The Grand Duchy of Stollen

N ot much happening on the hobby front here today since it's all hands on deck to prepare for our evening meal, but I did want to post a quick message to wish U.S. citizens everywhere, or anyone else who might have been roped in, a Happy Thanksgiving!   Hopefully, I can find some time during this long holiday weekend to sit down to the painting table and work on getting those new infantry standards finished.  These have only been in progress since last January, you know. -- Stokes

Yes, that's a German helmet atop the cross. A s a child, our nearest neighbors were Harrison and Florence Terrell, who lived across the lane from my maternal grandparents' place in rural southeastern Pennsylvania.  They were a generation older than my grandparents, Philadelphia Quakers, who had bought a place in the country sometime during the 1940s, to spend the weekends.  We visited their house often as children along with our grandmother, who was close to Mrs. Terrell.   Mr. Terrell was an attorney, smoked a pipe, and always had a chessboard set up in his den, where he conducted play by mail games against various Philadelphia-area friends and acquaintances.  He was friendly without being overly so -- as seems to be the case with too many people in 2017 -- talked with ease about a variety of topics to both children and adults, and occasionally asked me to walk the perimeter of (some of) their property (they owned virtually the entire mountaintop a...

  Standards apparently carried by the Baden-Durlach Regiment  during the mid-18th century (courtesy of Kronoskaf). N othing to show quite yet, but the Young Master and I spent a delightful couple of hours tinkering with our respective projects (soldiers for father and tinker toys for son) here in Zum Stollenkeller yesterday (Saturday) afternoon.  The two cats ping-ponged between us purring, vying for, and enjoying attention from the both of us enjoying the experience thoroughly based on the feline gazes and playful behavior.   I can say that I finally got around to attaching and styling the various LARGE paper flags to those Minden replacement Prussian and Austrian standard bearers that I've been fooling with painfully s-l-o-w-l-y since last winter.  They're going to look really good once finished if you'll pardon the blatant self-promotion.   There are, of course, many different and effective ways "to do" flags out there, but ...

The front cover of issue #1. K inda quiet here lately as work and real life continue their relentless assault on available free time (and the necessary calm, uncluttered mind) for wargamerly pursuits.  But.  The first dozen issues of the old Practical Wargamer arrived in the mail yesterday.  Hurrah!  Thanks to G. B. in the U.K.   Very rapid postal transit and well-packaged, so the 27 to 30-year old magazines arrived in fine shape.   But what about the content?  In a word very good to excellent.  The photographs are, admittedly, not as prominent or, frankly, photoshopped as we have become accustomed to, but the articles !  Text heavy, interesting pieces by many familiar names in the hobby, both past and present, including a number of big guns, some still with us, others now departed.  Definitely worth the wait, and what a shame the magazine isn't still around.   Without doubt, I place it right up there with most iss...