1511 Addition to Venlo in preparation (for juni 1st demo)

 Some further progress!

Scaleworld 2025 in Geel Belgium

 

For those with no plans on June 1st and in the neigbourhood, KMK Geel will held their annual Scale World modelling event. It is a great event.
AND, for the second time, also Wargames will be shown.

The Alde Garde will be there with a revamped Siege of Venlo demo in 28mm. Peter is  very (very!) busy to change the layout of the walls (well, partly of course) of Venlo as can be seen on the fotos underneath which show the work in proces.

We hope to see (and speak to) you about out hobby. 

 

Part of our wargames as diorama's in Kasteeltuinen Arcen

On the site of the castle of Arcen (South-East Netherlands near Venlo) years ago there were planted gardens as a tourist attraction which attract thousands of tourists from the Netherlands and abroad. It is called the Kasteeltuinen (Castle Gardens).

Peter was asked to put on some displays at the castle of our wargames terrain and figures with connection to the region in which the castle is situated. As this was done already in 2018 he of course was delighted to do this.

Some impressions of the gardens underneath followed by the two displays: 

 the entrancethe  castle in which the displays are situated.

Firstly our wargames table about the battle at Arcen itself in 1511 between the Habsburg army and the army of the Duc of Gueldress

            

Secondly the Siege of Venlo in 1373 (1st Gueldress Succession War):

Townstreet circa 1500; new buildings

 Peter added some self made buildings to our stock of wargame terrain. 

These represent a row of buildings of a town of around 1500. Hope you like them!

Early medieval tower part 2 finished

 As blogged earlier the tower was expanded to a small motte & bailey castle.

After painting and grassing this was the result. Now only some huts etc for the bailey need to be constructed which will be part 3 and last.

  

some infantry in the tower on the look out 

The early medieval tower revisited

As Jan had made an early medieval tower, it make sense to build further a motte and bailey although this last one couldn't be big as it should be fitted on our wargames table.
The total space should be max 60*90cm as we use 60*60cm sheets for the table so the castle would fit in.

So first some gluing of sheets (one 60*50cm and one 60*40cm), making a low motte and low wall for the bailey and then carve out the dry moats around both.

The motte received a palisade (Jans wife is now missing a lot of cocktail prickers (is the an English expression?).

As it is nice to have a gate on the motte which can be opened, this was handmaid with some balsa wood and two ex Northstar pikes trimmed so that it fitted between the balsa as doorposts. 

And lastly as the bailey get no palisade but a simple wattle fence (to enhance the early medieval character) posts are glued to the bailey wall; on the picture are the first ones, the amount is now tripled.
Some bridges are built to cross the moats but again no sophisticated drawbridges; this is early stuff.

And the last step until now is gluing sand on all the terrain as base for painting.

Hope you enjoy!

An early medieval donjon (at least it should look like it!)

Jan thought about making the first castle tower of the Kessel castle (called Keverberg) in the south-easter part of the Netherlands were we live of which a picture is underneath of around 1100.

As only parts of the lowest part of the tower was found no one knows for sure how it really looked and by a second glance it looks a little bit dull. So he looked further for some more examples of early castles/donjons or something else. These were found:

Motte Lütjenburg in Germany

Bachritterburg Germany 

Herne Germany

reconstruction motte Eindhoven 

So it was decided to build one himself without knowing how; just knowing that it would be partly stone and partly wood. As it wasn't know how it would be used; eg for skirmish game (so figures had to be put inside or just as decoration on the side), building started out of mostly balsa wood and a base of polystereen on a plastic base and by try and error it became this.

A, yet unpainted, figure just for letting see the scale on the second picture on the left
 

 Of course the wooden part plus the roof comes off; it has three detachable floors and some shooting slits in the stone basement. This can be seen by the two pictures underneath.

This is the first part as the tower will become part of some sort of a motte and bailey casttle but that will be part two.

Field bakery

I came across a picture of Dirk Langendijk which is known as a reliable source for depiction uniforms of the late 18th century period (including the FR period).

As I was looking for a theme for the Crisis show of November 2020 (now sadly cancelled) I thought this would be a good new addition to our FR wargame and a nice model to make.

The first picture is the plate by Langendijk, the second a bigger pic of the mobile ovens, the third a bigger pic of the tents with bakers.

I tried to model three mobile ovens and found suitable figures for it made by Black Hussar Miniatures. Although these are ment for the 7YW, I think they are suitable for my little Dutch FR project as the Dutch wore some older looking unifoms and I think a bakers outfit of the 7YW would not be out of place in the FR period.

Oh, and because we are Dutch, a bicycle appeares in some of the pictures; just a gimmick. Some like such additions, some not.