Musing over a couple of early "Maiwand Day" pics...

I've been putting together a selection of pictures taken over the past year or so, to go with an interview about my "Maiwand Day" project. Having taken hundreds and hundreds of photos at every stage of development, a handful have stuck with me, which I plan to send along with the interview, for possible inclusion when and if it's posted on the web.

Of the stand-out pics, my all-time favorite is the one below, which I have posted here along with its never-before-seen mirror-image twin (the first one served as the masthead image for this blog until after we held the 130th anniversary refight).

The two pictures were taken after I'd glued the foam boards to the cut-down Masonite (for those in the UK, I believe it's referred to as MDF for "Medium Density Fiberboard"), fit them together atop my table and drawn on Mundabad ravine and the three interconnected nullahs, as a guide for the carving to come.

They freeze a moment in time between when the whole thing was just an idea in my head and when it became a usable tabletop to play games on. I think the impact I get from them -- the reason I love them so much -- has to do with the multiple methods by which we get enjoyment from our hobby.

I'm by no means the first to point this out and it's certainly nothing new, but I feel it's worth repeating nonetheless: we research... we plan... we collect... we customize... we paint... we build... we write (or modify) rules... we play... we debate (more or less intensely!)... we win... we lose. All in the company of friends. Then, if we're lucky, we get to clean up and do it all over again... and again... and again.

I may be nuts but somehow the battle-line of finished miniatures arrayed atop unfinished ground with just a hint (via the barely-glimpsed rough outlines) of the work to come, makes me think of all the above -- and puts a smile on my face.

Hope it puts one on yours as well.