In this episode of Conversion Clinic, we’re joined by the Big Boss himself – Warlord Games CEO and founder John Stallard! John’s Epic Battles collection has been growing since even before the range was officially released, and today he’s brought in a very special piece for us to take a look at – a converted British gun limber! Over to you, boss…
John: “Even amongst the sea of beautiful Napoleonic outfits, there’s something about the British Army Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) uniform that is terribly engaging. Lots of lace? Check. Short jacket? Check. Add the fantastic Tarleton helmet and presto! You’ve got the best-dressed gunners of the era, no matter what Napoleon’s artillerymen might say.
Whilst some gamers prefer not to feature limbers in their armies, for me they’re an absolute must-have – if for no other reason than they look really cool. They also help populate the table, giving the battlefield a properly Epic feel.
I simply couldn’t wait for the Design Studio to produce a set of limbers for Epic Battles: Waterloo, so I raided the warehouse – the perks of being the boss, eh? Armed with a trusty set of clippers and superglue, I was off to the races! I started off with an Epic Battles: American Civil War limber and gun in metal, and set to work.
The limber is a beautiful casting, and though strictly of a slightly later period, is very similar to the standard British limber of the Napoleonic Wars. It has six galloping horses and three riders, exactly right for what I wanted – best of all, it has two seated gunners clinging on for dear life on the back!
It takes precisely two minutes to carry out this brutal but simple conversion. Simply take your best clippers and snip the heads off all the riders and passengers! If you’re a bit weird like me, you might like to keep them in your spares box for some nefarious madcap scheme at a later date – you never know when you might need to get a-head!
Once that’s done, take two sprues of our excellent Epic Battles: Waterloo British Light Cavalry and behead five of the RHA gunners on each sprue – you now have enough gorgeous Tarleton-helmeted heads to outfit your limber crew! A simple dab of super glue et voilà (as Bonaparte might have put it), your ACW Yankees are now enlisted in Nosey’s army.
At this scale, the differences between a British 6 or 9-pounder and the later American piece are so small as to make no difference to me, so I used the lovely metal gun that comes with the limber. I leave it unattached on the base, and simply ‘unlimber’ it when the time comes to fire!
After that, it’s all down to a paint job. As you can see one can do as much or as little as one wants, but being my favourite unit I put some extra effort in and think that the end result looks rather nice – but then I would say that, wouldn’t I!
If I were to use the British Infantry Brigade boxed set, I could easily snip off either a drummer’s head or two of the artillery crew and obtain their shakoes. As before, just replace the seated drivers’ heads with shakoes, and you’ll have foot artillery limber for the British Hanoverian and King’s German Legion – though remember, the drivers on horseback will still need Tarleton helmets!
Now… how to do a French version?”
Try It Yourself
Inspired by the boss, we’ve put together a great little bundle so you can convert a limber of your very own – buy an ACW limber, and get two Light Cavalry sprues with it. To encourage as many of you to have a go as possible, in this bundle, the value is mighty, as we’re chopping the cost of the two sprues by 75%!
