Another Soldier King "army" completed; although it represents the entire strength of the Duchy, it's more of a contingent of 9 units.
The Duchy of Sinistria is a small province on the borders of Hrvatska and the Electoral states of the Empire; as it has no Electoral city, I see it as nominally part of the greater Imperial states but independent and non-aligned. Originally, I had planned for an army half the size, but realised it's precarious position meant it was at risk on invasion and conquest; coupled with a revised mechanism for recruitment, a doubling of the force was necessary.
By the time I got to devising a uniform scheme for Sinistria, I was running out of ideas. A chance discovery in the Blandford "Uniforms of the Soldiers of Fortune" of a Dragoon in black uniform - a member of the short-lived Freikorps von Favrat was enough - the name of the duchy with it's hint of "sinister" seemed to confirm the choice of black as a uniform colour.
The rest followed easily; the family names of personalities tend to follow colours or colour related words in German; hence the Landgraf became Augustus Maximillian Schwartz with his army of the "Black Brigades". The heraldry was a mix of black, red and yellow which determined the flag colours; the heraldic symbol was originally a head - griffon perhaps? This morphed into a Griffon or Dragon. The Landgraf's rolled up character was that of an honour conscious, arrogant and corpulent individual. Out came the Fimo and a suitable "Grotesque" was sculpted - in fact he came out quite well, my "eye" being definitely "in" as it were due to multiple sculpts around this time.
Instead of a Freikorps, it was expanded into Dragoon regiments, musketeers, hussars and Pandours and artillery were added using Russian uniforms as inspiration. The Grenadiers all had head swaps (and Greenstuff additions) from the AWI plastic range added by Peter Johnstone - smaller than the original SSM but with Prussian style mitres. The Hussars were conversions to mirlitons - some old figures acquired in a host of plastics with odd bits of red and black enamel and individual names / ID on their bases - true veterans of some childhood battles! With a black undercoat, painting was relatively quick.
Due to his "corpulence" the names of units were derived from meat and fish dishes....there are not enough place names in the Duchy!
Landgraf Augustus Maximilian Schwartz von Sinistria
Son - Furst or Markgraf von Sinistria
Von Lorch and Von Monzel
The Leber and Truthahn Gragoons
Kopfel Hussars
Schnitzel and Wurst Regiments
Katenspeck and Schinken Regiments
Kabeljau Pandours
Artillery
The army on parade
And in their storage box
I am often asked "when will we see them in a battle?" Sadly, I still have more painting to do as well as buildings to construct (Schreiber and other East European card buildings). Add to which, I have nowhere currently to play. While the completion of Sinistria is a milestone in the Soldier King project - only Dupanen remains of the states - I also need to complete some "rebels" who will also double as civilian militia and bot Estavia and the Electoral states need expanding, Estavia having another brigade of infantry some cavalry and grenze to paint.
Perhaps a project for retirement?
Fantastic looking army, Neil! Stocking up for retirement is a solid plan.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan.
DeleteI think I may have stocked rather too much as I'm running out of storage!
Neil
An interesting read on the mechanics of forming a new state, very enjoyable and a grand parade, the uniforms are really rather nice, and the black works out really well. I may do something with some Prussian figures that are doing nothing and paint up some as von Favrat. Stocking up for retirement is a good plan and one I keep repeating to my better half as I purchase more figures!
ReplyDeleteThanks Donnie. I confess I'm a bit of a "planner"; the problem I have is sticking to the plan! ☺
DeleteWhen I started, it was going to be 4 armies, each of 12 units (like the starting point in the game). At that stage, I wasn't sure what I'd do about recruitment. It evolved into a realisation the armies were too small, so bit by bit they grew. Then I decided the neutral provinces would be conquered too easily.....I also wanted a "white" army - originally it was going to be one of the kingdoms. This morphed into an Imperial army, then all the little states with their own little "armies".....
This all got planned out, not always to the final detail, some bits were sketchy until completion.
That said, the Italian wars flats were completely off the cuff without any real planning!
Neil
Another splendid little army.
ReplyDeleteThanks Andy. I suspect their appearance will be better than their actual performance!
ReplyDeleteNeil
Good looking unit. Are the Pandours from Spencer Smiths Napoleonic range?
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter. Yes the Pandours are Napoleonic Russians* or Prussians* with the blanket roll shaved off and shako peak removed. I tend to use SSM Napoleonic or ACW figures for LI.
Delete*The rather odd pack with a mix of two figures in shako and one in helmet - not that I ever bought them in such packs!
Neil
Great stuff! The army looks trim, the background is first rate fun.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joe. It's surprising to me that people find the background stuff of interest; the game itself has very little. I went through the various states creating ruling and noble families using the ideas in Tony Bath's "Setting up a Wargames Campaign" , giving them characteristics from one of his tables, tweaked for the C18th.
DeleteI also diced up an initial relationship table to see who liked or didn't like whom.
Sinistria and Dupanen were decidedly cool on Banst (who seems to be hostile to everyone!). Banst has a ruler who is decidedly prickly, with a scandalous past. It so happens Sinistria and Dupanen are married to twin sisters (from a Hrvatskan dynasty). I've rationalized all this as a scandal in the past involving the ruler of Banst and the sisters. As they are geographically distant, there's little other reason for hostility. In turn, the Hrvatskan connection sets up a potential for an alliance rather than outright conquest.
Neil
What a fabulous looking Army, I love the mixture of colours in the uniforms. The best yet I'd say.
ReplyDeleteWrt lack of playing space, I have discovered that pasting tables from B&Q fit nicely over a double bed. Two of them together make up a decent sized table, which is how I've managed to play bigger games at home. It is quick to take them down when to occupants require their bed back...
Thanks Martin. The colour combination is very pleasing I agree. With a black undercoat, it was amazing how much painting was already done. Normally it's just the hat and gaiters, but here it was the coat as well. It was a bit like "paint by numbers" (which dates me I know).
DeleteI had paste tables in the past - why was one always more rickety? ☺ I actually have tables, just nowhere to put them. In addition, storage is becoming a problem. I've decided a huge shed is the answer.....☺
Neil
Wonderful looking Army Neil - Great to see your "characters" as well; they really add to a force.
ReplyDelete