Osprey historical miniatures showdown

It seems like ages since Osprey announced they were going to run this competition and it’s finally been announced today. Miniatures from 30 different companies in a good old fashioned cup knock out. So two have got a bye in round one. It’s a nice bit of “just for fun” and kudos to the boys and girls at Osprey for organizing it.

The idea is that you vote for your favourite in each pairing and the winner goes through to the next round. This looks like it’s gonna run for quite a few weeks, so I’m putting my feet up and cracking open the popcorn. Which are your favourites to reach the final?

First BfK competition: and the winner is…

Apologies for been a little later than expected with announcing the winner of the first BfK competition. My only excuse is that real life got in the way. I’d like to thank the dozens of you who took the time and trouble to enter. You are clearly a knowledgeable bunch because the overwhelming majority of entries supplied the correct answer. I was also amazed at the geographic distribution of entries with some coming from as fas afield as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the USA as well as the UK.

The potrait I asked you to identify was of General Baron Pierre-David (Edouard) Colbert de Chabanais, best known as the commander of the Dutch Lancers of the Imperial Guard (AKA the Red Lancers). His two brothers who also rose to the rank of general were Auguste-Francois-Marie and Louis-Pierre-Alphonse.

The lucky winner is Andy Kay. So congratulation to you, Andy, and I’ll be in touch via e-mail to arrange for you to receive your prize from Offensive Miniatures. My comiserations to the rest of you but hopefully I’ll be able to organize more competitions is future so that you’ll get another chance.

First BfK competition closed

Just a quick note to let you know that the closing date for entries in the first BfK competition passed in the early hours of this morning. A big thanks to all of you who entered – plenty of correct answers were submitted. I’ll sift through the entries over the Bank Holiday weekend and make a random draw for the winner.

Watch this space!

The first BfK competition

Who is this?

This is a modestly historic moment in the relatively short life of BfK: our first competition. It’s free and easy to enter and there’s even a proper prize! And that prize is a set of the forthcoming 28mm Napoleonic French Imperial Guard lancers from Offensive Miniatures kindly donated by the proprietor Dave Jackson.

To enter the competition, all you have to do is e-mail your answer to the question below to me at this e-mail address: befreiungskriege at mskelly dot plus dot com (sorry for spelling it out like this but I’m trying to avoid the mailbox getting hit by spammers). Please help me to not miss your entry by using the subject line “BfK Offensive Miniatures Competition”. So here’s the question:

Look at the portrait on the right. This famous French cavalry commander is one of three brothers who were all generals in Napoleon’s army. What is his name?

Before you fire off your answers, please note that although this is a friendly and informal competition, there are a few simple rules to which you agree by entering. I hope you won’t mind them and appreciate the need for them. I’ve tried to keep the rules to an absolute minimum:

1. The closing date for entries is one minute past midnight (BST) on 1st May 2009. Any e-mailed answers with a delivery stamp after that date and time will be invalid.
2. Only one entry per person. If I suspect anybody of sending multiple entries, I reserve the right to disqualify them.
3. The winner will be drawn at random from the correct entries during the week after the closing date and notified by me via e-mail. The winner’s name (but not contact details) will be announced in a posting here on BfK.
4. By entering the competition, you agree that I may pass on your name and e-mail address to Offensive Miniatures for them to add to their mailing list.
5. In the event of any dispute concerning this competition, my decision is final and I reserve the right not to enter into any correspondence about the competition.

OK, that’s the end of the small print. I hope you enjoy the competition and good luck!