For a long long time I've been fascinated by the color and pageantry of the military of 19th century Europe. The period of the latter half of the 19th century especially interests me - a time when the German states had not yet fully unified.
When I read the 7YW ruleset "Age of Reason" years ago, I was intrigued by the campaign system it contained - "The Sport of Kings". It used a provincial level map that showed the basic political entities of the latter 18th century. This really intrigued me.
Movies and books were a further inspiration. As a kid I really loved movies like "The Mouse That Roared" and books like "The Prisoner Of Zenda" (also made into several films). Imaginary countries like the "Duchy of Gran Fenwick", "Ruritania", and "Graustark" epitomized to me the colorful minor states of Europe of the later 19th century.
I once read about Dave Arneson (co-inventory of D&D) settting up imaginary countries in his basement, where he created miniature countries, set up armies and terrain and developed the rules Chainmail. to resolve his battles. To you purists reading this, I'm sure I've muddled the details, but the critical idea that fascinated me was the setup of model countries and fighting wars amongst them.
In recent years my ideas have shifted to the development of an Axis and Allies type of ruleset that allowed for simple economics and combat intertwined. Years ago I toyed with a fantasy version of this using 6mm figures from H&R and Irregular. Recently I noticed the growing Baccus 6mm Frano-Prussian War range, and the subsequenty Risorgimento range. Beautiful figures depicting soldiers from the latter half of the 19th century. Ideal!
So I'm off. I want to develop a map of a fictional Europe that will depict small kingdoms, duchies, cities, etc., as they struggle amongst themselves. I'd like to be able to set it up on my game table and leave set up to game over time. More on that later...
