Blast from the Past! Warhammer 40k Squats

Here's a bit of a throw back to the 1990s, after another foray into the loft I found a small (pun intended!) squad of nine Squats. Given that they have been in the loft for at least 15 years and likely unplayed with for at least 20 years I have decided to put them up onto eBay

The 'Little Red One' Squad

Funds raised will go to good causes within the family...

Left hand view

So this squad was from the legendary 'Little Red One' Imperial Guard Regiment and as the name suggests these guys are predominantly uniformed in red, the recruits are all Squats who are armed with an eclectic mix of weaponry.

Right Hand View

Having rescued these little guys from the loft I dusted them down (quite literally) and then touched-up the paintwork, brightening up their red uniforms. Re-doing their visors & sunglasses etc and freshening-up their skin and beards.

Check out the guy in the photo above with an AK47 and a Landsknecht style uniform!

Squad Leader and his No. 2

I also put a little time into their bases, which were looking all of the 30 odd years old that they were - so added some stand and electrostatic grass.

To the left is the Squad Plasma Gun, plus his No.2 (second right)
carrying a handy battery recharger.

I spent some time (5 minutes) on the plasma gun to add some more detail....

Squad Communications Officer, centre plus two additional Guardsmen.

All in all a nice little set, hopefully I'll get a good price!

The Battle of Lützen - 16th November 1632

The Battle of Lützenwas one of the most important battles of the Thirty Years War. It took place on 16 November 1632, between an Imperial army under Albrecht von Wallenstein and a combined Swedish-German army led by Gustavus Adolphus. Generally viewed as a narrow Swedish victory, both sides suffered heavy casualties, and the battle is now chiefly remembered for the death of Gustavus.

The Death of Gustavus Adolphus

The first part of the battle featured a series of frontal attacks by the Swedes, which nearly succeeded before being repulsed by a cavalry charge led by Pappenheim. While trying to reform his shattered infantry, Gustavus was killed in a skirmish with Imperial troops; despite this, his subordinates rallied their men and supported by close range artillery fire overran the Imperial centre just before nightfall. Wallenstein withdrew in good order but had to abandon his wounded, many of his guns and most of his supply train.

Despite the loss of their king, the Swedes continued the war under the direction of Axel Oxenstierna and together with their German allies formed the Heilbronn League in April 1633. Backed by French subsidies, the coalition defeated an Imperial army under von Gronsfeld at Oldendorf in July; Wallenstein's failure to support his colleague and rumours he was contemplating switching sides led to his removal and assassination by Imperial agents in February 1634.

THe Imperial Army consisted of some 13-15,000 men of eth Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic League, they lost over 5,000 casualties. The Swedes, with their Saxon and Hessian allies, numbered some  18-19,000 men and they lost 6,000 casualties.

Battles in History: Sheriffmuir 13th November 1715

The Battle of Sheriffmuir was an engagement on 13th November 1715 at Sheriffmuir to the east of Dunblane. at the height of the Jacobite rising in England and Scotland. Sheriffmuir was and is a remote elevated plateau of heathland lying between Stirling and Auchterarder on the north fringe of the Ochil Hills.

Although the kingdoms of Scotland and England had been united since 1707, not all Scots were happy with the marriage. In particular the Jacobites, supporters of the House of Stuart, sought to exploit the general unrest within Scottish society.

When in 1714 George I was proclaimed King of Great Britain and Ireland, John Erskine, Earl of Mar, began to raise a Jacobite army in an attempt to return James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, to the throne. In response, a combined government force of Scottish and English regiments commanded by the Duke of Argyle was dispatched to confront the rebels.

Although the Jacobites greatly outnumbered those of the government by almost 2:1, Mar was not an experienced military commander. In contrast, the government army comprised well trained regular troops led by a seasoned commander.

Deployment Map. Source CoopersCottages.com / Scottish History

The battle that followed was inconclusive with both sides leaving the field claiming victory.

The government Army was lead by John Campbell and consisted of some 6,00 regulars, whilst the Jacobite forces were about 12,000.

Battles in History: Varna 10th November 1444

The Battle of Varna took place on 10 November 1444 near Varna in eastern Bulgaria. The Ottoman Army under Sultan Murad II defeated the Hungarian–Polish and Wallachian armies commanded by Władysław III of Poland (who was also King of Hungary), John Hunyadi (who was the commander of the combined Christian forces) and Mircea II of Wallachia. It was the final battle of the Crusade of Varna.

Battlefield Map. (Source Wikipedia)

Estimates of Ottoman Strengths were 37,000 - 47,000 men - of whom 30-40,000 were Anatolian troops and the remaining 7,000 were Rumelians.

They Christian forces totalled some 16-20,000 men and included detachments from Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Lithuania, Bohemia, Wallachia, Bosnia, the Papal States and some Teutonic Knights! They were hampered by having at least 5 commanders who were trying to hold this polyglot force together...

Farewell Polish WW2 Army!

Today sees me hand over my last box of WW2 Polish troops to Marky Mark, as the transfer of power and ownership is finally completed. All this after finding this last lot in the loft - hidden from obvious view. Mark already has custody of the other two boxes of Polish Kit!

Its nice to think that they'll stay in the club and may even see the light of day in a future gaming scenario.

I thought it would be nice to record a taster of what this part of the army contains!

Polish Infantry Platoon wearing Adrian Helmets,
believe the manufacturer is Early War Miniatures (EWM)

Another Infantry Platoon in greatcoats and Field hats (Rogatywka),
these are plastic figures, unsure of the manufacturer

Left to Right: C2P Artillery Tractor, generic Jeep and a Fiat Truck

The High Command! EWM figures

FOO (Plastic figures) and two Maxim Gun Teams, EWM.

Polish Cavalry Troop, EWM

EWM Polish Infantry Platoon

Polish 7TP, Single and Dual Turret variants,
based on the British Vickers 6E designs

Trafalgar Day

 21st October is Trafalgar Day, and today is the 216th Anniversary of the Battle.

We really must do a Trafalgar game at some point!, maybe using the excellent rule system from Florian Richter & Peter Dennis that includes lavishly illustrated cardboard ships.