Artillery Campaign Is A Success!

The SYW artillery Kickstarter was a great success with the final pledge tally at $9,354. As a result, the following equipment and figures have been funded for sculpting and production:

Austrian Artillery & Equipment

3- pounder

6-pounder

7-pound howitzer 

12-pounder

"y-frame " limber

2-wheel munitions wagon 

4-wheel munitions wagon

Status: cannons and limber at the caster; and wagons are completed and will be sent to the caster this month.

Russian Artillery Equipment

8-pounder

12-pounder

12-pound Unicorn

12-pound Secret Howitzer

Russian artillery crew (4 loading and 4 firing poses)

Status: work has commenced on the cannon models

Prussian 12-pound Brummer

Status: not started yet.

Personalities

General Fermor (Russia)

Marshal von Browne (Austria)

Prinz Moritz of Anhalt Dessau (Prussia)

One personality to be determined

Status: not started yet.

Final 24 Hours in Kickstarter Campaign

Current Pledge Level:    $8,953

Next Stretch Goal:        $10,000

Amount needed:           $1,047

With the final 24 hours left in the SYW Minden artillery Kickstarter , we have added one final stretch goal at the $10,000 level.

This will unlock Russian 2-wheel and 4-wheel munitions wagons to complete the Russian artillery train.

We have seven pledge levels at $100 or less. For more information or to make a pledge, please click on the link below:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1937253848/fife-and-drum-syw-austrian-artillery

Russian Artillery Equipment Is Funded!

Conceptual view of what the Minden Russian artillery crew might look like (these are Prussian artillery crew and Pioneer figures painted in Russian red and black uniforms)

Kickstarter Update:

Total Pledges: $7,085

Total Backers: 42 people

Days left in the campaign: 8 days

Next Stretch Goal:  $8,500 (unlocks Russian artillery crew - 8 poses (4 loading & 4 firing)

Amount Required: $1,415

We did it! The funding for the Kickstarter campaign surged over the $7,000 threshold so this officially "unlocks" the Russian artillery equipment. This will include the 6 and 12 pounders, the 12 pound Unicorn and the Secret Howitzer designed by Pytr Shuvalov. We also plan on adding a 4-wheel and 2 wheel ammo wagon for the Russian artillery contingent.

I am very thankful for everyone's help and backing and you have made it possible to kickstart the SYW Russian army in the Minden range. So what is next?

I am going to revised the next stretch goal, currently at $11,000 covering the field artillery crew and the Observation Corps artillery crew, into two tranches. The first tranche will be set at $8,500 (down from $11,000) and will fund the Russian regular artillery crew in both firing and loading poses. The Fermor personality figure will be given as a freebie to all backers at the $100.00 pledge level or higher.

The Observation Corps artillery crew will be unlocked at the $11,000 stretch goal. There will be a set of loading and a set of firing poses.

Russian Artillery Crew Kickstarter Page

I think that these changes will make the Russian artillery crew an attainable goal with just 8 days left in the campaign.

If you are interested in joining our Kickstarter Russian Campaign, then please click on the link above and make a pledge. There are seven pledge levels at $100 or less.

Russian Artillery KS Needs A Push To The Finish Line

Russian "Secret Howitzer" also known as the Shuvalov Howitzer, on display at the Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Isn't it wonderful that some of these original pieces still exist?

Making the final push to our stretch goal:  SYW Russian artillery crew prolonging light 3-pounders by hand. The photo is  taken by  John Ray and shows  a small portion of his magnificent collection of SYW Russians. To see more, join the A Military Gentleman forum.

As of today, we are $375 short of hitting the $7,000 stretch goal that will unlock the Russian artillery equipment in our Kickstarter funding campaign. We have 39 backers who have pledged a total of $6,625 so far. If you can help us out, then please click on the link below to visit our Kickstarter page and become a backer of the project:

Minden Kickstarter for Artillery

There are several ways to reach our goal of the Russian artillery:

1) we have an Investment Angel who will pledge the entire $375 needed

2) current backers increase their pledge amounts, in aggregate, to $375

3) some potential backers are still sitting on the fence waiting to make their pledge


Let me address #2 - increasing your pledge amount. Remember, you may swap any portion of your pledge (on a dollar for dollar basis) for the same retail value of any Minden or Fife & Drum miniatures. And because the postage is already included in your original pledge, you can effective order figures that you were probably going to order anyway, at some future date, and get the built in discount of free shipping on your incremental pledge increase.

In the event that we do reach the $7,000 stretch goal, thereby unlocking the Russian artillery, all backers may substitute Russian cannon for the Austrian cannon listed in your pledge reward level.

There are just 9 more days to go in the campaign. I am confidant that we will reach our goal, but forgive me if I try to give some people a little nudge.

Let's Get Frederick the Great Really Ticked Off!

Prussian (Left) and Austrian (Right) artillery train drivers on the new LH-003 Limber Horse

Pledges are $6,214 USD as of today so that means that the Austrian artillery is funded as is the 12-pounder Prussian Brummer. (Fritz likes Brummers).

Fritz is also happy that the Russians, so far, are not going to fight their next battle with artillery because the KS campaign still needs $786 USD dollars within the next 11 days in order to hit the stretch goal of $7,000 USD, which will unlock all of the Russian artillery.

So if you like the Austrians and Russians and cannot stand the Brandenburg Usurper, then help make Fritz unhappy by clicking on the link below and making a pledge. Pledges start as low as $15 USD and there are seven pledge levels of $100 USD or less:

link

Also, our spies report that the Austrian artillery greens are already at Griffin Moulds getting outfitted for production moulds. So when this Kickstarter closes, the cannon will quickly be on their way to backers. We understand that Fritz is very upset over this rearmament of Marie Therese's army. He he he. 

Finally, here are some of the new Austrian and Prussian artillery train drivers and the new limber horses, which are now in stock in the US and through our UK distributor : Crann Tara Miniatures.

All of our previous civilian limber drivers and limber horses have been removed from stock (they were made by a different sculptor) and replaced with new limber horses and drivers sculpted by Richard Ansell. This provides a more uniform appearance to the range in that every man and beast in the range is now sculpted by Richard.

Tomorrow night I hope to have painted samples of the two new civilian limber drivers. One wears a brimmed hat and is wearing a sleeveless waistcoat. The other driver is wearing a tricorn hat and a full jacket.

The new LH-001 (left) and LH-002 limber horses are shown with the Prussian artillery train driver and  AE-019 munitions wagon.

Maurice de Saxe Vignette Painted

Maurice de Saxe at Fontenoy Vignette (click to enlarge)

Kickstarter Update:

Pledges as of today:   $6,102

Next Stretch Goal:     $7,000  (unlocks the Russian artillery)

Amount Needed:        $898

Second Stretch Goal: $11,000 (unlocks the Russian artillery crew and free Lt. General Fermor figure)

Days Left In The Campaign:  14 days

How to back this project: click the link below:

Minden SYW Artillery Kickstarter

Backers:  33 (thank you everyone! You are true heroes)

We are sooooo close to unlocking the Russian artillery equipment and I am sure that we can make the final push to $7,000 this week. After that, we will need the artillery crew to man the guns, but the goal here is $11,000 as it costs a lot of money to get 16 new individual figures sculpted, master moulds made, production moulds metal even before we start spinning the metal and making the product. So we need your help to get the Russian artillery crew into the production cycle. 

I have probably had more requests for Russians than I have for any ten other nationalities combined. Several of you have been quite vocal, but your names are not among our backers so far. Now is the time to help the campaign so that we can all see Russians added to the Minden range.

Maurice de Saxe Vignette

I spent quite a bit of time Saturday painting the Maurice de Saxe vignette that Minden Miniatures and Crann Tara Miniatures are offering soon (I'm waiting for the wagons from the caster, but I have Maurice and all of the figures that go with the wagon. Crann Tara has everything in stock).

Maurice reviewing the  troops

I stayed up until 3 AM Sunday morning getting the basing done, to this point, grass to come later today. Hooking up the metal traces was a bit tricky. I might use wire or black thread in lieu of the traces were I to assemble and paint another one of these models.

The Volontaires de Saxe uhlan driver looks very nice as well. I also painted the officer and have a few of the lancers on my painting table. These uhlans are the goods! Relly nice looking figures and easy to paint since they do not have a lot of equipment on them.

Inspiration for the Maurice de Saxe vignette was drawn from the following pictures:

Final Thoughts

You may have noticed that I have been picking up the pace of my blogging lately. It will continue as I want to hit the 100 posts goal for 2014. At 53 posts, I have a way to go, but I think that I can make it. So please stop by and visit more often because there will be a lot of new content going up several days each week. And do feel free to leave any comments. We like to read your comments.

The Brummers Are Coming, the Brummers Are Coming!

Kickstarter Update:

Pledges made:        $6,002

Next Stretch Goal:  $7,000 (unlocks the Russian artillery equipment)

Amount needed:      $998

This morning, one person pledged  a very generous $500 to push us past the $6,000 stretch goal that will unlock the Prussian 12-pound Brummer. Thank you very much to this gentleman and to all of the backers who are making the launch of SYW artillery in the Minden range possible.

The fine picture of the Brummer was taken by Christian Rogge at the Musee des Armes in Paris. Christian reports that the cannon show is actually a version of the Brummer that was produced after the SYW, but the SYW version is very similar .

Now we get down to the real nitty gritty of this campaign -- the Russian artillery! I am very excited about the prospect of adding the Russian cannon to the range. Although we are starting with four cannon, there are so many varieties of Russian ordnance that I am sure that we will add more than four cannon.

If you want to see Russians in the Minden range and you have been meaning to back the Kickstarter campaign, then please visit our KS site and get more of the details:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1937253848/fife-and-drum-syw-austrian-artillery

Maurice de Saxe, Your Table Is Ready

Kickstarter Update:

Amount Pledged:        $5,317

Stretch Goal:               $6,000. ( unlocks the Prussian Brummer )

Pledges Needed:           $683

Next Stretch Goal:      $7,000 Unlocks the Russian artillery models

Pledges Needed:        $1,683

SYW Artillery Kickstarter

Ever since I first read the story about the Battle of Leuthen and Frederick's use of the giant fortress guns from Glogau, called Brummers ( because of the loud noise that they made when fired), I have wanted to have such a model in my SYW Prussian army. Now with this Kickstarter stretch goal of $6,000 so tantalizingly close, my imagination may finally become a reality. As of this morning, we only need $683 of new pledges to hit this stretch goal. I feel like this is definitely an achievable goal, so with one final push over the weekend I think that we can make it. So if you are planning on backing this project, but you just haven't gotten around to doing so, then please click on the link below to visit our KS site and make your pledge. We have seven pledge levels of $100 or less so if you can only make a small contribution ( $25 is the smallest pledge amount), then we can accomodation your needs. Every pledge, no matter what size, is important.

Maurice de Saxe Vignette:

I finally got around to assembling my wicker coach model for the Maurice de Saxe vignette last night and I must say that the prospect of assembling the model was more difficult than the actual assembly process. Sometimes you just have to just pitch in and start working on it. The only difficult part was figuring out how or attach the rear bracket to the rear axle of the model. However, a look at one of the pictures provided by Niels Rullkotter, the designer, soon made things clear (see the third picture below):

I plan to prime the model Friday evening and start painting on Saturday in anticipation of completing the project over the weekend.

The Russians Are Coming?

The Minden Kickstarter campaign hit the initial funding goal of $3,000 for the Austrian artillery on Day 2 of the campaign, so I am very pleased with the results so far.

Next up: we need to hit the $8,000 pledge level in order to get the Russian artillery equipment kick started. 

We have seven different pledge levels of $50 or less to make it easy to back the project with a small contribution as low as $15. There are ten pledge levels of $100 or less and  pledges over $150 come with swap privileges that allow you to trade in your Austrian or Russian pledge for anything in the full Fife & Drum and Minden figure ranges.

Minden Russian Infantry - conceptual unit using French infantry figures.

Now I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of people who, in the past, have asked "When are you going to add Russians to the Minden range?" The time is now, but we need to have you step forward and make a pledge to this Kickstarter campaign. If you want Russian infantry, cavalry and artillery, we need your support to get the Russian project rolling.

So click on the link below and visit our Kickstarter page to see how it works.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1937253848/fife-and-drum-syw-austrian-artillery

And if you would make a contribution of any size, I would be most grateful for your support.

New Minden Austrian & Russian Kickstart Campaign Begins

Minden Austrian Artillery Crew figures are shown with Berlin Zinnfiguren cannon and limbers and RSM limber horses.  Minden will be adding its own cannon, limber horses and riders to the range.

Minden Miniatures has just launched a new Kickstarter campaign to secure funding for SYW AUSTRIAN and RUSSIAN artillery equipment. We seek to raise funding of $3,000 to get the five Austrian models shown below into production by December 2014. If we hit the stretch goal of $8,000 then that will help fund the start of the SYW Russian artillery range. (and yes, we plan on adding lots of Russians in 2015).

The Russian cannon will tentatively include a Shuvulov Secret Howitzer, the 6-pd and 12-pd field guns, and a 12-pound Unicorn howitzer, and maybe a few other unusual Russian equipment pieces.

The Austrian cannon will include the Liechtenstein System 3-pdr, 6-pdr, 7-pd howitzer, 12-pounder and limber. Visit the link to our Kickstarter page and learn more about the funding campaign. The campaign ends in 30 days on October 12, 2014.

Minden Kickstarter Link

As you can see in the pictures below, we already have most of the Austrian equipment sculpting and design completed, so this campaign will get models to you very quickly. We will be starting on the Russian equipment and a couple of other surprises very soon.

Austrian 12- pounder "green" ready to go to Griffin Moulds for master and production moulds.

Austrian 7-pound howitzer :

Austrian 3-pounder:

Austrian 6-pounder:

Austrian 12-pounder shown in the travel position attached to the limber:

Last 24 Hours of Fife & Drum Kickstarter!

Minden (left and right) and Fife & Drum (center) mounted officers.

There are about 24 hours left in the Fife & Drum Kickstarter Project, and as of this posting the pledges totaled $22,887 from 96 backers. Since my target goal was $5,000 for the initial funding, it goes beyond saying that this has been a very successful Kickstarter Project and it will provide all of the funding that we will need for the next two years. Thank you everyone!

Now there is the little matter of reaching the final stretch goal of $24,000 which will unlock the French circa Savannah in 1779. If we are able to raise $1,113 in additional pledges over the next 24 hours, then the French will become "unlocked". The term "unlocked" means that enough pledge dollars will have been raised to fund the development and production of that specific item, in this case, the French Army of 1779.

Just a few more pledges will get us there. So if you enjoy the Fife & Drum range of miniatures and you want to see the French added to the range, now is the time to pledge some money to make it happen. Click on the link below and travel to the Kickstarter Project page for Fife & Drum Miniatures.

Fife & Drum Kickstarter Page

In the right hand column of the page, you will see a number of Pledge Levels that you can choose from. Each pledge sends your investment dollars to our Kickstarter Project, and in turn, you will receive the miniatures listed for the various pledge levels. Select the level that interests you by clicking the green icon and you will be walked through the process.

AWI Hessian Grenadiers & Jagers Are Coming

The Fife & Drum Kickstarter Project has now passed the stretch goal of $16,000. This means that the Hessian Grenadiers and Jagers for the AWI will now be able to go into production in late 2014 or early 2015. A hearty thanks to all of the backers of this project. Your support of Fife & Drum is most appreciated.

Our next stretch goal is the $20,000 level -- this would unlock the Highland Regiment figures.

With respect to timing, I've pegged January 2014 for the delivery date of the first 16 dragoon castings, which will cover the British 16th Light Dragoons and the 1st Continental Dragoons.

After that, I am assuming six month intervals between new product releases that will be funded by the Kickstarter funding. So roughly, the British Legion and 3rd Continental Dragoons would go into production around June 2014 and the first of the Hessian infantry would arrive by the end of 2014. Then the second half the Hessians would be shipped by June 2015.

Richard and I will be exploring ways to create dollies for commonly used poses throughout the range. This will help reduce the amount of time it takes to sculpt a new figure and possibly improve the turnaround time a little bit. Basically, Richard is creating each figure from a dead start, whereas if some of the equipment pieces and heads are already made and available, then it doesn't take as much time to complete a figure.

It seems odd to be thinking about 2015 when I am primarily focused on working on the dragoons and getting ready for Historicon, next week, but successful "crowd funding" enables us to zero in on long-term plans with a higher degree of certainty.

Closing in on the Hessian Part Deux

The Fife & Drum Kickstarter project has soared to $15,460 and only requires $540 to reach the stretch goal of $16,000. This will unlock the rest of the Hessian infantry (grenadiers and jagers).

Next goal: $20,000 which will release the Highlanders! As you all know, Highland regiments are among my favorite troop types.

Whoever pushes us over the $16,000 level will get a mounted general or the Spirit of 76 vignette painted by me, Der Alte Fritz.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1937253848/fife-and-drum-expands-its-american-revolution-rang

Hessian Musketeers on Kickstarter Are Unlocked!

Yikes! That was fast. Early Tuesday morning we passed the $12,000 stretch goal which unlocks the Hessian Musketeers to the Fife & Drum AWI range of miniatures. I am excited by these new possibilities and am very grateful to everyone who has supported the Kickstarter Project so far. Every contributor at or above the $12 level now gets 24 free Hessian infantry figures along with the right to swap them for any other existing or future figures in the range (1 dragoon = 3 infantry figures or = 1 artillery piece).

Our next stretch goal is to reach the Knyphausen Level of $16,000 so that we can get the Hessian grenadiers and jagers into production. There will be some more reward enhancements announced later, but I would imagine that a Knyphausen personality figure will be one of the items under consideration (I want a Knyphausen, so you can probably guess where this is heading).

If we really get rolling and hit the $20,000 stretch goal, the Patrick Ferguson Level, then the Highlanders will become unlocked  and we just might get a Major Ferguson figure as well.

Thank you everybody for your support. It is both humbling and highly appreciated.

New Kickstarter Rewards Offered For AWI Hessian Fundraising

Our Fife & Drum Kickstarter project is now up to $10,233 and we have 39 backers. We are funded and we passed our first stretch goal of $8,000 which unlocked the British Legion cavalry.

Now we have the Hessian infantry in sight as our next goal, but we need to reach a funding level of $12,000 to unlock the Hessians. Every pledge moves us closer to our goal, even the smallest pledge.

But we've added a HUGE incentive for you Hessian fans: free figures! That's right, if we hit the $12,000 funding level then EVERYBODY GETS 24 FREE HESSIAN INFANTRY FIGURES!

Think about that for just a minute. You could pledge say $24 to get 4 dragoons, and you will get 24 foot for free. But wait, it gets better: you can swap each dragoon for 3 infantry or 1 cannon. That's potentially 12 more infantry as your base reward and 24 more foot just for being smart enough to pledge before the $12,000 goal was achieved. That's a 25% discount off of our retail price for an infantry figure or $1.50 per figure with the discount. And we are not done giving away freebies!

Since we already hit the $10,000 pledge level, every backer automatically receives a free mounted officer of your choice. Guys, we already passed that threshold so ANY new pledge qualifies for the free mounted officer. That's free cheese! You can't lose with this deal.

So help us move the ball another $1,800 by visiting our Kickstarter page and make your pledge today:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1937253848/fife-and-drum-expands-its-american-revolution-rang

Fife & Drum expands its American Revolution range

Hessians Are Coming Too!

Minden Prussians, shown to conceptualize what AWI Hessians might look like. Click to enlarge.

Just a little bit of an update on the Fife & Drum Kickstarter Project. As of today, we have pledges in the  amount of $9,329 from 32 backers. If you would like to contribute and become a member of "The Fife & Drum Corps", then click the link below:

Fife & Drum Kickstarter

With 25 days remaining, it looks like we have a reasonable chance of hitting the Stretch Goal No. 2 at the $12,000 pledge level, and this will unlock the first 16 Hessian musketeer infantry. Grenadiers and jagers and artillery crew would follow thereafter.

As previously announced, the first Stretch Goal No. 1 of $8,000 has been achieved, so this means that the British Legion cavalry of Banastre Tarleton will become unlocked. We will probably release the 3rd Continental Light Dragoons at the same time to balance out the range a little bit.

Tarleton Is Coming!

Banastre Tarleton, after portrait by Joshua Reynolds.

The Fife & Drum Kickstarter Project is progressing very well, having reached and passed the initial funding goal of $5,000. We are now within $615 of hitting our first Stretch Goal of $8,000 and this will unlock the Tarleton personality figure as well as his British Legion cavalry figures.

Like him or hate him, the man certainly had a lot of dash and style as exemplified by Joshua Reynolds' famous portrait of Tarleton. This is one of the iconic pictures of the AWI and the British Legion uniform is a real piece of eye candy, as we would say today. I am excited by the probability that we will be able to add these figures to Fife & Drum Miniatures. We are so close, but we need just a little more help from you to get across the Stretch Goal finish line. 

So please click on the link to our Kickstarter Project and take a look at our story

Fife & Drum Kickstarter Project Page

You can make contributions as little as $1.00 or if you back the project at the $50.00 level then you also get a free Spirit of '76 vignette. In any event, many small contributions often add up to a big number. 

best regards,

Fritz

Fife & Drum Miniatures Launches AWI Dragoon Kickstarter Project

Kickstarter Reward shown: Spirit of '76 Vignette. The other vignette is from the Minden Miniatures range of figures (not part of Kickstarter). Also shown is the new Ammo Wagon and our existing Continental Artillery crew and Swedish 4-pounders. Click pix to enlarge.

Fife & Drum Miniatures is pleased to announce that we have just launched a Kickstarter Project to help put our proposed British and American Light Dragoons into production. Our initial goal of $5,000 will cover the cost of sculpting 16 greens and making the master and production moulds.

Fife & Drum Kickstarter Link

I talked with Richard Ansell today and he is very keen to get started on the dragoon project, which will initially feature a selection of 8 British dragoons and 8 Continental dragoons. Eventually, we want to create the British 16th and 17th Light Dragoons, Tarleton's British Legion cavalry, the 1st and 3rd Continental Light Dragoons, some South Carolina mounted partisans (Pinkney and Marion) and a whole other host of cavalry goodies. 

As you can see, we will do nothing in small measures as I want to produce one of the most comprehensive ranges of AWI cavalry to the Fife & Drum range of figures. I am particularly excited by the cavalry project, because once the figures go into production (around January 2014), we will have achieved our Phase I goal of getting all three combat arms into production so that our customers can field complete AWI armies for both sides of the conflict.

We have some interesting stretch goals too, as you can see from our link. There will be Hessians, Highlanders and even French infantry for Savannah finding their way into our product line over the next several years.

So go ahead and look at our project. You can contribute as little as $1.00 or qualify for the Spirit of '76 Vignette with a minimum contribution of $50.00. Any contribution will be gratefully accepted.

I want to thank everyone for the encouragement and support that you have given the Fife & Drum range so far. I also want to thank our talented design team including Richard Ansell, Alan Marsh and the exsquisite casting work done by Griffin Moulds.

respectfully yours,

Jim Purky (Der Alte Fritz)

Finished Spirit of '76 Vignette and some Jagers

Minden civilians carrying ammo chest, Fife & Drum Spirit of '76 vignette, and F&D equipment and artillery crew shown (click pix to enlarge the view).

Hesse Seewald Jagers - Fife & Drum Continentals and Militia painted as an Imaginations Army: 28 figures representing a Light Battalion in Charles Grant's "The Wargame" rules.

It has been a busy weekend here in Hesse Seewald. First of all, the Erbprinz was assembling and kitting out two companies of light infantry to serve as his escort to his ultimate destination where he will learn the Art of Warfare under the tutelage of one of Europe's foremost military tacticians. Who that person is, I cannot say just yet, but eventually the Erbprinz's destination will be revealed. The light battalion is comprised of two companies of the Hesse Seewald von Birckebeil Regiment that are on detached duty to guard the Erbprinz as he travels across central Germany.

The figures are all from the Fife & Drum AWI range of figures. I used Continentals mostly, as well as several militia standing firing and wearing tricorn hats (you can see them on the left hand side of the picture). The point is, that Fife & Drum figures can be used for both AWI and for your Imaginations armies, to equal good effect.

The picture on the top depicts the new Spirit of '76 vignette that we have just added to the Fife & Drum range. While my intention was to give away the figures at Historicon and/or as part of a Kickstarter reward, I have decided that I will sell the Spirit vignette via mail order. Any order worth at least $8.00 (that is four infantry figures) will receive a free Spirit of '76 vignette along with your order.

I only have 40 sets right now, but I will be sending in another order to Griffin Moulds for another 200-300 more sets, so I should have more than enough sets available for everyone within a couple more weeks (unless you hurry up and send in one of the next 38 orders this week).

Artillery Equipment Update

I have decided to go ahead and commission the rest of the French artillery based on the drawings of Christian Rogge, so this means that the French Valliere 16-pounder, 24-pounder and 8-pound howitzer will be added to the artillery equipment range. Christian is also working on drawings for the British artillery circa the SYW so this will allow us to add British 5.5" and 8" howitzers and 12-pound smooth bore cannon later this year. Christian is also gathering information on the Prussian Brummer cannon so I will definitely add the Brummer to the range as soon as I can. There will also be more support wagons (2-wheel and 4-wheel general purpose wagons and powder wagons). And if I can find some decent pictures of a traveling carriage, I would like to add a "Royal Carriage" to provide transportation for all of those Imaginations Dukes, Landgrafs, and Kings, etc who are roaming around Europe right now.

In a word, there is a lot more to come on the equipment side of the Fife & Drum range.