British Heroes of the 1881 Invasion of England - Part 1

[Malamute]

Introducing:

Colonel Horatio " Chopper" Stayhard VC.



Hero of the Indian mutiny of  1857, Colonel Stayhard gained the affectionate nickname "Chopper" whilst involved in the defence of the residency at Lucknow.

A captain at the time in the 32nd regiment of foot he volunteered to lead a night time raid to silence an enemy battery of seige guns that had been moved into range of the residency.

 The small force quietly crept out under cover of darkness and quickly went about their business of spiking the mutineers cannons. They  were about make good their escape when a sepoy sentry came upon the scene and raised the alarm.

 Captain Stayhard ordered his saboteurs to retun to their own lines whilst he held off the imminent arrival of hundreds of angry mutineers. His loyal Sikhs and fellow officers protested him staying behind and begrudginly began the retreat.

Behind them they heard the  thunderous sound of muskets being discharged and the clash of steel, coupled with the screams of the furious mutineers. It was too much for The Captains men to bear, they halted, turned and returned to the sound of the fighting.

Things were not going so well for the young Captain Stayhard. He placed his back to the nearest seige gun and prepared to meet the attack of the angry mutineers, ready to sell his life dearly so that his fellow officers and men could return to their own lines unscathed.

The mutineers advanced cautiously at first fearing a trap. The Capatin aimed his pistol at the fearcest looking fellow and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened... "Bugger!" he muttered to himself, "this was not going to plan.

Seeing himself slowly being surrounded by the still cautious Sepoys and wondering at what point they would charge he decided attack was the best form of defence.

He drew his sword, shouted as loud as possible "Gaud Save the Queen" and charged forward. The startled Sepoys recoiled at first, and in  a panic some discharged their muskets to ill effect.
The Captain bore down on the nearest mutineers slashing left and right with his sabre. His first blow severed the right arm of a particularly ugly fellow.

He quickly turned took a huge backswing and brought the sabre crashing down on the head of another ugly Sepoy. The blade sunk deep, splitting the mans head in two. Unfortunately in doing so the blade shattered as he tried to wrestle it free from the mans skull.

A second time he screamd out "Bugger" but this time with more feeling!

Stayhard dropped the useless sabre and preceeded to pick up the dead mans Tulwar and an axe discarded during the fight.Covered in blood he was a fearsome sight as he swung both weapons to deadly effect.Anyone who came within range was cut to pieces in seconds.

Unbeknown to Capatin Stayhard, his men returning to assist him arrived in time to see the mutineers running in terror from this big man dripping with gore, charging about cursing and swearing, wielding axe and sword.

From this moment he was affectionately nicknamed "Chopper" by his loyal Sikhs and troopers of the 32nd.

Now a Colonel, he has returned from India to assist in the defence of the Capital as the Prussians advance on London.

[answer_is_42]

Awesome paintjob, great background, but why is he riding a penny farthing? Surely a man famed for chopping people up with an axe rides around on a warhorse, or a steam tank, or a spaceship or something... 

Who makes the model itself?

[Svennn]

I thought you would mention how "Choppers" men rallied (raleigh'd) before returning to his aid

Nice work, I hope you are doing more, Eureka/Pax Limpopo I believe?

[Malamute]

Indeed he is Eureka, although converted from a unicycle rider.

[JollyBob]

Very nice.  Great story too.

[thejammedgatling]

An inspiring character, though I'd hope he would not be wielding too much on that penny farthing...

Good story...now for the sequel? (You're on a slippery slope here....sure this is how 'Flashman' started..)

Thanks for sharing!

[Malamute]

An inspiring character, though I'd hope he would not be wielding too much on that penny farthing...

Good story...now for the sequel? (You're on a slippery slope here....sure this is how 'Flashman' started..)

Thanks for sharing!

 Not sure how The Colonels story will develop as we have a major battle coming up, but There are other characters with background fluff to tell.. Admiral, Lord Ivor Mough D'Iver for instance...

[argsilverson]

A very nice background for am important hero!
Hope to have more to show us!

A little off-topic question: How you managed the base, have you used any reinforment?

[Malamute]

A very nice background for am important hero!
Hope to have more to show us!

A little off-topic question: How you managed the base, have you used any reinforment?

The Penny Farthing has a reasonable sized base which I glued to a washer for extra stability and to blend iwth my otehr stuff..  He is very stable, but still a fragile figure as the bike wheels are not particulary rigid, they are soft metal.

[Lowtardog]

I used to have the pigtickler figures which I bought from GZG and found the lancers lances quite robust and the flash a barsteward to remove did you get yours from them?

[Argonor]

the bike wheels are not particulary rigid, they are soft metal.

So, theoretically you could easily make a 'crashed' version of the farthing (with curled up wheel)?

[Malamute]

I used to have the pigtickler figures which I bought from GZG and found the lancers lances quite robust and the flash a barsteward to remove did you get yours from them?

Fighting 15s. The figure was flash free, but still quite a soft metal, the penny farthing is very bendy...

So, Argonor yes, easy to do a buckled wheel..

[Skrapwelder]

Very nicely done, Sir.

I would think that the scabbard would be the main cause of crumpled penny-farthings Argonor is keen to replicate.

[sebastosfig]

Blimey, now the Prussians have something to be scared of