18th Century activity

With my recent posts being about the development of my Macedonian Successor army, you might be forgiven for thinking there's been nothing happening in the main project: namely, the 18th century Pils-Holstein collection.
Just to allay those fears... here's a couple of shots of Prussian and Pils-Holstein forces ...

 

There are more Prussians receiving attention from David Jarvis' paint brush in time for Christmas, plus I've got some French arriving from Mark Allen at any moment. Meanwhile, I'm working on more French ancillary stuff  (wagons and general "back-of-table" paraphenalia), and some cavalry conversions too, for both sides.

Photos of some of that soon...

New Pages added

A reorganisation of pages has taken place this past couple of days (see list of pages on the right hand side).
I've

• re-jigged the archives pages into one gallery,
• added pages for the Colonial project (The Ghabazaar Imperative),
• revamped The Pils Holstein page,
• and added a new page for the Macedonian Successors army which is coming on apace...

There are lots of new images, including Philipolytas "The Great" (as he likes to think of himself although others have, unkindly perhaps, described him as "distinctly average"!)

 

I've had a bit of a photo session with other collections too, and even a game. More images will be added as I get round to it in the days to come.

 

 

Making a Contribution

Like many, I was so sorry to hear of the recent passing of "Bluebear" Jeff Hudelson.

I had never met Jeff in person, but we had exchanged emails, and he had written a contribution for my little magazine "The Classic Wargamers' Journal" (more of which in a moment).

More importantly, Jeff had contributed (there's that word again) hugely to the hobby, and particularly the Imagi-Nations and 18th century arena of the hobby, by setting up the Emperor vs Elector blog. There can't be many readers here who haven't also visited E v E, even if only for the comprehensive listing of other blogs, compiled in order of latest post... so handy for a quick check of who's doing what.

So, thank you Jeff for your contribution.
No doubt, you also contributed when at the tabletop amongst your wargaming buddies too. And my thoughts go out to them, for they will have lost a good friend and valued "opponent."

Jeff's games had a certain "look" to them. Not to everyone's taste, I'm sure, but Jeff had settled on what he wanted and it had a homogenous, cosy, comfortable appeal. His ECW collection was also one of my favourites.

So, here's to you Jeff... a true contributor to the hobby. Well done. And thank you.

Talking of contribution...

It's good to see Stokes and Greg getting their new venture going
- see http://grandduchyofstollen.blogspot.co.uk
for details.

And thank you, Stokes and Greg, for the kind words about The Classic Wargamers' Journal in the introduction to the new venture.
I do hope it's a great success. And I hope I'll be able to contribute in some way.

So, over to those readers and surfers who sit on the sidelines ... go on, why not contribute.

I see so many people online, in forums, and so on, bemoaning the aging of the hobby, the diminishing hobby numbers, and wondering about the future of the hobby.

You know, regardless of numbers, as long as those who are in our little hobby make a contribution, then it will flourish. It will.
 
Just as the small band of Grants, Youngs, Featherstones, et al contributed in the past.
They were "net givers."
And regardless of numbers, it's "net givers" that we need.
Just like the Grants, Young, and Featherstone...  and yes, the Jeff Hudelsons of the world.
And you...

High Standards

Back to the Macedonian Successors, and just finished these two pieces:

First: The Army Standard Bearer

 

 

 

 

 

 
 Second: a small Infantry Command Vignette.







Standards are linen, hand-painted.

Prussian IR19 - Markgraf Karl

Finished basing these fellows the other day, so here in all their glory is IR19 - Markgraf Karl.

Painting by Dave Jarvis, flags by Mark Allen.

How could I forget? ... and Florence!

Last time I laid out my plans for the various aspects of the projects I have running, and it was only a short while later that I realised I had made one glaring omission.
How could I forget my Classic Wargaming collection?
Of course, this aspect of my hobby is largely covered by my other blog:
http://classicwargaming.blogspot.co.uk/

All my Spencer Smith figures were sold off a while ago, but I still have the Staddens - the likes of Erbprinz Regt and the artillery batteries, amongst others.
Of late I've been thinking about what I now do with this collection, and how to build it to some semblance of "finished." I'm not in any great hurry, but I do have a couple of ambitions in this area. So, I guess that makes 5 hobby arenas.

Meanwhile, I enjoyed a late summer break: just a few days away in sunny Florence - a place I had visited before, but of which I never tire. Now, I could show pictures of wonderful art, architecture, and restaurants. Needless to say these featured high on the list of activities. But for wargamers something more interesting, perhaps, was on show, just near the Uffizi Galleries:

Make of that what you will. I thought it a nice interesting piece.

Oh and yes, I've been back at the painting desk, with progress on a couple of fronts. Photo to follow soon...

Meanwhile, all the best...

Butterflies - but flying in formation

Have you ever opened up a wargames magazine, seen a photo of a game, a range of figures, or an army, and just felt a surge of inspiration?
Yes, of course you have. You're a wargamer.
Me too.

These "butterflies" are all around. And over the past 18 months, rather than trying to squash such lepidoptera, instead I decided to get them "flying in formation" - I suppose, getting my butterflies formed up as regular troops, rather then having them haring off in all directions.

In short, I wanted to organise my thoughts (my trusty notebook came out again) and assess what I wanted from the hobby, my collection, and my gaming (which had become practically non-existent).

So, here's what I came up with...
I hope it explains (to those who were wondering, or suggesting "he's gone off track again!") just where this is heading.

1. Firstly, my main collection: the 18th century Pils-Holstein project. This is a large undertaking, a long-term build, with much of the painting outsourced (to David Jarvis and Mark Allen, among others).

Above:  latest arrivals from David- Prussian IR19.

Next job is for me to base them. The thing is, if this was my one and only project, my hobby would descend into a mass of basing. That would be it. Basing. Yeah... you get the picture.
I know, some might say, "But, Phil, why don't you do some of the painting for this project?" Well, knocking out rows of rank and file troops in identical uniforms is ok, but I can't manage the whole task, and don't want to mix my painting style with that of the professionals (Mark and David)!

2. Skirmishing - the other end of the spectrum: this is my Colonial project using TSATF rules, based in my fictional colony of Ghabazaar which has a southern desert (not unlike The Sudan) and northern hills (not unlike The Northwest Frontier) thereby allowing me to depict both theatres.
This has always been a fascinating period for me, and allows the whimsical part of my hobby to come through too, with some off-piste Victoriana thrown in for good measure. For some reason, this project surfaces every winter (perhaps out of longing for sunnier climes!).

TSATF game in progress.

3. Display Projects: love them or hate them, I think the sort of games seen at shows have done more to promote the hobby than anything else. Just look at the early years of the wargames magazines, Miniature Wargames and Wargames Illustrated, and you'll see what I mean. Much of the eye-candy, and inspiration, came from such games (some call them "Demo Games," but I prefer the title "Display Games" as my own penchant is for those which show off excellent terrain, painting, conversions, vignettes, buildings etc. and I'm less fussed about the actual game that's happening, or not as the case may be).
Over the years, I've done a fair few, and I have been thinking it's time to return to that fold. In the past, as well as my efforts as part of The League of Augsburg through the 1990s and up to 2005, I have also presented The Italian Wars, Eastern Renaissance (Cossacks and Polish Winged Hussars), and Thirty Years War.

In fact, when I wandered into Partizan at Newark recently, first person I bumped into was Tricks himself who asked the burning question: "Would you put on a game next year?" This will likely be a joint collaboration with Mark Allen. We'll see.

4. Off-the-Shelf gaming: this is designed to address those periods where I just fancy an army to play games with, against fellow hobbyists, perhaps at events (not competition gaming, no!), so using a standard set of rules, standard basing conventions and so on. It means me creating smallish armies (sometimes these are just 150 ish figures), often ancient period. In the past I did Sassanids, and Mongols. Latest is Macedonian Successors.

Above: Macedonian Successors w-i-p. First few units done. This has been my focus for the past couple of months. Not a bad output for 6 weeks worth of painting, taking account of time away from home.


So, that's the butterflies, flying in formation, neatly arrayed. I'm making no excuses, or trying to defend what I'm up to. Just wanted to explain some of the rationale behind what may look (from the outside) like a lack of focus.

Other news...
I notice the change of editor for Miniature Wargames magazine has taken place. There's no doubt that Henry turned this particular ship round, and did a fine job in returning it to a course that resonates more than the previous version, in my mind anyway. Well done H.
It's true to say that MW (with and without BG) has been through a number of incarnations over the years, and I hope the style of the next version builds on what Henry had done of late.

Also in the magazines this month, this time in WI, it's good to see the name Andy Callan making an appearance in the 1066 article. I well remember the Dark Age Infantry Slog (DAIS) back in MW 7.
And it was in that same issue, MW7, that this picture appeared:

Seleucids, debouching from a city gateway.

This inspired me to build a Successor army way back in the early 80s... in 15mm. And now, 30+ years on, here we go again.
Inspiration from magazine pictures.

... Which is where we came in...