September has 9 letters in it and is also the 9th month of the year. Coincidence? I think not. The plot thickens further when you consider that septem means seven in Latin and was actually the seventh month of the Roman calendar up until 153 BC. When the British Empire finally adopted the current Gregorian calendar in 1752, the change caused the 2nd September to be immediately followed by the 14th that year. Strange, I’m sure you’ll agree. While I continue to ponder over the age-old mystery that is September, I’ll leave you to marvel at this month’s Calendar entries…

Don Fellini from Australia kicks things off this month with the revelation that apart from our glamorous office location in England, there exists another place called Horsham down under!

“This is a screenshot in game of Medieval II. The hills in the background covering the sunset are uncannily similar to the mountains in the Grampians mountain range. If you travel from Stawell to Horsham along the highway and look to the left these hills can be seen almost identical to the ones in-game. So because I actually grew up in Stawell living in the distance of these mountains I decided to call the piece “Grampian’s Sunset”.

Daniel Mau has sent in another uniquely styled image, perhaps portraying soldiers getting back to their normal occupations after war, or a field that was once the stage of a grandiose battle and has now recovered to produce its first harvest. Or maybe it’s simply a nutritional endorsement to eat more wheat!

Neset Kaya submitted the following bleached-out screenshot entitled “Bulgaria Yeniceri”. I’m pleased to report that the depicted ambush went swimmingly…

Pawel Derejczyk from Poland has sent in another great drawing this month, featuring a lone soldier posing for the camera in the desert. Keep ‘em coming, Pawel!

James Young from Devon, England returns for an epic third month with an energetic battle scene featuring more spears than you could shake a stick at!

“September 1297, Stirling Bridge. Scottish schiltroms and light cavalry smash through the English heavy infantry at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. The image is a pencil drawing with layers of paint and ink/bleach added and manipulated using Photoshop.”

Maciej Sprada from Poland sent in this realistic 3D offering that shows that war can be a beach.

“First I created this model in 3ds Max 8. This was the most tiring thing because I created all the models individually. I spent a couple of nights doing that. I rendered a scene and used Photoshop filters (dry brush effects) with the proper settings. I did this because I wanted to create a scene that looked like a painting. Manual paintings representing this period always look gorgeous.

So why did I want to show this period and crusader battles? Medieval 2 Kingdoms will have premiered by September and one of the campaigns is Crusades (this is the most favourite period for most players too). For many people (me, for example :] ) this is the end of holidays… the return from exotic countries like Turkey, Egypt… so I wanted to include a sand motif too. I like this period of time and of course I love this game ;]”

Matt Naughton from England created the following image of silhouetted Roman soldiers contrasted against a cloudless blue sky.

“I took a picture from Rome: Total War using the cinematic editor tools. I then edited it on Photoshop CS2 with filters and added sharpening. I came up with the idea by watching the movement a general makes when he uses the rally option and then capturing a freeze frame of the moment. The picture relates to September because the general is issuing orders in the gleaming sun, which is a common trait of good weather in the summer.”

Ian Douglas from Leicester sent in this vibrantly coloured piece that was created using a variety of inks and pencils.

“This pic represents a last fight between two fanatical men of war under a leaf-shedding tree in September as autumn draws in. Red Semtember was created using pencils to draft, then light ink then painted over with luminous colour inks and gone over again in black ink. The idea was for a very simple battle scene trying to bring the viewer right into a personal two-man battle frozen in a moment in time. I also wanted a slightly robotic scene which is why I used characters from units that look more like automatons than humans.”

This month’s winner comes from Gary Kendall (aka Dr Gary) in Hampshire, England. No stranger to the Create A Calendar Competition, Gary first submitted an entry back in February and then made a welcome return in May. In his own words, here is how he was inspired to create this dramatic winning image:

“Traditionally, 24th September was the day on which harvesting began and the last of the crops were gathered in medieval England. This was my main source of inspiration. September also marks the start of autumn, the transition from summer into winter. Hence the reddish/terracotta hue and the worsening of the weather. The image was created in Photoshop using a number of layers, layer masks and blending modes.”

September 2007’s Create A Calendar wallpaper is available to download in two sizes here.

As summer draws to a close, so too must September’s calendar blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading it and I look forward to seeing what you send in for October’s Create A Calendar Competition, which has now officialyl started. You have until Sunday 30th September to get your entries in, and this month’s prizes include a copy of of the highly rated expansion pack Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms, plus signed Total War artwork, Rome and Medieval II soundtracks. For full entry details, please click here.

Halloween is one of the most prominent dates in October, so it’d be great to see some spooky Total War images to bewitch our desktops!

Take care,

Mark O’Connell
(aka SenseiTW)