Besides Charge! and The War Game, additional inspiration for the ongoing Grand Duchy of Stollen project has come, in no particular order, from a variety of more recent titles by Charles S. Grant, the late Peter Gilder and his fabulous collection of Napoleonics at the old Wargames Holiday Centre, Phil Olley's 'Classic Wargaming' approach, various developments and events over the last several years in The Duchy of Alzheim, and the BIG battalion SYW-era maneuvers of Bill Protz and Jim Purky. Henry Hyde's Wars of the Faltenian Succession campaign, too, and his collection of vintage Spencer Smith miniatures have provided ample stimulus during those more trying times. The brushwork of John Preece, Doug Mason, Phil Robinson, Bill Gaskin, et al has encouraged me to stretch my painting muscles and try new approaches. Finally, the first dozen issues of Miniature Wargames from the early 1980s as well as the May 2006 refight of Sittangbad, staged by The Wargamers at Partizan in The U.K. continue to spur me on whenever my enthusiasm flags a bit.
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...