Sunday, 15 November 2009

Poll closed.

The poll for the published form of the Chronicles is now closed. You the people have spoken and we have listened! ;)

There's a decisive result for paperback and pdf versions, so we're going to publish both forms. They'll be published under the Smiling Assassin Publications umbrella. This is a new creative endeavor intended to produce quality materials for wargamers and like-minded individuals. First out of the gate will be the Hetzenberg Chronicles in three volumes, featuring the life and times of two imaginary nations somewhere in 18th century Europe. Upcoming projects include a set of naval wargames rules for World War Two.

Meantime, here's a brief excerpt from Chapter One of Volume One, the Hetzenberg Chronicles...
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Boooooom!


Ursula stumbled to a halt in the lane and stared aghast as the old barn at the edge of the field flew apart like a bursting bubble. A white mushroom cloud speckled with debris lofted high into the frigid air and blotted out the early morning sun that hung low over the mountain.


“Oh! Mary A!” she yelled. A wave of hot air washed over her, plucking at her habit and wimple and filling her eyes with dust. Ursula flung up her arms to protect her face as something large and black hurtled close overhead. She dropped flat on the frosty ground. Whatever it was plunged into the flooded ditch alongside the lane and showered her with icy water. Ursula cringed from the drenching cold and flinched as more debris rained down. The ground shuddered under some close impacts. By a miracle she was untouched. Finally the rain of debris ceased. Ursula rolled over and stared at the plump legs sticking out of the water. They moved feebly, showing glimpses of thick winter-weight stockings and a flash of sky-blue habit. A sensible black shoe dangled from one foot then dropped onto the broken ice and sank slowly out of sight.

Ursula scrambled to the edge of the ditch and slithered down the bank to the water. Dimly aware of other nuns approaching at a run, her priority was to rescue her friend. She reached out and seized Mary A’s legs and tugged with all her strength until her head emerged from the water.

“What happened?” an educated voice called anxiously from above. “Who’s in there?”

Ursula recognized the voice and looked up to see Abbess Hilda, the Mother Superior of the House standing on the edge of the ditch. “It’s Sister Mary Amadeus, Reverend Mother!”

“Why am I not surprised?”
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Watch this space for publication dates!

Sunday, 8 November 2009

A new poll.

Cover art © 2009 Cindy & A J Matthews.
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The year is Seventeen-hundred and frozen-stiff. In the space between European empires two small nations hover on the brink of war. As great men on both sides ponder the future, a secret agent and two unconventional women are about to make their mark...

The Convent of St. Ungulant is home to Sister Mary Amadeus (a nun with a passion for blowing things up), and her best friend Ursula Reitzell (a bold and beautiful novice). Little does Mary suspect her friend is a spy in the employ of Hetzenberg secret agent Konrad Beckenbaur. Little does Konrad suspect Ursula also hides a secret that will light the fuze for war!

When fate calls at the convent the three are swept up in events that will lead them through moments of high terror and drama, comedy and pathos. Will their combined talents for explosives and mayhem see them through? All will be revealed in -


The Hetzenberg Chronicles -
Volume 1: Prelude to War.


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Final preparations to publish the Chronicles are in hand. Such is the flexibility of modern publishing I can now ask for the format readers would like to see. Check out the poll on the left. Feel free to leave me comments on the price you'd be willing to pay, and any other ideas or suggestions you may have. Any short reviews or blurbs you'd like to give on the Chronicles as they were published here are welcome.

Wednesday, 4 November 2009

A welcome surprise!

BREAKING NEWS... Some of the pioneering names of our hobby have joined forces to create a blogspot of their own. Entitled The Blasthof Blog it is dedicated to the classic Charge! rules by Brigadier Peter Young.
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Featuring such luminaries as Stuart Asquith, Steve Gill, Phil Olley and John Preece, the aim is to explore the book, depict units in the old school style and play out the occasional game. Please join with me in wishing them well!

Tuesday, 3 November 2009

Steampunk-ish exploration vehicle

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A new offering over at my Smiling Assassin blog...

Friday, 30 October 2009

Plastic Fantastic..?

Zvezda's Great Northern War Swedish infantry.
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I'm hugely tempted to buy some Zvezda plastic figures! Stokes Schwartz's excellent accounts of their use on the Stollen blog, plus recent postings on Sir William's blog have tipped my hand somewhat. Economically it makes sense. For instance, two boxes of the above set of figures gets:-

18 Hat company, marching.
12 ditto, loading.
24 ditto advancing (two poses)
12 firing
6 pikemen (convertible to standard bearers)
2 standard bearers
2 drummers
4 officers
6 grenadiers.

86 figures in total for $14.58 + shipping & handling.

Since I form regiments into 24 figures, that makes three whole units for the table, plus a few left over for use as skirmishers, vignettes, conversions, etc. True, the uniforms are of the Great Northern War, hence somewhat dated by the time of the War on the Eisenwasser, but hey, it's my imagination! In matters of scale, the figures are somewhat smaller than the metal ones I have, but since the different types will be in discrete units it won't be a factor.

Three regiments would complete the bulk of the infantry for my armies, leaving three cavalry regiments (Rumtopft's Dragoons for the Grand Duchy of Hetzenberg, the Tuhellenbach Hussars and the Seinfeld Kurassiers for the Margravate of Dunkeldorf-Pfühl) and an artillery battery apiece. As has been pointed out elsewhere, kürassiers can be modified to SYW standard from Zvezda's 1812 Saxon K
ürassiers by using head swaps from excess infantry figures. The hussars, dragoons and everything else can be made up from metal figures.

Am I tempted? You bet!
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Work is progressing on the copyedits for the Chronicles. Due to work and other commitments publishing date has been postponed for a couple weeks later than I expected. They should be out in time for Xmas, so watch this space!

Monday, 26 October 2009

DPC update and a useful ink.

This weekend I got an email with some excellent news from Richard Masse at Dayton Painting Consortium. Some of you may know of the sad demise of the London War Room, which had an excellent range of 25-28mm Spanish for the SYW. DPC has acquired the molds for these and are already producing figures. It's early days, but the range is shown on DPC's newly-refurbished website. It includes grenadiers, fusiliers, and dragoons, along with useful miners for siege work. An interesting group for amphibious operations includes oarsmen, steersman, seated officers and fusiliers - something I'm taking note of for future scenarios involving the Hetzenberg riverine flotilla.
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As a member of the Too Fat Lardies wargames rules group pointed out, there's a dearth of 17th-19th century buildings suitable for middle Europe. He went on to provide this link to a German site, Pretzschendorfer Weihnachtsberg which has a useful range of free to download printable buildings. The scale appears to be in the 10mm-15mm range, but with a bit of computer printer or copier adjustment it can be altered upwards.
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On a personal note my status over here has been formally confirmed. I am now officially a resident alien! Must go now as I have to inform the mother ship and polish my ray gun...

Sunday, 18 October 2009

Dayton Painting Consortium

Does anyone know what's happening to DPC? I checked their website with a view to buying a few figures and found it's not functioning. The only page showing is for their Colonial 20mm range.