Monday, 21 January 2008

Le Duc de Padirac

The Legione Tradgardland is commanded by the Duc de Padirac. A Frenchman by birth he takes his title from the Gouffre de Padirac in the Dordogne where his family has lived for generations.
The gouffre ( see picture) is a vast hole in the ground leading to caverns vast and glorious. It is down here that the Duc began his career as a proto paleontologist and where his fascinating collection of objects ( see picture ) were found.
After a particularly unpleasant argument and subsequent duel with a local Abbe the Duc left the country of his birth and wandered eventually to the Duchy of Tradgardland. After hastily acquired skills ,obtained by correspondence with the infamous Baron von Trenck, the Duc offered to raise a legione for the Duchy of Tradgardland- a process he has nearly finished.A close friend from The Ducal Society (the Duke Karl Frederick himself) described him as saintly,miserly,totally loyal,handsome,idle and sluggish , with no martial aptitude whatsoever! The Duc is a regular at meetings of the Society where his papers upon a variety of subjects are eagerly anticipated.The Legione is yet to fight - perhaps this will change in 1758.
A painting of the Duc is pictured below showing him portrayed as a thinker and polymath with a penchant for eastern exotic attire.This may or may not be reflected in the uniform of the Legione Tradgardland...





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5 comments:

  1. abdul66621 January 2008 at 17:54

    Impressive character!
    "This may or may not be reflected in the uniform of the Legione Tradgardland...": looking forward to learn more.

    Cheers,
    Jean-Louis

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  2. David Morfitt21 January 2008 at 18:42

    That wouldn't be old "Nic Nac" Padirac, the obsessive collector, would it? ;-)

    Sounds fun - hope the Legion is rather like the Von Kleist Freicorps with its exotic uhlans etc..

    David.

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  3. Bluebear Jeff21 January 2008 at 20:29

    For those who don't know, a "legion" (as opposed to a regiment) is a unit that composed of both foot and mounted elements.


    -- Jeff

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  4. Fitz-Badger22 January 2008 at 03:31

    Thanks for that tidbit, Jeff! I didn't know that. I should get a book or two on this stuff, but so far I haven't seen any while perusing any bookstores I have visited in the last several months.

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  5. Bluebear Jeff22 January 2008 at 09:07

    One of the reasons that you see so few "legions" was effectively demonstrated in the latest battle on Der Alte Fritz' blog . . . he got so tied up with his mounted that he forgot about his grenadiers.

    One of the key elements both in history and on the tabletop is the "command and control" of the troops in your command.

    Well infantry move slowly and the key element with mounted troops is their mobility. The commander of a "legion" always has the problem of losing contact with one or the other.

    All of that being said, a number of noblemen were fond of raising their own legions.


    -- Jeff

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