Yes, the Grand Duchy is still very much alive!

Here's a photograph of the lovely independent company of the Wolmar-Bock Regiment, currently in the service of The Electorate of Zichenau.

Gosh, it's been two weeks since my last update here! So, let's see. What's been going on here in Stollen Central?

At first glance, not a whole lot. With teaching this semester plus the added workload from the translation, I've just been too worn out by 8 or 9 o'clock most evenings to do very much except watch Boston Legal episodes on DVD with the Grand Duchess. It's a very bizarre, extremely funny TV program, but THAT isn't getting the hussars painted any sooner.

Anyway, this evening will see me sit down for the first time in quite some time to begin work on the second squadron and possibly finish work on the first squadron, which is all done save for the guidon bearer and a clear coat of Future/Klear floor finish.

And yesterday, we had unseasonably warm weather, so I spent the day outside touching up the green paint on my 2' suares and then appplying two coats of satin finish protective acrylic varnish. Why satin finish? Well, I have made the troubling discovery that latex paint like I have used, if not covered with protective coating, will stick to itself and pull away from the MDF board beneath. Agh!!!

Since I store these squares by stacking them neatly on top of each other, repairs and some preventative measures were in order. I was not able to find any purely flat protective varnish, so satin finish it is. However, I belieive that if you examine some of those old black and white photos of games in The War Game and Charge!, you'll notice a rather satiny looking finish on the table surfaces. So, this is one of those occasional wargaming compromises I've decided to make in my particular universe. ;-)

And on the wargaming front? The above table preparation is to ready things for a play-by-e-mail game that Jonathan Boradus and I will conduct come the end of November, in just a few weeks' time. We are going to use my Stollenian and Zichenauer forces in the scenario laid out in Charles Grant's Table Top Teaser that appeared recently in Battlegames #14 . The one change we'll make is to use infantry companies and cavalry squadrons in lieu of full battalions and regiments. And I'm a bit short on cavalry, but otherwise, I have everything we'll need to pick our respective forces.

Jonathan and I will write a brief narrative to fit Charles' scenario into the Stollen-Zichenau context. But he has already very kindly agreed to take the role of the Zichenauer advance guard commander. I will play the role of Colonel von Lichschpittel, who will be sent by Stollen's General von Drosselmaier to secure the village of Pickelhaubewicz. which straddles the road north to the Stollenian capital of Krankenstadt. Still a bit to do on that front, but you get the idea.

Hopefully, I will be able to spare an hour or two most evenings between now and then to finish up another squadron of hussars, which will give one or the other of us a choice of two light cavalry squadrons. I've also got a couple of extra RSM95 general figures (part of the Grand Duchess Sonja's Easter gift to me last spring), which I want to paint up quickly to represent Colonel von Lichschpittel and Jonathan's yet-to-be-named on-table persona. I figure about 2-4 hours of work there, maybe next weekend.

So, there you are! Even when it seems like things have been standing still on the painting table, in other quarters, plenty has been a goin' on. Keep watching this space for updates on the upcoming game, which Jonathan and I will also promote via other outlets like Old School Wargaming, Jonathan's blog(s), and maybe others. Stay tuned!