12,000+ Visits to The Grand Duchy!!!

Hello there, men! Just a brief note to say thanks to all who have made the Grand Duchy of Stollen a part of their web routine during the last year. The Stollenian court and its ministers extend a hearty “Thank you” to one and all.

The Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II (at left) is very pleased to see that tourist numbers have rounded just over 12,000. Indeed, this is seen as one of the reasons for his return to semi-normalcy. In recent weeks, his doctor and advisors report, the Grand Duke has even begun to take a greater hand in the day to day affairs of state here in Krankenstadt Palace.

While those closest to the Grand Duke report that it is still difficult to coax him from the recently laundered and pressed lobster costume (his intermediary Roman senator’s toga having been discarded – at least for the time being), Irwin-Amadeus seems to have left the malaise of early summer behind. Of course, there is always hope that he might be lured back into a manner of dress more suited to a ruler of Stollen.

The Grand Duke also wishes it to be known that he looks forward to (re)establishing relations with his imaginary 18^th century neighbors directly. And there are even rumors that he will lead a small force of reinforcement into the field, to join the observation corps already in place along the southern frontier between Stollen and its enemy, the Electorate of Zichenau.

Visitors to the Grand Duchy of Stollen can also look forward to a retrospective, of sorts, for the passed year here very soon. For now, it’s back to trimming the mold lines from that huge batch of Revell 1/72 Austrian grenadiers. Charge!

The Eventual Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment. . .

The Anhalt-Zerbst regiment musters in the drill square to sort themselves into platoons and companies during the coming weeks Fall maneuvers if you will. A large dose of real life the last few days with the start of classes next Monday, various preparatory meetings, and finishing up a few other things this week. But, I managed to sort out 60 or so Minden Austrian infantry from the pile and get 'em stuck to temporary painting bases. Must carefully drill out the hands of several NCOs for flagpoles and pole arms this weekend before the usual basecoat. I'm thinking of mixing the usual white gesso with the usual light gray to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. Applying both base- and undercoat in one fell swoop as my grandmother used to say. In the meantime, the recently finished squadron of Saxon cuirassiers has been placed carefully in one of the clear acrylic boxes on my shelves until I have the suitable flag to affix. -- Sto...

Presenting the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere!!!

Here they are, with the rearmost nine figures still drying, three squadrons of the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere, now in the service of the Grand Duchy of Stollen. And now, it's onto that artillery!

Continued Regional Map Revisions. . .

F ooled around a bit more with the revised map just before and after dinner this evening, using the Fotor app to reinsert missing text . I also removed a few other things using the 'Magic Eraser' function, which works surprisingly well. Now, we're getting somewhere. I just have to figure out how to ensure that the text is all a uniform font style and maybe figure out a way to add a few bunches of trees to suggest forested areas, Ninja AI is not always entirely cooperative to the tune of "I'm sorry Dave. I can't do that." -- Stokes

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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