Gamer in Exile

I ordered a large number of figures from Old Glory recently. There were twenty three medium sized ($37.55 shipping) flat rate packets containing everything from 10mm ECW, 28mm AWI, and 15mm vehicles from WW2 and Modern. I am going to be busy for a while!

The figures are great. I can’t fault anything. OG sensibly uses a good amount of lead which saves on broken swords and bayonets. Casting is excellent. Back in the day there was some times a problem with old molds. This order and last I bought lots of 1st edition Old Glory figures. They were very well formed.

I ordered some Napoleonic Austrians for a friend who wanted me to paint them. There are a dozen or so guns, three battalions of Grenz, some Jaeger skirmishers, and three units of Austrian Landwehr. I actually order five units of Landwehr as OG have five different types of Landwehr and I wanted to take a look at them. Anything my friend doesn’t want I will take into my own collection. These are pretty nice.

These figures are painted to my regular standard.

AXI19 Austrian Grenz

AXI21 Austrian Jaeger skirmishers

AXI22 Austrian Landwehr

AXI23 Austrian Landwehr

AXI24 Napoleonic Austrian Landwehr

AXI25 Austrian Napoleonic Landwehr

AXI26 Austrian Napoleonic Landwehr

AXI27 Austrian Napoleonic Landwehr

AXI28 Austrian Napoleonic Landwehr.

That’s all folks!

These figures are the first order I received for ready painted Napoleonics. Other orders have already been dispatched but these lads had to be based. Everything was ready twelve days from receiving the order.

There are twenty battalions of 48 man Austrian line infantry and four battalions of Austrian Grenadiers. Some people take years to accrue an army this size. So twelve days isn’t bad. You can’t see too much from this shot. Follow earlier posts in my blog to see detailed pictures or check out the front page of my painting service

http://www.reinforcementsbypost.com

These are some of the French Chasseurs which I’ve painted to sell as ready made units. The figures are from the Sash & Sabre range.

Ready painted 25mm French Chasseurs

I bought these lovely figures from Dave, of Britannia miniatures, at the SALUTE show in London in March of 2004. I bought so many figures that I had to bring a ruck sack to take them away again. I also had to stop on the way for a good few pints of refreshment with my wargaming buddy Mick Donahue. Hard work! I thought these figures would keep me busy for a long time. I still haven’t painted everything!

I have painted quite a few Partizans over the past year for other people. Each time I’ve learned more about which colours will work. I think these figures have turned out quite nicely.

Britannia Miniatures WW2 Partizans in 20mm. Painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangaldesh.

The figures are based for Command Decision. I think they can be used for other systems no problem.

Britannia Miniatures WW2 Partizans in 20mm. Painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangaldesh.

The figures are armed with a variety of British, American, German and Russian weapons. There is a Maxim machine gun and a couple of MG34/42s for heavy fire power. There is a 120mm mortar and a British 2 inch mortar as well as a crew for a gun/atg (not shown). The rank & file are armed with german MP40s, rifles of various nation, PPSHs, Stens. There is a bazooka (could be a Panzershrek!) and a few Panzarfausts.

Britannia Miniatures WW2 Partizans in 20mm. Painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangaldesh.

This is my new system for basing which I learned from the master Chris “Itinerant Gamer” Cornwall. He uses budgie grit and speculated this was made from ground up sea shells. We don’t have budgie grit in Bangladesh so I went to the beach and bought arms full of tacky souvineers made with sea shells which we ground up and added to sand. I think it looks pretty good. Better than gaudy souvineers anyway!

Britannia Miniatures WW2 Partizans in 20mm. Painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangaldesh.

The pictures don’t really do justice to the shading and highlighting. But they do show what excellent figures Dave is selling.

Here are some pictures I took just now of 28mm Napoleonics which I have ready for sale. I’m waiting on some figures to be based according to my new super-dooper basing method picked up from the Itinerant wargamer (Chris) before taking proper photos. So please don’t get your knickers in a twist over flags or weapons which aren’t straight!

Napoleonic Austrian Cuirassier. Ready painted figures from Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

Napoleonic Austrian Cuirassier. Ready painted figures from Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

Napoleonic Austrian infantry (Ready painted by Reinforcements by Post)

Napoleonic British infantry (Ready painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh)

Napoleonic Russian infantry (Ready painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh)

Napoleonic Prussian infantry (Ready painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh)

This is just a quick post. A full announcement will follow on TMP.

I’ve finished 73 French and Bavarian Battalions for my Blenheim game. I actually finished some time ago but I was exhausted by the scale of the undertaking and had to take a break (in Indonesia for a bit of Diving!) before I was ready to photograph the units. Even photographing this many units is time consuming. Hope you enjoy. Now I have to have a bash at some cavalry and artillery. Not to mention more allies!

Most regiments have 2 or 3 Battalions. I have only photographed one Battalion of each regiment.

The molded flags are fantastic once they are painted because they won’t wear out or snap off like paper flags. But are quite a lot of work to paint free hand. They also had to be researched, which took some time. I’ve yet to paint some units because the flags, and even the uniforms, are unknown.

You can get a larger picture by clicking on an image.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession Bavarian infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession Bavarian infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession Bavarian infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession Bavarian infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession Bavarian infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession Bavarian infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession Bavarian infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

War of the Spanish Succession French infantry Battalion painted by Reinforcements by Post in Bangladesh.

There is only one main road in this city of five million people. Not surprisingly there are many traffic jams. I was stuck in traffic for some time before I espied the cause of this particular jam.

UN Road block

It is an armoured personnel carrier (APC) of the Bangladeshi army. I think it is a BTR-70 but I don’t remember the visual differences between the 60 and 70. I seem to remember that the BTR-70 was introduced as a cheaper alternative to the BTR-60, and there are surely more BTR-70s available, so I expect this is the one the Bangladeshi army picked up.

Bangladeshi BTR-70 with UN markings

These vehicles are in UN markings. They have just exited the double mooring jetty which is maintained by the Bangladeshi Navy. Presumably they are just back from one of the UN missions which Bangladesh has been engaged in.

From what I’ve seen on the roads, these vehicles drive around in pairs with the first towing the second. I don’t know if this is to save fuel or to keep maintainance down by just using one engine in two.

Oops! This laddie tried to steer through the delivery gate of the post office.

Unfortunately the driver in the following vehicle didn’t turn sharply enough out of the double mooring jetty gate and ended up face to face with a pillar of the post office delivery gate entrance. As it always does in Bangladesh, traffic piled up fast and there was a jam that extended a couple of miles down the road. This is the main artery of the country, with the Export Processing Zone and the port serviced by this road. Doh!

To be fair to the driver the road lay out is lousy. There is no crossing. The driver has to swing out of the narrow gates of the double mooring jetty, force his way across a lane of traffic that is seldom free, execute a hard right, and then turn into busy traffic in his direction of travel. It doesn’t help that Bangladeshi drivers are the worst in the world.

Unknown rifle

Unknown rifle

My painting studio is located in an Export Processing Zone in Chittagong (Bangladesh). This is a good location as we have fairly regular elecxtricity, gas (well, ish) and water (most of the time). Outside the EPZ life is a shambles with many people only having power for a third of the day.

My space is in a rented building. The space is really nice with 15 feet ceilings. Outside is a bit of a dump, as you can see from these photos.

There are generally two security guards posted in the building. From what I gather, they are only there to report if a dodgy old transformer for the building goes. This is located out back of the building. If it goes, it goes with a loud bang and our power goes out until it can be reset or any knackered line can be replaced. Ah, the joys of living in the third world.

Strangely, on this occasion one of the guards had a gun. The Guards are drawn from an Ansar force which is a government force anyone can hire out. You can get an unarmed guy and this is what we generally have in the building (it really isn’t dangerous around here) or you can hire a guy armed with a rifle. The cost is less than a hundred pounds a month. The guy with the gun probably turned up due to an admin cock up.

I think his gun is a short lee enfield. It is dated 1942. What threw me is that it is stamped “US property”. I misplaced the snap that shows this.

Unknown rifle

Click on an image to enlarge it.

I’ve just painted some Alban miniatures. These are 28mm Napoleonic voltigeurs. The figures are slim and very detailed. This is what I expected to find in plastics, but with the bonus that you don’t have to put them together. I was so impressed by the figures I decided to post pictures of them.

Click on an image to get a larger picture.

Alban miniatures 28mm Napoleonic French voltigeurs

Alban miniatures 28mm Napoleonic French voltigeurs

Alban miniatures 28mm Napoleonic French voltigeurs

Alban miniatures 28mm Napoleonic French voltigeurs

Alban miniatures 28mm Napoleonic French voltigeurs

Alban miniatures 28mm Napoleonic French voltigeurs

Alban miniatures 28mm Napoleonic French voltigeurs

Alban miniatures 28mm Napoleonic French voltigeurs

Alban miniatures 28mm Napoleonic French voltigeurs

I rent 5400 square feet (but pay for 8,000 square feet) in an Export Processing Zone in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The rent is comparable to UK rent somewhere like the Midlands, so it is really high for Bangladesh. But we have the  privilage of fairly regular electrity and water. We are also safe from general extortionists who prey on businesses outside the EPZ.

The building is old but generally quite nice. We have fifteen feet ceilings and walls a foot thick which keep us quite cool even during the hottest season. I was a bit shocked to find that part of a concrete structure above one of the buildings had partially collapsed the night before last. About 20 kilos of masonry and concrete had come down during the night. I should have immediately reported it but hadn’t gotten around to doing so. This was a mistake.

This morning I came and found this

Collapse above entrance. Click for a larger image.

This would have killed anyone passing into the building at the time of collapse. Here is another view from inside.

View from inside. On the right you can just see the entrance way to my painting studio.

I don’t know the reason for the collapse. It could be due to recent heavy rains acting on an old structure. It could also be due to the activity of a next door godown (warehouse) where a local company has been storing HUGE rolls of card for making carboard cartons. When these things are off loaded everything jumps with the impact.

These are huge rolls of card for making cardboard cartons. It takes a team of half a dozen men to move one.

This activity has destroyed our loading bay over the past couple of weeks

Bangladesh Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) Loading bay has been destroyed by heavy loads

I’ve persuaded all of my people to use the entrance on the other side of the building. I’ve written to the General Manager of the CEPZ informing him about the situation. He is very active and I’m sure he will take care of this quickly and properly. If this happened outside an EPZ no action would be taken until people were killed.

If this happened in the west people would be rushing heading for the hills and calling their local MP. But living in Bangladesh is so dangerous that people become desensitised. I have a large collection of pictures of crashes and pile ups that have occurred as I drive to and from work.

People here don’t hesitate to put toxic ingredients into all kinds of food if it makes them cheaper. I used to belong to a club which served foreign alcohol (only clubs can sell booze here.) The member in charge of the bar watered the drinks down so much you could hardly tell the original contents. Someone like this won’t hesitate to give the watered down mix a “kick” by introducing an ingredient which will cause illness as a side effect. So that I am sure my life will be 5-10 years shorter for having lived here. One of my friends recently died of Cancer which suddenly took him when he went back to the US to take care of his wife’s cancer treatment. The only reason that Cancer rates are not higher in Bangladesh is because people die so early of heart disease.

This doesn’t give rise to morbid thoughts in Bangladesh. Instead it leaves people with a “don’t worry be happy” mentality.