Storm Within the Empire – the beginning.

the Holy Roman Empire, tales of conflict set in the 9th and 10th century.

Change is good and I am starting a fresh DBA project, but rather than start a new blog, I will change the banner, subtitle  and archive all previous postings for 15^th century. These you can still find at the Index located in the right hand column.

Naturally, the focus for this project is on the campaigns and wars that took place during from the breakup of the Carolingian Empire to the emergence of a confederation of German kingdoms later known as the Holy Roman Empire.

From my initial research the scope of the project would simply be too large if I wanted to keep a balance between posting, painting and campaigning. Storm Within the Empire originally grew from the Duchy of Bavaria expanding to include armies from Austria, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland and the Ottomans. I narrowed the region to the northern part of Germany; the duchies of Saxony, Lotharingia, Frisia, and the Marchlands. The loose confederation was not without its enemies and so the kingdoms of the Vikings,  various Slav nations, Poland and the Magyars are added as well.

Map: AD 843, the division after the Treaty of Verdun

Anyone thinking about building an army from this region and time period I would recommend the books and essays written by Timothy Reuter. I have “Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800 - 1056” which has fueled my enthusiasm for the period and I do plan to purchase  another title by him, “The Annuls of Fulda”.  The first title is heavy with detail and attention is given to developments region by region. The maps at the end illustrate very well the changes from the breakup of the Carolingian empire to the start of the Holy Roman Empire.

As I write, my first two armies have been ordered and should arrive next week. Aside from painting them, I will also add new terrain features.

-      More later.