Saturday, January 11, 2014

From PeterD: Challenge Desperado 'Zeke' & War of 1812 American 9th Infantry Regiment (65 points)


From Peter:
I am not sure of Zeke's exact origins, but the smart money is that he is a Minifig Boer commando whom I inherited via RossMac's spare parts bin.  The old style true 25mm figures aren't much in fashion thee days but I think that they have a certain charm to them.  They paint up very nicely with the right approach.  
To the best of my memory (never the best), I've never seen a Peckinpah movie so based him of Westerns that I have seen - True Grit (both of em), Butch Cassidy, Clint Eastwood etc.  I opted for a muted dusty appearance to suit the lone wolf who hasn't seen a bath or a laundry tub in a long time.
Next up for me is the US 9th Infantry regiment, but once again only 8 of the 24 figures should count towards the Challenge.  I've been beefing up my 16 man units to 24 strong and the US 9th was next to get the upgrade.  These are a mix of 16 Perry figures and 8 Victrix.  The new additions are all Victrix and I partially rebased the unit to mix the two makes.  These were all painted up straight out of the box - ok, out of the box and then assembled as per the box as closely as I could get.  

I've represented the 9th in the Official uniform - blue coat with red facings and white lace and the 1812 shako.  As with the 16th US,  the packs are a fudge as they regulation pack was shorter, softer sided and had black straps (not white).  More over there shouldn't be a blanket roll on top - I clearly painted these before I worked out that I should trim off the blanket roll like I did with the 16th.  I learn, but slowly, so the next US battalion will be the Perry figures with the shorter pack and the blanket roll trimmed off. 
I quite like how the unit paints up, but having looked at the photos I need to fix the flags a little.  RossMac noted that my 16th gave the impression of soldiers taking individual aimed shots rather than volleys, and I've aimed to get that appearance here as well.  I should really do a red coat unit that mimics the look of platoon volleys rippling up and down the line.

That's 4 units of Americans.  Now I need to work on the good guys!

Haven't seen a Pekinpah movie? Good god man, we'll have to correct that and damn quick! 

Great work here Peter. 'Zeke' is wonderful. I really like seeing these old Minifigs again, it makes me quite nostalgic, though they almost seem like a 20mm casting amongst today's ubber robust figures. The American 9th is very nice as well and my kudos to you for sticking through the Victrix assembly process - not everybody has the patience to deal with them.

Zeke and his additions to the 9th Infantry will give Peter a very respectable 65 points to add to his tally. Well done Peter!

19 comments:

  1. I enjoyed seeing your American Cavalry and likewise the American infantry are as nice a treat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nicely done! Now by the good guys you do mean the Native American don't you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anne
      Yes among others. The natives are going to be a challenge. I am trying to stick to plastics, but will need to break open the piggy bank for natives. Also I want to find decent looking figs that will work for 1812 - most figures are for the French and Indian War.
      Cheers
      PD

      Delete
  3. Nice to see some 1812 stuff! Nicely done.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very nice Peter.
    Great job on the assembly too, victrix are a sod to put together but they seen to fit in well with the perrys

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks all

    Curt, not meaning to look a gift horse in the mouth - but maybe you should check your math. I get 8*5 (28mm Victrix infantry) + 20 (zeke) =60 points I don't object to you padding my score, but make sure it passes the sniff test man. That wouldn't even get past the Canadian Senate Audit committee (pre-Duffygate anyway).
    Cheers
    PD

    ReplyDelete
  6. Trust a Canadian and a math/statistics prof to be honest. :)
    Peter, as I said on your blog I admire the way you are bringing the War of 1812 to life in the Challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing all of your Yanks together at some point.
    Bravo, M

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not that I object to cheating, but you have to be realistic about it!

      I'll see about getting a brigade shot on the blog.
      Cheers
      PD

      Delete
  7. I object unless I'm doing it...

    Sorry Peter it was late and I was going from your pictures instead of your captivating prose. The numbers have been adjusted but I'm still giving you 5 extra due to Zeke being mounted. In the future if you run across an accounting error please drop me an email. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Curt
      I don't normally check up on your points, but that one stood out.
      Cheers
      PD

      Delete
  8. Great work Peter - they look great.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment! As long as you're not a spam droid I'll have it up on the blog soon. :)