Great project: The Great War 1914 - 1918

This year is a very special one for military historians or wargamers. It's not only that the opening of the last act of World War 2 - the allied Normandy landings - have it's 70th anniversary. Above all 2014 is the year of the centennial of the Great War's outbreak.

For me this conflict was always interesting and touching alike. It was the first mass destruction war in which the technological development overpowered the importance of the soldiers on the battlefield. The outgroths of this change of military culture within the material battles at the Western Front were always uppermost in my mind. I'll never understand how military leaders on both sides could accept those meatgrinding battles as means of choice.

But besides that it was an era of political upheaval. The European society was shaken to its very foundations and even the victorious powers weren't able to return to their traditional routines. But for the countries in Central Europe the outcome of the Great War was even more changing when their crowned heads were swept away by the tides of revolution.

And as always, when I go deeper into such historical and military topics, recreating it in miniature is just a step away. Already previously the nice figures from Aly Morrison's and Dave  Andrews' Great War Miniatures range caught my eye. Fortunately a friend of mine has some remains in his lead mountain which will give me a good start with some late war Tommies.

What exceedingly inspired me is Sidney Roundwood's excellent blog "Roundwood's World". His miniatures and scenery are pure eye-candy and I honestly recommend to have a look at his great work. The collection about WW1 he's presenting there reaches from nicely painted miniatures to completely designed gaming boards with trenches, ruins and so forth. Overwhelmed by the ideas the lecture of his blog planted in my mind I bought a notebook to keep my golden threat in view.

Within the book will be some space for lists of sources - scientific ones as well as fictional ones like movies featuring WW1. In addition I'll write down my plans of miniatures I'm going to paint, colour suggestions, thoughts about terrain and so on ad nauseam. It's the first time for me to try a project diary and I'm curious how I'll get along with that. Actually I'm a kind of modern, computerised, paperless guy who tries to keep his stuff on data-disks of any kind...

Anyway you'll witness it...