YEAR END POST 2020

Greetings, fellow shut-ins.  Time for the traditional retrospective post on the blogging year.  As I looked back on the year's blogging activity to prepare this post, I was struck by a sense of "before" and "after": despite having been glad to put 2019 in the rear view mirror as a less than stellar year, and with the pre-COVID days of 2020 being pretty awful given the many stupid things that were going on (particularly here in the US), I still found myself dwelling wistfully on the posts of January through early March as the last vestiges of "normal" as we knew them.  I think that we are now sharing the experience of other generations that have lived through epoch-defining cataclysms--after enduring the immediate disruption and loss of life (which we're still not through), we'll emerge and and come to realize that we aren't going to be resuming where we left off. Like the world of 1914 that was swept away by the Great War, the pre COVID world of 2019/20 has been swept away by events. Some good has come out of it (like the quantum leap in connections among hobbyists across distances via virtual platforms), but much will have been lost (exactly how much has yet to be seen), and new challenges will emerge and become part of the new "abnormal." Apologies for the existential blathering. Despite my hope to keep this blog about the hobby and toy soldiers, I think the elephant in the room had to be addressed.  Now, on to the usual stuff...

PAINTING 

Although I had expected that the lockdown would provide the context for a productive year, the overall totals were in the ballpark of the previous year. Completing my Romanian Army was a huge achievement among my painting projects (don't get me wrong), but after that, productivity lapsed.  This year, like most, I painted exclusively in 28mm. I painted 140 infantry figures (to include dismounted commanders) and 25 mounted figures. If we count mounted figures as 2, this would make grand combined total of 190 figures. The grand combined total for 2019 was 160.  The great difference is that in 2019 painting was distributed over the year while in 2020 it dropped off as energy waned after April (and picked up a bit in November/Dec).  In this year's total, I counted one third of the figures in the great rebasing project: although those were pre-painted acquisitions, I did a substantial amount of repainting to create unit themes and also to bring them up to the look of the rest of my collection. This year, I painted terrain for the first time in recent memory: 12 earthwork segments (4" each) and one bridge. Add to this total a bit of equipment, 4 cannon.  So in the end, despite the times, the painting effort was sustained, and I must say that the Romanian Army project did help to get me through the lifestyle adjustments during the early lockdown period.

BLOGGING

In 2020, I only managed 31 posts (counting this one). In 2019, I had 36 posts.  Like many others, distractions and stresses of the "real world" had an effect on the energy and concentration available for blogging.  I hope to do better in the next year!  My original aim was to post once per week, but have only managed that rate for one year (2017).  I'm always tinkering and doing something in the hobby; I think there is sometimes a tradeoff between blogging and hands-on hobbying: rather than being complimentary, sometimes they can be at odds.  I think I need to distribute my blogging a bit more in order for it to be more sustainable. I will add, however, that I still enjoy blogging--it has become an integral part of the hobby experience for me, particularly the connections that it engenders. 

READERSHIP

I began the year with 52 followers and had a modest (and much appreciated) increase to 56 in this year.  Given the limited number of posts, I'm happy that this blog still provided enough interest to gain a few followers (as opposed to losing them!).  I also must give a shout out to those who regularly post comments: as any blogger can tell you, a few comments go a long way when it comes to encouragement.  I know that I have lurked more often than I would have liked this year on other people's blogs, and hope to return to leaving comments more regularly when I visit.

CONTENT PAGES

The Nine Years War Resources page had the most hits this year, with 861, closely followed by the Dubious Designs page, with 823. Interesting note: the Dubious Designs page had 244 referrals in November from grognard.com after someone posted a link to my games page there. Good to get noticed.  I only have to wonder how many people have actually put together and played one of the games.  I suppose if they weren't being well received, I might have had some questions or seen a comment about them, so I'll take silence as a positive.  After these two leaders, the next are the 19th Century Rules, with 547 hits in the last year, and the Miniatures on a Grid: Baroque Battles page, with 484.  As far as all time, the the Nine Years War is at the top with 3,340, followed by Dubious Designs at a distant second with 1,910, then 19th Century Rules at 1,720 and Miniatures on a Grid at 1,670. It is good to see that these pages are getting visited.  

VIRTUAL CLUBBING

Given that I have a Zoom account via my workplace, I began hosting weekly (virtual) club meetings for my circle of gaming friends. These were impromptu at first, but have grown into regular sessions held on Sunday afternoons (we're now up to number 37 and counting). I think I need not say much about how central these gatherings have become to our hobby.  In ours, we simply go around with each member doing a "show and tell" (or just visiting if they haven't got anything new to show that week).  Social aspect aside, these have been inspirational and generated new ideas for gaming (such as Pikeman's Lament, which we have collectively discovered and been exploring in these gatherings). Although I don't host virtual gaming sessions, there are others in our club who have, with more to come.  Speaking of virtual gatherings, I was happy to have participated in the Virtual Conference of Wargames this last year, and am looking forward to VCOW 2021. 

CONCLUSION

I have been very fortunate that during this awful year I was one of those who was able to flex to working from home and whose livelihood was not whacked by circumstances. Nevertheless, there have been a few developments on the personal front that have weighed things down and affected energy available for hobby and blogging (on top of the drag of the pandemic on us all).  There was a health scare that was (happily) overcome, and working through a major life decision to accept an early retirement incentive offered by the university where I work.  Thus, I'll continue working through June, after which I will be employed full time with toy soldiers.  In the meantime, I will continue to meander along and blog in this space and look forward to seeing everyone the next blog year.

Excelsior!

DER CHRISTKINDLEKRIEG--OR--DIE SCHLACT BEFORE XMAS

Scene of the action: Oberkringleburg being raided by a storming party from rival Unterkringleburg. As usual,  you may clix pix for BIG PIX in this post.

 

In this post, dear readers, we bring you a seasonal confection, an incident from Kringleland involving the running conflict between Oberkringleburg and neighboring Unterkringleburg.  At some point in the distant past, these two burgs became alienated, and that alienation has blossomed into competition--and a period of open conflict each year during the Yule which has become known as Der Christkringlekrieg. The exact roots of this animosity are murky, but most agree that it began around the same time that the denizens of Oberkringleburg began referring to themselves as Hochkringlemenschen and assuming a heavily affected dialect they began to call Hochkringlesprache--and looking down on their neighbors in Unterkringleburg as Unterkringlemenschen, and their unsophisticated speech as Unterkringlesprache.  Of course, the good burgers of Unterkringleburg see things differently. They see themselves--and their honest, unaffected dialect--as being of pure Kringlelander stock, and the Oberkringleburgers and their uppity dialect as effeminate posers. And this year, to prove their point, they have sent a storming party of lusty lads to stir up the luxurious Oberkringleburgers where they live...

 

The Schneekanone, pride of the "high tech" Oberkringleburgers, loaded and ready to launch a dreaded Weissball.  In the background, Burgomeister of Oberkringleburg, signified by his grand red hat, supervises the two gun Schneekanonebatterie against the approaching Unterkringleburgers. 

Two stout Unterkringleburgers prepare to engage Schneekanone #1 with their well packed Schneeballs. Who will get off the first shot?

But wait: an ambush is sprung coming out of the Oberkringlehof in support of Schneekanone #1! It is a deadlock on this wing.

Meanwhile, Bernhard (aka Bernard--der Englischer schnellwerfer) is about to deliver a beamer to the crew of Schneekanone #2...

...but looks can be deceiving.  As seen from these two angles, it is Bernhard who is about to get a Weissball in the mush from Schneekanone #2. Score one for the fancy boys from Oberkringleburg here...

...meanwhile in the center, the Burgomeister has his gaze fixed on...

...the stout leader of the raiding party, who is lining up a dandy shot to knock his grand red cap off--and with it his dignity. Score one for the stout lads from Unterkringleburg here...

...and so, friends, we leave you with this frozen moment from this year's Christkringlekrieg for your amusement...

 

 

...And Seasons Greetings to All!

⛄

TERRAIN TIME II: BRIDGE TO NOWHERE (OR EVERYWHERE)

 

My new haiduks crossing my new bridge (perhaps I'll start referring to this piece of terrain as die Neubrucke)

 

Greetings, fellow shut ins! As the subject line indicates, this is post-the-second in my terrain series--a series that consists of but two entries (see my aforementioned aversion to painting terrain). Having one rather generic pre-painted bridge in my terrain box, I had my eye out for something with a bit more character, not only with more detail but that also fit in with the look of the black powder eras that I game in. With nothing ready-made showing up to fit the bill, I finally caved and scooped up this unpainted resin bridge some time ago from a seller on ebay (sorry, can't recall the manufacturer). I primed it white, spray painted it gray, and then went to work to tart it up a bit further.  Here are four not particularly imaginative shots of the finished product, for anyone who might actually be interested in how to (or not to) paint a similar bridge (as usual, you may clix pix for BIG PIX):

We'll call this perspective from the south end...

...from the north end (not much different than the south, really)...

...from the southeast... 

...from the northwest (I think: I lose track).

There it is.  After the initial flat gray spray over all, I did the road bed in brown (obviously), and then covered everything with a black wash. After that, the usual highlighting and drybrushing followed with lighter shades of grays and brown.  I also added some shades of green at the base of the stonework on the edges of the roadbed (damn crab grass and weeds!).  I finished it off with a bare light gray drybrush ito bring out the wagon ruts on the road bed (a very nice detail in this piece).  Now I have a proper bridge to use in my games.  

 

Excelsior!

TERRAIN TIME: EARTHWORKS & GABIONS

Old Figures Posing With New Terrain 

Greetings, fellow shut ins!  In this post, we stray into very familiar/unfamiliar territory.  Familiar in that everyone's collection, mine included, contains an array of wargame terrain.  Unfamiliar in that I am definitely in the "buy it painted and assembled" category when it comes to my terrain.  However, I have been wanting a substantial set of earthworks for some time to use with my 28mm Thirty Years War figures. It was not just in 1914-18 that there were extensive lines of earthworks stretching across the landscape. In the wars of the 17th century there were also extensive lines of works laid down to control territory and frontiers.  But I digress.  After coming up dry on finding ready-made versions of these, I finally gave in when I saw the Wicker Earthworks by Daemonscape Terrain offered on ebay (as opposed to the producer's site)...

...and lacking impulse control, I picked up four sets of them. That's 16 pieces, each of 4 inches:  so I now have 64 linear inches of earthworks which I can use in any number of configurations, to include a long line of works stretching across a table. Being my slow self, and not accustomed (okay, even averse) to painting terrain, these took me three weeks to complete.  Below is a study of each of the four pieces found in a set, front and back (clix pix for Big Pix).

I used a black undercoat and did the major parts in acrylic paints (instead of my usual enamels).  The brown for the earth turned out to have a slight red tinge to it, which turned out to be a happy coincidence, giving it a nice "turned up" earth look---which also helped to differentiate it from the browns in the wicker and the dead logs embedded in the earth. I added a few washes of black here and there, and I highlighted the brown with a drybrush of Humbrol Yellow Brown (another very handy color I employ for such uses).

For the wicker, I used another old stand-bye: "Dark Tan" (Testor's Model Master). I brushed the Dark Tan over the high points on the wicker weave, leaving the black to show through in the gaps. I finished it off with a drybrush of white to give it that weathered look--and to help the wicker stand-apart from the brown of the earth. 

The rocks are a dark gray, with a black wash, highlighted with lighter gray and then very lightly drybrushed with white.  I represented the gabions as filled with rocks: gray brushed over the black undercoat, a wash of black, and then drybrushed with lighter gray. 

I'm looking forward to games of my own Smalle Warre system and Pikeman's Lament using these earthworks, which will expand the options and allow for some very interesting scenario and campaign situations. 

Excelsior!

THE BOTTLE AND THE BATTLEFIELD: KOLIN, 1757

Schlacht bei Kolin, HGM Poosch, Wikimedia Commons

In this post, dear readers, we take another turn into my e-books for antiquarians in order to share a colorful, if little known, anecdote of the Battle of Kolin, June 1757--Frederick the Great's first defeat.  Although the course of this battle is worthy of study, I won't reprise it here.  You may find several excellent accounts on the Battlefield Anomalies web page and the Project Seven Years War page (among others).   This posting was generated by my perusal of the below book on cavalry, written in the immediate aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars by Count Von Bismarck (not the Prussian Iron Chancellor of the later century) who was an officer who reformed the Wurtemburg Cavalry.  It was translated into English by an English cavalry officer who adds his own notes and commentary. Anecdotes aside, it is well worth reading for information on the role and use of cavalry in the Napoleonic era and the lessons learned, covering everything from the conceptual and operational to the organizational and sub tactical. I am fortunate enough to have a copy of my own, but it is openly available in digital form on the web (see information below the title page images below). As usual, in this post you may clix on pix for BIG PIX (and will probably need to do so to read the passages):

 

Lectures on the Tactics of Cavalry, 1827, available on the Internet Archive

Like many of the military treatises of its day, this text has much "technical" information on the organization, configuration, and evolutions cavalry, but it is also generously sprinkled with historical anecdotes in support of concepts and principles. This particular tome is most rich in these, with bits pulled from antiquity right up through the (then) latest wars.  So not only is it a rich resource on Napoleonic cavalry, but it is also a dashing good read on military history and attitudes. Some of these anecdotes are well known, and some not so much--which brings me to this post, which relates an entertaining anecdote from the Battle of Kolin.  The battle happened during the Seven Years War between the Austrians and Prussians, and raged all day, with the Austrians under Daun holding off the assaulting Prussians. This was the battle where Frederick is famously said to have grabbed a color to lead a renewed charge ("Dogs, do you want to live forever!") only to find that the was heading up the hill alone.  Later in the day there were several Austrian cavalry charges that decisively turned back the Prussians. Accounts vary about these, which is an interesting topic in itself. Focusing on the book's anecdote, there was a three-regiment Saxon cavalry brigade on the Austrian right wing whose role is sometimes mentioned, sometimes mentioned only in passing, and sometimes not mentioned at all.  Additionally, the sources are contradictory on the crisis of the battle, some accounts mention that Daun had sent an order to withdraw late in the battle (others don't mention this order at all, interestingly enough).  Obviously, the more "Austrian" the narrative, the less is made of any decision to abandon the field or the role of the Saxons.  In the end, it wots not: the Austrian Army did not withdraw.  Instead the right wing cavalry charged and broke the Prussian last effort late in the day, driving them from the field.  This anecdote focuses on the moment that this withdrawal order arrived at the Saxon cavalry brigade, and the response of its commander, Saxon Lt Colonel Benkendorf...

The below is a footnote Found on pages 79 and 80 of the text as an illustration of the phrase, "The winning or losing of a battle depends often on some small, unimportant accident, not taken into the calculation of the General" 

(Clix pix for Big Pix to read)

 If it didn't happen this way, it should have, is all I have to say.

 The note above has it's own footnote that is worth including:

 

Excelsior!

REMEMBRANCE DAY 2020

Today in the US is Veterans Day.  Now set aside to commemorate the sacrifice and  service of military members for all times, it is, of course, derived from "Armistice Day" that originally commemorated the end of the Great War.  As such, this day of remembrance is a shared one with other nations.  As the world heads into the second surge of the COVID 19 pandemic, I find it apt to reprise the words of my Memorial Day posting--that I think that there is room in this moment of pause to commemorate not only the loss of the service men and women whom we traditionally honor at this time, but also the memories of all who have been lost and grieve during these trying times through COVID 19.  Although the social tumult and turmoil we are currently living through in the US compounds our anxiety, the spark of our ideals persist in the darkness and begin to glimmer stronger, promising a new dawn if we can but persevere and not lose heart.  (Normally, I like to use this blog space as an escape from topics of the day, but on this occasion I felt obliged to acknowledge the elephant in the room we are all dealing with--we will return to regular toy soldier programming in future posts, dear readers, have no fear).

POLISH HAIDUKS: OLD GLORY 28MM

 

New Addition : Old Glory Polish Haiduks with Command

 

Greetings, fellow shut ins!  Like many others, my hobbying has been slowed down in the last few months by various and sundry distractions and impositions from the "real world." Nevertheless, connecting with my hobby club-mates in weekly zoom gatherings has provided both motivation and inspiration.  In our case, there has been a renewed interest in Thirty Years War/17th Century topics, with an emphasis on Eastern Renaissance.  This, in turn, brought me to my lead pile to dig out these 28mm Polish Haiduks, which I've had stored away for something like a decade.    This project involved completing two units of 11, with 2 command: 24 figures in all. Given my slow painting pace, this took me just over three weeks to complete.   Given the popularity of the venerable Old Glory line, I was somewhat surprised that I could not track down an example of a painted set of these online somewhere.  So I hope that my project will prove helpful for anyone else embarking on these figures. As usual, you may clix pix for BIG PIX in this study.

 

Red Haiduks

Yellow Haiduks

The new contingent consists of two elements of Haiduks, one with red distinctions and one with yellow. Each has ten musketeers and one "tenth man" file leader. Haiduks were organized in decimals (tens), and the tenth man was often dressed distinctively from his men. My tenth men are in reverse colors.  

 Command and Drummer

As per my norm, I have organized these  into a two unit "company": with the company command consisting of a commander figure and a drummer. 

 

An Unappreciated Figure Line?

These figures come from the Polish Commonwealth set of the Old Glory Eastern Renaissance line. These, along with their English Civil War set, are absolutely splendid figures, meticulously researched, well sculpted, and accurately detailed. As such, they do present a challenge (at least for me) in order to understand what it was that I was painting. For instance, what I initially took as braiding on some of the figures' sleeves (just above the elbow) was in fact the match cord wrapped around the upper arm.  Closer inspection of the hands holding the muskets showed that, in many of them, what I originally thought was a mold line was, instead, the match cord twined between the fingers.  The way that the kaftans and zupans are pinned under the belts on the figures is another detail that warranted research and attention.  

 

Generally speaking, this kind of detail is not usually found in an "old school" figure line. If you have any interest in the era, I highly recommend checking the Old Glory Late Medieval and Renaissance  and English Civil War lines (both of which will provide for Thirty Years War gaming as well). 

 

Excelsior!

GREAT REBASING DONE & PIKEMAN'S LAMENT FORESHADOWING

Greetings, fellow shut-ins!  Real life has been imposing itself at work and on the personal front, sucking time and energy away from hobbying.  So have faith, dear readers, the pace may have become a bit slower lately, but this blog has not been abandoned.  As I have mentioned before, one of my resolutions has been to mix in a few more "light" posts rather than only posting when I have the time and energy to do something more substantial, which will help with blogging during busy and distracted periods.  This post will fit into that category.  As such, it is mostly a bit of eye candy on the recently completed great basing project (Thirty Years War figs).  As usual, in this post, you may clix pix for BIG PIX.

The new additions lined up: quite an expansion!

Left to Right: New Dragoon, Reiter, and Cuirassier...

...Five New Pike Blocks...

...And Two New Musketeer Platoons (12 Figs Ea).

 

As I've mentioned previously, this collection can be used for a variety of rules sets, to include my own Smalle Warre system.  As such, there are some organizing principles at work that can come into play depending on the system being played.

I've paired my pikes and musketeers into two unit "companies" and included a set of command figures (an officer and musician) for each, color coded to reflect the component units...

...The Red and White Pikes behind their company command.

...The Orange and Green Musketeers behind their company command (you get the idea).

 

Speaking of game systems, I had a near miss with hosting a game a week or so ago. My friend AJ (of AJ's Wargaming Blog) came over and we were going to give Pikeman's Lament a go (one of the systems that these figs would work for).  If you aren't familiar with that system, each side can build a company using points.  AJ wouldn't have the time to send along a list, so rather than me coming up with two companies, I asked another friend of mine, Ralph, who couldn't play, to put together some company lists and send them along to me--I'd have AJ play one of the companies Ralph put together.  In the event, the game did not come off, but it turned out to be a fun exercise to have Ralph put together some lists and me pulling out my toys to see how they would look...

Four Companies for Pikeman's Lament organized by Ralph

Detailed view of each of the Companies.

Plenty of Figures Left Over...

 

The above shot is of the remaining figures in my Thirty Years War/17th century collection after the four companies had been laid out  (well, not quite all of my remaining figures: there are still two more boxes full not pictured). I think it's safe to say that I've got more than enough figures to sponsor a club game-night of Pikeman's Lament or to provide for a group of players in a campaign.  I knew the collection had grown over the years from its rather modest beginnings, but still, it took this exercise gave me a solid confirmation of the size and scope of it: I had never really pulled out all of the boxes and gave them a look, collectively.  It also provided me a an excuse to pull out this particular set of toys and enjoy the spectacle. 

Excelsior!