Bella the Destroyer 1, Austrians Nil

 

An Esterhazy Hussar in Austrian service didn't stand much of 
a chance against a 30-pound Golden Retriever puppy.

Our six month old Golden Retriever puppy, Bella the Destroyer, has taken a shine to my collection of wargaming miniatures. The match was played on a fast pitch, which favored the fleet visiting team over the slower, aged home side. The match was scoreless over the first ten minutes, but soon the four legs of the faster hound employed her superior speed as she breezed by the defender and scored the goal. It was a very inept showing by the home team.

Here is a picture of her recent encounter with one of the Austrian Esterhazy Hussars. It did not turn out well for the Hussar:

A lovely looking Minden Miniatures Austrian Hussar after its encounter with Bella the Destroyer.

At least I can say that Bella the Destroyer is a pro-Prussian puppy, given her predilection for destroying Austrian soldiers. That is good news in Potsdam, but bad news in Vienna. There are enough surviving pieces  that might enable me to put the poor Hussar back together. I think that I would leave the damaged bits in their unpainted, chipped paint state and put the figure on display as a warning to any other wayward figures.

Yesterday, I was sitting at my painting table and I noticed that Bella the Destroyer was nosing around near a box of AWI skirmish game figures. After the Hussar Incident (it is now officially an incident) I could only deduce that she was up to no good. Sure enough, by the time I raced the 10 feet from my seat to where Bella stood, she was in the process of picking up a Continental soldier. Fortunately, I was able to wrest the soldier from Bella's maw (I like that word: maw) and return it to its box unharmed. The Continental fared much better than the Hussar.

I am now put on notice that my wargame figures are "fair game", so to speak, and that any future attacks on Vienna or other realms will be entirely my fault unless I keep the Little Men out of reach of the menacing hound.