And the first scenario is. . .

Here's the first shot of the battlefield taken from the southeast. You can just about make out the two gentle ridges (books) and shallow valley between them in the middle of the table. As C.S. Grant mentions in the instruction for this particular scenario, these terrain features have no appreciable effect on troop movements.

Another shot taken facing to the southwest this time. You can just make out the torso of the Jolly Green Giant at the top of the picture.

A final view of the battlefield, including my helper The Young Master, who is not only color coordinated with the miniature landscape here, but he also decided that we needed a windmill and an L-shaped section of wall. From left to right, the settlements are Doltz, Schtügesdorf, and Bumpfkinzort. That's Hasenpfefferwald near the other end of the table. And the Woodland Scenics Ready Grass mats don't look half bad. I'll probably purchase some 28mm fields from Hotz at some point to disguise where the three mats overlap each other and help break up the broad expanse of golf course just a bit. Overall though, I like where this is headed and should have upped my terrain game much sooner.

And the first scenario is. . . The 'Flank Attack' found on pages 34-35 of Scenarios or Wargamers! I'll reduce the orders of battle slightly to better fit the forces available to me and set them out in the next day or so. The Stollenians (commanded by Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II and General von Bauchscherzen) will defend in the roll of the Blue Army on the northern ridge (at let in the bottom photograph) while the invading Zichenauers (commanded by that dastardly ne'er-do-well General Phillipe de Latte) will attack in the role of the Red Army from the southern ridge near where the Young Master stands. I am considering seeking assistance from a couple of wargaming pals along the lines of what we did via e-mail last December and January. Stay tuned!

-- Stokes

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...

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 ...

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!

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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