The Grand Duchy of Stollen

Zichenauer artillery and infantry. More Zichenauer infantry. . .  Those blasted chocolate lovers!   The entire Zichenauer cavalry brigade. Stollenians milling in and around Neu Sittangbad. Stollenian grenadiers and artillery.

Zichenauer hussars at the gallop!  Stollenian cavalry move into position on the plain before Neu Sittangbad.  Note the presence of some strange alien spacecraft in the background, which is having difficulty igniting its engines and lifting off again after depositing its cargo in the countryside around Neu Sittangbad.  They call themselves the Rubbermaids and, apparently, they come in peace. Zichenau's Trumbach Dragoons (left) and Grenadiere zu Pferd (right) concentrate midfield.  Stollenian generals and officers recieveing their orders from  General von Tshatschke (in pink), aka the Flamboyant Silesian, just outside Neu Sittangbad. Enthusiastic Zichenauer officers surround and salute General Phillipe de Latte.

T he Battle of Neu Sittangbad is about to begin in the next few days! It will feature LARGE units of painted 25-30mm plastic and metal figures, painted over five and a half years, fighting over scratch-built, and some improvised, scenery on a 6'x10' table painted in a pleasant light green. The game will be a solo affair, using the Basic rules presented by Young andLawford in Charge! , along with a few Featherstone-inspired bits to introduce random events. I am in the midst of tacking my figures down to multiple bases.  While this particular feature departs from my previously faithful adaptation of the unbased units in Charge! , The War Game , et al it should speed play appreciably.  A necessary compromise, but I console myself by remembering that it was those photographs of colorful Napoleonics, on multiple bases of three, six, and eight figures apiece, from Peter Gilder's Wargames Holiday Centre, that inspired me in the first place thirty years ago.  So, the "loo...

For Immediate Release                                                       Contact: Katrina-Bettina von Heffelfinger Society Page Editor Die Krankenstadt Tageblat                                                                                                 ...

A bout two weeks ago, one of you visitors to the Grand Duchy of Stollen blog asked about the orders of battle for the coming, well, um, tabletop battle.  So, after consulting Charge! , to get the balance of forces right, here is my personalized OOB for 17 February 1772:   Electorate of Zichenau (Invading) – General Phillipe de Latte   Ermland Garde (The Newts) (4 coy.) Von Flickenhoffer’s Fusiliers (4 coy.) 29 th (Voluntiere aus Mittau) Infantry (3 coy.) 13 th (Von Auflauf) Infantry (3 coy.) O’Malley’s Irish Grenzers (2 coy.) Electoral Pioneer Battalion (2 coy.) 11 th Hussars (3 sqn.) Trumbach Dragoons (3 sqn.) Grenadiere zu Pferd (3 sqn.) 1 st , 2 nd , and 3 rd companies, The Most Honorable and Efficient Electoral Artillery Grand Duchy of Stollen (Defending) – General von Tschatschke Leib Grenadiers (Grand Duchess Sonja’s Own) (3 coy.) 2 nd (Von Laurenz) Musketeers (3 coy.) Jäger zu Fuβ (2 coy.) Wolmar-Bock (1 coy.) 11 th Engineer Bn. (2 coy.) 4 th...

W hile General de Latte rides off to invade the Grand Duchy of Stollen in the dead of winter (See yesterday's conversation about the missing Christmas chocolates), another guestpost on figure painting has arrived here at Stollen Central.  This time, it's from Mike Siggins.  Let's see how he approaches painting the little devils. . . Background Like many of us, I started out painting with Humbrol Enamels exclusively. I sat in a small cupboard under the stairs and breathed the fumes, licked my turps laden brush, and followed up with lethal glues and fillers for dessert. I must have painted hundreds of figures, mainly Airfix, this way. And that was before I boosted my pocket money by making models for a local shop.  It is a wonder that I survived!   Influences I was going to skip this section because I am bound to forget somebody. It always happens. So easier to say that Peter Gilder is the man, and everyone else that has followed – Allen, Dallimore, Dean, Dwartist,...

F ebruary 10, 1772 dawns gray and cold across the Electorate of Zichenau with some light snow in the air.  Nevertheless, the army has been rousted from its winter quarters and assembled, ready to march from behind the walls and through the main gates of the capital Hissig, north toward the Grand Duchy of Stollen.  And behind the walls of The Residenz?  A heated conversation is brewing too.  Let's eavesdrop on a snippet of it between Zichenau's Princess Antonia III and her consort, the notorious French mercenary-adventurer General Phillipe de Latte, shall we? Antonia III: Have you seen that box of chocolate cremes and caramels I was given by Mother for Christmas, dearest? de Latte: (With a trace of chocolate at the corner of his mouth) What?  (Obsequiously) Why, no sweetness.  That I have not.  Of course not. (Surreptitiously dabs at mouth with white handkerchief). Chocolate cremes and caramels, you say?  Why, whatever do you mean? Antonia III...

Members of the Swedish Army's Ostrobothnia Regiment (1705), a unit that was based in Finland when that country was still a part of of Greater Sweden. T he uniform plate above reminds me of something a former professor of mine once said when I was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  The professor in question was from Helsinki, and while he was an ethnic Swede, he also spoke fluent Finnish and thus taught courses in the Finnish language and literature.  The linguists out there among you might know how complex and daunting the Finnish language is to non-natives.  Yours truly, for one, was never brave enough to give it a try.   Anyway, what this man stated in one of my classes one day was that it is only the crazies who attempt to learn Finnish.  Likewise, I am reminded of his observation as I prepare to set up for the coming Battle of Neu Sittangbad, which will feature my own units of between 30- to 80-figure units, most still unbased, ...

T his week, lets continue our painting ruminations with another contribution, this time from Stephen Caddy, who discusses his particular approach to painting wargaming figures and privdes a few photographs of his eye-catching brushwork.  Here's Stephen: Introduction. There are to my mind two kinds of figure painters – artists and craftsmen. Artists understand things like the effect of the direction of light and are able to recreate the most complex flag designs freehand. Craftsmen may have less training and natural flair but have learned their techniques by trial and error and conversing with fellow hobbyists. I class myself as one who is painting by numbers in 3D. I began with Airfix and Minifigs and Humbrol gloss enamel paints. In many ways, that’s still what I do though now, I paint in acrylics. Like the man who was impressed to find that he had been speaking prose in the vernacular, I now learn that what I basically do is called Block Painting, and I then gloss varnish the ...

T hanks to everyone who cast his or her votes in the "Which Battle Should They Fight First in 2012?" poll.  108 people cast their votes during the month of January, and I must admit that I am not surprised that Sittangbad came out on top.  You can view the full results at right on the GD of S homepage.   So, the Battle of Neu Sittangbad (New Sittangbad) it is!  The solo game will unfold on the tabletop here in Zum Stollenkeller in the next couple of weeks followed by the other four scenarios later in the year.  I will place all five scenarios and resulting battles within the campaign context and narrative of the ongoing struggle between the Grand Duchy of Stollen and its nemesis the Electorate of Zichenau.   While I don't know for sure, I suspect strongly that the notorious French mercenary-adventurer General Phillipe de Latte and the Princess Antonia III of Zichenau are hatching a scheme over a late breakfast of eggs, ham, bread, jam, and kidn...

T here are only hours left for you to cast your vote in the "Which Tabletop Battle Should They Fight First in 2012?" poll here at the Grand Duchy of Stollen.  Choose which of the five scenarios listed you would most like to see played out first here in Zum Stollenkeller by clicking the appropriate box in the upper right-hand corner of the GD of S homepage.  And you are on your honor to do so only once!  With that firm proviso in mind, as Tiny Tim so rightly observed in Dickens's first draft of A Christmas Carol , "Vote, or die!"

Whoops!  I still need to paint the edges of the various bases green. F inally made myself sit down and attach those 60-odd Luebecker Musketeers to their permanent bases yesterday.  I'm pleased with the results.  No "terraining" of said bases, in keeping with my Old School approach, but the bases are painted in the same green as the tabletop.  Very simple, but I'd like to think that the unit presents a nice combination of classic Young, Lawford, and Grant on the one hand, and slightly more practical Gilder on the other, which works for me.  Now, which of the existing units in the GD of S order of battle to be (re-) based next?

O nly a couple of days left for you to cast your vote in the "Which Tabletop Battle Should They Fight First?" poll.  Please be sure to cast your vote (and just one, thanks) for the scenario of your choice at the upper right of the Grand Duchy of Stollen homepage.  Final results will be tabulated by a team of experts and shared during Wednesday.

A regiment of Stollenian cavalry -- the 4th (Trakehenen) Dragoons -- painted during January and February of 2007.  My first cavalry unit for the Grand Duchy of Stollen project.  They will shortly be re-based, or fastened to multiple bases in keeping with my drive to speed games along somewhat.  Figures pictured are Revell 1/72 plastic Austrian dragoons and were painted with a combination of Citadel (ex-Games Workshop) acrylics and oils.

Two gun crews with a couple of heavy cannon.  From left to right: a Minden crew, one by RSM95, and two heavy guns also by RSM95.  I plan to paint each crew in a different uniform, probably Saxon and Bavarian, though the Hanoverians were certainly colorful too. M y group of wargaming friends and acquaintances scattered across the globe has collectively found that painting challenges tend to make things happen at our respective painting tables.  While not high-pressure situations -- and anyone is free to change his plans, stated aims, or to drop out if real life interferes -- these events instill a healthy drive to get things accomplished.  And many of us in the hobby could certainly use this kick in the seat of the pants from time to time. On that last note, a wonderfully jolly professor from Denmark, from whom I took a course on late 19th Century Scandinavian literature while at the University of Minnesota in the fall of 2000, made a similar observation about grad...

  Y ou will have noticed that some extensive renovation is underway here at the Grand Duchy of Stollen blog.  Much of the information, formerly on the right side of the homepage, has now moved to pages of its own, making this blog look and feel much more like an actual website.  Please note the new navigation bar just below the photo of some of my tabletop forces.  That picture will be replaced in due course with another that features better focus and depth of field, following the first tabletop encounter of 2012.  Stay tuned!

T oday's entry is the first guest post of 2012.  Several of these have been lined up already, and most of which will have something to do with how each guest approaches painting his particular figures.  So, you can think of these posts as a growing repository or painting philosophy . . .  as well as a different set of voices here at the Grand Duchy of Stollen from the usual ravings of yours truly.  Kidding aside, our first guest blogger is Mr. Greg Horne, the man behind the Duchy of Alzheim blog.  Longtime readers of Battlegames might recall that Greg had an article on blogging within a wargaming context in an early issue of the magazine.  And indeed, it was that very article that inspired yours truly to begin the Grand Duchy of Stollen blog in August or 2006.  So, without further ado, here is Greg with his take on painting vast numbers of vintage 30mm wargaming miniatures quickly and easily.   Painting Spencer Smith Miniatures  by Greg...