Baltic retail therapy

As you might have noticed from my last blog entry, I did manage a bit of retail therapy during my cruise around the Baltic.

In Copenhagen I bought some very nice pre-painted model houses. They are very typical of the type found in that part of Scandinavia but are also useable in many other European city settings.

The 'Budenny' caps (or budionovka) I bought in Russia were – in my opinion – a bargain as I will be able to use them when fighting Russian Civil War battles. There is nothing like wearing a 'silly' hat to put players into the right mood!

The caps are named after Marshal of the Red Army Semyon Mikhailovich Buddeny (also spelt Budyonny), who commanded the First Cavalry Army during the Russian Civil War and the Russo-Polish War. He later went on to command troops facing the German invasion in 1941, where he proved to be a disaster. He lost 1.5 million men killed, wounded, or taken prisoner during the Battles of Uman and Kiev. Despite this he remained a favourite of Stalin’s, and was not executed. In fact he retired as a ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ and did not die until 1973.