Work Continues

Work on the background details and minis continues to make progress.  I have finished the populations and army makeup of all the warring States.  I will continue to work on the brief outline of the States in conflict.  As far as minis goes, I have completed the musketeers and pike men.  I am almost finished with the Cuirassiers.  After them I will move to the Grenadiers.  The pipeline for minis is Grenadiers, Dragoons, NCO's/standards, and Officers.  Once all the minis are drawn I will begin coloring them for their respective States.  There isn't going to be much variety yet as I want to start gaming asap.  I will work on variety to the armies as times goes but for right now they are going to be pretty much clone armies with different colors.  I don't think this will be that big of an issue as they are only going to be 28mm and from a gaming distance you won't be able to notice that much.  I do plan on adding a variety of hair colors and I might do a separate set of heads that I can just swap out in photoshop.  I have had my own personalized cards printed for the Piquet game that have just shipped so I am excited to receive those.  A fun fact the Arnsburg League, as I am calling Arnsburg and her allies, can field a total force of 116,346 men.  While the Munzirnbach Alliance can field 145,000 men.  Clearly Munzirnbach has some powerful friends and things aren't going to be so simple for Arnsburg.  Who will come on top in this coming conflict?  Stay tuned!

Bernefels

Munzirnbach's mighty neighbor to the North, Bernefels, has sworn to protect their tiny neighbor against the aggression of Arnsburg.  Bernefels is a massive state and boasts a population of 1,043,500 people.  She is lead by Duke Manfred IV.  The Duke personally leads his army and can field a force of 52,175 men.  With Bernefels on the side of Munzirnbach, this war might not be so easy for Arnsburg after all.

The uniform of the Bernefel Army

Rule System

So I have decided to go with Piquet as my rule system for the Solo campaign.  I like the card driven mechanics and randomness of the system.  It has a strong ability to allow a story to develope from the battle and plus the cards allow for a more random computer opponent and I don't have to manipulate the outcome so much.  I've begun developing the Arnsburg army based on the amount of men they can field.  Using the army percentages in the Pike and Shotte supplement for Piquet, Cartouche, the 22,338 men of Arnsburg's army 13,403 men are infantry, 6,701 men are Cavalry, and 2,234 men are artillery.  That further breaks down into 22 Battalions of foot, 17 Battalions of Horse, and 10 Batteries of Artillery.  I am using 600 men per Infantry Battalion, this won't add up exactly but for simplicity in the math that is what I am using, 400 men per cavalry Battalion, and 8 guns per Artiller battery.  The Arnsburg army is further broken down into 18 Battalions of Foot, 3 Battalions of Grenadiers, 1 Battalion of Guards; 9 Battalions of Cuirassiers, 6 Battalions of Dragoons, 1 Guard Du Corps, and 1 Battalion of Life Guards; 5 Batteris of Medium guns and 5 Batteries of Heavy guns.  This is the make up of the Arnsburg army and gives me my units exactly.  I will be doing this for the other warring states.

Koneudorf

The state of Koneudorf is west of Munzirbach and north of Wulfenburg.  Koneudorf has sided with Arnsburg in the coming conflict.  The wife of Prince Rupert, the ruler of Koneudorf, is the cousin of the wife of the ruler of Arnsburg.  With this family tie Prince Rupert was obliged to commit his forces to Arnsburg's cause.  The population of Koneudorf is 426,050 with a military of 21,303.

Koneudorf Uniform

Mannebruck

The State of Mannebruck borders Arnsburg's eastern border.  Mannebruck has vowed to protect the state of Munzirbach from Arnsburg aggression.  Mannebruck is a hilly landscape dotted with smaller cities.  The only major city is Mannebruck itself.  Mannebruck doesn't have a single governing figure like most states in the Dutchies.  Instead, they are ruled by an elected council.  Mannebruck has a population of 427,000 people and maintains an army of 21,375.

The Uniform of the Mannebruck Army

Munzirnbach

The state of Munzirnbach is the tiniest state in the whole land known as the Dutchies.  She has a small population of 174,200.  The land is mostly hilly with some woodland towards the city of Tenehofen.  The Allerz river runs the length of the state.  Munzirnbach is ruled by Lord Governor Richard Hoffman.  With the state of Arnsburg showing signs of severe aggression.  The Lord Governor has mustered is tiny force of 8,800 men and placed them around the capital in the hills.  The Lord Governor has sent out requests to neighboring states for aid.  He is currently awaiting the answers.                                                                                  

Uniform of the Munzirnbach Army

The Nation Developes

Work continues on the preparation for my solo campaign.  Using an article from issue 5 of Battlegames magazine I've started developing the size of the military for the various antagonists in the upcoming Unification conflict. The state of Arnsburg, our main protagonist, at this time had a population of 446,550.  Using the article lets say that half that population are men giving us 223,375 males.  Further using the article let us say that 10% of those men are eligible for military service giving us a military force of 22,338.  Using this method I can create my army lists for the nations.  Tiny Munzirnbach can only field an army of 8,800 men, luckily she has some major friends on her side; more to come on that!  I've decided on 10 states engaging in this upcoming war.  I plan on rolling off to see which side each state joins.  The states are:

1. Munzirnbach
2. Arnsburg
3. Mannebruck
4. Wulfenburg
5. Koneudorf
6. Bernefels
7. Morgard
8. Obenbruck
9. Ulfgard
10. Abenbach

The rest of the states are sitting this one out for now. I'm going to start on the story and Noble families of these states after I finish the military strength.  Here is the uniform color of Arnsburg
                                                                   

A Different Direction

           So work continues on my Arnsburg campaign.  Miniatures are finished for the most part, still have to finish Arnsburg's army.  However I've decided to put together a solo project for myself representing 100 years before the current Arnsburg Succession campaign.  At this time the year is 2449 the country of Arnsburg was divided up into many nation states, each with their own nobility. The Nobility, being the fickle bunch they are, were never satisfied with their current state in life.  Grand Duke Ostermand of Arnsburg decided to expand his realm by annexing the tiny state of Munzirnbach.  This act of aggression set the whole realm into a massive war.  Arnsburg and her allies would come out on top and country would become united under Arnsburg rule.

           This sets the stage for the campaign I want to play.  I will be using the same map for this campaign as it is already divided into areas that I can use as the other nation states.  I will do better about posting on the development of this campaign.  Currently searching out rules for both campaign and battles.  While I love Maurice, I don't think it will fit the style of warfare I have in mind.  I will also be hand drawing my miniatures in photoshop in 28mm instead of the 10mm ms paint minis I am doing for the Arnsburg Succession campaign.  Without further ado here is the uniform for the state of Wulfenburg, a staunch ally of Arnsburg in the coming conflict.