Unboxing Grand Manner

Viktoria with Dave's packet

Actually this story started some weeks or even months ago. When I planned my new gaming table I asked me which terrain pieces to acquire. There are a lot of excellent manufactureers for 28mm terrain, but the awesome stuff Dave Bodley of Grand Manner caught my eye again and again. One of our group fellows has a large collection of Dave's buildings and at Crisis 2012 I was able to satisfy myself of the quality.

Anyway I didn't place an order until February when Grand Manner offer a nice discount which balanced the high shipping cost. So I gathered with Axel and we ordered some painted and unpainted models. Delivery took reasonable four week and yesterday the packet from England arrived. This turned out to be a very entertainng event for Viktoria who was very well practiced since she opened a parcel from Granma and Grandpa earlier this day.

So Viktoria and me opened the box with greatest curiosity and Mrs Monty documented everything after she recovered her self control.

W A R N I N G

Dave's packages are very well packed with insulating material to protect the worthy contents.

I highly recommend, to unbox them either when your wife is away or after you collected the vacuum cleaner to show good will!

Viktoria and me opening Pandora's box of styrofoam snippets.

The result of our work...

Considering that Mrs. Monty had cleaned the living room this very afternoon, Viktoria and me were careful not to scatter the stuff all around. At least as much care as possible for a two-and-a-half-year-old who attaches great importance to tear every snippet at least once before putting it into the garbage bag...

However after digging which would have done honour to any professional archaeologist we discovered the much desired parcels.

With great attention and shaky hands I started to unwrap the bubble sheets. And guess what I found inside:

Another protective layer of bubble sheet...

Once again: The shipping charge might be high, but transport companies got expensive lately and Dave avoids neither efforts nor material to garantuee the undamaged arival of his stuff. Thumbs up mate!

Unwrapping the first piece step by step.

Just before dinner Viktoria and myself had unboxed and unwrapped everything and after she got to bed I took the time to have a closer look at the terrain pieces.
I was far more than satisfied, actually I was steamrolled by the quality of Dave's stuff. Even the "simple" Wargames Standard painting service comes out great. It's absolutely fine for most games and for smaller pieces it's rather affordable since Dave charges the original cost of the model again for painting. For larger buildings that can get quit expensive but anyone must judge himself whether the result is worth the charge. I avoided it this time but seeing Axel's painted things I really got doubtful.

But look yourselves:

Two gun positions usable for many periods.

A corral and to circular huts for Axel's Africa collection.

Finally my first three buildings for my new gaming board: Two houses and a pigsy mainly for Napoleonics.

Last but not least I prepared a close-up view from my Night Watchman's Cottage. As you see the casting quality is excellent. I didn't recognize any clear molding line and there are only a few flashes at out sticking corners. Naturally the whole model shows recess of mould release but I hope to get them cleaned away easily. Then the heavy tast of painting and not disfiguring the house will await me...

Close-up view on the Night Watchman's Cottage.

Conclusion:

Dave's terrain pieces are expensive. Maby some the most expensive on the market but at least the models are worth every penny. I've seen a lot of things that were only slightly cheaper but suffered either from a lack of casting quality or material quality. Both are without fail at all pieces I've seen from Grand Manner until now.

The painting service is very good as well. Wargames Standard is more then good enough for any board I've seen by now and Dave's Collector's Standard is really worth it's name. But nevertheless everyone hast to decide by himself whether he wants to engage this service or wants to spend some ours with painting the things himself. Personally I'm double-minded whether I should'nt spent my time for painting miniatures and let Dave do the terrain paintjob next time...

Unfortunately the shipping flat charge is rather high. Nearly ₤ 30 to Germany is a lot and you even could buy another terrain piece for that. But during the last years the transport companies rose their charges, Dave's packages are bulky and he uses a lot of material to protect the goods. All in all I cannot judge the shipping cost unfair but in the future I'll try to catch Dave at shows to save it.

So I hope you enjoyed this review and got an idea what is behind Grand Manner. At least after my humble first experience. I know that there are other good manufacturers and I really don't want to paly them down. But Dave has the most extensive and best researched range I know and my experience with him was just top-notch.

If you want to see more of his work, then visit the Grand Manner website (here) or have a look at the following AARs on Monty's Caravan:

- 2nd Siege on Kolberg: Part 1 and Part 2

- Bolt Action 09th November 2012

- Napoleonic Photo Session

Book Review: 1812 by Adam Zamoyski

Currently I'm reading Adam Zamoyski's book about Napoleon's Campaign in Russia in 1812. The book was published in German last year with the title "1812 - Napoleons Feldzug in Russland" but it is the translation of "1812: Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow" which was released in April 2005. However I discovered it a couple of weeks ago when I picked up Mrs Monty at our local library. Although their history shelf is rather sparsely populated with interesting books they bought this work because it stormed the German Spiegel best seller list for non-fiction books.

The English and the German cover.

Since then I worked through the first 200 pages and wanted to let you know my thoughts and my honest recommendation:

The author starts with an overview over the political situation before 1812. He points out Napoleon's worries as self-made emperor and his efforts prepare a solid state and power structure for his son. All the constraints that forced him to carry the struggle with Great Britain on are pointed out clearly and Zamoyski underlines Napoleon's and France's inner and outer conflicts during those year after the revolution. On the other hand he characterizes Zar Alexander I. as unstable and rather heavily dependent on his staff and household due to the circumstances of his accession to the throne. However Zamoyski points out the way to war during 1809 and 1812 very lively quoting a lot of letters or note from contemporary diplomats.

But real tension grows when Napoleon starts to invade Russia. After Zamoyski's description of the preparation the mindful reader forbodes the adversity which were winding up. But once again the numerous statements of contemporary witnesses pinpoint all the sufferings and the needs of the multi-national Grande Armée. Even during their march towards Moskow and Saint Petersburg they experienced all problems which lack of supply and dirty weather can achieve. The author describes the fate of Napoleon's soldiers clearly and here and then draws the line to the Emperor's decisions which turned out to be partially fatal mistakes.

Although I haven't reached the climax of the book, the retreat of the beaten army, so far, I can deeply recommend it. To me Zamoyski seems to describe the events rather fair-minded and neither Napoleon nor Alexander seem to be judged wrongfully. Nevertheless he points his finger to some characteristic weeknesses and tactically wrong decisions of theirs.

If you are interested in Napoleon's Russia campaign those 700 pages are worth a look. Not for nothing did 1812 lead several best-seller lists during the last years.