"Gentlemen, I concur. His lack of standards is simply appalling!"

Some of you Grand Duchy of Stollen regulars might remember way back to the start of the project when I talked about several small principalities that occupy the peripheries of the Grand Duchy of Stollen and Electorate of Zichenau. These territories include: Pillau-Zerbst, Pillau-Reuss, Tauroggen-Fiebus, Werben-Steinau, and Zeller-Schwarzekatze. Although they are very tiny, each considers itself terribly important on the political stage of this backwater area of 18^th century Europe, interfering constantly in the affairs of Stollen and Zichenau and participating enthusiastically in the conflicts between the two.

Apropos that role, each principality will contribute a small draft of troops (primarily infantry but occasionally a squadron of cavalry or battery of artillery) to the armies of their larger neighbors. What makes this prospect somewhat more interesting is that the principalities will change sides often and unpredictably, as they jockey for better position and favor in the eyes of each other and either the Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II, or Stollen or Princess Antonia of Zichenau. A number of historical examples exist to back this up. Think of the Saxon mutiny in 1815 for instance!

But back to apocryphal 18^th century Europe. In sorting out my Revell plastic SYW Austrians and Prussians recently, I’ve determined that I’ll have enough to provide a four-company 80-figure provisional regiment of Principalities’ Infantry, who will look very like Russian grenadiers of the period with dark green coats, red breeches/smallclothes, and turnbacks/facings and lovely brass-fronted mitre caps.

Sometimes this provisional unit will fight as a whole regiment, and at other times in smaller increments. I'm not yet sure what standard they will march behind though. There will also be a couple of independent infantry companies floating around too, consisting of about 19-20 figures total, including musicians, mounted officers, and standard bearers. It will be a while before they appear here, but that’s the long term plan.

Which brings me to the next item of interest. These troops will, of course, need standards behind which to march. So, I’ve found several examples on the web, saved them, and monkeyed around with the colors, to make them more my own. When the time comes to print and mount the standards to my flag bearer figures, I like to carefully paint over the colors with a small brush. This helps to prevent fading of the printer inks over time and also makes the flags somewhat stiffer and more durable.

Examples of the planned infantry standards follow below:

Above: Tauroggen-Fiebus Infantry

Above: Werben-Steinau Infantry

Above: Pillau-Zerbst Infantry

Above: Pillau-Reuss Infantry

At least three of these are doctored 18th century Swiss cantonal battle flags. You’ll notice that there is no infantry standard for the principality of Zeller-Schwarzekatze. That’s because it will furnish a battery of artillery to “the cause”, and that particular unit will not carry its standard in the field.

Ok, men (and ladies?). That’s the terribly important posting for today. Stay tuned to see how the 80-figure Ermland Garde of Zichenau turns out. And to any and all Grand Duchy of Stollen blog visitors who hail from the USA -- wherever in the world you may find yourself -- Happy Thanksgiving everyone!