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!