The Munkasse Question....

The King was trying to listen to a briefing by Count Munster and one of his assistants (Georg Badenhorst); it was boring and he tried to focus.  

The Kings issue of 'Hat Digest' had arrived earlier and he would have preferred to be reading that than listen to the droning voice of Munster's assistant. 

Gerald the pookah appeared, invisible to the others present; he was in a mischievous mood making faces and jumping up and down making silly sounds. The King only just managed to keep a straight face....

The assistant droned on "...bla... bla... the border dispute between ... fumph fumlp bla bla blaa.. Munkasse... bla bla....." . 

The King to get some relief from the antics of Gerald turned and faced the assistant asking "Munkasse, isn't that some little state allied to Monrovia?"

The door slammed, Gerald had left - most likely to find Brother James and have some sherry and play cards.

The assistant replied: "Yes your majesty. The border dispute between them and the Duchy of Noverre may escalate into war. We also have a just received a letter form the Herzog of Saxe-Jarlsberg to inform us their army is standing by to support their neighbour Munkasse".

A few minutes later the briefing finished, the Count and his assistant left.  The King opened his desk drawer and got out "Hat Digest' and absorbed himself reading about the latest fashion trends in tricorns...

Merry Xmas ....

The King and Queen, with some of the court, visit the large decorated Xmas tree in city of Wittenberg....

 A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to All

Palace Rooms go 'Flat-Pack'...

 In my ongoing quest for storage space the remaining palace rooms are going 'flat-pack', to save on storage space.

I have three rooms already which are flat-pack, plus four more which are not. The large entrance hall will not save much space if flat-packed so I'll leave that be for the moment.

I did the throne room first as it was the most complex one; cut the walls to fit the generic base (this has slots in it for the walls).

After a bit of trimming it went together...

As I'd got the hang of it I did the rest; so I have seven possible rooms that can be setup as need for story line pictures and all now taking about one of of the storage.

A new fountain for the palace gardens ...

 While tidying up, I found a fountain I'd painted some time ago; I thought it would be best to put it on the palace shelf diorama to replace the old one.

Merry Xmas ....

Shortly before Xmas there is a flurry of snow; the King, Queen and some of the court venture out for an improvised meal of roast pig..

Later on, festive events start in the salons and the ball room; courtiers make their way - while the King and Queen wait to greet those arriving by coach ....

A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to All

Visiting the vineyard ...

King Leopold and his son, along with some members of the court are on a visit to the nearby Klosterhauschen vineyard.

After their walk round, they headed up to the main house and to the cellars for a wine tasting ...

---oXo---

The vineyard scenic pieces shown above were made recently, info on how I made them here: https://ww2tanksalot.blogspot.com/2022/06/making-vineyard.html

Palace denizens and those of the town ...

Finished my work refurbishing the palace denizens and the people of Wittenberg....

The royal family and close friends  ...

The palace gents

The palace ladies

Members of the royal society ...

The court musicians

The palace guards

King and queen have afternoon tea with some of the courtiers..

the llamas...

Monks and nuns..

Town garrison...

townies ...

Surveyors & Workers ...

bakers busy at military field ovens...

woodsmen at work on the edge of the Sackwald forest

A few more figures still on the painting desk, waiting to be done two sets of Ratnik civilians.

Visiting the llamas...

The palace cats along with their new friend von Tiddenheim's spaniel, have gone to visit the palace llamas and see their xmas tree...

Mischievous cats ....

 The palace cats have been mischievous lately....

Trying out the new Kings and Queens new thrones, they are quickly shooed away by one of the palace staff...

after being ejected from their new found comfy chairs, they joined in with an inspection of the palace guard ...

Merry Xmas .....

somewhere in the far north, the last of the reindeers is rounded up for sleigh duty .....

 In down-town Wittenberg, shoppers are out to do some present shopping ....

 At the palace, in the Kings appartments the usual Xmas gathering is in progress

A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to All

Strange Birds for the Menagerie ...

The King, Count Munster, and a couple of members of the Royal Society have gone to see some new arrivals in the palace menagerie - some large flightless birds bought back from a European antipodean expedition.

At the palace - Merry Xmas .....

Affairs of state intrude, a quick briefing for the King - the Begovian army has set up a winter camp about 30miles from the border of the Zinzendorf province...

The entrance hall is busy....

in one of the salons, a card game is in progress....

the King, his family and friends in the royal apartments....

A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to All