Snippets #3

Another odds and sods ends post. Looking to the future one of the numerous mini projects of von Peter himself  is somewhat surprisingly coming to fruition. With a little luck the presentation of said mini project will form the core of the next bulletin. But now we need to start with the traditional Snippets random picture from the archives … from March 2011 …

Above: The first battalion of the Saxon Prinz Maximilian Infantry Regiment marches through a village somewhere in Saxony in 1813. The Allies are out there somewhere and the village may soon be the site of some bloody fighting.

Calpe Miniatures Saxons painted by mineself von Peter himself. The European Village is a Hudson & Allen model sourced from Vatican Enterprises and pigmented with aplomb by Craig Watterson. Tufts added to the village by von Peter himself!  😃

Don’t forget to click the pictures for a larger and clearer view.

Salute 2017: discounts

Once upon a time long long ago von Peter himself and The son & heir were fortunate enough to visit Salute Zero Nine the 2009 iteration of the famed Salute convention in London. It was their first ever major wargames show and it was quite the experience and eye opener.

Above: Barry Hilton’s Peninsular demonstration game for Victrix at Salute Zero Nine. The game was played using Barry’s The March of Eagles rules which at the time were provided in every box of Victrix plastics. I wonder if they still are?

While admiring the game von Peter himself said “hello” to a busy Barry H. and Barry H. said “hello” back. Another precious memory locked away!  😃

Catastrophically a repeat Salute visit is not to be scried in von Peter’s Crystal Ball of Future Seeing. No matter how hard it is rubbed. So it is with a tinge of envy that this blog reports on some of the pre-order discounts available to the attendees of Salute 2017 which by the way is scheduled for 22 April 2017.

Wargame News and Terrain have the article Salute 2017 Convention Pre-Order Discounts Summary for them fortunate enough to be heading off to Salute 2017. Some vendors have been of a thoughtful enough disposition to open up the discounts to them not so fortunate to be attending.

Update for General d’Armee 

Not only will The dear reader be able to avail themselves of discounts if they attend Salute 2017 but they will also have the chance to view a demonstration of the incoming General d’Armee rules by Dave Brown. Gardening at Dresden will feature apparently. This from the Lard Island News.

From the same source comes the news that the these same General d’Armee rules will be released at Partizan on the 21st May. This is a slippage from the previously mentioned April but in the end it will be what it will be. Hopefully a tantalising pre release deal or two will be offered on the TheTooFatLardies site.

A painted TravelBattle

Alan Perry has painted the soon to be released TravelBattle to represent Waterloo Allies and their French opponents. s painted game in a box? See the Perry Miniatures Facebook page for more.

A caged eagle

While browsing through The family’s photo collection von Peter himself stumbled across several photos of the captured Eagle of the Napoleonic French 82nd Line Infantry Regiment. The bird can be seen in the Royal Fusiliers Regimental Museum situated within The Tower of London. So with no further ado …

Above: In 1809, the Royal Fusiliers joined an army sent to capture the French colony of Martinique. After a difficult fight, the French were besieged.  Four days later they surrendered and three Eagle Standards were captured by the British.  The Royal Fusiliers were awarded this standard as a reward for their accomplishments in the battle.

 

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

Of pdf’s and plastic

With the home front forges continuing at a low ebb von Peter himself presents some information on a couple of worthy pdf’s received and some information on a couple of plastic castles.

The Royal Saxon Army 1792-1814

Some of the more astute of The dear readers may have noticed that von Peter himself has had a long  l-o-n-g  association with the Saxon Army of the later Napoleonic Wars. The first Saxon figures von Peter himself ever painted were while he was at university … and that is a long  l-o-n-g  time ago. For the historical record the figures were Saxon …

• line infantry from the regiment König using Minifigs French fusiliers with a modified pompom
• a squadron of Leib Kürassier Garde also from Minifigs through the donor figure type has long since slipped the memory.

The History Book Man has released their latest army and uniform guide e-book and what do you know … it’s The Royal Saxon Army 1792-1814. Historic, organisational, uniform and flag information on the army is presented with many colour illustrations contained in 311 pages including information on the less well known units. And all for the princely sum of £3.99. What the much m-u-c-h younger von Peter himself would have given for such a guide all those decades ago!  😀

 

Sharp Practice 2 pdf arrives

Bang on time the pdf for Sharp Practice 2 from the TheTooFatLardies arrived in the electronic Inbox of von Peter himself. A quick scan has revealed what appears to be an easy on the eye and well laid out rulebook. Not that von Peter himself intends to learn the rules via the pdf as the physical printed rule book and a bunch of gaming paraphernalia should be on their way from the top of the world – the UK – to the bottom of the world – NZ – and are expected any day.

Without hunting down a count von Peter himself is aware of four other gamers locally who have ordered the rules. This bodes well for future gaming especially given the truncated time requirement for the setup, playing and packing away of a Sharp Practice game. Real world ‘stuff’ needs to take a back seat for a little more gaming.

Two minor soon to be remedied disappointments so far …

• There is no Quick Reference Sheet with the rules. This is expected to be remedied with versions on the ‘net … perhaps even from the Lardies themselves.
• With the possible exception of the listing for the American Civil War the Army Lists in the the book are of no interest to von Peter himself. It is the understanding of von Peter himself that this will be rectified in May via the ‘net on the TheTooFatLardies site where many more Army Lists are expected to be published … for free! In particular von Peter himself is after central Europe Napoleonic lists suitable for around 1813 and Seven Years war lists for his Prussians and Austrians.

There is also talk of more scenarios becoming available which would be a bonus.

Castle Wars

Contender 1 – Renedra Limited

Once upon a medieval time castles tended to be built of stone – at least the ones in Western Europe were. How times have changed as they can now be procured in plastic. Both Renedra Limited and Warlord Games have seen fit to release their medieval – or if it suits The dear reader better fantasy – castles. And just like their real life 1:1 scale forbears they are not for the peasantry. One needs to be prepared to hand over a fair chunk of wealth if one is sit safely behind ones own stone … err, plastic walls.

As pictured below the Renedra Castle (standard) costs £250.00. The Castle (standard) …

• has a frontage of 86cm and sides of 65.5cm
• 5 towers
• 1 gatehouse
• 8 wall sections

If this too much castle for The dear reader then one’s sights could be lowered as there is a Castle (small) available. Alternatively if The dear reader would not be seen dead in a mere Castle (standard) there is of course the option of the Castle (large). One can purchase the individual components if one would prefer to custom design one’s castle and having just started to listen to Meeples and Miniatures episode 130 – Salute 2016 – there is a breached wall section on the way.

To the eyes of von Peter himself the windows on the sides of the towers seem a little less than desirable security features though wonderful creations for cloisters etc – see what Alan Perry is kit bashing with the sprues from the Renedra Castle here.

Contender 2 – Warlord Games

Meanwhile Warlord Games have their ‘The Citadel’ Plastic Castle as pictured below. It can be yours for £175.00. While a simpler creation than the Renedra Castle (standard) it is more technologically advanced having round towers as opposed to square. Once again individual sections of the Warlord castle are available to purchase individually.

Fortunately von Peter himself is immune to any temptations from this latest crop of plastic castles because he already has one in stock – the Warhammer Fortress (see below) as produced by Games Workshop many moons ago. Obtained on the cheap it waits largely unbothered by a painter’s brush for its time of glory. Sound familiar?!  😀

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

A Sharp Practice heads-up

From the outside looking in it’s looking more and more likely that the TheTooFatLardies will hit their target of releasing Sharp Practice version 2 on St. Georges Day … which of course we all know is the 23 April. Of itself this is a good thing as von Peter himself is figuring to get his hands on a copy for perusing and with any luck actual gaming. But even better it appears that if one were of a mind to order the rules and assorted gaming paraphernalia prior to the actual release date then not only will one get the rules and assorted gaming paraphernalia in a timely manner but one will also get them at a discounted price …

BUNDLE 1: Rules & Cards
Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
Bumper Card Deck of 40 cards
Free PDF of the rules.
At £29 this saves you £17 as a bundle.

BUNDLE 2: Rules & Chips
Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
MDF Poker Chip Set of 34 Chips
Free PDF of the rules.
At £28 this saves you £17 as a bundle

BUNDLE 3: Card Sharp (as per Bundle 5 but no Poker Chips)
Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
Bumper Card Deck of 40 cards
Game Token set in acrylic
Free PDF of the rules.
At £35 this saves you £19 as a bundle

BUNDLE 4: Chips with everything (as per Bundle 5 but no card deck)
Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
MDF Poker Chip Set of 34 Chips
Game Token set in acrylic
Free PDF of the rules.
At £34 this saves you £19 as a bundle

BUNDLE 5: The monster of a bundle with everything anyone would wish for on the Sharp Practice front.
Hard Copy rules with 120 pages packed with army lists, scenarios and, of course, the game rules.
Bumper Card Deck of 40 cards
MDF Poker Chip Set of 34 Chips
Game Token set in acrylic
Free PDF of the rules.
At £38 this saves you £21 as a bundle.

By way of explanation as “borrowed” from the Lardies website …

1.  The rules.  Its a 120 page book which contains the rules and Army Lists for five different conflicts.  These are the French Indian War, the AWI, Peninsular War, ACW and Indian Mutiny.  However, the rules won’t stop there.   We have lost of other periods ready as free downloadable Army lists covering stuff like Garibaldi in Italy, Napoleonic warfare, Revolutionary Wars in Italy, US Mexican Wars and a whole host of other exciting stuff.
2. The Cards or Poker Chips. You can choose whether you want to use a card deck or pull chips from a bag or cup.  It’s entirely up to you which you use.  You will need ONE set or cards or chips to play a game.  You do not need one per player.  The poker chip set are 34 tokens in engraved MDF which are very easy to paint up and look superb when they are done.  The cards are a proper poker standard set with rounded corners and come in a tuck box.  As it happens we got 40 cards to a deck as this suited the printer card sizes so the card deck is slightly larger.
3. Game Tokens.  A set of 18 acrylic tokens to indicate when units Present (ready to fire a controlled volley), when they are firing an uncontrolled volley and when they are broken.  We have played many many games and this set of 18 tokens have been all we needed for any game situation.  No need to duplicate unless you are really going to push the boat out on game size.

So some sharp 😃 pricing with not inconsiderable savings are to be had for the organised purchaser … assuming that the organised purchaser is wanting the rules in both hard copy and PDF format and is also wanting some of the game aids as supplied ex the Lardies. So which bundle is it to be for von Peter himself? Hmmmm!

But there’s more …

To support the rules The Lardies have started a series of Youtube videos on the rules …

• Part One: An Introduction
• Sharp Practice Video Two

with more expected soonish. It’s all go on the Sharp Practice front.

This has been a public service announcement generously brought to you at not inconsiderable expense and effort by von Peter himself Media International Ltd.  😎

Home made Orthodoxy

A couple of posts back von Peter himself had reason to report on Mark Strachan’s scratch built 28mm Russian Orthodox church. Mark has now completed the basing of said Russian Orthodox church and was kind enough to allow a couple of his photos to be replicated here for The dear readers education. More photographic recordings of the finished church – remembering that its a Russian church …. not Finnish … ha ha ha ⚠️ – can seen here. von Peter himself has yet to attempt to scratch build a terrain piece and is in awe of such endeavours.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

More Orthodoxy

As part of his prior post von Peter himself showcased several Orthodox churches available from GrandManner. Why stop when you’re on to a good thing?

Above: The Russian Elizabethgrad Hussars file past a back steppe Orthodox Church while the rather militant Father Disputin exhorts them to great martial feats for Mother Russia

First up the Russian village of von Peter himself has taken a great step forward with the consecration of its Orthodox Church. Father Disputin is pleased. As with the rest of the village the model is a product of Hovels – H3 Timbered Church from the 25mm Eastern European / Russian range. Its completion leaves one Russian building left to paint – a damaged house. Damaged by design but also just plain damaged as the casting has several cracks. Not a major problem as it will be glued to a base just as soon as the various casting flaws in the model are cleaned up. Unfortunately the cleaning up – mostly with a craft knife – is sorely testing the integrity of the model. von Peter himself would much prefer it to stay in one piece as that would seem to be the simplest way forward. Enough of the real estate painting. There are figures to paint so the remaining damaged building has gone back into the wargaming wardrobe for now as its time has not yet come.

Above: the other two sides of the Orthodox Church in a slightly different light. The sun kept coming and going! Photographic facilities at Neu Schloss von Peter need some serious sorting. We can’t be having backgrounds like that!  👀

Grand Manner and von Peter himself are not the only ones to have been busy with their Orthodox Churches. Mark Strachan has scratch built one for himself and in double quick time. His methods and the Church’s progress have been documented in a series of posts on his blog – 1866 and all that. Mark’s output – both in the hobby and blog sense – far surpasses that of von Peter himself so as a service to The dear reader the first instalment can be found here and then move to the “Newer Post” post. As per the blog the church is complete but the based model has yet to be seen. Hopefully Mark has not forgotten!  😃

Plastic Gripping Beast Late Romans

According to their Facebook page Gripping Beast will be adding a box of plastic Late Romans and they’re “coming soon” what ever that means [edit – Salute 2016]. These are multi part models to some degree or other because …

“By design, they are fully compatible with our Dark Age Warriors – we have stuck some hybrids together and they look cool.”

von Peter himself has the beginnings of a metal Late Roman army from Gripping Beast tucked away. Being from the same company hopefully the two lines of will be compatible to some degree or other.

And tantalisingly the Facebook post ends with “Cavalry next”.

Above: 3-Ups of the Gripping Beast Late Romans to be

Ebor Late Romans

28mm Late Romans “are the bomb” apparently. Joining the party are Ebor Miniatures who have a range coming out. From The Miniatures Page …

This is a joint venture between Paul Hicks and Ebor miniatures with Paul receiving money from every sale so the more sales the more figures will be released.

and

Paul has scaled the figures to the GB range in height although they are slightly slimmer, he has made the shields the same size so the LBM transfers for GB fit them.

As mentioned above von Peter himself has a “hibernating” Late Roman army of Gripping Beast metal figures. Their future is to hold off the Gripping Beast Sassanids / Sassanians of von Peter himself. Reinforcements are of course always welcome.

 

Role playing

von Peter himself has become enmeshed in fortnightly role playing using 5th edition D&D. This pastime has not been partaken of for many decades and the rules sure have moved a long way since last von Peter himself played. Luckily you don’t need to know the finer details of the rules as a player. It has been amusing to watch the group getting their role playing feet. We have made some really foolish decisions but nothing fatal so far – to us anyway. 😎 Craig is our honourable Dungeon Master and has been enjoying himself by throwing the unexpected at us … and then trying to coach us through our resultant indecision and plain poor judgement. To date no figures have been used but that may change. If it does then von Peter himself will be needing a figure with the visage of a human cleric with a martial bent. Fortunately he has a couple in store.

Front Rank price rise alert

As per their newsletter some news from Front Rank Figurines …

It has been over 2 years now since we have had a price rise, so with regret sometime during May 2016 our prices will increase.

We have been warned … though there is not anticipated to be any action from von Peter himself. Undoubtedly more Front Rank figures will be bought but with the backlog of figures already waiting to be painted and an anticipation that the increase will not be extreme the money is probably better off sitting in the bank for now.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Of fantasies, orthodoxy and restarts

The son & heir has gotten himself all hot and bothered under the collar reminiscing over his old Warhammer Fantasy Battle Days. So hot and bothered has he got that he has dragged out his Orc & Goblin army and is currently repainting them. Green flesh is out being displaced by a ‘normal’ flesh colour. They are dressed in various tans and off-whites which leads von Peter himself to think that they must be desert Orcs & Goblins. Pictures will follow once he finishes some units which in this case means completes the basing.

von Peter himself was not to be spared the Warhammer renaissance. 600 points of Empire were duly force conscripted so as to provide opposition for the 600 points of Orcs and Goblins that had been repainted at that stage … even if the basing was not complete. A big mistake on von Peter’s part as all that was left at the end of the game was a solitary cannon with a decreased of number crew and 5 archers who were accorded the Empire MVP award. Even Kapitan von Peter himself was not spared the horror being brutally dismembered by a brutish Black Orc Big Boss. Lesson of the day relearned: never leave home without your Holy Relic – a ward save. Even if it means less swordsmen. Not good for the future of human kind at all. A gaggle of non buffed weedy goblin archers managed to wipe out to a knight a unit of Empire knights over two rounds of close combat. Such things should not be … and certainly not be reported to the world!  💀

Pressure will no doubt build for more such massacres in ever increasing sized battles as more of the green flesh skins transition to their desert habitat guise.  😃

Above: von Peter himself in the guise of an Empire Captain. This figure is usually used as the Battle Standard Bearer but there is no room for one of them in a 600 point game. This photograph obviously pre the severe chopping up into little pieces delivered by the Black Orc Big Boss. A rather severe reminder as to why pathetic humans should not go forth in the Warhammer Fantasy world without some extra magical protection. The standard was kindly provided by GMB Designs who upon request changed the colours of their Seven Years War Prussian flag of Infantry Regiment 19 to the black and white as seen.

 

Imperial Sunset available to order

The scenario book “Imperial Sunset : The 1813-14 Campaigns” is finally available to order … so von Peter himself has ordered it! Written for the General de Brigade Napoleonic rules it is not considered a problem to port the scenarios to other rules should the need arise. Besides von Peter himself derives great pleasure just poring over scenario books such as this and 1813 is the sweet spot for von Peter himself.

Completion of the book was announced on the General de Brigade forum by the author of the rules and the scenario book David Brown with the words …

1. Lutzen: The Prussian Charge.
2. Lutzen: La Garde au Feu!
3. Lutzen: Action at Eisdorf.
4. Bautzen: Franquemont’s Attack.
5. Dresden: Murat’s Flank.
6. Kulm: The First Day.
7. Hagelberg.
8. Dennewitz – Ney’s Battle.
9. Dennewitz – The Saxon Battle.
10. Leipzig: The Battle for Dolitz.
11. Leipzig: Schonefeld.
12. La Rothiere.
13. La Rothiere – Marmont’s Flank.

The Lutzen scenarios see Prussians & Russians up against a variety of French and Imperial Guard. All three are linked so can be played together.
Bautzen has Wurttemberg troops up against Prussians, while Dresden sees Murat’s conscripts and cuirassiers up against Austrian squares.
Kulm has the courageous Vandamme battle the Russian guards, while Hegelberg has an assortment of French and Confederation second line units facing the newly raised Prussian Landwehr.
Dennewitz portrays the whole of Ney’s engagement with opposing Prussian forces, before we cover aspects of Leipzig and finally into the 1814 campaign with linked scenarios with Napoleon caught for once without the strategic initiative engaging a powerful allied army of Austrians, Russians and Bavarians.

DB

Imperial Sunset is available from Caliver Books for £18.50 plus postage. A  l-o-n-g  time coming but excellent news all the same.

Above: the scenario book cover. Click on it for a more legible version

 

GrandManner Orthodox church property portfolio

GrandManner have an impressive range of 28mm Eastern Europe buildings and terrain features. Just how impressive a range can be glimpsed by counting the number of Orthodox churches on offer – one, two three, four … five! Collating them all together for the enlightenment of the The dear readers makes von Peter himself feel like he is editing a property magazine!

Above: E22 Russian Orthodox Church … or should that be an Orthodox Church?

Above: EE95 Timber Village Church With Shingle Roof

Above: EE96 Major Village Church With Shingle Roof

Above: EE98 Smaller Village Church With Tile Roof/Twin Domes

Above: EE99 Borindino Church … or should that be Borodino Church as stated in the description? It does seem rather grand for the Borodino village of the 1812 battle.

The Borindino / Borodino Church is the Great Great Grandaddy of them all and revels in the description of …

Church Of The Nativity Of Christ – Borodino, Built 1701- Red Brick- Copper Roof. Large Octagonal Capola And Bell Tower, Covered Steps And Balcony To Upper Floor. Size = Main Body 290X190X450H , Covered Steps = 110X70X120H Total Length = 400. Limited Edition Model = 30 castings, One Per Customer. For Pre 1940 WWII – The Building Is White Washed – Copper Roof.

… and can be in the possession of The dear reader for a paltry £415.00. But get in quick because you’ll need to be one of first 30 customers. Mind you there is a fair bit to get …

Above: EE99 Borindino Church … the constituent parts including some internal fittings

 

Father – progeny bonding

von Peter himself and The son & heir have spent several hours bonding over the BBC series The Last Kingdom. It is based on Bernard Cornwell‘s variously entitled ‘The Warrior Chronicles’ or ‘Saxon Stories’ series of books now renamed for some reason ‘The Last Kingdom’ series. Set in the 9th century of what we now think of as England. Our hero “Uhtred” is born a Saxon, is brought up as a Dane/Viking and then gets to live a confused and eventful life trying to reclaim his birthright … and along the way helping out Alfred, the King of Wessex. If you no not of what von Peter himself types then you will quickly get an idea from The Last Kingdom trailer.

And most enjoyable has been the experience for both parties. It is not perfect – eg. there is some suspect imagery so that we do not confuse vikings with Saxons – but overall the series is well made without the often seen obvious scrimping on extras. The story rollicks along and kept the locals keen and coming back for more. Sadly the eight episodes of the first series have been consumed but it appears that a ten episode second series has the “all system go” status so they will be looked forward to.

Above: Our hero Uhtred dressed as a Viking but fighting for himself and Alfred the King of Wessex and his Saxons. Thanks to the BBC for the image.

So we have seen Bernard Cornwell’s Napoleonic Sharpe televised and now the same for his Dark Ages Uhtred but there’s to be more. It seems that The American Civil War Nathaniel Starbuck Chronicles are likewise to be televised as a series …

Independent filmmaker Kurt Mason Peterson has begun development on a television adaptation of “The Nathaniel Starbuck Chronicles.” Here’s a trailer; https://vimeo.com/151842187

And you can learn more about the project at RebelTheSeries.com.

 

What’s on the painting desk

A new ongoing feature perhaps. von Peter himself will evaluate how embarrassing such a feature would be!  😃

• the two horses and their destined riders back left are from the Calpe Miniatures French F18 Regimental headquarters pack. The two dismounted figures from the same pack are finished – hence out of picture – and wondering where their mounted betters are! Once complete all four figures will comprise von Peter’s first Napoleonic French command stand who will for now sit at the apex of the French forces – Bavarians, Saxons and for now a solitary 5 company French battalion.
• the first eight figures of the Saxon 1/Prinz Frederich August Infantry Regiment. Initially the plan was to paint four figures as a trial of the green faced battalion but the four somehow became eight … and another four have been cleaned up and waiting to go. von Peter himself tends to paint his Napoleonics in multiples of four as this is how they are based. Very rarely is a complete battalion painted in one all encompassing batch. This would no doubt be the most efficient manner but von Peter himself does not have there required attention span or mental fortitude so smaller batches are a happier way forward for him. Once again the figures are sourced from Calpe Miniatures but are the older Saxons as found in the Calpe Veterans section of cape’s website.
• a single Calpe Prussian casualty figure. Many more of these are required as a practical matter for marking casualties in games as required by some rules. The official policy is to paint casualty figures when a new unit is painted but this is a newish policy and there is a bit of ground to make up.

Not shown is the Hovels 25mm H3 Russian/Timbered Church which was cleaned up and washed today … and will hopefully be glued together tonight in preparation for pigmentation.

Wish von Peter himself well as he attempts to restart his painting endeavours … again. 😃

 

 

Remember that clicking on most images will reveal a larger and clearer image.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

More landwehr and real estate

More Landwehr casualties

Having given himself quite a scare by completing a battalion von Peter himself set himself a new rather timid goal to paint some landwehr casualty figures to match. By way of ensuring that at least some casualty figures are available for use during gaming the executive decision was taken a while back to create at least one casualty figure / base for each battalion** completed. So at least one casualty stand was required to seal the inclusion of the 3/4 East Prussian Landwehr battalion into von Peter’s Prussian force. In the end a rush of blood to the head of von Peter himself resulted in three [shock horror] casualty stands comprising four figures [good grief!] arriving at the front.

Three landwehr casualty figures from from Calpe Miniatures with the medic sourced from Westfalia Miniatures. von Peter himself is not 100% sure on the medics shoulder straps but he figures that a little latitude with a landwehr battalion’s medic’s shoulder straps is acceptable. The medic sports the yellow shoulder straps to match those of his battalion – yellow being the colour defining the third battalion of the regiment.

Sadly these three stands will no doubt be getting quite a bit of use in the future. Also sadly the white trousers in the photo have been far too much for the photographer’s skills … the git! The white trousers are not so bright in the real world. Honest.

** Artillery and especially cavalry are a bit more tricky as there are not many casualty figures available for them. As a result these unit types have their casualty status marked in battle via the use of infantry casualty stands. You would expect the cavalry in particular to complain about such tasteless shenanigans but to date not a murmur of dissent has reached high command!  😃

 

Please sir … can I have some more terrain sir …

Father’s Day comes but once a year … which is a dashed poor return for the year’s worth of toil and abuse that comes with the territory! But von Peter himself digresses … albeit justifiably.  😃

Anyways Father’s Day in New Zealand (and Australia) is celebrated on the first Sunday in September which made it 6 September in 2015. Besides providing The son & heir the chance to sleep through the breakfast provisioning time [mutter mutter] it also provides the opportunity to increase the stocks of hobby related goods. This year von Peter himself scratched the itch caused by some of the buildings rom the Big Battalions 28mm Black Powder Europe range from  Total Battle Miniatures.

The “Row of Houses and Store Lift Off Roof” was ordered on the 28 August 215. As was half expected given that it was the British summer holiday season Total Battle Miniatures were on holiday at the time but a pleasant email was received on the 5 September 2015 explaining all. Even better the postie delivered that actual model to Neu Schloss von Peter on Saturday 26 September.

“Row of Houses and Store Lift Off Roof” front with some washed out looking Calpe Miniatures Saxons hiding in the shadows for size reference

The model arrived snuggly packed in a box in the expected  two pieces – the ground floor and the over hanging two upper stories – with some bubble wrap. The model is reasonably large which may make it better suited to Sharp Practice games than brigade/division level games. Even so von Peter himself is thinking that the two halves will be permanently glued together as he is not a fan of hiding figures in buildings.

The more eagle eyed of The dear readers will have noticed that the ground floor is cast in a pale yellow resin whereas the upper two floors are cast in a grey resin. Total Battle Miniatures replied to a querying email with the following …

“No the resins are basically the same and from the same manufacturer we just decided to start dying the castings grey for a bit more definition and the light yellow is its raw state and was bulk cast earlier in the year.” 

“Row of Houses and Store Lift Off Roof” back

The building is not the cheapest but then you only live once! All things considered von Peter himself is happy to pronounce himself happy with his “Row of Houses and Store Lift Off Roof”. There is a strong possibility that the …

… and the …

…and maybe even the …

… will some day join the local collection so as to form a weeney village for heroic 28mm men to squabble over. One can never have enough villages to squabble over.

Who doesn’t need Napoleonic civilians

Via their News page Front Rank Figurines have divulged that they have in their 28mm Napoleonic pipeline …

NAPOLEONIC CIVILIANS “gentry” figures due out October 2015.

At last the better class of local citizenry will be able to observe and cheer the martial brilliance ‘escapades’ of von Peter himself while simultaneously booing the deplorable and altogether vulgar opposition!  😃

The Army of the Kingdom of Sweden 1802-1814

Another e-book from The History Book Man and it’s not what von Peter himself expected. Rather than the anticipated “Armies of the Confederation of the Rhine: The Army of the Kingdom Of Westphalia 1807-1813” we get “The Army of the Kingdom of Sweden 1802-1814”.

If he were to be uncharacteristically honest von Peter himself would prefer the former and is not that interested in the latter. But then … von Peter’s Prussian and Russian troops are mostly part of Bernadotte’s Army of the North in 1813 which just happens to also contain the Swedes. But then … does anyone make decent Swedish 28mm miniatures that will fit with the highly favoured Calpe and Front Rank figures?

From the official blurb …

“THE ARMY OF THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN 1802-1814 was originally published in 1978 and was substantially revised and updated with a wealth of new material when the new e-book edition was released. In particular a lot of new information was added into the chapters concerning the army and regimental organisation which added considerably to the usefulness of the volume. The artwork for the original e-book edition was almost a direct reprint of the 1984 edition and the book was illustrated with mostly black and white line drawings from that edition. This new 3rd Edition corrects some minor inaccuracies in the text and includes the colour artwork which was not used in earlier versions and adds some 100 new illustrations created for this edition, in particular the chapters on regimental flags have been updated and enlarged with over forty new colour illustrations.”

An email tells of 107 pages but the website says 130 pages. Hmmm!

SYWA 33rd Annual Convention

A few posts ago von Peter himself reminisced about the happy days when he would receive Seven Years War Association (SYWA) Journals via good old fashioned snail mail … aka the postman. Just to prove that the SYWA is still alive and kicking von Peter himself presents the flier for the next SYWA Convention. They have that Dr. Christopher Duffy person as the featured guest. von Peter himself would love to attend but not this year … or the next  … and probably not the year after either …sob!!

 

The standby warning for some of The son & heir’s pigmentation progress is still in effect. Standby!

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself