Snippets #23 – a reawakening

Eeek!  It’s been a while since von Peter himself expended any physical effort on this here blog. Lots of thinking but not much action which encapsulates the whole hobby thing for a while now. Too many distractions matched with too little will power. Fortunately Nigel Fun-nell has come through with another Polish battalion so the wheels of activity are slowly cranking up. Expect to see a flaunting of said battalion in the nearish future. Until then von Peter himself presents some now dated intelligence.

The Ultimate Gamer’s Link Guide
This big bunch of hobby related links was stumbled upon and it seemed the decent thing to share. It may be a little dated now but there is bound to be some treasures buried within. Presented by Cigar Box Battle and available on their downloads page.

The Price of Crowns 3

Piano Wargames are at it again … or at least were at it again … with another Kickstarter campaign. This time it was the The Price of Crowns 3 – The Grand Duchies of Hessen-Darmstadt and Würzburg in the Napoleonic Wars. And there is a Napoleon figure available too.

Hobbyists

Another one of those blogs from a(n annoyingly! 😇) great hobbyists. Just Add Water show cases a great talent.

As a much younger man I used to marvel at Steve Dean’s work and he’s still going … his website … his facebook page … and his twitter presence.

4Ground shenanigans

FYI, there is trouble over in 4Ground land …

Grandmanor Jubilee raw resin event

Grandmanor are at it again selling their models as raw resin as opposed to the more normal painted versions …

Our second raw resin event which enables customers to order models on special offer in raw resin only and paint for them selves.The event will last 2/3 weeks OR until our price fixed stock of material lasts. It will get busy so please bare with me regarding extended dispatch times. Plans for late summer / end of the year will include a web site shut down for 3 months to complete a major design session. hopefully in time for the new year.

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Christmas arrives

“All things come to those who wait” is one of those ancient pearls of wisdom. Not that von Peter himself and “pearls of wisdom” have much to do with one another normally. But the mail man has done his best to make the old adage ring true for von Peter himself.

The GrandManor package

Late last week a rather large package arrived all the way from the United Kingdom. More detailed investigation revealed that the source of said package was GrandManor. Hurrah – the unpigmented building pile had been incremented. (Why “Hurrah”? Many will know that you cannot die if you have an unpigmented figure collection. But not many know that this is doubly true if one posses an unpigmented building pile. Honest. 😇)

For those not in the know GrandManor perform the most thorough packaging job that von Peter himself has ever experienced. The box was packed full of packaging and buildings. No potentially destructive movement in there. All buildings were wrapped in multiple, individually sellotaped bubble wrap layers. All hollow bits of buildings were packed with individually fitted polystyrene to keep the walls etc safe. It all adds up to wonderful protection for the items being transported.

The first building ordered during the “Raw Resin Event” was the “Village Night watchman’s cottage” cottage from the “28mm Napoleonic Europe” range. This model has always caught the eye of von Peter himself … and now he has one!

Having ordered the cottage to keep the village’s night watchman happy the thought niggled that perhaps having a single GrandManor building may not be the smartest thing. Perhaps having another complimentary GrandManor building could/would be a good idea so that the two buildings could then be deployed together as a stylistically sympathetic whole on the field of battle. And anyway the Pigsty had also caught the eye of von Peter himself.

Four days after the original order a second order was placed for the Pigsty also from the “28mm Napoleonic Europe” range. A note was added explaining that two orders had been placed and if it suited GrandManor’s purposes they could be despatched together.

And the rest is now history. Both models featured a lift off roof and interior details. Indeed it is strongly suspected that the Village night watchman’s cottage has two levels of interior details but as yet the inner floor has not yet been removed to view the bottom level due to a stubborn determination to remain in situ! The casting is as expected of a high standard.

Both pictures care of the GrandManor website.

Thirty Years War Cavalry

Ordered on the 10 December 2021 from the Spanish based 1898 Miniatures this fine body of horsemen was despatched on the 13 December 2021 and arrived today – 8 February 2022 – here in New Zealand. So most of the elapsed time was consumed in postage. Not a surprise with Covid playing havoc with shipping … and no doubt von Peter himself selected the most parsimonious postage possible. The e-x-t-e-n-d-e-d shipping was expected and the postal services did not disappoint! 🤬

The recruiters have delivered one of each of the available cavalry packs – TYWCAV1 thru 9 – and a few flags. It’s a start on the cavalry just as a start has previously been made to the Tercios of the infantry.

Officially this is a Christmas present and so it’s safe arrival is a very cherished thing.

Something to make von Peter himself smile

Stumbled upon this on the Twitter thingy of Alex – Storm of Steel Wargaming or more precisely at https://twitter.com/SoSwargaming/status/1488067502743724033/photo/1. As a person of partial Greek heritage this made von Peter himself smile …

 

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

STOP PRESS: Get your unpainted GrandManner items now – AN UPDATE

As a public service a short and sharp update on the prior STOP PRESS: Get your unpainted GrandManner items now post.

For those contemplating splashing some cash on the raw resin offerings from GrandManner then please be informed that there is now an end date to this offer. As can be seen here …

January – Raw resin event – ends 31st Jan 2022

Firstly, Happy new year. Our raw resin event will be available until the end of January. Its great to see so many returning customers taking advantage of our offer which as seen a significant amount of individual orders across the ranges. I will endeavour to process them as quickly as possible but can envisage this taking me well into March for some larger orders. special note – NON UK orders – issues with postal service , long delays and lost items which means this service as been temporary closed.

So if you are humming and ha’ing on whether to take advantage of the offer then von Peter himself strongly suggests you make any decision to purchase before February 2022.

Words from the confessional: von Peter himself placed an order for a terrain piece from GrandManner not long after spotting the offer. Several days later von Peter himself then placed a further order for an additional and complementary terrain piece. It’s a slippery slope. The dear readers have been warned!

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

STOP PRESS: Get your unpainted GrandManner items now

Surely there must be something better to do with New Year imminent. But no … It is imperative that The dear readers must be alerted. Spotted on the GrandManner website …

RAW RESIN SPECIAL OFFER EVENT OPEN

Raw resin models available for a limited period only, once finished will return to painted only from the web page. Using premium couriers for non UK orders, if the postage / shipping fee works out cheaper then I will refund the difference which is fair. Expecting high demand so bear with me to get your orders out. all the best Dave@grandmanner.

The dear readers may or may not know that GrandManner make some amazing terrain pieces but normally / lately they have only been available fully painted which adds quite a bit to the price. von Peter himself has long lusted after particular terrain item but at it’s normal painted price of £192.00 it was a “no thank you” purchase decision. But at an unpainted price of £48.00 the purchasing decision perhaps changes a little.

You have been alerted .. and with less than 10 minutes to go to 2022!

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Hand-Built History by John Boadle

Last century a slightly younger and spritelier von Peter himself would wait with baited breath each month for the arrival of Wargames Illustrated at the local news agent. Such mind tickling articles; so many advertisements for companies never heard of – e.g. Calpe Miniatures; and such wonderful pictures.

One of the names that often came up in the credits for the pictures was a John Boadle.

Above: and the caption read …

Front cover photo: John Boadle of the Coventry Wargames Club is responsible for the superb painting and modelling of the troops and terrain pictured here. The figures are from Front Rank Figurines 25mm. SevenYears War. More of John’s collection in tuture issues,till then our French readers can revel in the sight of the British surrendering.

That John Boadle now has a blog – Hand-Built History – and the little introductory burble reads somewhat along the lines of …

This is my blog, to showcase the modelmaking and gaming stuff that I’ve built over the years. I was for some years a professional modelmaker building scenery for many well-known figures in the hobby. More recently I built artillery master models for North Star and Perry Miniatures. Please note though, I am no longer taking any commissions for work at all. Everything you see is in the gaming scale of 28mm, ie 1/56, unless otherwise noted. At some point I aim to add tutorials to pass on the techniques picked up over the years. I hope what you see is of interest or even inspires you to have go yourself.

Currently Hand-Built History is getting a new post almost daily as John is updating the blog with pictures and details of old creations. In the future we may see step by step details of the creation of models.

Above: Napoleonic French occupying a John Boadle creation. Presumably John is quite happy with this picture as it is currently used as the heading picture on his blog

And one more John Boadle creation picture to round out the section …

Above: This time from half of the the back cover of Wargames Illustrated #19. The editor Duncan Macfarlane had obviously had a photo shoot with John Boadle and was keen to use the photos collected. The caption …

More of Coventry Warmer John Boadle’s Seven Years War collecton, featured on last month’s front cover. Front Rank 25mm. Figurines.

Found memories were made of these

Seeing the work of John Boadle reminded von Peter himself of a series pictures in Wargames Illustrated of the Scimitar Wargames Group’s Seven Years War project. These mesmerised the impressionable von Peter himself.

Above: from Wargames illustrated #14. To keep the buildings theme going two photos of some of the buildings created by Pete Duckworth. If the memory of von Peter himself is to be trusted  – hmmm -the fenced backyards were cunningly contrived to hold infantry units.

Above: von Peter himself must have spent hours staring at and dissecting this photo. Happy memories. From Wargames Illustrated #37. The accompanying caption …

An Austrian column winds its way out of camp. 25mm Front Rank figures professionally painted by Andy Taylor from the author’s (Richard Madder) collection. Church scratch built by Rich Madder (-using a door handle as the cupola), as was, of course, the camp described in this article.

The pictures are “clickable” for a larger and clearer view.

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Making water

Another quickie for the long suffering Dear readers.

Just in case any of the aforementioned Dear Readers missed it the Perry’s Facebook page has a photo tutorial on Alan’s latest technique for making water terrain using a couple of Vallejo products – Thick European Mud and Still Water.

It was posted on 4 July 2021. To glean what tips you can …

• EITHER go to the Perry Miniatures Facebook page
• OR for those reading this in the future go to the Posts page of said Perry Miniatures Facebook page and search for “Making Water”
• click on the first picture – a Union ACW camp scene by water – and keep clicking on the arrow pointing to the right to scroll through the pictures that tell the story.

Hopefully that makes sense!

Photos above from the Perry Miniatures Facebook page.

And from the sublime to the ridiculous. Many / most / all of The dear readers will have seen the image below. Over the years von Peter himself has found himself in many a good natured “discussion” regarding the painting of eyes on 28mm figures. Being of a naturally idle disposition von Peter himself is firmly in the no painting of eyes camp. The theory is that if they are painted well – which is easier said than done – nobody notices them in gaming situations. If not done well they can turn a perfectly good figure into a mutant thing attracting ridicule. All that is required for eyes is a shadow in 99.99% of cases. Here endereth the lesson rant.

Where this image originated is a mystery. It has been seen in many places by von Peter himself who passes on his thanks to the originator. It still generates a chuckle.

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself 

Polish bangers

And in this case “Polish bangers” is not a reference to sausages but rather Polish artillery of which a foot battery has finally made it to the front to support the cause.

All of the orders of battle that von Peter himself can recall give the independent 27th (Polish) Division as present at the Battle of Leipzig 1813 a supporting Polish foot battery. But annoyingly they don’t say which battery. To not give a unit an actual name seems callous and unforgivable especially considering the future trials and tribulations that are bound to come their way on the table top. So it has been decided to call them the Polish 5th Foot Battery. This may or may not be correct but until further information is revealed that is what they are to be known as! 😃

Figures from Front Rank Figurines pigmented by Nigel Fun-nell. The French M1808 6pdr. French cannon are from Calpe Miniatures and their pigmenting plus the choreography and basing can be blamed on von Peter himself.

A few whining words on the Front Rank Polish foot artillery range are required here to enable the venting of some frustration. The niggle is that the range consists of a whole six figures. As someone who likes to create each gun crew as a unique and cohesive vignette a mere six figures is somewhat limiting. Hence the loading gun crew contains no less than three of the “Gunner with trail spike” figures. Three may seem excessive and some may quite rightly say that two would have given a normalish four man crew on the base but having completed a Saxon 6dr foot battery with five figures on each base von Peter himself is quite taken with the busier look.

And in the spirit of full disclosure the battery and their supports above are displayed on one of The son & heir’s home made terrain boards. It seems only fair to acknowledge the effort involved.

 

Christmas arrives in the form of a present

The self organised 2020 Christmas present was the “Church Lift Off Roof” from the Big Battalions 28mm Black Powder Europe range of Total Battle Miniatures. And it arrived a couple of weeks back which was perfectly fine service considering the lateness of the order and the current COVID situation. As can be seen it comes in three pieces …

It is the second 28mm church to join the local collection but seemingly most European villages display at least one spire so perhaps two is not enough!  🤣

As can be seen it towers a little over the current House of God so it will probably be used for the larger urban centres … once it gets pigmented. The 28mm Front Rank Polish ADC gives an idea of the real estate sizings.

Above: a picture of the church from the Total Battle Miniatures website

 

For a larger and clearer view of the images above all are “clickable”.

 

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Snippets #17

Some dated news that has been sitting around for a while in a draft form …

The ongoing thirst for terrain gets a little quenching

Fathers Day finally delivered something of use in a hobbying sort of way. More explicitly it delivered the Timber House Lift Off Roof from the Big Battalions 28mm Black Powder Europe range of Total Battle Miniatures. Another nice model from this vendor. Note to self: place orders earlier in these COVID-19 disrupted times.

Perhaps the Church Lift Off Roof from the same source would be an appropriate Christmas acquisition.

Napoleonic Bavarians

Back on the 2 September 2020 Victrix Ltd announced on their facebook page a little more on their Napoleonic Bavarians …

Bavarian Napoleonic Infantry has now moved to the tooling stage

Ok, that’s a very “efficient” example of communication but they did provide three pictures …

 

The media section

Some video that may prove of interest. First up a piece on that never ending question – Is historical Wargaming Dying Out? This video sparked several responding videos. Thankfully the consensus to the question appears to be “no”.

For those that listen to the “We Have Ways of Making You Talk” podcast the chaps now have a website at https://wehavewayspod.com

Those well known Perry twins are popular guests on hobbying related media. Here they are primarily chatting about their involvement with Game Workshop’s Middle Earth game but there are also some interesting side bars.

 

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself 

Polish ADCs and a Vauban inspired piece

The fledgling local Polish forces have been patiently awaiting some ADCs to assist the “top brass”. And two dashing Polish ADCs have been patiently awaiting their mounts to be suitably prepared. Finally everyones patient awaiting has paid off. von Peter himself proudly presents said gentlemen …

Figures from Front Rank Figurines. Pigmentation of the men by Nigel Fun-nell. Horse pigmenting and basing can be blamed on von Peter himself.

 

Anyone up for a Vauban Fort

von Peter himself is a sucker for this sort of thing. “This sort of thing” being grandiose terrain pieces and in this specific case it refers to the Vauban Fort 2 from More Terrain. This time it is the fault of Simon Miller and his BigRedBatCave blog – in particular the entry Going full Vauban – for signalling the existence of the piece … or rather pieces. Artillery fortresses have a particular fascination for von Peter himself perhaps heightened by his interest in the Seven Years War and earlier “squabbles”

Above: a decent image of the Vauban Fort “borrowed” from The BigRedBatCave

The fort comes pre-painted with a choice of two colours. Pictured above is the “beige” version but it can also be had in grey …

The fort’s dimensions are 70 * 70 * 15cm and while not insignificant von Peter worries whether it is big enough to accommodate his based figures. Hopefully the BigRedBat will eventually post some pictures of a garrisoned fort to help gage the practicality of the piece.

The fort comes fully painted for the not insignificant sum of 195.00 € … and don’t forget the shipping. A tricky figure to get past the good Fraulien von Peter herself!  😃

All images are clickable for that larger and clearer view beloved by some.

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself 

Saxon Leib Grenadier Garde in the metal

As previously revealed Calpe Miniatures have released their Saxon Guard Grenadiers – also known as the Saxon Leib Grenadier Garde. That was great news which only got better when the local postal service delivered a battalion of them to Neu Schloss von Peter. That battalion is required in the 1813 order of battle for the Saxons of von Peter himself.

Happily for The dear readership the order contained an example of every pack excepting the S91 – Six Saxon Guard Grenadiers in skirmish poses pack. As yet another social service von Peter himself proudly presents some images of those packs to tide everyone over until Calpe Miniatures place their pictures of painted figures on their web site. But first the usual stock standard copy and pasted caveats …

• The figures are presented as they arrived excepting that the larger runners inherent in the casting progress have been removed with a craft knife and the fingers of von Peter himself. Those same fingers straightened any bent muskets etc
• The figures have been cunningly rearranged between the front and back images so that the figures in the matching front and back photographs match left to right. Ahh … that is to say for example that the figure second on the left is the same figure in the front and back photos. If this has not been adequately explained then don’t worry about it as it probably doesn’t matter. Just be aware that von Peter himself went that extra step to the benefit of The dear reader
• von Peter himself has quickly ‘washed’ the figures with the ‘Badab Black’ wash from Citadel / Games Workshop to bring out the details a little
• While marvelling at the figures please remember that they are presented in larger than life size … depending on The dear readers device of course!
• ‘Click’ the photos for a larger and clearer image.

Above: S85 – Six Saxon Grenadier Guards in march-attack poses. All figures are in campaign dress with covered shakos

Above: S86 – Four Saxon grenadier Guards in march-attack poses. All figures are in campaign dress but with calfskin shako covers

Above: S87 – Four Saxon Grenadier Guards in march-attack poses. Two have their heads turned and two have grestcoat rolls. Three have covered shakos and the fourth has a calfskin shako cover

Above: S88 – Four Saxon Grenadier Guards in march-attack poses. One bareheaded figure, One with a gadaged head, one wears the forage cap and the last is in an enthusiastic pose

Above: S89 – Six Saxon Grenadier Guards in march-attack poses. Command pack made up of a standard bearer (finial included but not the flag), two NCO standard guards, one senior NCO, a drummer and a sapper. Four figures have covered shakos and two have calfskin shako covers

Above: S90 – Four Saxon guard grenadier officers in advancing poses. Three are foot officers and the fourth is a mounted officer (horse included)

 

Closely followed by some more generic Calpe Miniatures news

Of course having excited many of The dear readers with these further tidings on the Saxon Leib Grenadier Garde von Peter himself will avail himself of the the latest News posting on the Calpe Miniatures website …

News

Calpe Miniatures is now closed until the 1st September.

The website itself will remain open and you can send your orders in if you so wish but no orders will be sent out until the 1st of September. I have not seen my parents for 6 months now due to Covid and I have decided to chance a trip to Gibraltar to see them for a couple of weeks before the Autum and Winter bring a possible return of the problems we have been having with this unpleasant virus.

For many years I have closed down for August so that I could holiday with the family. I also use part of the month to carry out maintenance work on machines and workshops. On my return in September I will increase prices to £1.30 for figures and £1.80 for horses. I will also review prices for equipment pieces. Any orders which come in during August will be honored at the old prices. I have held my prices for some years now but the cost of metal, rubber moulds and energy have continued to rise. My last purchase of metal wiped out my “emergency money pot” coming in at several thousand pounds above what I expected. I can only keep going if I can afford the raw materials to produce the figures. The price rise is a necessity.

On the figure front you will all have noticed that I have updated the website with the last of the Saxon light infantry and the Saxon Guard Grenadiers. I will try to put up some photos of the painted Guard grenadiers on the website before I leave for Gib. I am currently working on the Saxon light cavalry. The Uhlans will be released first, followed by the Hussars and then the horse artillery and Artillery train (figures, limbers and caissons). I have been working on the light cavalry for a few weeks now and hope to have the first release ready by early October. I will remind you all that I will not be doing the Saxon heavy cavalry at this stage as they did not fight with the main Saxon force in 1813. If I ever get to cover the forces at the Battle of Dresden they will be the first units I will tackle.

Have a good summer and keep safe in these disconcerting times.

Peter

30-7-20

So some bad news – Calpe closed until 1st September & price increases – and some good – announcements of the latest Saxon additions and unveiling a road map for the remaining Saxon releases.

 

Birthday loot

The actual day was a couple of months ago but better late than never to reveal the haul. A few hobby related requisitions cunningly obtained under cover of the birthday …

Requisition #1 was the battalion of Saxon Leib Grenadier Garde from Calpe Miniatures – see above – plus a few packs of Saxon Light Infantry and a pack of their French infantry.

Requisition #2 was the Infamy Infamy! rules from the TooFatLardies. The package selected returned a physical copy of the rules; a pdf copy of the rules; an Infamy Infamy! card deck and an Infamy Infamy! token set. This is first of three in a series with – from an admittedly faltering memory – the Punic Wars and the Eastern Mediterranean to follow.  The son and heir is particularly keen on the Punic Wars focused bit AND he is talking of moving back to Wellington early next year AND he already has Carthaginians and their Roman opposition in hand. Hmmmm

Requisition #3 was the Barn/Stables Lift Off Roof from the Big Battalions 28mm Black Powder Europe range of Total Battle Miniatures.

Above: the Barn/Stables Lift Off Roof. Image “borrowed” form the Total Battle Miniatures website

Next up is Fathers Day here in New Zealand. Periscope up to select more loot!  🤣

 

Above: from front to back – a roughly constituted unpigmented recently acquired Saxon Leib Grenadier Garde battalion – the recently acquired Barn/Stables building unpigmented – the prievioulsy acquired Row of Houses and Store Lift Off Roof also from Total Battle Miniatures … and also unpigmented 😥

 

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself