Oh no, more new ranges!

Some of my Musketeer Early Saxons

I really like the sculpting style of Bill Thornhill of Musketeer Miniatures and have painted quite a lot of his Great Northern War and Early Saxon figures.  They really are a delight to paint!

L to R: Musketeer, Great War Miniatures and Renegade

Today he has announced not just one but four new ranges!  At Musketeer he is going to produce early war Germans for the Great War.  Now the BEF figures that Musketeer produced are the nicest Great War figures that I have seen but, sadly, they are quite small compared with Great War Miniatures and Renegade (of whose range I have painted quite a few early war Germans). Actually, I think the British were sculpted by Paul Hicks (who is launching his own early WW1 range this year) so maybe Bill's chunkier style will work with my Renegades.

Next up, he has announced that once he has finished on the Great Northern War range (obviously the Danes are never going to appear) this year he will also be working on a new range for the Sikh Wars.  Now, of course, I have already bought into the Studio Miniatures Sikh Wars Kickstarter but having two manufacturers doing the period in 28mm could be a good thing, if they are compatible.  I really am fussy about figures going together and can't understand people who can have figures of different sizes in the same army.

Footsore French Officer

He has also set up a new company in the US, where he now lives, called Footsore Miniatures.  He has announced two ranges for this firm: Caesar's Gallic Wars and, first, the Franco Prussian War.  Both will be of interest to me.   The Franco Prussian War figures could start to be released as early as March.  I have always been interested in this but the lack of a good modern range of figures has, fortunately, put me off. Certainly, the initial almost completed first figure is very impressive.

So much for reducing the lead pile this year!

Today, encouraged by Giles' comments, I have been listening to Korngold's Symphony, which was premiered in October 1954.  It's a symphony of mixed moods; with a Brucknerian third movement and a more typically "swashbuckling" finale.   The second movement's style will be very familiar to anyone who has listened to John Williams' soundtrack to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.  Or, rather, the styles are the other way round!