Exactly 20 years ago -- appropriately enough on Leuthen Day 2005 -- the idea that became the Grand Duchy of Stollen hit me like a bolt out of the blue as the Grand Duchess baked a stollen for her German students across the hall from my old office ("The Purple Room") in our apartment/flat.
The butterflies were thick that day. It was a snowy, cold Saturday. Final Exam Week was poised to start in a couple of days. I was sitting at the computer happily reading about toy soldiers on one or another online forum. I had recently discovered the now defunct Yahoo Old School Wargaming group along with Henry Hyde's original Battlegames and Phil Olley's Phil's War Cabinet sites along with Greg Horne's Duchy of Alzheim blog.
Each outlet was, at the time, steeped in enthusiasm for mid-18th century wargaming, painting, and collecting in (often) imaginary settings. I was instantly hooked needless to say! All of that resonated with my own reentry into the hobby after a long period of inactivity due to studies, life, the universe, and everything else that we allow to get in the way of more joyful pursuits.
While my early activities centered on creating 15mm corps-level Waterloo-era forces during the 1980s, it was not until I got my hands on an old paperback reissue of Charge! Or How to Play War Games during the mid-1990s that things really gelled in my mind. "This is it!" thought I. But it would be another 10 years before I dipped my toe back into the water with early purchases of the Revell SYW figure sets, later augmented by Christmas gifts of RSM95 figures from the Grand Duchess and her parents. . . and the start of this blog in September 2006.
Almost two decades later, we're still here. Still reading, painting, and collecting although actual games are thin on the ground these days. Again thanks to teaching and other professorial commitments (Sigh). But I keep plugging away. Very much like the proverbial tortoise in his race against the hare.
Since those heady early days here in the Grand Duchy, the toy soldier collection has grown as and when time permits. Whil I do not have an exact number of painted figures at my fingertips, it is now large enough that my preferred 6'x10' table (when it is set up) is not large enough for everything to be deployed. Oh, the sheer irony of it all! In any event, my preferred figures these days are by Minden and Fife & Drum along with a few from Crann Tara, Eureka, and Holger Eriksson.
I could go on and on and on, but long-time visitors, and any new ones, can dig around in the archive to learn more about the Grand Duchy of Stollen project, related activities, and how all of that has taken shape over time. It's very much an ongoing pursuit that continues to bring me great pleasure even during those periods when other duties and commitments get in the way. We won't mention the cross-country skiing, my other passion during the colder months. ;-)
But I digress!
By way of celebrating this important hobby milestone, I've included a photograph of some Anspach-Bayreuth jaegers that were painted two or three years ago. Some of my very best brushwork I think. Admittedly, it's much easier to lavish attention on a relatively small number of figures like these versus my more typical batches of 30-60 figures, representing squadrons, battalions, and regiments as laid out in Charge! Madness indeed as Young and Lawford might have observed.
In more current news, painting on the second batch of my version of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment has begun in earnest with an hour or so each evening lately. The basic colors are just about blocked in on these 20 figures, which means it's almost time for the multitudinous details. Given the tight space between the figures' chins/jaws, shoulders, and musket stocks, it makes good sense to start with the red neck stocks (white for the company officer). Easy enough to cover any misplaced blotches of color with quick basecoat touch-ups before moving to the next item on the painting "to do" list.
Giddy up!
-- Stokes
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