Thursday 3 September 2009

A huge thank you and introducing my first unit and character

First of all: a huge thank you to all you fine gentlemen whom posted a comment or sent me a private mail. It is very motivating when one embarks on a project like this to receive all these splendid encouragements. Thank you.
And now for something completely different…


Kevinovich Nyudrev found himself half naked, penniless and horseless in a ditch outside the city gates of Hasselt. He was a spent man, but his fortune was about to turn. In more modern times, he would be recognized as a man suffering from combat stress, having fought in many of Europes battles. Once a bright cavalry officer, he fled from the slaughter and found relief in drink. That’s how he ended up in Hasselt: the capital of Jenever, a schnapps like drink made from berries. He told his tales in the drinking halls, trying to impress the ladies and getting free drinks from the gentlemen.
Getting himself together a small company of horsemen pulled up. He recognised the newly elected Citizen-Regent of the DDU, Leopold van Loon, at their head. Kevinovich also was recognized and was promptly invited to come to the offices of the Citizen-Regent at midday.
Leopold van Loon, having signed a treaty with the British, the Netherlands and Prussia, was very busy trying to organize a standing army. He had heard of the exploits of Nyudrev, indeed met him at a social event and listened to his tales. He had grown to like and pity the man.
In the DDU the economical power was held in the cities and their merchants, not the nobility. An army could only be raised supported by the cities and the union, once the taxes started coming in. The very rich town of Hasselt had agreed to fund the first unit of the DDU: the Hasselt Garde Infanterie . Recruits were still easy to find and relatively experienced as many were deserters from Flemish-Austrian units, looking for a job. That midday, somewhat cleaned up, Kevinovich was standing before Leopold. If he was understanding correctly, van Loon was offering him a job as Kolonel-commandant of the Hasselt Guards. Not really having any plans or other options, Nyudrev agreed.

In reality Hasselt, provincial capital of Belgian Limburg, really is known for the liqueur called Jenever. This city’s flag and coat of arms will form the basis of the Hasselt Guard flag. The red and yellow banded design, which I mentioned before, is historical the coat of arms of the medieval Graafschap van Loon, which used to be situated in the eastern part of modern Limburg. Many Limburg cities and towns have some reference in their flag designs to this historical fact. This was also the inspiration for the name of the first citizen-regent (but I think most of you figured that one out for yourselves).
Please feel free to comment. I'm still tinkering with layout and stuff. Any tips and tricks from the more experienced bloggers would be welcome. Pictures are promised...soon...-ish


Happy gaming

Pjotr

14 comments:

  1. Aha! The hated cheezy Limburgers? the perennial foe of Frankszonia?
    LOL
    BTW, where do you live?
    We'll have to distinguish between us somehow :).
    Or you and I will be exchanging glorious victories for ages (heck, how could we allow our own country to lose when we're playing solo??)
    Anyway, you've a good and viable start for your setup ... now who is YOUR implacable foe? The northern Dutch who want to "reunite"? The Frogs who want to piddle in your ponds?
    Have a ton of fun!!
    :)
    Arthur

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  2. Great start! Interesting and different background.
    Looking forward to eventual pictures and more information about your ImagiNation (and foes?).

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  3. Thank you for the comments.

    I actually live in Belgian Limburg, some 20km north of Hasselt, in a town really called Leopoldsburg, named after King Leopold I of the Belgians, who decided to build a military camp on the Grote Heide (Great Heath?) in the Kempen region between Hasselt and Eindhoven in the Netherlands.
    What I don't get is this Limburg and cheese thing I somtimes read. I know of no cheese called Limburger cheese, and I live in the region. Is yhis like french fries not really being french?

    as for the foes...these will be the historical 7YW foes of Prussia and Britain: France, Austria, etc...

    Pjotr

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  4. Pjotr,

    I agree, an excellent start! I hope that you will adapt the various flags of the area into your Imagi-Nation . . . I know that there is some interesting Heraldry in that area of Europe.

    Limburger cheese was originally developed in the old Duchy of Limburger although now it is primarily produced in Germany. For more information check out this article:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limburger_cheese


    -- Jeff

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  5. Aha...but the historical duchy of Limburg (or then Limbourg) wasn't situated where modern day Limburg is, but more to the south-east. Around the year 1000 Limbourg was the capital of the duchy of Limbourg on the river Vesder in the modern province of Liege/Lüttich. On this map from the 1400's you can see it sandwiched between Liege and Aachen http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Limburg1477.png . And indeed there they produce some (very) smelly cheeses.These are generally known under the name Herve-cheese over here.
    It is only after being merged into the Bourgondian empire, some wars and marriages and later political and economical agreements that Limburg slowly got bigger and shifted to the north and west. The town of Limbourg does still exist.
    Another mistery solved.

    Pjotr

    05 September 2009 07:44

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  6. This is fascinating stuff! I never realised how much attention to detail this ImagiNation took!

    Matt

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  7. Greetings and felicitations from the Reich Duchy of Beerstein!

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  8. Greetings and cordial introductions from the Electorate of Luftberg!

    http://konigundkaiser.blogspot.com/

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  9. Ah yes, Pjotr, as I wrote on the EvE blog, I had visited!
    So your Jenever and the Cheezy Limbugers are quite distinct (In English, of course, one could pun on the sound of "-stinct" and "stinked" when discussing Herve Cheese, LOL).
    I suspect that my puns on "Frankfurter" which is a term for a popular sausage used in sandwiches and other foods in the USA (also known as a "Wiener" or "Wienie") fall flat over there too.
    Still Frankszonia welcomes you to the imagination fold.

    Matt, one's Imagi-nation tends to develop along with one's imagination. :) We start out with a couple of names to support a pick up or solo game and things sort grow from there!

    :)
    Arthur

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  10. An excellent start -looking forward eagerly for more!
    Do you know the Princes du Lichtenburg, also from Belgium, I think?
    Cheers,
    Jean-Louis
    aka Louys de Monte-Cristo

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  11. Peter,
    since your blog will cover several projects, may I suggest you 'label' your posts (can be done a posteriori under the 'edit posts' utility): Ancients, Dietsche Unie, General, Napoleoni... Will be reader friendly and insure easy and exhaustive information retrieval when your blog reaches a huge number of posts. It will grow, and newcomers will discover it and enjoy exploring it in years to come.
    Cheers,
    Jean-Louis

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  12. Arthur,
    actually, the sausage puns would work "over here". Frankfurters are sausages based on an original recipe from Frankfurt and Wiener are sausages based on a recipe originating from Vienna (as in Wiener-schnitzel).
    Still, it was much fun researching the cheese and Limburg thing. That's what's so fantastic about history. In Europe everything seems to be connected one way or the other.
    I remember as a youngster, when digging at my parents house near the coast, we found pieces of roman pottery. This started a digging frenzy by amateur archeologists all over the place. Of course, I joined them, but that was because of the female student diggers rather than the pottery. Anyway, it proved that trade existed with the romans, before they conquered the area...Isn't history a fantastic mystery, a puzzle to be solved? I love it.

    Pjotr

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  13. Nice Blog Pjotr. Interesting reading with a special twist. If you need some information on the armored forces used by Imagi-nation and their Blitzkrieg tactics, I’m your man… LOL 
    LCL von Mundy

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  14. LCL von Mundy, thank you for the offer. At this moment in time the only armoured forces planned in the Dietsche Unie are a regiment of cuirassiers. Tactics consist of being pointed in the right direction. Not exactly Blitzkrieg...
    On the other hand...von Mundy seems a very appropriate name for a Prussian Officer, maybe cavalry, big moustache, lots of curly hair...an officer observing the building of the Dietsche army, prying little eyes spying if every little detail of the treaty is being followed...
    Thanks for the inspiration...

    Pjotr

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