The Grand Duchy of Stollen

A more or less aerial photograph of the battlefield.  Note the orange and blue Stollenian pavilion tent on the northern edge of the table, marking general headquarters, as well as the yellow and purple Zichenauer pavilion on the southern side.  The River Elbow is about at mid-table.  Speaking of tables, this one measures 6' wide x 8' long. A t m id-morning on 4th August 1773, as the mists cleared along the River Elbow separating the Grand Duchy of Stollen and the Electorate of Zichenau, a Stollenian cavalry patrol spotted a large mass of enemy troops setting up camp in the distance beyond the opposite bank.  Word was immediately sent to General von Tschatschke, who was still a day's march north with most of the Stollenian Army.    The scouts next withdrew to a safer vantage point and continued to observe as the Zichenauer army began deploying on their own side of the river.  Through a telescope, the Stollenian cavalry officer in charge, one...

The bucolic River Elbow, a tributary of the Lesser Zwischen River between the Grand Duchy of Stollen and its bitter enemy the Electorate of Zichenau. S tollenian jaegers along the frontier have sighted occasional small detachments of Zichenauer cavalry on the far side of the River Elbow during the last several days.  As of yet, it has been impossible for Stollenian officers determine the exact size or composition of General Phillipe de Latte's army based on these early reports, and no enemy troops have crossed the river into the Grand Duchy of Stollen as far as advance scouts can tell.   However, agents operating within Hissig, the Zichenauer capital, have supplied the Stollenian War Ministry with a key piece of information.  The evil and conniving Princess Antonia III has, apparently, cautioned General de Latte that there will be no further adventures in the boudoir until he has marched his forces into Krankenstadt with bands paying and banners flying. ...

The planned Summer Residenz, which is taking shape -- at a snail's pace -- one hour north of Krankenstadt. A ccording to Stollenian agents along the frontier, the Zichenauer Army, under General Phllipe de Latte, is gathering just across the border from the Grand Duchy of Stollen.  Naturally, word has reached the Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II and his ministers in Krankenstadt, but the Grand Duke has bigger fish to fry at the moment.  Let's eavesdrop on yet another snippet of conversation between him and his long-suffering English manservant Hives late one morning in the Grand Duke's music room.   Irwin-Amadeus II (still in his dressing gown fanning himself) -- Ah, Hives!  There you are.  Let's have some of that sugary iced tea with mint for which you are so famous.  It's dashed hot in here. Hives (sets tray on handy table, pours tall glass of tea over ice, hands it to his charge) -- The windows and drapes are all open, Sir, to permit some slight ai...

The Courier from March-April 1983, Vol. IV, No. 5, which contained an interesting article on SYW scenarios. W hile I've already decided on a scenario for my upcoming solo battle when the Grand Duchess and Young Master depart in early August, I've been pondering an article from long ago that appeared in an issue of The Courier that once graced my stack of hobby-related literature.  The article in question dealt with six or seven tabletop scenarios that featured tactical issues and tasks commonly faced by generals during the Seven Years War period.   Sadly and foolishly, I got rid of (in other words, threw away. . .  threw away!!??) a huge bunch of old wargaming magazines -- mostly old Miniature Wargames and Military Modelling from the early 1980s along with a few odd issues of The Courier -- about 15 years ago when I finished one program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison and left town to continue in another at the University of Minnesota with a...

An illustration of infantry from one of the many Saxon duchies, from the Vinkhuijzen Collection of Military Costume Illustration collection. D aydreaming ahead here lately.  Putting the car before the horse.  Avoidance.  Delaying real focus on other things.  As one does.  One of the wargaming hobby's occupational hazards.  Besides unwittingly plunging a hobby knife into the back of your hand during the latest attempt at figure conversion. At any rate, I've been thinking about what to do with those two 60-figure batches of RSM95 Prussian musketeers when other things standing before them in the painting queue have been finished.  Then, it hit me a few days ago.  A simple idea really.  So, why didn't it occur to me sooner?  Ah, but it did, you see.  Paint a variegated unit made up of smaller contingents from various territories, an idea I nattered on about in a blog post way back in late August of 2006, entitled Pondering into ...

O k, the translation is done and the resulting document has been bounced back to the publisher.  Time to switch gears and get back to some toy soldiering.  Basecoating and painting this evening on some Minden and Fife&Drum miniatures.  No more excuses.  Unstructured time and summer vacation are a waistin'.  Chaaaaarrrgggeee!

Two companies of Minden and RSM95 Croats, painted during the summer of 2012. B y looking back over a few photos of my own figures from the last couple of years.   Another shot of the same two units along with their officers and unofficial guidon (painted completely by hand).  These pictures were taken on a Saturday morning in late July last year, and, believe it or not, the sun actually managed, somehow, to peek through some of the windows here in Zum Stollenkeller, really brightening up the scene. I've got enough of these left to paint up a third company in yet another (historic) uniform eventually.  Perhaps late next winter or in the spring of 2014? Here's  a slightly earlier shot, taken a few nights prior, before all of the scenic ground work was finished.  My basing scheme was inspired by equal parts Peter Gilder and Jim "Der Alte Fritz" Perky.  And speaking of Jim, were I to tread the slippery slop that is his delightful Fife...

More Minden Prussians, Austrians, Fife & Drum, and RSM95 officers along with a couple of large French 4pdrs also by Fife & Drum. A lrighty then.  Time to overcome the summertime, post-vacation lethargy and get my you-know-what back to the painting desk this evening for two hours, following supper and the Young Master's bedtime.  On tap for the planned painting session, a basecoat of white artists' acrylic gesso for the Fife & Drum cannon in the forefront and a start on detailing the Prussian cuirassier and dragoon officers at the far left of the photograph.   Once these have been completed, during the next several days I hope, I'll begin working methodically through the vignettes of Prussian and AWI officers in the middle row before moving on to the Austrians and blacksmith vignette in the rear row.  I've decided to paint at least some of the Austrians as Polish-Saxon officers in red or crimson, you know, just to keep things interesting and mo...

B ack to the Grand Duchy after a lengthy absence in the name of family vacation.  A good time was had by all, but it was extremely nice -- after navigating three airports, two flights, along with United States Immigrations and Customs officials plus a lengthy drive home from Chicago's O'Hare International mind you -- to walk through one's own front door and close it once the suitcases were unloaded. So.  Not much going on here at the moment just yet, although I plan to dive back into command vignettes shortly, and maybe even stage a solo game at the start of August.  However, there have recently been lots of neat developments over at Fife and Drum Miniatures , where new Prussian artillery equipment, limbers, wagons, and horse teams have emerged for sale.  Prices are competitive too, and the sculpting/casting is top notch.  But see for yourselves by visiting Fife and Drum Miniatures or the Hesse-Seewald blog, where proprietor Jim Purky has posted new photog...

The desk of an 18th century gentleman.  I like the absence of a keyboard and computer screen although the three-cornered hat might take some getting used to. A lthough summer vacation began for the Grand Duchess and I with the close of May Term last Friday, May 31st, things have been rather busy here at Stollen Central lately.  Soldier painting has taken a backseat for a few weeks, and I've been hard at work churning out a couple of articles.  Finished the first one this past weekend and sent it on to the parties concerned.  Now, it's time to begin the next, a working draft of which must be done and sent off for consideration by midnight this Saturday the 8th.  Whew!   And then there is the translation project. . .   which I plan to do during our upcoming three-week visit to Mexico since the publisher would, ideally, like it finished and submitted by July 1st.  Keep in mind, I've been asking for months to have the materials forwar...

It's finally spring in Krankentadt.  A perfect time for the Grand Duke's aunts to host a ball at the Residenz, a.k.a. Krankenstadt Palace. A unts Hilrtrud, Irmagard, and Waltraud, in yet another bid to see the Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II marry and produce an heir to the throne, have decided to throw a springtime ball with the purpose of establishing an understanding of some sort between their wayward nephew and a young lady of acceptable family and station.  While the guest list is large, extending to include over two hundred  souls all told, certain names on it are considered special guests of honor.  These include the following individuals: General Maurice Leger de Main -- A former Saxon general, of dubious social origins, who attached himself to the Grand Duke's household in January of 1773.  Strangely, he has yet to make clear what services he is able to offer Irwin-Amadeus II. Signore di Polenta -- The Grand Duke's Neapolitan tailor of questiona...

The title of today's post says it all!  The results of the recent painting challenge. H ere's a photograph of everything I've managed to accomplish in the last three months. . .  wife, child, career, students, and life notwithstanding.  Approximately 74 figures (if my addition is correct), some horses, musical instruments, picnic items, and artist's equipment either wrapped up, or painted from start to finish, in some cases some scratch-building and/or figure conversion, everything glossed, and scenic effects applied to the bases.  A delightful mix of figures by Minden Miniatures, Jackdaw, Eureka, and RSM95 along with a few more by Fife & Drum Miniatures, Miniature Figurines, Spencer Smith, and two or three extra pieces of picnic paraphernalia by Foundry on the lower left-hand corner of the plastic tub shown above.   Among theses are some civilian vignettes as well as those with a more military theme.  Each vignette is quite a bit different from ...

The final two vignettes for a while: a couple of Croats from the Slavonian Border Grenz Regiment (left) and the Szluiner Grenz Regiment (right).  The Croats and human casualty are by Minden Miniatures.  The horse casualty if by, I believe, Garrison.  I chopped it from its base and mashed the legs together before gluing it down to the asymmetrical scenic base for painting.  Oh, and the discarded musket beneath the Prussi an infantryman is a bit o f RSM95 from the Dayton Painting C o nsortium . A close-up of the Slavonian grenzer, whose uniform is based on the third figure shown on Plate F in Philip Haythornthwaite and Bill Youngusband's The Austrian Army 1740-80: 3 Specialist Troops (1995).  W h oops !  I forgot to dust off the extra bits of scatter grass material from the horse.  And here is a close-up of the Szuliner fellow, who has stopped to plunder and pilfer an expired enemy.  His uniform is based on a small illustration an...

It's 10:28am here.  We're in the Homestretch.  Can I make the February 15th-May 15th Painting Challenge Deadline by Midnight CDT tonight ? J ust a few things to wrap up here on those two kneeling Minden Croat vignettes.  Some final painting on the dead horse for the first base.  Red f acings, lace, shoulder belts, and small straps plus a bit of dark lining on the second.  Two coats of acrylic gloss for both (four figures in total) .  Finish with groundwork which involves a few different steps.   Not th at m uch really.  Should be able to accomplish everything in fairly short or der.  But hold on a moment.  Factor in May Term teaching today for three hours, mowing the grass late this afternoon before it rains again (possibly the forecast says) , supper, and the usual evening family things.  Hm m . . .   Is it possible?  Well, I'll give it the old college try.  The Gra nd Duchess might be on her own thi...

A couple of high-ranking, nominally Austrian engineers converse with a field marshal as a mounted infantry colonel looks on.  The figures are, naturally, b y Minden Miniatures in the U.K., and wonderful castings they are too. A birthday for the Grand Duchess, followed by Mother's Day, along with the usual May Term course duties, and an interruption of two days while new basement windows were installed here in Zum Stollenkeller notwithstanding, I managed to wrap up this latest command vignette yesterday (Sunday).  The May 15th deadline in the current painting challenge among my loose group of wargaming friends and acquaintances looms dangerously close now.  However, I will try my best to finish a couple of small vignettes featuring two different kneeling Minden Croats plus a horse and a human casualty before Midnight Central Daylight Time on the 15th.   And yes, before anyone comments, I realize that I inadvertently reversed the colors on the sashes w...

H.G. Wells and friends maneuvering their armies around the parlor floor.  Considering where this falls on the wargaming historical spectrum .  Sometime b efore Featherstone, but after von Hellwig and von Reisswitz .  M ight we, therefore, consider Little Wars Late Middle Old School Wargaming?  T he opportunity to read the Sunday paper two days late certainly has its advantages.  Once in a great while, you run across something about our wonderful hobby that doesn't present it in a goofy, uninformed, negative light.  You know the familiar implication:  These guys are a bunch of unsocialized morons in ill-fitting t-shirts and sagging cargo shorts, with matted hair and horrendous body odor, who live with fish tanks full of newts in lieu of an actual S.O., spouse, or partner and, thus, have nothing better to do with their time.  Anyway, I just came across this interesting little essay in the Book Review supplement of this past Sunday's New York Ti...

A generic Austrian mounted officer converses with his Hungarian counterpart while a stray Croat takes pot shots at the enemy from behind the relative s af ety of a broken down gun carriage. P ainting on, and the glossing o f , t his latest command vignette was concluded late this morning with scenic features added mid-afternoon.  This time, most of the painting was done with Citadel acrylics although the horses, hats, and footwear were done with thinned oils.  The scenic features, as usual, are a combination of Woodland Scenics over sand stained dark brown, which was gathered many years ago from my maternal grandmother's creek bed during a dry spell in the summer of 1984.  The boulder and a piece of rotting tree trunk come from my driveway just outside Stollen Central.   This time, instead of black lining the reins and harnesses on the horses, I first used a watery dark brown paint, followed by a reddish brown highlight (?!) over top.  Dark brown ...

Some of my earlier scenic vignette work from June 2012.  Two companies of historically-based (as opposed to fictitious) Grenz along with  a mounted officer.  Figures are a mix of RSM95 and Minden Miniatures. T hank you everyone for the recent comments and compliments on all of the command vignettes finished during the last several days.   More are on the way!  Several of you have asked, in the meantime, about certain things, like the gloss medium and bases, so I figured (Get it?) I'd respond here. The varnish I am using right now is Liquitex (acrylic) Gloss Medium and Varnish, available from arts and crafts stores like Michael's and Dick Blick here in the United States. I believe Liquitex artists' products are available in other parts of the world too.  Anyway, the gloss medium stays exactly where you put it since it is somewhat thicker than Future/Klear acrylic floor finish, which I have used since 2006.  The problem with Future/Kle...

More RSM95 figures removed from their old single bases and regrouped into command vignettes. I have just finished regrouping older figures in my collection, painted during the last several years, into three additional command 'scenes,' one Stollenian at the front and two Zichenauer at the rear.  On the rear left, you'll note General Phillipe de Latte (dark blue) conversing with his rather animated ADC Major Paolo di Biscotti (white), who makes the point that one can never truly enjoy coffee cakes and sweetbreads without fresh espresso.