Quality Control?

Having recovered from the dental surgery, I decided it was time to open the Northstar box and have a look at what I was sent.

Sadly, the news is not good.   Having waited a goodly time for this "Christmas Present" I was expecting fun and excitement with perhaps a few miscasts.   Reality is far more depressing.   I would estimate approximately 25-30% of the order is defective.   Most of the problems concern swords or (in fewer cases) the bayonets where the metal has not reached the ends of the moulds.  That said, there are smooth faces, missing hands and a whole regiment of heavily pitted horses - perhaps they caught the pox?  Odd - as the identically posed  horses sent with the Austrian Generals are fine.

As I ordered from both their French and Austrian ranges the problems do not seem isolated.

I have emailed Nick (the proprietor) and will speak with him on Monday November 28th and explain the whole sorry mess.  Initial responses have been positive.  I trust he will put everything right - pronto - as he seems to be a decent chap.  Unfortunately this has put the (temporary) mockers on B-S 1740 and really dented the old enthusiasm as this was the next item on the "to-do" list.  I would have a drink but my medicine doesn't allow such frivolity.

Report to follow...

Dental Horrrors!

Already it has been a colourful week for your author.   My computer has twice been infected by a "Trojan" which slipped passed "Mcafee".  I am currently rather paranoid about the protection (or lack of said) provided by this BT endorsed service.

Thursday November 25th is likely to be another quiet day as I am getting a tooth extracted in preparation for an implant.  Quite ghastly and I fear there will be much pain.   Considering the reluctance of British Medicos to provide effective analgesia I am dreading the aftermath!

These things considered, I may not be able to achieve all that I wished this week.  Enthusiasm has not dimmed and a few conversions are in progress.  Additionally I want to get my flags printed and I am investigating Campaign Cartographer as a way to produce detailed maps.  It seems straightforward and the ability to import PNGs means I should be able to keep things looking "in period".

More soon - thanks for reading.

Operation! - The preamble

After a visit to Warfare! this weekend, I found myself with some new donors for my latest surgical projects.  As I never like to use stock figures as Colonels or General staff, I thought it essential to get some colourful components from which I can create a few unique models.

I intend to post some step by step conversion articles in the near future.  These will show the components, work performed and (hopefully) the finished article.  First on the cutting mat is a fellow made from three different manufacturers' components  and a good deal of epoxy putty.

I will take some shots later (once my camera has recharged) and hope the photos will prove to be of interest.  Now, just how does one sculpt fluffy looking Ostrich feathers using "greenstuff" and toothpicks...

Cartography - a tricky matter.

Whilst waiting for the delivery of my figures from Northstar, I decided to take the plunge and map Beimbach-Schönau.  Surprisingly, I found this to be one of the trickiest things to date.

The Reichsfürstum is known to be on the very fringes of the Holy Roman Empire and to enjoy a good deal of autonomy.  Additionally, the very real menace from the savage Turk needed to be immediate and relevant to the C18. 

After much perusal of Google Maps and pouring over old documents, I decided upon a plausible location.   In short the ImagiNation is located in the area now occupied by Southern Hungary, Northern Croatia and Eastern Slovenia.   The map I have created is very much a first draft and I can see many ways to improve it.  However, it shows the main highways, fortresses, conurbations and topographical features (the latter two are grounded in reality)

Additionally the cantons, for want of a better term, are shown outlined by a broken line.  These are in the process of being numbered and named.  The system used will approximate to that of the C20 "Wehrkreis" - anachronistic but logical.

I think over the next few weeks I will have to hand-draw a full map complete with all desired information.   However, the above will suffice for the present.

Infanterie Regiment Nr.7 "von Etzlinsweiler" 1740

In a case of history repeating itself, IR.7 is once again led by a refugee.   This has earned the Regiment the troopers' sobriquet "Das Waisenhaus".  The talented military man, Otto, Ritter von Etzlinsweiler was recommended to the Kreigskammer by none other than Joachim von Standorf.  Having been born and bred within a few score miles of each other, they had often met and were well acquainted.  Thus the introduction was quite logical. 

Another gentleman dispossessed of his ancestral lands by the aggression of the Bourbons, he proved most eager gain a colonelcy in our army.  Von Etzlinsweiler yearns for the day that he can return to Lorraine and reclaim his Estates.  Until then he devotes himself to matters military eschewing the finery of Court choosing instead the soldier's life of hard-campaigning.

Again, the Regiment has a small compliment of artillery and these are served by cannoneers in old-style Tobacco-Brown uniforms.

Inhaber: Otto, Ritter von Etzlinsweiler

Infanterie Regiment Nr.6 "von Falkenau" 1740

One of the first appointees of our current Sovereign's reign was Theophilus, Ritter von Falkenau. A well travelled and highly educated young man, he studied at both Wien and Paris. He returned to his ancestral lands upon learning of the premature death of his father.

He favours a detached and intellectual view of warfare and regards troop placement as something akin to a game of chess.  This studious approach has yet to be tested in a major conflict (IR.6 being left in the garrison during the recent war of 1737-39)

Fond of all things Gallic, he sports the latest Parisian fashions and insisted that his newly acquired Regiment was uniformed in coats cut  in the latest French style (Unusually, the Grenadiers are not distinguished by fur caps, instead they sport tall plumes atop their tricorns)

The Francophile nature of the Inhaber should not be taken as disloyalty to the Empire, von Falkenau is merely a cosmopolitan young man with tastes "à la mode".

Inhaber: Theophilus, Frieherr von Falkenau