"18th C. Imagi-Nations: a call to blogging" Topic

[Cross-posted to the Blog board –for obvious reasons, to the VSF board since several of its regular posters demonstrated interest for the fictitious 18th century, and to the {General Discussion}squared one because I had the surprise to discover there threads about fictitious Lace Wars countries that, oddly enough, were not crossposted to a 18th C. board.]

With the recent reprint of ‘The Wargame' TMP link and its forthcoming ‘Companion' link , the interest of the wargaming community to Imagi-Nations, specially Lace Wars ones, will probably be *boosted*.

Yet they are already less rare than their limited presence on the Web may suggest. I already have on my blog link some 50 working ‘Fict' links to blogs or sites partly or totally devoted to (at least) one fictitious 18th C. country. But a cursory browsing of the TMP and 3 Yahoo groups revealed 78 (yes, seventy eight!) other gamers with that same interest: I just published their list as a comment (currently the last) to the ‘Recent updates' post: link = tinyurl.com/yokjv2 .

*Please peruse this list*: I had more than a single one motivation to post it.
-If you think you may appear on it, make sure you were not forgotten.

-If you know of a wargamer (yourself or a fellow player) interested in Lace Wars Imagi-Nations, with or without a blog / site, please post his / her coordinates: thanks in advance.

-If yourself (mentioned on the list or not) share this game setting, to discover how many ‘we' are, to realize that you are not alone, not some kind of freaky ‘drop out', hopefully will decide you, not only to make your ‘outcoming', but also to ‘take the plunge' and *launch your own BLOG* (it's free and, believe me, incredibly *easy*). We all to gain in the mutual encouragement, inspiration and learning provided by published personal experience, photos, comments… Thus don't be shy and openly join the ‘Virtual Brotherhood'! What you created deserves to be known and will inspire and encourage others. And remember, among the 6+ billions of persons in Earth, only YOU can publish your creations, they are your –totally original- brainchild; to let them stay in oblivion is like letting an endangered species die out. The more numerous we will be present on the Web, the richer will be our exchanges (even if only ‘virtual'), and the (bio-like) diversity of the Imaginary 18th century.

If you feel tempted by the idea of designing your country (or group of warring neighbors), its (/their) geography, natural resources and economy, its history and current political situation, deciphering the Court gossip to disclose plots, 'characterizing' noteworthy individuals with some RPG-like events thrown in… you can take the plunge *before having a single mini*! You would not be the first (nor the last) Imagi-Nation creator to launch his blog before buying the first miniature soldier for its army – browse the ‘Fict' links for stimulating examples.
And of course owning only fully historical miniature armies it perfectly compatible with their use as the Armed Might of an imaginary country tinyurl.com/2ucrhy : it corresponds to the ‘1st' (Neil Cogswell's ‘War of the Bombar Succession') or ‘2nd' (The Grand Duchy de Lorraine in ‘The Wargame') levels of ‘unhistoricity', with inspirational and respectable precedents.

Similarly, as soon as your country(ies) has(ve) a name and a little 'character', you can enter the exchange of diplomatic missives on the 'Emperor vs Elector' emperor-elector.blogspot.com collective TMP link blog (currently 40 members)!

You don't need to have a blog to contribute: send a mail to the blog owner / coordinator TMP link
and he will give you a blogger IP allowing to post and comment on the blog (and, I guess, to post comments on any blog).

Personal involvement varies freely from 'lurker' to 'regular poster', between individual contributor but also with time, current main object of interest, mood and pressures from 'The Real World™'. But you are then recorded in the 'links bank', and the collective blog is a very enjoyable, friendly and stimulating meeting point TMP link
for Lace Wars
TMP link Imagi-Nations Rulers. Contributors are pleasant fellow who share their knowledge in the kindest way.
With its ‘battles by proxy' link =
tinyurl.com/yuahwp ‘EvE' offers isolated wargamers an opportunity to break their isolation TMP link and have their solo battles a precious part of a common effort.

The Laws of Physics are relaxed in our Multiverse: Space is elastic, with e.g. already 3 'France'; Time is extensible and Malburian as well as AWI countries and armies coexist there (even a few Napoleonics –feeling so lonely among the ‘hardboiled historical' Napoleonic Great Vocal Majority).

Not all the 78 wargamers listed are currently rulers of an ‘active' Imagi-Nation: some are just starting, other have switched their main field of interest but have a long, inspirational and enjoyable experience to share. A few did not built a whole fictitious army, but ‘spiced' their ‘historical' one with colorful imaginary Freicorps. One or two only converted minis into quasi-historical (de Saxe's ‘daydreamed' Legion) or historical but mythical-looking (Schaumberg-Lippe Carbiniers) troop types. But *ALL* have done an original work that fully deserves to be published for the ‘education', inspiration and enjoyement of the community.

In the hope of discovering new fellow gamers sharing this inclination, of raising some interest, and perhaps having a few ‘historical' wargamers, or newcomers to the hobby, intrigued enough to explore the concept and current realisations,
sincerely,
Jean-Louis

PS: as a blogger I confess to now have a very « Google Reader user unfriendly » practice: in order to keep all info. relevant to a given topic gathered rather than scattered along numerous posts, I expand previous posts, either in their main text ([ab]using the ‘edit previous posts' utility) or by posting *comments*. Actually I tend to treat my blog as a ‘poor man's website', with the last post (sept 12!) regularly updated as the ‘What's New?' intro page. Probably an infringement of Netetiquette?

Could you repeat that?

On-line Album such as Photobucket are nor very convenient: ‘eye-candy' as the pics may be, they are disconnected from any description (painting or modelling hints, background, battle report…). We are drowned under the overflow of information on the web, messages posted on Discussion Groups and boards (such as on the TMP) pass by and are soon forgotten: these forums are marvelous for instantaneous exchange of information, but far from ideal when it comes to perusing their Archives –so much the more as none I know allows to search by date. Thus within a few days it becomes difficult to link pictures and text –unless the poster cared to quote in the legend of the illo. the # of the corresponding message, or to archive the ‘written part' in a ‘Files' folder with the same name as his ‘Photos' one. Additionally access is restricted to members, so to post a direct link to photos or files archived in a Group is almost useless.
Only on blogs do illustrations and text stay together, and searching their archives is far easier (specially if the blogger cares to label his posts). No support is as reader-friendly and convenient as a blog, and blogging is NEITHER more difficult NOR more time-consuming than posting files or images on a Group: thus…

Thank you. I understood the second post much better. My ficticious nation is called Netetiquette – a constitutional plutocracy.

@ elrond hubbard 3: "Netetiquette": a nice name, but I'd imagined a country with a 17th – 18th C.-like Court (with strict etiquette & protocol). 'When' is Netetiquette situated?

(OK, English is NOT my first language)

update: Totally independantly from this thread, a new convert:
TMP link

Other comments on the duplicared thread: TMP link
[I was too clumsy to find this {General Discussion}squared board when trying to cross-post: was unable to find it among the list of boards open to cross-posting from the 18th C. one: ¿?]

If you are merely intrigued by the concept of fictitious Lace Wargaming, or if it looks like potential fun, give it a try! Lurk on the 'Emperor vs Elector' blog, survey the blogs 'linked' there or on "Monte-Cristo": link and judge by yourself.

Approaches are extremely diverse, and you can join the party with at first merely a country name, a vague idea of its location (the Holy German Empire, with its historical 300+ independants countries and statelets, is the setting of choice) and nature, and then with time, at your own speed, devise its history, invent the profile of its current major characters, design its flags and regiments…
TMP link
TMP link
TMP link
TMP link
TMP link
(OK, not everyone has to push the 'fictional' aspect that far… link )

Most Imagi-Nation rulers progressively raise a wargame army, but some are perfectly content to stay at the 'novelization' level: theduchyofmuedail.blogspot.com

'Serious' wargamers / 'historical gamers / 'military simulationists' often judge Imagi-Nations *childish*, a shameful stain on the publicimage of the hobby. Maybe most of those wargamers who create their own setting are totally conscient to be "adults playing with toy soldiers" ?
Childish? Well, Cocteau said (approx.) that all children are poets, a gift lost with puberty. Certainly we are among the few who keep, as adult, at least a part of the marvelous imagination of children -and of the associated naivety. Thus e.g. we often tend -in the respectacle tradition of P. "Charge!" Young and C. "The Wargame" Grant- to see our toy soldiers (sorry -"Historical Miniatures") as 'individuals', not as 3D markers of 20 or 50 'real (!!!) men'.

My 'Call to blogging' reflects some 40 years of teaching: for me one of a teacher's duties is to make information easily accessible to the 'youngsters', specially 'additional information' that may either be helpful if they already have a special field of interest, or else have a chance to awaken their curiosity. Hence my taste for well-set stored information, arranged by topic and easily retrievable. For me information retrieval has to be easy and convivial, specially for newcomers a duty for the elderlies. Messages on Forums are soon buried under layers ans layers of new ones, but once you recorded its URL a blog is *always there*.

While fully enjoying the 'easier give and take of a discussion group / forum' , I remember thas as a newcomer in several fields I greatly appreciated the 'bibliographical reviews' and 'technical abstracted updates' written (on paper, then) by older people. It may well be insanely self-delusional arrogance *and* presumptuousness, but I blog partly in the hope that someday one or two newcomers to (Lace Wars) battlegaming will find of some use the compilated 'bank of references and links', perhaps even in some points of my personal experience. Motivated by the ego boost from putting my stuff up in a blog? Likely, of course; but *also* by the pleasure I feel to discover imaginary countries, characters, armies and uniforms, on others' specialized blogs.

Indeed blogging is easy (believe on this a dinosaur from the age of mechanical typewriters!) -certainly far easier than 'mounting' a site- and free. 'Labelling' posts make the exploration of archives as easy and reader-friendly as the navigation of a well organized site. And, if you see it as a 'directory' of specifically-devoted 'folders' rather than as a *diary* [these as a rule long-winded, time consuming, and frankly boring for anybody but the blogger him/herself] , you don't feel guilty for not updating it regularly (anyway, the few peoples who care if you catched a flux or enjoyed a movie don't have to go on the web to learn it, and everybody else don't care!).
You come back to it *only* if and when you have something new to post; nothing like 'duty' or 'work'.

And if your interests change? So what? Among the sites referenced on my blog a *lot* have not been updated for years (among the 'uniformology' ones, or the funny but richly informative «DUKE ELECTOR KING WEBPAGE» link ) and still enjoyable, informative and inspirational.

Cheers!

Independantly of this thread, a new discovery:
TMP link
Cheers!

complementary message:
TMP link

link

Now 57 'Fict' links on my blog
link

Join the feast!
JL

Since the last post, 16 new Lace Wars Imagi-Nation(s) rulers –all (warmly expected) potential new bloggers– have been ‘spotted'. The updated list has been posted as the 2nd comment:
link

Take a look: maybe your name appears there! And it does not, while you think it would be, please post a reply here….

Review
Now 59 ‘Fict' links on my blog, thus 60 sites or blogs at least partly devoted to a Lace Wars Imagi-Nation.
46 of them are part of the ‘Emperor vs Elector' diplomatic and wargaming collective blog
emperor-elector.blogspot.com . Its 44 members together ‘rule' 60+ Lace Wars Imagi-Nations (Two people, to fully enjoy the ‘role playing' of a Country ruler, devoted an ‘individualized' blog to eavh of their warring Imagi-Nations). Most are solo wargamers. Some created a fictitious country to add a personal note to their historical armies (Austria vs Prussia, Russia vs Turkey…), others at first designed their own army, its background country and are now building ‘the opposition'; most created a pair of embattled nations from the start, and are adding satellite mini-statelets or a ‘third party'.
Many members of the ‘EvE' group joigned to break their isolation: playing battles as ‘proxies' offers them a higher level of integration.

The name of the blog refers to the fictitious bitter enemies in P. Young's ‘Charge! Or how to play Wargames' book; his Electorate was also mentioned in the other ‘founding book' of fictitious Lace Wargaming, C. Grant's ‘The Wargame':
TMP link

Just discovered a 18th possible / potential fictitious Lace Wars blogger: nsolomon99 for his Grand Duchy of NordMark (TMP): TMP link .

Henry Hyde's seminal article "Fictitious Wars" that was printed in issue 47 of Miniature Wargames (april 1987) can be downloaded as a .pdf at:
link

A visit to Henry's OLD SCHOOL WARGAMING page is recommended!