Let’s talk ImagiNavies for a few minutes.I won’t be subtle here… I just got some pictures of my new additions. I tried the small naval miniatures but I just coudn’t get into assembling and painting the things. Maybe if I had come across them 20 years ago it would have been a hit. So I looked into some alternatives and thought I’d look into The Uncharted Seas rules. I know these are fantasy rules, but they do include human fleets and vessels that look pretty cool. They are also large models.

I have only one quibble with them. All the ship hulls are made from resin but the sails are metal. On the smaller ships this leads to a decided instability. I plan on mounting these on small square metal bases so will have to do some “terraining” of the bases. So without further ado, here are the core of the fleets of Todos Santos and Immer Recht….

Next are some of the Guard Grenadiers. The left figure is a drummer, the right, a standard bearer (of course, you probably didn’t need me to tell you that….) The flagpole comes separately and is a cast item.

I also ordered officers and NCOs to have the correct organization for a “Charge” style unit for each. They are, from left to right, Gd Grenadier NCO, Gd Grenadier officer, Grenadier NCO, Grenadier officer.

I’ll get pics of the grunts later today.

Many a year ago, in a kingdom by the sea, there lived a maiden whom the world would come to know. She was the very beautiful daughter of Duke Alonzo Café Bar y Casa de Tanning named Mirabel. [1]

The Yellow Bird

The king’s heir apparent Don Pedro was still a bachelor (for very good reasons, as the future will tell) and all the Counts and Dukes of the kingdom sent their marriageable (and some less so) daughters to the Court. None had as cute a face as Mirabel, none had smaller feet (nothing more could be seen) and she always appeared in dresses of lemon yellow and sky blue. The competition for the Prince’s attentions was harsh, cruel, and remorseless: a very powerful rival family (on the instigation of the brother of the House Head, the cunning Cardinal Libro y Portfolio Negro) hired an infamous seducer, Don Juan Siempre Usar Viagra, to dishonor pure and naive Mirabel. She oh so imprudently gave him, as a token of chaste (still) but ardent love, a very special ring bearing the ruling House’s arms. This had been a gift from a previous king to her grand-mother after she gave the then queen judicious advice that ensured the perpetuation of the royal line. Then, as the engagement of Mirabel and the Caballero (the traditional title of the Heir Apparent) was nearing announcement, some suggested to the King that Mirabel should wear at the next Ball the ring symbolizing the especially close relationship between the two families….

But the conspirators, as did any people of noble birth, scorned their domestic staff to the point of no longer being aware of their presence. The mysterious network of gossip between chambermaids, scullery maids, linen maids, pages, hairdressers and cooks carried the news to the man-servants of the officers of the garrison. In actuality – besides the skeleton Inner Guard of the palace – it consisted of a single foot regiment. It turned out that some junior officers were from Mirabel’s father’s estates; they had known her from childhood and cherished her deeply (some loved her hopelessly). It’s said that four of them (actually three minor nobles holding the King’s commission and a young cadet) took the matter at heart and in hand, and slaughtered – in formal duels or otherwise – Don Juan and many other males of various ages and recovered the ‘One Ring’ just in time…. Thus Mirabel married the Caballero.

Mirabel the Great

To Mirabel the marriage was a great disappointment: the future king turned out to be far more interested (if not in clockworks and locks as his cousin) in collecting live spiders and snakes than in ‘honoring’ his young wife. He was too often seen in the company of bizarre-looking hairstylists and makeup artists propounding the newly fashionable “guyliner” techniques. Things worsened when the old King died under odd circumstances. As soon as he was crowned, Pedro the XIII became a totally paranoid, cruel and greedy ruler. Caligula would have been sainted before Pedro. The more unpopular he became, the more Mirabel was loved in all circles. She had kept a special affection for those in the foot regiment who had saved her before her marriage – all were now company commanders or higher. The Queen was often seen with the regiment, actually appearing at the regimental feasts, and at hunting parties, in the regimental uniform. In his madness, the king became obsessively jealous of Mirabel: not for any suspected infidelity, his spies (the very few that actually lived to report) had nothing to say except to report on her increasing popularity. So he hired an assassin, though he grumbled about his wages. But nothing escaped the ever-present eyes and ears of the palace servants. This time the whole regiment came to help ‘its’ Queen. It is rumored that Pedro tried to fly from the Palace’s roof in an attempt to flee from their wrath but met with scant success. As a reward for their service the regiment was granted the title ‘The Queen’s Own’ – a boon they asked for instead of being given ‘Guard’ status (they knew that a Guard soon degenerates, they just had crushed one). To honor the queen, the regimental uniform colors were changed to yellow and blue and became known officially on the Army’s rolls as La Bandera de la Reina.

[1] Of uncommon beauty

I am looking for any suggestions on battle history for the regiment. If it *is* the Queen’s regiment, chances are it’s been used for a number of non-military missions (riot control, etc.) I am not wedded to this yet so feel free to contribute.

This is a resin, six piece building that my friend, Brent Collins, designed and sculpted for our use as a for retail sale, stand alone, wargaming item. This is a fast painting job on the building but I think it still came out looking boffo! I used a black gesso for priming the roof and then dry brushed it with Red Gore and Bright Red. The walls were glued with Super Glue, then primed with grey auto primer in several light coats. The rock sections were painted black and then dry brushed with two colors of grey. The wood was painted with Bestial Brown and then lightly dry brushed with Vermin Fur. The panels were painted with Bleached Bone and then I used diluted Skull White to give the whiter color towards the center of each panel.

The roof comes in two sections and does not have to be glued so the roof can come off. We are looking at having separate detailing panels for the interior.

We are looking at selling this for a retail price of $19.95. Comments would be appreciated.

I came across a new way to create a wild grass look the other day as I was perusing some internet sites recommended by various mailing lists I am on. I will post the link to the site that inspired this when I find it again (it was from an ECW battle – I believe it was here but the page won’t lod as I am writing this). The individual who had created the grass took Teddy Bear Fur*, trimmed it with barber clippers, and then painted it with acrylics. The green base painted fur was then dry brushed with lighter greens and browns to provide contrast and variety. The overall effect was breathtaking in a large scale battle. I thought I’d give it a shot.

The building ruin above was created using Hirst Arts pieces I had left from casting jobs and mounted on MDF (medium density fiberboard). I primed the piece with a flat black spray paint and then dry brushed it with acrylic paints. Once I was happy with this, I took the fur I had, trimmed it down with scissors, painted the first layer of paint in Goblin Green, and then dry brushed it with Vermin Fur. I left part of the fur in its original color to provide variety. I then cut it to shapes I needed to flesh out the piece and glued the fur down with plain Elmer’s Glue (PVA for those who don’t live in the south).

I think the effect is quite nice. I need to do a better job of two things, in my opinion:

1. making the transitions between pieces smoother,
2. cutting the grass shorter soo it doesn’t look like the African Veldt.

Anyway, here it is. Comments solicited.

* Ian Armstrong has provided a definition of Teddy Bear Fur for non-US residents. It is reproduced here in full:

Teddy bears and other fluffy toys are caught and skinned to provide us wargamers and model railway enthusiasts with faux grass for making terrain.

Some bears are actually farmed in large factories so that the raw material is thus cheaper ;0)

This was the first SSM regiment I have painted. By the time I got to the last company, I had the system down… paint the cuff on all of them, paint the left epaulet on each one, then the right, and so on in a variation of assembly line painting. I sealed with GW ‘ardcoat and then with Reaper Brush-on Sealer (which provides a dull coat). Next time I will probably use Dullcote instead as I *really* like the way it dulls things down.

The company consists of 16 rank and file, an officer (not present), a drummer (not present), and a senior NCO (the figure on the front right of the company) denoted by stripes on the right sleeve.

I’m working on a name and history for the regiment. My initial impulse was to establish this regiment as being drawn from the ranks of the Académie Gastronomique of Freedonia. Known as the Regiment de l’Académie Gastronomique the rank and file consists of dropouts from the ranks of Freedonia’s finest chefs. During the siege of Mayonne, the Regiment distinguished itself by pouring vats of boiling chocolate on attacking forces, a maneuver known in books on tactics as “The Fondue.” This part of the siege has become known as the Mayonnaise Miracle.

The other approach was to refer to them as the Regiment der Kriegakademieköche. Roughly translated from German this means the regiment of war academy cooks. Somehow it doesn’t have the same ring in German as it does in French.

Later this week, I’ll get the entire regiment out for a parade and photo before starting on my RSM regiment.