Thursday, June 25, 2026

Wargaming - An exhibition within a museum


Hi,

there is a very cool museum about toysoldiers in Schmalkalden, Thuringia, Germany. It is called „Historicum“ and it shows about 25.000 figures of all periods of warfare and all kind of manufacturers. Each display is a little gem and if you ever have the chance to get there it is worth a visit.

The museum is owned by a private person and last year it had to be extended because the location got too small. So the owner, Stefan Gampe, took the chance to buy the house next to the museum and started to extend the museum.

Stefan also wanted to show a small exhibition about wargaming and asked a local wargaming club from Erfurt and also me to present some displays to fill this exclusive exhibition. I was honored and so I accepted.

Stefan told me about the measurements of the single displays and I got three of them to fill them with some wargaming themes. I phoned the club in Erfurt in order to avoid that they would do the same themes.

I never thought that it would be such a challenge to present a wargaming ruleset with its figures, the needed tools, the rules themselves and doing this in an appealing style, so that the visitors will have a closer look at the presented ruleset. It was even more a challenge as the space was very limited being 80cm wide, 30cm deep and 30cm high. I also had to test the settings at home for the Museum is about 200 kilometers away from my home. So everything had to be prepared at home to fit well into the displays of the museum.

I decided to show the rules of StarWars X-Wing, DeadMansHand and Muskets&Tomahawks.

Here are some photos of the test settings at home and also how the little exhibition looked like in the museum.

If you are interested into the museum and its great showcases just follow the link below.

Historicum


Cheers 

Mike

Trying to get an optimal overview on the ruleset of StarWars X-Wing

Trying not to get the display overloaded with information, but also enough for the
visitors to get the important and relevant information to get a feeling for the system.

How the display looked at Schmalkalden.


A test of the setup of Muskets&Tomahawks.

Another view on the test setup.

The final setup in the museum‘s exhibition.

The third chosen ruleset of DeadMansHand in its planning process.

Another view.

A total overview.

The presentation in the museum.

Some pictures of the displays of the wargaming club Erfurt.

There was also a display showing 1/72 scaled WildWest figures.

Napoleonics.

Some more napoleonics.

Of course Prussians mustn’t miss.








Checking the displays by a clubmember from Erfurt.

Busy actions during placing the showcases.

The corridor where the wargaming exhibition was placed is the connection
of the elder part of the museum to the newer part. 
While the club from Erfurt came with 6 members I was accompanied
by my little daughter to help me.










Sunday, June 21, 2026

Toysoldiers - A comparison of ConteCollectibles to JohnJenkinsDesigns

Manufacturers:   ConteCollectibles, JohnJenkinsDesigns 

Scale:   60mm (1:30)


Hi,

Still in hospital, but I am hopeful to get released on Wednesday. After more than four weeks in hospital I can’t await to get back home. My cool cellar is awaiting me with lots of minis to be painted and some modeling projects that want to be finished.

In order to forget about the cruel temperatures outside and to distract from being here, I scrolled through my pictures on my phone. I have found some photos comparing two manufacturers and their ranges of FrenchIndianWar. ConteCollectibles and JohnJenkinsDesigns.

First of all I have to point out that my absolute favorite manufacturer of toysoldiers is JohnJenkinsDesigns, maybe because of the lots of ranges that caught my interest. The different ranges concerning the FrenchIndianWar are absolutely stunning and the woodland Indians in my opinion are the best sculpted ones from all manufacturers. Maybe FirstLegion could be of more detail , but I like the style of JohnJenkins most. 

But I also like the ranges of ConteCollectibles. The rangers are also fantastic and look like the ones from the movie „Northwest Passage“ with Spencer Tracy.. The small vignettes showing rangers and woodland Indians in hand to hand fight are also very cool.

So here are some pictures comparing both manufacturers.


Cheers

Mike 


A set of ConteCollectibles. A ranger in melee with a woodland Indian.

Another set of ConteCollectibles.

Two sets of JohnJenkinsDesigns. These are my favorite ones.

Again ConteCollectibles.

A comparison of Roger’s Rangers. From left to right -
1 and 2 are Conte, 3 and 4 elder JJD, 5 and 6 newer JJD.

On the left ConteCollectibles, on the right JohnJenkinsDesigns.

Again Conte on the left, JohnJenkins on the right.

Left ConteCollectibles, right JohnJenkinsDesigns.

Just guess.



Sunday, June 14, 2026

Toysoldiers - Some Teutonic Knights by TeamMiniatures

Manufacturer:   TeamMiniatures

Scale:   60mm (1:30)


Hi,

Within my last post I forgot to introduce my Teutonic Knights made by TeamMiniatures. This manufacturer makes very nice ranges and one of by favorite is the range of „The Battle of Legnica 1241“, where Teutonic Knights, Templars and Livonian knights fought against the Mongols invading Europe. Within the battle the combined army of Polish and German knights had been beaten. 

The figures have very dynamic poses and that’s what I like very much. The combination of the martial look of the Teutonic Knights and their poses is really fantastic. If you look at the first figure (picture 3) just notice the pose. The horse is standing on two hooves and the complete weight of the figure is perfectly outbalanced. Remembering that this is not a plastic figure but metal, this must have been a real challenge for the sculptor.

So here they are - hope you enjoy them.


Cheers

Mike


My collection of Teutonic Knights placed in the battlefield of Legnica by AI.

The original picture of my collection.

One of the two additions I got about half a year ago.

The second one.