My Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War collection: Part 6: The unfinished figures are finished … and my mojo is returning!

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I discovered a number of figures that I had not finished renovating … but now they are! (It’s worth noting that I also found a small number of German figures that were also unfinished, and these are also shown below.)

The newly-completed figures include:

4 x German Officers (including a metal copy of an original figure from the first Airfix German Infantry box!)

6 x Russian Officers (3 of whom are Naval officers)

4 x Cavalry

13 x Naval Infantry (I have since discovered two more of these figures that need to be completed.)

5 x Infantry in greatcoats and fur hats (Ushanka)

4 x Infantry in tunics and fur hats (Ushanka)

12 x Infantry in tunics and side caps (Pilotka)

17 x Infantry in tunics and helmets

Completing these figures and reading Charles D Winchester’s books has certainly gone a long way to reviving my wargaming mojo … and I am already contemplating adding some more stuff to this collection and fighting some wargames with them.

Nugget 373

The editor of THE NUGGET sent me the latest issue just over a week ago and I sent it to the printer (Macauley Scott Printing Company, Welling, Kent) on last Tuesday morning. I hope to be able to collect it today and post it out to members of Wargame Developments by Thursday.

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IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the first issue of THE NUGGET to be published for the 2025-2026 subscription year.

If you wish to subscribe for the 2025-2026 subscription year and have not yet done so, please request a PayPal invoice or the bank transfer information from the Treasurer or follow the instructions on the relevant page of the website.

The virus seems to have gone ... we hope!

Well, after feeling really grotty for several days, followed by several more days of feeling tired and generally lacking in motivated to do very much, the virus or bug that Sue and I came down with last week seems to have finally gone.

I say 'seems' because experience has shown that these sorts of viruses/bugs often appear to have a boomerang effect. In other words, they seem to have gone but come back with a vengeance for a second bout within a week or so.

Still, with luck we will - over the next few days - be able to catch up with things that have been on hold whilst we have been feeling unwell ... and I have several ideas for blog posts that I want to write over the next few days.

My Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War collection: Part 5: German Allies

The second REALLY USEFUL BOX also contained the figures and armoured vehicles of two German allies in my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War collection.

Its contents comprised:

1 x Hungarian Officer

5 x Hungarian Gun crew

12 x Hungarian Infantry

2 x Toldi Light Tanks (1:76th-scale resin)

1 x Spanish Officer

8 x Spanish Infantry

A box of delights

On Thursday, a large box from my old friend David Crook (the man behind A WARGAMING ODYSSEY blog) was delivered by courier. I was feeling just about well enough to open it and to peer inside ... and what I found confirmed that this was a true 'box of delights'!

I have now had time to carefully unpack the contents which included:

6 x Medium guns (2 different scratch built types [4 and 2] made by Eric Knowles)

2 x Russian 152mm Gun M1935 (Br-2)

2 x Howitzers (Scratch built by Eric Knowles)

1 x Russian 76.2mm Gun

German Fallschirmjäger (including a mountain gun, a 28mm schwere Panzerbüchse 41 (sPzB 41) Anti-tank Gun, an 81mm Mortar, a Heavy Machine Gun, and two motorcycles with sidecars)

German coastal defence troops (including 2 x 75mm sIG 18 Infantry Guns, 2 x 50mm Pak 38 Anti-tank Guns, 2 x 47mm PaK(t) Anti-tank Guns, 2 x 20mm Anti-aircraft Guns, 2 x 81mm Mortars, and 2 x Heavy Machine Guns).

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A bonus was the inclusion of six of David Crook's models, 5 ironclads [4 Turkish and 1 British] and a coastal defence fort.

These will fit in very nicely with my Belle Époque collection and might well encourage me to build some more ships of my own in future.

My Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War collection: Part 4: German figures

The second REALLY USEFUL BOX contained the German figures in my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War collection.

Its contents comprised:

7 x Officers

32 x Gun crew

16 x Repurposed World War I Infantry

56 x Infantry (i.e. 1:76th-scale)

30 x Infantry (i.e. 1:72nd-scale)

1 x Officer (who was missed from the first photograph included in this blog post)

1 x Feldgendarmerie

2 x Pack mules

A community virus?

On Tuesday both Sue and I began to feel somewhat under the weather. Our symptoms were similar to those listed for COVID, but when - on Wednesday - we took the tests we had in our medicine cupboard, neither of us tested positive.

For the past two days we have spent most of our time either in bed asleep or sitting in our respective armchairs dozing. Today, I am feeling a little bit better although Sue remains unwell, but if my recovery is anything to go by, she should begin to perk up as the day goes on, and with luck, we will both be back to what passes for normal by the end of the weekend.

So, if it wasn’t COVID, what have we been suffering from? Well, from what I can gather, it appears to be what the medical profession refers to as a ‘community virus’. In other words, a lot of people seem to have it but they don’t know what is causing it!

As an aside, I had written a number of blog posts before I became ill and I have been publishing them as and when I felt well enough to use my iPad to press the 'Publish' button … which is why blog posts have been appearing whilst I have been unwell.

Recent reading material

During my 'break' from wargaming, I have been doing some reading. I have already mentioned that I intended to read 1864: THE FORGOTTEN WAR THAT SHAPED MODERN EUROPE by Tom Buk-Swienty.

Well, I have now read it ... and thoroughly enjoyed it, just as I did when I read it back in 2015. I might not yet be ready to refight the Battles of Dybbøl or Als ... but I hope to do so in the not too distant future.

I have also been reading two books about the Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War. Both were written by Charles D Winchester, who is a military historian and wargamer with whom I am very well acquainted. 

The first is OSTFRONT: HITLER'S WAR ON RUSSIA 1941-45 ...

... and the second is HITLER's WAR IN RUSSIA.

The second book is actually a very heavily revised edition of the first book and does not include the extensive illustrations and maps in OSTFRONT: HITLER'S WAR IN RUSSIA 1941-45. In fact, it is almost a complete rewrite, and I did not notice that the text of both books were at all similar.

I read these last two books because I have been sorting out and cataloguing my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War collection and it seemed rather appropriate. In fact, they gave me lots to think about whilst I was doing this 'sorting the button box' exercise, and I am already developing plans in my mind to add some more vehicles, artillery, and figures to the collection. Perhaps my wargaming mojo is beginning to return ... which is no bad thing!

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1864: THE FORGOTTEN WAR THAT SHAPED MODERN EUROPE was written by Tom Buk-Swienty, translated into English by Annette Buk-Swienty, and published in English by Profile Books in April 2015 (ISBN 978 1 781 25276 5). (It was originally published in Denmark in 2008 by Gyldendal, entitled 1864: SLAGTEBÆNK DYBBØL [which can be translated as ‘The Dybbøl Slaughterhouse’].)

OSTFRONT: HITLER'S WAR ON RUSSIA 1941-45 was written by Charles D Winchester and published by Osprey Publishing in 1998 (ISBN 978 1 8553 2711 5).

HITLER'S WAR IN RUSSIA was written by Charles D Winchester and published by Osprey Publishing in 2007 (ISBN 978 1 8460 3195 3).

My Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War collection: Part 3: German armour, artillery, and transport

The first of the REALLY USEFUL BOXES that I opened also contained the German armour, artillery, and transport bases that I renovated, varnished, and rebased during the COVID pandemic.

Its contents comprised:

2 x PzKpfw IV Tanks (1:87th-scale ROCO with additional parts from the Airfix PzKpfw IV model)

2 x PzKpfw III Tanks (1:87th-scale ROCO)

1 x Sd.Kfz 231 (6-Rad) Armoured Car (1:76th-scale Matchbox)

1 x Sd.Kfz 221 Armoured Car (1:76th-scale Airfix)

1 x 150mm sIG 33 auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen II (Sf) Self-propelled Gun (1:76th-scale scratch built using a ROCO PzKpfw III chassis, Airfix StuG III road wheels, and Plasticard bodywork)

1 x Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B with 150mm sIG 33 Self-propelled Gun (1:87th-scale scratch built using a ROCO PzKpfw III chassis, ROCO PzKpfw VI JagdTiger casemate, and Plasticard)

2 x Panzerjäger I Self-propelled 47mm Anti-tank Gun (1:76th-scale)

3 x 105mmm leFH 18 Field Howitzer (1:76th-scale Skytrex)

1 x 150mm sIG 33 Infantry Howitzer (1:76th-scale Skytrex)

3 x 75mm sIG 18 Infantry Gun (1:76th-scale Skytrex [2] and Irregular Miniatures [1])

1 x 75mm Škoda Gebirgskanone M.15 Mountain Gun (1:100th-scale Peter Laing Miniatures 150mm sFH 13)

3 x 75mm FK 16 nA Field Guns (1:76th-scale scratch built for various spare parts [2] and Irregular Miniatures [1])

4 x 50mm Pak 38 Anti-tank Guns (1:76th-scale Skytrex)

2 x 37mm Pak 36 Anti-tank Guns (1:76th-scale Skytrex [1] and Irregular Miniatures [1])

1 x Sd.Kfz. 251 Armoured Half-track (1:76th-scale Matchbox)

1 x Sd.Kfz. 11 Light Half-track (1:76th-scale Matchbox)

3 x Sd.Kfz. 6 Half-track (1:87-scale ROCO Sd.Kfz 7 [2] and 1:76th-scale modified Airfix Sd.Kfz. 7 [1])

3 x Opel Blitz Trucks (1:87-scale ROCO)

2 x Krupp Protze Kfz. 70 Light Trucks (1:76th-scale Matchbox)

1 x Light Truck (1:100-scale Mercedes-Benz L3000 Indian Jones 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' Diecast)

5 x Volkswagen Type 82 Kubelwagens (1:76th-scale Airfix [3] and 1:87th-scale ROCO [2])

1 x Mercedes-Benz Staff Car (1:87th-scale Viking)

1 x Medium Car (1:87th-scale ROCO Dodge WC-56 Command Car)

2 x Hoch Kfz. 15 Medium Cars (1:76th-scale metal [1] and resin [1])

Sherlock Holmes on YouTube

Over the past few weeks I have been watching the 1950s French-made SHERLOCK HOLMES TV series. It was originally made for distribution in the Unites States and has recently become available to watch on YouTube.

The series starred Ronald Howard (the son of Leslie Howard and cousin of Alan Howard) as Sherlock Holmes ...

... and Howard Marion-Crawford as Dr John Watson. (He was billed a H Marion-Crawford, probably to avoid confusing viewers with too many Howards!)

Other actors who regularly appeared were Archie Duncan (who played Inspector Lestrade and several other roles), ...

... Richard Larke (who was billed as Kenneth Richards and who played Sergeant Wilkins), and Belgian actor Eugene Deckers (who played seven different characters).

The series producer was Sheldon Reynolds and the associate producer was Nicole Milinare (later the Duchess of Bedford), who was one of the first women to become the producer of a television series. It was mainly filmed in France at Epinay-sur-Seine by Guild Films and one of the directors was Steve Previn, the brother of the composer and conductor André Previn.

There were thirty-nine episodes and quite a few had story lines that were identifiable as being based on some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories. Although Ronald Howard’s portrayal of Holmes might not have been as good as Jeremy Brett’s (in my opinion THE definitive TV Sherlock Holmes), I prefer it to Basil Rathbone’s and Douglas Wilmer’s portrayals. As for Howard Marion-Crawford’s Dr Watson … well, his portrayal compliments Howard’s Holmes, and his Watson is a robust, reasonably intelligent, man-of-action … which strikes me as being true to Conan Doyle’s vision of the character.

This series doesn’t take itself too seriously, and has a humorous element which makes the episodes easy watching.

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The titles of episodes in the series are:

1. The Case of the Cunningham Heritage
2. The Case of Lady Beryl
3. The Case of the Pennsylvania Gun
4. The Case of the Texas Cowgirl
5. The Case of the Belligerent Ghost
6. The Case of the Shy Ballerina
7. The Case of the Winthrop Legend
8. The Case of the Blind Man's Bluff
9. The Case of Harry Crocker
10. The Mother Hubbard Case
11. The Red-Headed League
12. The Case of the Shoeless Engineer
13. The Case of the Split Ticket
14. The Case of the French Interpreter
15. The Case of the Singing Violin
16. The Case of the Greystone Inscription
17. The Case of the Laughing Mummy
18. The Case of the Thistle Killer
19. The Case of the Vanished Detective
20. The Case of the Careless Suffragette
21. The Case of the Reluctant Carpenter
22. The Case of the Deadly Prophecy
23. The Case of the Christmas Pudding
24. The Case of the Night Train Riddle
25. The Case of the Violent Suitor
26. The Case of the Baker Street Nursemaids
27. The Case of the Perfect Husband
28. The Case of the Jolly Hangman
29. The Case of the Imposter Mystery
30. The Case of the Eiffel Tower
31. The Case of the Exhumed Client
32. The Case of the Impromptu Performance
33. The Case of the Baker Street Bachelors
34. The Case of the Royal Murder
35. The Case of the Haunted Gainsborough
36. The Case of the Neurotic Detective
37. The Case of the Unlucky Gambler
38. The Case of the Diamond Tooth
39. The Case of the Tyrant's Daughter