January 2023 – Page 2 – My Toy Soldiers & Me

Seen in FaceBook…

Looks like Napoleonic period Denmark troops (Danes) but not sure at all… that is the beauty of the thing… you can spend a lifetime in the hobby and still be surprised by a pic… the flags seem to prove this…

Enjoy!

Can you do better?

I do not wargame that period at all… but the uniforms are a joy to paint and see… when wargames units started to look like minidioramas like this one I went (and for other reasons too!) down to 6mm. For me it is simply impossible to achieve those results… Military Modeling like… and to think that my grandchildren would “manipulate” those minis on the tabletop is also nightmarish… call me squeamish if you want… I predicted all that back in 2006-2008 when I was so innocent as to write a book about it!… I love them but personally count me out.

Enjoy!

Fantastic Diorama

Nothing surprise me a lot nowadays… but sometimes… sometimes… sometimes I am shocked by sheer quality!… What a masterful work!

On the other hand another surprise was the announcement of a Toy Soldiers’s Collection for sale (Mr. Luc Lezun) using www.mytoysoldiersandme.com in Facebook… just remember all transactions are a private agreement between gentlemen and the site has been created only for pleasure and no commercial objectives at all. Simply beware as usual. Thought better to clarify… wish I could buy them all! The use of mirrors on the back of the cabinets where the Collection for sale is displayed “doubles” the effect of quantity… anyone can see that… but better mention to be absolutely clear!

Enjoy!

It is so good I thought it was a master oil painting (a la Detaille if you please!) Congratulations!

Daniel Borris Music…

Military Bands have always been a very collectable category as far as I know… Toy Soldiers need music to march on!

Bands standing instead of marching, or even seated are a special variant of the subject. See three examples of a serious collector.

Enjoy!

Khartoum

One of the Boy’s Own paradigmas… the rescue of Gordon (who did not want to be rescued)… excellent stuff for wargames… have seen it in most scales… BTW there are excellent books about it… try Michael Asher’s one…

He will be avenged at Omdurman with relish…

Enjoy!

6mm today…

I have my ACW armies in 6mm ready to fight!… but for the SOLO rules I am working on (intermittently I agree)… After much reflexion I have decided on recreating a “generic battle” NO real generals involved… meaning that I have found quite impossible to PLAY with Lee and Grant or the rest… a game of attrition… Union worried by Washington security… Confederates trying to have a Victory that enables Political recognition from Europe… quite true objectives but I will be in command and the sub-commanders will act as their real counterparts but without names and characters attached… I guess this is the best I can do in a SOLO game.

Enjoy the pic!… have always liked the uniforms of the Franco-Prussian War but find the Historic reality too much unbalanced (as the French High Command!).

A bit of humour…

“Your friend Robert Villepreux did come yesterday.”

“It is my duty to beware you that he ordered two Infantry Regiments and three Assault Motorized Divisions”

All right, Jean Jacques Sempé was one of the best cartoonist in France for decades, ironic, subtle and very good at minimalist drawing. I can think of a lot of other texts to use for this drawing… but the one he choosed resumes perfectly our megalomania.

It could have been:

“I understand that gloss or matt is a difficult decision…”

or:

“Maybe I do not have exactly what you want Sir…”

But never mind… I laughed myself out for a while with it… and thought better Post immediately!

Enjoy!

Custer & Little Big Horn

Since I saw Errol Flynn killed by Anthony Quinn in THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON it become a lifelong interest… I was puzzled as a child because it seemed to me the US Cavalry HAD to WIN no matter what… of course real life is not like that… I guess I have already mentioned that on other Posts in this Blog but nevertheless…

It has been a rewarding passion mainly reading&collecting books about it and trying to understand what happened that 25th of June… of course all films (but Little big man) related to and hundreds (literally) of miniatures for wargames purposes (in 28mm, 15mm and 6mm to do not mention my 75mm Playmobils).

After 70 years exposed to it I have come to the conclusion that Custer was put on a NO WIN – NO WIN situation… mainly by fate and circumstances but also for bad scouting, not believing his own scouts, and betrayed by his own experience fighting Plains Indians… the whole Reno Benteen paranoia is simply that a paranoia… the Native Americans where there in enough numbers (ask Crook), interior lines of communication, perfect ground for his tactics, and the will to fight for survival. The Indians Won. That’s that.

A magnificent American drama for the Centennial of the Nation.

Not much to enjoy about that of course… but a fascinating subject. There are a lot of trash books about it (and films too)… I can recommend the opus of Frederick Wagner III THE STRATEGY OF DEFEAT and the novel (fictional-history but it reads as History) A ROAD WE DO NOT KNOW.

Be impartial!

GOLD MEDAL 2012

Simply magnificent… I am conscious that I will never achieve this kind of craftsmanship without starting from zero and dedicating to it hours and hours and hours… maybe the correct approach is that I am “out of time for it”… nevertheless I admire those who have this level… and proud to give them to you!

As you know I collect Toy Soldiers and even paint them sometimes… much more easy believe me! (The Old Toy Soldier kind even if some are “NEW” Toy Soldiers).

Enjoy!

NAPOLEONIC PLAYMOBIL CUSTOMS

Just to show you the potential… to get those you have to learn to dissemble, add stickers, buy resin headgear and paint the last one… quite fast and simple once you know the tricks… but on the whole not cheap… as for collecting them it is fine… but wargames better be skirmish type.

Enjoy!