New Blog

I have started a new blog to catalog my collection of fantasy minis. This will mostly be pictures of the many existing fantasy minis I have painted over the years, although I will also occasionally add a new mini or 2.

See http://talesofmirth.blogspot.com/

The Band (of Engineers) - now in technicolor

Here are the Saxe-Goldberg Engineers in all their glorious color.
With Colonel Walbert Weinstein commanding.

And a few more pack animals to carry some of their equipment.

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p.s. Here's a mini I sculpted some time ago. He is O-Me-One (aka Omiwan) Canoli, Starry Knight, from my unfinished Star Warped comic. Maybe some day I'll take it up again, but not right now.

Just a Minute Men

Generic militia for the Soweiter League. These will represent militia from almost any of the League's states, as needed. No flags, musicians, or officers yet.

The figures are from Foundry's American War of Independence range.

Recent Converts

What follows are some recent conversions I made to some Foundry figures, using greenstuff, a bit of "brownstuff" (another Kneadatite epoxy putty, good for sharper edges, can be sanded and worked a bit with knives or files after curing), some wire and leftover bits from my "bits box".


First is an unspecified officer with a flagon of Dragon Ale (slogan: "The flagon with the dragon has the brew that is true").

Goldberg variations: A view of the Saxe-Goldberg Royal Engineers as seen from the front. These guys are famous for their ingenious devices and engineering works.

A view from the back. They are prepared for all sorts of eventualities and cunning plans, adept at fieldworks, bridges and other marvels of modern engineering.

("A band? What do we need a band for?" "Have a little faith, Beispiel. They're beautiful people.")

The Saxe-Goldberg Royal Engineers are lead by Captain Walbert Weinstein. A famous ancestor of Walbert was the Ritter von Weissknicht.

A view from the other side.

In the meantime... there are a few other minis waiting on the painting desk before these guys get their colors.

Real Maps

Hoping people might find these interesting and even inspiring.


This is a real map of the Duchy of Courland (or Kurland) that I downloaded some time ago, but now I can't locate the link. If my information is correct the cartographer's name is Schreiber and the map is from 1749. An interesting tidbit I found is that the Duchy had the Caribbean Islands of Trinidad and Tobago as possessions for a time while the Duchy was an independent country.

Here are some links to other real maps of the 17th and 18th centuries:

This first link is to a set of atlases covering portions of France at a very large scale, mid to late 1700's.

http://www.culture.gouv.fr/documentation/archim/atlasdetrudaine.htm

This link is to a map by Matthaus (or Mathias) Vischer of portions of Austria, from around 1697. This is the map I used as inspiration for my maps.

http://www.noel.gv.at/land-zukunft/geschichte-landeskunde/landesgeschichte/vischerkarte.html

And finally, a link to a blog that has pictures and links to quite a few manuscript French maps from the 17th-19th centuries.

http://makingmaps.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/working-maps-17th-19th-century-french-manuscript-maps/

On the miniature front I am in the process of prepping a bunch of minis (mostly SYW stuff, but also a few fantasy minis I received from a friend recently or had sitting boxed away for a while) for painting so I may not have any new finished ones to post before this month is over. This is not my favorite step, but it's a necessary one. It takes time to clean all the flash and mold lines, drill and pin parts as needed, and glue to bases. I also use greenstuff to hide the join between the miniature's base and the washers I glue them to, or to plug the holes in slottabases as the case may be. As I said, it takes time, but I believe the result is worth the time and effort.

Odds and Ends

Finished off a few odds and ends this week.

First up, the Saxe-Goldberg grenade launcher crew, lead by Captain Werner von Braunstein.
Some of you may recall maps of the various states of the League posted previously. This is the cartographer at work making field notes, Gerardus Ortelius Malarkey of the Ballyfoole Ordnance Survey (one might say he IS the Ballyfoole Ordnance Survey!). (not looking entirely unlike yours truly)

General Louis-Louis de Milieu, of Mayeux.

A couple of the Cardinal's Guard on horseback. Sometimes mounted troops are useful for such things as crowd control and as guards while travelling.

Pack train of miscellaneous equines.

All of the above miniatures are from Wargames Foundry. The pack train animals are ones I've had for quite some time, just finally got around to finishing them off.

More Light Infantry

Introducing the Chasseurs de la Moutarde, light infantry in the Batrachian Army. This unit comes from the Moutarde* region of Batrachia. They are commanded by Captain Jean "Renard" Dijon. (He's a professional)

Correction: I have been informed by reliable sources, the famed scholar Steve Kriegspieler, that the Captain's surname is actually Dijon. Renard is some sort of Batrachian nickname.

* aka Mustardy.