Mannebruck

Mannebruck is the long standing enemy of Arnsburg.  Their army has quickly mobilized for the upcoming conflict mainly due to the constant border skirmishes with Arnsburg.  Mannebruck maintains an army around the same size as Arnsburg and can muster a force of 21,375 men.  The constant skirmishes and small wars between the two Dutchies have allowed Mannebruck to maintain a relative highly trained force.  One such regiment is the 1st Mannebruck Line, raised from around the town of Veisebach.  The 1st maintains garrison duty in the town of Grankarlbach along the Arnsburg border.  The 1st has seen much action and has been involved in many forays across the border.  They once took part in a raid that saw much of the major town of Genefeld burned to the ground.  The 1st is ready and eager to take the fight to the Arnsburg aggressors and help the small dutchy of Munzirnbach maintain her independence.

Flag of the 1st Mannebruck Line

Uniform of the 1st Mannebruck Line

Armies growing

I've finished the Mannebruck army and have started on the Koneudorf army!  I've printed out all the Wulfenburg infantry and I am putting them together.  I've also started working on 28mm paper miniatures so I can have battles in a bigger scale.  Here is the Koneudorf national flag:

I am slowly getting everything ready for when the game tables arrive.  Once they do I will be able to actually fight battles on a good surface that I can leave set up in my basement!

New Cavalry

I've started to redesign the Cavalry, as I have found that the way I had them originally you could not see the color.  The new design incorporates a standard which will allow me to see the regiment better on the tabletop.

These are Mannenbruck Curassiers.  There will be three bases per regiment and five minis per base.  With my automatic cutter they cut out just fine and will be a snap to glue together and base.  I'm looking forward to getting a couple regiments printed and put together.  I haven't decided if I am going to go back and redo Arnsburg and Murnsenbach yet because they are already printed and put together in the old style and that would be a lot of waste.  This is the style going forward.  I am still sort of working on a 28mm version of the minis.  These 10mm paint style minis just come together so much faster.

Hiatus

After a bit of Hiatus I am back to work on the project.  I just finished the Mannebruck infantry and I am starting on the cavalry.  I kickstarted some fold up game tables from 4th war.  Those should be coming in probably by the first of the year.  Once those come in I can really start fighting battles as I will have a playing surface.

I plan on adding the armies to the campaign map as I complete them.  This will simulate the raising and training of the army for war.  After Mannebruck I will begin on the Konendorf army (being lazy and not checking if that is the correct spelling)  The biggest hurdle will be Bernefels with 50 infantry regiments.  I will probably do their army in waves.  20 at first and then the rest of the regiments in one or two more waves.

This approach should lead to a completion of the armies as the campaign plays out!

So What's Been Going On?

Haven't posted for a while.  I played my first game, just to test the Pique rules and I was pleasantly surprised!  It played fast, and the chaotic nature of rolling for initiative kept me guessing and worked really well as a solo wargame.  I pitted an equal force of Arnsburg against Munzirnbach.  Muzirnbach kept winning the initiative and caught the Arnsburg forces still in column formation.  They were able to deliver a volley into the formed ranks of Arnsburg Infantry.  I only played a couple rounds and Munzirnbach cavalry was soundly defeated by the Arnsburg cavalry and I called it a very minor Anrsburg victory.  I kept track of casualties and luckily for Arnsburg I rolled low on the casualty die, unlucky for Munzirnbach I rolled very high.  So even though Munzirbach was in control of the battle they inflicted very few casualties on the Arnsburg forces.  Munzirbach suffered heavily in the cavalry battle and Munzirbach's first Dragoons are routed from the field.  I will be typing up a detailed battle report.  I'm going to be adding comic style scenes to it and using battle chronicler for the overall picture. Casualties for the first encounter, Arnsburg lost a total of 68 men; 14 killed and 54 wounded. Munzirnbach lost a total of 148 men, 30 killed and  118 wounded. I've also gone back to painting real miniatures.  I bought the two player starter of Dropzone Commander and have been having a blast painting the minis.  It seems like it is going to be a cool game!

Minor Engagement Across the Border of MunzirnbachMarch 2449

I wanted to take a test dive in the Piquet rules as I have not played them yet.  I have read the rules several times but I would like to get a game under my belt.  I have arranged a small skirmish involving six units on each side.  There will be four infantry and two cavalry battalions.  I won't really count this towards the campaign but this little action will set the stage of the start of the war.  

In early March 2449 General Amadeus Faust of Arnsburg was ordered to make a strong showing across the border of Munzirnbach.  He was given a force that included 5th, 7th, and 9th Arnsburg Regiment of Foot. The 2nd Grenadiers were supplied as heavy hitters.  His cavalry force included two Battalions of Curassiers, the 1st and 5th.  He had a total force of  3,200 men.  On the road toward Frareidorf Faust was met by a similar sized Munzirnbach force.  It was lead by General Gustav Borchart, who was ordered to counter any move made by Arnsburg.  Borchart's force included the 1st, 4th, and 5th Foot of the line, the 1st Munzirnbach Grenadiers, and the 1st Dragoon and 3rd Curassiers.  This was a sizable force considering the total size of Munzirnbach's army.  Borchart knew the key to victory was to strike fast and hard as well as try to minimize casualties.  The forces lined up opposite of each other.  Each commander trying to determine what course of action to take.  The forces made camp across from each other on March 4th 2449.  The next day would see the first action of the War of Arnsburg Agression.

March 1st 2449 Initial Army Deployments

The War of Arnsburg Aggression is beginning.  Both the Arnsburg and Murnzinbach armies have mustered.  The allies to both states are close behind, both Wulfenburg and Mannebruck are close to ready.  Arnsburg has split her army into four battle groups (I am using Theatre of war campaign rules which allow a total of 8pts worth of battle groups on the map for 17th-18th century warfare).  The Arnsburg battle group located in Meckuppbach is commanded by General Hoster Stahdler, the brother of the Grand Dutchess of Arnsburg.  He is an Average Commander (I am using the Piquet rules for my battles and I rolled the skill level of each commander).  The Arnsburg battle group located in Arnsburg is commanded by General Allister Upton, a skilled commander.  The Arnsburg battle group located in the minor city of Genefeld is commanded by the overall commander of the Arnsburg army, General Michal Horne; a superior commander.  The Arnsburg battle group located in the major city Genefeld (my random name generator did two Genefeld's and I didn't notice until it was too late, oh well!) is commanded by Lord Tristan Ostermond.  He is the brother of Grand Duke Ollie and is a superior commander.  I have a pool of 10 Arnsburg commander personalities to use as sub-commanders in battle.

Murzinbach has a much smaller army and have concentrated the vast majority on their captial city of Murnzinbach.  This battle group is commanded by the overall commander Lord Governor Hoffman, he is an average commander.  The Murnzinbach battle group in Frareidorf is commanded by General Gerd Wirsching, a skilled commander.  The Murnzinbach battle group in Tenehofen is commanded by General Gustav Borchardt, an average commander.

The first campaign turn will begin soon, each campaign turn is a week.  I will be playing my first battle soon and I am looking forward to finally getting the campaign under way.

Mannebruck National Flag

One of the adversaries of Arnsburg, Mannebruck makes up the eastern border with Arnsburg. Mannebruck is of a similar size and boasts an army of 21,317 men.  Mannebruck and Arnsburg have always been enemies and regular border raids occur so frequently that the raids during peace time are mainly used as training exercises by both States.

As I am working on the Mannebruck army, I was really happy with the way their national flag came out!  One of the best ones that I have done.

Progress

Wow, my silhouette cutter is amazing! This project has gone through some changes, but I'm finally getting somewhere. The Arnsburg army is complete and all based! That is 23 infantry regiments, 6 dragoons, 7 curassiers, 11 artillery batteries, and 10 commanders. I'm just happy one army is complete! Murnzirnbach is printed and cut out, I just have to base them now. I plan on having a small skirmish to test the rules and get this campaign moving. Wulfenburg is almost printed, I've done 8 of their infantry regiments. Mannebruck is next to get an ally of Murnzinbach on the field. Campaign map movements will begin soon. August should finally see some tabletop action!

Grand Duke Ollie Ostermand's Family Tree

I was bored at work today and did the family tree for Grand Duke Ollie Ostermand of Arnsburg.  I don't like the template because it doen't have any spots for his wife, children, and siblings.  I am limited to what I can look up on my work PC.  This will do for now, I will redo it at a later point to include the entire dynastic line of the House of Ostermand. The current year of this world is 2449 BU (Before Unification).  The names without surnames are Ostermands.  This tree goes all the way back to Ollie's Great Grandfather Hansgeorg Ostermand.  I will come up with events that occured during these earlier times just to get a clearer picture of the history of Arnsburg.

Arnsburg 1st Regiment of Dragoons

Arnsburg 1st Regiment of Dragoons are recruited from the area around the town of Frenebruck.  All Dragoon Regiments are part of the regular army and actively patrol the borders of Arnsburg.  The men of the 1st are in charge of patrolling the border with Mannebruck and make small scale raids into Mannebruck and repel Mannebruck raiders almost on a daily basis.  These raids are accepted means for keeping the men in shape and help to keep them drilled.  Rarely are there many casualties in these raids as they are used mainly for training purposes.  With war on the horizon, however, these raids are starting to become more deadly for the men taking part in them.  Since Mannebruck has declared their support of Munzirnbach, the reigns have been taken off the men of the 1st Regiment of Dragoons and the small farms and villages on the border are now fair game.  The Dragoons are cavalry but also fight on foot as infantry, though with their carbines they have a shorter range.  Dragoons can secure an important part of the battlefield quickly and dismount to hold it as they await reinforcements from the Infantry.

3rd Regiment of Grenadiers "Black Coats"

Part of Luther Von Weinbuch's private army on loan to the Duke of Arnsburg, the regiment that makes up the 3rd Grenadiers is Von Weinbuchs toughest and biggest men.  Personally picked by Von Weinbuch to bear the brunt of the heaviest fighting in defense of his merchant shipments.  The men of the 3rd Grenadier do not slouch in their duties and look forward to every action they are sent in.  Like the 17th Regiment of Foot the 3rd Grenadiers are outfitted in the "Black Coat" that distinguishes them from their light gray comrades.  The 3rd is heavily disciplined and are in pristine condition for the coming war.  Duke Osterman is looking forward to seeing these men in action and has a stretch of land in Munzirbach picked out for Von Weinbuch as a gift for his generosity.

Arnsburg 4th Regiment of Foot

The 4th Regiment of Foot is made up of men recruited from Bligenhofen.  A city who is known for their food, the main protein in they eat is Crane.  The Crane graces the banner of the 4th and they carry it proudly. The 4th is a regular army unit and have seen many small engagements in the border skirmishes with Mannebruck and Bernefels.  The regiment is led by Colonel Heinrich Hintz, pictured above. Colonel Hintz is a tough disciplinarian and keeps his men in peak condition.  The officers of the Arnsburg army wear a powdered wig and  use a spear while leading their men over a sword.  The spear is a throw back to an earlier era but it allows the officer to be visible to his men and issue commands with signals based on the position of the spear in the air.  It also serves as a good counter to bayonets and swords in melee combat.  It allows the officer to keep his distance and still fight.  

Arnsburg 5th Regiment of Foot

The Arnsburg 5th Regiment was raised mostly from the small city of Acherbach just south of the capital city of Arnsburg.  These men are part of the standing army and are highly disciplined.  The have seen some action in the many border wars with Mannebruck and Bernefels.  The are led by career solder Colonel Ewald Kriening.  Colonel Ewald has commanded the regiment for some fifteen years and is rapidly approaching the retirement age of 60.  Colonel Ewald is currently 58 and knows he will lead the men of the 5th Regiment of Foot to a quick victory over Munzirnbach.

17th Regiment of Foot "The Black Coats"

The 17th Regiment of Foot, or The Black Coats as they are known in the Arnsburg army, form the core of a private army of a wealthy Arnsburgian merchant.  Luther Von Weinbuch controls most of the trade for the Duchy of Arnsburg and has amassed a large fortune.  Luther decided to hire and equip his own small army to guard his cargo and protect him from his enemies.  He went with a black coat instead of the traditional light gray of the Arnsburg Army to set his men apart.  With the coming war, Luther decided to show his patriotism by donating his personal army to the Duke.  His Foot regiment was designated the 17th Regiment of Foot for organizational purposes.  The men of the "Black Coats" are disciplined and some have seen some action protecting various shipments from pirates and bandits.  The rest of the Arnsburg army sees them as little more than mercenaries for hire, but the "Black Coats" pride themselves on this fact.  They can go off and have adventures in other lands while the rest of the army is stuck in the confines of the Duchy's borders. Luther's small army includes one regiment of Foot, one regiment of Grenadiers, and one unit of Horse.  Luther hopes that his generosity will be rewarded with a knighthood and a chance to join the ranks of the Lords.

Where We Stand

Where do I stand currently on this project?  That is a good question.  I've had a lack of motivation to finish the large scale miniatures.  Though they look good, the amount of work that goes into them is staggering.  So my solution is that I've gone back to the smaller scale miniatures and that has seemed to work.  I've finished the Arnsburg army in that scale and have printed out all 22 infantry regiments.  I will be working on putting them together over the coming week.  I've found a good rhythm in this scale and have created a regiment for every belligerent nation in my original story line.  Once I have some regiments put together I can start having some small scale actions and then as more come together I can start fighting the major battles that I have been wanting to play!  So everything is coming together just in a different way than I had originally set out to do.

Arnsburg Grenadiers

These are two of the three regiments of Grenadiers for the Arnsburg army.  Also I've went from pike and shot to a standard Musket armed army.  It will just fit better this way with an 18th century Imagi-nation!

Regimental History Anrsburg's First Regiment of Foot

Arnsburg 1st Regiment is commanded by Colonel Heinrich Rudat.  The Regiment was first formed in the year 2420 in the city of Arnsburg.  The Regiment has been in service for years and has seen action in various border wars with Bernefels and Mannebruck.  It's most famous action to date was at the battle of Genefeld. An invasion force from Mannebruck crossed the border and smashed into a local militia force.  The 1st Regiment of Foot along with some artillery and cavalry launched a counter attack and was able to drive off the invaders.  With rumors of the upcoming invasion of Munzirnbach, Colonel Rudat has been keeping his men in pristine condition.

1st Regiment Gray Uniform with Red Facing

Finished with the Viking project... back to the Dutchies

I finished and went to the con.  I made one war band for a buddy of mine and a ton of Saxon opponents.  The miniatures turned out really good in my opinion and has fueled my energy again to complete the current project.  I have many ideas for the Dutchy of Arnsburg in the future and I want to complete this chapter of their history.  I've created the master sheet of Mounted Dragoons and the master sheet of Commanders.  I have a couple more regiments of Cuirassiers to finish for the Arnsburg army.  I think I am going to start coloring Munzirnbach next so that way I can fight a small skirmish and test out the rules and campaign map.  The project is starting to shape up and hopefully by the summer time I will be in full swing with the campaign!  Here are some of the Vikings and Saxons:

Status

Well it is now March and work continues on my little Viking project for my convention with my friends.  I've finished the Saxons and I'm now working on the Vikings.  I'm cutting it close and I will have to cut down some of the poses and variation in Vikings in order to get them colored and printed by March 21st.  So it is going to be some long weekend nights drawing and coloring away.  After that I will be back to work on the Arnsburg project.  Once I get them done I will be done with paper minis for a little bit.  I am going to go back to metal and plastic minis and get some much needed painting done!

A Saxon Hero

Rebasing

So I was initially going to base the miniatures on paper bases but I had all these Litko bases laying around and decided to re-base the miniatures on those.  So for the pike blocks I am basing 9 minis on a 2 in square base and the musketeers I am basing four minis on a 40 x 30mm base.  I am really happy with the results and they look a lot more sturdy.  Not too much work on the coloring front.  I've been working on a side project for a Con that my friends and I do every year.  I am making some Viking minis that will be using with these rules called Age of Blood that I found on the internet.  Seems like a really cool skirmish game.  Once I finish with the Viking minis I will be going back to the Arnsburg project full time.  I have several infantry regiments and one Curassier regiment printed out for Arnsburg.  Working on putting those together and basing them.  With the vast majority of the Arnsburg army done I will be able to focus on the 3 remaining armies and should start gaming by Summer.  This project has stretched out longer than I thought but I didn't realize how much work went into something like this.  I couldn't imagine how long it would take me if I were trying to do this with actual 3D miniatures.  The painting would take me years!  Creating the world in which this war will take place has been the most satisfying for me.  Coming up with a cast of characters and how this war will impact their lives I think will be worth it.  After I get all the troops done I want to do some special minis for the commanding generals on each side so they will have their own personalities.

Scaling Project Back Some

So my initial ambition in this project was crazy high.  As I work more and more and the length of time it is take just to do one nation, I am going to be forced to lower the amount of nations involved in the conflict.  Arnsburg has 18 units of infantry, which I am finished with.  Other nations, like Bernefels, have over 50 units of infantry and that would be a huge undertaking in coloring and printing.  So I am going to cut half of the waring nations and maybe just do two per side.  Arnsburg and Wulfenburg against Munzirnbach and Mannebruck.  The combined armies of Arnsburg and Wulfenburg will number 32 regiments of Foot, 5 Grenadiers, 2 Regiments of Guard Infantry, 16 Regiments of Curassiers, 10 Regiments of Dragoons, 2 Guard Du Corps, 1 Life Guard, 6 Batteries of Heavy Artillery, and 7 Batteries of Medium Artillery.  Total Army numbers is  38,613 and a total of 81 units.  Munzirnbach and Mannebruck will number 24 Battalions of Foot, 5 Grenadiers, 1 Guard, 12 Regiments of Curassiers, 8 Dragoons, 2 Life Guard, 8 Batteries of Medium Artillery, 7 Batteries of Heavy Artillery. Total Army numbers is 30,175 and a total of 67 units.  This is a little bit more of a manageable number.  If I tried to do all 10 nations as originally planned I would have to print out well over 200 units and a project like that would take several years. Because I am itching to play and get this campaign moving so I can move onto my next project ( American Civil War miniatures for use with Longstreet that I plan on putting up for sale).  Here are a couple of pictures of the miniatures based up.  I think they turned out pretty good.

Musketeers

A Pike block formed and ready

Curassiers Printed and cut