French Crimean War Line Infantry

My other French red trouser infantry are all Franco Prussian War. This small unit is of French Crimean Line Infantry - figures are FCR 1s, 2s and 9s - French line infantryman, officer and eagle bearer.

FCrC 2s Spahi

I was in two minds over these. They came in a large lot of figures, most of which were vintage S Range, but these were clearly pirated copies and not particularly well done -detail was not crisp. Ordinarially I might have thrown them away buton a whim I decided to paint them, and try them on the S Range charging horses which add a little elan. I think in the end they have come out ok and provide a colourful unit.

Along with my other Crimean and FPW units the intention is these will form part of the Georland forces once I get round to it.

Crimean War units - British Royal Horse Artillery

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Here is my British Artillery contingent - all horse artillery. I would have preferred at least some foot artillery but haven't been able to find any figures.

The artillery pieces are Hinchliffe 25mm Napoleonic models - I found I had four matching models, all I think at least 20 years old. Two of them were painted green but were nicely finished with chains etc. I think the RHA would have had 6 pdrs and these look like nines to me. But I think they will do, and if ever I did find some RA figures they can take ofver these and I'll try to find some sixes.

I'm really pleased how the artillery have come out with four crew on 20mm x 20mm MDF bases, the gun on a 40mm x 40mm base, and all in a 40mm x 80mm close order tray - a good compromise between individual figures and a gaming piece, and a much better solution for me than everything glued onto a single base.

Could I have finished....

... my Crimean War forces? At the risk of sounding like a Pooterish blogger who  assumes everyone is a little more interested in their every thought than is possibly the case I think the answer is a resounding ..."for now".

(click to enlarge the photos)

These have mainly been put together by buying a few largish collections, some ebay purchases, and some swaps, along with a little help from some friends. The figures have come from various sources, some painted and some unpainted. All are now painted to a reasonably neat standard. I really wanted too feel I had come to a finish, so I have drawn the line at repainting or at least neatening up some of the Russian infantry figures, which have had a quick refurb job rather than a full repaint. One of the beauties of the system I have ended up with of individually mounted figures on mdf bases grouped in units using War Bases excellent close order trays is that the figures can easily be repainted later.

I found some excellent flags from Adolfo Ramos (although these do not cover all the units I need) but made the logical mistake of ordering the 25mm versions - if I had my time again I would go for the 20mm option, as the 25mm ones are ever so slightly too large for the S range flag poles. Given they are a little pricey and have to come all the way from Spain it is not the easiest thing to put right.

So - flags still to do, but I think the figures themselves are all painted to a similar (basic) standard which look well enough together, with a good variety of troop types, and I like the effect of using singly based figures within unit sized movement trays. I could be tempted to build a French force at some time in the future (I have considerably more French for the Franco Prussian War than for the Crimea), and I would dearly love to have a Sardinian contingent of similar size to the Turkish one, but so far I have not been able to find the figures.

Crimean War units - British light cavalry

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I was resolved to have British cavalry regiments represented by two squadrons of four figures, but was undone by having more of some figures already to hand.

I have had no success in finding the British Light Dragoon figure, so I cannot as yet claim to field the Light brigade.

There are two troop types, Hussars and Lancers, each with both one piece and two piece casting units.

I think I have another 12 or 15 of the two piece hussars sitting in a box of assorted Napoleonic cavalry somewhere.

Crimean War units - British heavy cavalry

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Two types of Dragoon (one piece and two piece castings) plus the Scots Grey.

The mounted General is I think a Lamming Napoleonic one.

Crimean War units - British infantry

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 Apologies for the quality of some of these photographs.

My British infantry battalions are of 24 figures, inclusive of four command figures. The 6 line infantry units are in either shakos or forage caps. There are three Guards Battalions, a Highland Battalion (I may need to add two more of these later), and two rifles battalions (one more than there should be but I had the figures).

I like the way they look in their close order trays. There were a variety of officer types which can be deployed in the infantry units.

Crimean War Russians

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 My Russian infantry regiments are of three large battalions of 36 with an additional 4 man command stand. The Cossack horde includes some Napoleonic figures (the last line).

The regular cavalry include guard and line dragoons, along with line hussars.

The Russian Generals are Prussians from the FPW range.

 I have a large force of Russian gunners painted up but I am lacking artillery pieces for them - I currently have quite a lot of Hinchliffe French Napoleonic pieces but these aren't satisfactory. I wonder if Tumbling Dice might be the best option - but I haven't seen them and am not sure whether they will sell them to me without crews.

 I do have plenty of Adolfo Ramos flags for the infantry, I just have to replace or extend the flagpoles slightly first. I should have ordered them in 20 mm rather than 25mm.

Crimean War French Cavalry

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I only have a very few French figures at the moment, but the cavalry are colourful: Chasseurs d'Afrique and Spahis. I have been intrigued by the Spahis since first coming across them in, I think, Beau Sabreur. There is a Chasseur d'Afrique listed in the Franco Prussian War range as well so I can't absolutely guarantee that this figure is the Crimean rather than that one.

Crimean War Range - Turks

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This is my force of Crimean War Turks, with a three battalion infantry regiment and four three man cavalry squadrons. If anyone has suggestions for suitable artillery pieces for the gunners and a suitable mounted commander figure, please let me know. In common with most of these units the Turks are waiting for their flags.

New (old) picture - Crimean War Range

An original catalogue picture of my all time favourite S Range figure

Minor Minifigs Mystery - One Piece Crimean Cavalry

John has sent me these pictures of some one piece casting cavalry figures he has acquired recently. A small mystery, as the S Range cavalry I have seen for this range (including the heavy dragoon) have riders cast separately from horses. I have had an example of the Scots Grey myself for some time, though my figure is missing his sword arm. I haven't found any reference to these one piece castings in any catalogue or listing - can anyone shed any light on this?

Minifigs S Range Crimean range reviews from Wargamer's Newsletter 77 and 78, August and September 1968

Minifigs S Range Crimean range advertisement from Wargamer's Newsletter 78, September 1968

"Figures received" from Miniature Warfare October 1968

These pictures are taken from Miniature Warfare magazine. The illustrations I have used for Crimean cavalry elsewhere on this site are of two piece figures. S Range started out with one piece figures, so I am assuming the two piece figures were later replacements for those shown here (Lancer and Chasseur d'Afrique), unless anyone knows better... The other pictures are (L-R) Russian infantry in helmet and cap, French Guard and Line infantry, Sardinian (I think) and British infantry in forage cap.

My second-most-sought after S Range figures

After BCr 21s British Infantry Officer (top hat and umbrella) my most sought after S Range figures were FCr 2s Spahi. I have finally acquired 6 of these figures, which are incredibly versatile, not just for the Crimea but for Colonial Africa right up to around 1942.

Miniature Figurines Ltd 20mm and 25mm military figures catalogue: S Range page 1

Russian and Turkish Crimean War figures, and English Civil War

Miniature Figurines Ltd 20mm and 25mm military figures catalogue: S Range page 2

British and French Crimea, Jacobite Rising

BCr 1s British line infantryman advancing (shako)

The advancing figures in the Crimean range generally (British and Russian only) come in two varieties, even though there is a single code. One is classically advancing, while the other pose is more "on guard".

BCr 2s British line infantryman advancing (forage cap)