The Grand Duchy of Stollen

The cover of an early issue of said magazine. A nother long week concludes in which real life has admirably got in the way of hobby pursuits yet again.  That seems to be the way lately, but this weekend is relatively free, and come hell, or high water, I am going to sit myself down to the painting table and do SOMETHING during the next couple of days.  What in blazes has happened in the last 40-odd years?  Life was not this nutty for our parents! ------------- Still, a guy can dream.  And read.  Even when dog-tired and after collapsing into bed mid-evenings.  Which brings me to a related point.   Might anyone out there have, and be willing to part with, the first dozen issues -- numbers 1-12 in 'good,' or 'very good' though not necessarily 'mint' condition -- of Practical Wargamer ?  So long as your pricing and the cost of shipping don't stray into "Are you kidding me?" territory, I can transfer payment to you forthwith via PayPal....

The original map of the campaign area drawn in Septermber of 2006 (post-Auto Levels, brightening, sharpening, and cropping with the Pixlr online photograph editing tools).  The contested area in dark green is the Mark of Schleiz, a region rich in wildlife and other natural resources whose precise ownership has been long disputed by The Grand Duchy of Stollen and its enemy The Electorate of Zichenau. S eparated by the Lesser Zwischen and Greater Zwischen rivers, and sharing equally in delusions of grandeur and influence far beyond their frontiers, t he Grand Duchy of Stollen and its mortal enemy, The Electorate of Zichenau, are set more or less within the real Europe of the immediate post-Seven Years War period.   Stollen and Zichenau are surrounded by several tiny principalities -- Pillau-Zerbst, Pillau-Reuss, Werben-Steinau, Tauroggen-Fiebus, and Zeller-Schwarzekatze -- who vacillate between allying themselves with and/or fighting against eith...

Two brigades of Stollenian infantry march toward the enemy. The unassuming market town of Hasenpfeffer. Stollenian guns and crew await the command to fire. Stollenian transport  makes its way toward Hasenpfeffer. Camp followers get up to all sorts of mischief. My son the Young Master asked this morning if General von Bauchschmerzen ever feels well.  I replied, never.  'Bauchschmerzen' means something akin to 'tummy ache' in German.  One picks up all kinds of stuff when wife and child communicate in a second language at home. A swarm of Zichenauer Croats screening the approach of their line infantry in a manner rather more appropriate for the Napoleonic era than the mid-18th century. Zichenauer line infantry. Zicheauer cuirassiers and dragoons. Zichauer guns and crew ready to open up on the approaching Stollenian Army. Stollenian hussar officers and trumpeter sound the charge! Meanwhile, and as alway...

 The term 'groaning board' comes to mind here.  The table is 6' x 10'.  Obviously for actual games, and depending on the scenario (I like those by C.S. Grant), not all available troops would be in use, fewer buildings would be present, and a somewhat larger table might be in order too.     Here's a close-up o two brigades of Stollenian infantry and a few officer vignettes with part of the pontoon and trasnport trains in the background. At the other end of the table various light units of infantry engage each other as Saxon staff observe, some transport rumbles by, and to companies of generic pioneers/pontooniers march toward town. Finally, a close-up o some Stollenian jaeger (painted by John Preece and featured in the Partizan 2006 Sittangbad refight) facing two companies of 'Wild Geese' in the service of Zichenau along with a company of dastardly Croats in the distance. B ack tomorrow with more photographs taken, this time, with a ...