Monastery (3) - Count Hermann visits ...

Count Hermann of Munster, the King of Wittenberg's right hand man (and also 'spymaster'), is visiting the monastery of St Wigberts, he is greeted by the Abbot...

Count: (swishing his hand) There are a lot of bees about.

Abbot: sorry about the bees they are still settling in ..

 

The monks sing to the bees to calm them as they orientate themselves to the environs of St Wigberts...

A monk escorts the Count through the abbey grounds round towards the old seminary..

Count: Whats wrong with that chap over there  ?

Monk: That's brother Ignatious, he's communing with the worms,

part of the Abbots relating to nature program.

 

The monk takes the Count to the entrance to the seminary..

Monk: you'll find Master Cantor and his associates in the courtyard

 

 

The Count meets up with Cantor (the court inventor and leading light in the Wittenberg Royal Society) in the courtyard. There is the sound of musket fire...

(the old seminary has been rented by Count Hermann for Cantor and other scientists and engineers to do research work, at the Abbots request they wear monks habits over their clothes to mask their activities from casual observers ). The Count has come to visit today to check on the new musket cartridges being developed for the army ...

Count: How is the new powder formula doing ?
Cantor: Tests show a 10% increase in range and accuracy, this is the best we can do for now.
Von Braun: The details of the mixture will be sent to the arsenals tommorrow for them to start manufacture
Count:Very good, that will please the King
Von Braun: On another matter, the cartridges from the Wangheim arsenal you sent me for analysis have revealed that the powder has been adulterated - reducing their effectiveness
Cantor: I checked on the recent output from Wangheim - its is all stored for shipping - none has been sent out to units yet.
Count: We'll hold the stock at Wangheim and investigate who's messing with the powder - I have my suspicions on who's to blame. Well gentlemen, lets go inside and discuss progress on other projects....

Monastery (2) - The Monks Arrive

A simple paint up where needed and some scatter on the bases and the new abbey buildings are ready; I've mixed them in with other buildings from my scenic stock to show the monastery of St Wigberts. This monastery is only 5 miles from the capital Wittenberg.

 

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fish ponds

 

cloisters

 

front gate and busy road

 

surplus hops and beer being loaded onto a wagon

 

the Abbots house and guest quarters

 

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The monks from Alt-Wittenberg arrive and are greeted by the Abbot (the treasure beehives have been transported safely).

 

An overall view of the main abbey complex.....

 

Monastery (1) - builders are busy ...

The monks of Alt-Wittenberg are currently in transit to a new monastery (taking their beehives with them). They are moving up the valley to join a larger community.

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So I thought I better make the new monastery; I decided to use the cloister and buildings from a 1:87 card construction book

and 'join' it to my gothic church (made from Pegasus sets); so I cut into the gothic church base and added a new side base with the ground plan part of the card kit stuck on.

Next I assembled the cloisters and buildings from the card kit and stuck them to the base - the card kit is a bit fiddly but goes together well; shown below is a first fit of the two bases with a bell tower (from a 1:87 church kit), and a chapter house that I found in a local charity shop.

still plenty of work to do ...more to follow....

Wittenberg - Kings Jagers ...

A new unit for the Wittenberg army, out of the lead mountain and into their uniforms. The battalion is made up from a mix of figures and converted spares - half of the unit is Foundry prussian jagers and the rest converted Foundry, Jacdaw, Eagle and Old Glory, plus a couple of converted Perry Nap. french dragoons. Most conversions involved new arm sets taken from spare Wargames Factory WSS and Perry plastics bits.

 

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The Kings Jagers out on manouvres, skirmish line is forming up....

the commander and a small group of jagers move up ...

officer directs jagers as they exit the churchyard ....

Overview of jagers in and around the church, with staff officers looking on ....

 

A visit to the local Inn ...

The most popular place to go in downtown Wittenberg is 'Die Kurfürsten Inn' (the Elector's Inn), where apart from being able to rent a room for the night you can ....

 

engage in jovial conversation.....

 

meet up before going to the opera.....

buy a few drinks ...

or indulge in coffee and cake....

 

have meal and a beer ....

 

The overall scene ...

 

Battle of Ziegenfeldt (5) - denoument..

The infantry advance and the sound of artillery fire and musketry ring out across the battlefield

On the left the Saxe-Jarlsberg troops are holding their own in the firefight and their garrison troops have held the Wittenberg jagers ...

On the right flank disciplined vollies from the Wittenberg troops are thinning the opposition out a bit, but they keep on coming ...

The Wittenberg lancers break the Saxe-Jarlsberg hussars and set off in pursuit ...

The Wittenberg dragoons now released from their supporting role move to attack the rear and flank of the Saxe-Jarlsberg infantry

The Saxe-Jarlsberg dragoons had managed to rally and reform returning to the battlefield, but to late to affect the outcome ....

All starts to unravel, the Saxe-Jarlsberg left flank collapses and the Wittenberg dragoons are busy cutting up the infantry trying to flee the battlefield ....

The Saxe-Jarslberg troops are in full retreat apart from a battalion of allied Hesse-Limburger troops who stand firm in the centre

Count Pottsendorf admits defeat and leaves the battlefield with a escort of dragoons ....

A victory for Wittenberg ...

Battle of Ziegenfeldt (4) - fighting intensifies...

The contest for the farm continues, the Wittenberg Jagers are pressing the defenders hard ...

and they succeed, the defenders are pushed out ...

On the other flank the Saxe-Jarlsberg dragoons lose the melee and rout ....

The Saxe-Jarlsberg hussars pile in and hold back the triumphant lancers ....

The Saxe-Jarlsberg infantry have started their advance ....

The Wittenberg jagers press on and engage the defenders who are falling back; a reserve detachment of garrison troops has been sent to try and take back the farm ...

The Saxe-Jarlsberg infantry are manouvring into position ...

The Wittenberg jagers seem unstoppable and attack the garrison troops..

Meanwhile on the other flank, the Saxe-Jarlsberg hussars are holding their ground against the lancers ...(the Wittenberg dragoons await the result of the melee...)

to be continued .....