The landscape will be grassland (I was thinking winter, but I only want to use Svalbard as a basis, it's not to scale btw... Svalbard is actually quite a large place). The capital will lie in the harbor of an ancient fjord, which has eroded after millions of years into the perfect place for trade. Despite the region being immensely rich in both oil and coal, neither resource is tapped, as the community chooses to live a simple agrarian lifestyle, mainly herding sheep on its hilly landscape.
The islands were settled by Karl of Goteborg (Karl I as he is known the island's inhabitants) and his loyal group of followers.
The capital is Kalsburg, which contains a mainly Swedish population. Citizens of the islands have distinctive accents, most Swedes cannot understand what the average Karlburger is saying.
The Swedes maintain a small defense force (along with smaller contributions from Norway and Finland, forming the Scandinavian Defense Force) with only light vehicles. The islands were hotly contested for their coal in past centuries, and were breifly occupied by Russia until Prussian and Swedish pressure forced them to leave in 1849. The islands remained independent for roughtly 100 more years, until the Germans sent a small force to invade during WWII. A 50 man militia met the Germans in battle, but we're quickly overwhelmed, leaving 4 of the men dead, and no German casualties. Hitler sought to bring in a puppet monarchy of former descendants to the throne, and so he did.
The puppet government proved wildly unpopular, and the residents refused to pay taxes, which lead to great trouble with the German occupiers. But the islands, not proving very useful in the grand scheme, were left alone for the time being. But, fate turned for Germany, and they were defeated by the Allies in 1945. The citizens of the islands immediately captured the monarchy on the island, and they were hung with two German bodyguards. There was however a familiar threat on the horizon the Soviets under Josef Stalin planned to annex the islands. There was a desperate cry for help from the new government and neutral Sweden took the tiny Karlsburg Republic under its wing, stationing a military force to prevent a Soviet attack. It's 20,000 people consider their Scandinavian neighbors to be great friends and allies, and regular meetings between the nations are held.
The government is a full fledge republic, after the 18th century rebellion against Karl II which forced the monarchy to flee the islands. A small castle remains near the largest fjord on the main island, where it serves as the Swedish forces main military base.
Here is a very early shot of where the capital will rest. I fear that the inclination will require special models however... which I certainly don't want to do.
More will come.
