The Imperial Gendarmes in all of their glory at, of course, the charge.
The Teutoburgerwald Corps of Jaegers.
Well, after a very circuitous and maddeningly slow trip across the Atlantic from Great Britain and through U.S. Customs, they finally arrived. Not just one but TWO units of painted Holger Eriksson 30mm figures that were part of the now famous Sittangbad refight at the May 2006 Partizan. These once belonged to John Preece, one of The Wargamers (along with Henry Hyde, Steve Gill, and Phil Olley) who staged the game back then.
Best of all, only one of the 30 cavalry figures is mangled beyond repair, and he will be easy enough to replace in an afternoon of painting I think. As it happens, I discovered that I have a couple of extra HE cavalry figures in the spares box, so this will be easy since I don't even need to order a replacement figure. Here are a couple of John's old photos of the two units from ten years ago or so that I captured from the web to serve as inspiration to myself when I began the Grand Duchy of Stollen project way back in August of '06.
In other news, I've taken a few evenings off from painting my 20 or so RSM and Minden musketeers. We have had several very rough days and evenings with the Young Master. It turns out, he is a Special Needs child, suffering from Autism, high functioning but with ADHD thrown into the mix. Extremely bright and capable, apparently, but challeneged by a number of behaviors that cloud the issue. However, after the latest round of doctors appointments, an appointment with one of several mental health specialists, and another with all of the teachers/specialist involved at his school, things may be taking a turn for the better. Possibly. You have never witnessed tantrums like the kind associated with Autism. Hellish doesn't begin to describe it.
Frankly, once we get YMP calmed down, through the bedtime routine, and quiet for the night, there is not much will left to do anything except finish preparations for the next day's classes, and then dull out in bed on old episodes of Inspector Morse, Downton Abbey, or something similar before drowsiness and sleep take over. Since today (Thursday) is the final day of the week for me, I plan to enjoy a glass of single malt something-or-other with the Grand Duchess this evening about 10:30 after some much needed painting.
-- Stokes
Comments
Enjoy your new toys and the single malt, possibly a few more might be in order by the sounds of things.
Best wishes old chap,
Jeremy
Guy
And in a nice connection - those figures from John? Well John let my son move them in a couple of bounds at the Partizan Wargames show.
Odd how life throws these random but connected events together isn't it?
Those are some mighty fine looking additions! What a distinguished legacy they bring with them. I look forward to seeing them in action on the tabletop.
Raising a child with additional challenges can be a pretty tough row to hoe, but with a stable home and lots of love, it will get better with time. My daughter works with children with ADHD here in Indiana, and she tells me that they have made great strides recently and even more effective treatments/strategies are looming in the near future.
All The Best,
Martin
I know you will be supported as a family by the expertise and care of his school (and associated professionals)if my experience as a teacher in uk schools is anything to go by.Thinking about you and yours Stokes.
Alan
You have done well to get these figures, I wish I had known they were on the market, but well done anyway.
I hope things improve for your son.
Thanks Robbie.
Our son was special needs - not ADHD but severe dyslexia. It's very hard to accept that there is a problem with your own child but once you get through that you find that the real issues are the attitudes of others. This was a few years back and we had struggles all through his school life getting the right help and in some cases came across teachers who did not 'believe' in dyslexia!
It will get better - my son went on to get a degree and a masters despite being written off by many teachers - and I'm sure that attitudes and levels of help have changed greatly over the last 15 years.
Enjoy the malt...
We used to call Sunday "Kaboom Sunday" because LJ always seemed to have her worst meltdowns on that day - probably because the weekend was so unstructured compared to her school days. Predictable structure seems to help. I don't like to offer advice over the Internet, but you and the Grand Duchess seem to have a strong relationship that will carry you through the dark days; however, there will still be a lot of very good days too and you will appreciate them all the more.
Nice score on the Preece figures. Reinforcements for the Stollen Army hopefully?
Jim
Yes, the figures, will join the armies of Stollen and Zichenau on the table eventually, and the Teutoburgerwald Corps of Jaegers will probably replace my 1/72 Revell plastic jaegers, who will be retired from service with full honors. The Imperial Gendarme cavalry require a few small touch-ups of paint and one replacement figure before joining the rest of their fellows who fight for the Electorate of Zichenau, which includes some contingents from the neighboring and even more insignificant territories, sort of like an 18th century version of the Confederation of the Rhine. Touch-ups and the single-figure replacement will happen once I complete the figures for the February Painting Challenge.
Best Regards,
Stokes
I wish you all the very best. Simon
P.S. What great additions to Stollen and Zichenau's forces.
As for your son. I wish you the best. I also have Asperger's (high functioning) and ADHD, along with dyslexia and dyspraxia. My parents were lucky in that I didn't have tantrums although my sister did make up for that.
So I know a bit of what it's like form either end. So I just want to say that these are things that can get better. It's not easy I can tell you from experience that overcoming the difficulties presented by Asperger's is very hard but it pays off. Here I am now studying at university with good friends and a very respectable hobby I might add. Hang in there, it's hard for you and your son. If I had any advice for your son it would be this. He's going to find that people will try and keep him down because it's easy to do, but he can get through, he can get past and he can go on to do better much better than the world said he could.
Never give up. Each day's still a challenge for me and I'm 21. I am still unable to start a conversation without looking like a fool. What's important is that you see that each challenge is there to be overcome and your son will get stronger with each hurdle he passes. I'm no psychiatrist but I feel that they can often make things bleak.
I hope that I've helped. I have asperger's so I'm never totally sure if it'll work.
regards,
Gowan James Ditchburn