The Great War in Greyscale: Early War Highland Infantry & HMG Team (85 points)

Here is another unit of greyscale troops I managed to get done while I was away. This time it's the Jocks.

The battle of Mons is relatively well known in the english histories of the Great War but few realize that there was another fierce engagement fought only a few days later, on the 26 August, near the small town of Le Cateau. The British II Corps, under the irascible Horace Smith-Dorrien, decided to halt its retreat and give battle to the oncoming German tide. 

The British fought tenaciously, and inflicted serious casualties amongst the attacking Germans, but at a fearsome cost. Many of the Corps' artillery pieces were lost and most of its units were badly mauled. The most notable losses were amongst the 1st Bn Gordon Highlanders who, for a variety of tragic reasons, did not begin their withdrawal until very late in the day. They bravely covered the retreat of their brigade but were subsequently overrun, fighting on until it was useless to continue and so were forced to surrender.

These excellent 28mm sculpts are from the Great War Miniatures range. They depict the Highlanders in their early-war uniform which was quite smart, though a little impractical.

Similar to my previous work on this project I've differentiated the NCO by painting his glengarry in colour and mounting him on a hex base. He seems to stand out quite well with his cap's red-and-white dicing and distinctive red toorie.

The HMG team was a lot of fun to work on even though the gun itself was a bit fiddly. I added a couple twigs sourced from our garden to serve as a shattered tree and a fallen timber dragged in front for makeshift cover.

This passel of wee laddies will provide me with 85 points towards the final run-in.