Kasteeltuinen Sunday

Last evening just time to set the table and some pieces up.
Sunday at eight we were present again to set up te rest.
Impressive garden and hall.

The fish were greeting us in the morning (or were simply hungry I suppose)

These look innocent on the ground but they tried to use part of our horsehair trees as nesting material

And the next 4 photos just give an impression of the 1372 table: the attack on Venlo

Kasteeltuinen Arcen-Eastern

Today, saterday, started a three day reenactment gathering at the Kasteeltuinen Arcen (Castle gardens) Netherlands.

Part of the park

We were invited also but couldn't manage to go on saturday. We just had time to build up partly our medieval wargames table for Sunday and Monday. So for today just some pictures of:

 Peter waiting for the tables to arrive on which we had to put our demo. A tropical envirement it is.

 our stuff in front of a pond or big fish tank. Koi fish from Japan?

I bet it is the first time these fish have seen some wargamers

 Starting with the table

And Venlo is built in 15minutes















And that's it for today

Salute 2014

April 12th 2014, and it is Salute day again. 

Last year we couldn't make it, but this year we managed to go.
Started driving at 6.30 Dutch time to Calais, for a daytotal of 945 km (or for the British readers almost 588mile) and stepping in bed again at 0.30.
We didn't buy much that day, but did see and talked a lot. So, a good wargaming day for the Alde Garde.
As a lot of pictures of games are already on TMP we here present just some impressions about games we like although time ran out on us and we haven't seen all what was happening
Starting with Salute itself, we still think that the venue doesn't have the best atmosphere. It is just a big hall.

WW2 games were seen a lot, probably because the Normandy landings are 70 years ago. Mostly the displays and tables look great, some of them underneath in the pictures. Must say that 20mm and bigger scales are preferred by the Alde Garde.
It is a pity we haven't pictures of the 1941 East Africa wargame about the battle of Kelen. This was a great modelled battle.

As you maybe know we love the French Revolutionary period so were pleased to see the the battle of Arklow (1798) with a lot (a loooooot) of Irish troops fighting against the British.   

Great to see Trent figures on their best. Just waiting for more British (hint, hint)

A nice model for phantasy wargaming.

WW2 again, now a landing on the coast of France. Great table with eye for details. A lot was going on.

A phantasy battle with big figures and even bigger elephants. Great looking terrain and figures.

And again a WW2 game in 28mm . Looking good 

A table situated on Mars bu Southborne. We like this a lot. Thanks for holding up the background for taking pictures. Nice folks too for talking to about the used figures and wargame.

What we missed were more WW1 game. Probably everyone was thinking that WW1 gaming would be the topic of Salute regarding the 100years aniversary of the Great War. We saw at least two games, both great.
Also, talking to the members of the organising clubs shows the fun they have in this period and presenting this on Salute.
It seems that how older (well, mature) the hosts of the game are, the more the are willing to give explenations what is going on, give details of the game, rules and models.

And even then, the Belgian roads were terrible!!

Great game of, and as usually nice talking, to the 19th century group  )Continental Wars Society) which this year presented a Garibaldi game in 28mm. Everytime we come to Salute we think that this period would be great to wargame. 

WIP Medieval Buildings

To add to our demo of the Medieval struggle in Gueldres we needed some more buildings for our city.

We will show the end result in some time.

Or you can visit us and our medieval demo at: 

The Historical Weekend  - Historisch Weekeinde

Castle gardens/Park - Kasteeltuinen      

     Arcen Netherlands - Arcen Nederland   

   Eastern 2014- Pasen 2014 

For the non-Dutch readers: Kasteeltuinen Arcen is a castle wtih gardens etc. With Eastern there are various medieval reenactment groups to show medieval warfare, music etc. 

The Alde Garde wil be there with our medieval 1373 demo.

see: www.kasteeltuinen.nl/660

Historisch weekend: 19, 20 en 21 april 

Ridders terug in Arcen!

Stap terug in de tijd en beleef het tolconflict tussen Aercen en die van Venlo. Tijdens het paasweekend zal in Kasteeltuinen Arcen Hertogdom Gelre (her)leven en je meevoeren in de strijd die 557 jaar geleden plaats heeft gevonden. Internationale ridders en strijders zullen voor u een spectaculaire show opvoeren op het toernooiveld.

Tijdens dit evenement zullen de volgende groepen hun kunsten vertonen tijdens demonstraties en de spectaculaire veldslag:

The Basic Elements ondersteund door de Rooversvan 't Ravenhorst

Alde Garde

Compagnie van Cranenburgh

Fronti Nulla fides

Die Edelike Spijse

De Baljuw van Heuclum

Ridder taverne Die Rheinischen Ritter VOG

Compagnie van Brederode

Gelres overkwartier

Knights of Camelot

Muziekgroep Krebbel

Verbond van Christophorus

Rin ende Maes

Lixa Rebellum

Graven van Holland

Touwslagers Gilde

Figures new demo

On this moment we are busy (well, let's say, we are trying to make some time) with a new demo for the future. Theme will be the 1507 campaign in the Netherlands. We had already planned to do this theme earlier but lack of time prevented this. Hopefully we will finish it.
Peter has some 28mm figures in the pipeline, underneath some WIP photos.

The famous WIP box

Foundry mounted crossbowmen.

 And of course for this period, you have to have at least one landsknecht regiment

a different angle

and from the front, part of a landsknecht regiment

Gentbrugge, Wargames Conventie XVI

We visited this convention, held in Gentbrugge and organised by three wargames clubs ( Red Barons, Thunderboldt and Bylandt) with our 15mm SYW India demo. We used Black Powder as rules.
It was a nice convention but it was reasonbly quiet maybe caused by good weather, holiday season and the withdrawing of some British traders.
As I only made some pictures of our own table, some of which are underneath, we sadly cannot show more of the games which were played by other clubs; some nice ones were there.

So, some pictures of our Demo"

Visiting Maastricht

Visiting the city of Maastricht, a quick visit to part of it's surviving fortifications was planned.
The fortifications are in the 1860 situation.
Some pictures Peter took.

Tunnel through the curved flank of a bastion.

Outside of the curved flank with loopholes and ventilation openings above.

 The face and salient of the Holstein bastion and opposite the loopholed counterscarp with a sortie door opposite the salient.

 A lunet protecting the Holstein bastion. Watch the steep way up and the flank protections of the lunet.

            On the right the door of the tunnel leading to the bastion underneath the dry moat.

            On the left the door is closed with brickwork.

The right wing of a couvre-face protecting the front of a bastion. To the utmost right the edge of a lunet.

To the right, the lunet in front of the couvre-face.

A large sortie to let through mounted troops, protected by a drawbridge. The drawbridge is covered by loopholes on its flank and the pit below is also covered by loopholes beneath the moat-level. 

  Another, but now smaller sortie. The drawbridge has been removed meanwhile.