Berber Command

These are 18mm Legio Heroica. The flags are from Little Big Men Studios. The sheet includes shield decals, but these don't fit on the shields due to the protruding center. Painting is mainly Golden Open Acrylic, Vallejo Primer, and some Foundry paint. The wash was done with thinned Sepia, Golden Highflow Acrylics.

These 'Berbers' are really meant to be Sudanese Infantry for the Muslim Armies of the Crusades (see http://www.legio-heroica.com/Musulmani-en.html), but I think they are a good fit for the Berber mercenaries widely employed by the Caliphate in Spain.

A School for Bunnies

The engraver of these flats used a German children's book as a template, called 'Die Haeschenschule'. the book was written and drawn in 1924, was very popular and is still in print. I assume that the engravings are from the 50's or 60's, but could not find relevant information. the figures are sold by Berliner Zinnfiguren. The figures are considered to be '40mm' (whatever that means in this context), and were painted with Golden Open acrylics.

Berber Bowmen, 18 mmm (Legio Heroica)

Ok, these are actually Sudanese archers for a Fatimid Army (from Legio Heroica's 'Holy Land - The Muslim Armies' range) - http://www.legio-heroica.com/Musulmani-en.html. the figures are a bit chunky, but well sculpted and quite pleasant to paint. They will be a part of my Andalusian army (a very slowly progressing project - the idea is to create an army as it could have been used between 800 and 1000 by the Califate). I am not sure how the Berber mercenaries in these armies looked like (my sneaky suspicion is that they were dressed like the locals in tunic and trousers), but in my imagination the Berber mercenaries roughly looked like these figures.

British Infantry, AWI, (Fife & Drum, 28mm)

 

I finally managed to paint a few British Infantry. The figures are from Fife & Drum (http://fifedrumminis.blogspot.ca/), very clean castings, easy to paint, and seem to be sturdy enough to withstand some knocks. The figures are nicely sculpted, only the muskets seem a bit too large (but sturdy - and I prefer large and sturdy to 'in scale but breaks / bends easily'). These figures are in campaign uniform, but definitely at the beginning of the campaign (no torn trousers or similar).

The range is reasonably complete, but of limited scope and variation, although it is slowly getting expanded. service was very good. By the way, strictly speaking the range is 1/56, or 30mm high, but as far as I know the figures can be mixed with other 'slender' 28mm, for example Perry (but don't take my word for it - I didn't do a comparison).

Sorry for the quality of the pictures, but I don't have a good set-up for taking photographs right now.

 

Armed and Unarmed Civilians

Just finished some armed and unarmed civilians, all from Minden Miniatures, 28mm. Quite nice figures, I just have some problems with the photos, the colours don't come out very well. I guess I'll have to improve my set-up, but currently have little time and space for it.

In the Old West

The Old West (or, in this context, better Wild West, German: Wilder Westen) played and to a certain extent still plays an important role in the German imagination - and one important source for this imagination were the novels of Karl May (1842 - 1912), which until around 1970 were widely read, especially by boys (according to Google Karl May is still considered one of the most widely read German authors). His most popular figures - the noble apache Chief Winnetou and the German traveler-hero Old Shatterhand, are still well known names and during the summer you can find more than one open air theatre show about them.

Of course his heroes were also re-created as flat tin figures. The forms for the figures below were created by Heinrichsen in 1906 and for copyright reasons the figures were (and still are) sold as 'Im Wilden Westen'. Unfortunately the satin varnish reflects the light a bit too much (and my photo-setup is not the greatest anyway).

Old Shatterhand and Winnetou meet

 

Ten books to read if you are interested in the Napoleonic Wars

Ten Books to read if you are interested in the Napoleonic Wars

Going a bit off topic, here is my highly subjective list of books about the Napoleonic Wars that I suggest. Ranking is not by quality, but by suggested reading sequence.

1) Napoleon's Wars by Charles Esdaile - Currently probably the best summary; from the British point of view. As you can guess from the title not very sympathetic of Napoleon.

2) The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon by Gunther E. Rothenberg - a good overview, although a rather dry read.

3) Napoleon: Eine Biographie by Johannes Willms - well written and up to date; from the German point of view. I am not sure if an English translation exists.

4) With Musket, Cannon and Sword: Battle Tactics of Napoleon and His Enemies by Brent Nosworthy. A difficult read, but provides a very good review of the tactics used during the Napoleonic Wars.

5) The Campaigns of Napoleon by David Chandler. Still the best overview of military part of the Napoleonic Wars.

6) Swords Around A Throne: Napoleon's Grande Armee by John R. Elting. Very detailed and well written description of the organization, dress, way of life... of Napoleon's troops.

7) Russia Against Napoleon: The Battle for Europe, 1807 to 1814 by Dominic Lieven. Very good description of Russia's contribution to Napoleon's downfall. Also shows how troop organization and organizational adaptation made it possible for the Russian army to lead a campaign all the way to Paris.

8) The Peninsular War by Charles Esdaile - Up-to date and comprehensive description of the war in Spain and Portugal. More objective than 'Napoleon's Wars.

9) Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany - 1813 by F. Loraine Petre. Pure nostalgia - I have this book for a long time and have always been interested in the 1813 war. Replace with any other book of Petre depending on your area of interest.

10) 1812: The Great Retreat by Paul Britten Austin. This book consists of eyewitness reports, tied together by short explanations - very well written, very readable. Not the best book about the war of 1812 (in my opinion that would be Moscow 1812 by Adam Zamoyski), but the best description of the suffering during this retreat. One day I'll read the author's first two volumes of the 1812 war.


What I am missing:
- The books on the list are between neutral and anti-Napoleon. It would be interesting to read a book of the quality of those written by Esdaile and Willms with a pro-French view.
- A book that concentrates on the role that the economic and financial conditions played during the Napoleonic Wars.
- A good and affordable Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars. I do have new version of the 'West Point Atlas for The Wars of Napoleon', which is helpful, but overall underwhelming.
- A book that provides an overview about the diplomatic (including clandestine) activities.
- A book that analyzes the question under which (if any) conditions Britain would have been willing to make a long-term peace with a France that dominates the continent.

I left out uniform books and eyewitness reports (with the exception of the 'edited' ones that make up 1812: the Great Retreat) - in either of this categories there is no outstanding volume that makes my 'top ten'.