

Mike

Indian warband on raid.

No chance for the poor defenders.

Another view on the brutal slaughter.

The new figures for my collection - part 1.

The new figures for my collection - part 2.

Muskets and Tomahawks - Reinforcements coming by boats

 Manufacturer:    RedoubtEnterprises

Scale:   28mm

Hi again,

after a busy day of working in my home office I was rewarded by the postman bringing me some reinforcements for my FIW-project using the rules of "Muskets and Tomahawks".

A friend of mine paints a lot of figures for me as I am a very slow painter and the pile of shame is enormous.

So today a package of his latest paint job arrived and I am really excited about the result.

We already had a game with British forces landing on the shore and trying to defeat a French fortification. But these had been simple boats with figures within. The game looked great, but I wanted to get it perfect dreaming of models of landing boats bringing British grenadiers to their landing point as it happened in the night of September 12th in 1759, the night before the battle of the Plains of Abraham.

So the boats from RedoubtEnterprises had been a "must have" for me to give the gaming table a better look for the next upcoming landing scenarios.

Thank you Krisztian for doing such a great job on the figures.