The (Book) Shelves

Howdy all, Sorry for no updates recently; I got hit by a stomach bug that really destroyed me. Anyway, I was sitting at the computer writing a few delayed emails, and I thought I would use some photos I took a few days ago to show the contents of the shelves under my table!

As I had mentioned earlier and as you can see, the legs of my wargames table are actually ikea shelves. They were really cheap, so I bought four; I figured this way I could use the table as storage! A few of them are full of wargames stuff, and the others I use to hold a piece of my war library. I thought today I would show the shelves with the books.

Shelf #1, like all of the shelves, holds an eclectic mix of books on various subjects. Maybe my favorite of them is "The Battle" by Alessando Barbero, a beautifully written and VERY easy-to-read account of the battle of Waterloo. I also have my various Games Workshop rules on this shelf, the ever-useful "Uniforms of the Civil War," and two fantastic "Then and now" photography books of the Antietam battlefield and the Gettysburg battlefield, by Bill Frassanito; I've walked Gettysburg with the book, and it certainly helps bring the battlefield to life.

Shelf #2 has a lot of Civil War material. It also has a few works of fiction; one of Bernard Cornwell's "Saxon" tales, "The Killer Angels" (or two of them, I suppose...) and a beautiful edition of The Hobbit that my wife got me as a wedding gift to someday read to our kids. The large book on the Imperial Guard is fantastic; my father picked it up for me on one of his many trips to Paris, and despite the difficulties in reading it the diagrams and plates are simply stunning.

Shelf #3 is a BUNCH of winners... and one loser. Urban's somewhat-dense "Rifles" is obviously a requirement for any Napoleonic fan, Shaara's two Revolutionary War books are among my favorite of any type for any period, Swoff's "Jarhead" is painful and jolting, and obviously "Band of Brothers" and the O'Brien series are classics. The only loser, unfortunately, is "Redcoat," by Cornwell... that book was TERRIBLE. However, inventing Richard Sharpe does get you a serious "get out of crappy book jail free" card, so most is forgiven.

Finally there is Shelf #4. A few Civil War books are mixed in with some Napoleonic uniform books. I have a great many books on the Crusades, having taken a class in college about it, but I only have one currently in the wargames room. "1776" is a fantastic tale of the earliest years of the American Revolutionary War. Finally I have two beautifully illustrated books, "Great Battles of the Civil War" and "Great Battlefields of the World" which feature some wonderful paintings of various battlefields.

Those are the table shelves! I obviously have dozens and dozens of other books, but they are either packed away somewhere or elsewhere in the house, and I am too tired to go looking for them... in fact, I am too tired to do anything but go back to be! So, what are you favorite military history books?

25mm Nap. Russians- Hussars

It has been a LONG long time since I showed any of my 25mm Napoleonic minis... the 10mms have been getting all of the attention! So; I thought I would correct that by showing off another of the 25mm Napoleonic Russian units; my Hussars!

This unit is quite beautiful. The reds and blues are great contrasts, and really came out rich. Their flag is also very cool, as the green looks great against the unit, and the golds really came out nice. Unfortunately their caps were too low to really do eyes, so you can't really see them, but you don't really notice it. Overall I am very happy with how good these guys look, especially against an otherwise drab Russian army!

Figures from Foundry.

Working on some more 10mm Prussians and Saxons...

Howdy all,

Just thought I would put up a quick post... just working on basing some more Saxons and Prussians, in this case two units of infantry and two units of cavalry. I threw them on the table as well, just to see how they looked... very pretty, as allies next to all that red!

10mm Nap. French - The Old Guard 1

Now, when it comes to the Napoleonic wars, there are a few iconic units.

The Scots Grays... Greenjackets... but maybe the most iconic of all are Napoleon's Old Guard.

Now, I have a few units of these guys in 25mm, but I thought I would go ahead and share the first of my 10mm units of them!

The Old Guard were formidable, made up exclusively of well-cared-for veterans of many campaigns. They were easily identifiable by their massive bearskins and their broad shoulders... men were required to be of a certain height to join the Guard! They look a bit darker on the battlefield than the regular French infantry, and they stand out quite a bit.

There commander actually wears a bearskin as well, and holds his sword over his head as he beckons his men forward!

A funny aside; I am an elementary school teacher, and while teaching my kids how to create and use flashcards to study for test, the "vocab" word I used on the example flashcard was "The Old Guard." Now all the kids I have taught over the years know exactly who "The Old Guard" are!

10mm Nap. British - Infantry 1

Hey all!

Well, it has been a few day since I put up any updates, so I thought I would go for a few from the 10mm Napoleonic collection; in this case, the first unit of British infantry!

I love the look of the British army, and these guys are no exception. The red is obviously iconic, but I also like that the pants are varied, to show a unit that has been campaigning hard for a while.

Their commander sits with his saber across his lap, surveying the scene before him and trying to decide where that effective British musket fire will be most effective!

15mm WWII - German Artillery

Hey all!

Well, I am coming up to the end of my 15mm WWII German army... just five pieces left!

Here is one of those pieces... this is a German 10.5 cm artillery battery.

The battery consists of four guns (although there are only three in the photo... I didn't get the parts for one, and once I did I lost the original parts, soooo...) and the support vehicles to tow them. They also have some spotters and a command stand!

Like most of my WWII German army, this group is dug in tight, ready for an Allied attack. There was not a lot of conversion work to do, except for adding a radio antenna to the command truck, as well as a flag over the top to keep the Luftwaffe from attacking the wrong side... plus, lets face it, German forces need a few swastikas to look right. I did realize that I never painted the wheels of the transport vehicles... I will have to do that shortly.

Selling some Painted Perry Samurai!

I am selling a unit of PAINTED Perry Ashigaru with spears!

Come on by and give it a look, they are at a VERY good price... and as mentioned in the auction, I can flock them for a small increase in price!

Here they are!

A glimpse of the Prussians

Before the weekend ends, I thought I would get just a few photos of a fraction of the 1806 Prussians up!

These guys are going to need a bit of work; they are not flocked, and their artillery and commanders are not painted yet. Now, there are some two thousand of them already painted, so I am not terribly concerned, but still...

They are quite beautiful, to be frank. They are older Prussians so their uniforms are fairly old school, but they do look fantastic; a wide variety of colors really makes them stand out. My only issue is that their command stands are all the same, and do not feature any flags. What a shame! Here is a single shot of them on the table... the Allied Troops have largely been given a flank, with the Prussians and Brunswickers being side by side.

Revisiting Cabinet 2

Since I had a walk-through of Cabinet 1 yesterday, I thought I would do Cabinet 2 today!


Here is shelf #1. This is another sample of my 15mm ACW collection, on the top as with the other cabinet as 15mm needs to be close to eye level to really be appreciated. This is the latest 15mm collection, unlike the other one, which is from many, many years ago. However, like the other ACW shelf, this one is a mix of Confederate and Federal troops. There actually is ONE old-school unit in here; the Zouaves in the center. But they mix in just fine.

Here is shelf #2. It is the start of the 25mm Napoleonic Russian collection, and features a bunch of the most important pieces... The Blessing of the Pavlov Guard, the Grenadiers, the completed foot officers, and the army General himself!
Here is shelf 3. It features more of the WIP 25mm Napoleonic Russian collection, including most of the light infantry and all of the completed cavalry!


Here is the rest of the completed 25mm Russian Napoleonic collection; namely, the first battery of guns. There is another complete battery on the way!

And here comes the weakness! This is my current catch-all shelf. There are my LOTR figures, my sole Warhammer figure, and the first of my 25mm Napoleonic Austrian units. A bit of a strange mix, but what can you do! Eventually this shelf will belong solely to the 25mm Napoleonic Austrians, or possibly the 25mm Russians... they will need a LOT of room for the last artillery battery!
And here is the final shelf, which is basically empty at the moment, except for some 25mm World War 2 Germans, a diorama that is a gift for a friend, and a VERY old school banner from my oldest army, some medieval humans I sold many years ago on eBay... MANY years ago!

So that is Cabinet #2! Hope you enjoyed!

10mm Nap. British - Artillery 1

Here is another unit from my 10mm Napoleonic British collection... this time, I figured I would go with some artillery!

These are larger sized guns, likely 9lbers, as the British didn't have a lot of bigger caliber guns. The battery is led by a mounted commander. They are accompanied by their limbers, in case they need to adjust their position on the field.

I'll have more up today, including a walk-through of cabinet two, as well as maybe a unit of British infantry, or maybe some rifles!