Looking back at 2022

As 2022 begins to fade into 2023 (no I don't know where that year went either) a bit of a look back at what I managed to achieve.

The Imperial Estavian Army came into existence. From some initial crude sketches back in the late 1990s an army of white coated infantry with more colourful cavalry and guards appeared. Lets not forget the striking "Zircus Artillerie" either!

It owes its existence to a fifth force for the Soldier King game, not determined by the names and heraldry of the game, so created entirely from imagination and influences.

Obviously, Austria was one, but I was conscious to avoid it becoming a clone. The Saxons provided a greater range of facing colours for the infantry, so I ran with that. I also wanted a Spanish and Neapolitan vibe, so indulged myself with crimson and purple guards and gaudy flags.

It is the largest of the armies and at times all that white was a challenge. I have some ideas for expansion should that prove necessary.

My other focus was on Arab-Israeli; it was more "occasional dabble" rather than focus if I'm honest. I seem to have flitted from one army to another without finishing anything! That said, it means less work is necessary to complete the IDF, Egyptians and Jordanians.

So what's the plans for 2023?

I have already started on the Electoral Army for SK and the AIW stuff needs finishing. I'd love to tackle some unfinished projects (15mm Italian Wars) and some new (WW2 Western Desert, 15mm Flodden and ECW) as well as 28mm ancients especially for Commands and Colors. It might be nice to actually have a game!

So rather than definite plans, I'll aim for vague aspirations; if the last few years have taught me anything, it's that life is more unpredictable.

I'm also mindful that a hobby is supposed to be enjoyed and not become a work project.

Progress report

A quick update on painting progress for the first of the Electoral Army, units of Naervaron.

We have the Erbprinz Leibgarde, modelled on the Erbprinz Regiment from "Charge". Instead of Stadden 30mm, these are Spencer Smith plastic grenadiers with a mitre cap from the later ranges and added Green Stuff.

Next a line regiment "Weiss".

And finally the Erbprinz himself, Christian Fischreiher.

Saturnalia Greetings!

We find ourselves once more at that time of the year, be it Yultide, Christmas or whichever religious or non-religious holiday you celebrate.

Wishing all my blog readers and those who drop by the compliments of the season as we celebrate with friends and family and remember those no longer with us.

I have taken the opportunity to do a little painting, making a start on the Leibgarde of Naervaron, modelled on the Erbprinz Regiment from Charge or how to play wargames.

The Prince of Naervaron as colonel in chief of the regiment, has received the same colours as mixed for the foot with a fetching grey horse.

And a festive photo of Sophie getting into the festive spirit (she has taken a liking as only cats can to a bag of tinsel!)

Egyptian Centurion

Another addition to the eclectic mix of Egyptian armour for 1967.

As indicated in a previous post, the Egyptians had about 29-30 Mk 1 and Mk2 Centurions with the 17pdr gun. Unsubstantiated sources give Mk3 as well.

The most likely recipient was the 6th Division; often listed as "Mechanised" I think this is due to confusion with the 6th Mechanised Brigade. Arabic military formation terms are notoriously imprecise with the same word being used for different sized formations. The CIA report for 1967 lists the 6th Division as infantry, as do some of the earlier sources.

In any case, IDF tankers from Yoffe's Ugdah came across abandoned Centurions from an unidentified unit which were incorporated after modification in the IDF.

The model is something of a "Frankenstein creation" the upper hull and turret are from a Roco Minitanks Centurion, the turret had half the stowage bins removed so a Roco German Ostwind turret was cut up to provide replacement parts. The lower hull and tracks are from a Roco Chieftain . The gun and mantlet were donated by a Zylmex diecast Centurion with a muzzle break from an Airfix Panzer IV. Various bits of scrap and spares were used for turret hatch and smoke dischargers. The turret was lowered.

Egyptian experiments

This weekend sees an attempt to make a start on the Egyptian armour for 1967.

I've never been entirely happy with the Roco Minitanks models; the T-54 /55 is OK but needs some detailing added, but the JS-3 and T-34/85 were never "quite right". All are some of the earlier models in the Roco line and are quite crude.

The JS-3 was first; it comes with an extremely weedy gun barrel, the turret is too small and sits too far back and the JS-3M supplied to Egypt had sand shields. I corrected some of the more obvious problems and added detail, but it still didn't look right. Adding some height and width to the turret has helped. It's still not perfect and I may try adding a bit more Miliput to the turret. There's a limit to how much it can be improved and some would say "why bother?" My response is that this project is not about buying something off the shelf; it's as much about satisfying my "inner modeller" to see what I can accomplish. I've already surprised myself with what I've produced from limited means to create something unique.

JS-3M

As indicated, I was conscious the T-34/85 was "off" but couldn't quite see why or how. I put it down to the crude model, but wasn't entirely happy. I realised the problem was the turret was too far back. The same model is used for the 76mm T-34 with a different turret. While the 85mm turret is a bit too angular, the position is too far back due to the hole for the turret pin being central. Roco used a common chassis with alternative turret in many of their earlier models (T-54 /T-44, M-60). Here the issue is compounded by the bottom circular part of the turret being moulded to the chassis, not the turret.

Ideally, the turret "pin" needs to be moved backwards. This would create a weakness and would require a plastic card roof inside the turret, as the ideal position interferes with the turret hatch; there is nowhere to secure the pin to on the original turret. The alternative is to drill a new hole. Unfortunately, I see now why Roco didn't do this as they did on other models such as the T-54. Because the hole is no longer central, when the turret turns it does not match the circular turret bottom on the chassis making everything off centre. Moving the pin would avoid this. Using a new hole means the turret is fine when in the forward position. I've gone with drilling new holes at present.

T-34/85

The current fleet with T-54 and Egyptian Sherman with AMX-13 turret lurking in the background. I need to tackle the T-54 / 55 and produce a Centurion. Yes the Egyptians had around 30 Mk 1 to 3 Centurions deployed in Sinai which were captured by the Israelis without firing a shot.

At last a Grand Parade!

This weekend saw me putting the final touches to the Imperial Estavian Army the combined forces of the Zweikreutz Crimson Throne.

After cutting, sanding, painting and labelling the bases and cutting out and black edging the flags, I was finally ready to assemble the army.

Here under the gaze of the Emperor Augustus is the army in all its glory!

Imperial flags and some notes on heraldry

 

Here are the flags for the Imperial Estavian army. Need a little more touching up with a lining pen here and there, but otherwise complete.

Top to bottom, the 12x line regiments, below them Garde zu Fuss, then 3x Cuirassier regiments, below them Garde zu Pferde and at bottom Dragoons and O'Hara Chevauxleger.

As noted elsewhere, the game come with heraldry for the four SK powers; a fleur de lis for Bravance, white eagle for Hrvatska, black eagle for Argozia and lion rampant for Arcadia.

In expanding the game to include the various other states I needed to come up with heraldry for each of them, which would appear on their flags. I thought long and hard about how I was going to produce flags; I never intended to hand paint them as I've done. Instead, I had great plans to produce something on the computer. Sadly I lack the necessary skills and early experiments revealed scanned colours turning out different from original prints, bleeding ink and all sorts of problems. I needed heraldic symbols and attempts to download same came to nought. I then hit on another source.

Some time back in the 1990s, I bought a pack of GW heraldic transfers, intended for their fantasy figures, but basically medieval symbols. I had intended to scan these in or to use them on printed out flags produced on the computer. Again, experiments were discouraging and the end results were not what I had imagined. More in desperation when faced with putting flags on Bravancian figures, I ended up painting them. The success has encouraged me to continue.

While in theory I could paint anything on the flags, I have stuck with the symbols from the GW transfers with a few additional Veni Vedi Vici decals (acquired when still wedded to the idea of transfers). So Naevaeron has a blue boar, Cleve a white castle, Dupanen a white unicorn and so on. Estavia sort of ended up with a Jerusalem cross; I then derived a back story from it being formed of the Hereditary Lands (gold cross on crimson / red), The Midlands (white cross on green) and the Bravacian Marches (border frontier) and being the Zweikreiss Reich, formed from an amalgamation of the two crosses into a Jerusalem cross.

For the flags, I was very influenced by Thirty Years War Imperial and Austrian WAS striped flags. So the cavalry are basic red and white with variations. The Garde a large cross on plain background and the foot incorporate their facing colours. I admit they have not turned out how I originally thought they would, although I only had vague ideas of what they would look like. They now incorporate a bit of a Venetian vibe which was never planned.

Christopher Duffy R.I.P

Just heard of the passing of Dr Christopher Duffy.

Co-incidentally, I have been reading "An Instrument of War" the first volume of his work on the Austrian army of the SYW as my bedtime book.

Back in the early 1980s when I developed an interest in the SYW and C18th in general, his books were the "bible" for serious scholars, although his "Army of Maria Theresa" was very scarce and difficult to obtain . I was therefore overjoyed to be offered a copy at a very reasonable price in response to a letter in Military Modelling requesting a copy.

I have copies of all his C18th titles, although I have yet to read some of them.

I'm also reminded of his tours; I was very jealous at discovering that a lot of the Cornwall wargamers had been on one, organised by the SYW Association, although their experiences had been "mixed". It appears there was something of a cultural clash between the UK and US gamers; the US gamers being much more respectful of Dr Duffy whom the UK gamers christened "Von Duffy" for the pro-German views he expressed!

In any case, I personally owe him a great debt for his works which have enriched my reading on the SYW.

R.I.P

Musings on Arab-Israeli project

Progress has concentrated on the Soldier King project, with work on flags for Estavia (still need work), but I've also been musing on my Arab-Israeli stuff.

A post on Tim Gow's blog prompted some of the thinking:

http://megablitzandmore.blogspot.com/2022/11/sinai-1967-megablitz-game-revisited.html

My armies are being built for Megablitz and Tim's orbats that he published on his blog were part of the inspiration. Tim has focussed on Sinai for 1967, where the main fighting occurred, although I've researched the Jordanian and Syrian fronts in addition to cover the whole Six Days War.

My obsession with the various Arab -Israeli wars goes back much further. My first attempt was in 1/285th; living in Northumberland I naturally gravitated to GHQ being sold at the time by New Hope Design then in Rothbury.

My research was minimal; Bruce Quarrie's guide and a Born in Battle magazine identified the main tanks used, so I ordered a selection of what I thought were Israeli vehicles from a paper list without pictures. The Shermans were OK, but the Centurions were probably the later version. I had also ordered "Pattons"; these turned out to be M47 rather than the M48 I was expecting.

Peter Gilder had just written a painting guide published in Military Modelling. His advice was to undercoat black and drybrush. Filled with enthusiasm, I bought a large can of black car primer from a car parts shop in Alnwick. Disaster! Whether it was old stock or I managed to buy the only faulty can in the shop, whatever the cause it failed to spray and the nozzle kept clogging! Perhaps it was an omen.....

I ended up undercoating by hand and drybrushed them grey; they looked.......OK. Enthusiasm quashed, I dug them out a few years later and played a game. Ended up passing them to a friend. I had encountered one of the downfalls of micro armour for me; the tendency to try and field 1:1 forces which ended up with wall to wall tanks, instead of  using the scale to fight on smaller tables for example.

Many years later, played some more Arab-Israeli games with GHQ 1:285 again, this time using Modern Spearhead. Playing out a scenario based on a historical encounter, sadly revealed the limitations of the rules; no benefits for troop quality and no restrictions on Soviet armour firing from higher ground (in reality unable to depress their guns), no airpower for the Israelis ( umpire decided not to use).

My interest lay dormant until it resurfaced many years later. This was long before Battlefront brought out their 15mm ranges. I toyed with micro, but past experience had put me off. Then musing one day, I realised Roco Minitanks had many of the vehicles, being from the 1960s and having WW2 surplus as used by many European armies. M48s, Sherman, M3 halftrack, Centurion (rare) were all available or already in my stash (only 4 Centurions at that point). For the Arabs, T34/85, T54/55, JS3 were also available (if crude).

The downside was the fact that many needed converting. I remembered one of the earliest inspirations; an article in Military Modelling from around 1977 converting smaller scale vehicles to Arab-Israeli, mostly Airfix, but with Roco  mentioned in the list of available vehicles.

Aircraft could be sourced from Heller and Tamiya  in 1:100, more crude 1960s models which somehow seemed to fit. Most of the French types could be sourced.

But what rules to use? I had rejected the idea of rules requiring multiple models (due to the need to convert most) for company or platoon level. Martin Rapier had some very high level (stand = brigade) but were a bit too abstract. Then inspiration struck. What about Megablitz with 1 stand = 1 battalion with the added attraction of the ethos of bodging vehicles to look roughly like what they are supposed to? 

Once started, it's taken on a life of its own as the pictures of conversions and modelling on this blog will attest. Tim's post has inspired me to get on with finishing it!

Milestone on the road of progress

Finally finished the last two personalities (technically there's another plus a "maybe" both Hussar officers) for Estavia.

At times the army has been a bit of a slog, although at other times a breeze. Not sure if it's painting all that white!

What's odd is that I have been looking forward to painting this army for a while, way back when I started the project. I remember that this army and the Arcadian one was what I'd looked forwards to with anticipation. Instead of  doing what I really wanted, I instead made myself work through the other armies.

Finishing the Arcadians was quick, so I'd thought it would be the same with the Estavian army; I'm an admirer of the Austrian and Saxon armies of the C18th, so looked forwards to what is probably my favourite SK army (although of course you are not supposed to have favourites when running a campaign). The reality was I flagged a bit with lots of correcting where I'd gone wrong.

Anyway, flags, final varnishing, basing and labels left to do. Some pictures of the assembled personalities / General Staff awaiting varnish.

Personality (test or disorder?)

As I finish off painting the last few personalities for the Estavian army, I've been musing about why I have so many in my SK armies.

Obviously one of the main influences stems from Charles Grant and "The Wargame" where his general figures appear: Fritz von Tarlenheim and the figure miscaptioned as Graf von Grunt (the Wargame Companion reveals this is none other than Von und zu Trinksblut und Eisenessen). These were wonderful Willie 30mm miniatures, some converted. To a lesser extent I was also swayed by Peter Young and "Charge" where numerous Staden and Willie staff figures were shown cantering all over the table (it always looked like too many to be practical to me....).

As an aside, I liked one of the figures so much, I had to try and replicate it, so the Graf von Gruntzen, Herzog von Landesburg was made:

When planning the campaign I relied on Tony Bath's book for ideas. He was very keen on creating characters; this had also appeared in the Grants (senior and junior) writing, so it seemed perfectly natural to incorporate these ideas, after all who doesn't like a nice general figure? I had initially planned to duplicate the Wargame and use Willie figures. However, when creating family trees as per Bath, I realised I would potentially need rather a lot.....

At that time, they were difficult to get hold of being manufactured in Sweden. They have since become easier to obtain and are competitively priced. There are however, a limited number of miniatures to choose from, even if using Stadden in addition. I realised I was generating far more characters than the 7 to 10 suitable figures could accommodate, even with conversions.

I toyed with just having them as the monarch; what to do about the rest? In the end inspiration came from a different source, Peter Dennis:

https://www.wargamesillustrated.net/sculpting-figure-from-fimo/

Unlike the obscenely talented Mr Dennis, I couldn't imagine attempting a horse. I did have some old GW plastic horses and some old Rospak ones (which look like the odd way horses are painted in C18th portraits). So I gave it a go.

My early efforts; nothing was wasted or thrown away:

I later discovered a source of plastic toy horses; by then my sculpting skills had improved. For those not in the know, Fimo or Sculpy is firm enough to support itself. Unlike other clays (Miliput and Green Stuff) it doesn't require a dolly or armature to sculpt onto. It does however loose details at the merest touch.....

The trick is to work downwards and shape out the basic rider, including face, then go back and add arms and finer details. The esteemed Tony Barton uses Fimo and sculpts in two halves, baking inbetween. It's possible to add to a baked figure and re-bake. Getting the temperature correct is essential. I have had disasters both when sculpting and baking. If it's during the sculpt, it's possible to simply start again. When baking, most of mine are under-done which makes them brittle. Quite a few sword scabbards and legs have broken off. Fortunately, PVA and Cyrnoacetate glue works. There were some that were left a little too long.....I rescued them before they melted! While hard, I had a lot of distortion with finer thin parts....

Anyway, while still not ready to tackle horses, I have made a few dogs.......

General knowledge

Last weekends output. Seven "Division Commanders" ( in VnB terms) - Spencer Smith staff officers, plus a pair of unfinished Fimo "Army Commanders" Graf von Weisen and Markgraf von Brauneburg.

 The Army Commanders are awaiting brass and gold having just had a bit of fettling (Brauneburg had natural brown hair but has had black applied before white powdered hair / wig as replacement).

There are four Fimo Corps Commanders awaiting paint. Then it's the staff to be varnished, flags to be drawn and painted, bases to cut out, magnetise and paint before the army is finished.

The Emperor's New Clothes

While I should perhaps have started with the Spencer Smith staff figures, I followed my inclinations and instead made a start on the personalities.

Here are the Emperor Augustus of the Zweikreis Reich and Crimson Throne and his son and heir (as well as commander in chief of the Estavian army) Prinz Charles Xavier on his horse Ajax and accompanied by his dog, Achilles.

Augustus and Charles Xavier (as well as Achilles) are my own Fimo / Sculpy creations mounted on a GW and plastic toy horse respectively.

I had created the piratical one eyed eyepatch wearing general from one of my doodles / sketches and had another figure in mind for the Prinz. However when creating his character it threw up "scar" twice and it seemed to fit my eyepatch wearer better.

The name was a nod to Austrian and Saxon commanders (rather than X-men) and the dog and horse were a sudden inspiration.

Should the Emperor die, I can see a potential objection to the election of a "maimed" prince and so providing a Causus Belli for a war of the Estavian Succession , assuming said prince doesn't become a casualty first!

An even bigger boom!

The last of the Estavian Imperial artillery park has joined the ranks in the shape of a heavy gun (Spencer Smith naval gun barrel on standard carriage). 

Following a comment by Stew (see comments previous post) I can no longer think of them as anything but Willhelm von Pfiffig's Zirkus Artillerie (full marks for non-UK visitors if they get that reference).

So much so, that I have decided to incorporate it into the fabric of the Soldier King campaign:

In 1722 Wilhelm von Pfiffig was appointed Inspektor General of the Imperial Estavian artillery. Von Pfiffig found the artillery park was virtually non-existent and so set about creating a new and efficient set of modern guns and gunners. Freshly cast bronze cannon were set upon new carriages with woodwork painted in white lead and metal in red. At the initial unveiling, one commentator remarked they looked like "something out of a carnival or a circus". The name stuck and the train of artillery was referred to in some circles as "Pfiffig's Circus" with some wits suggesting they should be drawn by elephants and camels instead of horses.

 "An occasional history of my travels in Estavia" Colonel Pedersohn.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With apologies to Blackadder fans; when thinking of a title for this post, the only thing that popped into my head was Baldrick's poem of the same name.

the Estavian artillery so far. Only one heavy gun and crew to paint.

To complete, some previously unshown Grenzer.

Reflections on Soldier King project

With work crazy busy, some "relaxation" has been gained by painting at the weekends.

This weekend saw me make a start on the Imperial Estavian artillery. Gunners in red faced light purple (that colour again!) with guns in white with red metal work and spokes, based on a historical scheme. This was found on the excellent "My Seven Years War" blog:

http://crogges7ywarmies.blogspot.com/

The inspiration being Hesse Cassel:

http://crogges7ywarmies.blogspot.com/2012/04/7yw-artillery-part-4-hesse-cassel.html

Christian's blog has been a source of much inspiration, his flat figures being used in VnB first edition games.

I managed to finish three guns and nine gunners with considerable effort. I confess my enthusiasm is flagging. A small bit of reflection lead to the thought I was getting close to finishing the army. This produced some motivation and had me planning the staff and personalities. 

Then the realisation of the other armies planned; I even wondered if I should drop the other armies and just complete five? Can I face more Spencer Smiths?

Today I was idly googling "Estavia" and it took me to David's "Ragged Soldier" blog:

https://russetcoatcpt.blogspot.com/

I found his post about using Soldier King and my post in response. A quick search of the blog shows I tackled the basing, labelling and flags for the first army, Bravance. The date was November 2020. Roughly a month short of two years.

Now 12 units of this army (as well as 12 of Hrvatska) had been painted many years previously (late 1990s?) but the additions to make up to 24 units were completed from around then, as well as the other two armies subsequently with them moving from painting, varnishing to basing and labelling. So roughly 3x VnB armies of 24 units (four armies but 2 being half completed).

Each army has 8 cavalry, 16 infantry and 4 artillery units. Very roughly, 28 cavalry, 120 infantry, 4 guns and 12 gunners. A quick calculation gives 84 mounted, 396 foot and 12 guns with maybe 36-40 staff figures, all mounted. That's not a bad total for two years.

Estavia adds 60 cavalry, 152 infantry, 3 guns and 12 gunners so far......

Perhaps I need to focus on how far I've come, not how far I have to go....

Estavian progress

A spot of leave has resulted in further painting progress on the "Imperial " army.

In addition to a regiment of combined grenadiers, the following have been added:

Garde zu Fuss and Garde zu Pferde

Empress and Valhingen Hussars, Jagers

The colour purple....

No not the book or film, the actual colour.

A friend visited fairly recently and on showing him the completed Soldier King armies, he remarked "you like the colour purple in your armies, don't you?"

My response was that if you couldn't make use of it in Imagi-Nation armies, when could you?

His observation was based on Hrvatska; the main colour is red and I made use of an old Citadel / GW paint - "Worm purple" for facings and on general staff ( influenced by a throwaway remark in Knotel that in the Saxon - Polish army the Poles substituted purple for red for generals). The colour itself is a paler lighter purple shade.

At the time of his visit, I had not started the Estavian guard some of whom are resplendent in Vallejo "Violet" (with a touch of Oxford blue) a much deeper shade; one line regiment has worm purple facings, so this may have influenced his remark. As I have been painting the aforementioned guard, his remark has been close to my thoughts.

I used it predominantly as it complements red nicely; as Hrvatska are the "red" game army and Estavia is the "Crimson Throne" , it follows from that. In the real world it was a rare colour, especially in military use.

The preserve of Roman emperors and Persian King of Kings due to the expense of manufacture (decomposing Murax sea snails does not make for an abundant dye) one would not expect to see wide use in the age of pre-industrial dyes (although the Osprey book on ancient Persians suggests otherwise, coupled with Saffron produced yellow for an eye-watering colour combination). 

That said, ancient Spaniards produced purple from a mix of indigo and madder; Republican Romans dyed feathers purple and even the ECW had "purple coat" regiments (who may not have actually worn purple, certainly not with yellow breeches as in the first ECW Osprey - there's that combo again). Of course, when referring to "purple" we could be referring to a wide spectrum of colours - I'm thinking here of shades such as Murat's " Polish Crimson " which is rendered in a variety of pinks, crimson and "Amaranth" another odd and elusive shade. I have a nearly expired jar of "Minature Paints - Ruby" for which I have never found a substitute, for that sort of colour (works well with purple as well!)

Aside from Imagi-Nations, I've used purple on Romans; 15mm Late Roman decoration and my Pompaian late Republican legionaries (to distinguish them from Caesarians in red) coupled with the aforementioned Ruby for their shields (which colour also features on the Late Romans), in this case the washed out worm purple. Aside from that, ancient Spaniards.

So while I do like it, it's been the SK Imagi-Nations which have seen most use.

Plod, plod, plod.....

Towards a conclusion...

At least that has how it has felt. Painting has felt more like a chore at times, but I keep plodding along. While not ready for a parade, decided to make a post to document progress.

Box 1, line, cuirassiers and Gendarmen hiding at the back (temporary hiatus as spider ejected having scampered in from outside of box when trying to rescue, resulting in removing ALL figures before putting back in).

Box 2 Line, cuirassiers, chevaux leger, dragoons and first Garde zu fuss

Bank holiday bodging

Taking advantage of the Bank holiday weekend to finish the last of the Israeli armour in use in 1967. M1 Sherman with 76mm and HVSS suspension. The IDF could not even resist making minor adaptations to these, although less drastic than with the remainder of the Sherman fleet.

They were used by two of the GASHAP territorial battalions (the other two had AMX-13) and the tank company of the Jerusalem brigade. This was technically an extra company of the 182 battalion (Central front regional GASHAP), sometimes numbered 29. By the terms of the 1948/49 armistice, the Israelis were prevented from having any armour in the city of Jerusalem, but the canny Israelis got around this by secretly stationing around 5 tanks of the Jerusalem brigade in the outskirts with the remaining 13 a bit further out.

The M1s of both units saw a lot of action in the battle for Jerusalem in 1967. If the Jordanians had succeeded in supporting their infantry with their armoured brigades, the M1s would have had to face off against M48 Pattons. As it was, they did not have it all their own way, one M1 ended up falling off an embankment and ending upside down in a gulley when encountering fierce resistance from the city walls (including bazooka fire). As the only armour available, they provided the Israeli paras with crucial support and one blew in the gates of the city in the final assault.

The models are 2x Boley Sherman and a similar model from another US company (name forgotten) heavily converted with plastic card, Milliput and Green Stuff, bits from the spares box and some very nice turned brass muzzles nominally 1:76th but not out of place on the 1:87 models. A M51 Sherman lurks in the background (needed to compare parts).

Let there be light!

More progress on mostly IDF armour for the Six Day War.

Added some scratchbuilt French Xenon searchlights to selected vehicles. Most commonly photographed on M50 and M51 Shermans, then AMX-13s with correspondingly few photos of them mounted on Centurions and M48s. This frequency is reflected in the models.

Also added some more details to the Egyptian Sherman with AMX-13 turret and a smaller and cruder AMX-13 from a French toy mounted on a Roskopf chassis of a Bundeswehr Rakette. The latter is destined for the Syrians. Granovsky identifies they had around 25 on the Golan and there is a well known picture of one either knocked out or abandoned which is frequently misidentified as Israeli. It is being inspected by Israelis and passed by Shermans (one of which has broken down or been hit). A close up of the photo just reveals Arab writing on the turret, common on Syrian vehicles in the Six Day War.

A possible sub-title is "for the want of a shoe". Adding some searchlights and kit, I discovered some of the distinctive Israeli coiled netting seen on vehicles which I had made from leftover Milliput and Green Stuff. As I had just made some for the AMX-13s, these initially appeared to be surplus to requirements.

I realised however, that I had still to make 3x 76mm Super Sherman and that a couple of the Centurions were missing one each which was the exact number of extras I had.

I therefore started digging out the bits needed. I found the Sherman and M40SPGs (for HVSS tracks) and was overjoyed to find I had three muzzle breaks (thought only had two). Spent a long time looking for suitable gun barrels and mantlets, before settling on surplus Achilles 76mm which I realised could have the mantlet cut and filed down to shape. What I needed was some of the anti-tank obstacles from Roco; the "Dragon's Teeth" are very useful for adding to Sherman to change the turret shape around which Milliput can be applied. I have used them on my M50 and M51 conversions. I was certain I had an unopened packet for just such a task......

Despite searching through numerous boxes I was unable to find them or any surplus bits from previous conversions......sadly a common occurrence! Parts have been put in a takeaway container for when they turn up!

POSTSCRIPT

Just after writing this post I starter tidying away. There right in front of me is a box of "useful stuff" where I also keep the plastic cement. Tidying this up, what did I find slightly tucked away but the packet of anti-tank obstacles.......oh **********! ☺

A special unit

The last few days have seen me painting another unit for the Estavian Imperial army, interrupted by Britcon yesterday.

This unit was a late addition, when I realised more cavalry was needed and enough figures were available. Having planned out the rest of the army, this evolution was left without a name, despite the troop type and uniforms being decided. The colours had evolved from a combination of crimson from Estavia and green of chevauxleger. The colours started to suggest an almost Irish theme. It was then the pieces fell into place. They would be the O'Hara Chevauxleger, named for my friend Danny O'Hara.

I met Danny a few years after moving to Cornwall; we were initially introduced as when outlining my interests in periods, it was suggested "you need to speak to Danny." Aside from our overwhelming mutual interest in the SYW / C18th we discovered we shared a taste for the obscure and unusual in wargames periods and armies.

We played many games, although like me Danny preferred running and umpiring to playing and we organised some truly huge games, such as a giant pirate extravaganza when halfway through the game, realised we were both using different versions of Peter Pig rules!

When I moved from Cornwall, we kept in touch and stayed at each others for local shows, but after moving to the midlands, we lost touch to some extent. I last saw him on a family holiday to Cornwall and we agreed to keep in touch.

In 2019, after a traumatic personal bereavement and the sudden loss of an online acquaintance in the USA, I rang Danny but got no answer. Shortly after that I happened to purchase something from eBay and noticed the postcode matched Danny's. The items I realised could well be Danny's; thinking he was maybe downsizing, I checked the name and recognised it as one of his friends. A search revealed his funeral memorial at the age of 50.

I confess it really hit me. I'd had vague plans of involving him and others in the Soldier King campaign, after some solo work to establish the ground rules (much like Tony Bath's Hyboria). But of course I needed to paint the armies and map out places and.....

While I'm well aware no one lives forever, I assumed I'd have more time. Danny was into the idea of Imagi-Nations as much as painstaking historical research. He told me him and his brother had created C18th Imaginary armies using Airfix George Washington figures.

While Martin Goddard has immortalised him as a Peter Pig collectable miniature, I decided to include him in the SK campaign as the chief of a unit. Danny was proud of his Irish ancestry; what better way to commemorate him than as a "Wild Goose" in my analogue of an Austrian army (Danny like me was an Austrophile for the SYW period).

So I present the Chevauxleger of Patrick Domnal ( "mad Dan") O'Hara with their motto:

"Is iad gníomhais fir a oidhreacht" or "Homo facta sunt legatum suum"

(Their flag will be green with a yellow cross and each motto on alternate sides - or that's the plan!)

Good but not great?

Today I attended my first wargames show since my last, just before Covid.

Britcon has moved from its previous home in Manchester to Nottingham. Oddly for what is often referred to as "the lead belt", the city itself has lacked a major show.

A few years ago there was an attempt to remedy this with the "Robin" show but after only two years, it seems to have become another victim of Covid. TBH, it needed to attract more trade and games as it was a bit lacking in atmosphere, not helped by a fairly empty venue for the amount of trade and games.

Newark is well served by Hammerhead and the two Partizan shows which may explain why little effort has been given to organising a show in Nottingham; it's especially odd since the demise of the Derby Worlds which reinvigorated itself when held at Derby University, only to decline and die when moved to more distant venues.

So Britcon held the promise of a two day show in the city itself. The venue is excellent; Nottingham University in one of the city centre buildings, a bright airy venue with plenty of space, reminiscent indeed of Derby Worlds. Well attended, yet not crowded. So why good and not great?

It's clear Britcon is primarily a competition show; various tournaments were being played and were clearly well attended. Sadly wargames competitions are not really a spectator sport.......

Not that you could see most of the games from the way they were packed together....

The trade stands had a few bigger names and some of the usual suspects, but......

There were probably too many 3d printed companies, all of which were somewhat "niche". A couple of traders had pulled out at the last minute, but obviously didn't have replacements. There was a bring & buy, although few "bargains" with some armies looking as if they had been painted especially for the event. At least it was cool and free from the usual rugby scrum.

The few non-competition games were mostly participation, in some cases linked to a manufacturer. No real "spectacles" .

The real problem was it didn't take that long to walk around and that was it really. I met a friend; aside from him I didn't really speak to anyone. We both bought a second hand book each, and that was the total purchases!

While we both agreed we have reached the age where we don't really need to add to our lead and plastic mountains, and are starting to become concerned about getting rid of what we don't use so as not to burden our partners and offspring with our junk when we're gone, there was little TBH to tempt us with an impulse purchase.

So what was good / positive? Well it's always nice to be able to look at things "in the flesh"; to be able to flick through a rulebook or book; to see the heft and detail on a figure range. I was tempted by some Perry AWI as these are on my "to do" list, but I realised I would have been buying just for the sake of it, not necessity.

The downside is of course you then buy after the show, somewhere else where it's cheaper (or in the case of one well thumbed rulebook, both cheaper and in better condition).

It was good to catch up with a mate; after those couple of positives, not much else inspired me. Perhaps I've changed but I used to get a real buzz out of shows, or perhaps shows have changed? Maybe Covid changed things dramatically; why bother dragging your wares to a show when you can sell more via the internet? And don't have to fork out for a trade stand to boot.

I hope Britcon continues in Nottingham and goes from strength to strength; it's nice to have a show with good public transport links on your doorstep (unlike the Newark shows) I'll certainly go again.

It's funny where wargames lead you......

So I spent an interesting evening yesterday scrolling through posts on MSFoy's always entertaining Prometheus in Aspic blog when I found myself on eBay looking at pottery houses (which may or may not have been for sale by ladies called Sue....).

What had brought me hither so my recently viewed page on eBay is full of Anne Hathaway's house and similar porcelain monstrosities.....err masterpieces?

It started with a boardgame: The King's War by Charles Vasey. It's a game around the English Civil War by someone who knows their history. "That would make an excellent basis for a campaign" I thought.......

All the signs had been there for a while and manfully resisted; that overwhelming butterfly urge to start yet another period.....

Reading Stuart Reid's The King's War pushed the urges further....

I had been looking at fastplay rules (Tilly's Very Bad Day and In Deo Veritas) and debating figure ranges (10mm or 15mm?). I had even bought a sample pack of Steelfist figures. I had even given thought to what sort of look I wanted - single based units on a nice thick base - fill with the number of figures that will fit, depending on size....

"What about the Germans" (says my internal Gene Hackman alternating with "do you pick your feet before kipsy...").....err I mean what about the painting....concentrate. Well if I can somehow combine black washes with Contrast paints it shouldn't take as long as working up from black undercoat.....

I was unable to decide between the Blue Moon 15/18mm and 10mm; each had their strengths. A successful bid on an eBay lot of Blue Moon with some 100x50mm 3mm MDF bases settled that. Some others have joined them and I took the plunge after working out what forces to build and bought a lot more (still to arrive). Given the financial climate in the UK at present, I didn't want to suddenly find the prices increasing when only part way through the armies....

To be truthful, the ECW and I have a long history. I first dabbled using 15mm over 40 years ago; Peter Laing Irish Confederates and various manufacturers for Royalists. Sold as they did not inspire. Switched to 25mm Hinchliffe and Minifigs as pictured in Stuart Asquith's games in Battle and Wargamer's Newsletter fighting over Britain's hedges....

It was the first army I attempted to paint really well in a pseudo-Gilder style using enamels, following his painting guide from Military Modelling and slavishly copying the pictures just appearing in Miniature Wargames of the King's Lifeguards, Rupert's regiment (both foot and horse). Bases had Miliput cannonballs and were textured with ruts showing where they plowed into the ground. Played and built up units painting as I went. Notable for switching to acrylics and keeping the same painting style, obviously in a darkened room to judge by the ill-advised choice of a yellow coated foot regiment which positively glowed as if radioactive when first fielded at the local club......

After some use, continually searching for a decent ruleset (eventually used Terry Wise's ECW and TYW set) which didn't upset some opponents, moved to other periods. With an impending career move to the other end of the country and a need for cash, they ended up being sold at Northern Militare. I regret it now and wonder what their fate was

I did keep some of my ECW books and all the articles from Military Modelling (now of course I'm assured by ECW "experts" that they are hopelessly out of date....). So buy some more books to find the most current research says "well they may have worn red/blue/green/sky blue pink or it could just refer to their flags..."

Not much help in ideas for painting an army is it? Although despite the experts sneering, it's difficult to say you are wrong with such minimal sources .......despite the purists I'll stick with Haythornewaite and Scollins for inspiration however innaccurate they apparently are! I've always thought the best response to such picky "experts" is "Oh, so were you there then?"

I digress. So what of the pottery houses? Well finding yet another set of rules ( Peter Pig's Regiment of Foote) I realised I probably needed some dedicated scenery. So buildings. I plumped for 10mm as having a better footprint. Bought some lovely Battlescale half-timbered houses, nice but small and no church (got to have a Norman church). Eventually found one at Lancer Miniatures. Very nice but looks huge! Maybe I should look at 15mm buildings on the smaller side.......hence the visit to:

http://prometheusinaspic.blogspot.com

The Tey Pottery ornaments look much better on the blog (matt varnish?) than they do on eBay, despite being painted after a fashion. I think I may stick to the wargames models so alas will not being enriching any of the "Sues" (visit the blog for an explanation).

Bautzen at Claymore wargames show 2022

Some photos of a huge Bautzen game involving reportedly over 3000 10mm figures on a handpainted cloth mimicking a C19th map, put on by members of my old club Tyneside Wargames Club at the Edinburgh Claymore show today.

Photographs supplied by Pete Foggin

Egyptian Sherman with FL-10 turret

 Here's the result of 2 weekends modelling. An M4/FL-10 hybrid Sherman.

While the Israeli IDF with French help, mounted the French 75mm (developed from the Panther's gun) into existing Sherman turrets, using bustle counterweights and an  extended mantlet, the Egyptians took an easier option, using the French designed upgrade mounting the AMX-13 turret on a Sherman chassis. 

At this time, De Gaulle was attempting to maintaining good relations with both Arabs and Israelis until later Arab support for Nationalist movements in French colonies resulted in Israel becoming the beneficiary of French support.

Both sides had done so recognising that the Sherman was becoming increasingly obsolete. That said, the humble Sherman continued to serve in various armies into the 1980s, although much altered. Unmodified Shermans were used in the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war, alongside various upgunned versions using the US 76mm, French 75mm (in an unmodified turret) and Soviet 76mm (as used in the PT76).

A small number of unmodified M4 Sherman were used by the Egyptians in 1967 and there are pictures of knocked out M4 in Gaza. Officially, they were attached to or part of the 20th Palestinian Division, although at least one source indicates that while paid for, were not transferred to the Palestinians. As they and the FL-10 versions clearly served and were knocked out judging by photos, perhaps they remained crewed by Egyptians with the Palestinians not having time to train on them.

Numbers vary widely. A total of 50 were modified with the FL-10 turret, but many were lost in 1956. Between 40 and 80 Sherman of both versions seem to have been available in around 4 companies, possibly in two weak battalions in Gaza, Rafah, El Arish and the Jeradi defile. Many were in poor repair, with some dug-in as static defences. The Egyptians had problems with the complex AMX autoloader system due to poor maintenance.

Here's my version with a completely scratch turret on a slightly modified Roco M4.

Progress

 After a hectic weekend last week (visit by some friends and clearing out the hobby room / office in preparation for a new work desk) I'd hoped to be able to knuckle down and make some progress on the hobby front.

Sadly a combination of fatigue from work (and coping with 40 degree heat), cores and from last weekend, meant I did not make as much progress as hoped.

I did however recover my electric drill / Dremel style tool from the depths of the garage which allowed me to drill holes in the IDF Sherman turrets for MGs and aerials. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the plastic ties I intended to use for aerials so had to order some more from eBay (they are the plastic locking ties used for tags on clothing they come with something that looks very much like the base of an aerial).

I was unsure about how I was going to fix the MGs, but after hunting around have found just enough Roco parts. Ideally I'd like something stronger, but couldn't find a way to do it using plastic MGs. I could perhaps use metal, so have parked things to stop me rushing into an impetuous solution while I think about it.

Here's the current fleet of IDF M50 and M51 Shermans waiting for MGs, aerials and searchlights on about 4.

Slow weekend

With the weather very hot, painting has been limited this weekend. I suspect even a wet palette wouldn't have coped with the heat on Sunday.

I therefore limited myself to finishing the stand of Estavian Cuirassier I started last weekend; main colours were done it was a case of touching up fine black lining and redoing colours where this strayed over them. Took longer than expected but finished by Saturday evening. This morning I varnished them (Wilco diamond clear gloss acrylic - fast drying) which even with the cooler temperature this AM didn't take long before they were dry.

I contemplated more painting, but the rising temperature and the knowledge I wouldn't get anything finished (have to tidy everything away), decided me on some modelling.

The Israeli Shermans had some work towards completion; brackets added for searchlights and attempts made to drill holes for MG and radio antenna. I say attempts as I only managed indentations. I suspect my cheap mini drill bits are not up to the job, or I need to find my electric mini drill.

I did however do some work on the cast hull M51 and (single cast hull) M50. While researching searchlights, I'd noticed the cast hulls on the models I'd used (Boley Sherman) were not quite right. Had not noticed until then despite working on extensive conversions! Turned out easier than expected.

Maintenance of the aim

Steve (Disgruntled Fusileer) on the excellent Sound Officers Call blog, has just posted a thoughtful question that's drawn a lot of responses.

When visiting his blog I've always gained the impression of an enthusiastic, bouncy and productive gamer able to fit games into the busy schedule of normal life. It was a surprise to see he's experienced the same sort of disheartening lethargy that comes from being unable to commit to the painting schedules planned for your time off work. It's so easy to watch that time ebb away without any physical achievement, even though you have thought about wargaming the whole time!

Here was me thinking such things only impact miserable old curmudgeons like me! Just short of a rose-tinted view of retirement.....

Steve asked a question "what do you want from your gaming?" which has struck a chord with many , myself included. Steve also mentioned his enforced introspection threw up that he was "bored" with many of the rulesets he currently plays.

This has lead me to thinking about my own projects. For me wargaming represents escapism; it's playing with toy soldiers. There's very little connection with the sordid realities of real war. As Featherstone (IIRC) said there are no little lead or plastic widows and children at the end of our battles. The little soldiers are dressed in their finest and do not suffer wounds and disease (unless you count breakages and lead rot!). Whether such games inform real war is up for debate, wiser minds than mine imply they do, but contemplating that leads down the rabbit hole of "realism in wargames".

After a lifetime of playing with toy soldiers, I've reached a point where I think I know what I want from gaming. Gone are the rules with pages of complex tables and clauses inserted to prevent exploiting a rule mechanism. Pick who you play with. I'm not that bothered about winning and losing anymore. It's a shared spectacle I'm after. If I cannot share with someone like minded, I'll play solo.

The aesthetics are a personal thing. A plain green table or cloth can look as good, if not better than those sculpted model railway terrains that often feature in one of my bugbears "demonstration games" . Yes very nice to look at, show tremendous artistry and skill, but what are they "demonstrating" ? I got a lot of flak for suggesting on a forum that all they seemed to demonstrate was the skill of the person putting them on and the aim it appeared was to receive praise and win a prize. Wasn't that just an ego trip? I got lots of comments such as "I don't travel around shows at considerable expense just for my ego!" However , no-one ever explained what it is the demonstrate or get out of putting on such games.....It's a similar thing with very well painted figures. Very nice to look at, but there's downsides such as how long it takes to paint a single figure, let alone an army.

But I digress; suffice to say I paint my figures to almost the best of my ability and now try to resist being sucked into painting really well (I'm a fair painter, but slow) just good enough for me and no-one else. I'm experimenting with quicker methods to try and produce more. Terrain is functional. I have model railway grass mat boards but am tending towards cloths, especially where I'm drawn towards rules with grids and hexes.

The rules should have clear simple mechanics, not necessarily simplistic, and be easy to remember and play. Games should aim for a few hours, maximum half a day, no more all day inconclusive table full of figures games. Play should be fitted on a "normal" table either 5' x 3' such as a dining table or extended to say 6' x 4'. The key is the base size of units which should be in proportion to the table. In most cases, there should be 12-14 "manouvre units" per side; this could be 12 large bases or 12 command elements (such as brigades or divisions) as long as these operate and fight as a single entity.

Motivation. What keeps the project going and why you start it in the first place. Recently, this has been something of a nostalgia trip. Things that I always wanted to do but never did, such as Imagi-Nations. This can fuel further projects; I was influenced by Tony Bath's Hyboria when creating the SK background. I have the urge to create Commands & Colors ancients miniatures (single base 28mm) and now I'm contemplating building them and developing a Hyboria campaign. My Arab-Israeli project stems from an article in Military Modelling about converting 1:76 and 1:87 models and an unfulfilled desire to game it (tried and failed in 1:300) in that scale, or rather 1:87 and 20mm (with 1:100 for air). That this means working with very elderly models just increases the nostalgia.

Well that's what keeps me going (occupied?) in the hobby. What about you?

Designing uniforms for Imagi-Nations

The Imagi-Nation gamer by definition, has a wider choice of uniforms in which to bedeck his armies of toy soldiers. There is also no right or wrong. You will not find the critic often found scrutinizing historical games who triumphantly announces that your facing colour is the wrong shade of puce, or that in that year the unit in question wore white, not sky blue and THAT shade of sky blue is far too light.......

Instead it is more a question of choice.....

The two extremes are to simply use whatever you wish or to emulate historical practice. The former can involve colour combinations rarely or never seen in the real world, the latter armies which are little more than copies of real ones (perhaps with more latitude in facing colours or a mix of units from different armies). Each has a pedigree among Imagi-Nations.

The reality is that sadly, there are only so many colours and colour combinations that it's unlikely your choice has not been made before you. I'd urge the neophyte to embrace this and not be afraid to mix and match and steal ideas wherever you find them! When it comes to the colours, your choice is really whether you stick with what was possible with the dyes then available, or simply indulge your imagination and be damned! Colours like a true purple were expensive and difficult to produce, but remember they are just toy soldiers and your toys at that.......if you cannot indulge yourself in an Imagi-Nation, then when can you?

When it came to making choices for my Soldier King armies, I had two defining themes; the first was a dominant colour from the boardgame; the second a desire to avoid historical clones as much as possible. Before I even started I gave this some thought and scribbled down some ideas and drew crude uniform sketches. My earliest such piece of paper has the basic line infantry uniforms for Bravance, Arcadia and Estavia....

Bravance

In the game, blue with a white fleur-de-lis. This conjured a French influenced German state such as Bavaria, with hints of Burgundy and Brabant. I was drawn to Funken's Lace Wars and pictures of Prussian Freikorps, hence the "double blue" uniforms. Artillery were copies of Bavarian uniform. Other units had blue somewhere, with white and red as dominant colours. The flag was an early design with something very like Quebec and white with a light blue cross and large central fleur-de-lis in white for west and east Bravance respectively. At the point of completion, the cross became incised with a "V" at each end to make it more "germanic".

Arcadia

Yellow with a black lion. Dutch and especially Danish influences. Discovering (thanks to Neil Cogswell) that the Wurtemburg army of 1752 was uniformed in yellow clinched the choice of colours, influenced greatly by the Neuchatel Swiss of the Napoleonic period and Danish early C18th to include red and white. Playing the game had resulted in an experimental army of Guard cavalry and veteran line infantry. It was a natural progression to reversing the colours for the guard units. Some Prussian influences ( "black" hussars and jagers) included the flag design. The predominantly black and white was to tone down the otherwise bright colours.

Estavia

Imperial themes naturally suggested Austria coupled with the greater range of facings seen in the Saxon army and it was white uniforms with the "rainbow" approach to facing colours. I ended up with groups: red, crimson, pink and orange; dark, mid and light green and yellow; light, mid and dark blue and purple. Cavalry were Saxon/Prussian cuirassiers in buff and crimson with red and green chevauxleger. Somehow white and light buff faced yellow have crept in there. The guards foot and horse are combinations or red, crimson and purple. Early Spanish wearing purple faced red may have influenced me, as well as references to "The Crimson Throne" of Estavia.

Hrvatska (obviously derived from Croatia) are red with a white eagle and carry hints of Poland (the eagle is very Polish). This meant red uniforms but I wanted something that wasn't British. During the C18th Poland belonged mostly to Saxony ( the elector was also king of Poland). Early Saxon uniforms were red......add in Hanovarians with buff small clothes and multi-coloured facings (there are some colours which work best with red). White and red were other themes or brown and red for militia and pandours. In the game lots of light cavalry are useful due to location, so lancers finishef the army. Artillery, Saxon clones (guns are in the main heraldic colour so red here) in green faced red.

Argozia

Green with black eagle. Gave me more trouble than Hrvatska. I wanted to avoid a Russian clone, so green and red were the obvious combination to avoid. I struggled to find influences. The Kingdom of Italy became one, merged with Russian and Charles Grant's VFS to produce a three regiment guard in light green faced red with white small clothes. An early doodle had produced a guard cavalry in white faced turquoise. The rest were copies of other Imagi-Nation units: double green and dark green faced yellow. The artillery were the first diversion from real uniforms, white faced light green. Flags were influenced by Austro-Hungarian (green, white and yellow).

Hrvatska and Argozia have so far been the ones to present me with the most challenges. Even the smaller states have not been as difficult as it has just been a case of choosing one or two colours. Most are in blue with white, pink, orange or yellow as a secondary colour. There is one in black (based on a Prussian Freikorps), one in pink and another with hints of Saxe's Legion.

Imagi-Nations a series of marathons and not a sprint?

I have been mulling over my Soldier King Imagi-Nations project recently. It's something that has consumed a lot of time and not inconsiderable amounts of the war chest.

Yet sometimes it feels as if it's no closer to completion. Much of the fault for this is my own; I could have limited myself to the four kingdoms of the boardgame, but instead opted to add other states and armies for the "neutral" provinces in the game , which of course involves more work.

However, this goes back to my first scribbling of ideas for uniforms. There was always going to be a white uniformed army. I still have drawings from the late 1990s showing white with multi-coloured facings. I think at first it may have been intended for one of the kingdoms but soon became the Imperial Estavian army.

Again, I could have limited myself to five armies; if I had it would be the final hurdle I was working towards. Alas, I have designs for between five to eight (depending on how you look at it) others after Estavia. Admittedly, two to four of these are of brigade size and the rest not much bigger. With the genie out of the bottle there's no going back without much regret, so I plod on.

This rumination prompted some thoughts about Imagi-Nations; I started back in around 1996 or 1997. Grant was the inspiration coupled with transferring SK to the tabletop. It evolved through a series of happy accidents; the publication of VnB; finding Schreiber card buildings still available; trying my hand at Fimo figures and so on.

Of course there was a popular fad which coined "Imagi-Nation" ; a short-lived creative and nostalgic period of popularity for the concept, firmly rooted in the mythical C18th. It is interesting to look back at something which generated myriad blogs, some of which lie moribund like forgotten Ruritanian states.....

It appears to me that there were three strands to the phenomenon; the overnight creation of a blog for the Grand Duchy of Krackpotia complete with uniforms of purple faced lime green. This was often accompanied by extensive back story, sort of fan fiction. Few figures were ever painted or armies fielded.

Others simply used their existing armies of historical nations and renamed them. A pragmatic solution which has ensured the survival of many Imagi-Nations. A variation is to create an army out of historical units, a pick-and-mix approach if you wish unrestricted by army lists and limitations. These have a pedigree in the armies of the Grants and Peter Young.

The rarest it seems is the fully fledged designed from scratch Imagi-Nation, complete with invented uniforms, flags and characters that actually reaches the point of figures and armies. They do exist. Some like mine created before it became popular. Their rarity due no doubt to the effort required. 

My efforts have taken so long due to enthusiasm alternating between productivity and apathy. The number of moribund blogs testify to the difficulty in maintaining focus where so much depends on your creativity; there are no Ospreys which inspire and tell you what colour to paint another unit. No wonder many opted for easier pragmatic solutions. I have concluded that the creation of an Imagi-Nation (or more than one) is more akin to a series of marathons than a rapid sprint......