Oh bother....

   No posts since new years due to the real world intruding into my life.

   Winter storm Grayson has disrupted my month.  After a wonderful holiday it was back to normal which is anything but in the airline industry.  The days preceding the storm saw our flights filled to capacity with customers trying to escape the coming sno-ageddon.  Frantic calls of can I rebook my flight were non stop throughout the day.  Flights were cancelled for the storm itself and we did not have to come into the station.  This is a new experience for me as when I

worked ground operations in Boston we had to be there no matter.  Airport operstions, at least in a tiny airport are quite different I guess.  After the storm flights were again booked to capacity but  weather, crew changes and such along the way caused flights to be delayed coming into ORH.  Our shift extended into the evening past midnight at one point.  Things are just getting back to normal now.

   And of course shoveling the snow.  Luckily my son was home from school to help.  Between the two of us we got the job done in record time.  On the weekend enjoyed watching the wild card round of the NFL playoffs.  Some very good games, and one not so exciting game.

   All of which left little hobby time.  No painting yet.  Instead we played a few games of World War One airplanes with the Wings of War game.  This is a fun game just perfect for a snowy day.  Of course my son consistently shoots me down as I am too busy talking about the delightful model planes while he plays the game.  And excellent models they are too.  I have repainted a few planes for aces not yet covered by the extensive range.  After a little research i repainted a spad to represent the lt. David Endicott Putnam's plane.  A local  from the area who not many have heard of but a great favorite of mine.  Also redid a few nieuport 17's to represent members of the Lafayette  escadrille.  I will be posting a few pictures in the future.

   Lastly I have started to add some sorely needed houses to my terrain collection.  The high cost of resin buildings have made them unaffordable to me so I have opted to go with paper card models.  These look very nice and are inexpensive.  There is also a great variety out there to choose from.  Two years ago at Cold Wars I took a class at the hobby university on how to make paper buildings.  It has been very helpful.  Once I get a few more done I will be posting my efforts.  here's looking forward to more time!

Welcome 2018

  I wish you all have a happy and healthy New Year!  Best of luck with your projects.  And may you game more then you paint.

I was a painting fool!

  Looking back on 2017 I found this to be the year of massive painting.    I should not be surprised about this as I had replenish my supplies of paint and brushes with some very large purchases.  I was also very motivated by the time periods and the figures themselves to pick up brushes and paint.  I found I like to paint certain figures but not others.  Perry miniatures are a chore for me to paint. Very time consuming.   Fife and Drum, Crann Tara, RSM and Knuckleduster miniatures are a joy.  Not judging the miniatures, but what fits my painting style.

  But still the amounts done are surprising to me.  Best of all I now have good sized armies for American Rev War and War of 1812 ready to go for next year.  I might add a few new regiments.  Ok, who am I kidding here;  with all my favorite miniature companies adding new must have figures I will be adding a few new regiments.   I do have a number of scenarios and small campaigns written for games for next year.  Perhaps this will be the phase of my gaming life I play more then I paint.   I have also starting reviewing my terrain to see what I need and what I want to improve.  Redoing my basing for woods, adding more fence, a Crimean War and eighteenth century camps and other terrain pieces would be nice.  I have also started playing with paper buildings.  There are a interesting variety out there and very cost effective.  After all we play table top miniature games because of the visual appeal!

War of 1812 armies.
Command figures. 4
Royal artillery gunners.   12 figures
American gunners. 6 figures
1st regiment. 24 figures
8th regiment. 24 figured
100th regiment. 24 figures
Incorporated militia regiment. 24 figures
Glengary light infantry regiment. 24 figures
Lincoln militia. 24 figured
1st American rifle regiment. 24 figures
Indians. 24 figures
Niagara Dragoon.   6 figures
19th light Dragoon.  6 figures
1st American Dragoon. 6 figures
Royal marine rocket battery. 4 figures
89th regiment. 24 figures
Upper Canadian militia regiment. 24 figures
49th regiment. 24 figures

286 Infantry
   22 cavalry

American Rev War. 
Mounted command figures. 4 figures
New York volunteers. 30 figures
Volunteers of Ireland. 30 figures
British legion cavalry. 30 figures
British legion infantry. 30 figures
Royal artillery grasshopper. 4 crew
Regiment von Bose. 30 figures
3 Regiments Of militia. 90 figures
Hunting shirt regiment. 30 figures
3rd light Dragoon. 10 figures
Lee's legion cavalry. 10 figures
Mounted militia. 6 figures
17th Light Dragoons. 6 figures
State regiment. 30 figures

300 Infantry
 36  cavalry or command figures

WAS/SYW   

Dillon. 24 figures
Clare. 24 figures
Royal Ecossais. 24 figures
Orleans. 24 figures
Tournaisis. 24 figures
Saintonge. 24 figures

144 infantry

Total number of painted figures for 2017
730 Infantry
  58 Cavalry

Merry Chrismas

                          Happy Holidays And  A Very Merry Christmas to all!

Fritz the Yorkie says chill out

 and enjoy the day.

Guns and Horses; a WIP

  Got more figures from Crann Tara the other day.  Soon will be adding a cavalry regiment (FitzJanes), artillery and light infantry.  Right now the gun and cavalry are primed and just need a dry brushing of white.  As an experiment I have mounted the cavalry on their stands rather then popsicle sticks and will try and paint them this way.  Perhaps speed things up a bit?  We will see.

  Next up will be the lights and some mounted commanded figures.  The Frenchman is taking shape!  Next year will start the British.

The Crimean War Then and Now.

The Crimean War Then and Now.
David R. Jones

I recently became aware of this book through a visit to my blog by the author.  After mentioning his book I took the time to look it up and was fascinated by what I found.  Visitors here know of my long time interest in the Crimean war and I have done a number of posts on photography of the battlefields.  I have done this to get a flavor of the terrain so that I can translate it to the table top.  Afterall, one reason we play miniature war games is for the visual appeal.  Well, here are a unique collection of period photography, sketches and engravings from the time of the war and contrasting photographs and maps from today.

The book is a labor of love. Each chapter describes a battle of action, includes maps pointing out locations and then contrasts period illustrations with a view from the same angle today.  It is fascinating how the terrain here has changed in a little over a hundred years.  More trees and orchards change the look of many battlefields.  The river Alma has also changed greatly as shown in the pictures today.  The viewer also gets a better idea of the terrain.  The hill that the Light Division rushed up to capture the great redoubt looks very gentle compared to some prints.  The area the 93rd Highlanders held, and the area the Heavy Brigade charged have me better understanding of this actions.  A mystery to me has been the photographs taken by Colonel Vladislav Klembovsky in 1900 of the battlefields.  I finally know who this man was and his tragic story during the revolution.


The book is not cheep,but is well worth it.  I bought the kindle edition and am very happy with it.  Highly recommended!

Nathan and Mark's excellent adventure

  Thanksgiving is my favorite time of the year.  Family and friends get together, you eat more then you should and there is no tyranny of gift giving.  Both our  kids come home which is the best thing ever.  Alexandra lives in the city (Boston) and Nathaniel is off at school.  So it is great when we are altogeher.   It is also Nathan's  birthday.   Last year we were in Florida and  we went to a Tampa Bay football game. What to do this year?  Go see the home team! New England Patriots vs Miami Dolphins.

The series of events which led us to Gillette Stadium starts with our stations fourth anniversary.  Jetblue has been at Worcester for four years, longer then any other airline and next year we are expanding with flights to JFK.  The anniversary was a time for awards and I got two tickets for the game against the Dolphins as well as two tickets for the catered tailgate party.  Although Janine wanted to go we both decided it would be a great birthday present for Nathan and a perfect father son adventure.

We left the house early, driving in the decked out PT Cruiser.  Checked out the

stadium and other fans on arrival.  Then went to the catered tailgate party.  This is open two hours before the game and has lots of food and a open bar.  Very nice!

  Then into the game.  Turns out there were a number of people I used to work with in Boston Logan in ground operations so it was a little like old home week.  The game was fun and exciting and a great view of the field from our seats. Patriots "squished the fish"  and won convincingly.   I made sure I kept Janine up to date with pictures and text.  After the game we hung around before starting our ride home.It

  After getting home Nathan had to pack up his car and head back to school.  A long drive and then a early morning ckass.  But he said it was worth it.  Best day ever!