Monday 24 October 2016

How to strike a Nelson

The British can be a very fascinating kind of people. Hiding the whole year in their little caves painting tokens of their affection and imagination – with so much love, some of them even sit on them.

And when the summer sun sets over the windless hills of Comely Bank, at the 23rd of October, they come out of their lairs and celebrating, the 221th anniversary of a specific kind of maritime event.

They love their beverages and the room temperature slightly cooled. Unfurled will be a bluish yellow-brown tunic of venerable age on a garage door sized table resembling nothing less than the Atlantic ocean. Quickly after that, the little tokens, in the shape of tiny sailing ships, will deployed in a strict and linear fashion along the edges of the fabric with systematic precision.

They give them names and attach to them, small paper sheets filled with poetic words and kabbalistic numbers. Nothing less than the future or perhaps a fortune telling ritual older then the ancient I-Ching is about to enfold before the cautious and patient spectator. Dices and measuring tapes of all sorts are involved in a day long procedure that will be intermittently stopped to replenish the involved shamanistic witnesses with food and beverages and smoke.

It will be almost nightfall when after interchanging waves orgies of shouts and roarings, tears and laughter and other much more unworldy sounds will announce the epic and inevitable for this year also – Nelson did win Trafalgar!

As the Anthroposoph I am, I forgot to bring my camera, so I took some images as contraband.

Enjoy!


















Friday 21 October 2016

Around 900 between Paris and the Lorraine

Bart wanted to get his Normans out and me willing to give my Ottonian rump army a litlle airing, we decided to give Hail Caesar a go, as we both never played it before.
Me as a Norman Warlord or maybe, Karl the bald, with a little help of some Vikings (all Bart's) and Bart as the Lotharingian Emperor with Normans only ... about some feud involving goats, but I forgot the exact terms and conditions ...

We both deployed fairly simple on some hills in a river valley flanked by swamps - so the only way was forward. The rivulets was just a 3" obstacle, nothing too weird for the 1st HC.
First I stood my ground and was determined to defend my hill while Bart would traverse the river. But then he rolled badly and half of his forces were on the wrong side of the water - that was when I decided to follow me order my Norman Warlord with my one and only heavy cavalry to skewer up the lonely archers on my side of the Seine! But Bart's orange dice magic saved them through the day, they fell back and my knights and Warlord were counter attacked by Lotharingian Heavy cavalry - Ouch!

But still God was on our side and my Lord survived and rode back to the renew the attack with my heavy foot! Meanwhile Bart's lousy levies were stumbling downhill towards the river and being attacked by my foot knights! Helterskelter began ...

That was when Barts cavalry decided to charge the Viking Division ... the clashed, they bled, but they stood their ground. Also just because we "interpreted" the break rules a bit softly - so Bill came along and clarified the situation, which led to a bloody demise of the Lotharingian cavalry. All dead horses.

After that Bart tried and all out, last assault with his levies and remaining knights of foot, but to no avail. He lost a battle and some goats.

Pardonne moi, some vikings must have changed my camera configurations and some of the images are a bit blurry ...

My royal guard
Barts Levy Haufen 
Barts incredible soft Norman cavalry (maybe plastic???)
My Iron guard with their little metal spears 
The position of the two armies
My Warlord attacks the archers
... and get counter attacked (disordered with a rum cask)
Barts cavalry attacks my vikings
... but they stood their ground!
Over the river!!
The united Vikings finish off all cavalry
The victorious French!!



Wednesday 12 October 2016

Battles announced!!

Novara-Bling!, June 6th 1513

This time we fit the Venetians with the Swiss, because we can, and give each player a pike block with a bit of some appendices.
Theoretically, they should move faster now and easier play together in true renaissance style ... but we will see for real on the 17th of November with a little help of Pike& Shotte.

Newark-ice-cold!, Nov III week, 1776

And then we finally have a battle on the 1776 Winter Campaign!! Yes, Jack (as Washington) lost his temper and turned back to the British to attack! He did so successfully, that he outnumbers the British 3:1. It his Trenton, but just in Newark and with Gen. Howe instead of Col. Rall - Ouch!
But as the Chinese saying goes, if its dark, it can be colder than outside ... but true wisdom will be revealed at the 10th of November using our Black Powder binoculars.













Sunday 9 October 2016

Dem Basel-isk, dem schad' die Sonne nix!

I instructed my wife to shoot some historical relevant renaissance pics, while on an anthroposophical conference in good old Basel in Switzerland! Here are some impressions ...

Dear, Deerhounds, ...

Nice guns all left by Charles the Bold at the fields of Nancy ...

Nicer guns

Some gun models and crossbows ... and globes ...

The Studded leather armour

More pistols and

A fashionable Landsknecht 
... and another one with marvellous slashings

A Nice Captain showing off his Milanese armour

The Guilds of Basel

The Wall of the City of Basel

One of its towers...