Having Read the Duchess' Letter

Having read the Duchess' letter, Koenig Ludwig smiled and mused to himself . . . "soul mates and kindred in deeds", eh?

"Well, my dear, it may chance that we will meet and compare notes. If you indeed have the stomach for our passion, we may make a beautiful team . . . and, if not, I wonder how well you scream?"

Turning to an aide cowering in a corner, "Find out all that you can about this dear Duchess . . . including what lands and military forces she controls . . . perhaps this may be a match made in a very warm place."

"The King is Dead!"

Apparently the rumors that have been circulating for months are true.

Koenig Maurice du Vile and several members of his family were poisoned.

While the king survived this attempt, he was much debilitated by this foul assault upon his person.

Thus is there any question as to why he has apparently chosen
to end his life.

He has been succeeded by his noble cousin, Ludwig du Vile (pictured at left).

Koenig Maurice's last moments must have been sad indeed. He is reported to have committed suicide by gouging out both of his eyes, burning many parts of his body and finally using three blows of an axe to chop off his own head . . . all of this with his hands bound behind his back.

Koenig Maurice was indeed a most amazing monarch . . . is there any question as to why so many foreign nations were so envious of him?

Little is known of Koenig Ludwig's personality or just how he came to power since he has spent most of his life in seclusion at Nochtswan Castle (pictured at left).

However the rumors that his mother, Lucrezia de Sade, has tutored him in certain black arts are assuredly unfounded.

What this will mean for Stagonian foreign policy is not yet known . . . but certainly the foreign power or powers that poisoned good Koenig Maurice and thus indirectly caused him to end his own life will soon feel the weight of Stagonian arms in their just retribution.


-- Stagonian Jeff for Koenig Ludwig du Vile of the Kingdom of Stagonia

Stagonia's New Ally

The Kingdom of Stagonia wishes to salute a new ally, the Duchy of Loathar.


-- Stagonian Jeff for the Crown

Rumors of Assassination Attempt

For several months now the borders of the Kingdom of Stagonia have remained sealed. No one has been allowed to leave . . . and more than a few have been slain in the attempt.

Nevertheless rumors persist that someone attempted to assassinate Koenig Maurice the Vile. If this is true, there certainly would not be a dearth of suspects. Indeed his own malicious family would be amongst the first to be suspected . . . but they would hardly be alone.

Is he alive? or dead? The truth of the matter is not known, but His Vileness has not been up to his usual malevolence of late . . . so who knows?

Wollmitz Command

Koenig Maurice has decided that the area around Wollmitz required a change of command. He has therefor directed General Baron Gaspar du Vile to take command and to arrange the defenses.

In addition, His Majesty has assigned other officers to assist Gen. du Vile. Following is the list of the command's senior officers (note: with their "Tricorne Wars" information in italics):

General Baron Gaspar du Vile -- (Political, inertia 2, initiative 3 -- 12" command radius -- 2 AdC)
Maj. Gen. Rene de Villars -- (Aggressive, inertia 3, initiative 1 -- 11" command radius -- 1 AdC)

Brig. Yves d'Amours -- (Aggressive, inertia 3, initiative 2 -- 9" mounted command; 5" if foot)
Brig. Lothar Oppenkopf -- (Careful, inertia 1, initiative 1 -- 10" mounted command; 6" if foot)
Brig. Heinrich von Kroll -- (Steady, inertia 2, initiative 2 -- 14" mounted command; 9" if foot)
Brig. Graf Adolf von Voss -- (Political, inertia 2, initiative 1 -- 11" mounted command; 6" if foot)

In addition the following troops have been assigned to General du Vile to fill out the various commands as he sees fit (along with their rating in italics):

IR von Hirschbock (elite)
IR du Breiz (veteran)
IR du Lepps (veteran)
IR O'Duffy (veteran)
IR von Gruber (raw)
IR von Krinkle (raw)
IR St. Cyr (veteran)

du Coiffard Kuirassiers (elite)
von Waganer Kuirassiers (veteran)
Benzler Dragoons (elite)
Pfeiffer Draggons (raw)
Jailler Hussars (veteran)
Hockdorf Hussars (raw)

Furthermore, Koenig Maurice has assigned some artillery batteries to the Wollmitz force. These are all crewed by veteran gunners:

2 x Medium Gun Batteries of 6 pounders
1 x Light Gun Battery of 3 pounders

Finally the King has charged du Vile with defending the Wollmitz region against all invaders.

============

The above are the forces for our upcoming (June 15) quasi-refight of the Battle of Mollwitz from Charles Grant's book "The War Game". Stagonia will be taking on the "Austrian" positions and Saxe-Bearstein will be serving as the "Prussian" attacker.

As currently envisioned, Murdock will be in command of Stagonia and Ross Macfarlane, visiting from eastern Canada, will be the Saxe-Bearstein commander.

-- Stagonian Jeff

A Proposed Anthem

The Kingdom of Stagonia is in a tizzy. Peter Simplissimus has proposed a "national anthem" for Stagonia . . . but Koenig Maurice has been (and remains) too upset by the result of battle to even hear the song.

Some members of his court like the song and some hate it. They've decided to publish the song and ask the public for their reactions to it. Here it is -- please let us know what you think of it:


Awake. ye children of Stagonia,
The day of Victory is here
See massed the ranks of the foes of Stagonia
See how their villainous leaders all jeer -
They want our riches, our women, our BEER!
From near and far their allies are cheering
Look, there, see their bayonets a-gleam!
Fear not, my brave Stagonian boys,
Fear not their musketry or shot!

Advance, Stagonia fair!
Their cries shall fill the air!
March on, march on!
See how they run!
Stagonia wins the day!

Remember well our hoary grandsires
Who fought and died for Stagonia fair.
Think of our maidens, beauteous and loyal,
Think of our matrons, proud and fair.
Would you submit them to rapine or care?
Yet these foul brutes now ranked before us,
Lust for rape, destruction and loot!
From your firesides you would get the boot-
While these beasts play footsie with your women!

To arms, Stagonians all!
Let honour be our call!
Fight on, fight on!
Fear not their guns!
Stagonia wins the day!

Curses! (Foiled again)

Koenig Maurice, monarch of Stagonia was in a rage. The first sketchy account of the Battle of Tippelbruder reported that a combination of accurate artillery and flooded terrain had defeated the Expeditionary Force and had forced it to withdraw.

(A notice posted by Arthur on the OSW group mentioned this . . . I presume that he will post a battle account relatively soon.)


-- Jeff of Stagonia

Plots Has He Laid . . .

It is unfortunate. Indeed it is. Most unfortunate.

Koenig Maurice of Stagonia is not a patient monarch. Not patient at all.

The lack of news from Tippelbruder is turning his mind to other plots nefarious and vile (well he is a Stagonian -- what other types of plots do you think he'd have?).

There's the one to mislead the Pope . . . and the Frankzonian affair, of course. Then there is the secondary Tradgardland thing . . . and the support for Monrovia . . . plus that for Zichenauer (never forget Zichenauer).

And then there was . . . well, thinking about them made Maurice much happier.