Map of The League of Bittburg

The First Eschian War Campaign map Version 1.1, before hostilities. Drax and Pomerania are the 2 baronies closest to the Saxe-Huack city of Esch. As an off-post topic, I may switch my rule set to a hybrid of Vae Victis and Charge, mixed with my own rules.

City of Esch Suffocated with Refugees

HUACK, Fortinbras Palace (DP) As many in the Duchy of Saxe-Huack know, indeed in all Germania, our noble lord Augustus has claim to the city and lands of Bittburg. A claim that goes back to the days of Charlemagne. A claim that he has cordially and honorably kept in title only, for the preservation of peace and good will between the Duchy and the League of Bittburg.

In recent days our southern city of Esch has been flooded with massive refugees fleeing the northern league lands of Drax and Pomerania. As you may now know the League of Bittburg recently passed laws declaring those two baronies as serf-lands. This was done in order to funnel "slave" labor for rich merchants, farms and the rapidly spreading industrial factories that are beginning to crop up in Europe. Many who would not be slaves have fled to our lands, particularly the city of Esch to escape this horrible fate. They call upon our duke to save them. Indeed many have sworn fealty to our duke and his appointed lords and ministers.

News of the crisis reached Fortinbras Palace and the Council of Lords. Prince Eric Von Lettow, Prime Minister and brother of the duke has presented an emergency bill in the council to extend temporary protection, food and shelter to the several hundred refugees in Esch. If the measure passes it will be presented to the duke for his approval. However the ambassador for the League of Bittburg, the hon. Herr Max Schultz has expressed his concern to our Foreign Minister and anonymous sources say that this was more a warning not to protect the "serfs" and to immediately expel them from our borders back into League lands.

Relations with the merchant dominated League and our people have always been tenuous. It seems that these recent events can only add to the strain. If you would like to help the refugees see your local baron, mayor or postal depot for more information. School children in Huack have already started collecting their pennfigs to send to Esch to help relieve the suffering there.

Zvezda & IMEX Plastic Box Sets

I bought the Swedish box set from the Great Northern War series. Clipped them off the sprue, based them on a 60mm frontage and have tried to prime them. However, the primer is not sticking to good. Also bought an IMEX AWI British Infantry box set. I thought that this might be some quick, cheap and easy troops to fill out the armies of the League of Bittburg and the Kingdom of Ostenburg. Both sets were listed as 1/72 scale, yet the Zvezda are a "head" bigger and a bit wider than the IMEX box. sigh.

A few soldiers, a start...........

Out of my miniatures collection these are the only 25mm 18th century soldiers that I have. The militia (Rogers Rangers, not sure as to what European militia should look like, surely some were hunters in the Black Forest) I bought painted at a local store about 5 years ago for a dollar. The grenadiers I bought unpainted on eBay. Anyway as far as the grenadiers go I primed them up, and started to paint one with a broken gun (it will still shoot & poke). The Grenadier Guards will have a uniform of green and white, with the bear fur hats being dyed a darker green than their coats.

The Duke of Saxe-Huack's Military Instruction to his Generals

I've downloaded Charge! from the files section at Old School Wargamers yahoo group. I like the rules and since I shall be solo wargaming and limited to a 4x4 playing surface I have decided to go with a "home variant" of these rules, mixed with some of the rules that the Duke of Alzheim posted on his blog. Notable changes and solo system as of the date of this post shown below.

Article I: Grenadiers and Infantry of the Line
The amount of privates in a company from 16, to 6 to 16.

Article II: Light Infantry
The amount of privates from 12, to 6 to 12.

Article VI: Militia
The amount of militia from 12, to 6 to 12

Article XV: Normal Musketry Fire
Short range: 0 to 12
Long range: 12 to 18, hits halved
Extreme range: 18 to 24, hits halved

Fire Effect:
Grenadiers: 1d6 per 4 men.
Line & Light Infantry in close order: 1d6 per 6 men.
Militia & Engineers: 1d6 per 8 men.

Solo System:
Enemy command & firing based on die roll. ie. 1: stay, 2. move towards objective, 3. move/fire towards nearest enemy. Enemy movement rated through die roll(s) based on unit and the units formation.

//signed//
Augustus von Lettow
By the grace of God, Duke of Saxe-Huack, Margrave of Bittburg & Baron of Chaurmont
Major General (hon.) Prussian General Staff

Ducal Seal & Map

I have made a seal and have finished my map of the Duchy. Seal is at left and here is the map.

SYW Project Begins

I'm still searching for a set of rules that I will want to invest time in. Besides writing my own rules I'm considering the following; 1. Standing Like a Wall, 2. Mod for Armies of Arcana, 3. Vae Victis (DBx variant), Pro Gloria, and Charge! I also have looked at the Duke of Alzheim's writings on his own SYW rules and various stuff I find at Free Wargames Rules website. Vae Victis would be the easiest for me to jump right into as I am a DBx wargamer. I have printed out Charge from the Old School Wargamers Group web page and intend to read it tonight. I also want to find something that will lend itself well to solo wargaming.

I haven't decided on the scale just yet either. I'm leaning towards 15mm to build up an impressive army. However, 25mm is still my favorite. Briefly considered 40mm but that ended quick when the Prince August Rosebach molds arrived; after many castings none came out good enough to pass my QA inspection.

I've settled on a map of Luxembourg, which I will modify to suit my campaign plans. Using this map will allow for easy edit for campaign updates on PC. The main combatants will be the Duchy of Saxe-Huack, the Kingdom of Ostenburg, and possibly the League of Bittburg (a free city-state confederation.) The first to receive attention will be Saxe-Huack then Ostenburg.

My thoughts on miniatures are; 1. Minifigs, 2. RSM, 3. Essex, 4. Battle Honors, 5. Old Glory, 6. Sash & Sabre, 7. Foundry.