Swiss Navy- no honestly....

I am trying to find information about the Swiss Navy- yes, you did read correctly ! I know Switzerland is landlocked but the country maintains patrols upon the lakes. I have posted a picture from around ww2 and another from 1783 ( Lake near Zurich I believe) - I cannot find more info or images and would like to find out what boats were used in the 18th Century and circa 1900- 1918. If you can help it would be really appreciated...

De Saxe @ Midsommer

Tomorrow is Midsommer in the Duchy of Tradgardland- a day of celebration and feasting culminating in the dancing of the Herring Dance around the bonfires which light up the night .

But that is tomorrow...

Today Duke Karl Frederick is in his study having spent his day in horticultural pursuits and needing to be refreshed by a glass of wine. He gazes wistfully at the portrait of his old friend Maurice de Saxe which graces his study wall. The Duke pours over the plates of the uniforms which his old friend had designed. Perhaps,Karl Frederick thinks,now is the time to raise a Legion. He gazes into the middle distance before ringing a bell to summon the court tailor.
( I have succumbed to some samples from Steve's comissioned De Saxe figures and look forward to their arrival here in the Duchy...)

Amazing Maps!!!!!!

The BBC is currently showing a fascinating series on Maps- well worth catching on I player gentlemen...

Tonight they were looking at maps of London. Mentioned was a fascinating and very stylistically individualistic artistist/map maker called Stephen Walters. Here is a link to his amazing map of London-

http://www.stephenwalter.co.uk/projects.php

You must have a look. If you do let me know what you think...

p.s inspired me to try a some area of Tradgardstadt in asimilar vein!

Bicorne Rules thoughts

Many thanks for your thoughts upon the previous post I made. As a result I have been looking on my shelves at home as well as on the net to see what rules to use. I'm afraid I just don't want to spend £30 or so on rules no matter how well illustrated they are or highly reccomended...

As luck would have it I found the very thing on the bookshelves- "Playable Napoleonic Wargames rules" first published in 1987. They offer a staight forward and fun game without myriad rules/charts to read through. Just the ticket I think. The weekend comes tomorrow with the opportunity to do some more planning, looking out lead and maybe even some painting -reports permitting!

Minimum Force...

On the way home I was pondering the following- what is the minimum (in terms of numbers of units) size of force to give a satisfying game against an enemy? Also what would be the composition of such a force. As ever I am interested in what YOU think on this matter too...

Oh no the bicorne beckons again...

Picture the scene -I an in my local news agent and my eyes alight upon the latest edition of "Wargames Illustrated" which offers a free Osprey book- who could resist? Actually it was a very interesting one upon the subject of Napoleons Guard ,not to mention the interesting articles on 1806, Germany in the Napoleonic wars and von Dornberg in the magazine itself...

In the past I have looked at what might have happened to the Duchy in the Napoleonic period- invaded possibly by the British en route to Copenhagen in 1807. Now I am tempted to explore 1806 and the potentialities of Tradgradland co-operating with the Danes in Schewig- Holstein in the event of a French invasion...

I have Danish figures aplenty and some ideas but can I stop myself plunging into another (albeit long term) project?

A fruitful day

Yesterday I took the bus to Glasgow. I attended an event ( partly work ,partly personal interest related) called "Fruitful Harvest" which was about apple orchards. It proved to be an inspirational day on the hottest day of the year yet. Speakers shared knowledge ,interests and enthusiasms to the benefit of all.

One showed PowerPoint images of 18th century town maps from Scotland and pointed out how prevalent orchards were in the urban environment. She took the research in Glasgow to more recent times and showed us maps of where orchards were up to more recent times...

It was an excellent day and reminded me ,amongst other things, of how good it would be to see more orchards modelled upon the wargames table!

I am currently exhausted with work, and consequently painting and modelling have ground almost to a halt. Yesterday revived my spirits,encouraged me to grow more of my own food and reminded me a day will come again soon when I will have some energy once more!