New Sharp Practice Army Lists

So with the kind help of Richard Clarke of Too Fat Lardies fame, we've managed to put together army lists for the South American Wars of Liberation to go with the realease of the wonderful new set of rules "Sharp Practice 2."  The list give you many variations for both Patriot and Royalist forces fighting in the Northern Campaigns of Simon Bolivar in Colombia and Venezuela (1817 - 1824).

You can find them here:

http://toofatlardies.co.uk/blog/?p=5829

Coming up next will be photos of the two armies from these lists and some first games.

Review of Orinoco Miniatures in Miniature Wargames magazine

I was just sent a scan of a nice review of our figures by Henry Hyde in December's edition of Miniature Wargames. It's good to see some positive feedback. You can see the review below.

Review of British Legion figures by Vae Victis Magazine

There was a nice surprise waiting for me today in the post box. Nicolas, the editor at Vae Victis Magazine, sent me a complimentary copy of the latest edition which included a nice review of the British Legion figures.

 

 

The usual Vae Victis approach is to just present images of the figures with as little commentary as possible (though they do paint the figures up which is a nice touch). Readers then can make up their own minds.

 

It's the first time that I've seen a full copy and I must say it's really a very professional publication. The current issue also has an excellent article on wargaming the French Indochina war, so I can only recommend it.

All unit codes back in stock

Just a quick note to say that we have restocked all the miniatures codes. One code (the British Legion Advancing) had just sold out. Looking forward to your orders ;-)

The figures can be purchased directly from our webstore here:  

http://www.orinoco-miniatures.com/

First images of Painted British Legion

I just received a message from HGA that over at his blog "Handrenadealien's Great Lament" he has posted up some nice images of newly painted British Legion figures (one image of which  I have borrowed above). You can see more of his lovely paintwork here:
http://handgrenadealiensgreatlament.blogspot.cz/2013/06/orinoco-miniatures-28mm-cazadores.html

New pictures of the British Legion

After a hectic week, I found time to give the new figures an ink wash, and well lit scene for a few detailed photos. I hope you like them.

Don't Panic - the figures really are in the post

Douglas Adams was quite a prescient chap, and this lovely logo no doubt should be emblazoning the covers of iPads and Kindles worldwide. With that in mind, the message is indeed "Don't panic"; I have just received confirmation from UPS and the Casting service that all that lovely metal that are the British Legion figures will be upon the shores of Bohemia by Monday latest (27th May). We even have a tracking number :-)

Already lined up are some figure painters who have kindly offered to paint up the first few test figures, so that you can all see painted images of the Legion in action. I'll also give some packs an ink wash, and post up images so that you can quickly get a better idea of the detail.

There will be more news during the week about other nice developments, as well as status updates on the next two units (Spanish and Gran Colombians), which are being sculpted as we speak.

Also, in the coming days we will be getting the official web page and e-shop up and running, so that you can pick the packs right off the virtual shelf (or something like that). So onwards and upwards mis valientes.

Further reading, and scenarios for wargaming the South American Wars of Liberation

The South American Wars of Liberation are a fascinating part of overall the Napoleonic wars, and provide the potential for very colourful Napoleonic battles in the New World. Set in the period starting in 1810, and running up to 1830, these wars covered the breadth of Spain's crumbling American empire, with the key campaigns set in the North around modern day Venezuela, in the South in Argentina, Chile and finally in the North West/centre in Peru, as well as in Mexico.

I wanted to provide a list of books and sources which I think can provide a quick and entertaining introduction to the period, the tactics and ideas about how to wargame them. Probably the first book I came across was The Armies of Bolivar and San Martin by Terry Hooker. This Osprey book is a great little introduction to the period, and gives a broad outline of the campaigns and uniforms (and the illustrations are excellent).

The masterpiece in terms of it scope and depth of detail for the Wars of Liberation has to be "Liberators" by Robert Harvey. This covers all the major campaigns and battles from Mexico to Tiera Del Fuego, from the beginning of the Republican movement under Miranda to the death of Simon Bolivar in 1830, and the abdication of the Emperor Pedro in Brazil in 1831. I cannot recommend the book enough as a Tour de force history of the wars.

 

Of more specific and recent interest is the newly published "Conquer or Die!" by Ben Hughes. Focusing solely on the exploits of the British (and Irish) Legions in the wars. This is clearly geared towards military historians (and wargamers), and presents each of the battles and campaigns of the Legion in its various forms and amalgamations, including detailed battle maps and orders of battle (OOBs) where available.

Here you can see one example for the Battle of Boyaco. I would recommend this book, especially for the depth of essential detail it provides for gamers.

Last, but not least, are the excellent series of books and supplements by John Fletcher over at Grenadier Productions. Again the first book titled "Liberators" really gives a very good overview of the war in the South and the campaigns of San Martin and Bernardo O'Higgins. it provides a wealth of uniform information for the Argentinian, Chilean and Spanish Armies, with details of all the major battles, with maps and OOBs included. This is a must for the wargamer or Military historian.

There is also an additional Supplement that goes along with this that you can purchase as a PDF.

The other book focuses on our heroes again in the British and Irish Legions. There is again a nice overview of the history of these units followed by some uniform guides, and then more details of battles. There is also then several nice tactical and skirmish level scenarios presented. Again, good for use with the smaller battles that were most common during these wars, as well as for Skirmish games ideal for the Sharp Practice rules or other sets.
I believe John Fletcher has another book in the pipeline that will focus solely on the Northen campaigns of Simon Bolivar and his generals. These can be purchased directly from Grenadier Productions (see link on left).

New British Legion Figures

 Here is the first step in a range of figures which I hope will be as appealing to others as the period and wars of South American Liberation are to me. In summary, perfect small scale and colourful battles from the end of the Napoleonic wars.

Straight off the boat from Britain and Ireland, this was the first of the British Legions to fight in the wars of Spain (pre-dating the British Legion of the Carlist Wars by nearly 20 years). These 5000 veterans of Wellington’s disbanding army were a mixture of mostly English and Irish soldiers, who were to constitute the elite troops of Simon Bolivar’s Patriot army. They fought in all the decisive battles of the wars of Liberation in the North: starting in 1818 in Venezuela, and Colombia, and finally after 6 years of hard fighting to the decisive battles in Peru in 1824.

Simon Bolivar valued these troops highly for their grit and espirit de corps, and their graveyards and memorials are testament to their effort and sacrifice on the battlefields of South America. Needless to say they captured my imagination, and hence I set about getting them sculpted up in 28mm.

This first unit includes a command pack, marching, advancing, and skirmishing/firing line figures, all with covered 1816 issue Prussian style British Shakos. This is more than enough to capture the variety of poses and configurations for representing this unit on the table top. 

 

I have had some good input directly from Terry Hooker on the accuracy of the uniforms, plus reference to many period prints as well as the very useful book on the subject from Grenadier Productions.

These figures will be quickly followed by Spanish and Gran Colombian/ Patriot infantry, then artillery and cavalry. The next two units of Spanish and Gran Colombian Infantry are already at an advanced stage. These will be available for sale in the very near future, and in the following days you can follow the progress of these over at the main site for Orinoco Miniatures (the name for the new range).

Certainly I am very interested to hear your feedback on these, and requests/suggestions for any particular units from the Liberation wars that you would like to see me do next. Please do pass on links to this and news of the range to your friends.

LIBERTAD O MUERTE!