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The day almost slipped past. . .

To celebrate the third anniversary of the Grand Duchy of Stollen blog, here's a photograph of that very first unit I painted back in August/September 2006, the 2nd (Von Laurenz) Musketeers -- 60+ Revell plastic Prussian musketeers, scrounged from about a dozen boxes of figures.


Due to the start of the new fall semester, a ton of dull administrative stuff, and a couple of excruciating meetings with a department head, who seems totally out of touch with reality, August 19th slipped by me yesterday. And then I remembered a short while ago, sipping my early morning coffee as I sat before the computer.

Yes, August 19th marked the third anniversary of the Grand Duchy of Stollen blog, which I began to document the creation and painting of two Sittangbad-sized forces of 25/30mm old school miniatures, inspired by Young and Lawford's armies as described in that wonderful book
Charge! Or How to Play War Games. Yep, three years ago, I began the journey that has led us down the path of classic wargaming and up it again.

In that time, we've covered a lot -- everything from painting large units of figures, building whimsical houses from common household items, and book reviews, to the misadventures of Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II and his trusty English manservant Hives, play-by-email games, and various off-topic pieces on recipes for things like Dresdener Stollen, North Carolina pork BBQ, cross country skiing trips, and a variety of other errata.
What a long, strange trip it's been as the song goes.

In any case, I am happy you have been part of it as we lurch through the ongoing Grand Duchy of Stollen project, which, by the way, is now past the half-way point. And I hope you'll continue to drop by regularly in the coming months and years to see what new developments crop up, and where they take us. Thanks to everyone for your collective interest and support!


Addendum:

I should point out that the real inspiration for this blog came from Australia's own Greg Horne, whose own Duchy of Alzheim blog, together with an article on blogging by Greg in the first issue of Battlegames, encouraged me to take a crack at it myself. Thanks Greg!!!

Comments

A J said…
"What a long, strange trip it's been as the song goes." Isn't it glorious what strange and wonderful turns life can take? Congratulations on the anniversary, Stokes, and here's to many more!
Prinz Geoffrey said…
Congratulations on three (3) years of blogging and to many more.

Hip, Hip,
old-tidders said…
Congratulations and felicitations from the Kingdom of Wittenberg on the third birthday of the Duchy of Stollen !

from King Leopold IV

---oxo---

Well done Stokes, looking forward to future developments

-- Allan
Bluebear Jeff said…
Furst Bruno von Ursa of the Principality of Saxe-Bearstein sends his sincere congratulations to all of the citizens of the Grand Duchy of Stollen on passing this significant milestone.

Good show, Stokes.


-- Jeff
tradgardmastare said…
Further congratulations from the Court of the Duchy of Tradgardland. May you keep inspiring us for many,many years to come!
best wishes
Alan
CWT said…
Hooray!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

More please!
Der Alte Fritz said…
Congratulations on another fine year of blogging. May Stollen finally win a battle in the fourth year and may the heir apparent be hale and hearty.
Fitz-Badger said…
I can't top what Der Alte Fritz said so I'll just say: Thank you for sharing your wonderful world with us and thanks for the inspiration and entertainment!.
Mad Carew said…
Congratulations!
marinergrim said…
Congratulations indeed.

Figures painted, thoughts discussed, life celebrated - what more do we need?
Martin said…
Well done Stokes! I want to take this occaission to say thank you for sharing your inspiration and imagination with us all. Long may the Lobster rule!
ColCampbell50 said…
Congratulations on your tertiary anniversary!! A feue de jois will be fired this weekend by the combined armies of Carpania, Courland, and Sachsen-Wachsenstein in celebration.

Jim
Thanks so much, men. Tally ho!!!
littlejohn said…
Your blog has been a central inspiration!...and having just come back from one of those beginning-of -the-semester academic meetings that included a fair amount of administrative cluelessness,...I feel your pain!
Congratulations on another milestone, my friend. You've done very well.

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