Friday 20 November 2009

Wittenberg Legion - 2nd Battalion passes muster

The second battalion of the Wittenberg Legion, being supplied by the Duchy of Fenwick, has its final inspection.

Congratulations Colonel, a nicely turned out battalion - we will inform Major-General Dittelsdorf, that the Legion is ready to be deployed. Get your men ready for the journey.

[figs: Infantry RSMs, officer Old Glory; dismounted officers Old Glory]

Friday 13 November 2009

Colonel In Trouble

A game using 40mm figures.

Scenario:

Colonel Drosneyer, commander of the garrison at Vanderhof, along with his daughter have been captured by brigands in the small town of Bremagen. The brigands are waiting to hand over the General to some Saxe-Jarlsberg troops which have crossed the river Oudear.

Concerned at the late arrival of the General, Count Soborksi has taken the Boritzy grenadiers and the King's Jager company to investigate.

The Game:
As Count Soborksi nears Bremagen he orders the jagers to clear the houses and woods on his flanks. Along the way, they run up against some stiff opposition from brigands

After a short while the jagers clear the first two houses and their surrounding areas but not without taking a few casualties. They move on to investigate some woodland, while the grenadiers follow them ..

The jagers lose more men but manage to clear the woodland, they fall back to protect the rear of the grenadiers column. The first company of grenadiers form up to bring their firepower to bear on some brigands in an orchard on the edge of Bremagen.

After a few volleys the orchard is cleared and the grenadiers reform to move into the town

The last of the brigands charge the grenadiers as they enter the town and a sharp hand to hand melee ensues ..

With neither side gaining any advantage the brigands pull back to get their breath; mean while the Colonel's daughter has made her escape while her father fights off a couple of brigands ..

Seeing the rest of the grenadiers moving forwards they sensibly make a run for it ... The Colonel has killed one brigand, the other got away ..

The commander of the Saxe-Jarlsberg troops which were nearing Bremagen seeing the grenadiers in the town decides not to take any risks and moves away to cross the border to safety.

The grenadiers now have control of the town. Count Soborksi checks if the Colonel is alright; while Captain Scharfe of the jagers brings the Colonel's daughter into the town.

Saturday 7 November 2009

Making the Palace Interior (1) - The Basic Room

I am currently working on a new room, the Library, for the King of Wittenberg's palace. I thought you might like to know how I am making it so I will do a short series of posts on the subject. The main materials I use are paper and cardboard.

Firstly I obtain a suitable sized cardboard box. I decided on a standard room size using a CD storage box [approx size 27cm (L) x 13cm (w) x 13cm (H)], these come in a variety of colours.

The next phase is to get the basic shell of the room ready,
- cut one side of the box out (save the card it is useful for basing figs)
- decide on the wall colours. If the box interior is a suitable colour then I leave it as it is otherwise I use some 160g computer paper and cut it to size and stick on the walls
- to show the start of the celing, some 160g white computer paper is added along the top of the walls with a bit of moulding using some white mounting card
- the floor, use a tile paper (which you can buy from a Dolls house supplier); or for wooden flooring I scribe some mounting card, paint it brown and then put some satin varnish on top.

Here is the basic shell of the library...

I then add the door(s) to the room. For the pediment of large doors I use a Dolls House window pediment, for the library I wanted something smaller, so I made up one from cardboard. I make an outline with cardboard and then the individual parts. For the columns you can scribe some thick cardboard or use suitable sized wooden dowelling.
Then I add a door, simply a piece of cardboard with a paper hinge - this painted brown with the panelling outline in black pen; for a door knob I use a pin top. To complete the door I inset a picture. The library room shell with the door added ...
The King and Brother James have come to discuss how best to lay out the room and where to place the book shelves etc.

The next installment will be windows, pictures and furniture.

A Hunting we will go ...

General Waldebeck and his staff along with some of the local notables gather in a village to the north of Vanderhof for a days hunting ...

Looks like the fox is smarter than they are; he has a nice hiding place next to the coach house ...

[figs; All 40mm from various suppliers; fox and hounds 'O' guage model railway accessories; buildings: 'Cottage' - Conflix; Coach House - Total System Scenic]