Another Van der Meulen

Been a while since we had one by him. This one was found on the Facebook page of the Honourable Company of Foote's Facebook page and I think it's a camp before the Rhine.

Battle of Ramillies 1706

Today this battle was fought. One of the famous deaths was that of Colonel Bringfield - Marlborough fell from his horse early in the engagement with the French, and when he was being remounted on a spare charger, a cannonball flew over the back of the horse and decapitated Colonel Bringfield, who was holding the stirrup.

Exciting New Release From Zvezda!

Well, a bit of late-night "trolling" through the internet has revealed a new release from those prolific folks at Zvezda. Hot on the heels of their GNW Russian Dragoons and Russian and Swedish Artillery sets, and to accompany their SYW Prussian Grenadiers, Zvezda's site announces that they have released (as of May 20th) the famed Prussian Black Hussars.

This is an exciting release for several reasons. First, depending on actual size of the figures, these will make a great match with the old Revell SYW Hussars, offering a variety of new poses. Second, depending on how "heavy-handed" the Zvezda sculptor's were with the Death's Head insignia (and I expect it to be fairly prominent), with a bit of trimming this set will do duty as a "generic" Hussar in mirliton for most all nations, as well as many Imagi-Nations. Third, since the Zvezda sculptor's utilized separate pelisses for all but two poses (4 figures total out of 19 offered), these figures will work equally well for such things as Hussars in summer dress, a unique Freikorps unit for an Imagi-Nation, or even as Lauzan's Legion in the AWI. There is a pdf copy of the instruction sheet here which clearly shows which figures feature the separate pelisse. Very good stuff indeed!

Now, one can only hope that Zvezda will get around to some proper heavy cavalry of the era. While I would like to see more cavalry options for the GNW range, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing some SYW Prussian Dragoons or Cuirassiers offered. This would finally make Zvezda's 18th century offerings truly viable for a complete Imagi-Nation army in the style of the late Brig. Peter Young or Charles Grant. Stay tuned for updates here!

Bill

Woman in military dress c1710

Not really sure about this image - is this a female soldier?

Geertruid ter Brugge, hebbende gedient in den oorlog voor Dragender

1710 in more northerly lands

Well it looks like Zaragoza 1710-2010 went well. 2010 is also the year of numerous anniversaries of Great Northern War sieges. Boris from the GNW reenactment group says:
'In 1710 the Russians took the following fortresses from the Swedes:
Vyborg, Riga, Pernau (Parnu), Arensburg (Kuresaare), Revel (Tallin), Kexholm (Priozersk) and we are going to appear in most of them this season, Vyborg being first in June. There is our schedule on our site here'
Wish I could go. Image from a previous visit to Kexholm

Петр Первый/Petr Pervyj (1937-1939)

Some epic monochrome action scenes from the Soviet movie about Peter the Great. Epic is obviously a word that gets used a lot in historical movies but this film really does have a cast of thousands unlike modern day history pics. The IMDB says
Forget about the terrible Stalin's purges that were going on in the Soviet Union when this film, or rather its 1 Episode, was shot. The film has none of the Stalinist propaganda or dull Soviet ethics. This is a great, bright and powerful work. The role of the great Russian tzar Pyotr I is played by a brilliant Nikolay Simonov and he did a wonderful job. His Pyotr is wild, often terribly cruel, loud and unbearably ferocious to his enemies. He never hesitates and he breaks through like a wild bull. The 1 Episode tells about the terrible beginning of the North War with Sweden, the Russians are shamefully defeated and thus the Tzar starts his bloody reforms. He reorganizes the weak old army, he takes the church bells for the military sakes, he even is ready to arrest his own weak and sickly son Aleksey who is in fact his terrible feud. The second excellent role here is Aleksander Menshikov, the tzar's favorite aid, played by enigmatic Mr. Zharov. His part is cute, sly and so great that provokes a grand smile. The 1 Episode is also about the first military victories, the beginning of the Russian fleet and the foundation of the city of St.-Petersburg, exactly 300 years ago...

Nigel Carren Savoyard helmet

ECW cuirassier's helmet demonstrated by its creator Nigel Carren.