Generally speaking

 Two mounted generals were in the box of Eric’s Ottomans-

Labelled as ever, now to give them suitable names and perhaps personalities with positive or negative attributes for command.

The brightly painted general is a Minifigs Tartar with his lance cut down , mounted on a lovely half armoured horse. The other general is a drab but business like figure with lots of weapons and a shield plus a severed head hanging from his horse furniture. I don’t know the manufacturer.

So here they are , ready to lead Eric’s men into battle once again…

Next artillery, gunners and transport…

Here comes the cavalry or Oliver’s , sorry Eric’s, Army is here to stay

 As promised some goodies from Eric Knowles’s Army . Firstly ,as Bob commented,  Eric uses a fascinating mix of figures in his armies. This is evident in the figures he has used in this Ottoman Army- ancient, Persians, ancient Britains, Huns and so on. I find this approach both charming and refreshing and one I can identify with. Secondly Eric labelled his figures with sticky labels on the underside of the bases in his own hand writing. I am impressed by this and want to preserve the bases and labels. Now for some pictures-

Light cavalry - diverse periods and manufactures as Dellis or Tartars.

Labels on the underside of the bases, neat and concise .

Other light cavalry, not sure of who manufactured them. Lively animation…

Underside of the lively animated figures. I really like the style of them.

Heavy cavalry this time , mainly Minifigs, not sure what they are but they look the part.

Another view of the heavy cavalry showing the bases and labels.

Over the weekend I agonised about how to use these figures and yet retain their charm and labels. I thought of sabot basing, clear Perspex bases and on and on. Then it came to me - l will use them as they are base wise for square based the Portable Wargame . An ideal solution, allows them to remain intact with a variety of basing styles. Ideal l think. One final question l am tempted to varnish the figures to protect Eric’s paint job . What do you think ? Will the integrity of the figures be diminished if I varnish? 

Chhanges…

 Yesterday my last born moved into her new flat. The rain teemed down as we loaded the van yesterday evening. Today we were due to have my uncle and aunt over to view my father’s cinefilms from the 1960s and 70s .These were transferred to VHS and subsequently onto Dvd. Here is an image I found on the internet of what I can remember the camera looking like-

He documented family holidays, birthdays, Christmases and more. My uncle has never seen the films or probably more likely has forgotten them being shown on a projector over fifty years ago. My Subuteo games are there somewhere along with Action Men and more besides. Sadly little or no footage of toy soldiers . And so we were due to gather here today to wallow in the remembrance of times past but a bug hit the household over night and I had to cancel. Yes we hope to reschedule but my uncle is getting frailer and changes were not what anyone needed or wanted. Soon hopefully.

My email inbox and its contents informed me today that it is a hundred days to Christmas, information I could have lived without. 

Finally Thursday saw me getting round to unpacking a final box containing some of the late Eric Knowles’s Ottoman artillery, transport and cavalry. Fascinating finds lay within-

Much more on this when I collate what I have and begin to work how how to take these forward in my gaming whilst respecting the organisation, labelling and modelling of Eric Knowles, something I am more than keen to do. Here is a brief taster-