OLD FIGURES IN NEW PLACES

Back in March, there was a post on Ross Mac's excellent Battle Game of the Month Blog recounting the history of his Blue Guards figures. This caused me to start thinking about the lineage of figures in my collection (funny how we pick up threads from other blogs: one of the great things about the blogging community, I think). Given that my wargaming history was interrupted when I was commissioned into the US Army in 1981, there is a break in continuity in my collections as well. Before then, I had come to own a substantial number of 15mm Napoleonics (French, Saxon, and Russians). After graduating from college and getting commissioned, my collection and associated terrain wound up doing nothing more than taking up a closet. After about 10 years of this, I finally dumped them.  As unsentimental as I was about getting rid of the collection, something made me hang on to two reminders, which are all that is left of the original collection.  Upon starting up in gaming again, I eventually rebased them (they were originally on plain green bases, which was the standard back then), and now here they are, on parade on the interwebs, which wasn't even something one could imagine back then. As usual, you may clix pix for Big Pix.

First up is the Army Command Stand, now appropriately sized for 2/3 scale Volley and Bayonet.  This originally was on a much larger square stand, which had no actual role on the table then.  In big games, I would plunk it down at some prominent place on the table where it would be ever-visible to the allies (although I eventually came to own Russians, I was in the French camp then--in those days, you picked sides).  The figures are mainly Minifigs, with a Ral Partha aide de camp (the rather oversized looking fellow pointing in the hussar rig).   Our collections back then were almost exclusively Minifigs (first and then second generation). 

The other figures that take pride of place as the oldest in my collection were inspired by the above illustration in the Funcken Arms And Uniforms Of The Napoleonic Wars (Part 2). 

...not only are these among the oldest of my figures, but they are also literally the last ones I painted before going in the Army (so they have a double resonance).  After these, it would be something on the order of 22 years until I painted another figure. Again, the band had no actual role in the rules.  I would plunk these down whenever the Imperial Guard was on the table, and they would lead the march whenever the Guard moved--we did alot of that sort of thing then.

Looking at them, I realized that my current mania for modifying figures is not new. I was modifying figures back then, too. The drum major is actually a marching infantry officer figure with a head swap from a French Marshall (I believe it was Massena). The baton was made by adding a glob of white glue to the top of his sword. The sappers were two Old Guard porte aigle figures: you can see the original version at the back of the command post stand. I created the aprons and gauntlets with putty, which I then simply painted over.

I painted these with the naked eye back then, which is another testament to them coming from another era! On top of that, these were done with enamels (which I still use--showing that I'm from another era).  The enamels have held up very well over the years (as opposed to me). Other than a bit of touch up, this is the original paint (I didn't varnish back then). 

I have once again put together 15mm French and Russians (and Prussians), in addition to my 28mm Napoleonics.  There are many in my current gaming group who have 15mm Napoleonics as well, which we used to play quite regularly (2/3 scale Volley and Bayonet). So, the command post, after all those years, has had a role on the table, and the band has also once again held a spot on the table with the (new) Old Guard figures. What's old is new again.

So much for this trip down memory lane...

Excelsior!