The Grand Duchy of Stollen and its enemies/allies, with their inflated delusions of grandeur and influence on the European stage, are set more or less within the real Europe of the late 1760s.
Stollen's main enemy is the Electorate of Zichenau to its southwest. The two are separated by a large and, as yet, unnamed river. Stollen and Zichenau are surrounded by several tiny principalities (PIllau-Zerbst, Pillau-Reuss, Werben-Steinau, Tauroggen-Fiebus, and Zeller-Schwartzekatz), who vacillate between allying themselves with and/or fighting against either Stollen or Zichenau, depending on how the wind blows on that particular day.
Geographically, all are sandwiched between extreme East Prussia, Courland, and Poland. My imaginary states occupy only about 100 square miles on the map of Northeastern Europe. They are not influential on the larger political stage of the continent in the post SYW years, which is how I rationalize the geographical space they occupy and their omission form history books!
For their part, Prussia, Russia, and Austria regard my made-up states, their respective leaders, and armies with bemused detachment. In fact, it is rumored that even King George III of England refused an offer of mercenary troops from Stollen's Grand Duke to assist in the war against the rebels in America! True or not? Stollen's ambassador in London isn't saying. . .
The populations of Stollen, Zichenau, et al (Primarily Germans, Poles, Lithuanians, Slavs, and a few Swedes) are fairly small, explaining the tiny armies that will eventually maneuver against each other. The forces will number 4-6 units of foot, 2-3 units of cavalry, and a battery of artillery each -- Not straying too far from Young and Lawford's army sizes in Charge! The minor principalities will furnish 2-3 infantry units and a squadron or two of cavalry when absolutely necessary -- much like some of the smaller Confederation of the Rhine states did for Napoleon I in his later wars.
Oh yes, one more thing. Since my states buy old, cast-off uniforms from their larger neighbors, their various forces look similar to, but not exactly like, Prussia's or Austria's, for example. For instance, the infantry regiment I wrote about on OSW a day or two ago wears dark blue coats but with bright orange facings/turn-backs. Their flag resembles Prussian and Russian infantry colors of the period, but is bright orange with light green corner vents. I'm not sure yet what kind of symbol will occupy the center. The pompoms on the figures' hats indicate the different companies (3) within the battalion and are red, light blue, and yellow respectively.
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Regards,
Greg