BLÁZNOVA KRONIKA (The Jester's Tale, 1964) - Battle

This is pretty damn good - different and interesting. Presumably from Czech tv?
According to the blurb - An historical adventure of Karel Zeman set to Moravia in 1625, at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. Young peasant Petr is captured by a press-gang of duke Mansfeld, and forced to serve in his protestant army against the Austrian Emperor.

A cruel misfortune

There's a very nice vignette on Jason's Place for miniatures etc for our period. Follow the progress of the project from start to finish. Excellent.

Battle of Helsingborg 1710

Today was fought this battle of the GNW in 1710 - shame it's not being celebrated in Helsingborg but that's modern life I suppose.

Nafziger collection online

When I heard about this I thought maybe it was a piracy thing but it seems all the Nafziger orders of battle are up for download. Great. Read about it on Steve the Wargamer with all the links.

Seven Ages of Britain - Taking Sides

Episode dealing with the Civil War. Starts off with a visit to a Civil War reenactment and takes it from there. Good stuff if you missed it.

What are you trying to say Youtube?

Are you aware of the 'recommended for you' feature on Youtube. Well it throws ideas to view out based on things you have already watched - sometimes they are good - sometimes funny. Like this one I had just now

How to Seduce a Woman

l How to Seduce a woman. Guide to...

How to Seduce a Woman

2:53 04 December 2008

Howto & Style

http://www.seduce-her.net/how-to-pull-girls1.html How to Seduce a woman. Guide to...

---

23,907 views

Because you watched

Battle 3. Thirty Years War 15mm ...

Are they saying people who like model soldiers need tips on how to chat up girls...funny!

An Update On The "Plastic Olympics"

As you all no doubt know, both Ralphus and I have been trying to keep abreast of all of the new 1/72nd plastics releases that are either already out or in the pipeline. And there have been many announced sets that have sounded very exciting and some that even showed stellar box art to whet our appetite's. Well, here is an update of sorts on what we now know, what we perceive, and what we suspect:

Zvezda - So far, so good, With only a few minor glitches reported by Will McNally on the Russian Artillery here, here and here, the great review of the Prussian Grenadiers on PSR here, and the advance shots of the Swedish Artillery, it certainly looks like Zvezda has captured the Gold medal.

BUM/GerMan - With all of the announced sets for the Catalan theater of the WSS, there was some real excitement building for these figures. And, to be completely fair, judging by both the PSR reviews and some samples that I've picked up, the quality of sculpting has improved. The inclusion of the resin-cast pre-terrained pieces will either be to your liking or not, but some are quite good. The inclusion of different troop types or artillery mixed in with the main, advertised troop type will probably be an annoyance unless one carefully factors in these "extras" when planning their orders. The biggest drawback is that they are still using that awful plastic that is a bit like an old artist's gum eraser. If one isn't careful, and uses a sharp knife or snips, you can actually tear a figure in half trying to de-sprue it! I say a Silver medal for Quality and Variety, but just barely.

Strelets - Haven't done a lot recently in their GNW range, but the "Narva to Poltava" set, reviewed here, is finally out and contains quite a few useful figures. Ideally, if one already had a GNW collection, these would provide several good character/officer/personality figures and enough infantrymen to still do a decent unit or just provide some variety in existing units. They still suffer from Strelets variable sculpting quality, but are better than some others out there. I would award Strelets the Bronze medal just on the basis of this one very large set.

Mars - Ah, now we come to real disappointment. After years of making copies of other's products, Mars finally set out to do some sculpting of their own and picked some useful subjects. I was really looking forward to their Saxon Infantry set, as well as their Polish Haijduks and possibly some of the TYW stuff. However, based on PSR's review of their Swedish GNW set here, and their Polish Haijduk set here, the excitement is fading fast. To quote PSR's review of the Swedish Infantry,

"They say that pictures are worth a thousand words, and that is something we firmly believe here at PSR. Our pictures of these figures speak as loudly as any, and seem to say, well, ugly!"

And, to make matters worse, Mars apparently have no idea what wargamers actually do with their figures based on the box contents. Each new set has contained exactly four (4) of EACH and every figure, command and non-combatants included. To be fair, the sculpting and casting quality of the Polish set is an improvement over the Swede's, and one can hope the Saxon's continue in this vein. However, based on their previous contents decision and extrapolating the total number of figures contained times the number of poses, the Saxon Infantry will contain the same four (4) of EACH pose (14), for the advertised total of 56 figures. While some of the ranker's poses look decent (assuming the sculpting and casting hold up to comparison), and you can actually simulate a 3-deep firing line if you wish, exactly 50% of all of the figures in the box will be command or other non-combatants! For the sake of argument, if one were to buy, say five (5) boxes to have enough ranker's for a few proper units, does anyone need 20 each of fifers, drummers, sergeants, ensigns, officers, colour bearer's and sappers? And I'm waiting to see someone use their Poles and do a 20-figure unit of "Young Rotamaster's Boys" carrying the great sword over their shoulder! Overall, I'm afraid I would have to give Mars a 10 for Intent, maybe a 7 for Effort, a 4 or 5 for Quality and a 1 for Performance. So far, they not only don't medal in this competition, they might want to consider if they're in the right game.

As always, my opinions are my own, your tastes may vary from mine. And, while I did award Zvezda the Gold, we still need those Russian Dragoons and some types of proper Heavy Cavalry before this range is close to complete.

Bill

De Ruyter's flagship

This is a webpage for the reconstructed warship 'The Seven Provinces' also moored there is the Batavia - this was damaged in a fire in 2008.
Incidentally the fantastic blog Anno Domini 1672 has an excellent contemporary image of Dutch marines. Maybe it's time we started a Dutch marine reenactment group so we can all go on these amazing ships?

Wargaming the ECW in 1/72

This blog Dux Homunculorum has an in-depth look at what's available in this scale both metal and plastic. Cavalry here Artillery here

Army of Philip V

PSR reviews this 1/72 set of mostly grenadiers here.

Zvezda Swedish artillery of Charles XII

Well I am sure some of you are likely to be pleased by this new set. Usually Zvezda figures are superb and these look as good as their previous sets. Looking forward to the Russian dragoons.

Gadebusch 1712

Today in 1700 the Great Northern War started so I thought I would post these images of the Swedish army at the battle of Gadebusch.
This was Sweden's last great victory and as far as I know the locals plan to celebrate in in 2012.

Assault on Copenhagen 1659

Today this action took place. Sounds like an interesting siege - the Swedes decide on an all-out assault and the defenders, a mix of soldiers, militia and students, forewarned are ready for them. These 19th century paintings are pleasant. I don't usually like 19thc historical art but these have something I like - maybe it's because I've never seen them before and it's a subject that is obscure.
2nd Northern War wiki

Red Dragoons on Italian tv

This is great - the colourful Dragoni Rossi (recreating the era of Marsaglia 1693) on Turin television.

An "Oldie" From 1970

Back when any decent form of reference work, in English, was very difficult to find for budding modeler's and wargamer's, René North published this delightful little book. "Military Uniforms 1686 to 1918" was certainly not encyclopedic, nor was it the last word on the subject. But it was a very well-done little "teaser", if you will, on the study of uniforms with some charming illustrations by John Berry (I believe a member artist of the Company of Military Historians). The book was published simultaneously in 1970 in the United States, Canada and the UK; by Grosset & Dunlap in the "colonies" and by Hamlyn Publishing in the UK. I'm not sure what the UK copy sold for, but the US copy originally retailed for $3.95, and I picked my copy up a couple of years later "remaindered" for a single dollar!

Imagine my surprise when this little gem from the past turned up on Scribd.com under their available downloads. For those not familiar, Scridb (with the "i" pronounced hard , as in "subscribe") is an online community, free to join, that allows users to both upload and download virtually any type of material. Educators use it for examples of papers, accountants for examples of balance sheets, and hobbyists for things like Msr. North's book as well as some Ospreys and others. Well worth checking out if you have some time to kill. The site is searchable and this book, along with the site, of course, can be found here. Now, if I could just find Henry Harris' old book on Model Soldiers and of course Garret's masterpiece.

Bill

Solomon Kane

This is a new British historical fantasy (set around 1610) opening on Feb 19. It is based on the character created by Conan author Texan R E Howard. James Purefoy plays the Devon Puritan swordsman (Purefoy was born in Taunton) which is planned to be part of a trilogy. Solomon Kane wiki

King's Army Whitehall March

If you missed last Sunday's march in London due to you living in Australia or something like that then you can see the event here in all its glory. 'The King and the Cause'. ECWS website
I read that the ECW is very popular at the moment - presumably partly because of the 28mm plastics that are on the market from Warlord Games. I try my hardest not to be negative on this blog but they seem a little expensive to me.

Leuze 1691

Interesting image by Joseph Parrocel of the battle of Leuze fought in September 1691.
I must admit I am quite curious to see the forthcoming figures for the 1680s and 90s from Front Rank. Anybody seen any images on any forums?
Nine Years War wiki

Nehemiah Wharton

There isn't a lot of information from the ground in the English Civil War - from the ranks - but one man, a Roundhead sergeant of Holles' regiment, Nehemiah Wharton chronicled the early stages of the war - read about him here.
There's some gems in there:
Every day our soildiers by stealth doe visit papists' houses and constraine from them both meate and money. They give them whole greate loves and chesses, which they triumphantly carry away upon the points of their swords.
Things like that make you wonder whether the Civil War was really part of the general feeling of religious intolerance that was raging on the Continent - an add-on to the Thirty Years War if you like.

Hopton's Narrative of his campaign in the West

I read on Will's blog that he had an unsuccessful visit to Bath library to research the Lansdown campaign. Somerset in the Civil War and Interregnum by David Underdown is worth tracking down and this page on the Civil War in the West by Dr John Wroughton is also good.
Read or download Hopton's (see pic from 1637) narrative online here
There was a skirmish at Claverton in this campaign - now the site of the American Museum. Two cavaliers were buried in the church from this engagement. Hopton wiki
Hopton came from Witham Friary just outside Frome which answers Will's question about the sources being there.

Battle of Fraustadt 1706

Today in 1706 this battle was fought. This film from the Armemuseum is well worth watching if you don't speak Swedish - there's some pleasing reconstructions and some self-explanatory graphics. Part 2 here.
These Saxon-Polish redcoats look pretty smart - I don't suppose anyone reenacts troops from this nation in this period?
Anyway it's probably best to read the wiki on the battle then watch the programme.

Charles II - the power and the passion part 1

This BBC series from 2003 starts with a reasonable depiction of the execution of Charles the Martyr. The snow is an essential ingredient in any Charles I death scene methinks. I don't think I watched this when it was on tv but it looks worth watching and the Duke of Monmouth features in it somewhere.

Nell Gwynne

Today is the birthday of this famous actress of Restoration England. A fascinating life story on the wiki article telling a rags-to-riches tale that might make an interesting biopic.

Skirmish at Bender

This event took place today in 1713. Charles XII and his retinue fought off Ottoman troops until Charles tripped on his spurs and was captured. Unlucky. There was apparently a 1983 comedy called Kalabaliken i Bender sadly I can't find any clips. Anyone seen it?

The King's Army Annual Whitehall Parade, 31 January 2010

If you are up in London then maybe you should go and cheer them on.

The ECWS page where there is more info and photos says

Every year, on the last Sunday in January, the King's Army (the Royalist part of the English Civil War Society) is privileged to be allowed to commemorate the execution of King Charles I with a parade along the route taken by the King from the St James' Palace to his place of execution.

The event takes place on Sunday, 31st January this year. The Army will assemble in The Mall in front of St James Palace from 11.00am. Starting at about 11.30am, the Army will proceed to march at funeral pace along The Mall, down Horseguards Road and onto Horseguards Parade itself. On this spot there will be a short service and ceremony and a wreath of remembrance will be laid at the Banqueting House.

The parade then returns to St James' Palace at a normal marching pace, with drums beating and colours flying via Admiralty Arch and back along The Mall.

This colourful commemorative parade has been staged every January for almost 40 years and has become a popular feature in the annual events calendar of England's capital city.

Execution of Charles I

Today in 1649 Charles Stuart who the Roundheads called 'The Man of Blood' was executed.

Naseby 1645

Nantwich

Bang up to date (excusing the pun) with the Sealed Knot with their recent event at Nantwich.

The chapel at Farleigh Hungerford

When I was a kid (here we go) this was a common sight - well in castles (like this one at Farleigh Hungerford which is just up the road from me) and stately homes - armour and weapons on the walls - now they all seem to have gone - presumably sold off or centralised somewhere but it used to be a particular pleasure to crane your neck and speculate the history of the various items on display. This old slide is again from the family archive of the 60s (a bought one though) but there is a kind of happy twist - this chapel had a mural of George slaying the dragon hiding behind the white which at the time of this photo was still to be discovered having been obscured since Roundhead times. Although having said that looking at this image on full screen I don't know how it was missed as it seems to be visible. Image search Farleigh Hungerford

My Kingdom for a Horse

Does anyone remember this play starring a pre-Sharpe Sean Bean from 1988? He plays a nerdy schoolteacher who reenacts the Civil War at weekends. It was pretty good. Image from here where there is more info and pictures. I actually have it on VHS taped off the telly somewhere...
Imdb here

SK history

I've been wondering since looking at those old photos what the Sealed Knot was like when it started. I don't know why as I have never been a member but I have this image of bright young but unfashionable people in sports cars with posh names running about in converted clothing and floppy hats with fencing foils but it's probably all wrong. But there is a good site that has an insight into what it was really like with things like the dress regs and safety and so forth from the 1971 handbook - you might have to be a reenactment nerd to enjoy it but if you are go here and have a read. There's all manner of gems on this Unofficial SK history site - like an all female sword only group in apricot velvet or the direction to use furnishing fabric for clothing - how to shorten your trousers and so forth.

Reenactment in old Czechoslovakia

More photos from the Mitchard photo archive (did I see you yawn?) this time something from the Thirty Years War in the mid 80s before the Velvet Revolution.

Battle of Lansdown

Old family photos occasionally turn up some gems - my brother and sister scanned these which I reckon are from about the late 60s when the Sealed Knot was a new phenomenon. Lansdown was fought outside Bath in the Civil War and is one of the battles local to me. I love the backgrounds...no bouncy castles just plain old uncluttered fields and hedges...those were the days.

Hexen

Part 2 of a 2004 German language docudrama which seems to be about the Witch mania of the Thirty Years War period. I have to admit to being a poor German speaker but apparently 60,000 people were executed in the wake of this hysteria. Apologies if this is offensive or anything - my German means that I can't really understand it all.

Sedgemoor 1985

Some great photos on Flickr of the Sealed Knot's reenactment of this Monmouth Rebellion battle 25 years ago. Apparently they're doing it again this year.

Brandýs 2008

We haven't had any Thirty Years War for a while so here's a Czech reenactment film that looks and sounds pretty convincing. Appears to be really good fun too.

Henry Morgan and the capture of Panama

Today in 1671 the famous English pirate captured Panama. Not much treasure was found however as the Spanish had taken most of the valuable out of the city. Wiki on Morgan here.

Vauban citadels

Following on from Steve's post here's a slideshow of aerial photos of fortifications and so on.

Vauban and the French Military Under Louis XIV

Here's a relatively new title which may be of interest to the blog readership. I refer to Vauban and the French Military Under Louis XIV: An Illustrated History of Fortifications and Strategies by Jean-Denis G.G. Lepage.

At first glance, for a paperback book weighing in at 286 pages, there isn't £32.93/$49.95 worth of content here. However, bearing in mind that this is a treatise lacking mass market economy of scale, and chock-full of excellent line drawings by the author, the reader can start to feel that his purchase has not been a wasteful expenditure.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vauban-French-Military-Under-Louis/dp/0786444010/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263534015&sr=1-1

While the book opens with a biographical sketch of Vauban himself and his role in the wars of Louis XIV, this is more of an in-depth survey of the French art of fortification under the Sun King's reign. The real meat of the text begins with the chapter on the art of fortification, followed by a comprehensive survey of France's frontier fortifications, rotating clockwise from the Pas de Calais and Flanders back around to Normandy. Each fortified place gets one or two pages of text outlining its history and Vauban's role in it, with an excellent line drawing of the fortress plans or a detailed sketch of some aspect of the fortress, city, gates and so on.

There are no photographs in the book, but given the care Mr. Lepage has lavished upon his illustrations, they won't really be missed. Recommended.

Steve Cady

Helsingborg 1710

I thought it might be interesting to see what events occurred in 1710 to see what is going on in the world of the tercentenary - something I have been vaguely following since the Sedgemoor 300th in 1985.
Well this battle between the Danes and the Swedes in the Great Northern War in late February is next.
Later in the year we have the Battle of Zaragoza in Spain which is being reenacted later in the summer - see here - anyone know of any more 300th anniversary events?

Cromwell (1970) battle scene

Wiki on the movie here
I can still remember the anticipation I had as a 9 year old (see pic) when news of this film came out - I remember my dad bringing home a clipping from a newspaper with Richard Harris in a lobster pot. Looking at it now it is still an enjoyable movie - probably still the best ECW movie...not that there is much competition. I suppose this movie and the Ladybird book on Cromwell both formed my ideas of what the Civil War was like. Of course the 'troubles' in Ireland caused huge chunks of this film to be cut before release though the souvenir foyer booklet still had stills from that sequence. Read a deconstruction of the Ladybird Cromwell book here.

Maxen 250th

Scenes from last October's reenactment of this battle from the Seven Years War in 1759.

Tony Barton's 1/6th scale Marlburian infantryman

I admit to being a fan of wargames figure sculptor Tony Barton's 1/6th scale figures. They take the idea of a scale model to high levels of accuracy that are an education. This model of a British redcoat of 1706 is another triumph. Excellent work. If you want more here's a link to his Spanish musketeer of 1604.

Taras Bulba (2009)

We all have seen the Yul Brynner original - Cossacks against Poles - but has anyone seen this Russian remake from 2009? Imdb here

George Monk or Monck

George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, by Sir Peter Lely painted around 1665-6.
I don't suppose we have had enough about this interesting fellow on this blog. He certainly had an interesting career.

Coldstream Guards recreate historic march

As most of you know the Coldstream Guards were originally Monk's Regiment of the Protectorate and they marched south 400 miles to effectively switch sides to the new restored monarchy. This march is being recreated today by modern day Coldstream Guardsmen to raise money for fallen and injured comrades from recent conflicts. It's bitterly cold up there in Scotland at the moment but apparently morale is high. Good luck to them - read the whole story here (also has a link to donate to this worthy cause).

Terrain Features Anyone?

Just discovered a company some of you may have already known about, David Graffam Models, which offer a wonderful range of buildings in the form of paper models for the gaming table.

These buildings are scaled to 30mm, but work well with 25's and 28's. They are available from a company called Wargame Vault here at very reasonable pricing in US currency. The downloadable files for your buildings are provided in two formats, multi-layered PDF and single-layered PDF. What this means is that, if you have Adobe Acrobat, you can use the multi-layered files and change colors, details, etc., making one purchased building into several. If you don't have Acrobat, you can still purchase the buildings and print them with Adobe's free Acrobat Reader and, depending on the cardstock you use, you could tint the printed building with some water color or acrylic tints to modify their appearance.

You can also go directly to David's web site here and download a free sample "hovel" that is a very useful cottage. These buildings are advertised as "Fantasy/Medieval, 1600 to 1700" but would work well into the 18th century to create a village or even a walled city. There are multiple single buildings available (sample picture below), a tower and wall section, a city gate (pictured at top), and even some bundles of multiple buildings. They are all designed to be printed on cardstock and then assembled with a gluestick or white glue, fairly simple. You can also combine different buildings to create your own designs.


I would say overall, very highly recommended based on my printed sample of the "hovel". The one thing I'm still working on (e-mailed David to see what my options are) is scaling them down to about 60% of original size to use for 15/18mm.

Bill

More End-of-Year Plastic News!

My goodness, but Mars has been busy of late! Just picked up on PSR that Mars have added a couple of additional new sets to their upcoming releases; "Swedish Army With Culverin" (box photos shown above) and "Scots Mercenaries of the TYW" (box artwork pictured below).

These follow-on the heels of the Imperialist Army (really a war wagon with swivel gun and crew) that Ralphus already alerted us to, and apparently they are also at work on new Swedish and Imperialist Infantry sets to accompany the previously-released Revell copies already in production. All things considered, a bountiful harvest for TYW enthusiasts (which seems to be tickling Ralphus' fancy lately).

While photos of painted samples from box art can be considered "optimistic examples" in many cases, if the actual figures are close to those depicted on the box, the "Swedish Army With Culverin" will be a very useful set. The gun, limber and team look very promising and the assortment of crew figures and mounted officers look good as well. We should see these turning up in several armies. Along with their recent expansion into the GNW, Mars is making themselves a company to watch for the coming year!

Bill

1612 trailer and siege scene

I haven't seen this Russian fantasy movie from 2007 set during the historical Polish invasion of 1612 but it looks pretty spectacular and the winged hussars look impressive. The siege scene is recommended by me as being pretty watchable. Wiki on the movie

Happy New Year