The Painter's Progress

Some leave has seen the opportunity to do some painting, so a start has been made on the Imperial Estavian army for yet more glacial progress on this long running project.

Estavia or more properly, the Estavian Empire does not appear as a player in the board game, rather as the unwilling victim of the Soldier Kings who have the aim of capturing enough electoral cities to have themselves elected to the vacant Crimson Throne, the last occupant having expired without an heir. Shades of the war of the Austrian Succession and the Holy Roman Empire....

Allowing the provinces to be undefended makes the game one of territorial conquest; while simple, such does not make for a satisfying campaign, as playing in a WAS Sport of Kings campaign revealed. States are conquered too easily.

There are different was to approach this; Martin SC made each province an independent state, merging some of the smaller provinces in his VnB SK campaign, but did not use them in his playtest campaign. His view was their insertion would make for a better campaign.

Despite providing him with the materials, we diverged in our approach. I created the Estavian state from the provinces of the Hereditary Lands, the Midlands and the Bravancian Marches. The rest of the "grey" provinces nominally became the Empire, with a mix of electoral and non-electoral states and thus a potential say in who becomes Emperor.

The Estavian Empire (in my campaign) is the  "Zweikreutz Reich" from the amalgamated heraldic crosses of the Hereditary Lands and the Midlands, to form a Jerusalem style cross. It's enemies and detractors call it the "Doppelkreutz" Reich as a comment on the diplomacy it indulges in....

For inspiration, it draws on the Austrian and Saxon armies, with infantry in white uniforms. There is a nod to the "crimson" of the Crimson Throne as well. I have allowed more latitude in the range of facing colours than the historical models.

Progress has been slow; not only am I out of practice, painting white on Spencer Smiths is not easy! I seem to spend a lot of time correcting and retouching. Much of the detail has to be painted on; which allows for some latitude in "reading" the figures.......

For inspiration, I spent some time looking at Charles Grant's figures and browsing the excellent Duchy of Alzheim blog:

http://mavisming.blogspot.com

How they painted 50+ figures per unit  is beyond me! What struck me was the variety in how to paint the bag and straps, suggest a waistcoat etc.

I will post photos when the army is done.