Yet another "Old School" book to read. . . Oh, the pain!

The last week has been kind of quiet here in the Grand Duchy of Stollen. Too many student papers to read/mark and company from out of town for a few days meant that it was difficult to get any painting time in during the evenings. But, it hasn't been a complete loss here either. . .

Another wonderful little book arrived in a short while ago -- Introduction to Battle Gaming (1969) by Terry Wise. A brief once over reveals what looks to be like lots of interesting reading and plenty of black and white illustrations to peruse too.

Best of all, the copy I received is in "Like New" condition and was had for less than $20US! Can you believe it? All I can figure is that the bookseller was not aware of what he had, because I've seen copies of this little gem elsewhere for a heck of a lot more than that!

And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, the latest issue of Battlegames was also in the same batch of mail today. So, this evening will be very full indeed after some more painting and a progress photo or two right here. Good thing that the Grand Duchess has a conference paper to finish for an upcoming trip to Toronto, so my conscience shouldn't hurt too much! ;-)

Comments

Bluebear Jeff said…

It is so nice when you get a nice buy like that.

I know that I've been extremely lucky in a few finds.

My hardbound copy of "Charge" was only $4 in a used bookstore because someone had "highlighted" the rules and it lacked the dust jacket.

I got my copy of "The War Game" (complete with dust cover) for $7.50 from a fellow who was clearing out his books about 20 years back.

And I got the Peter Young "The War Game" (about various battles) for $6 in another used bookstore. No dust jacket, but in great condition.

I doubt that very many others have grabbed these for less. . . . Now if I could just find Featherstone's "Solo Wargaming" or the Funcken's "Lace Wars" guides for decent prices . . . *sigh*.

I've never come across them in used bookstores, but as I say, sometimes one can find gems.

-- Jeff

1:57 PM

guy said…

Well done. I always greatly enjoyed Terry Wise's books and columns. He wrote a wargaming column in the late 1970's early 80's called Observation Post in Military Modelling magazine which eventually was taken over by Stuart Asquith. I believe he went on to run a book shop in Yorkshire.

I always rummage in the book boxes at charity fairs etc in the hope of finding a treasure. I have been fortunate in finding a few over the years but I am still seeking Don Featherstone's Campaign book. I know it is out there!

Regards,
Guy

4:32 AM

Giles said…

What an amazing diorama! I love these old books.

Giles

9:26 AM

It's Early Days Yet. . .

M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings. Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat. The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week. Next up, the neck stocks. I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit. Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step. "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes

And We're Off!!!

Arrrgh! Gotta go back into camera settings on my iPhone to bring all of the frame into focus. Blast! Painting is underway on the 60 or so Minden Austrians, which are slated to become my version of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment of AWI renown. More or less indistinguishable from Austrians of the era really, right down to the red facings and turnbacks, but the eventual flags (already in my files) will set them apart. I went ahead and based-coated all of them over a couple of days lthe last week of August, using a mix of light gray and white acrylic gesso, before next applying my usual basic alkyd oil flesh tone to the faces and hands. In a day or two, I'll hit that with Army Painter Flesh Wash to tone things down a bit and bring some definition to the faces and hands. As usual, the plan is to focus on about 20 figures at a time, splitting the regiment roughly into thirds along with the color party and regimental staff. Depending on ...

A Little More Brushwork. . .

A little more brushwork on the first batch of (my version of) the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment yesterday (Saturday). Taking a different tack this time and addressing many of the details first before the white coats and other larger areas of uniform. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that I've painted the (dark) red stocks of the enlisted men. Always a difficult and frustrating item to paint, it made sense to paint from the inside out as it were and get that particular detail out of the way first rather than try to paint it in later after much other painting has been accomplished. Trying to reduce the need for later retouching of other items on the figures you understand. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to these later today after a second trip back to the Apple Store for help with a couple of new iPad issues and, following the return home, some revision of Google Slides for tomorrow's meetings with my students. -- Stokes P.S. And according t...

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