Ready to take the field again

 The enemy appears to be on high ground.

The Victoria Rifles are now ready to take the field again as a full strength infantry unit. The bases have had my usual treatment these days: a coat of glue then dipped in sawdust, a coat of mixed green paint and then a damp brush with lighter green and yellowy brown, the same paint I use on my table top but since its mixed fresh each time, everything is similar but nothing is quite the same which oddly lends a more natural look and means that no one minor variation stands out.


I'm really pleased at how well the two new figures fit in but amazed at how much better the old figures look with a coat of gloss varnish (Twenty years ago when they were painted, I was still using matte varnish, even for old toy soldiers). The dark green uniforms in particular now look an appropriately dark shade of green although the varnish was the only change. 

At one point I had considered using the rifle units as some sort of light infantry sharpshooters but in Faraway, as in Canada, the "Rifle" designation and uniforms didn't mean that they were trained or used differently from any other militia unit. Actually, at the Battle of Cut Knife Hill it was the Governor General's Foot Guards, an Ottawa militia unit, that provided a party of Sharpshooters that played a prominent role. I do have some original Britains' prone guardsmen and have not yet ruled out a small unit of Sharpshooters in bearskins!

Another angle. In the background the Black Watch is showing off their ankles and their new bases. I have decided on a standard 3 soldiers on a 60mmx60mm base as safer for rifle tips and conveniently  standard across several of my collections. It was a decision that I made and started to implement in 2015 then temporarily rebelled against as too sensible or something.