Tent-makers are busy ...

The King has decided that his old command tent needs repair and enhancement (having seen the nice one in Wargamer's Annual 2012). The command tent as was ...

Using the old tent as a framework I modified it using 120gm paper: increased height by about 0.5cm, added end pieces; wider front opening with rolled back 'panels', extra roof detail and extended tent poles to hold a pennant/flag.

Tent all painted up and command staff and King in residence (I've added some static grass to the bases to improve the look of the figures)...

Waiting at the Border - Security Checks ?

A visitor to Wittenberg - see this EvE post

---oXo---

Princess Elisenda and her travelling companions have arrived at the Wittenberg border; their papers and credentials have been examined and they are allowed through. They are unable to proceed until  their additional escort of Wittenberg troops is ready. They have a had a meal in the nearby inn and while they wait are getting a little exercise and some air before being cramped up in the coach again.

The travellers: Antoni Folc de Cardona, Archbishop of Valencia (travelling in a monks garb);

Princess Elisenda; Josep Antoni the Marquis of Rubí; young manservant.

The commander of the princess's personal escort has mounted his horse, their escort of WIttenberg troops is ready; it is time to get back on the coach..

The small convoy led by an escort of Wittenberg Uhlans moves off into the countryside ...

What delights and marvels await the Princess in Wittenberg ?

Xmas Time in Wittenberg ...

There has been a cold snap and the country side is blanketed with snow. The King and his family are visiting Count Herman's estate where the ornamental pond has frozen; a small 'skating party' is in progress.....

---oXo---

Some of the guests stay nearby the hunting lodge, if they feel too cold they can nip back inside...

The King and his family watch the skaters, Prinz Albrecht is having a go ...

The skaters enjoying themselves on the frozen pond ....

The geese are not to pleased that their pond is frozen over ...

One goose says to the other, 'What do you do whenever you feel lonely?'

The other one says, 'Oh, I just have a gander around.'

Brother James is feeling the cold and is wondering when the mulled wine will be served...

The food is nearly ready, mulled wine, soup and roast pig ...

The entire skating party scene .....

---oXo---

40mm: The Bridge at Hofheim

My 40mm figs be-sport themselves on the table as the Saxe-Jarlsberg border war in the south continues...

 

More than the usual number of photies in the report to preserve the flow of the game - enjoy !

---oXo---

Scenario: Both Wittenberg and Saxe-Jarlsberg are trying to position themselves as best they can before the winter sets in. A bridge on the border of the Hofland has been identified by both sides being a key objective (a disused ford nearby may also be passable).

 

The Wittenberg General Waldebeck decides to send Captain Scharfe and a small force to secure and blow the bridge. Wittenberg force:

• Kings Jagers (2 cys - 24)
• Uhlans  (1 sqdn - 9)
• 1 artillery Piece
• Engineers (2) + packhorse

Count Pottsendorf, the Sae-Jarlsberg commander, has collected a scratch force together and given them orders to take the bridge and occupy Hofheim. To complicate matters an ambassador of the Imperium has demanded escort to Wittenberg via the Hofland. The Count reluctantly agrees and issues orders that the ambassador will accompany the force and be shown all courtesy (it does not pay to upset the Imperium's representatives if you are a small country). Saxe-Jarlsberg force:

• Jagers (1 cy - 12)
• Garrison Troops (1cy - 12)
• Infantry Regiment (2cys - understrength total 15)
• Squadron of Dragoons (understrength - 6).

Game notes:
Number of moves to set the charges on the bridge  - 2D6 (set additional charge/repair fuse etc 1D6)
Number of moves for arrival of Saxe-Jarslberg units and Imperial Ambassador - 2D6.
Effect off explosion of chrages on bridge - D10  1-3, no effect 4-6 still passable, 7-10 Blown
Ford Passable (only tested when first attempting to cross) - 1D6 1,2,3 not passable, 4,5,6 Passable

---oXo---

Captain Scharfe and his small command pass through the small town of Hofheim and move towards the bridge over the river ...

They secure the bridge and cross to the other side to set up a perimeter, while the engineers prepare the charges (they've had to take powder from the artillery as the bridge is more robust than thought)

Captain Scharfe leads his men to secure the approaches to the bridge, while another detachment heads further downstream to cover a disused ford, the engineers are busy ...

The head of the Saxe-Jarlsberg column arrives and a parley is in progress to secure the  Imperial Ambassador's passage....

The Imperial Ambassador's party make for the bridge. As the size of the 'escort' force which accompanied the ambassador becomes apparent, Captain Scharfe order his men to fall back to the bridge ..

The Imperial Ambassador is across the river an heading for Hofheim ...

The Saxe-Jarlsberg forces make their move,  a fierce volley sends the Jagers back from guarding the disused ford over the river ...

The artillery hearing the sound of the firing, let loose a short cannonade on the Saxe-Jarlsberg troops ...

The Saxe-Jarslberg troops advancing on the bridge take the brunt of the cannonade and turn and run ...

Meanwhile the Saxe-Jarslberg dragoons attempt to cross the ford, the river is high and the current strong and their commander is nearly washed away - the ford cannot be used to cross the river.

'Stand well back' shouts the engineer officer, the jagers guarding the bridge move back ...

Kaboom ! both sides watch as the dust settles ...

The bridge has not gone, it is still just passable ...

The Saxe-Jarlsberg jagers make a rush on the bridge as the Wittenberg jagers cover the engineers who are trying to mend the fuse for one of the charges ...

As Saxe-Jarlsberg jagers move over the bridge, there is a sharp exhange of fire across the river ...

Kaboom ! The engineer has lit the faulty fuse and the explosion kills all the Saxe-Jarlsberg jagers on the bridge.

The bridge is blown and now totally impassable. A victory for Wittenberg; a disapointment for Saxe-Jarlsberg.

40mm: Contructing a New House

I've been checking out my larger houses which I use for 40mm gaming and realised I could do with a couple more. I wanted something which was neutral enough for 18C and also to be used for my ECW gaming. I found a nice half timbered building picture in a book which showed the front and and one end. I scanned these, scaled then up and printed off two copies on 120gm paper. After some careful cutting I stuck them onto card to ensure everything was square and lined up.

Each section was cut off the card, then the house was assembled (with internal bracing) and stuck on a base.

I added a roof covered with some paper tilessheet, touched in the edges of the building and painted/flocked the base. Seen below with a couple of figures for size comparison

Zomverre V Monrovia: hostilities cease due to the Winter

The wintry weather has begun and Zomverre is blanketed in snow, effectively bringing a halt to the campaign for this year. Both sides have moved into winter quarters. The Monrovians hold the key burgh town of Hohenloe and  most of the south-eastern part of the country.

40mm: adding to my Brigands

Bought some of the new Irregular Miniatures 42mm pirates to add to my brigands and outlaws; have modified a couple of figures to give them attire more suitable to central europe. Into the paintng queue they go ....

40mm: Saxe-Jarlsberg Guards on Parade...

Count Pottsendorf and his aide watch the parade of the grenadier guards ....

The count muses (as he watches them march past) - 'the only regiment in a fit state for a parade' and frowns. Not a good year for the army fighting against Wittenberg forces - dragoons cut up while on the march and the infantry shot to pieces at Toppenhof. Still plenty to do to get ready for the next campaign season - rebuld the cavalry, get the troops back in shape, need to get more light troops....

40mm: Project restart ...

My 40mm project has taken a back seat while I've been clearing off oddment projects and stuff for other gaming periods (WWII, Dark Ages and Pirates). I have been casting and preparing 40mm figures, such that I have a  two regiments of cavalry and three battalions of infantry in the lead pile (and plan to cast up 3 more infantry battalions).

I've decided to get started on the painting with a battalion for the Wittenberg forces; the bulk of these are Creartec castings with Sash & Sabre heads, plus some Front Rank AWI hessians in the command group.

Hurry up boys, if we're quick we can get in front of those saxons ...

Sedan chair..

The transport theme continues, this time a sedan chair from Redoubt..

A closer look at the occupant and carriers ...

40mm: Ornate Coach

A repainted diecast toy (shown in last picture of this post) which came with a princess as a passenger and a coachman. I did these up as passengers and added a new coachman converted from a Nürnberger Meisterzinn casting. I reduced the number of the horses from four to two.

A look at the interior, with the orginal coachman repainted as a passenger, plus the princess in painted up..

Duchy of Saxony - reference info

I indulged myself and bought this lovely book, mainly because my Wittenberg army is based on that of Saxony. Its a super book with lots of colour illustrations. After a quick peruse last night I thought I might tweak some of my existing units so their uniforms match up with what's given in the book.

Zomverre V Monrovia: Battle of Dornitz

After their defeat at the battle of Pomeroy the Monrovians retreated towards Hohenloe. Field Marshal Stricknein by some deft manouvering had evaded his pursuers. However the Ducal forces soon picked up his trail.


The Monrovians had moved through a heavily wooded area and planned to cross the river Bruer at Dornitz. The Ducal forces split up one part following the same route hoping to catch them up and the other moving as fast as they could to try and head them off at Dornitz.

---oXo---

The Monrovians arrive at Dornitz and start to cross over the River.  Field Marshal Stricknein and his staff keep an eye on the column. They have deployed the guards and two regiments of hussars to block the flank approach to the bridge.

In the distance the Ducal forces hurry towards Dornitz ...

As more units get ready to cross the bridge the threat from the Ducal forces occupies Field Marshal Stricknein and his staff's attention....

the Ducal cavalry gets closer ..

Field Marshal Stricknein sends a courier to the rearguard to change their route (to cross the river five miles east at the ford near Kornitz) in order to draw of their pursuers to prevent the risk of being bottled up. The Monrovian hussars start to move forward to make more space to allow infantry to deploy

Ducal lancers clash with one regiment of Monrovian hussars. As the Ducal dragoons gallop forward, the second regiment of Monrovian hussars flinches and routs backs disrupting and disorganising the deploying infanrty

The Ducal dragoons charges into the nearest regiment of infantry while Field Marshal Stricknein tries to rally his hussars...

The Monrovian hussars scatter their lancer opponents but set of in a mad pursuit leaving no help for their infantry who are set about by the Ducal dragoons. More Ducal cavalry is approaching ....

The Monrovian infantry routs and find their way blocked by heavy woods - the Ducal dragoons are in hot pursuit. The Monrovian hussars redeem themselves my counter-charging a regiment of Ducal cuirassiers.

The Monrovian hussars hold off the Ducal cuirassiers allowing more units to cross the river; but they eventually break and are pursued. The Ducal dragoons round up the Monrovian infantry by the woods who have surrendered. A second regiment of The Ducal dragoons try to charge the bridge but falter in the face of musket and artillery fire ...

Just as the last regiment of Monrovian infantry cross the bridge; there is a large explosion and bridge is left in ruins (the Monrovian engineers has been busy and mined the bridge); the remainder of their cavalry manage to swim across the river.

The Ducal forces fall back as they cannot get across the river. Their commander is satisfied having beaten the enemy, captured 3 regimental infantry colours and further weakened the Monrovian cavalty.

The other half of the Duical force in pursuit lost contact with the Monrovians in the forest, enabling the Monrovian column rearguard to find their way across the river to rejoin with the main body of their army.