A Re-Launch (of sorts).

Well, after some consideration I have decided to relaunch the blog, formerly known as the Imperial Duchy of Blagovinja. What's the difference, you might ask? Well it really is largely a matter of semantics when you actually look at it, but there are things that were just not clicking with me, and a lot of it had to do with the way the blog was developing.  When I first started blogging about Blagovinja  I was really inspired by the The Grand Duchy of Stollen Blog. This work is a joy to read, is a wonderful way to escape the dreariness of our world, if even just a for a few minutes, and see what the hero of the blog, Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II, is up to. What is of even more interest is the wonderful miniatures that are regularly posted on its pages.  Unfortunately, what I initially envisaged for Blagovia soon became what I consider to be a cheap copy of the original inspiration. This just wouldn't do. Inspiration is one thing, but a copying is another. Let's see how this one goes. I have included my original foreward from the old blog, along with Blagovia's brave leader: Duke Borislav Grozdan Blagovinov: The Imperial Duke of Blagovia; Grand Župan of Starigrad; Khavan na Blagovia; Knyaz of the Order of St Blaise.

So, after all that, what is the Imperial Duchy of Blagovia? Well, to quote Stokes Schwartz of the Grand Duchy of Stollen fame, it is a small nation "located east of the sun and west of the moon," and, unlike the Grand Duchy, it may be found somewhere in the Balkans.

The 18^th Century has long held my attention as a war gamer, a miniature painter and a historian. Something about the baroque and over-the-top ornamentation, which characterises the era, cries out for exploration and replication. The enlightenment with its philosopher kings and despots, gaudy uniforms and blatant militarism, the burgeoning modernity hand in glove with the traditional calls out to the war gamer. In a word -Rococo!

 

I first encountered the concept of "Imagi Nations" many years ago. I quickly became immersed in designing and building my own Imagination, slowly purchasing 6mm, 20mm, 25mm, and 28mm miniatures, in order to bolster its forces, and creating terrain upon which to fight its battles. Several different nations and maps were created and quickly drawn up, new rulers and personalities detailed, organisational charts were created, colour schemes chosen, and all of which were just as quickly discarded in favour of some new concept. This pattern of destruction and rebirth continued for some years until I stumbled upon the Imperial Duchy of Blagovia one cold winter's evening while out for a walk. Once I found the name I liked, the rest quickly started to fall into place. As a RPG player I developed all sorts of backgrounds and unit histories and what not. Unfortunately "real life" has a way of relegating hobby related things, and the Imperial Duchy, along with the rest of my "hobby life," succumbed to this for several years, and was placed on the back burner. It was not entirely forgotten but it was not entirely active either. Things have now settled down and I have returned to Blagovia to see what mischief his grace has gotten himself into since I last visited seven years ago. This time with a focused plan in hand I hope to not only finish painting my 6mm and 25mm forces within the next year,  but to also finish detailing the back story for the Imperial Duchy of Blagovia.  

So let's see how far we go and where we end up, and if I can do something a fraction as good as Herr Stokes' work then I'll be happy. 
P.S. By the way, if you haven't seen, The Grand Duchy of Stollen check it out here: http://grandduchyofstollen.blogspot.ca/

E.