Stollen's Irwin Amadeus II Makes Second Diplomatic Faux Pas

News Release:

Krankenstadt Palace -- Krankenstadt, The Grand Duchy of Stollen

Today, Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II made another in a growing line of diplomatic blunders that place The Grand Duchy of Stollen in a precarious position among the other marginal and erroneous states around mid-eighteenth century Europe. In an exchange with a new acquaintance, regarding the recruitment and training of soldiers in the Bishopric of Uber Gruntshuffen, Irwin-Amadeus mistakenly attributed the relationship between the Duchy of Alzheim and Australia to the former and New Zealand. An egregious error if ever there were one.

The magnitude of our Grand Duke’s gaff is exacerbated by the fact that he and The Grand Duchess Sonja have a very close friend who hails from Australia! One could almost observe Irwin-Amadeus shriveling up as he apologized and took leave of the conversation.

How does our Grand Duke’s most recent poor conduct affect Stollen’s standing in the eyes of its immediate neighbors? Only time will tell. But, in view of the rumblings of war in the region, the recruitment of extra forces by neighboring countries, and various fevered diplomatic exchanges between the governments of those same territories, the picture for Stollen does not look good. Perhaps the handlers of Irwin-Amadeus II should mind their ruler more closely when he is loose in public. In any case, stay abreast of continuing developments right here with the Krankenstadt Tageblat.

-- Katrina-Bettina von Heffelfinger

Comments

Bluebear Jeff said…

Perhaps with the return of the King to New Zealand, they have conquered Australia? If so, Irwin Amadeus II would be correct.

Of course, if such a conquest has not taken place then the Grand Duke would indeed have made a serious faux pas.

Rumors that the Duchy of Alzheim is mobilizing its armies have yet to be confirmed . . . but rumors persist.

-- Jeff

2:37 AM

Bluebear Jeff said…

Stokes,

For the "Big Game" you are going to take a small mixed brigade to, have you considered painting Irwin Amadeus II's personal standard with a lobster?

This might be fun . . . and would perhaps turn his faux pas into a sort of "thumb your nose" triumph.

Anyway, as I'm about to dismantle my computer for a while (see my blog), I'm not sure how soon I'll again be able to look in on the wonderfully entertaining news of the Grand Duchy . . . but I'll catch up when I'm back online.

Give my best to the Grand Duchess.

-- Jeff of Saxe-Bearstein

4:36 AM

WSTKS-FM Worldwide said…

Hey there Jeff,

I like that idea! I'll have to do something between now and then to supply good ol' Irwin-AMadeus with a personal standard like you suggest. Thanks!

Best Regards,

Stokes

6:10 AM

A Little More Brushwork. . .

A little more brushwork on the first batch of (my version of) the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment yesterday (Saturday). Taking a different tack this time and addressing many of the details first before the white coats and other larger areas of uniform. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that I've painted the (dark) red stocks of the enlisted men. Always a difficult and frustrating item to paint, it made sense to paint from the inside out as it were and get that particular detail out of the way first rather than try to paint it in later after much other painting has been accomplished. Trying to reduce the need for later retouching of other items on the figures you understand. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to these later today after a second trip back to the Apple Store for help with a couple of new iPad issues and, following the return home, some revision of Google Slides for tomorrow's meetings with my students. -- Stokes P.S. And according t...

Basic Reds Done at Last. . .

S till quite a way to go with the current batch of 20 human figures and a horse (of course), but they're actually starting to look like something after all of the red distinctions. Quite a bit of painting in hour-long sessions the last week as and when time has allowed. Mostly applying the basic dark red to facing areas and turnbacks followed by the inevitable touch-ups to clean up wobbly edges and those misplaced, minute splotches of Citadel Khorne Red. They're looking like so many Austrian infantry regiments of the era at this point, but the eventual flags will turn them magically into the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment, more or less, of the AWI period. But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. One frustrating point (ahem) of sad discovery. I've started trying to use those Winsor & Newton 'Series Seven' brushes (#1 rounds) purchased last spring, and the blasted things simply will not keep a point. Very frustrating since I have heard over the y...

It's Early Days Yet. . .

M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings. Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat. The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week. Next up, the neck stocks. I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit. Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step. "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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