Behind the Scenes of Combat

'As the commissioning editor handling the Combat series from the outset, I already had a pretty good idea of what I thought I — and Osprey readers — would want from ‘split-screen’ artwork when Peter first suggested the ‘panorama’ idea. All that went out the window, though, as soon as Peter shared his initial sketches with us! My first impression was ‘Wow’, and the reactions of Osprey colleagues when I showed them what he had in mind confirmed this. It took a little while to work out how to apply this new approach to different time periods and subjects — and to update the other tried and tested Osprey artists involved in this first batch of four books — but once we’d done this there was no looking back!



I think the panorama approach will convey a lot of important information while remaining exciting and immediate, in the best traditions of Osprey battlescene artwork in existing series. I really like the idea of being able to show elements of a small group of combatants — at squad level — interacting with each other as well as the enemy. We’re intending to ‘unpack’ the events shown in two scenes in a commentary on the following page, supported with a black-and-white annotated version of the artwork, in the style of the Campaign series. Thanks again to Peter!'

Thanks Nick! Next week we'll show you how this artwork looks with a bit of colour...