Have You Any Book Recommendations for the New Year?

On the second mug of coffee after breakfast (and a glass of eggnog each) with the Young Master this morning. Still in robe and pajamas listening to German Christmas music online and mulling over my hobby past, present, and future.

As many of you will agree, reading, research, and the related inspiration are a large part of the wargaming life. Somehow, the word 'hobby' seems too small and insignificant for such an absorbing, all-encompassing pursuit. Right?

While they are a key part of things for many of us, wargaming in its broadest sense includes so much more than just the toy soldiers and miniature scenery. So, I suggest a not-so-subtle change in nomenclature. Wargaming 'life' it is!

Yet again, I digress! Returning to the point at hand, and because I have some Amazon birthday and Christmas money burning holes in my metaphoric pockets, at any rate, I seek suggestions for recent books specific to my own Frederickian, Napoleonic, and mid-19th century interests.

Besides Henry Hyde's recent trove of advice on running campaigns (and what a joyously useful tome it is), are there any recent titles specific to the 18th century -- history, rules, etc. -- that you might recommend? Any recent uniform guides. painting, scenery, or diorama handbooks? Model railway titles are fair game too.

Forgive the bad pun in there somewhere. Please don't cane me, Sir! I was led astray.

At any rate, and before I dig myself in further, please leave your books suggestions in the comment boxes below.

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On the figure painting front, I am getting very close to calling the 60+ Wied Infantry done and ready for flags plus glossing and permanent basing. You reach a point where you realize that you could go on and on and on with fixing minute brush errors, touch-ups, and so forth. But sooner or later, it is time to get 'em done. You know. Before decrepitude takes an even firmer grip.

While we want nicely painted figures, we are also after that mass effect of large units, so a dark brown mustache that strays slightly beneath a 30mm nose, or a tiny speck of another color in an out of the way place on one or two figures is not the end of the world. I am not a competition painter after all. So, let's begin the final stages say I and get 'em to the table!

All of that is just my usual long-winded way of saying, stay tuned for further photographic updates. Now, should I next begin overpainting the flags? Or prepare the permanent green bases to approximate those of the Wm. Britain's German and British toy soldiers given to me by my maternal grandparents for Christmas 1976?

And yes. I still have them along with some metal gun and tank models by Solido. Some Christmas gifts, you keep forever.

-- Stokes

A Little More Brushwork. . .

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...

Basic Reds Done at Last. . .

S till quite a way to go with the current batch of 20 human figures and a horse (of course), but they're actually starting to look like something after all of the red distinctions. Quite a bit of painting in hour-long sessions the last week as and when time has allowed. Mostly applying the basic dark red to facing areas and turnbacks followed by the inevitable touch-ups to clean up wobbly edges and those misplaced, minute splotches of Citadel Khorne Red. They're looking like so many Austrian infantry regiments of the era at this point, but the eventual flags will turn them magically into the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment, more or less, of the AWI period. But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. One frustrating point (ahem) of sad discovery. I've started trying to use those Winsor & Newton 'Series Seven' brushes (#1 rounds) purchased last spring, and the blasted things simply will not keep a point. Very frustrating since I have heard over the y...

It's Early Days Yet. . .

M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings. Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat. The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week. Next up, the neck stocks. I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit. Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step. "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes

tradgardmastare said…

“ From Reich to Revolution “ by Peter H Wilson is a book that helped me to try and understand how the Holy Roman Empire worked.
“The wild goose and the eagle” by Christopher Duffy . A reprint by Helion of a terrific book I used to border from the university library in my student days.
Hope this helps!

2:01 AM

Duke of Baylen said…

It will be interesting to see what's recommended. My current reading is for an earlier period but I suggest a good starting point is to browse the Helion catalogue for new and forthcoming titles. In what I've purchased the text is fascinating and the colour plates inspirational. If I had a stately home's library and the budget, I'd just buy everything - instead I'm concentrating on 17th century Sweden, Poland and Spain. You may also find this leads to a favourite author and you will seek out his/her books. Also with the loss of Christopher Duffy - Helion is publishing some of his work which scarcely needs my recommendation.
All the best for 2023, in which I will look forward to news on this blog.
Stephen
p.s. I'm not sure if I can agree about when to stop on touching up painting mishaps. The last five figures I completed needed three goes at completing them. Why is it that it's only at the varnishing stage you see the mistakes however carefully you look before hand?

2:09 AM

Neil Patterson said…

Saxon Army?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saxon-Austrian-Succession-Seven-Years/dp/1907417265/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1CR0NFNXGOLFE&keywords=Saxon+army&qid=1672394085&s=books&sprefix=saxon+army%2Cstripbooks%2C142&sr=1-4

Hanovarians?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HANOVERIAN-ARMY-SEVEN-YEARS-WAR/dp/1907417664/ref=sr_1_7?qid=1672394157&refinements=p_27%3AStephen+Summerfield&s=books&sr=1-7&text=Stephen+Summerfield

Neil

3:57 AM

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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