The Cold Has Returned to the Grand Duchy of Stollen!!!

This late Christmas gift finally arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon, but it was well worth the wait. Wow!

Yesterday's mail brought the above title to my hot little hands, and I can't say enough about it after a delightful evening spent in bed with a cup of coffee and the book in question. Suffice to say that the writing and quality of Wargaming in History: The Seven Years War raises the bar considerably for all wargaming literature. Neither does it seem an overstatement to suggest that the book is just as engaging and charming as those two classics, held in such high regard by many of us, namely Charge! (1067) and The War Game (1971) . On a personal note, I think Charles Grant even surpasses those two works here. If you have not yet purchased Wargaming in History: The Seven Years War, do so at once. It is an amazing read and a feast for the eyes. Enough said.

On another note, I've just learned of a new blog, which might be of some interest to many of you visitors to the Grand Duchy of Stollen. Have a look at the Alte Zeit Figures blog, which details the sculpting, casting, and (hopefully?) sale of exquisitely proportioned and detailed 30mm miniatures in the style of the old Stadden range. The Seven Years War is one of the projects currently underway, and if the Prussian dragoon sculpting right now is anything to go by, I might have to see if I can eventually get some of these figures if and when they become available commercially.

Ok, I've got a baby to wake up and feed breakfast. Enjoy your day wherever in the world you find yourself!

Comments

Bluebear Jeff said…

So, did you like the book?

-- Jeff

4:42 PM

Die alte Aechzener said…

Curses! You fiend! I could resist, when I saw Alte Fritz lauding this to the skies, and I just about managed to steel myself to ignore the second glowing review, but ... alas for my poor flat pocketbook, I couldn't resist a 3rd blandishment.

Now to expect arrival for a couple of weeks, agog with anticipation ....

6:36 PM

tidders2 said…

Yep ! great book. Had it in time for Xmas and kept looking at it again and again ..

That new figure range looks promising, have to keep any eye on developments

-- Allan

7:02 AM

Paul said…

You would make a great salesman Stokes,
ordered my copy today along with the war game
companion.

Paul

8:22 PM

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 ...

The Eventual Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment. . .

The Anhalt-Zerbst regiment musters in the drill square to sort themselves into platoons and companies during the coming weeks Fall maneuvers if you will. A large dose of real life the last few days with the start of classes next Monday, various preparatory meetings, and finishing up a few other things this week. But, I managed to sort out 60 or so Minden Austrian infantry from the pile and get 'em stuck to temporary painting bases. Must carefully drill out the hands of several NCOs for flagpoles and pole arms this weekend before the usual basecoat. I'm thinking of mixing the usual white gesso with the usual light gray to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. Applying both base- and undercoat in one fell swoop as my grandmother used to say. In the meantime, the recently finished squadron of Saxon cuirassiers has been placed carefully in one of the clear acrylic boxes on my shelves until I have the suitable flag to affix. -- Sto...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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