And Now For Something Completely Different

So, while this blog is supposed to be about my forays into various adventures with miniatures, I am shamelessly going to add this little post about another forthcoming project... my first book!

I submitted the manuscript for Steampunk Soldiers: Uniforms & Weapons From the Age of Steam months and months ago, but last week the initial advances were delivered to the office. Suffice to say I'm over the moon, and spent much of the weekend looking back through it and praying that I didn't spot any spelling errors!

Published by Osprey, and due out in November, Steampunk Soldiers is a look at a range of Steampunk (or Victorian Science Fiction, if you prefer) troop types and equipment. It's broadly in the style of a Men-at-Arms or Elite series book (but hardback and 150-something pages!), and presents illustrations alongside a caption describing the unit's kit, history etc. Below, I've included a shot (apologies for the poor lighting) of one of my favourite pieces, a Tirailleur Sénégalais from the French chapter, to give an idea of the layout and look of the content.

I co-wrote this with Joe McCullough (The Renaissance Troll), already the author of a number of books, and we tended to split the responsibility for various nations, based on personal interest and concepts. All the Great Powers are included in the book to some degree, but there is also a section looking at some of the Minor Powers that bring their own unique contributions to the table (one of my favourite pieces in the whole book, and the subject of one of the few inter-author disagreements, is a Chinese one...).

Much as I love the book (and it is a very nice book), I think the best part of the whole process was the research! I took some time off work to really break the back of the project, digging into unit histories, prototype weaponry, and watching classic movies (Zulu, The Man Who Would Be King etc.) for inspiration. Good times.

The book is available to pre-order on Amazon already (.co.uk here and .com here) for anyone wanting to explore the arms and armour of an alternate bygone age.