Skip to main content

And to think I almost forgot. . .

The terminally befuddled Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II (in crsimson), his man Hives, and a couple of Stollenian officers attempt to determine which way is up in a 2013 tabletop encounter in the former Stollenkeller.

Wargaming blogs come and go, but The Grand Duchy of Stollen celebrates its 10th year of being this mid-December!  Long-time visitors might recall that the idea of the Grand Duchy was born in early December 2005 as the Grand Duchess baked her authentic Dresdner Stollen in the kitchen of our old apartment right across the street from the lovely Franklin Park way back in Bloomington, Illinois while yours truly mused about model soldiers, doing something completely different, and the mid-18th century across the hall in the spare bedroom that served at the time as my den. . .  the wonderful Purple Room as we referred to it.  

It was about this time that I also stumbled onto The Old School Wargaming Yahoo group, which was abuzz at the time with all manner of wargaming related conversation as well as planning for the now legendary Sittangbad refight by The War Gamers at the May 2006 Partizan show in the U.K.  In particular, through the Yahoo group in question, I was led to the particularly inspiring work of one Mr. Greg Horne, who blogged as the man behind the Duchy of Alzheim.  As an aside, Greg and I are in the midst of a small play-by-email game at the moment using his figures. . .  a game which I think I am in the process of losing!

At any rate, while I did not get around to putting paintbrush to any figures myself until August 2006, once the Grand Duchess and I returned home from our camping honeymoon in the Dakotas and northern Minnesota, the Grand Duchy of Stollen name stuck, and an entire cast of neer-do-wells has emerged in the years since.  This blog took shape, in fact, at that point too thanks largely to an early Battlegames article by Mr. Horne on blogging about one's wargaming.  

The misadventures of The Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II and his faithful valet Hives soon followed, to say nothing of a now rather respectable little army of 25-30mm metal and plastic figures.  Hopefully, they will soon see a return to tabletop maneuvers before much longer.  Call it my pre-New Year's resolution.

In any case, the Grand Duchy has provided me with great pleasure in the years since, and I hope it might have done so too for at least some of you who have joined in at any point along the way.  I've met many like-minded people around the world through this blog, made some good friends, and even had a few wargaming related articles published in the hobby press during the last decade, which has been satisfying.  Saying that all of this has been fun seems like an understatement.  Without a doubt, the enjoyment and sharing in the pleasure brought about by model soldiers will continue so long as there is breath in my body.  Here's to the Grand Duchy of Stollen. . . Long may it reign!

-- Stokes


P.S.
The Grand Duchess beat me to the punch and picked up a very pretty evergreen wreath with a nicely done red and gold bow yesterday and hung it on our front door at the house.  For good luck of course and just in time for Christmas.  The apartment looks barren at this point and has that empty sound to it, but I cannot say I'll miss it when we turn in the keys later this week once we have cleaned up after ourselves.

Comments

Der Alte Fritz said…
Happy anniversary Stokes. Thank you for ten wonderful years of adventures. May they ever continue.

Jim
Bloggerator said…
Hip-hip-hip..!

Huzzah!
Scheck said…
Same from my side. I like your vignette very much!
Peter
Neil said…
Huzzah! Happy anniversary!
Stryker said…
Is it really 10 years? Hard to believe - here's to the next 10!!!
Thank you, men! It has indeed been ten years, and next August will mark the 10th anniversary for the GD of S blog. I had neither gray hairs, nor gray eyebrows back in 2005. Both are turning up with alarming frequency in 2015.

Best Regards,

Stokes
Fitz-Badger said…
Always a delight! Where is that old lobster costume...
Unknown said…
Stokes,
The pleasure (and fun) that the Grand Duchy of Stollen has given you over the years is very evident and we are very lucky that you have shared it with us. I joined the blog late, but caught up with the goings on by reading from the first post; what a happy journey it was too. I look forward to the Stollen and Zichenau rivalry regaining its former 'glory' in the New Year.
Best regards,
Simon
tidders said…
Happy 10th anniversary - long may you blog
Conrad Kinch said…
A fine anniversary. Here's to another ten years!
Nigel J said…
Congratulations Stokes, a wonderful achievement
Anonymous said…
Hussar. Well done. I'm looking forward too another 10 more.

Popular posts from this blog

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!

Taking Stock Part II: The (As Yet) Unpainted but Planned OOB. . .

  Two companies of Reichsarmee grenadiers painted back in 2017 or 2018.  Minden Austrians of course. A lovely early autumn day here in the grand duchy.  Bright sunshine and a light breeze with cool temperatures will make for some very pleasant late afternoon lawn mowing in a little while.  But first a bit more discussion of painting plans for the future. Last time, I looked back at the various and sundry units, support troops, and civilians that I've managed to paint in the last 17 years as the Grand Duchy of Stollen project has developed.  So today, let's look into the seemingly bottomless Drawer 'o' Lead to my left for a clue to the new direction.  Be forewarned, it's not going to be a quick job getting everything painted and based, but there we are. The following plans are based on the pile of unpainted figures already here.  Any future purchases will be limited to small things that might be needed to fill out the envisioned units (the odd few officers mounted o

Having a "No Day". . .

  F or the almost 20 years that she lived in Mexico, one of my late mother's Irish friends frequently mentioned having a "No Day."  A day with no social obligations, chores, tasks, or other work that interfered with whatever personal interests took one's fancy on the day in question. Since today -- a gray and chilly Saturday -- is Mom's birthday, the Grand Duchess is out with friends, and the Young Master is ensconced on the sofa in the TV room with a cold, yours truly is taking his own such No Day.  I think Mom would approve of my decision to make the world go away, as the old Eddie Arnold song intoned, even if only for a little while. So, I will spend Saturday afternoon focused on that first squadron and small regimental staff of Eureka Saxon cuirassiers.  These have stood waiting  untouched over on the painting table for almost three weeks while we skied and otherwise gadded about with snowy, winter outdoor activities. I hope to share a painting update Sunday a