Best Wishes for the New Year

I wish everyone in this most civilized of communities (by which I mean Emperor vs. Elector) the best for the coming year. Most especially our congenial host, Bluebear Jeff.

For myself, I have little new to report regarding the Principality of Estria. A period of illness through December allowed me to make some incremeental progress, and also to catch up on my reading. Now I find myself pondering ways to insinuate the Barbary Corsairs a little more fully into the Estrian world, if only on the periphery.

In other, unrelated news, I have started another blog entitled "Pagálnikèlikh Gàqadóshumashumámrakoi: The Discernment of the Dual Dais" (catchy name, no?) in order to explore some themes that have always interested me in the late Prof. M.A.R. Barker's world of Tékumel. Some of you may be familiar with Tékumel, it is another form of old-school gaming I suppose.

Not that I am specifically interested in gaming Tékumel any more. Not as such. But I do love the world Prof. Barker created, and I love reading and writing about it now and then. If any of you are interested, you can find my blog (and links to others) here:  http://dualdais.blogspot.ca/

And events will continue to unfold in the Principality of Estria.

from flags and uniforms to....where?

So there it is, uniform plates for all the regiments of all the duchies of Estria. I opened this series of posts a few weeks ago with a nod to the source for all the uniform templates, and I would like to close the same way, with thanks to David of "Not by Appointment" ( http://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.ca/ ) for making available such a wealth of uniform templates that are  fun to work with, and, though historically rooted, are also a great way to try out imagi-nation uniform ideas.

The figures I imagine painting to build these regiments (HaT's 1/72 plastics) will I hope be released within the next six months or so, but in the meantime, now I must decide on some other avenues to make the Principality of Estria just a little more real.

There are over a hundred named personalities that need fleshing out, and so far I have only done biographical sketches for a few dozen of them. Definitely something I need to finish.

Also, I will admit I am sometimes tempted to jump the gun and just start playing out the intrigue phase before the character sketches are done. I do have a couple of hundred randomly-generated personalities, so I could just give the remaining nobles of Estria number-based characteristics now and save the descriptive text for later.

Another option is to start making some civilians and personality figures, since as far as I know, there are none in 1/72. Unfortunately, sculpting in 1/72 can be a nightmare. Presumably that is why almost nobody actually does it. Here is where choosing 1/72 as my scale of choice starts to look less like a money-saver and more like a rod for my back. Oh well.

The Forces of the Gran Ducato di Brescegna: Cavalry

The Brescegnian cavalry include one regiment of Grantaiere a Cavallo, three regiments of dragoons, one of cuirassiers, and one of hussars. Dragoon coats, like those of the infantry, are green.

The Granatieri a Cavallo della Granduchessa, based at Brescegna, are commanded by Giancarlo Ludovico di Brescegna. Light green coats, pale cyan facings. Again, Austrian influence is apparent in the style of bearskin worn by the Granatieri a Cavallo.

The Reggimento di Dragoni della Cittavecchia, based at Zirona, are commanded by Gianfranco Fortunato di Zirona. Facing colour is blue.

The Reggimento di Dragoni Tranti is based at Tarantina, under the command of Paolo Enrico, Marchese di Tarantina. Facing colour is pink.

The Reggimento di Dragoni San Caglio, based at Savona, is commanded by Emiliano Raffaele di Savona. Facing colour is yellow.

The Corazzieri Casanuova, based at Tarantina, are commanded by Francesco Raffaele, Barone di Parmeso. Lavender coats, white facings.

The Corsari di Darmato are based at Bàssina. Their colonel is Carlo Massimiliano di Bàssina. Hussar-style uniform with white dolman, red breeches, and red pelisse trimmed with brown fur. Instead of the mirliton, they wear tall brown busbies, another sign of Austrian influence.

The Forces of the Gran Ducato di Brescegna: Artillery

The Reggimento d’Artiglieria di Brescegna, based at Brescegna, is commanded by Federico Massimiliano, Gran Duca di Brescegna. Facing colour is black.

The Forces of the Gran Ducato di Brescegna: Infantry

Finally, the forces of the Gran Ducato di Brescegna, starting with the foot. The foot regiments of Brescegna wear green coats. Some Austrian influence is apparent in the style of bearskin worn by the Granatieri. In all regiments, musicians wear reversed colours.

The Granatieri della Guardia Granducale, based at Brescegna, are personally commanded by Federico Massimiliano, Gran Duca di Brescegna. Pale green coats, green facings.

The Reggimento di Moschettieri della Bresca are based at Montecorvo, under the command of Gianmarco Cosimo di Montecorvo. The moschettieri are recruited from the villages of the upper Bresca valley. They are the only Brescegnian regiment to be designated "moschettieri" and their all-green uniforms are intended to evoke light infantry skirmishers. They are considered an elite of sorts, but in truth, their training and equipment are little different from those of the other foot regiments. Green coats, light-green facings, and fusilier caps.

The Reggimento di Fanteria Maggiano, based at Magenta, is commanded by Alessandro Capriano, Cavaliere di Sampietro. Facing colour is red.

The Reggimento di Fanteria Sparviero is based at Bàssina. Their colonel is Antonio Emiliano, Conte di Bàssina. Facing colour is lavender-pink.

The Reggimento di Fanteria Colorne, based at Savona, is commanded by Giambattista Francesco, Marchese di Savona. Facing colour is orange.

The Reggimento di Fanteria della Isola is based on the island of Roccaforte. Their colonel is Emanuele Stefano, Visconte di Roccaforte. Facing colour is light blue.

The Reggimento di Fanteria Terezzano is based at Zirona, under the command of Giacomo Amadeo, Conte di Zirona. Facing colour is capucine.

The Forces of the Großherzogtum von Zeichen-Nietschbaden: Cavalry

The Zeichener horse include one regiment of Grenadiere-zu-Pferde, three regiments of dragoons, one of cuirassiers and one of hussars. Dragoons, like the foot, wear dark blue coats.

The Grenadiere-zu-Pferde von Großherzogin Maria, based at Nietschbaden, are commanded by Friedrich Albrecht von Zeichen-Nietschbaden. Mid-blue coats with dark blue facings (I am not quite committed to the mitre-caps on these guys).

The Dessergau Dragoner-Regiment are based at Desse under the command of Georg Heinrich, Graf von Desse-Harmstreicht. Crimson facings.

The Sauberg Dragoner-Regiment, based at Hochwald, are commanded by Franz August, Graf von Hochwald. Green facings.

The Obersee Dragoner-Regiment, based at Schwerburg, are commanded by Karl Rudolf, Graf von Schwerburg. Lavender-pink facings.

The Doppelkirchen Kurassiere, based at Darmsdorf, are commanded by Franz Joachim von Darmsdorf. White coats, red facings.

The Dornschlacht Husaren, based up at the Ober-Tierwald, are commanded by Friedrich Wilhelm, Markgraf von Ober-Tierwald. Hussar-style uniform with mirliton cap. Grey breeches and dolman, sky-blue pelisse trimmed with black fur.

The Forces of the Großherzogtum von Zeichen-Nietschbaden: Artillery

The Badensee Artillerie-Regiment, based at Nietschbaden, is commanded by Dietrich Schlagober, Ritter von Grems. Facing colour is black.