Monday 11 August 2008

The Duchy of St Bruno - an ideal and proposal...



Once more I am debating how to integrate my historical wargaming collecting with my imagination gaming. This has been on my mind of late a great deal as I return to work after the summer hols very soon...

My regular opponent has begun to paint his Prussians for B.A.R . I will oppose these with my Austrians which I will continue to collect/paint. This will be the major focus of my non solo wargaming over the winter /next year.

In the past I have used my Austrians to fight the Tradgardlanders but I fancy something else that will allow me to use the same figs for historical and imagination gaming. I also want to have an opponent for the Austrians which I can put out against my regular opponent to play B.A.R until the Prussians come on stream.

I was in a dilemma until I picked up a book from the Uni Library which I last had out years and years ago - " The wild goose and the eagle " by Christopher Duffy. It is (as I am sure many of you know) a life of Marshal Von Browne .

In it I read of the Austrian army fighting the Spanish and French in North Italy. Some exciting set pieces and inspirational reading. And so,in the words of Baldrick, I have a cunning plan. I will raise Spanish to oppose the Austrians.

The imagination element will therefor be The forces of the Imperium fighting the forces of Hispania . The games will take place in a little known North Italian state - The Duchy of San Bruno...

Here is the idea - a seamless garment of wargaming . As ever gentlemen I await your comments and ideas...

11 comments:

  1. Why on earth not! If you recall (or even read it) ONW had its start as an imagi-nation set in the real world, fighting the French, the Prussians, the Austrians... or anybody who would face them across the Table of Mars!
    Future conflicts involve the long running dispute between ONW and Hannunter!
    So... what I'm saying, I guess, is 'Go For It!"

    And good luck and good gaming!

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  2. Your humble amanuensis has been remiss in recounting it, but the history of the minority of Herzog Ignaz von Pfaz-Kognat-Obersayn is deeply implicated in the affairs of the Most Serene Republic, the Lombard Torre e Tasso relations of the dowager Duchess Vittoria and the sad decline of the Mantuan House of Gonzaga from the time of the War of Spanish Succession to its ultimate eclipse.

    We would therefore welcome further intelligence of the Imaginations and notional principalities of the Italian peninsula.

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  3. I also say, "go for it".

    My own Saxe-Bearstein forces are based on those of Hanover . . . and the despicably vile Stagonians are based on the French . . . this even though the position in our EvE Europa has the two now based in Bohemia and Bavaria.


    -- Jeff

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  4. The Duchy of St Bruno has a nice ring to it. A Spanish army is an excellent choice, I'll have to post some pictures of my Spanish army. They can fight alone or allied to the French, and have Swiss, Italian, Irish, and Walloon allies of their own. All in all, I think you've made a wonderful decision.
    Best regards...Bill

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  5. Sounds like a great idea. I will also have "Spanish" forces in my imagi-armies from the Duchy of Campostella, which is a long-lost remnant of the Spanish possessions along the Spanish Road from northern Italy to the Spanish Netherlands.

    I'll be using figures from Vince Clyant's London Warroom of Petal, Miss., USA. You can see them at www.thelondonwarroom.com

    Jim

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  6. As a one-time "Macciavelli" player I'd certainly be interested in seeing an ImagiNation set in Italy.

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  7. I have started with a Spanish style Principality - The Principality of Todos Santos. Mainly it's because I can speak Spanish and not French, but also because no one else was doing it at the time!

    Good ideas here.

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  8. Hey, I like it! And we don't see enough Spanish and Italian=based troops on the tables out there.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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  9. I like it, too. The Soweiter League does have one Italian-speaking member state, San Gelato, although no troops have been mustered yet (too busy making merry, eating and drinking, and otherwise engaging in pleasant pasttimes).

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  10. Ah yes, the home land of my General Pepperoni!
    :)

    Of course, this also opens the door to Piedmontese, Sardinians, and a nice sprinkle of Ottoman / Balkan raiders / mercenaries ....
    :)

    Arthur

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  11. Seems a great plan to me. Leaving through the relevant pages of Funcken, there's lots of exotic uniforms, which would really get me going (I like painting). However, are the bulk of Spanish infantry in whitecoats? Will this be a problem against white Austrians? (I'd probably decide to use mainly the less mainstream Spanish uniforms, at least to start with, to keep the proportion of white coats down).

    Noel

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