On the painting table

First up is a wizard for Dragon Rampant and his woodland friends/familiars-

Wizard by Midlam and the woodland creatures are toys I have had  in the spares box for ages.

Secondly some infantry from the Canton of Berne 1818-

They are on the print that inspired them, from my recent book purchase about Swiss uniforms. Tom ,I tried the paper technique to make the umbrellas and it has worked well so far I think.

Once,twice,three times a Middle Earth

It occurred to me the other day that I am actually collecting/gaming Middle Earth with three totally discreet collections-
Firstly the Mythical Earth figures of my youth,secondly the Gw plastic elves and goblins and finally Bloody Day (formerly Vendel- a much preferable name in my humble opinion) elves,goblins,trolls giants etc.

The first I collect because of the nostalgic joy of these quirky figures and the remembrance of Saturday games played in each other's house ( he in Liberton and me in Craiglockhart) when I was around 17.
The second collection is because I had some around from getting the Moria  set many moons ago ( as a morale booster/piece of normality for me when my middle daughter was in and out of hospital) and because an opponent has loads of compatible ones now.Also I guess the films have influenced me in this regard too.
Finally the Vendel chaps who I feel at some gut level are the closest to my vision of middle Earth.
Anyone else collect the same period in multiple ways?

Order of Battle for 1815 sought

Can anyone supply me with an OOB for Lecourbe's Armee du Jura in 1815?
Thanks in anticipation
Alan

Help with brollies

Does anyone know if one can buy closed umbrellas which would fit in with 25mm /28mm figures?
Thanks Alan

Thanks

Thanks so much to those who donated re Walk for Jan. You are most generous.

Walk for Jan

Jan's work colleagues have decided to walk round Loch Leven in memory of her and to raise  funds for Cancer Research-

As tomorrow is Valentine's Day I thought it was an appropriate time to to post this. The photo is from the early days of us being together. If you would like to donate follow this link-
www.justgiving.com/Commercial123
Thanks!

Tome

In the old days I used to enjoy  browsing in second hand book shops with my mental "wants list."
Since the internet came  it has been so much easier to find books but perhaps a little less fun, the thrill of the chase. This week saw the postman bring a book I have wanted for a long time. Here is it alongside a 60mm Elastolin Swiss figure for scale-

The book weighs a great deal and is over 500 pages long. It has beautiful prints in it and  most interesting information on the Swiss Army of the period- dual text in German and French. Here is a picture of the cover-

The plates are by Lucien Rousselot and are outstanding.

Old school terrain

I put out my old school terrain pieces yesterday for a look-

The flat/2D nature of it fits well with the figures I think. I also popped out my civilians-

I like to think if HG Wells had been into homecasting and/or German his battlefield might have had a little look of this :)

The sacred mole of Ukkert or My Elves have their first outing.

Had a most enjoyable game of Dragon Rampant on Tuesday.

My Elves at the start of the game with their Eagle chums.

The Dwarven defenders await across the table...

My opponent's new and splendid Ral Partha ram riders. They flitted about skirmishing with crossbows a bit.

End game- my eagles menace the Dwarven scouts, my small unit of Elven lords has made it out of the woods and the remnant of Elven archers appear near the upper left hand corner of the picture. At this point I resigned- there were just too many dwarves left. Dragon Rampant gives a fun game ,easy on the brain and big on enjoyment. If you haven't tried it yet go for it!

Still here and a question?

Last weekend saw snow here in the Duchy-

which sadly didn't stay around for long. It also saw quite a number of games of "Ticket to Ride"-

which were part of my daughter's 22nd birthday celebrations.

This morning saw me rebasing and trying out static grass and those clumpy scenic reedy things-

as well as those  dice frames from Warbases.

Finally the question- does anyone know if "Little Wars" was played outwith Great Britain when first published?If so where?

Have a good Saturday one and all!