history Lesson (2 Viewers)

[Molloy]

Molloy

I love all NAPOLEONICS and collect them all as well !

I have a great display of the Scots Greys charging my French Line Troops and a really neat display of the Black Watch in a Square (actually a half square - due to cost factors ) being attacked by my French Dragoons !!

Yes, I love the entire period. And want more releases !!

But, lets just remember - all you Wellington Fans - the historic period was named the NAPOLEONIC PERIOD for a reason

Ron

Ha, ha, well I'm sure we can cast aside our relative allegiances for a moment and agree that no matter which faction particularily grabs your attention (even if it is the Corsican Ogre!), the Napoleonic period really must be one of the most interesting and rewarding periods to collect (and I say that as someone with an equally strong interest in both World Wars, moderns, etc.).

The geographical scope, the units, the uniforms, the personalities - for me the entire thing really encapsulates what the hobby is all about!

That said however, I think I'll have to remain nonetheless as a collector primarily of King George's legions! I'm currently (slowly) working on building a diorama similar to the excellent suggestions you've mentioned above....except in this case I'm afraid the intention is to show a Coldstream line demonstrating the efficiency of British volley fire to an Imperial Guard column at the climax of Waterloo!

Sorry Ron!

Molloy.

 

[aujj65]

I have a really neat display of the Black Watch in a Square (actually a half square - due to cost factors ) being attacked by my French Dragoons !!

Ron

Ron,

Have you thought about adding a mirrored backing to your cabinet, so it gives the illusion of doubling the amount of figures. If laid out correctly it may look like a full square. I think UK Reb has done this on some of his displays and it looks very effective.

Jeff

 

[damian]

One can compare the Napoleonic wars to football. In the Premier League provided you win more games than anyone else you are overall champion, Unfortunately they arranged it more like the FA cup. SO you can win all your games on the way to the final but lose the final on a penalty shoot out.
Regards
Damian

 

[Molloy]

One can compare the Napoleonic wars to football. In the Premier League provided you win more games than anyone else you are overall champion, Unfortunately they arranged it more like the FA cup. SO you can win all your games on the way to the final but lose the final on a penalty shoot out.
Regards
Damian

I'm not a massive football fan, but that has to be one of the simplest and most effective ways of summing the entire affair up I've ever come across. I may just have to rob that analogy from you!!

Cheers,

Molloy.

 

[Capitolron]

Ha, ha, well I'm sure we can cast aside our relative allegiances for a moment and agree that no matter which faction particularily grabs your attention (even if it is the Corsican Ogre!), the Napoleonic period really must be one of the most interesting and rewarding periods to collect (and I say that as someone with an equally strong interest in both World Wars, moderns, etc.).

The geographical scope, the units, the uniforms, the personalities - for me the entire thing really encapsulates what the hobby is all about!

That said however, I think I'll have to remain nonetheless as a collector primarily of King George's legions! I'm currently (slowly) working on building a diorama similar to the excellent suggestions you've mentioned above....except in this case I'm afraid the intention is to show a Coldstream line demonstrating the efficiency of British volley fire to an Imperial Guard column at the climax of Waterloo!

Sorry Ron!

Molloy.

Funny in all my displays the BRITISH LOSE !

 

[Capitolron]

Ron,

Have you thought about adding a mirrored backing to your cabinet, so it gives the illusion of doubling the amount of figures. If laid out correctly it may look like a full square. I think UK Reb has done this on some of his displays and it looks very effective.

Jeff

Jeff

Yes - Actually my curios have mirror backs so it gives he impression of a full Black Watch Square - it look great IMHO.

I agree mirror backs do help displays a lot.

ron

 

[Rob]

One can compare the Napoleonic wars to football. In the Premier League provided you win more games than anyone else you are overall champion, Unfortunately they arranged it more like the FA cup. SO you can win all your games on the way to the final but lose the final on a penalty shoot out.
Regards
Damian

Spot on.Napoleon made it all the way to the final but Wellington won it in extra time!

You know i've been thinking about Britains role in European History.America are considered the Worlds Police,i think Britain must be considered the 'Thorn in the side' to any would be dictators.Phillip of Spain;Huge Armada beaten by our little ships and the British Weather!.Napoleon at Sea;Severe arse kicking by a one armed genius!.Napoleon on Land Beaten at the height of his powers by discipline and steadfastness.The Kaiser; sent his Army to arrest our 'Contemptible little Army',who promptly took this insult as their nickname and inflicted such casualties that the Germans remain convinced they were facing an army of machine guns!.And Fatso Goering really thought he could bomb our people into submission,take more than a deranged Blue Whale in a uniform to do that!

I wonder if in Hell Phillip,Napoleon,Goering and the Kaiser are saying to each other...'Those Brits are SUCH a pain in the a***!

Rob

 

[maddadicus]

Spot on.Napoleon made it all the way to the final but Wellington won it in extra time!

You know i've been thinking about Britains role in European History.America are considered the Worlds Police,i think Britain must be considered the 'Thorn in the side' to any would be dictators.Phillip of Spain;Huge Armada beaten by our little ships and the British Weather!.Napoleon at Sea;Severe arse kicking by a one armed genius!.Napoleon on Land Beaten at the height of his powers by discipline and steadfastness.The Kaiser; sent his Army to arrest our 'Contemptible little Army',who promptly took this insult as their nickname and inflicted such casualties that the Germans remain convinced they were facing an army of machine guns!.And Fatso Goering really thought he could bomb our people into submission,take more than a deranged Blue Whale in a uniform to do that!

I wonder if in Hell Phillip,Napoleon,Goering and the Kaiser are saying to each other...'Those Brits are SUCH a pain in the a***!

Rob

I believe that my affinity to Napoleon comes from the movies ,I grew up with...namely Waterloo. Just the romance of the French columns in drum cadence , the more colorful uniforms, the elan and devotion of the grunts for the LiL Emperor, and then you throw in the reputation of the mighty Old Guard and set all of this to wonderful martial music, makes Waterloo my all time favorite movie and the one that mostly influenced my interest in Napoleonic history. Do not forget, but we colonists might still hold some hidden resentment for our once Empiric British Fathers of that time period and thus Nappy actually looks ok to root for, against those darn redcoatsMichael

 

[Rob]

I believe that my affinity to Napoleon comes from the movies ,I grew up with...namely Waterloo. Just the romance of the French columns in drum cadence , the more colorful uniforms, the elan and devotion of the grunts for the LiL Emperor, and then you throw in the reputation of the mighty Old Guard and set all of this to wonderful martial music, makes Waterloo my all time favorite movie and the one that mostly influenced my interest in Napoleonic history. Do not forget, but we colonists might still hold some hidden resentment for our once Empiric British Fathers of that time period and thus Nappy actually looks ok to root for, against those darn redcoatsMichael

I hear you Michael,i grew up with that film too.But every xmas when it was on, all the family cheered when the British Army stood up and sent the French to Hell with volley fire!!.And my fave line from the film.Napoleon; 'Wellington,why is it always Wellington' Hee hee!!

Rob

 

[damian]

They came on in the same old way
And we saw them off in the same old way

 

[Rob]

Another great moement from the film is the destruction of Napoleons beloved old guard by the British Artillery,must have been unpleasant to say the least!

Rob

 

[damian]

I say Uxbridge You've lost your leg
By Gad SIr So I have So I have

 

[OzDigger]

[Observing the advance of the Gordon Highlanders]
Napoleon Bonaparte: Has Wellington nothing to offer me but these Amazons?

 

[Capitolron]

Spot on.Napoleon made it all the way to the final but Wellington won it in extra time!

You know i've been thinking about Britains role in European History.America are considered the Worlds Police,i think Britain must be considered the 'Thorn in the side' to any would be dictators.Phillip of Spain;Huge Armada beaten by our little ships and the British Weather!.Napoleon at Sea;Severe arse kicking by a one armed genius!.Napoleon on Land Beaten at the height of his powers by discipline and steadfastness.The Kaiser; sent his Army to arrest our 'Contemptible little Army',who promptly took this insult as their nickname and inflicted such casualties that the Germans remain convinced they were facing an army of machine guns!.And Fatso Goering really thought he could bomb our people into submission,take more than a deranged Blue Whale in a uniform to do that!

I wonder if in Hell Phillip,Napoleon,Goering and the Kaiser are saying to each other...'Those Brits are SUCH a pain in the a***!

Rob

Rob

If Napoleon is in Hell - I am sure he is joined by all the British Commanders who tortured and murdered our American Colonialist. Their actions in the southern campaign were a little more than being a "thorn in the side"

Lets not paint with such a wide brush. It has been said before here on the forum - we all have had blood on our hands at one time or another.

Ron

 

[OzDigger]

With all due respect, you guys are both wrong. It is evil people that do evil things, not countries or regimes.

 

[APACHEJOL]

With all due respect, you guys are both wrong. It is evil people that do evil things, not countries or regimes.

Are we still talking about toy soldiers?

 

[OzDigger]

Are we still talking about toy soldiers?

Nah, we've just gone from history lesson to lessons from history

 

[Rob]

Rob

If Napoleon is in Hell - I am sure he is joined by all the British Commanders who tortured and murdered our American Colonialist. Their actions in the southern campaign were a little more than being a "thorn in the side"

Lets not paint with such a wide brush. It has been said before here on the forum - we all have had blood on our hands at one time or another.

Ron

If you read my post you will see i was referring my 'thorn in the side remarks'to dictators that had tried to invade this country.I made no mention of AWI or any other conflict.

Rob

 

[Mister Dave]

Hello Rob!

Having quickly double-checked Mark Adkin's "Waterloo Companion", I can definitely confirm that all of the units mentioned above were certainly present on their respective sides during the Hundred Days.

In addition, most other Napoleonic French and British units that K&C cover, such as the Coldstream Guards, their French Imperial Guard counterparts, the Scots Greys, the French 45th Ligne, the King's German Legion, etc., all saw notable service at Waterloo.

In fact, compiling this list, it's just struck me that practically all of K&C's current French and British Napoleonic range feature units that participated in one respect or another in the 1815 campaign - not quite sure if this is a deliberate common denominator or not!

Anyway, hope this is of some assistance,

Regards,

Molloy.

Suppose I could have put this in the Books thread but this one seems to be getting a lot of traffic, so...wanted to know opinions on this book (Adkin's Waterloo Companion) before deciding to purchase it. Thanks, and I'll take my response off the air, hee, hee.

MD

MD

 

[Molloy]

Suppose I could have put this in the Books thread but this one seems to be getting a lot of traffic, so...wanted to know opinions on this book (Adkin's Waterloo Companion) before deciding to purchase it. Thanks, and I'll take my response off the air, hee, hee.

MD

MD

Hi MD,

Sorry, just noticed your post. If you're trying to decide whether or not to purchase this, I'd say definitely go for it!

Although not exactly cheap (about 65-70 Euro here in Ireland), and probably not ideally sized for a quick, easy to access reference book (it's in the large, hardback, "coffee-table book" style), it's worth every cent for the astonishing volume of information it contains.

Everything from very colourful uniform plates, to in-depth orders of battle from the campaign, to mini biographies of commanders down to brigade level, and much more in between. If you have even the slightest interest in the 1815 campaign, the book is a must. No matter what your level of knowledge or experience with Waterloo is, it's impossible that you won't be able to learn something you didn't previously know from this work.

One of its most interesting and useful features is a large selection of full colour contemporory photographs taken around key areas of the battlefield, with unit positions superimposed - this really helps you pin down exactly where a particular formation was positioned, advanced to, etc. In fact, if you're ever in a position to visit the site of Waterloo, I couldn't recommend a better guide than a couple of these relevant pages photocopied and brought with you. Unfortunately, I neglected to remember this last year, but will definitely be doing so if I (hopefully) manage to make it over for the anniversary weekend this June.

Anyway, in short, it's a 100% recommendation from me if the Battle of Waterloo, or the wider Napoleonic period interests you.

Hope this helps mate,

Cheers,

Molloy.