Wednesday 21 August 2013

Introduction to new project and TYW archive

A number of years ago, having been in the wargaming and figure collecting hobby since my teens, and having worked on many projects covering many periods in history, I considered my "desert island wargaming" question - if I could have only ONE collection/ project, what would that look like? What period? What figures? What about the overall style/ look of the thing, the basing, terrain, painting style, buildings, flags... in short, what would be my ideal project, in every aspect?

And here’s what I realised…
For all my wargaming life the 18th century has been a constant; that one period to which I have returned time and again. But I had never felt I had got it quite right.
And so, for this my new project (and one to which I am now committed as my main collection from now on), it was natural to settle on that period.

And so…
This blog is about creating and building a collection of miniatures for a campaign set in the mid-18th century.
So, now, join me on the journey as I record the project from the start. It's great to have you along…

Above: de Saxe... a key French commander in the campaign. Suren figures, some conversion. Hand painted flag on linen.
 
From the outset I decided to field French and Prussians, to ground the whole project in “real” armies, and to include some fictitious elements (namely from Pils Holstein and environs - a place that exists only in my mind's eye, somewhere in western Europe) to satiate that particular inclination for the imaginary.

I also decided…
that I wanted unique figures, and a particular pose, so the majority of the 30mm tall figures have been commissioned for my private collection. I am indebted to Steve Shaw and John Ray whose figure-making, sculpting and converting talents turned my rudimentary sketches and ideas into reality.

Today, I reached a first landmark…
when I visited the casters, and dropped off my infantry master figures for the first mould. How lucky am I to live just a few miles along the road from these guys! But I’ll tell you all about that in tomorrow’s post…

Meanwhile, for those who have asked
whether I would be including lots of pictures and material from the old Breitenfeld Blog and previous Warcabinet, the answer is yes. I am putting up some archive galleries, and have started with the Thirty Years War… see pages links top right hand side of this blog.





Nothing to do with this project. This is part of my TYW collection – see archive gallery page top right hand side of this blog. More to come soon.

Thanks again for visiting, and for the warm support and enthusiasm with which you welcomed the warcabinet back online. I was genuinely touched by that – I thought most people would have forgotten my previous efforts by now!

13 comments:

  1. I await the new figures with keen anticipation...

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  2. This is going to be a fun project to watch and see grow and look forward to pictures of your first castings ( hope that it is soon :) ). This is a new age in wargaming when a growing number of us gamers have opted to commission our own bespoke armies. It is very exciting!

    I think that vignette of the looting Croats is one of THE BEST vignettes that I have ever seen in terms of composition, figure quality, painting and scenics. Wonderful stuff Phil

    Best regards

    Jim

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  3. Thanks Alan, and thanks Jim.
    Yes, I agree - the Croats are brilliant conversions by Brian and were wonderful to paint.

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  4. Phil,

    You are a cruel, cruel man making us wait like this!

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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  5. will be following with glee I can not miss all this eye candy
    Peace James

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  6. Can't wait to see how this develops. I've always enjoyed following your work but this promises to be something special.

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  7. Thanks Stokes (I'm not that cruel - it's just that I haven't got much of the new stuff done yet).
    Thanks James and GM ... I'm pretty excited about this too!
    Thanks for follwoing and commenting.
    Phil

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  8. awaiting the development of you project with great anticipation

    -- Allan

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  9. Dear Phil,
    What you say about the 18th. Century and the SYW in my case is spot on. It's been my constant since the late 1960s. I cheerfully understand. Congratulations! You have my utmost best wishes for fun and many many satisfactions,
    Bill

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  10. Thanks Allan.
    And Bill.
    Yes, the 18th century is "in the blood" isn't it.
    Good to see you both here.
    Best regards
    Phil

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  11. Best of luck with the new or reborn project. Must be exciting to be at the threshold and see the vision beginning to take shape.

    -Ross

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  12. Thanks Ross.
    Indeed it feels exactly like that. And yes, very exciting.
    Thanks for popping by.
    Phil

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  13. What a beautiful vignette!! Great work with the paintjob and fantastic basing too!

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