Haiti - Spanish Officers

Finally managed to get these off the paint table, they must have been hanging around since the summer. Having painted up a couple of Spanish units in recent months, these two Front Rank officers will represent Brigadier Joaquin Garcia y Moreno and one of his senior commander in the campaign. 

Whilst browsing the web I spotted this plate the other day.

I quite fancy a unit of Dragoons with a couple of head swaps to create some of the black forces but honestly can't face any more cavalry right now.....

Yet more Spanish - Trent Miniatures Black Militia

With the varnish just about dry the Spanish Black Militia make it to the table top for the battle between the Spanish regulars and the rebellious slaves of Princess Amethyste.

The full battle report should be up this weekend.

Some great castings from the guys at Trent, at the moment only enough to make up an Irregular skirmish unit, but eventually I will paint up the remaining 14 to give me a couple of militia stands.

Let's hope the curse of freshly painted figures can be broken... :-)

Next up.... something a little more modern.

The Spanish Army in Haiti - 1790 - 1802

With a change of job just around the corner, I seem to have a little more time on my hands in the evenings, which is good as the Spanish won't paint themselves, with a self imposed deadline of Thursday evening I wanted to ensure these were off the paint table.

Within the campaign setting they will be regulars in sections of 8. I have a couple of Big men to bolster the ranks with a couple of mounted figures to come later. As usual the Infantry are from Trent Miniatures, with Officers and drum from Front Ranks Spanish Range, they are a good match once painted and based.

The Spaniards whilst a major player in the region seem to be somewhat overlooked in terms of history and documented accounts, I suspect because they seem to be on the losing side in a number of the encounters. There may be some Spanish text but I have not been able to track down much.

Here's my take on events pulled from a couple of different sources for those interested.

Once the French Revolution reached Haiti shores it's impact was bound to spread across into the Spanish part of the island. As early as 1789 the governor of Santo Domingo, Don Joaquín García y Moreno, put his troops on alert when news of the revolution broke. Despite the events across the border there was no significant incursion into Spanish territory. The Spanish undertook a policy of watching and waiting hoping that the mutual destruction of the warring factions would allow them to regain their lost influence and power in the region.

When Spain and England declared war on France in 1793 the Spanish colonists stopped cooperating with the French. They supplied arms to the likes of Biassou and Louverture as well as offering asylum to rebel leaders, before to long Spanish troops were fighting the French alongside the rebel slaves. 

The Spanish abolished slavery to win over the black majority. However Louverture abandoned the Spanish and went over to the French as he believed they were more genuine in their desire to free the black majority. With the loss of the black rebels the Spanish started to lose territory to the French and Haitian loyalists. The Spaniards abandoned the frontier posts of San Rafael, San Miguel, and Hincha, and to regroup in the towns of Las Caobas and Bánica in the center of the island, and in Dajabón, Bayajá, and Montecristi, in the North. 

Las Caobas und Bánica fell to Louverture when news of the end of the war in europe reached the island in 1795 just as the Spanish were starting to fight back.

Peace was to be short lived once again Louverture crossed the border in 1801 and captured the city of Santo Domingo followed quickly by the rest of the island. Despite the promise of ending slavery to incite the local blacks to support him, he was to break this promise. 

Louverture only left Spanish territory when a newly arrived French expedition landed to retake the island.

So there you have it a potted history of the Spanish in Haiti - Let's see if they can do better in our campaign.

Paint Table Sunday.

I have done very little painting over recent months everytime I see light at the end of tunnel it always seems to be somebody witn at torch bringing more stuff to do, work, training - essay writing (its been 25 years since I last had to do this....), household tasks, but finally it feels like all these matters are under control and the paint table can come out from under the mountain of non-hobby tasks.

I thought I would ease myself back in with a couple of odds and end from the to do list for Sharp Practice. I do like a nice scenario and Sharp Practice is best played with a little more texture to its games rather than simply dropping figures on the table. So what better than a couple of Front Rank  "ladies" in need of rescue. Not your high class offering here but more camp followers - But my Ottomans care little as long as they are European....

The Ammunition cart is also from Front Rank, I considered adding a draft animal but figured it would get more use as a static piece.

The shock markers were from the odds and ends box, I have added two dice frames to keep the number of markers on the table low.

Meanwhile the French get some reinforcements for the stalled Dawn and Departures Campaign in the form of a light artillery piece and crew - Another great set of castings from Brigade Games.

Dressed in the Kleber uniform of the day they should give the French a little more of a punch and keep the Ottoman Cavalry at bay.

French Artillery

Right back to the brushes before I get dragged off on some other non-hobby task.

Old Glory WW1 Russian Casualties

Occasionally you still find pockets of the Internet that you just can't get any help on. One such challenge was trying to find suitable pictures of Old Glory's WW1 Russian Casualties.

When you click on the US or the UK web site you get the following.

Product ID: WWI-606

Russian Casualties 25mm scale - 10 figures Price: $16.00 Google Images throw up no pictures.. So here they are... Dust Tears & Dice bringing you Public Service wargaming..... The sculpts need a little cleaning up and the faces lack the definintion of more recent manufacturers, but they do produce ranges with great depth. But painted and based they will fit the bill and blend in nicely with the rest of my Russo-Japanese Collection. What used to be a frustration has now turned into an obsession, over the years I had seen an increasing trend to move to blister packs of figures rather than single purchases, I understand the commercial reasons for this but there is always the occasion pack where you would get the odd sculpt you did not like or could not use, casualty figures used to be that pose, however since deciding on using these for shock point bases for the Too Fat Lardies rules, I have become a little obsessed seeking out the dead and the dying for all periods. I found spotted these the other week from Front Rank Figurines, £1.80 a horse ans still available as a single purchase, they will certainly suit all periods.