The Grand Duchy of Stollen

Another lovely Knoetel illustration, this time featuring various soldiers from Favrat's Black Legion. T he various frei infantrie and frei-corps formations of the (roughly Seven Year War-era) have long fascinated me.  And, I suppose, were I to think about it, so too have the various legions and ad hoc formations of the Napoleonic period.  All of which is a 'round about way of saying that I have, after much thought and doodling around with a writing pad and a pencil, made up an order and submitted it to Der Alte Fritz at Fife and Drum Miniatures Saturday evening. In keeping with my fictitious Grand Duchy of Stollen concept, however, I don't intend to model an exact replica of Favrat's especially since black uniforms really aren't my thing.  But what I liked most about this particular formation is that it was, according to the various sources I've looked at, relatively small (and short lived).  It was also linked to my favorite city in all of G...

T o all U.S. visitors to the Grand Duchy of Stollen, the grand ducal felines Gunnlaug and Onyx -- along with the Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II and family -- wish you a peaceful Thanksgiving Day wherever in the world you might find yourselves this year.  Regardless of whatever life drops in our laps, we nevertheless have a great deal to be thankful for in the everyday small things that we (probably) take for granted.  If we have the company of loved ones, a solid roof over our heads, enough on the table, gainful employment (maybe even a job we like), with a little extra for a rainy day, a few pleasurable diversions that bring us happiness, plus a life lived in relative safety, then we can count ourselves very fortunate indeed.  Many in the world lack one or more of these things and suffer for it.  We ought to keep that in mind. -- Stokes

 The "Oh, you are so awful!" vignette from Eureka Miniatures. . .  THE very figure to represent the libidinous English ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Stollen, Lord Algernon Fortescue de Rumpey-Pumpey, belonging to a Sussex family of Hugenot stock.  Although unpainted, Lady Rumpey-Pumpey at left does not looked at all pleased by her husband's cavorting with Lottie the Charwoman, who they brought with them from Sussex to that most cosmopolitan of backwaters, as the Grand Duke is so fond of observing, Krankenstadt, the capital of Stollen.  The scornful looking Stollenian gentleman at far l eft mus t surely be thinking to him self, "Tutt, tutt. . .  So, THAT'S how they do things in Sussex!" . I n view of a certain 29th birthday I celebrated recently (Yes, THAT one, of which I am now on the wrong side.) , I took the opportunity to add a few items from Eureka Miniatures to the ol' pile of lead, including a 30-strong regiment of Saxon cuirassiers -- I...

-- Stokes