Acquisitions - Modeling - Setting the Scene; Winter Wargaming

To be honest, I had completely forgotten I had ordered this book until it arrived in the mail. Initially I was excited because I thought it was the last of the Panzer Tracts books! However, I'm still excited to receive this one and it took some time. I missed the first printing, didn't have funds available for the second printing and finally managed to get everything lined up for the third printing. Yes, that's right they have already gone through three printings of this book. Setting the Scene; Winter Wargaming is written by Pat Smith (wargaming with silver whistle blog) and no its not about how to play in a cold basement with winter clothes on, although that might help further set the scene. This is a guide for creating a winter layout for the games table.

While I have no real interest in going through the process myself (I have enough to paint as it is without having to do some things twice), I think the book is a terrific resource specifically for winter effects but also for modeling in general. Its well layed out, the instructions are clear (although possibly a bit to terse in a couple of spots) and there are plenty of pictures. I think my only angst is that there seems to be an awful lot of white space on every page. It almost seems like it would have been better printed in something smaller than the A4 format, or make better use of the space with larger pictures (my optometrist has told me I have old eyes). Really this is a pretty minor quibble on my part. The book runs to a 103 pages, with 21 chapters running the gamut from materials to making winter vignettes. The book costs £17.50 plus shipping which varies by location. You can order it from Pat's blog page Silver Whistle.