Ahhhh… Imagi-Nations. That peculiar wargaming
conceit of creating a fictitious country in a setting otherwise grounded in
historical reality (although some more imaginative people add less realistic
elements to their games, and begin to border on fantasy.) Most gamers seem to
gravitate towards either early 18th Century with all the tiny
nation-states following the war of Spanish Succession, or towards modern Africa
and/or Middle East, with “banana republics” providing the template for small
countries or even warlords to field forces in a tabletop game. What I find
really nice about the “Imagi-Nation” idea for wargaming is that I am no longer
tied down to a particular organizational pattern or require specific uniforms,
equipment, weapons, etc.
Perhaps ten years ago, I built an army for Hordes of
the Things using Russian troops from the Great Northern War. And I fell in love
with the tricorn era, wistfully looking at all the pretty models available and
never really figuring out what I wanted to do with them. Since then, Wargames Factory
has released plastic soldiers in 28mm that are generically for the early 18th
century, and I have wanted to get THOSE more than anything else because they
are inexpensive and I don’t want to invest too much time and money into a
project that I will create but probably never play with (unless I bribe my
children, of course.) The problem being, of course, that I still had no clue
what I wanted to do with them. And sometime in the last couple of years, the
Imagi-Nation idea took hold in my head, and I slowly began to make my terrible
plans…
To start with, I wanted an offshoot from Spain. I’m
not sure why, but somehow Spain is the bad guy in my family (really, I do know
why, but I am not going to go into that here.) But Spain it had to be. After
some actual research (gasp!) I found that the Spanish Netherlands were right on
the border of both France (who I wanted to be the bad guy in my games) and the
Holy Roman Empire, with all those little Germanic states I could pluck more
opponents from. And ruled by a princess! With an all-female royal bodyguard! I
could finally find a use for Eureka’s “Sandras” figures! And so, El Principado
de la Comadreja was born, with the reigning monarch La Princesa Remolacha as
the head of the state. This would also give me some opportunity for court
intrigue, with her sister La Princesa Sebolla scheming behind the scenes to inherit
the throne herself.
And just like that, I had the makings of an Imagi-Nation.
I had my country, a couple of reality-grounded opponents, and even the
possibility of infighting. There was just one little hitch: I still had no idea
which rules I should be using, or if I was even going to be able to get this
project off the ground at all. Because I have started SO many, and they sit
half painted collecting dust in the shed…
Images swiped from the internet and used without permission
Images swiped from the internet and used without permission
