News trickling out from the Towers

Calpe Pack P22: march-attack Prussian musketeers.

Calpe Pack P23: march-attack Prussian musketeers, head variants.

After a hiatus almost as long as mine, the 2014 Calpe Towers release juggernaut is ready to roll. Peter F. has had to content with some rubber-related troubles over the last couple of months (sorry, I couldn’t resist that little double entendre opportunity) because his long standing supplier is no more. After trialling a variety of replacements, you can now expect new packs to start becoming available on the website very soon. Are they French, Prussian or Saxon? The answer is: all three!

The immediate focus will be completion of the French march-attack infantry set with packs for voltigeurs and grenadiers with their coats down followed by various command packs. Then there are some Prussian infantry march attack packs and a selection of Saxon infantry packs. Peter’s complete predicted order of priority for work is as follows:

• Finish, the French march-attack set.
• Finish the Prussian march-attack set.
• Finish the Saxon advancing set.
• Finish work on the French gunners.
• Finish work on the Saxon gunners.

Calpe Pack S1: advancing Saxon musketeers with covered shakos.

Calpe Pack S2: advancing Saxon musketeers with calfskin shako covers.

Calpe Pack S3: advancing Saxon musketeers with uncovered shakos.

I think you should see some packs on the website later this week or early next week because Peter has been frantically taking pictures, photoshopping them and writing the blurb to go with the packs. Indeed, some of them already appear to be there! If I’ve got my sums right, there are three Saxon musketeer advancing packs (S1, S2 and S3 – not to be confused with the “old” Saxon packs) and a couple of Prussian musketeer march-attack packs (P22 and P23) already mustered for duty.

New Calpe charging Prussians

Now that the French infantry Route-March set is nearing completion, Peter F.’s attention returned to upgrading the Prussian musketeers prior to the traditional August holiday month. I’ll be adding details of these packs, as well as new pictures of some of the other new Prussians, to the Calpe website over the next week or so. These new charging figures include some really dynamic poses and caters for figures in both the front and rear ranks. So here we go – enjoy these photos!

Pack P17: Prussian musketeers charging – front rank.

Pack P18: Prussian musketeers charging – rear rank.

Pack P19: Prussian musketeers charging – front rank head variants.

Pack P20: Prussian musketeer charging: drummer, standard bearer and NCO.

Pack P21: Prussian musketeers charging – rear rank head variants.

I think my favourite figure out of these 21 new poses is the drummer point the way with his drumsticks! Lastly, if you’re planning to order any of these packs, please note that Peter F. has moved to using a single letter P prefix for these packs now (following the example of using a single letter F for the French).

Scouting report

I’ve been collecting up some links to new (and changed) places of interest for a while now. So, as well as adding them to the links, I thought I’d make a point of posting about them.

Firstly, I’ve often followed the link to Mike Davis’ Horse and Musket website from Leuthen Journal but now he’s got a brand new blog as well and it looks like that’s where a lot of material will be migrating. It’s well worth a look at the galleries of commissioned painted Napoleonics if you haven’t done so before.

Next, another blog that I’ve visited through a chain of links over the years is that of painter Dave Taylor. The reason for mentioning it now is that he has started work with some friends on a Napoleonic project called The Guns of April. This blog charts the group’s progress towards putting on a Salamanca demo game at AdeptiCon 2012. Good luck guys!

And to round things out, here are the blogs of three people who are venturing into 28mm Napoleonic Prussian armies. Der Feldmarschall looks like an experienced wargamer who’s just starting on adding a Prussian force to his collection; Schrumpkopf’s Grossbeeren 1813 blog charts the growth of his army of Calpe figures and the highly interesting development that he’s commissioned Paul Hicks to sculpt some medical staff to tend his wounded; and, lastly, the cleverly named Prussian through the lead pile is first-time blogger Beardy Mike’s story of his switch from Games Workshop to Napoleonic Prussians.

What strikes me about these three different blogs is the sheer variety of different approaches to the same army – not to mention that one author is in the UK, one in the US and the other in Germany. Yet our common interests bind us together!

Our Belgian campaign: Plancenoit

Front view of St Catherine's church, Plancenoit.

Back in July, Peter F. and I travelled to Belgium to visit the sites in the company of several other like-minded Napoleonic enthusiasts. It’s a measure of just how busy 2011 has been that it’s only now that I find myself with the time to sort through the photo files and share the best ones with you.

First things first though: I’d like to publicly acknowledge the kindness of our host for the visit: renowned Belgian Napoleonic author, expert and collector Paul Meganck. Paul, if you’re reading this, I haven’t forgotten my promise to send you copies of all the photos. Secondly, I’d like to thank my fellow campaigners for making the trip so enjoyably: Peter F., Buddy Hoch (of Triangle Miniatures in the US), Pete Bunde (of Brigade Uniform Plates fame) and his good friend and co-author/researcher Markus.

We packed so much into just three days that I’m going to split the photos over several postings. Today’s offerings come from a whistle-stop early evening visit to Plancenoit at the Eastern edge of the Waterloo battlefield. As most of you know, this was the scene of the arrival of the Prussians towards the end of that fateful day and the fight for the village swung to and fro around the now famous church. The first photo (above) shows the front of Saint Catherine’s church which is no longer as it was in 1815, having been extensively rebuilt in 1856. If you look carefully, you can spot a lithe young Peter F. wielding his camera at the foot of the steps.

The second and third photos (below) are detail shots of the two memorial plaques either side of the door. One remembers Lieutenant Louis of the Young Guard and translates as “To Lieutenant M. Louis, 3rd Tirailleurs of the Guard, born at Jodoigne on 3/4/1767, fell at Plancenoit 18/6/1815”. The other is in honour of the commander of the Young Guard at Plancenoit and translates as “In this village of Plancenoit that became famous on 18 June 1815, the Young Guard of the Emperor Napoleon was commanded by General Count Duhesme who was mortally wounded here”.

Plaque in honour of Lieutentant M. Louis.

Plaque in honour of General Count Duhesme.

The fourth photo (below) shows the rear of the church which really highlights the extent of the rebuilding. The graveyard and the interior of the church have several more interesting monuments but our time was limited and we wanted to make sure we also saw the Prussian Monument.

Rear view of Saint Catherine's church, Plancenoit.

My final photo for the day shows the famous Prussian Monument on the outskirts of Plancenoit village. It is impressive but inconveniently surrounded by a cast iron railing which limited photographic opportunities. I think you can still get a good sense of it’s austere grandeur from the image below:

The Prussian Monument at Plancenoit.