Wittenberg is 10 Years old this month - Hoorah !!

His august majesty King Leopold ascended the throne 10 years ago (or there-abouts).

I found my old web games diary which started its first entry in June 2006. Gosh doesn't time fly !

I joined the blogo-sphere in January 2007. The gaming table I built in January 2007 is now undergoing refurbishment;  the first small palace diorama was completed in the same month.  So much fun since then - games, modelling, painting .....

Something form the archive, the king reviews his guard troops after his coronation

So some special events will have to be planned to celebrate the Kings 10 years on the throne......

New table surface (2)...

The fabric has arrived , a quick test ...

works with the hill edge, but the faded fabric on top may need replacing. The priority is to get the table done, can then get the secondary scenics upgraded as needed. Next thing to order up before I get started are the new backscenes.

New table surface ...

The hunt is on to find some suitable fabric to re-cover my gaming table. The existing table surface has faded off over the years and has some accumulated some damage. The table itself is in need of a re-build - as it is really too heavy to move. So the gaming table has to be replaced,
---- lightweight table (to allow removal to access the windows behind)
---- to be covered in green fabric
---- new higher backscene boards
---- increase the table depth if possible

I have a candidate for the gaming surface, I bought some fabric a couple of years ago to make roads with - I had a couple of spare strips leftover and tried a quick check on how it looks with figures and some terrain items

not bad, there is a slight pattern in it that looks like variation in grass length. Now if I could only remember where I got the fabric from !

Poetry Evening in the palace grounds ....

Recently the Wittenberg Royal Poetry Society provided entertainment for the court in the place grounds, a number of the society's most well know poets are reciting excerpts from their works ....

Each poet was given a small secluded area to recite their works (out of earshot of others). The poet Karl Kippen ...

  .. Twas evening and the rosey sunset
did glow amidst the woodland trees
 wimsy were the elven faeries

.....

 On his way round the King meets with Cardinal Meisner..

King: My dear Cardinal so nice to see you again, while you were in the Sackwald forest did you find them ?
Meisner: Yes your majesty, I have some specimens of the different types
King: More than one ?
Meisner: Amazingly so sire, I found three variants of the Sackwald fritillery - wing tips either orange, white or red ...
.. they stood for some time talking of butterflies and moths until the Queen reminded the King to pay attention to his other guests ....

The poet Wilhem Deiters, reads from his epic poem "The Quest of King Wadras" ...

 .. On the shores of fanghorn east lake

stood the great King Wadras
 gazing westward o'er the water
.....

The refreshment area where a selection of food and drink was available ....

A couple of gentlemen chat about the poetry, one taking snuff and the other smoking his pipe...

.. Man with pipe: What are you partaking of ...
Man with snuff box: My favourite snuff, it has a real kick to it - Wern's black powder with a mint supplement..

The poet Helmut von Wortevert...

... I wandered lonely as a sparrow

until I came upon a field of yarrow
it was not as wondrous as the marrow
that I espied upon a barrow

.....

The court painter tries to capture the evenings proceedings ....

A matter of convenience ....

The King ever considerate of his visitors has had suitable small buildings erected in carefully selected positions in the palace grounds. These provide some privacy and shelter for personal relief. They contain small cupboards which contain suitable pottery receptacles which are emptied twice daily.

A servant provisioning one of the new conveniences

[new item - 17C Indian Sentry Box, from Front Line Wargaming]

A selection of civilians

A small collection of civilians near completion, some work to do yet and will be affixing to clear plastic bases as needed

[having camera problems at the moment, the focus is a bit off sometimes - or maybe its just me and I've messed up the settings ;) ]

Something for the woods ...

A nice find at the local Toy & Train fair yesterday - a Britains Oak Tree. It was missing a few bits, but managed to fill in with some spare pieces I had.  Shown here assembled with some 28mm figures (perhaps more suitable for use with my 40mm)