Armies on Parade

Well, my editor has come back with some final changes, and the artist assigned finished the color illustrations. I've been working on armies based on parts of the book.  The first unit is the Crown Guard infantry circa 1770.  The figures are Eureka figures based on the Saxon 1763 range.  The grenadiers are from Triangle miniatures and the flags are based on drawings in the upcoming book.    Next up is a unit of Bar Confederation and Russian Infantry.

I've started working on a book covering the Polish Legions 1795 - 1807.  This will cover the the Legions in Italy, the Demi-brigades sent to Santo Domingo, The Northern Legion, Vistula Legion and some odd bits and pieces.  More on that as it develops.

I can adapt to change.  I think I do pretty well with it, but I'm not a fan of sudden change.  The log-in for Blogspot seems to have changed so that it took me a few minutes to get back to familiar ground.  It happens, I swear in one of the several languages I know how to swear in and move on.  Not everything is that easy.  I also know that the next time I log-in I will also forget what I did to get back here and so I will repeat the above.  I guess I need to log-in more often.

So, that brings me to the next topic.  I have several projects running at the same time now.  Working on a book on the Polish Legions 1795 - 1808. This will entail the Italian Legions, the demi-brigades in French Service, The Legion of the North and the Vistula Legion.  I may take it through 1815 since the Vistula Legions were reorganized after the retreat from Moscow.  I am also cleaning up some translations I did while researching the Polish Armies of the Partitions and doing some work on a Roman history.  I may be publishing some of these through a company called Winged Hussar Publishing - but more on that at a later date.

So, if I haven't mentioned it lately, Polish Armies of the Partitions 1770 - 1794, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, B&N.com and all good bookstore.  This does not ship until December, but don't wait.  Click now!! Or if you prefer to browse, run (just not with scissors) to your local store.  Sorry this is what I do - shameless shill for myself and my associates.

Cover up

Hey good news.  We have a cover.  I found that this was up on Amazon - but oddly, not on B&N.com yet.  The nice people at Osprey gave me a copy so I can promote it.  Soooooo, here it is.

The ISBN is 978-1-84908855-8 or for those using old style 1-84908855-1.

It is shipping in January 2013.  That means I can still bug you with updates on this for a little while as I work on my next projects.

Keep an eye out for more information.  Till then keep well.

New Stuff - wait where did this come from

From the last time I posted on here blogger decided to change the format so I got a little disoriented (not that unusual for me).  Well, got a request from Osprey on how I wanted my name to appear on the cover.  Yeah - getting closer, and by closer I mean January 2013.  Excitement galore on that front.

 I'm starting a new project at the moment - Gembarzewski's book on Polish units 1717 - 1831 was a great resource, but very difficult to find.  I'm copying it over in Polish and will put a free PDF download on the site when I am finished.  After that I will put up a translation, annotated and with more information that I will make available as an e-book for a small fee or as a POD copy.

Just finished two articles for the fine folks at Warlord Games on Assyrians and Persians to go with their newly released figures.  There is a third article coming for a yet un-released range so look for that.  More news when I have it.

Some updates and a Pubdate

Finally we have a PUBDATE!  January 2013 is when it goes on-sale, shipping in December 2012.  The irony here is if the Mayan Prophecies comes true you may never see it.  It's always something.

The artist's notes are done.  I expect I may see some changes to the text, but I feel like a good part of the process is done.

There are some more articles up on the Warlord website - mostly Russian Napoleonic uniforms.  I am also working on some ancient history for the Persians and Assyrians just to show I'm not a one-trick pony :).

I have been busy with a bunch of non-history stuff at the moment, but hopefully more updates soon as we get closer to the print date. I'm not sure how long Osprey prints ahead of release, but this means it could mean it has to be edited, laid out and illustrated to go to print in July or August - not that long in print terms.

In any case this is a whoo-hoo moment.

Hurry Up and Wait

Well, the book has been sent to the publisher and I wait for comments and corrections.  Not to be idle, I've started a couple of projects for life after the publish.  First, starting to gather research on phase 2, The Polish Legion 1796 - 1808.  There is alot of information, the question is can i find enough illustration to complement the book.  I think so, but I'm still gathering info.

Next, I was able to get a copy of the Polish Infantry Drill Manual from 1790, that I used in my book on the Polish army.   I'm copying it over correcting to a more readable modern Polish (think where the original was like ye olde English) and then translate into English to be posted as a pdf.

I also found some great Front Rank miniatures to add to my Confederation of the Bar era army project.  The esteem able Dave Taylor has provided me an article on photographing miniatures that I will try to use to show you progress.

Best till later

It never ends

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and the New Year - I did.

The manuscript and illustrations have gone off to the publisher, now I am just waiting for changes, admonishments and suggestions.  That said, I'm still eliciting input and double checking facts.  Up to the time it is laid out all is fair game.  I'm still working on some of the water color drawings for future use - as I finish them I will attempt to put some up on the site.

In conjunction with this book, I am working on some miniatures to tie into this period.  Currently, I'm painting up soldier of the Bar Confederation.  Eureka Miniatures has a Saxon range for the 1760's that works well for some Polish soldiers of the years 1763 - 1772.  They also have some lancers that work with the minimum conversion.

At the same time, Trent Miniatures has a range of figures for the Revolutionary wars in Italy which include the Polish Legions. I did a quick uniform guide for them, but I'm hoping to expand this into my second book - we'll see how that works.  I will probably update this to include some info on flags in the near future.

Totally unrelated, my good friends at Warlord Games have a new line of Russian troops from the Napoleonic Wars, so I am working on a quick uniform painting guide.  More info on that when it is finished and if they use it.