The Grand Duchy of Stollen

  A colorful, if slightly pretentious placeholder until I have a few recent photographs to share. of these blasted Saxons.  Thanks to everyone who sent encouraging comments for the previous post. W ell, it's 10:38am on Saturday morning.  The Grand Duchess and Young Master have headed to Chicago for a 36-hour pre-Christmas mother-son trip via train, leaving yours truly -- along with with the cats and fish -- unsupervised for a couple of days.  What to do?  What to do?    Yes, my thought exactly.  High time to say "No" to everything else and get back to the painting table.  Where things have stalled the last week since the Thanksgiving holiday due to the usual end-of-term things.  It's the same old song and dance as Steven Tyler once sang. But what of the Eureka 28mm Saxon cavalry?  In truth, it has been slow going, but little by little as the old Robert Plant song from about 1984 or '85 goes.  A few slow, painstaking sessio...

  A ppropriately enough, we woke to this scene today.  I took the quick picture from our front door just after 8am while waiting for the coffee water to heat.  Nothing toy soldier related, of course, just a pretty scene to share.  Happy winter everyone! -- Stokes

    B ut here's a photo update of sorts.  Painting as and when the muse visits, and time is available the last several days.  And here is where we stand for slightly more than half of the 30-figure regiment.  A dozen or so officers and troopers, though cemented to their horses, remain in the bare metal state off camera for the moment in their clear acrylic storage box.  Still lots to do, of course, with the figures pictured above, but not half-bad in my view.  It took a couple of evenings to get back into the swing of things, but I am finding my stride again after several frustrating mishaps the first evening or two back in the painting saddle.  One interesting point worth noting however that might have some of you nodding in agreement.  Certainly, cuirassiers had as many minute and shiny details as their hussar cousins.  Don't let anyone tell you differently!   In these pictures, snapped midday -- Before finally ...

  T oday (Saturday) is the day. My return to the painting table after too many months to count away from hobby activities. Almost all of the outdoor winterizing of flower beds, leaf clearing, and mowing has been done. Chilly, damp weather has arrived. We've even had a few dustings of snow the last few days although that has gone by midday.  I'll begin by quickly dusting off the surface and putting away a few things, and then see where things are with the slightly more than half of the Eureka SYW Saxon curassiers that are close to completion. And then open a bottle or two of paint and have a go at things. Probably makes good sense to draft a short checklist of colors/parts left to complete too. Wish me luck. Hmm.  Wait a second. A complete hobby absence from hobby activities is not entirely true come to think of it. I have tinkered with a few small river sections using printable magnetic sheets from Office Depot (or is it Office Max?), and I like the ear...

  T his anniversary is more poignant than it has been previously, for some of us at least, here in the United States.  What have previous and current generations fought and died for?  Despite the fact that the ugly alternative has been staring us in the face for quite some time, despite the warnings from constitutional and legal scholars, despite the warnings of senior military leaders and government officials with firsthand knowledge, we have chosen yet again to turn our back on the weakest in society, on individual and human rights, on our history, and on our obligation to and productive collaboration with the rest of the world.  For that, I am truly heartbroken and sorry.  -- Stokes

  My own troops, inspired by Brigadier Peter Young's own Erbprinz Regiment., the Leib (Grand Duchess Sonja's Own) Regiment.  A gift for Christmas 2006, 60+ RSM95 Prussians painted to a clean "wargames standard" during late spring and early summer 2007, here freshly rebased during September 2017. I nspired by Big Lee's most recent wargaming vlog on his top 10 tips for newcomers to the hobby, and in response to his own invitation for viewers to add their own suggestions, I whipped up a list of my advice to newbies.  Or jaded old hands.  In no particular order, here they are:   1) Invest in enough and bright lighting for the painting table and paint your figures to the best of your ability. Wargames Standard (aka at arm’s length) is fine.   Painting is great fun by itself, but trying to do so in poor lighting is frustrating and will not produce the best results. 2) Stick to one period.   Hard, I know.   Variety is the spice of life.   The...