Two Companies of Minden Pioneers Finished!

The freshly glossed (two coats) Minden Pioneers and equipment. The photograph is a bit bright, but since much of my usual lighting is packed away now, I overcompensated in Photoshop, so everything would show up without difficulty.

Whew! Saturday has never felt so good. We have had a packing crew here for two long days this Thursday and Friday. The load-up and departure of our belongings is Monday, and we head for Michigan Tuesday midday after the cleaning ladies have finished giving everything the once-over. In the meantime, I have managed to finish the current and final painting project for a while. With any luck, I'll have time for some better lightbox photos tomorrow, and then I get to pack the last remaining bits into couple of book boxes filled with styrofoam peanuts.

While these latest figures are definitely not perfect, I'm calling 'em done. If you squint your eyes a bit, and remove your glasses if you wear them, they don't look half bad. In any case, they should do well for pioneering type duties for either the Grand Duchy of Stollen or the Electorate of Zichenau once we are again in a house with the space necessary for a semi-permanent wargaming table. I am making it a priority to stage a game based on a Charles S. Grant scenario of one kind or another when that (eventually) happens.

-- Stokes

A closer in shot of the 1st company, led by its stalwart NCO gesturing with his cane, along with the mounted officer. This group of figures is equipped with shovels, picks, and a lone hayfork in the back.

A less good shot of the 2nd company, consisting of men carrying gabions, boards, a ladder, axes, and a few adzes plus another wheelbarrow and a bucket of water.

Presenting the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere!!!

Here they are, with the rearmost nine figures still drying, three squadrons of the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere, now in the service of the Grand Duchy of Stollen. And now, it's onto that artillery!

And It's the End of September!!!

Saxony's Ploetz Cuirassiers, an illustration lifted from the Kronoskaf website, which has thus far guided my spectacularly glacial painting of 30 28mm Eureka Saxon cuirassiers purchased all the way back in October 2016. A gray, cool Saturday here in Mid-Michigan with rain in the forecast. The Grand Duchess is away at a conference, so it's just "The Boys" here at home. The Young Master (almost 15) has retreated to his room for something or other following breakfast while I have stolen back down here to Zum Stollenkeller (masquerading as my office) with a second mug of coffee and both cats comfortably ensconced nearby. Enjoying the late morning and still in my pajamas! Not much planned for today beyond designing a couple of promotional flyers for workshops my department is presenting (small parties we will throw?) in October and November. With maybe a bit of on the next podcast script. More important, I am toying with the idea of returning for an hour or...

Happy September 2nd!!!

T his weekend, the question of what, precisely, constitutes an "imagination" came up in an online forum of which I am a part. To be fair, the issue originates from further afield in a Facebook group that I am not a member of, but I weighed in with my own view. The following was in response to the question posed yesterday (Sunday) morning by an exasperated member of my own rather more gentlemanly town square, who had been met with a strident response to information he shared about his (admirable) hobby activities on said FB group. Here is, more or less, what I wrote: To my mind, the concept of imagi-nation(s) is a broad one. It can range from historical refights or what-if scenarios/battles/campaigns between armies of a particular era, to completely made up combatants operating in a quasi-historical setting, to the rather generic red and blue forces of the Prussian Kriegspiel that examine a particular tactical problem, task, or exercise. ...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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