Sunday, March 28, 2010

Welle falls

At the emergency meeting of the Stadtrat in Pappenheim, Baron Wilhelm was speaking

"Gentlemen I have sad news to relate. Welle has just fallen to the French despite the best endeavours of Colonel Von Barner and the limited forces at his disposal. The colonel has fallen back to the heights above Welle, but it is now only a matter of time before the French arrive at the gates of Pappenheim or Sonnenbad or both.

We still have no news of the Austrians, and I am certain our couriers will have delivered request for assistance and they should have been spurred into action by the fall of Bruckewasser."

On a positive note we have received an offer of support from Reich Duke Wilhelm who has offered the assistance of the Beerstein Foreign Legion commanded by Brigadier Sir David Linienblatt."

"I have taken up this gracious offer, but given the distances involved they may not arrive in time. You should also be aware that the Second Battalion of Stummel's Regiment was raised by the Frei Stadt for service in the Legion."

"Finally, Colonel Von Barner will continue to try and delay the advance of the French"

(link)

Note Welle is the third city of Frundsberg and lies to the south of the Pidnem hills whereas both Pappenheim (the capital) and Sonnenbad lie to the north.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

[OT] Emperor vs Elector's little brother(s)?

Brother-Members of our 'League of Lace Wars Imagi-Nations', may Monte-Cristo draw your attention to Interbellum? This new collective blog aims to be 'EvE's equivalent for 'Imagi-nations and imaginary wars set in the 1920s, 1930s & 1940s'.


Historical 'zones' (areas x periods) specially favourable to imaginary countries and conflicts combine a patchwork of numerous countries -many of them small, hardly known by the general public, either old but ignored or 'new' (resurrected from oblivion), often with bewilderingly similar names (all those Hesse- and Saxe-...; more recently Moldavia / Moravia, Slovakia / Slovenia...)- with a state of turnmoil, political instability and / or rampant hostilities. Typically, broken up or crumbled down empires: such indeed is post-WW1 Eurasia with the post-Czarist ('Back of Beyond') East, Baltic area (not far from Indur and Tradgarland), post-Czarist and post-Austrian (after being post-Ottoman) ark from the Balkans to the Caucasus (from Cavenderia and Syldavia to Oobleckistan?).
And of course during the Interwars South America was as propitious to imaginary countries and conflicts as it had been since the wars of liberation -re the famous Gran Chapo war between Nuevo Rico and San Theodoros. While during the 1920-1950 period the 'Yellow Peril' was a real concern, at least in fiction...
As for imaginary conflicts, the British Civil War is already well known.



Two other recent periods are potential cradles of Imagi-nations and imaginary wars, and would deserve each a collective 'EvE'-like blog of its own:
- the 1860-1914, Victorian to Belle Epoque one, of Ruritania fame and already well represented 'oversea' (Afriboria, Morvalistan... but also the republics of Sonora and Texas, the Fenian state -several incarnations- and 'progressive Hawaii'). Several novels of the time described a 'Yellow' (or 'Black') invasion of Europe and 'the end of civilization as we know it'. As for imaginary conflicts, they are currently fought by an increasing number of 'Color' armies in their 'Funny little wars' of Wells' tradition; the 'Things to come' movie could equally be set in 1905, and most of French public opinion was ready to revive the 8 centuries old tradition of 'Guerre aux Anglais!' after the Fachoda incident.

- Our very time, with 'decolonized' Africa (AK47 Republic) and post-USSR Eurasia, from the Baltic to all those 'new' countries in the Caucasus: Blechistan, Pukistan... And South America as always, of course: since Argentina started a war in 'The Real World™', an open conflict between Palombia and Uroguy is more than likely.


Sadly, despite (or because of?) literary precedents such as The Land Leviathan and the Draka series, South Africa is seemingly ignored by 'Imaginative' wargamers. While the French Huguenots who settled there in the late 17th C. *could* have built a country of their own. And, had Christian Ethiopia extended as envisaged in the Belisarius sequence, it would be ruling -perhaps under the name of Afrodizia?- from 'our' Somalia to 'our' South Africa since the Renaissance at the very least...


Hopefully, with time, Imagi-Nations first known from a given period will see their historical coverage extended, and most of their creators contributing to more than one (4 or 5 by then: what about one for the 'Confederation of the Rhine' / Congres of Vienna' Europe) of the 'period specific' League of Imagi-Nations collective blogs.
If you are already the proud creator of an imaginary country in a given period, and now feel tempted to play in another 'time', better to extend the history of your brainchild -forward or back in time- than to create a new one or invest in some historical army. With the history and geography common to both your projects, any progress in one benefits the other. Risks of resenting dispersion, of wilting are minimized and the character / 'personality' of your Imagi-Nation -and of its regiments- get all the richer.

(Cross-posted on TMP in order to reach and intrigue a wider audience, mostly unfamilar with Imagi-Nations, and get more feed-back.)

Sunday, March 21, 2010

a frightful suggestion

From time to time, folks here have sent a special figure or two to another one of our bloggers to be photographed for their story lines. Having been honored with such a request, I found it really fun to see my figures featured (cleverly shot so that their clunkiest features are hidden ... I'm not that good a painter!!). I noticed it happening with a few other folks too.
So, it occurred to me that this could become a friendly EvE tradition!
:)
Now I'd suggest that folks actually share two figures for each personality ... a 25+ - 30+ mm "personality figure" for diaramas, etc. and a figure - possibly mounted - in the gaming scale of the host for battlefield participation (especially as a few of these figures would represent various characters with minor guest commands!).
Now obviously, we all are tons behind on our individual painting schedules, but it struck me that this just might be a nice touch to invigorate our brushes?
What do you all think?
:)
Arthur (Frankszonia)

A formal ball at Krajak Palace


Duke Kristjan the II extends an invitation to all who wish to join in the festivities at Krajak Palace.

Another blogger who would like to join ...

http://theduchyofindur.blogspot.com/
The Duchy of Indur has found us inspiring and wishes to join our Imperial or Elect company!
:)
Frankszonia

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Spring in Unkerlant

Winter is finally over in Unkerlant, and with its passing the roads and passes have opened. Soon, armies will criss-cross the countryside, and set the kingdom once again aflame.

Prince Ruprect of Borogravia is in the best place for victory. He has managed to unite 6 other territories under his banner, and present a wide front across the south, from which to launch his offensive.
In the northwest, the Arch Duchess of Volborg has found only two allies to stop the Borogravian juggernaut.
Zlobenia and Franistover are perhaps in the worst shape. Before winter they captured each other's capitals, and refused to budge. As a consequence, neither was able to collect taxes, recruit or recoup losses to their existing units.
Unless these three factions can present a united front, Unkerlant will fall to a foreign invader from the south.


Friday, March 12, 2010

Thunk!

French Revolutionary forces occupying the town of Bruckewasser have announced the execution of one Seamus O'Malley a notorious counter-revolutionary of noble birth captured while serving with the notorious Frundsberg Freihussaren.


Unconfirmed rumours are that this was a propaganda event and that the younger son of Baron O'Malley of Ballyfoole has escaped the clutches of Madame Guillotine.

More details over on the Frundsberg blog

The Duchess Requests...

That any Gentleman who has an interest in the military style would check upon the uniform designs for her new Legion, which are available in the Duchy office.  The designs are now approaching their final form and will be sent to the tailor within the week. Any final insights from the most learned readers is most welcome.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Peace breaks out

His Excellency the Elector and Prince of Kruppfalz wishes to announce that peace is made with the Emperor, contingent only upon the yielding of all provinces and treasuries to the Electoral possession, a modest requirement that is expected to be acceptable to all.

Let the campaining begin

Herzog Fredrick von Harzburg proclaims his intention to renue hostilities with Schwabia and stands ready to counter any move by those seeking to provide them aid.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

A Worthy Opponent...


Hear ye, hear ye! His Majesty Louis Philippe of St. Maurice wishes it to be made known that he will in fact declare war on any imagi-nation which might actually be deemed worthy of facing the might of St. Maurice on the field of battle. It must also be noted that His Majesty considers all french-speaking opponents to, of course, be worthy by default.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Any Declarations of War?

Fellow Rulers,

We have a number of volunteers to fight "proxy battles" for any Imagi-Nations who don't have a handy opponent . . . but what we don't have is any wars for them to fight . . . at least not yet.

Who wishes to attack someone else?  Who needs someone to fight a table top battle between his own two traditional opponents?

It is time to plan some campaigns.  It can be as simple as what Stokes and I did last year when we fought one of the Grant "Table Top Teasers" when those vile Stagonians attacked the Sawmill in the Grand Duchy of Stollen.  By the way, the Grant "Table Top Teasers" make for excellent games . . . well worth using in the proxy battle context.

Or it can be a more complex campaign like the "three-cornered" conflict that the Reich Duchy of Beerstein found itself in a while back.  It can even be a massive affair like the defense of Tippelbruder of a few years back that involved almost ten of our Imagi-Nations.

So, who would like to attack someone?  The good news is that you don't have to have all of your troops painted . . . one of the proxy hosts will use their collections . . . you can even check out the volunteer hosts to see who you'd like to have fight your battles.

So does anyone want to declare war?  Or even just go on a border raid?

-- Jeff

Thursday, March 4, 2010

March Forth!

This is the time of year when the snows begin to recede, flowers begin to bloom and our thoughts turn to campaigning.

This is the one day of the year (March 4th) when the day is a "command".  Today is the day that your armies should "march forth" to do battle upon the table top.

Alas, many of us do not have an opponent handy . . . but one of the advantages of our Imagi-Nations is that we have online compatriots who will gladly fight a "proxy battle" for us.

For example, one of us in the UK might have an Imagi-Nation who wishes to fight against an Imagi-Nation whose controller lives in Canada . . . and a gamer in the US might be where a battle is actually played . . . the two combative Imagi-Nations communicating with the US players as to their forces and goals.


The beauty of this is that a 28mm army set up for one set of rules can fight another army in 6mm with a different set of rules in mind . . . and the actual battle could be in 15mm or 40mm or whatever with whatever rules are used locally.


Of course the players fighting this "proxy battle" will want to win for their side . . . and have no preconceived notion of who should win (unless one side is those vile Stagonians, of course).


So . . . who wants to attack who? . . . Who has the means to fight the proxy battle for our fellow Imagi-Nationeers? . . .  Who will follow the orders of the date and March Forth?


Please use the comments (or your own posts) to volunteer.  Let us march to war, gentlemen.  Let us fight!


-- Jeff
 

Monday, March 1, 2010

An announcement

If I may ask the indulgence of the mess for a moment,
I have an announcement to make.
The University of Hetzenberg Press has released
the first of three volumes recounting the adventures of
Mary Amadeus and Ursula Reitzell in
the War on the Eisenwasser.
Further details may be found
over at the Hetzenberg Chronicles blog.

God Save Duke Karl!