Tommy’s War 54mm new release

TW54VC01 - L Battery Royal Horse Artillery and the action at Nery

TW54VC01 commemorates the iconic action in which the British 1st Cavalry Brigade repelled a surprise attack by the German 4th Cavalry Division, leading to the capture of 8 German guns in the battle, and 4 more the next day. 3 Victoria Crosses were awarded to soldiers of L Battery, Royal Horse Artillery.

This diorama set from Tommy’s war portrays those VC actions at the Battle of Nery The set is made up of the Royal Artillery 13 pounder gun, Gun carriage limber trailer, 4 figures (3 crew and 1 casualty) and numerous full and empty cartridge cases exquisitely cast in cream easy workable resin and included with every set is an 8 page colour information sheet which has 3 pages on the battle itself, a page on the VC winners and information about the gun kits.

I hope to build the kit & figures soon as a blog.

Mark Dollery

Will look forward to the blog, think I might need it.

What an incredible piece by Tommy's War, very beautiful, I like it

Looking forward to the Blog Mark and to seeing the finished article
Dennis

I generally prefer the German force during WWI, but this is too cool to pass up and given my experience with Tommy's War, I know this kit will be first rate. Must have.

Looking forward to it Mark , certainly a brilliant piece

Looked at this at Telford, damn cool kit, the figures are superb and fit really well together, the gun and limber are beautifully crafted and Darren has a really good caster to do the lot. Well worth saving the pennies to buy this one

Dave

Hi Gentlemen, some nice reactions to this, Thank you
I am now working with Darren (Tommy's war) on some of the construction assembly & instructions, so the updates may have to be shelved at the moment.
I hope to have it assembled and primed for the White Rose bash....
Mark D

Where is the review?

Sorry Mac, you are correct.
The Gun & limber unit set is cast in a cream white resin which is easy to work & all the parts are well detailed.
The 4 man gun team are cast in a grey resin which is slightly harder but that holds the face & hand details to be crisp.
There is a well detailed booklet included which described the actions on the battle & the inspiration of the set & a set of exploded diagrams of the resin parts to be assembled.
with plenty of ammunition shells & casings, the scene can be set for the portrayal of the battle as recorded by a famous print at the time.
This is an excellent set that you would not be sorry to put on your Christmas list
I will post some pictures of the parts soon.
my apologies again...
Mark D

Thank you

The wife just saw the paypal invoice......well, I had a good run boys, but it will totally be worth it when this kit arrives. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and make some room in the dog house.

Superb subject and what a great diorama Darren. Look forward to seeing your paintwork Mark.
Gordon

Well Guys, Pleased to see the response as it deserves it!
Here is some pictures of my trial assembly... Hope darren's got plenty of stock for Christmas...
Mark D

That is a superb looking group...very sharp in detail. It reminds me of the WW I Russian Cossack artillery group made in resin by a Russian manufacturer a year or two ago. Does anyone remember what I referring to? I wish that I could remember who made it and where you can by it.

Just for information



From Heritage History

The Deathless Epic of 'L' Battery

One of the most heroic episodes of the early war was the dauntless stand at Nery (near the French town of Compiegne) by the famous 'L' Battery, Royal Horse Artillery. This splendid incident caught and held the public imagination, and well it might.
The opportunity to perform a heroic deed of this particular nature was only afforded in the earlier stages of the great conflict, when the fighting was in the open.
While all the men of 'L' Battery showed great bravery and skill, three of them exceptionally distinguished themselves and were awarded the coveted Victoria Cross. No three heroes of the war deserved it more. They were, Captain Bradbury, Sergeant-Major George Thomas Dorrell, and Sergeant Nelson. Their heroic stand at Nery has been described as a 'deathless epic.' The story we give below will prove how fitting is this description.
'L' Battery took a notable part in the great battle of Mons, and underwent some terrible experiences. From the very first our superb gunners were hard pressed. The Germans brought into the field a vastly superior force of men and guns. With these they were able to defeat our gallant little army. The honours of the battle of Mons, however, did not rest with the Germans; for what credit can be claimed by a big bully who is able to overpower a little boy? Although our army was forced to retreat from Mons it inflicted terrible punishment on the Germans, and our gunners, outnumbered and hard pressed, gave an excellent account of themselves. In pluck and skill we were superior to the enemy, and the whole world rang with praise when the full story of the battle of Mons and the subsequent retreat became known. It is not necessary to enter here into the details of this historic fight, but we may mention in passing that when the duel of the guns was at its height British and German shells struck each other in the air.

A lot of informations and illustrations just using you web search using " this terms :
L Battery Royal Horse Artillery mons retreat

Hope i just give a little help thor those not british, interesting in this wonderfull diorama.
I ordered mine and waiting for it.

Hi Zastro, Thanks for the reference pictures
It's amazing when you start researching these actions & how much pleasure you get from it.
I have now got the Gun & limber assembled & the instructions are being updated with a bit more detail.
Mark D

All orders are on their way, I know all the UK customers have theirs now and overseas orders should arrive this week.

I'm working on a more comprehensive instruction sheet, I've been working with Mark and know there are a few amends on the originals which need updating and, of course, the more information the better!

So, I'll have those completed shortly. I'll have these as downloads on the website again and also blogged, and then in the New Year I hope to have a video SBS completed.

One question I was asked a lot at Telford was about the casualties. The one included in the set depicts Gunner Darbyshire who was knocked unconscious but survived. I've been asked if I will ever produce the Captain Bradbury figure, you can actually see him at the left in the 3rd of Zastow's illustrations of the battle (you can see this is the one I used as reference). However, Captain Bradbury had lost his legs at this point so it would be (in my opinion) rather ghoulish to model that, but I might consider Bradbury before he was wounded at some point in the future as an addition - but it would be 2015 onwards as I have my release schedule sorted for next year.

I've also been asked about the dead horse and also broken parts for guns and limbers. I didn't include these as I felt that at £120 I was at the top price-wise and of course all these extra's only add to the cost.

I hope that helps, but keep asking questions!

Yes, that's a good idea, Carl, new marketing strategery opportunity...
Any ideas on how to box it up?......
Mark D