Preparing pirates game in 54mm

 test game on November  30st. Testing a fast play skirmish rule for

Pirates.

Will the marines be able to stop them

A lot op pirates

eager for blood

armed and dangerous

but will they cooperate

or start fighting each other

looking for booty

looking for rum

going for the kill

liberating their comrades

but the townfolk will fight back

protecting their wives

against these wildmen.

Denderleeuw 1914 - 2014 exhibition

Denderleeuw is Belgian town on the border of the provinces of Brabant and Eastern-Flanders.

The river Dender marks the border. Denderleeuw is also a major railway junction.

When the German forces invaded Belgium , took Brussels, 25 km east of Denderleeuw as their pivot point to turn south. The steenweg Asse Edingen is a highway also going straight south  and passing only a few kilometres east of Denderleeuw. It  was used for the right flank of the German 1st army of Von Kluck. The defeated Belgian army had retreated into behind the fortress of Antwerp. 

Only German patrols continued further west to look out for a possible British landing in the harbours of Flanders as a possible treat to the German flank.  This way, the 2 provinces of Flanders became a no-man’s-land for more than a month,  Belgian and German patrols  fighting small battles. Scenes of Belgian armoured cars with machine chasing German uhlans were not uncommon.

To keep a possible junction with the allies open and prevent the Germans from going west to easy, a plan was made to blow up the railroad bridges in Dendeleeuw and Aalst. An armoured train was send to Aalst while a a team with two cars and demolition explosives was send to Denderleeuw. Both succeeded 

Aalst also was the scene of a major confrontation when the Belgian cavalry division stopped a first major German attack on the city. The frustrated German troops executed civilians. They also used civilians as human shields in an attack. The Belgian army escaped west  when a second attack came some weeks later. The occupation of Denderleeuw and almost the whole of Belgium started.

On the occasion of the exebition, our club was present with a wargame of a battle between the French and Germans  in Northern France.

maxim machine gun 

In early November 1918, the  railroad station of Denderleeuw was bombed by British planes.

a munition train was blown up destroying several houses and making apart for a number of German casualties also a number of civilian victims.

before and after the air raid.

The border with the Netherlands was electrified. As electricity was not well known for most of the population, many people misjudged the danger

Na een lange periode van inactiviteit door moeilijke planning van veldslagen en door voorbereiding op Crisis2014 : CAMPAGNE NIEUWS : Regensburger Zeitung

Hattin 1187 in 54mm on Youtube

http://youtu.be/pxJHv8Wr028

General impression of Crisis Antwerp on Youtube

 http://youtu.be/xQUk4Dyb21g

BAVARIA CAMPAIGN: 'Bütterkrebse' at Regensburg bridge!

1809 Saxon Leibgarde Grenadieren

Main objective through out the whole campaign: the Regensburg Danube bridge 

Ter ondersteuning van mijn troepen in de Beierse campagne leek het me passend om in ieder geval een klein deel van de benodigde figuren zelf en zo historisch kloppend als  binnen mijn mogelijkheden ligt, in te brengen.

(In support of my troops in the Bavarian Campaing, it seemed obvious to prepare at least a small part of my figures, myself. I did this as historically accurate as is within my capabilities. This troop will come to the tabletop battle once needed.)

I started out without the proper knowledge. Leading to an initial mistake in the bearskin headgear of the unit. Thinking this part of equipment was more the 'mitre-type' of thing.
Airfix French grenadiers were held to a smaller type belt grinder with the top/back of their 'bonnets de poile'. This, once preformed correct,
leading to nice Austrian type (mitre) furry hats. In this posting you'll find a photograph of such a mismatched bearskin hat (nice for other armies though.

Sächsische Gründlichkeit 

What reminded me again: I got lots of Jean Hoefler Napoleonics waiting in a box.

Did not one of those bear the illustrative words: "Sächs. infanterie-Garde".

And is not that exactly what I'm looking for? Sure, it is. Sadly the pose is not of the kind that can fill the rank and file in large numbers. In fact this sabre raising officer is nice but must be uniquely in a unit. And so, the Airfix grognards came into focus again. I relieved them of their disabled 'bears' (by simply separating neck from torso with a razor blade knife). Obtained enough new heads (Joe Cocker in the the background: "you can leave your hat on") from the Hoefler bunch. Drilled, pinned, primed, superglued and sealed the new attachments. 

And so it all came to grips again. 

Boterkreeft

'Bütterkrebse' or 'butter lobster' was the suitable nickname these soldiers got from the Saxon population.  Must have been fresh water lobster as a real sea is nowhere to be found in Saxony. The yellow (butter) and fierce red (lobster) colors will have inspired them to do so.

I did not know this until I found a book on the subject in the internet. Front page below.

The wrong grenadier hats have been made from these heads at first. Mind the mitre-like bearskin headgear. Suitable for several other types of figures but not the Saxon Leibgarde.

Heads chopped and new ones put in their places. The Jean Hoefler Leibgarde bearskins still unpainted here.

Close-up of a section of the unit. Not all heads have been put alike on the torsos. This gives  modest but interesting variations. Ramrods are variable in length for the same reason.

The unit nearing it's completion. Don't mind Alisdair McYoung on the left ;-))

Enjoy!

Feel free to comment!

Like me at Facebook: The Batavian: painted toy soldiers

The guardsmen in action on the game table.

Hattin at Crisis; first serie of pics