The Speed Painting That Wasn't. . .

All good things must come to an end as they say. And so it is with our summer vacation. Beginning next week, I have various seminars and meetings since my college starts its fall semester in two weeks. The Grand Duchess begins again in three. We also have a memorial service and family reunion out of town for several days, which means that summer, for us, is coming to an end quickly. Where did June and July go? Sigh.

Nevertheless, things have not ground to a complete halt here in Stollen Central. Painting has continued apiece as has reading and planning for the upcoming battle and campaign. You might remember that I ordered Wargame Campaigns by Charles S. Grant some weeks ago, and, safe to say, have been enjoying the book since its arrival. Lots of things to think about in conjunction with Donald Featherstone’s, Tony Bath’s, and Henry Hyde’s campaign thoughts and guidelines.

On a related note, thank you for the help and suggestions relative to the idea of “tactical chance cards”. I’ll try to type up mine in a Word file in a day or so and post them in the files section of the Old School Wargaming Yahoo Group for anyone who wants to use them as is, add to them, or tinker with what’s already there.

Finally, the painting. Here are a few photos of what’s currently on the table here in Zum Stollenkeller. First, is a photo, at the top of this post, of General Pavel Petrovich von Butinski (on the right) along with his newly painted and varnished ADC, Major Hans Dieter von Crottingen (on the left), who served in the Prussian cavalry for while before entering the Stollenian service.


Second is a photo of the independent company of the Wolmar-Bock Regiment from Pillau- Zerbst, which is due to join Philipe de Latté and the Army of Zichenau any day now. The figures are RSM French musketeers, given to me by Jim “Alte Fritz” Perky in June, and lovely specimens they are too.

For this unit, I have tried the speed painting method outlined in Battlegames #13, but it just hasn’t worked out as I’d hoped. Lots of touching up with black lining has been necessary to thoroughly cover the metal that still shows through the “magic dip”. Although the musket barrels and bayonets look pretty good, I think this method might be better for ancient and medieval figures, who wear lots of armor. For now, I’ll stick with my gesso basecoat followed by a black undercoat for all future painting. It’s what works best for me. Anyway, I’m not quite finished with these yet, but hopefully in the next evening or two. We’ll call this mini-project “The Speed Painting That Wasn’t”.

Finally, just above is a shot of the officer who commands these troops, Captain Ernst Licentius* von Mekern, of whom you’ve no doubt read much already in last week’s postings. Von Meckern is in his 30s, has had some military service already, and is given to corruption in the right company. . . making him an ideal companion for General de Latté and, perhaps later, Princess Antonia III. In any case, von Meckern is also given to complaining about his superior officers and their conduct on the battlefield. *Intended misspelling.

But back to real life for a moment. This evening, the Grand Duchess and I will lead our usual Tuesday evening 30-mile Hot Cross Bunns Ride with the bicycling club, a route we developed ourselves. Bunn Street is the route by which we come back into town at the end of the ride, so the title is intended as a play on words. ;-) And tomorrow evening, I have another band practice here in Zum Stollenkeller. We are auditioning a guy who might become our regular drummer. Hopefully that will go well. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, Charge!