Sunday 17 March 2024

New (old) *secret* project...

To elaborate on the somewhat confusing title......I have been busy with a *new* project; that is an *old* project but with a new twist........confused? Let me explain.....

There are many projects that I wish "to do", sadly ambition outstrips time. I'm hoping if I make retirement I will have time for them all....

This project is a long standing "to do"; indeed hesitant steps were made in 15mm but it stalled and grew and grew....

I'm approaching it from a completely left field angle to try again; I'm hoping, no trying to keep it manageable this time.

So why the *secret*? Well I'm not sure if it will work out as it in theory requires different techniques and I don't know if my skills are good enough! 

So, it's currently "in development" which doesn't mean just buying stuff, but actually requires preparation and work which I've completed this weekend, or rather made a significant start on. This time, I'm keeping it small - max 6 armies with a lot of generic components. Already have a game on which to base a campaign, have various rules I can use and plenty of source material.......

Intrigued? More next time.......hopefully........☺


Sunday 10 March 2024

"I looked over Jordan and what did I see.......Sweet Chariot."

As related in previous blog posts I have slowly been working on the Jordanian army of 1967. This post is by way of a progress report as to where I'm up to.

M48

The M48s had the jetisonable fuel tanks tweaked so they no longer pointed downwards. Here's the real thing:


I was helped by some modelling sites which helpfully show details the above site didn't. Alas the folding "shield" has a couple of different patterns; I chose one from a blueprint. Unfortunately the pictures of Jordanian M48s are unclear, however I suspect they were solid rather than with a "V" cut out. Anyway, here' my M48s showing various stages and just awaiting final stowage.






I then turned to the M47s



Getting the turret brackets to stick involved lots of super glue and swearing - as Eric suggested on the VWC a better name for a blog! Once fixed everything got some liquid Green Stuff, including the M48s.


Then I turned to the last tank used by Jordan; the Centurion. Jordan used Mk3 and Mk5 with the original British gun. In an attempt to differentiate from the IDF Sho't I made them all Mk3 with 20pdr . Progress from disassembly to finish.





 Finally, thwarted in attempts to purchase resin Trident M52 SPH, I have added bits to my bodge jobs.




 Most of above just need a bit of extra stowage (covers a multitude of sins!) and in some cases MGs (M47 and Centurion have cradle / bracket M48s are fitted.

To do - M113s, M42 Dusters, Long Toms and tractors, 25 pdrs and infantry. I also have a \Hunter and a "what-if" Widow Maker in 1:100

Sunday 3 March 2024

Hammerhead 2024

Yesterday I went along to Hammerhead - first show of 2024. I think my last visit had been pre-pandemic when they made use of two halls on the site. They now hold it in the same venue as Partizan which is a sort of large shed.

TBH I only went to meet up with a friend of mine from up north, Shaun Condren; had it been just me I expect I wouldn't have bothered. I was a bit drained from work and had nothing I particularly wanted to buy or see. This may have influenced my experience somewhat.

I got there about 10:45 and it was heaving! I'm not a fan of crowds.....

I had just met up with Shaun when I bumped into Martin Rapier briefly (https://tgamesweplay.blogspot.com)

Later I (almost literally) bumped into Colin Ashton (https://www.carryingsonupthedale.com/) from the VWC. Other VWC notary Phil Olley (https://philswarcabinet.blogspot.com/) was about, but like Aly Morrison (https://alystoysoldiers.blogspot.com/) was always deep in conversation when I spotted them, so I failed to say hello.

Shaun's friend Graham and his son Jake joined us and we split up for a look around.

Hammerhead is billed as a "participation" show with all the games available for punters to join in. Sadly I'm not a natural joiner-in, but none of the games seemed to be "touting" for business; they were either fully occupied and engaged or empty with perhaps one or two people standing around chatting. 

My only interaction was when I bent to look at some figures to identify them, but the person concerned didn't try to get me to play (he was the only one there and the games seemed unplayed). There was one empty table - presumably unbooked or a no-show. 

Several of the games were to the same standards as "demonstration" games seen at other shows. Only one was in full swing, but I suspect it featured the same people as at other shows where similar games are always fully occupied. They cynic in me did wonder if some "demo" games had snuck in as participation - although in theory available for play, didn't seem to have crowds of people - it's easy to deter would be punters or if I'm more charitable, is it because these games were "traditional" wargames as oppose to the often small and unique participation games? As a general rule, with a few exceptions, the smaller games seemed busier.

As it was very busy and some of the games were too crowded to get close to, I was limited in the pictures I took. Being brutally honest, my mood was such after a while I got bored and I concentrated on those that stood out - this isn't always apparent in the photos. There was a lack of signage so I had to try and match the games to the handout - I apologise to anyone I have miscredited.

Peter Dennis Paperboys "a walk in the woods" - looked to be F&I War - very effective paper trees



A Conquistador game - Blessed by the Gods (?) very nice pyramid and ships



Cloudships of Mars reloaded - a development of Frank Chadwick's 1889 ideas



A pirate (?) v natives(?) game - possibly Dutch Courage - Teddy bear fur terrain? and nice ships (no I don't know why one had sunk or what the giant hamster wheel was about)



Just follow the Rhynes BCW - could have passed for a Sealion game until you spot the BUF symbols - very big table couldn't get it all in due to players being fully engaged



Manouvre Group? 1/144 Soviet tanks - it looked better in the flesh than the pictures


Mighty Empires ??? Ancients with what appeared to be 3d printed samples at side of table - no idea if the miniatures were 3d printed looked like Macedonians, Indians and Persian /Assyrians? It stood out due to the very simple terrain cloth and miniatures - again looked better in the flesh


Pegasus Bridge - demo game in disguise? At least it had a sign!


A very intriguing Tin-Tin style game Blue Island Broken Unicorn's Treasure - the table had two sides with one divided into two, each with a little tableau - I assume they were linked as part of one adventure but as it was very busy it was difficult to ascertain more. I had to take a picture of the clever torpedo bomber (in SCW markings) and submarine with a glass shelf separating above and below surface- very ingenious! The hand belongs to a well know wargames magazine editor who was taking pictures. Just prior to this photo, the submarine had become detached and was lying on the seabed. As I got close to take a pic, the said editor turned to me and said "I've broken it!" It was suspended from the glass by ?magnets and in trying to turn it around for a better pic it seems to have fallen off.....


What I took to be a Kelly's Heroes game turned out to be Aly's favourite - Toonkrieg WW2 - weird distorted cartoon tanks and people - it was the building drew me in...


What a Dinosaur! Cowboys and dinosaurs - a palaeontology anorak would have a field day I'm told pointing out the inaccuracies of wildlife - as if the concept isn't fantastic in itself. Me I was drawn by the train and then saw the flying reptiles - WTF! Nice train....



 Finally Wars of the Roses Test of Resolve one of at least two WotR games. Having bought the rules, I wish I'd had more time to at least speak to the person running the game as it was an idea to restart a very old WotR project. Some people pointed out the jarring mix of Kallistra hexes and green cloth - I think it was tilted to show a hill....


There were many more games, but most were so busy or small it was impossible to get close.

Shopping doesn't even merit a photo! 4 pots of Coat d'armes paint (yellows and a green) to ensure I can finish or expand the SK armies (mostly painted in old GW paints) - one of my yellows finally expired and Banst  in green are unfinished and also a nice Italian Red Earth / Terracotta tile colour. A couple of 25pdrs (Arab-Israeli), a magazine and some odd one-man tanks and a motorcycle rider from EWM for 20mm BCW.

Shaun was equally restrained while Graham picked up some bargains from the bring and buy tables - I only had a quick peruse as it was knee-deep in bargain hunters...

Apart from the social side, there was little attraction. Cost of entry and food / drink probably cancelled any postage savings and for others travel costs. It's nice to see stuff, but TBH the meeting friends is a better attraction.

Monday 19 February 2024

The limitations of Artificial Intelligence

Sgt Steiner's Wargaming blog ( https://sgtsteiner.blogspot.com/) had an intriguing post where he has explored what AI thinks of his blog. His results were more encouraging than mine!

In answer to the question "what is the aufklarungsabteilung blog" it said:

"The Aufklarungsabteilung blog appears to be a platform that discusses various military topics, particularly related to the German military. The blog covers subjects such as the role of the Aufklärungs-Abteilung (reconnaissance battalion) in different historical contexts, including World War II. It also delves into hobbyist interests, such as creating and playing with miniature figurines and models related to military units like the Panzer scouts and reconnaissance battalions. The content seems to focus on historical research, military modeling, and related hobbies. related to the German military."

Err....not quite. I've never discussed AA in either WW2 or the Bundeswehr. I picked the name on the spur of the moment. My WW2 researches identified the AA as a particularly interesting and very German organisation, primarily recce but with enough teeth to fight if necessary.

The follow up question "what is the type of content of aufklarungsabteilung blog"? In response it answered:

"The Aufklarungsabteilung blog features content related to military history, particularly focusing on the role of the Aufklärungs-Abteilung (reconnaissance battalion) in various historical contexts. The blog covers topics such as the equipment, tactics, and experiences of reconnaissance battalions, including their role as the "eyes and ears" of military divisions. Additionally, the blog discusses hobbyist interests, such as creating and playing with miniature figurines and models related to military units like the Panzer scouts and reconnaissance battalions. "

Oh dear! It seems to be very focussed on "Aufklarungsabteilung" ; I'm worried that I"m beginning to sound like I'm fixated on WW2 Germans.....especially the footnotes. One takes me to my blog, the second Warlord on creating AA , the 3rd SS AA (oh dear!) and the last the DAK AA (better!)

A look at posts shows by far the most frequent is Soldier King, followed by Arab- Israeli...
Nothing on AA or WW2 Germans......

Perhaps I should have called it the Soldier King blog! ☺


Sunday 18 February 2024

Minor gains...

Carrying on the "East (Midlands) Front" metaphor, the front has advanced a very short distance....

Carrying on with the Jordanians, the M47s received turret brackets from the wire found in telephone / Ethernet cables; very thin copper wire covered in plastic insulation. I used the same on the M48s having obtained some from an old internet cable.

The wire however didn't want to stay in place / stick! The M47 turret is an odd shape and the brackets are in pairs, but each side is different / asymmetric. My old superglue had gone thick which I thought might actually help; a couple of brackets kept pinging off. Even the normally reliable Revell Contacta Liquid Special was of no use. Perhaps I should have gone for quick dry epoxy. No matter, they were glued again with thick super glue and when set got some thinner super glue which seems to have worked. I will probably add some Green Stuff stowage.

Two models had lost the bow MGs; replacements were fashioned from wire with a little foil wrapped around. There's not a lot more to do with the M47s; turret MGs, jerrycans and some tarpaulins seem the extent of additions to Jordanian models.

As mentioned, I attempted to obtain some M52 SPH from Germany; Trident made a resin 1:87 version. Unfortunately, despite allowing me to add to the basket, they were unavailable. I found one in the USA, but postage was prohibitively expensive.

I have therefore accepted I will have to put up with my bodged version despite its faults. I added some stowage and will add further details.

Monday 12 February 2024

All quiet on the East (Midlands) Front....

As the title says really.....the absence of blog posts is linked to a general lack of activity and if honest apathy.

Only managed to get back into doing things in the last couple of weekends, prior to that a few just slipped away. Even when actually doing something, it seems all too soon before it all has to be packed away before Monday and the desk becomes a workstation.

So, what have I managed to do? Well a spot of modelling and much distraction......

The modelling has involved the Jordanian army of 1967. Mostly infantry, they did field two armoured brigades, some independent tank battalions and possibly a mechanised brigade (the Royal Guard - did not see action - possibly Centurion battalion and one or two M113 mech inf).

The M-48s have had some remedial work; I was never happy with the jetisonable fuel tanks - these were altered to be level instead of sloping downwards. Some tiny details were added and this improved them no end. I then had a go at adding the MGs to the commander cupola. First attempt wasn't quite right, so after some googling for photos, a second attempt was made. Not 100% accurate, but better than attempt 1.

The M47s were glued together and a start was made to add details, beginning with the turret rails (from wire). Frustrating and accompanied by much swearing!

I also discovered the M113 I had put aside needed to be swapped; it seems those in Jordanian service removed the rubber track guards and the front shield - at least all the photos I could find showed this.

Finally, I added some bits to the scratch-bodged M52 SPH. While probably good enough, I was still not happy as the turret is wrong and too tall. Today I managed to find resin versions on United-Fun so have ordered a pair - fingers crossed!

What else? Well distractions.....

Already led astray by the nostalgia for the unfinished F&I War stuff, it led inexorably towards the SYW.....

Way back when, it had been a collaborative project. I really wanted to do Austrians, but ended up building French (to face my opponent's British) and Prussian (or pseudo-Prussian being built out of a generic musketeer and dragoon with dedicated Fusileer and Grenadier figs all lacking command and commercially unavailable). The Austrians had taken a back seat with only a few units completed.

Since then, I had acquired Russians and proper Prussians and even some Prussians to use as Saxons and wanted to restart the project. Existing units were built for WRG 1685-1845, 12-16 inf 8-12 cav. Debated VnB but as attractive as that sounded, it felt like a duplication of the Imagi-Nations project....

An impulsive purchase on eBay of some painted Hinchliffe Austrians has tipped the balance.....added to what I have, it will give the Austrian army a boost. The painter had done something close to my style but had left some bits undone (neck cloth and pom-pom). I therefore did a bit of researching to see which units they could become...

Flags and bases will need redoing, but with some touch-ups will be ready for action sooner than bare metal......



Sunday 21 January 2024

So what's new?

Truth to be told, not a lot.

A week back at work while still recovering from being ill, left me with little energy or inclination to paint or model.

I've spent the weekend recuperating and messing about with various projects or projected projects to be more precise.....

Saturday saw me messing about with trains; before you ask dear reader, I have not embarked on a new or parallel hobby involving model railroads (once uncharitably described by some wargamers online as "the chuff-puff loony brigade" from someone who plays with toy soldiers ....). I know many wargamers combine the two (several on the VWC) and there are obvious crossovers....

So what was I doing? Two projects awaiting paint are RCW / Back of Beyond and Mexican Revolution, both in 15mm. Many were acquired several years ago. Both conflicts involved the use of trains, both armoured and as transports. I had picked up some IIRC either HO or N gauge flexi-track many years ago only to discover I should have got TT track or after some reading, HOm track to be precise. Obviously, no-one makes trains in "15mm" apart from Peter Pig and HOm is the track they suggest.

You can buy "collectable" trains of roughly the correct size to complement the limited offerings from Peter Pig , and these can be acquired cheap. Rolling stock is more problematic, but I'd picked up on spec a Roco modern train with old fashioned (to my eyes) carriages and some TT Triang goods wagons. Along with these, I had found a couple of flexi 3 foot HOm track and so I was seeing how well they worked...

What I need are longer goods wagons / box cars; I'm beginning to think these would be better scratch built or converted from HO......

I also spent several hours downloading a Battle Cry mini-campaign for Garibaldi's invasion of Sicily and Naples. I've seen this done in 54mm by a couple of bloggers. After looking at various ranges, I've decided I have enough SSM ACW and Napoleonic figures to do it in 30mm with crude plastic conversions, many just being simple paint jobs. I finished by hunting out various pictures online, many of which I'd had on a tablet but deleted when it ran out of memory.

Sunday was followed by hunting out some Megablitz OOBs for WW2 Western Desert that again had been deleted previously. While engaged in this, I had a chance discovery of a 1967 OOB for the IDF in Hebrew......

The download managed to scramble and delete parts of the layout. As I don't read Hebrew, this was no great loss but it had removed the Arabic numbers visible online. I recognised these as unit and artillery calibre numbers. So extracting these,  I spent a couple of hours adding, checking and confirming information I already had which proved very useful.

Many years ago I collaborated with a couple of US gents to work out a definitive IDF OOB and as best as we could of the Arab armies. For the IDF, there's a Russian source which seems to derive from a common source as the Hebrew one, but they differ slightly or rather this recent discovery, adds to the gaps....

The IDF are notoriously secretive, even about 1967 formations and contemporary sources reflect this with some disguised formation IDs; added to which is the practice of referring to the formation by the commander's name (first or surname) or nickname, and the cross posting of units.....

Anyway, I have managed to get a much better handle on the artillery. For the Arabs, the Jordanians are the most complete, followed by the Egyptians with the Syrians being anonymous below brigade level, apart from a few battalions. ToEs are also uncertain for all the Arabs.

So, my weekend has been trains and research.......


Sunday 14 January 2024

January update

Whatever cold / flu  virus I picked up settled firmly on my chest last week resulting in much coughing, wheezing, sneezing and generally feeling unwell. There was little I could do physically that didn't result in a coughing fit and leaving me exhausted and washed out, usually falling asleep in the afternoon.

Taking the week off work, I attempted to distract myself with more painting. I wasn't very productive, finding after one or two colours I didn't have the energy to continue. Getting old is a pain!

Anyway, with the worst of my affliction behind me (still lingering unfortunately) I managed to finish off the painting on Saturday before a restorative tonic of the VWC.

So, continuing the Frankenstein creations of the Electorate of Banst, I present the Flying (horse) artillery.



The limbers date back to my first acquisition of SSMs from the late Ronald Spencer Smith himself. They were originally created for the Austrian and Prussian forces of the SYW for WRG's 1685-1845 out of SSM limber wheels, balsa, wire, cocktail sticks and chopped about Napoleonic Lifeguard figures. They languished along with the SSMs in a tin then box after deciding to use "proper" metal figures. They were resurrected for Banst with chopping, headswaps and application of Greenstuff.


  

Guns and gunners; the artillery figures are all standard SSM AWI artillery with an ACW kepi head covered with Greenstuff plumes for a sort of Tarleton / French dragoon look. The ACW figures went for civilian militia / rebels with the artillerymens tricornes. The guns are the British Napoleonic carriage from someone's abortive conversion which I further chopped about and reduced in size. The guns barrels are plastic ship's cannons from source unknown which were used way back when for Austrian 3 pdr battalion guns.



I'm slowly working my way through Banst, helped by a limited palette  of colours, most straight from the pot.

Sunday 7 January 2024

New Year painting and fighting the lurgi!

Not the best of starts to 2024; before Xmas I had a chesty cough that kept coming and going. Number one son went out with his friends and came back with a stinking cold. Almost inevitably, I have come down with it as well. A Covid test showed negative, so I assume I have fallen victim to a combined cold and flu virus.

Cue coughing, sneezing, alternate runny or blocked up nose, disturbed sleep and generally feeling under the weather. Copious application of over the counter remedies has provided some relief. Amazingly, despite this I have managed to do some painting. I forced myself to have a go and found not only was I so zoned out I was able to concentrate and focus on the painting which distracted me from the cold/flu. I was careful not to push it too far; when I started making mistakes or felt tired I gave up for the day.

I tackled some more SSMs as they are undemanding to  paint once you have done 100 or more, simple block colours on black undercoat. I bit the bullet and brought down the box for Banst.

Banst is one of the Electoral states, ruled by an Elector that doesn't seem to get on with anyone! His character is one of the few militarily excellent personalities, his cards coming out as "War, Dominant" which in this campaign is going to be close to military genius! I see the army as a potential mercenary force.

The army was originally going to be made up of "left over" figures; I had some Napoleonic SSM cuirassiers in helmet and some of the later Peter Johnstone 25mm plastic SSM additions - much smaller than the classic SSM. I also sort of fancied doing an army to reflect some of Marechal du Saxe's less wacky ideas; plentiful skirmishers, amussette light artillery and a neo-classical organisation based around Roman legions. His real life Volunteers du Saxe provided uniforms and lancers. By the time it came to recreate the army with these ideas, I had managed to accumulate enough SSMs that I could use the smaller figures for head conversions on standard SSM bodies so they matched the other armies.

So here's last week's painting. I have already painted two more infantry units. Unusually, instead of ploughing through all the line infantry, instead I varied it by painting the other main components of the first "Legion" of mixed infantry, cavalry and amussette. There will be two such formations and two batteries of "flying" (horse) artillery.



Scratch-built amussette and mobile shield. The gunner is a converted frontiersman / cowboy from SSM with a head swap and carving.




Line infantry - two more "Cohorts" are painted - Princepes, Hastati and Triari.



Skirmishers - Velites - converted Napoleonic SSM 



Horse - Dragoons



Light cav Hussars and Lancers



Sunday 31 December 2023

2023 Retrospective

On the last day of 2023, time for some introspection.

The main reason I started this blog was to monitor progress; it's useful to be able to look back at what has been achieved or hasn't made it off the slipway (or even drawing board).

Soldier King project

Has felt like slow going this year. Did manage to finish the Electoral army, but failed to make progress with the remainder. Stumbling block has been mostly work and lethargy and apathy when off, but also hit a block with Banst. They got converted, primed and started - two units of infantry - then nothing. There were plans to crack on with them last week, but after taking the box down, I put it away again! 

Started pulling together notes from various places into a gazeteer, so at least it's all in one place. This has however identified more characters that need personalities and made me wonder if another planned army needs expanding as it's likely to be the first flashpoint from the relationships I've diced for between states.

Also toyed with producing army standards for the main protagonists with Fimo standard bearers. Got as far as making up some Atlantic plastic horses.

One achievement (?) has been to corrupt my friend Eric into buying a copy of the game for his own Imagi-Nations campaign after seeing my armies. He has even started a blog:

https://brownspreadandyellowfruit.blogspot.com/


Arab-Israeli project

This has slowly ground along in the background. Have worked on various vehicle conversions off and on throughout the year. It doesn't help that everytime I look at pictures of the real vehicles I notice some small details I've missed. Lifting hooks on Sherman turrets for goodness sake! I think it's just an avoidance mechanism to put off painting them....

There have been developments on the Arab side with the acquisition of 1:87 scale BTR-152s. I had planned to use Roskopf models, but these are closer to 1:100. I had told myself they were OK, but had not really believed it.....

I've also got more Gaz jeeps and trucks....

Other butterfly distractions

Got very distracted by restarting FIW, which led into digging out the old 25-30mm armies (including SYW) and inevitably buying yet more second hand figures; in fact it was the discovery of some Rafm Flint & Feather range figures that started this! Then found some RSM with enough to finish off the French and cover the British.....

Got as far as priming some British and Indians for Contrast paints.....

Keep getting distracted by old or planned projects; SCW (old), Flodden and Italian wars (new), WotR (old) and it doesn't help when other bloggers tempt you! 

Martin Rapier has been producing 15mm WW2 Desert war stuff: (https://tgamesweplay.blogspot.com/search/label/Desert)

I have tons to paint in both this scale and 20mm (don't ask!)

And David in Suffolk played DBA ancients, which led to digging out some 15mm armies before sanity prevailed:

https://russetcoatcpt.blogspot.com/2023/12/dba-first-try-at-first-edition.html

I suspect I'm looking for some "quick wins" - stuff that can be painted quickly using Contrast paint and washes. The ECW experiments were not encouraging. Unfortunately, it means lots of cleaning up before further attempts.

I did go to two wargames shows this year and probably more significantly was persuaded by fellow SSM enthusiast Willz to join the Virtual Wargames Club (VWC). While I was initially hesitant, it has been hugely enjoyable to make new friends and finally "meet" old ones such as Eric (known many years on the Society of Daisy group) or other bloggers.

So, onwards to 2024 with the hope of achieving more by way of painting and perhaps, even gaming.

Sunday 10 December 2023

Soldier King parade - Electoral Army

A fellow wargamer who I have managed to inspire (infect?) with the Soldier King bug, recently asked after acquiring a copy of the GDW boardgame, "where's all the background information?"

I had to point him to the back box cover of the game as being the total sum of background.....the rest of the information from my take on the game as a campaign comes from my imagination.....with a little help from historical uniforms and forces.

The following is the last of the painted armies so far completed (there are four more to do and some bits and bobs). This army is formed from the various neutral states in the game, in this case those with an Electoral city that form part of the Estavian Empire. There is an additional "Electoral" state but the ruler's character and diplomatic outlook, means he is hostile to just about everyone! He will go his own way.

I saw these states as akin to the minor German princelings of the C18th who were part of the HRA and who could be called upon to form the Reichsarmee. With echoes of "Charge" I decided this would in my  Imagi-Nations become the Electoral Army.

In order of painting I present:

The army of the Archduchy of Naervaron

Ulrich Fischreiher Archduke of Naervaron



Christian Fischreiher Erbprinz of Naervaron



Corps commander Hans Leonhard Grau Graf von Honnef


Divisional commander Von Neusatz (Klaus Fels) with Naervaron Dragoons and Hussars



The infantry L to R: Erbprinz Lebgarde Grenadiers, "Schwartz", "Weiss" and "Rot" regiments



Artillery



Naervaron army



The army of the Margravate of Cotlas

Reinhard Wulf Markgraf von Cotlas



Emil Gustav Wulf Reichsgraf von Cotlas



I Cotlas Horse (uniform inspiration from one of Andy McMaster's units)



II, III and IV Cotlas Foot


Cotlas artillery with Arndt Tobias Ziemlich Graf von Brand in background


Cotlas Army



The Army of the Duchy of Bern

Fabian Schiefer Herzog von Bern (ironically one of my Fimo creations which got over-cooked and close to being "von Burnt!")



His brother Martin Theodor Schiefer the dashing Erbfurst zu Bern



Bern Hussars led by Friedhelm Gustaf Knochen Graf von Ernst



Bern Infantry 1, 2 and 3 regiments


Bern artillery


Bern army



The army of the Prince-Bishopric of Cleve

Maximillian Greisenkrahe Prince Bishop of Cleve (vain introverted with a poor sense of direction, I tried to capture the latter in the sculpt; observers have noted the horse seems to know which way he should be going......completely unintended but so appropriate!)


His brother Kaspar Greisenkrahe Prince of Cleve


Corps commander Hugo Koks Count D'Alzey


Division commanders Emil Sebastien Silber Graf von Leuche and Albrecht Wilfried Durchslag Graf von Kiedrich



Cleve Cuirassiers


Cleve Horse Grenadiers (as skirmishers)


Cleve Standing Grenadier regiments V and VI


Clever Musketeer Regiments I to IV


Cleve artillery


Cleve army



Whether the army will ever fight as a unified whole is unknown - they all lie to the West  but face threats from Hrvatska, Bravance and Argozia. However, I did try to tie them together through the use of blue while maintaining their own character and personality. The army as a whole is weaker in cavalry, artillery and light troops compared to the armies of the Soldier Kings. Like the real life Reichsarmee, the shortfalls will have to be made up from Imperial (Estavian as oppose to Austrian) troops.

New (old) *secret* project...

To elaborate on the somewhat confusing title......I have been busy with a *new* project; that is an *old* project but with a new twist.........