Bastion No. 2 under way

To be honest dear reader there is not a lot happening in the hobby space lately. The clue is in the dearth of updates on this here blog. Of course life is not usually black and white so that’s not quite true. Various favoured wargaming sites on the interwebs are getting their usual hammering emanating out of Neu Scloss von Peter on a daily basis. The intellect is still being expended on the hobby but the paint brushes etc are on an extended holiday. But there is hope of a reversal in fortunes.

The son & heir had moved back into his room in Neu Scloss von Peter having completed his studies and time in Dunedin. That was great as we get on well. But what’s even better is that he has now moved out again into a grown up’s flat – as opposed to a student flat – taking most of the bedroom furniture with him. Meaning that this seems to be the big move with no returns. Meaning that his room no longer needs to held as a ready reserve. Meaning that Bastion Number 2 is in preparation. For the confused The Bastion was the dedicated wargaming room in the prior abode Scloss von Peter.

Above: the view of Bastion Number 2 from the entry door

Many thanks to the good Fraulien von Peter herself who has been a trooper with cleaning and even some painting on the internals of Bastion Number 2. A marvel of a sapper and an engineer all rolled up into one.

Above: the view looking back towards the entry door

The plan is to weaponise Bastion Number 2 by cleaning up the table tennis table that languishes in the garage and install it along with it’s “grass” covering. Not long now hopefully.

Above:the lighting situation has potential with three individually switched light sources. New bulbs will be investigated. Perhaps daylight bulbs will be a go

Above: ok the move out is still a work in progress. Impressively most of what remains are The son & heir’s wargaming paraphernalia. And there’s more on a table in the hall!

 

Bring on the Russian Mounted Jagers

von Peter himself has always had a soft spot for Russian Mounted Jagers and the Perrys have obviously got wind of this. Back in Snippets #18 The dear readers attention was targeted on the Perry’s efforts to create  a box of plastic Russian and/or Prussian dragoons. Now they’ve added Russian Mounted Jagers in to the mix/box.

As a forewarning of potential button counter attacks the Perry’s have posted an official warning …

As you might notice, to get these on the frame there is a slight compromise in that the cuffs for the Jäger should be pointed and have one button, but this is easily remedied with a bit of paint.

You have been warned.

 

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself 

Snippets #18

A paucity of posts reflects the hobby falling down the priority list. Sigh!

Them Perry twins sure are busy

As is their way the Perry twins of Perry Miniatures fame have been busy. From amongst a raft of announcements two of their “projects” have been selected as suitable for reporting here.

1. Plastic Napoleonic allied cavalry. Two separate boxes of them are “in progress” with no release date as yet released. A box of Russian uhlans …

… and perhaps more interestingly a box that can create either Prussian or Russian dragoons …

2. Two new Napoleonic ranges have been announced – 1806 Prussians and 1806-09 Saxons.

von Peter himself has always thought that the 1806 Prussians would make a fine looking army though he is not likely to go there. His nascent(!) 28mm Napoleonic collection is of an 1813 ilk and he already has Seven Years War Prussians that in many ways are similar to those of 1806.

Pictures “borrowed” from the Perry Miniatures facebook page.

 

Eagles of Empire Miniatures

Eagles of Empire Miniatures are a company who up to now seem to have focussed on later nineteenth century conflicts, ie. the Franco-Prussian War. But they have now diversified with a range of 28mm 1812 Napoleonic figures. This they have managed in conjunction with the Russian Avanpost Miniatures.

The figures are cast in resin and appear to come as sets of 9 skirmishing infantry £16.00, 18 infantry £29.00, 6 cavalry £29.00 or artillery piece with 4 gunners £13.50.

von Peter himself has no idea how these figures compare size wise with other manufacturers wares. The expectation is that the range will be expanded in 2021.

 

And of course it is the festive season with Christmas 2020 recently celebrated and the New Year only just consummated. A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. And in these COVID-19 times please take the greatest care out there.

 

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself 

Snippets #2

Some more miscellaneous news items for the betterment of The dear readers. We start with the picture …

Above: Continuing the Russian cavalry theme of the last post von Peter himself is pleased to present the celebrated Russian St. Petersburg Dragoon Regiment. In 1813 they were brigaded with the Elizabethgrad Hussar Regiment – here seen in support in the distance -in the brigade of Generalmajor Manteufel.

 Wargames Foundry Russian Dragoons sculpted by the Perrys. Pigments applied by Greater Queeg.
And FYI the command stand to be seen between the two regiments is not Generalmajor Manteufel but rather some passing cossack commander.

Click for a larger and much clearer view.

General d’Armee Rules breaks cover

David Brown has provided a view of the cover for his forthcoming Napoleonic General d’Armee rules. von Peter himself is not sure that he approves of French dragoons flaunting a captured Prussian standard circa 1806 as the cover picture but he’ll magnanimously let it go this time!  😊

Publication is set down for April 2017, ie. this month.

And please excuse the pun in the heading! 😀

 

Of a Grossdeutschland nature

A slight deviation resultant of researching the previous General d’Armee item. General d’Armee is to be published by Reisswitz Press – the part of the TheTooFatLardies conglomerate which publishes rules not written by the TooFatLardies themselves. One of the TooFatLardies successful rules is the WWII platoon sized Chain of Command for which TooFatLardies have published several Pint Sized Campaign scenario books.

Just published is the Pint Sized Campaign Storming the Citadel – Grossdeutschland Attack at Kursk.

This Pint Sized Campaign for Chain of Command is the first covering the attack of PanzerGrenadier Division Grossdeutschland at Kursk.

So it appears there will be at least one more Pint Sized Campaign charting PanzerGrenadier Division Grossdeutschland’s experiences at Kursk.

So why does von Peter himself mention it here? Partly because if he was ever to model an elite WWII German formation then something from PanzerGrenadier Division Grossdeutschland would probably be it. A large part of the reason for this is due to the book The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer who recounts his experiences on the Eastern Front much of it as part of Grossdeutschland. A recommended if somewhat sobering read of a German soldiers experiences on the Eastern Front in WWII. There is / was some controversy around the book but this does not detract from a riveting read. Recommended.

 Above: the latest edition of The Forgotten Soldier has a different cover to von Peter’s  current edition* and is now illustrated.

* von Peter himself has bought the book twice as he lent out his first … and it never came back … sob!

Plastic Byzantines?

Spotted on the Wargame News and Terrain website …

Fireforge Games: Possible Plastic Byzantine or Goth Infantry

Fireforge Games previewed this sneak peek picture of their next release. Rumors are that these are plastic Byzantine or Goth Infantry, we can only hope!

If they are Byzantines and depending on which Byzantines they are time wise this news may over excite a certain Garage Gaming Terry. von Peter himself awaits with interest!   🤡

Flickering explosion / fire markers

In an effort to bring a little bit of high tech life to their gaming tables Garage Gaming Terry and von Peter himself have jointly procured some Flickering Explosion Markers from Annie at Bad Squiddo Games. These are just flickering electric tea lights with some fluffy material stuff coloured and glued on top. There are several ‘how to’ guides on creating these on the ‘webs but for £2.00 each when you buy between five and nineteen of them why bother? Time is money and time is also exceedingly precious.

Watch the promotional video for moving images of the markers at work …

There is some suspicion that some of von Peters terrain items will be suffering from fires in the nearish future!

The painting desk – Aprils’ Fool Day 2017

As an April Fools’ Day treat von Peter himself will now reveal what he currently has on his painting desk. From front to back, left to right we have …

Front row:

• the first two stands of the Saxon 1/Prinz Frederich August Infantry Regiment. These are completed but are here for reference as the rest of the battalion painfully makes it’s way to the front
• two Austrian twelve pounder cannon. These are being readied for when their crew marches in from their ‘training’ with Nigel Fun-nel
• two Prussian limber horses. All undercoated in white and waiting for some horsey pigments
• a Napoleonic civilian. She is complete and needs to be based … which has a raised an issue. von Peter himself has plenty of bases of all sizes for various armies periods etc. They tend to be of square / rectangular shape and too large for this single figure. A round base would seem a better choice.  Hmmm.

Middle row:

• A mounted officer and four figures for the Saxon 1/Prinz Frederich August Infantry Regiment. They are coming along nicely
• three Prussian mounted Feldjaegers. One was to be painted as the start of a Prussian command stand – von Peter himself is well short of proper Prussian command stands. Then von Peter himself thought that if he was painting one then he may as well paint one of the two Feldjaegers that he has in stock to be single ADC type figures for the Prussians. And then von Peter himself thought that if he was painting two then he may as well paint all three of the Feldjaegers that are in his immediate future. So three mounted Feldjaegers sit on dummy horses for painting purposes. They are undercoated in black.

Back row:

• eight horse making their way through an oil painting regime. They are destined for a variety of uses …
  • a Bavarian ADC to be part of the Bavarian CinC command stand. The ADC himself sits in the white tissue at the right of the picture
  • an Austrian Adjutant to be used singly as an ADC figure
  • as part of the Austrian grenadier command stand
  • an Austrian General of Cavalry to be part of the Austrian CinC command stand
  • the mounted Saxon officer for 1/Prinz Frederich August Infantry Regiment
  • the Prussian Feldjaeger to be singly based
  • a Saxon ADC as part of a Saxon command stand
  • the Prussian Feldjaeger as part of a Prussian command stand.

And for the record the Austrian battery hiding at the bottom of the picture is being used as reference for the Austrian 12 pdrs.

The good news is that some painting etc is being actioned on most nights. Huzzah!  😀

Oh, and click the picture for a larger and clearer image.

 

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Snippets #1

A few miscellaneous unrelated random topics after the ego soothing picture of mostly someone else’s hard labours.

Above: “the Russian Elizabethgrad Hussar Regiment will form in 2 lines, lance armed troopers to the front as you full well know.” The Russian commands translated to English and sanitised(!) for the benefit of The dear readers.

 Wargames Foundry Russian Hussars as sculpted by the Perrys. Pigments applied by Greater Queeg.

 

Medieval Warfare Blog

von Peter himself has stumbled across another blog which he has added to his playlist. The good people at Karwansaray Publishers who bring you the Medieval Warfare magazine now bring you the Medieval Warfare blog. You can obtain your very own copy from here or iTunes or who knows from where else.

 

Three Armies

As well as a new blog von Peter himself has recently stumbled across a newish manufacturer of 28mm Napoleonic figures – Three Armies. From the About Us section of their site one can read …

Three Armies is a 28mm Napoleonic miniatures Online Store. I have worked in the gaming industry for over 20 years. Initially with SHQ miniatures but more recently with Wargames Foundry and several new manufacturers as a sculptor. I am currently a one man band. I use the facilities of Sgts Mess for moulding and casting.

Regarding Three Armies plans for the future the FAQ area of the site says …

We plan slowly to cover most of the Napoleonic wars. We have no interests in other periods. Our initial plan is to compliment the many plastic miniatures ranges in 28mm with poses and uniforms that are not offered by them.

They appear to be in the business of creating figures in their full dress uniform currently under the following ranges …

• French 1800-1806
• Prussian 1806
• Spanish 1808
• French 1812-15
• Austrian – expected to be released April 2017
• British – expected to be released April 2017.

Being new on the scene the Three Armies ranges are currently limited. Rome was not built in a day as some wise person* once said. As yet there are no horses in the range so comment on these cannot yet be passed.

* Obviously none of the current acquaintances of von Peter himself! A-ha-ha. One can’t but be pleased with such a cheap shot!!   😎

Spot checks reveal that price range from £1.20 for a single figure through to £6.00 for a six figure pack through to £20.00 for a 24 figure battalion pack.

By way of size comparison the following image is borrowed from Three Armies website. If von Peter himself has got this right …

• the two metal figures are Three Army figures
• the plastic figure second from the left is a Perry Miniatures plastic
• the headless figure at the extreme right is a Victrix plastic.

Finally more images borrowed from Three Armies website. von Peter himself hopes Three Armies don’t mind being pillaged in such a manner!

Above: Prussian Musketeers Brandenburg cuffs

Above: French 1800-1806 Line infantry

But there’s more! The same person – Michael Percy? – also offers commissions. Or at least did offer commissions. Perhaps the birth of Three Armies has curtailed this service. Whatever have a look at at the Saxon Zastrow and Guard du Corps 1812 commission  on the Snodland Miniatures Facebook page for a completed commission. There are others conversions.

 

Doug Mason Figures

If you are of a certain age and used to read the glossy wargames magazines or if you just read some of the older glaossy wargaming magazines you will be familiar with the name Doug Mason. He was often associated with Peter Guilder and the Wargames Holiday Centre and his fame was due to his often converted  figures.

Above:  The caption on page 7 of the magazine reads …

“Front cover photo: Saxon Garde du Corps painted by Doug Mason for the Wargames Holiday Centre”.

It transpires that Doug Mason has a website in which some mighty fine craftsmanship and nostalgia is on display.

That von Peter himself is aware of Doug’s site is down Carlo of With Pyjamas through the Desert and With Pyjamas through a whiff of grapeshot! notoriety. Carlo had commissioned a blast from the past recreation of a “Murat at Eylau” command vignette. A typically flambouyant Murat leading a charge accompanied by a dragoon officer aid. The original vignette dates from 1984. You can see Carlo’s “Murat at Eylau” reports here and here.

 

TravelBattle

There maybe one or two of The dear readers who are unaware of this latest project from the ever productive Perry twins of Perry Miniatures fame. A game in a box. From their website …

TravelBattle-Pre-Order-Available 22nd April

TravelBattle is a complete table top miniatures game in a box.
It is intended for gamers who have limited space, or those who are traveling on a long journey or holiday and need a gaming fix!
All the playing pieces are made of coloured plastic, and include two 3 dimensional green terrain boards with separate woods, grey buildings and red and blue armies. The size of the miniatures is 8mm.
The two terrain boards are designed to be placed together on any edge, giving the potential for 16 different battlefields. The 1″ grid marked on the boards excludes the need for rulers to be used in the game.
The simple rules system should allow a game to played within an hour.
The two armies are generic Napoleonic forces of equal size and composition which make up three brigades for each side. There is a simple painting guide in case you which to enhance your armies and terrain boards.

Contents:
160 x Infantry
24 x Cavalry
4 x Guns and 12 crew
6 x Brigadiers
2 x 10″ 3D Terrain boards
6 x Buildings
4 x Dice
1 x Set of rules

All for the price of £50.00. Apparently if all goes well there may be more boards, figures and presumably terrain to come.

To the mind of von Peter himself it’s a shame that the miniatures are a non standard 8mm. Apparently 6mm was too small and 10mm too big. Being somewhat bitter and twisted one cannot but be a little cynical that not fitting with any other figure ranges might be seen as an advantage to the manufacturers. Then again a range being given the descriptor of 6mm, 10mm 15mm, 28mm etc hardly seems to ensure that they will match the size of other ranges with that same desriptor. So perhaps there are large 6mm ranges or small 10mm ranges that will be close enough to the Perry’s 8mm.

von Peter himself  will be watching with interest to see how TravelBattle is received by the buying public and whether it gets expanded.

 

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Recent recce report

The 100th post by von Peter himself since transitioning to WordPress. Sorry about that! 😃

Here we go again …

Leadbear’s Tufts

In his international travels of mystery and intrigue … on the ‘net … von Peter himself occasionally chances upon a thing of greater than average interest. And even more occasionally von Peter himself is stirred to bring this thing of greater than average interest to the attention of The dear readers for their edification. It is the hope of von Peter himself that for at least one or two of The dear readers this particular thing of greater than average interest will be news and not just some old hat. Such are the perils that we serious journalists face.

A little unusually this thing of greater than average interest hails from this the Southern Hemisphere. Leadbear’s Tufts look to be a great home made product at a great price.

The tufts come pre glued meaning that one removes the tuft from the backing paper and just plonk it on its destination base. Apparently this works wonderfully well but von Peter himself being the world weary cynic that he is would like to see this in action for himself.

Leadbear’s Tufts don’t yet have a website but they do have a Facebook page and an eBay store. From the Facebook page …

Leadbear’s Tufts are proudly handmade in Australia by Leadbear (Barry)… on Mrs Leadbear’s kitchen table… much to her annoyance.

And further …

Welcome to my Facebook Page.

Unfortunately I do not have a website yet, but hope to soon. Sorry about that.

Please feel free to contact me at leadbear@internode.on.net if you have any questions regarding the products.

Leader’s Tufts basic catalogue as of 1 September 2015 …

Tufts – Mix (Qty: 140/pack)
These tufts are approximately 4mm high with an additional scattering of a lighter coloured 6mm long static grass to give some contrast.

Beige
Light Green
Green
Dark Green
Dry Grass

Tufts – 6mm (Qty: 120/pack)
These tufts are approximately 6mm high with a scattering of a lighter coloured 6mm static grass to give some contrast.

Beige
Light Green
Green
Dark Green
Dry Grass

Tufts – 12mm (Qty: 55/pack – 35 dots and 20 larger tufts)
These tufts are approximately 12mm high.

XL Beige
XL Yellow Green
XL Green
XL Dark Green

Please note that I am in the process of review how these are supplied and the 35 dots and 20 larger tufts format may well change in the near
future to sheets of larger tufts only.

Tufts – Various

Wild Grass: Small (approx 4mm high) – (Qty: 140/pack)
Wild Grass: Large (approx 6mm high) – (Qty: 120/pack)

Flowers (approx 4mm high) – (Qty: 120/pack) 24 each of Red, Pink, Yellow, White, Purple).
Flowers (approx 6mm high) – (Qty: 100/pack) 20 each of Red, Pink, Yellow, White, Purple).
Sheets of an individual colour can also be supplied upon request.

Yellow Flowers (approx 6mm high) – (Qty: 100/pack) These use a lighter green base.

Leafy Tufts (approx 6mm high) – (Qty: 100/ pack)
Leafy Tufts with Purple Flowers (approx 6mm high) – (Qty: 100/ pack)
LeafyTufts with Red Flowers (approx 6mm high) – (Qty: 100/ pack)

Arid – Brown Tufts (approx 6mm high) – (Qty: 100/ pack)
Arid – Green Tufts (approx 6mm high) – (Qty: 100/ pack)
Light Green Tufts (approx 6mm high) – (Qty: 100/ pack)

Rusty (approx 6mm high) – (Qty: 120/ pack)
Red Brown (approx 6mm high) – (Qty: 120/ pack)

Unfortunately this item is temporarily unavailable – Stoney Tufts – (Qty: 56/pack) – These tufts have small stones imbedded in the tuft.

Above: green tufts

Regarding pricing .,..

All prices quoted are in Australian Dollars.
Packs of tufts are $10.00 and includes the cost of postage within Australia.
Postage to New Zealand is an additional $0.35 per pack.
Postage to the Rest of the World is an additional $1.35 per pack.

As the items can be sent as letters, generally, small orders of less than 5 boxes are sent individually.
For larger orders, the tufts are sent in one package with the postage adjusted accordingly. I don’t profit from postage and you will only pay what the post office charges me.
For Australians, payment can be made by PayPal, Direct Deopsit or Cheque.For the Rest of the World, payment cvan be made via PayPal.

You can also purchase Leader’s Tufts through their ebay store but you will be restricted to what is available in the store as opposed to the complete range.

Above: Stoney tufts with flowers and leafy tufts. Something a little different

von Peter himself currently uses several different tufts – plain ‘grasses’ of various sizes and colours, several flowery and a few broad leafed. They are an easy and effective way to spice up the bases of units as well as terrain items. Currently those used are mostly Silflor/MiniNatur tufts but von Peter himself thinks that he might very well give Leadbear’s Tufts a trial. It’s not exactly a trial of high risk. Perhaps an email to

 leadbear@internode.on.net

is in order.

If The dear reader is interested in further information a quick search of “Leadbear’s Tufts” will turn up several reviews and unpacking videos. They tend to be very positive.

All images in this section borrowed from Leadbear’s Tufts Facebook page.

 

More Front Rank Reinforcement Pack Russians

Front Rank Figurines have released the next six – and last? [sob!] – reinforcement packs for their Napoleonic Russians. And these “Infantry in greatcoats” packs will make the speed painters wriggle and writhe with joy.

Those that yearn for a Europe freed from the Bonapartist yoke can but hope that if these are indeed the last reinforcement packs for the Russians then perhaps Front Rank will see their way clear to create limbers and caissons for the Russians to aid the movement of artillery and munitions!  And what about reinforcement packs for cavalry … for all nations? Ah … perhaps not!  😃

The new packs are …

• RNRPK16 Mixed Russian Infantry in greatcoat & Kiwer, marching. 6 mixed figures per pack (above)
• RNRPK17 Mixed Russian Infantry Command in greatcoat & Kiwer, advancing. 6 mixed figures per pack

• RNRPK18 Mixed Russian Grenadiers / Carabiniers in greatcoat & Kiwer, marching. 6 mixed figures per pack (above)
• RNRPK19 Mixed Russian Grenadier / Carabinier Command in greatcoat & Kiwer, advancing. 6 mixed figures per pack

• RNRPK20 Mixed Russian Infantry in greatcoat & forage cap, marching. 6 mixed figures per pack (above)

• RNRPK21 Mixed Russian Infantry Command in greatcoat & forage, advancing. 6 mixed figures per pack (above).

And let us keen defenders of Mother Russia not forget that if they work for your particular collection then Reinforcement Sets are also available from Front Rank. They provide 36 figures from the Reinforcement Packs including officers, musicians etc plus any required flank companies for a discounted cost. See the Front Rank Figurines website for details.

The Regiments Étrangère & Germanic Regiments

The History Book Man have released their latest e-book “FOREIGN REGIMENTS IN FRENCH SERVICE 1795-1814 Volume One: The Regiments Étrangère & Germanic Regiments”. Quite the mouthful. The blurb …

FOREIGN REGIMENTS IN FRENCH SERVICE 1795-1814 Volume One: The Regiments Étrangère & Germanic Regiments was originally published in 1982 and has now been substantially revised and updated with a wealth of new material which was not available when the original edition was published. This first volume covers those foreign legions and regiments with a national origin in Northern Europe. The original black and white line drawings which illustrated the 1982 edition have now been replaced with full colour artwork and colour illustrations from authoritive and contemporary artists including some of the beautiful cards from the 1st Empire Series by Commt. Bucquoy.

246 pages

Another £3.99 E-Book bargain but not one to suit the tastes of von Peter himself. The next volume may well be a different story – Armies of the Confederation of the Rhine: The Army of the Kingdom Of Westphalia 1807-1813.

 

The magnificent (last) 7 march ever closer to the front

As related at the end of the prior post the much extended trials and tribulations of the 3rd battalion of the 4th East Prussian Landwehr Regiment circa 1813 are finally nearing an end. Once the remaining 7 figures are complete … and the unit based [mutter mutter – it’s never ending] … the battalion will be at the point of war readiness.

When last seen these 7 figures were pristine in their shiny silveriness but via the simple expedient of painting a little each night they are now well on their way. Click the image for a larger and clearer view.

You never know dear reader but the next time we converse von Peter himself may have his third landwehr battalion on display. You just can never tell.

Until we meet again …

Salute

von Peter himself

Rose tinted memories

Moving abode from Schloss von Peter to Neu Schloss von Peter involved the packing, moving and unpacking of more than a truck load of accumulated possessions. And in case there is any thought that the many many boxes of hobby related contraband moved may have been included in that above total the answer is a most definite NO! There should be absolutely no doubt that all those years decades of collecting was going to be entrusted to anyone other than von Peter himself and one or two understanding and trusted confederates.

The son & heir obviously had a degree of understanding of the stakes involved … not to mention a certain degree of self interest. We two made several journeys with the car stacked full of the precious cargo in the days leading up to the move. The vendors of Neu Schloss von Peter had kindly provided a storage area for such early arrivals and we took full advantage. The second trusted confederate was Terry who not only assisted with the remaining few precious possessions but also took a days leave from work to provide general assistance with the move. This act of self sacrifice deserves some sort of medal as von Peter himself was of limited use on the day as his hips weren’t really ‘into’ the whole moving thing … and we really weren’t fully ready / packed. Thank you Terry. You were a life saver.

What a load of drivel the dear readers are probably rightly thinking but the point of this drivel is that one of the long lost items rediscovered in the move was von Peter’s stack of Seven Years War Association Journals. The Seven Years War Association used to publish their journal and hold an annual convention in the USA. von Peter himself is not sure whether the journal is currently being regularly produced but it would appear that the convention is still held on an annual basis. von Peter himself would have eagerly attended one of those conventions. Especially one of those conventions featuring Christopher Duffy.

Long before the internet was the all pervasive beast that it is today von Peter himself would receive a journal in the mail with much excitement. He would proceed to feverishly read and re-read the issue many many times. Initially they were just back and white eventually moving up market with colour. The memories of von Peter himself would rate the old black and white ones as the ones most enjoyed.

As a nod to (his own!) nostalgia von Peter himself presents a few of the journal covers here. Click on them for a larger and clearer view to reveal the headline contents of each edition.

And we’ll conclude with a couple of the colour editions …

Truly does von Peter himself have fond memories of these journals.

Part of the reason that the Seven Years War Association Journals were so avidly collected was that when he returned to the gaming fold after his university years von Peter himself was captured by tricornes, mitres and Christopher Duffy’s Seven Years War books. It didn’t hurt either that the Front Rank Seven Years War range was being cast under licence here in New Zealand which made the collecting much more convenient and cheaper. And so Prussian and Austrian armies were started, later to be joined by a few units of Hanoverians and French.

The two images below are from a game played on the 26 May 2007 which is well past the heydays of the Seven Years War gaming of von Peter himself. It featured Prussians – with a few Hanoverian leader ring-ins! – squaring off against a combined Austro-French force who started with a few units holding terrain while the rest of the army approached.

 Above: an overview of the initial stages of the battle

Above: Kuirassiers clash with a couple of battalions of Prussian grenadiers advancing in echelon. An Austrian commander top right and some Hanoverian(!) commanders bottom left

Pavlov Grenadiers get Reinforcement Packs from Front Rank

The Napoleonic Russian Pavlov Grenadiers with their mitres proudly worn may not have realised that the era of the Seven Years War was gone yet wargamers love them for their idiosyncratic look. Front Rank Figurines have now indulged these gamers with the release of three Reinforcement packs for this iconic regiment. The good people at Front Rank provide the option for officers wearing the mitre or the kiwer. von Peter himself has no idea whether the choice is defined by year or by officer – or gamer! – preference.

Above: RNRPK13 Mixed Russian Pavlov Grenadiers in mitre, marching

Above: RNRPK14 Mixed Russian Pavlov Grenadier Command in mitre advancing

Above: RNRPK15 Mixed Russian Pavlov Grenadier Command in mitre, officers in Kiwer advancing

Despite his interest in the Seven Years War von Peter himself is planning to eschew the mitres having already selected the two Russian grenadier regiments that he hopes to one day field …

3rd (Grenadier) Corps: Generalmajor Raevsky

1st Division: Generalmajor Sulima

Brigade: Colonel Acht

  1/St. Petersburg Grenadier Regiment

  3/St. Petersburg Grenadier Regiment

  1/Tauride Grenadier Regiment

  3/Tauride Grenadier Regiment

von Peter himself has some of the metal salted away for these units and that metal is sourced from Front Rank albeit pre the Russian reinforcement pack days.

Besides by the time period that von Peter himself has chosen to model his Napoleonic forces on the Pavlov Grenadiers had been elevated to membership of the Russian Guard. Far to rich on the elitist scale for von Peter’s poor overworked Russian infantry.

More Russian Reinforcement Packs are yet to come … marching out of the east!. Infantry in greatcoat are due in late August or September 2015. Hurrah! Take that you Bonapartists!!  😀

Murawski Miniatures release their Baden range

Murawski Miniatures have released the beginnings of their Baden range. Stolen Appropriated from their August Newsletter …

Launch of the Baden figures!

New Range

I am pleased to announce the launch of a range of 28mm Baden figures. These have been designed to fit in with the existing Murawski Poles and are an excellent match for Perry figures.

The first figures are in the long tailed coat and helmet and are suited for the period 1809-1812. First releases are:

1. Commandpack – 6 figures

2. Grenadiercompany – 3 figures

3. Voltiguercompany – 3 figures

4. Skirmishers – 3 figures

5. Fusiliers – 6 figures

These are priced at the same levels as the Poles.

Above: Some Murawski Badeners flanked by a couple of their Poles

Murawski Miniatures also have a Summer Sale under way. Contact …

enquiries@murawskiminiatures.com

for details. von Peter himself hopes he has the correct contact email address!  😀

Victrix French Artillery 1805 – 1812 now available

After some delays due to some “minor fill and flash errors” during test casting Victrix Ltd have released their hard plastic artillery set. The set provides “Lots of head and arm options allow you to create crews in bicornes, shakos and guard bearskins.”

The Waterloo that keeps on giving

The Waterloo 200th anniversary thing certainly keeps on giving.

The actor Sean Bean who played Richard Sharpe in the television series based on Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe books presented the two episodes for The History Channel. These totally passed von Peter himself by but fortunately they can be viewed via the good offices of the internet

• Sean Bean On Waterloo 1of2 (2015)
• Sean Bean On Waterloo 2of2 (2015)

Episode 2 is still to be fully viewed by von Peter himself but the standout scene so far has been the reconstruction of the effects of a musket ball hitting, penetrating and wrecking a leg. Most sobering.

Of course there is also the Blackadder – Waterloo for a slightly different look at the history of the Battle of Waterloo.

A new blog – in a garage – on the block

We started with Terry assisting with the big move and so we shall finish with Terry’s new blog – Terrys Garage Gaming. Terry is currently coming to grips with this new fangled blog technology and getting blasted photographic evidence out of (his daughters!) fancy camera and onto that new fangled blog but he’ll get there.

He has a very busy and successful gaming operation run out of his garage while his car lives permanently outside – we all need to make sacrifices!

Head on over and take a nosey now and in the future. He already has a backlog of posts to produce and publish. And don’t be put off if some of the heading pictures look familiar to the dear readers. They are being used as place holders and will be replaced with more indigenous ones in due course.

Until we meet again …

Salute

von Peter himself

Russian Kuirassiere command … at last

von Peter himself finally got his paint brushes out. Well not strictly true as his stock of paint brushes has still yet to surface post the move. <shock horror> So a few cheapie brushes were purchased so as to complete the task at hand.

And the task at hand was the completion of the basing of the Napoleonic Russian command stand representing the brigade command of Generalmajor Karatiev. ‘Who?’ some of the less well read of The Dear readers may ask. <cue exaggerated sighing from von Peter himself>

Generalmajor Karatiev lead a brigade of Russian Kuirassiere in 1813 – and quite probably other years as well but as should be well known by now the Napoleonic armies of von Peter himself are modelled on the year 1813 – as part of Generallieutenant Kretov’s 2nd Kuirassiere Division.

The vignette represents an officer of the Astrakhan Kuirassiere Regiment – one of the constituent regiments of the brigade – saluting Generalmajor Karatiev who is accompanied by a member of his staff. These latter doff their bicornes in response.

A day ago the thought occurred to von Peter himself* that what garb a commander of a Russian cuirassier brigade would be wearing is not readily apparent to himself. If von Peter himself were to be creating the command stand for a French cuirassier brigade – which in time he fully expects to be doing – then he would quite happily have the commanding general dressed in a cuirassier styled uniform. Would his Russian equivalent likewise be dressed as a kuirassiere? Hmmmm.

*By way of a historic note the thought ‘struck’ while von Peter himself was paying a visit to a … urinal. One does not wish to appear crude but the brain is a marvellous instrument that works in truly mysterious ways!  😃

Front Rank Figurines matched with the brushwork of Greater Queeg. Quite the successful combination.

Not quite so successful is the photography which does the figures less than the justice they deserve. The figures are made to look a little garish compared to the reality and the photos are just poor efforts. Apologies to the Greater Queeg! Neu Schloss von Peter has many praiseworthy facilities but a gaming room with a bunch of lighting installed and where one knows how to setup the required photographic lighting is not one of them. Obviously von Peter himself will need to get his act together in his new barracks.

The lighting installed in The Bastion (gaming room) of the recently vacated Schloss von Peter

Pictures out of Russia

Over on the General de Brigade forum long tan has posted a series of very interesting images from the Artillery Museum St. Petersburgh and the Moscow Museum incorporating the Borodino Panoramic. Check the Images from Russia 2012 topic

So how close is the Kuirassiere in the Generalmajor Karatiev command stand above to the Kuirassiere depictions in the Images from Russia 2012? Answers on the back of large denomination bills please!  😃

General de Brigade scenario book Imperial Sunset 1813-1814

The Napoleonic ruleset General de Brigade is very well served with scenario books. Volume 6 is on the way as announced back in February 2015 – yes this was a couple of months ago – as per this announcement on the General de Brigade and associated rule sets website …

IMPERIAL SUNSET 1813-1814

General de Brigade Volume 6 is making steady progress.

Thus far we have tested;

• The Prussian Charge, Lutzen 1813, (re-worked Gross-Gorschen from Vol. 1)
• La Garde au Feu, Lutzen 1813
• Action at Eisdorf, Lutzen 1813, (the aim is for all three Lutzen scenarios to be able to be linked into one large game.)
• Franquemont’s Attack. Bautzen 1813
• Hagelsberg 1813
• The First Day of Kulm, 1813
• Dennewitz – Ney’s Battle
• Dennewitz – The Saxon’s at Gohlsdorf

So, now have the three Leipzig scenarios to complete , plus two/three from 1814 and we’re done!

 

von Peter himself is the proud owner of the first three very useful volumes …

• Napoleonic Scenarios
• Napoleonic Scenarios 2
• Napoleonic Scenarios 3: The Glory Years 1800-1809

… though he passed on …

• Napoleonic Scenarios 4: Against the Ottomans
• Napoleonic Scenarios 5: Wellington’s Peninsula Victories

… as neither really fall into his areas of interest. Napoleonic Scenarios 6: Imperial Sunset 1813-1814 falls smack bang in the zone of interest of von Peter himself however. This will be a future purchase.

Podcast corner

Aurelian

Sam Mustafa has released his sixth podcast. This time around the big reveal is a new set of rules from Sam – Aurelian – set during the Roman Empire’s crisis of the third century. The rules will allow the players to command either (Late) Romans, Sassanians (Sassanids), Germans or Sarmations. The podcast can be downloaded from …

http://www.sammustafa.com/honour/2015/05/the-6th-podcast-aurelian/

 WW2podcast

A new podcast from one of the brains behind the The History Network podcast has started broadcasting. Not surprisingly the WW2podcast focusses on WWII …

With the WW2 Podcast each month I intend to interview an expert on a subject. No topics are out of bounds (as yet), and I plan on covering all aspects of the war. Hopefully the format will allow for close examination of a topic, and make for absorbing listen.

The first proper – there is also a short introductory podcast – podcast focuses on the The German Halftrack Sd.Kfz. 251 and proved to be an interesting listen for ears of von Peter himself.

 

Don’t forget that you can click on the images presented for larger and clearer views.

Until we meet again …

Salute

von Peter himself

Still settling in … but …

… the wargaming world keeps turning.

25 April 2015 – ANZAC Day – 100 Years

ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day is New Zealand’s  – and Australia’s! – Remembrance Day. ANZAC Day 2015 was particularly poignant as it marked 100 years since the Gallipoli landings. Gallipoli was not the site of New Zealand’s greatest loss in WWI and certainly was not a campaign that reaped overall military success but it is revered locally as the battle where New Zealand came of age and achieved a sense of its own identity.

So called Dawn Parades are all the rage … except with The family! An ANZAC Day Commemorative Service in Paekakariki at 8:15 by the Paekakariki War Memorial Hall was more The family’s style it was felt. A warm sunny windless event was enjoyed by all of The Family. The similarity between the venue and ANZAC Cove in Turkey was noted – a gently lapping sea onto the beach with the hills steeply rising in the background not that far away.

Afterwards Fraulien von Peter herself and her subordinate von Peter himself took themselves off to the local delicatessen for a coffee and a bite to eat. The aforementioned deli is situated adjacent to the railway line and just down the line from where the Passchendaele memorial locomotive was building up steam and then departing on her ANZAC Day run. Quite exhilarating to see her moving off and choo choo’ing her way past us in close proximity. But we were seated outside and the resultant billowing steam and smoke quickly made us appreciative of the fact that the local commuter trains are electrified!  😃

And Paekakariki’s contribution to the Great War – according to one speaker at the service Paekakariki was inhabited by 300 souls during WWI. Forty of these went off to fight and of these eleven never returned.

Above: The family on the Turkey portion of their world tour in 2009. The son and heir in the photo now physically looks down on his betters. We really should have restricted his nutritional intake at an earlier age!

 

A  box from Calpe Towers

A great house warming gift appeared not long after the shift to Neu Schloss von Peter. The arrival of a box emblazoned with a Calpe Miniatures sticker is always a most welcome event. Contained within were an example of each of the new packs from the latest release …

• F21, French mounted light infantry officers (four distinct officers with four distinct horses)
• F46, French battalion command in uncovered shakos (Battalion command in uncovered shakos. Officer, drummer, standard, 2 Fourier fanion guards, one senior NCO. Spear point included but not the flag or the flag staff)
• F47, French battalion command in covered shakos (Battalion command in covered shakos. Officer, drummer, standard, 2 Fourier fanion guards, one senior NCO. Spear point included but not the flag or the flag staff)

The two battalion command packs do indeed contain separate ‘spear points’. The standard bearer in each pack carry a shouldered musket as well as the standard. Lucky devils! When I mentioned this to Mr Calpe Miniatures the response received was …

“Yes, the fanion bearers were common NCO’s and all the Rigo plates show them carrying their muskets.”

• S6, Four Saxon musketeers with uncovered shakos in advancing poses (Four Saxon musketeers with uncovered shakos in advancing poses. Two are ‘head turns,’ two have blanket rolls)
• S7, Six advancing musketeers, muskets held at high porte. Covered shakos (Six advancing musketeers, muskets held at high porte. Covered shakos).

Worthy additions to the Calpe catalogue … but I am a self confessed Calpe zealot.  😃

Image from the Calpe Miniatures website

 

More Front Rank Reinforcement Packs

The goodness from Front Rank Figurines that is their Napoleonic Russian Reinforcement Packs keeps rolling. The latest releases bring infantry in the 1809 shako to those gamers that need them ….

• RNRPK5 Russian Infantry in 1809 shako, marching
• RNRPK6 Russian Infantry Command in 1809 shako, advancing

• RNRPK7 Russian Grenadiers / Carabiniers in 1809 shako with busch plume, marching (above)

• RNRPK8 Russian Grenadier / Carabinier Command in 1809 shako with busch plume, advancing (above).

And there’s more to come in the form of Russian Reinforcement packs …

Lots more Russians, including the long awaited Russian Guard, PLUS Pavlov Grenadiers and Infantry and Command in greatcoats ~lookout for more releases over the next couple of months!

Pictures care of the Front Rank website.

Warlord Games hard plastic Chasseurs a Cheval?

von Peter himself listens to several Podcasts most of which are hobby related though not all are directly related to what von Peter himself practises in the hobby. One such example was listened to the other day and it featured John Stallard – owner of Warlord Games – and Rick Priestly as guests. Normally this would not be worthy of bringing to the attention of The dear readers but in this case there was a little snippet or two of information that may be of interest. When invited to announce any news John Satllard mentioned two up coming hard plastic Napoleonic releases …

1. Portugese Infantry.
2. A box set of Napoleonic cavalry which is secret for now but planned to be unveiled for Salute.

The first is of no great interest to von Peter himself as his Napoleonic roots are firmly planted in Central Europe circa 1813. And to be honest the second is not of much interest either since Warlord are unlikely to supply many figures to von Peter’s Napoleonic forces … but there is the intrigue of what that mystery cavalry might be.

A little digging uncovered the following photograph in a post on The Miniatures Page – don’t forget to click on the photo for a larger and clearer view.

 The big grey figures at the back right are labelled …

“Napoleonic Portugese Line Infantry – Plastic 3 ups”.

This fits the look of the figures as well as Napoleonic news item 1. above from John Stallard.

The cavalry in the front left of the photograph look like Napoleonic French Chasseur a Cheval figures and the sprues front right seem to match the same cavalry. And by way of confirmation the label says …

“Napoleonic Chasseur a Cheval – Plastic set”.

So is this photograph old news; has von Peter himself shown himself up as a shonky detective; does anybody care?!  😃

As is the way of these things time will tell. And Salute 2015 can’t be that far away for the big reveal. If it is hard plastic French Chasseurs a Cheval then this should make many people happy as these were a very common cavalry type for the French and certainly would have been doing much of the dog’s work as the cavalry attached to the infantry corps. These will presumably provide a cheaper way to collect these utilitarian cavalrymen for those so inclined.

And a thank you to whoever took and posted the photograph.

STOP PRESS: 

It appears that von Peter himself has not been keeping up with world events. It transpires that Salute 2015 was held on 25 April 2015. Yep, ANZAC Day! It also transpires that when one slowly builds the contents of a post on their blog over a few days/weeks events in the world can overtake one. This is a case in point. Apparently the secret plastic cavalry are 1812 Chasseurs a Cheval. So much for all that intelligence work. Some would say that von Peter himself is not cut out for it anyway. Cruel words them!!  😃

Anyways, von Peter himself can now looks forward to the post Salute 2015 outpourings.

Until we meet again …

Salute

von Peter himself

I should be packing but … # the last

After months (and months) of preparation tomorrow is the big day for the move from Schloss von Peter to Neu Schloss von Peter. The last minute rush is well under way but who knows when we’ll have telecom’s again so here’s a quick update.

von Peter himself had hoped to have his Napoleonic Russian Kuirassiere Brigade command available to flaunt. But while most of the basing was complete ‘most’ was not good enough and too soon the time came to pack it away. For the next post then … assuming it can be located at the other end!

Victrix Sale

 One reason to rush out this post is because there is a sale at Victrix Ltd … but it ends on the 22 March 2015 so you’d better get a move on if you wish to partake.

Murawski Miniatures  reveal their nearish future

Murawski Miniatures are going to move on to Badeners after their Poles …

Picture care of Archiduc Charles via the la Bricole forum.

Westfalia Miniatures update

Westfalia Miniatures are in the process of renewing their website. Interestingly their ‘Shop’ has an as yet unused category for Napoleonic Baden. Are we going to see a rash of Napoleonic Baden offerings? Admittedly Westphalia often offer jus a few specialty figures in a range rather than a complete offering.

New Front Rank Russians

In many ways the most exciting news. Front Rank Figurines have started to release their Napoleonic Russian Reinforcement packs.

• RNRPK1 Infantry in Kiwer, marching
• RNRPK2 Infantry Command in Kiwer, advancing

• RNRPK3 Grenadiers/Carabiniers in Kiwer, marching (above)

• RNRPK4 Grenadier/Carabinier Command in Kiwer, advancing (above).

Excellent news. And the good times are due to keep rolling as per the following sentence stolen from the latest newsletter …

Lots more Russians, including the long awaited Russian Guard, PLUS line in 1809 style shakos, lookout for more releases over the next couple of months!

Pictures ‘borrowed’ from Front Rank.

CitadelSix Custom Design Heraldry Decals & Design Commissions

Check the Citadelsix Custom Design website from which this has been “borrowed” …

CitadelSix Custom Design is the home of high quality heraldic water-slide decals, created to make your miniatures stand out from the others on the war-gaming table. Whether fantasy or historic, your army will be unique.

Most popular gaming scales catered for, from 15mm to 54mm.

Large range of designs available to choose from and more being added all the time, or if you don’t see any that catch your eye, then contact me to commission your very own heraldry, decals and decal-sets.

Interesting.

 

That’s all for now. An early start tomorrow beckons.

Until we meet again …

Salute

von Peter himself

I should be packing but … #1

von Peter himself is meant to be packing Schloss von Peter in preparation for the march to  Neu Schloss von Peter in a few weeks NOT creating new posts on his blog. So only a brief update this time around … and for goodness sake do not mention any of this lost packing time to Fraulien von Peter herself or else this may very well be the last post … ever!  💀

Russian Grenadier command base

von Peter himself is proud to unveil the command base for his brave Russian Grenadier Brigade. Aint got any painted grenadiers but got their command so that’s a start! Front Rank Figurines figures apart from the mounted grenadier officer – the one with the tall black plume – who is from the Wargames Foundry stable … and von Peter himself does not mean just the horse! Ha ha ha. Assorted coloured pigments applied by Greater Queeg with figure selection, choreography and basing by von Peter himself.

We should attack in this direction with our brave grenadiers my General. By the way – where are our brave grenadiers? And why are we standing in a flower garden? It’s really not very manly!

This leaves one Russian command stand to complete from the latest intake of Russians – that of the planned Kuirassiere Brigade. von Peter himself hopes to work on it in little doses over the next few days. Stand by!

The Russian village gets a civic centre

Another building has rolled out of the Imperial Russian Village Fabrication Works. This time it is H4, Long House or Meeting House from Hovels.

The finishing of the doors, shutters and decorative panel over each of the windows has generated considerable discussion between The son & heir and his better. The representative of the younger generation asserts that they should be painted in a gold (as they are on the Hovels website) or green or even gold and green. The position of von Peter himself is that …

• where would a forgotten peasants village in the middle of nowhere get the resources to tart up the building?
• a brief internet search showed a lot of plain unadorned wood buildings devoid of decoration
• von Peter himself should really be preparing for the move from Schloss von Peter to Neu Schloss von Peter so lets just get it done for now and reconsider in the future
• The yet to come church is where the oppressed locals will concentrate their finery … albeit a limited finery
• those dastardly French have scraped off and stolen the gold – and even the green if any were there – paint and stolen it. This one is not so serious!  😃

As is evident from the graphic representations accompanying these words the opinions of von Peter himself have won through. Surprise! Disturbingly The son and heir has threatened to steal away the building and fancy up doors, shutters etc.  😲

D’oh! von Peter really REALLY hates it when he photographs something and when reviewing the photos realises that the painting is not complete. Exhibit ‘A’ – the door handle thingy on the door may get some further attention … sometime.

This addition means that Russian village(s) can now be modelled with six buildings. von Peter himself is on a roll with them but the current thinking is that perhaps the last two will need to go on hold due to the aforementioned house move. Also there is the upcoming Waterloo game to prepare for and sadly the organisers are of a somewhat conservative outlook and representing Plancenoit with Russian styled buildings is most likely beyond them! 😃  Then again actually completing something does have a rather nice feel good feedback mechanism!

Napoleon 1813: Decision at Bautzen

James R. Arnold has authored several books that would be of interest to your average Napoleonic wargamer. His website NapoleonicBooks.com provides details which even includes publications of wargames scenarios.

His latest book Napoleon 1813: Decision at Bautzen hits the sweet spot for von Peter himself – Central Europe in 1813. From the website ..

Napoleon 1813 describes and explains Napoleon’s efforts to recover from the catastrophe of 1812. It dismisses many conventional myths regarding the spring campaign of 1813. Throughout the story of the tumultuous spring days, Napoleon 1813 gives voice to the soldiers who participated in a campaign that proved Napoleon’s last, best chance to preserve his dynasty.

480 pages, 37 maps, and 71 illustrations.

More details are available on the website.

One for the collection is the thinking locally.

 

And now it’s back to the house moving preparations.

The usual reminder – don’t be forgetting to click on the images for larger and clearer views.

Until we meet again …

Salute

von Peter himself