An Osprey Arrives!

Before Christmas I ordered Osprey Men-at-Arms 298: Russian Army of the Seven Years War (2) and it arrived today, at last! Hurrah and rejoicing!

I have been having a nose through it and I am struck by the mono-colour uniforms of the Hussar regiments - at least, apart from the Serbski Regiment's red-and-yellow uniform. "All red" or "all blue" with black trim. Very striking - if somewhat disconcerting as a painter. Still, it'll be a while yet til I get to the Molgravian Hussars.

What I have done is to place an order with Wargames Foundry for some command figures to go part of the way towards finishing off the Leibgarde zu Fuss (as I was advised to do so by Tradgardmastare, Musketier and Chris Platt in the comments*) and - a pack of foot command, and a pack of three mounted officers. The prices! £12 a pack! I'll get the remaining 16 infantry next month from Crusader Miniatures, but I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get Foundry for most of the rest of the project just because they have such an enormous range of figures.

Any road, until they arrive it's going to be all quite on the Molgravian Front I think, unless I dig out my back issues of Battlegames and try my hand at building a map of Molgravia and its environs...

* More comments please, I like them a lot!

Learning New Things

The other day I happened upon an Osprey that I last read six years ago, when I had first decided to take part in this imagi-nations nonsense. I had to have it ordered specially for me by the very helpful librarians in Bottesford Library, one of those small village libraries that are so vital for the civic and cultural wellbeing of the little communities that populate the English countryside. It took a week to arrive and I devoured it back then, and was very sorry to have to hand it back.

So when I found it in my local second-hand bookshop, Eastgate Bookshop, I snapped it up. A bargain at £5. As the Molgravian army is using Russian uniforms, and with a predominantly green colour, I thought this would provide me with inspiration.

And it has! Especially for the flags, which is jolly useful. Very interesting information in it too, I was especially taken by the Preobrazhinski Life Guard regiment, whose troopers were officers and whose officers were, it was rumoured, selected for their beauty rather than their military abilities. Perks of being the Empress of all the Russias, I suppose.

It also spurred me on to spend a few more bob on getting part 2 from Amazon, which should arrive this week. Once I've absorbed the contents of these two books I should be in a good place to fine-tune the uniforms of the brave Molgravians.